Finally, after the pandemic made it impossible, Mina had tickets to Seoul. 2025 was her year. 24 years old and solo, she was ready to walk Korean soil. The discoveries would be endless, the expected and the happily unexpected.
(Part 2 coming soon)
Mina's POV His private shows were finally announced. He was so excited this morning. I felt lucky I had only one performance tonight. Theirs. They attended as a group, which made me go in, well dressed, in a red dress for the theme of the night: Old Hollywood.
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The neckline felt even scandalous to me and I wasn't the boldest. I adored the fabric though. Namjoon did say it would be loud, but I didn't expect THIS loud. I put my earbuds in and it immediately lowered the volume to something more comfortable. I was glad to simply be in the audience. I did see them a few rows further to my right. They were chatting and whispering. Mamamoo was straight in front of me. You got the idea. All of my friends were out of reach. As much as I liked not doing small talk, I hated wanting to say something without being able to. It made the divide so obvious and clear.
Namjoon's POV She stood out in her red dress as many picked black, white and gold. The warmth of her skin tone made the contrast less harsh compared to others who pulled off that colour. I could see her scan the room, neutral expression across her face. "Think she's looking for our places?" Tae asked.
I didn't think so. "Hers."
He was so confused. "She is at her place."
I don't know how heavily I sighed. "Metaphors, Tae. Metaphors." . . . Her smile grew wider as the night went on. We were the last ones to perform so each song had the potential to hype her up. When we made her way backstage, it took her a moment to catch up. I waited for her by the door. "Ready?"
"Have to be." She smiled. "It's huge. Looks smaller on TV." She was being playful? "Congrats on your awards by the way." A peck on my cheek. "I told you it'd be like you never left for the military. I'm proud of you."
My heart tightened in my chest. She'd never kiss me in a professional setting unless I looked like I needed it. "Am I looking that stressed?"
She pat my chest before walking. "Very. It's gonna be like our first performance. All perfect."
Mina's POV My eyes met the crowd. It was a sea of people. The music started and the show went on. I ran on pure adrenaline. My smiles and grins were on point, flawless. The energy was there for everyone. It ended in claps and screams. As much as I wanted to rub it in his face. I needed to sit. My ass met the cold ground and my back against the concrete wall in the dancers' room. I closed my eyes, not taking my time to change or take my simple eyeliner off.
When my eyes opened again, there were a few worried girls and guys. "You're fine, noona?"
Other than a splitting headache, yeah. "Of course, I just took a break."
I got up very carefully. The eldest of the boys spoke. "You've been motionless for the past fifteen minutes. You never did that."
He was right. "Sorry about that. It won't happen again." I took my dress and got changed.
I almost had a jumpscare when I opened the door. "What took you so long?"
"What?"
The emerald suited man pulled me into a hug. "I was worried sick. I thought you got overwhelmed and didn't text me not to disturb me."
For once, in public, I leaned in. "I dosed off. I didn't mean to worry you." I knew I didn't disturb him if I needed to pull away from an overload of everything.
"The award is ending so you don't have to go back there. We aren't. We're expected to our beds."
Thank goodness. "I love the bed. I want cuddles and snuggles.."
It made him chuckle. "You'll get those, for sure."
Namjoon's POV Sound asleep, I pressed my lips against her forehead. Not feverish, but her skin definitely felt warmer overall. She wasn't tossing and turning as she usually did. She frowned a little bit at times. I felt like her, not understanding figures of speech.
She slept until 1pm. A decent eleven hours of sleep. I hadn't moved an inch. Okay, maybe I did budge, but I was still there. "Good morning, beautiful."
She sleepily smiled. "Morning.."
Time to do guess work. "I was planning to go to the pharmacy. Did you need anything: acetaminophen, a heated bean bag?"
An adorable frown. "What nonsense are you talking?" I gave her a look. "Alright, alright.. but it's not what you think?" What was I thinking? "Kind of the opposite." She sat up. "Don't panic, though. I'm pretty sure it's just stress." She fondled with the sheets. "It's an if you panic, I'll panic kind of situation."
I put two and two together. "There's no reason to." I pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "I'm a 32 years old man. I can take accountability."
Her eyes were round as marbles. "You're not angry or upset?"
What? How could I be? "Why would I? We do these things together. I'd never get mad at you for something like this." I rubbed her arm, squeezing her tight. What had the men in her life done? "I'll get that and.. Sour candy, kimbap and gyeranpang? It's the season~"
She was still dumbfounded. "Really?"
I pecked her cheek. "Give me thirty minutes, I'll be right back."
Mina's POV He kept his word.. I got out of the bathroom after anxiously waiting in there for the first five minutes. He was right by the door. "You don't have to stay in there."
He gave me a smile and I could only hide my face in his neck. "I hate this.. I haven't had a scare like this in ages."
He muffled his chuckle. Hand caressing my back, the other in my hair. "It's okay. I'm not too worried. How long do we still need to wait?"
I sighed. "About ten minutes.." For the past four years, I had been single. It brought me back to when these scares happened and how awful they made me feel. "How did you put your finger on it?"
"Math? Beginning of September and October. I assume November too. So.. it meant last week, but you didn't complain about cramps and your products weren't in the bathroom." He was so smart. "You're hugging me pretty tight, Kitten. It's not the apocalypse. It's just a test."
Just a test? "If it's positive, I'll die."
Namjoon's POV She had to be hyperbolic. But again, we never spoke about this. We had been a couple for half a year only. "Really?"
"I'm exaggerating, I'm just not in that mindset, right now."
I took it from the counter top to read. "You can ease down, Kitten."
A relieved sigh. "It's just stress. Oh dear.."
I put it back. Was she that scared of it happening with me? The fact she wasn't upset at the other scenario was peculiar to me. "It's happened before?"
She pulled back. "Years ago.. That's why I was a bit iffy. I'm also tired as hell."
That was reassuring? "We can talk about it over VERY late breakfast, if you'd like? I'd like to."
