You glanced at your watch and felt the annoyance inside of you growing. You couldn't believe your fate. You had to babysit the boys to the award show. Correction. You had to make sure all seven boys showed up at the award show. On time. And that would need a miracle to do so, you wanted to say to your superior when he told you to substitute him. He suddenly got stomachache that he didn't want to risk going to an award show and then humiliated himself later by going to the restroom repeatedly. The boys wouldn't let him live if they knew.
So, here you were. Sitting inside the car, calling and messaging all seven to make sure they would be ready when you picked them up. You have sent the wardrobe team as well as the stylists to each of their residences respectively. No problems regarding the wardrobe, which, thank goodness, was a relief that Bambam decided to go along for one. You couldn't imagine the headache if you had to find another outfit at the last minute.
You've just checked in with Jackson's manager and he confirmed that he would depart in 5 minutes. As expected from Jackson, always so punctual. Jinyoung's manager texted you 5 minutes later, informing that they were on their way to the venue as well. You rushed Bambam's manager because he updated that Bambam was still not finished with hair and makeup yet. Mark was done and you were on your way to pick him up after picking up Yugyeom. You called Youngjae to inform him that he would be the last to be picked up after Mark. On the way, Jaebeom called that he would come on his own and you didn't need to deploy another van to pick him up.
Thirty minutes later and two boys were secured in the car while you were on your way to pick up Youngjae. You called Bambam's manager again and to your relief, he updated that Bambam was finally ready and would head out in five minutes. You let go a deep breath as everything seemed to work according as planned. You crossed your finger that it would stay that way until the boys were walking down the red carpet. You spotted the other vans and fetched Jackson and Jinyoung while Jaebeom arrived just in time when you arrived at the parking lot. You fiddled with the hem of your gown unconsciously while waiting for Bambam.
The moment you saw his van coming into the parking lot, you got off the van, after barking a short order to let the boys know to get off as well and followed you. You marched toward Bambam's van, forgetting that you were wearing a gown and a pair of high heels. Courtesy of the company. Quite the opposite of your regular uniform, which usually consisted of t-shirt and jeans, or sweats and sneakers for mobility. You forgot that you rarely wore high heels in general, but no one would think otherwise seeing you marching in high speed across the parking lot, with the other six on tow.
You were just stepping over the pavement blocks when the gap between the blocks caught your heels. Then it all happened so fast but replayed slowly in your mind. You were surprised when your heels caught in between the blocks that you stumbled backward, your back was bent weirdly and you almost fell on your back if only Mark didn't catch you right on time. Your back was bent backward with one leg stuck, and one of Mark's arm was under your back, supporting your whole weight while his other hand quickly reached out to your opposite shoulder and quickly rebalanced you.
"That was close," he said, unaware of your racing heartbeats as you realized his face was really close to yours, and you were still half-shock because your heels got stuck.
"Thanks," you replied awkwardly as you stood back up, with his hand still on your back to help you straightened up.
"No problem. Tell me something though, is it a habit of yours? Falling, I mean," he quickly added when you shot your eyebrows up at his statement.
"What do you mean?" you asked but you were cut short when Bambam showed up in front of you.
"I'm here," he announced, "Let's go," he motioned you to move and you quickly gathered yourself, counting that all seven boys were ready to go and then lined them up to their place before leaving them. You texted your superior when all seven were walking on red carpet, not that he couldn't see it from his TV at home, but you still felt the need to update him. You went to the back room and waited until the show ended. You still had to send them back after the show. Not all of them though. Jackson, Jinyoung, and Bambam had their own managers to drop them off, so that meant you were left with Jaebeom, Youngjae, Mark and Yugyeom. You had to make sure they got back home safely and collected the wardrobe and sent them to the dry cleaner before returning them to the company.
You watched the show from the TV provided in the waiting room at the back and noticed that the show was about to end. You went to the hallway, waiting for the boys to come to the backstage. Once they arrived, you sent Jackson, Jinyoung, and Bambam back to their managers, while you set up two vans to send the rest home. You rode with Mark and Yugyeom since your place was in the same direction as the other two, while Youngjae and Jaebeom were in the other van. You've told all of them that you would come back and collected the wardrobe later.
