The Reason? - Yoon Jeonghan

Chapter 29

All in all, it was nothing but stressful. Her every move was filmed. She continued to dance to the song as if nothing had happened all the while trying to communicate the problem to the rest of the members with the signal they had agreed upon days before.

With their backs turned away from the front of the stage, Ophely looked over towards Seungkwan subtly telling him that she wasn't the right person. He quickly understood but wasn't able to do much more as he turned back towards the fans and sang his part. She managed to dance to the following parts, reminded of all the dance practice sessions she had participated in. And the tips the boys had told her, how she had to release her face of any tension, letting on a calm expression or a simple smile. Anything that was adapted to the song. It was much harder to do when you were being watched by thousands.

But Ophely dreaded the part that was quickly coming up, knowing that it was Jeonghan's part, and that she could not sing. On a whim, she decided to play the part that the mic wasn't working and soulfully mimed the words. Her hands, hidden from the cameras, signed at Dokyeom beside her, and whoever else was watching them. Some of their heads turned when they didn't hear him sing, worried that something happened. Seungcheol and Woozi realised what had happened, as did half of the members, at least those that could see her hands moving.

It was a surprise that they had swapped this early in the song. But only both of them could tell the others what had made the stress level rise up and have them both in the wrong body.

Ophely knew that she was a bit behind it, well, half behind the swap. She could only speculate on the fact that Jeonghan was also stressed to perform the song for the first time in front of fans since his hiatus in December, or that he was tired and many other things. She thought about speaking to him about that after the performance. Ophely realised how he hadn't really opened up to her, or the boys, about how he felt with the entire swap.

She was surprised by how fast the performance had ended, she hadn't messed up the dance routine like she often did during practise, nor did she do anything unlike Jeonghan. She kept her face with the best expression possible, as much as she could while having cameras riveted on her while she did something she didn't particularly enjoy doing.

"Done!" Ophely cheered as they all left the stage, she felt the pressure leave her shoulders and the smile she bore was sincere. The boys all hugged each other when they were out of the stage, proud of each other from the good work they had done previously. This was officially the start of their promotion, if you didn't take into account the prerecorded stuff. And Ophely was dragged in the group hug, she was much too hyper to be calm about it all, she really felt free after leaving the stage. She hugged all of the boys one by one thanking them for their support. And then she stood behind the body that she had been in, back in her own.

She looked and saw that Jeonghan had discreetly extended her hand to touch his exposed waist, with all of their hands and them brushing against one another his clothes had hitched up.

A smile graced her lips as she watched the boy enjoy their celebration together. Their manager stood beside her, waiting for them to calm down a little.

They all filtered into their waiting room, where the lunch boxes Ophely had made them the day before awaited. Hungry, they all dug in with enthusiasm. Thanking the girl in between bites for making them lunch while she was also stressed, though it was one of her habits when nervous, she had to occupy her hands to get her mind to think on what she did rather than thought about. She smiled at them, proud to actually be part of this joyous atmosphere.

But the fact that this was the first promotion in many, Ophely wasn't sure how long she was going to be happy being dragged with the group.

-

The answer to that was - not very long. Because from being there with them for a few Korean promotions and following them for three concerts and an award ceremony, followed by three more concerts, this time in Japan, a fansigning event, and five other concerts and two fansigns before continuing with three more concerts. All that in more or less a single month.

Ophely was knackered, dead tired, and wanted nothing more than sleep all day instead of continuing with her school work and Seventeen practises. Though she didn't have much of a choice there. She wasn't going to stand like an idiot in the middle of the stage if she was Jeonghan again;

Though this time the idea for a mic to be brought in on stage was more possible, it shouldn't be done for every single concert were she to swap with him. If she was to not sing any of his lines, then Carats would realise that something was wrong. They would.

And in the while, Ophely hadn't found a day where she could talk with Joenghan on his perspective on this whole body changing thing. And she had missed the first day of school because she was in Japan with the boys for some Japanese promotions. And the body swapping this hadn't been resolved yet. They hadn't even gone further than they had since the start of February.

"I'm tired." She had told the boys one afternoon when they had asked her if she wanted to eat outside with them and some staff members. "Sorry." But her face was clear, she looked tired, and had acted the part for over two hours. Mingyu looked down at his watch, seeing that it was nearly midnight and they hadn't eaten yet. He told the guys that they should just go and leave Ophely to her own, to rest in the quietness that often came around when the boys would disappear.

"Sleep well." The boys told her as they left the apartment.

"Eat well yourselves." Jeonghan said as he stayed behind, closing the door to the hotel room. When he turned back around, Ophely had already left and was brushing her teeth, ready to go to bed.