Tie a Knot|| Blue Lock

Chapter 12

An assistant was quick to greet him as he grabbed his mic and escorted him inside a secluded room to rest and recuperate. Before the assistant left, he made sure to leave a bottle of water on his desk as [Name] now sat in front of a mirrored vanity.

Just as the door closed, it was opened immediately as the sight of his producer manager entered the room. "Good job on the performance, you did well." Ms. Kai, his manager, spoke in a monotone and serious voice but given how long he's known her, [Name] could tell it was a genuine compliment. "Go get some rest, we'll call you up when it's time to leave."

[Name] gave a grateful nod as he watched his manager walk away, probably to deal with the rest of the crew. As soon as she left, the room seemed a lot more quiet now as [Name] turned to look in front of him.

The sight that greeted him was none other than his face, slicked with sweat and pale from the tiredness catching up to him. His expression that once was smiling now settled into a blank one as he poked his cheek.

Sometimes he wonders how people could like him.

Before he could ponder deeper into self-deprecating thoughts that suddenly came when he was alone, his phone buzzed catching his attention.

Mom

 I watched the live video sent by your manager :) 
Good job! Mommy's very proud of you :>'

A smile couldn't help but appear on his face as he read the text. He's been away and performing in far away venues so he hasn't seen his mom in a while now. Nevertheless, she never failed to give him a message and remind him to hydrate whenever he could.

He typed back a message before leaving their private chat. He scrolled through his contacts only to pout when he saw no other texts. Reo texted him just as much as his mom did so it was weird to see the lack of messages.

He was about to type one out before his manager barged into his room once more.

"[Name], be on standby. We'll be leaving soon!" She called out.

[Name] nodded and closed his phone. He then stood up and began to gather the personal belongings that he had brought along with him.

He'll just talk to Reo personally next time. After all, he was coming back to school soon anyway.

"Alright, I'm coming!" He called back to her as he grabbed his water bottled before following his manager and walking out the door.

Yes, that's right. He'll get to see everyone again soon.

__________

Coming back to school after a concert was something [Name] could never get used to. Sure, he's got quite a handful of friends now, but to see random students he didn't know greeting him was just so surreal.

He knows he's not the same nameless transferee kid that he was all those years ago but the concept of popularity was still foreign to him. He knew they weren't all approaching him with pure intentions, he's heard enough stories from Reo to deduce that they simply want the bragging rights of being 'friends' with someone well known.

Speaking of Reo, [Name] turned away from the people yapping beside him in favor of peering into Reo's classroom. As the years went by, they sadly couldn't stay as classmates.

Sure, they both did well in school, but due to [Name]'s extracurricular causing him to submit a few things late, he wasn't able to get as high of a score as he wanted to in certain subjects.

Although it was disheartening to not be able to sit each other during classes, they at least saw each other on breaks or after school and that made things a bit better for [Name].