Fate

Chapter 111

Mina's POV
"Sunbae! You should've seen your smile during the performance. It was sweet." My best friend said.

"You seemed to be having a blast. I don't think we see that often!" Hyejin added.

Yoongi pointed to Jungkook. "Why's your generation so nitpicky and prone to teasing, huh? You Gen Z exasperate me."

It was all in good fun. "Aww, come on hyung! I know you're not the dance type, but you liked it."

He nodded, picking up meat from the grill at the center of the table. "We've been a group for thirteen years. If I had a problem with dancing, I wouldn't be here!" He laughed to himself. "The smile is part of the dance and you know it."

We were on good terms, but not close enough for me to mess with him in that way. "I think it was a bit wider this time." I took a sip of my drink. "Just saying."

A half smirk. "And I thought you'd be the reasonable one."

He'd let me? "Me? Since when? I'm the ultimate maknae here! You should fear what comes out of my mouth." I smiled. "I think your dance partner is growing on you."

"What do you mean? She's ten years younger than me!" I gave him a look. "She's sweet. I smiled bigger because I couldn't laugh."

Kookie frowned. "There's nothing funny in the choreography."

He gave us the reason. "Tae was a step too far behind, they faked holding hands!"

The girl group's eyes went wide. "No way!"

"I didn't notice." I admitted.

"How could you? You were stuck in Namjoon hyung's eyes." Jimin joked.

Hobi took my defense. "It's part of the dance! If Suga hyung saw, he wasn't doing his job!"

Laughter all around. I was surprised at how quiet Joonie was. I leaned in. "Your silence worries me."

He snapped to reality. "Sorry. I read some emails."

"We can leave early. I don't mind." I offered.

He gave it some thought, fingers brushing against his lower lip. "I'll.. I'll actually take you up on that."

I gave Jungkook oppa a hundred dollars. "Is that enough to cover our share?"

He nodded, confused. "More than enough. You're leaving?"

"Yeah.." I took the blame. "The sounds are becoming too much and I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. He doesn't want me to walk alone at night."

He smiled. "It's okay. He's right about that. I wouldn't let you girls leave alone either. See you at the gala tomorrow?"

"Sure thing." We got up, excused ourselves and said our goodbyes.

Namjoon's POV
"You didn't have to pay for me." I looked up. "Or to say it was because of you."

"I wanted to." She didn't argue about it. "Why are you acting like this? Did something bad happen?"

Yes and no. "Hasn't happened yet per say.. Want the good thing first?"

She stuffed her hands in her coat. "If it can wipe that pout off your face, yeah."

I glanced down then at her. "Shows that much huh?"

She motioned at my face. "You're biting your cheek." She sighed lightly. "I see these things." Observing she was, really.. "Say the good thing."

Gladly. "The first show was a success, we only got good feedback. So much so PD-nim asked me if I wanted to extend the show dates."

"He has? The whole concept?" I nodded. Her flabbergasted expression even shocked me. "Will you extend it?"

It drew a small smile on my face. "The whole thing, he liked." I paused. "I said no."

Error 404 was written on her face. "Why not? It was a success."

Exactly. "That exact formula, precisely. I'm not doing it for money. I did it for fun.. to go back to where I started. This stage was my dream as a boy. It grounds me. What he wants is my wellbeing, but he runs a label. I know my solo career doesn't bring in as much as Jungkook's, but I don't have that goal." I explained. "I write my own songs and produce them. I write for our group, for others in the label. That's how I make a living. That's how I feel alive."

"I respect you.." Her mouth was agape, eyes glimmering. "So much." She gave a slow and strong nod. "I'm very happy he enjoyed the concept. Did he enjoy the concept of the teams for the main song on the new album?"

"He did! He wasn't sure how the choreographer would translate the key words he was given, but it was way better than he expected. Honestly, Hoseok hyung and Kookie can pat themselves on the back for that idea." I saw her smile. "What does that mean? You had something with it?"

She denied. "Not directly. I talked about the fact I never saw that from you guys to Moonbyul. She told Hobi oppa and he said it to the maknae and they talked to your boss. They did say they wanted something new, because they felt that the choreographies started to look similar."

I agreed. "Good call." She was still smiling. "What?" Did her smile freeze in place from the cold?

"You're happy again."

I was. "Well, look at that.."

She took my hand in both of hers. "Feel like telling me the bad thing?"

It felt better in that atmosphere. "I got the tour dates." She waited for me to be done. "It starts in May.. to finish next December."

Her smile dropped. "Seven months? Where are you when?"

"I know we finish in Seoul.. We usually do our first shows in Seoul , then South America, the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Korea again. I didn't think we'd go on tour so fast and for so long. We barely returned."

Her hands squeezed mine. "The world missed BTS. ARMYS want to see you."

I got my hand out of hers to wrap it around her shoulders and kiss the top of her head. "Won't miss me too much?"

A kind grin. "I'll try not to, but I will."

"I'll miss you too. I'll watch your interviews."

Her classic window cleaning laugh was adorable to me. "I believe you will." She looked up to me. "I'll be there for you, even thousands of kilometers apart."

"Don't you realize it?" I met her gaze. "You've already been doing that.