Not Alone || Jung Jaehyun

Chapter 14 | "how dare you"

With a glare, Jaehyun turned on his heel and walked back over to Hyemi, helping her to her feet and dipping his head to Yuta. He carefully put his arm around her and led her through the crowd, slightly pulling her into his side with a comfortable security that made her feel safe.

"Come on, Hyemi, let's go and clean you up. You have a competition to win."

- - -

"Here, Chaeyoung, touch up her makeup, I'll do her hair."

"You can wear my backup costume, Hyemi, it's going to be a bit loose but I'll just tighten it up."

Hyemi sat silently in her chair as the older girls quickly worked to clean her up. Momo passed her a silver and black costume. It was going to be a bit big since Momo was taller than her, but it seemed like it was going to work.

"That was awesome guys! Did you- woah what happened here?" Jaemin burst into the room with a smile, having missed all the drama and just finished his solo.

"We'll tell you later, but your solo went well?" Sana asked with a smile.

"Yeah the crowd is awesome, you're going to love it, Hyemi." Jaemin said, sitting down in his chair and starting to wipe off his makeup.

"Alright, go and change, we have 5 minutes until you're on stage."

Hyemi stood from her seat, walking behind the curtains and stripping off her destroyed white costume. She quickly slipped on Momo's, tying the straps short as possible before stepping out.

"You look great, you can't even tell anything happened. Now, go out there and beat the crap out of that bitch."

With a wink, Sana walked out of the room with the other girls and Jaemin. Hyemi shut her eyes, calming herself down and trying to push away what just happened, pulling her focus back to her dance before making her way backstage.

When she arrived, she caught the very end of Kyunghee's solo. She was a mess. As Hyemi peeked out into the crowd, she saw her brother and the rest of his team, minus Iseul and Jichang, watching Kyunghee's performance with a scowl. Whatever he had said to her was obviously messing her up.

"That asshole can't dance for shit."

Hyemi turned to see Jaehyun standing behind her, a frown on his face as he watched Kyunghee. When he moved his gaze to Hyemi, his frown was replaced with a small smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just making sure no one tries anything before you go out on stage. Good luck out there."

"Thanks, Jaehyun." She replied with a shaky voice, still shaken up from what had happened only minutes ago.

"Hey, dont freeze up now. It's just you out there, so dance all of this stress away, use the music and let it all go. We're rooting for you."

"And last up in this Regionals competition, representing Seoul University's All Stars, Lee Hyemi performing to 'Train Wreck'."

After one last nod from Jaehyun, she made her way onto the stage amidst the polite applause from the audience.

She took her position, closing her eyes and taking a breath.

Use it. Feel the music and just let go.

- - -

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for awards! Starting with the men's solo competition."

They were all gathered on stage as they waited nervously for the results. Jaemin gripped Hyemi's hand, the two of them closing their eyes and hoping to hear their names.