There was a complete silence inside the car on the ride back as Yugyeom opted to sleep while Mark... well, he was just being Mark. You woke Yugyeom up when the car stopped in front of his place and he muttered his thank you and got off. Then the silence fell back in place as the car moved again. It was a short distance to Mark's place so it didn't take long to reach his place. Since the car stopped on the left of the road and you were sitting on the left side of the car, so you had to get off first so Mark could go past you to get off. Somehow, as the car door opened, you were reminded of the incident earlier and you felt awkward suddenly. You were rushing to get off the car and again, you forgot that you still had those damn heels on your feet. You landed on wrong footing that caused you to stumble sideways this time, but Mark was quick again. He caught you right on time before you got the chance to sprain your ankle.
"Thanks," you mumbled shyly as you were sure you were red of embarrassment. Falling on him twice on the same day? What would he think of you? He might think you did it on purpose.
"No worries," he made sure you were steady enough before retreating his hands. "Like I said, it's sort of a habit of yours," he continued, reminding you about the same talk earlier.
"Yeah, about that," you frowned as you faced him, "What do you mean by 'a habit of mine'?" You were half-offended by his statement as you sure didn't try to fall on purpose in front of him.
"You don't remember?" he chuckled as he saw your puzzled face.
"Yeah, I fell earlier this afternoon in the parking lot, but it wasn't like I did it on purpose. So, why do you say that it's a habit of mine?" you questioned.
"I'm not talking about earlier," he shrugged, putting his hands into his pants pockets, "I'm talking about when you were just starting as an intern, and when you got promoted as an assistant," he prompted, waiting for your response. And as he listed all those times, you were reminded of how clumsy you were. When you were just an intern, your shoelaces were loose and you didn't realize it until you stepped on them and fell toward the person in front of you, which happened to be Mark. At that time, you didn't know him well and you were too afraid to make mistake, so you quickly bowed and apologized to him and ran away. It wasn't until later that you knew from your friend that it was Mark whom you bumped into.
The second time was when you were just promoted as an assistant. You were busy walking back and forth on the MV set, bringing stuff and the wardrobe, to and fro the car and the prep room. You piled the stuff so high so you didn't need to walk back and forth so many times, but you ended up bumping into a person since you couldn't see what was in front of you because of the pile. That person happened to be Mark, again. You bumped him quite hard that the stuff fell, and you tried to catch it, but ended up tripping over his foot. Then, as predicted, the rest of the stuff fell all over the floor, some even knocking his head and yours, and he had to catch you so you didn't fall on the ground.
"I see that you start to remember what I'm talking about," his eyes twinkled with mischievous and you could feel your cheeks warmed up again.
"Sorry," you apologized again. You've lost count how many times you have apologized to him. "Believe me, I didn't do it on purpose. I think it's just my bad luck."
"Bad luck?" his eyebrow shot up. "So.. bumping into me is bad luck?"
"Nooo..," your eyes widened in surprise as you realized your statement might give other implications. "That's not what I mean," you corrected yourself quickly. "I mean, I am the one with bad luck that I end up bringing bad luck to you as well. I bumped and fell onto you numerous times. Even your head got knocked up once. I'm sorry for causing so much trouble."
He snickered, "Well, I don't mind though if it meant I get to catch a pretty girl like you." You were sure you had your jaw dropped. "Though I was hoping that you would fall for me in different context," he winked and you blushed again. You froze at your spot and couldn't find words to say until you heard him chuckling, ruffling your hair. "Don't worry, I'm not forcing you to admit anything. Just let's see each other without bumping or falling next time, shall we?" You just nodded and he waved goodbye before leaving. It wasn't until the driver honked the horn that you realized what has just happened. You ended up screaming inside and shook your head that made the driver concerned about your well being. Did you lose your mind just now? You walked as if you were in cloud nine. Mark Tuan.. the Mark Tuan.. hoped that you would fall for him? Oh well, ain't that an easy request?
