After The Send-Off | Mingi x Reader Pairing

CHAPTER FOUR: The Quiet Between Notes

You didn’t want to leave.

Not really.

You lingered just outside the dressing room after security had ordered you to leave. The hallway felt too quiet compared to the muffled bass still residually thumping in your chest. Your sister nudged you gently, giddy with everything that had just happened, but even she seemed to recognize the invisible weight pulling you backward.

Yeosang had been the first to return to say goodbye, his soft-spoken voice awkward but sweet as he smiled and bowed lightly toward your sister.

"Thank you... for liking our music," he said, his English careful. "You are... kind people."

Yunho had jogged over next, bright as always, gently bumping your shoulder with his. “No forget tonight, yeah?” You nod with a smile.

And then, Mingi.

He didn’t say much at first. Just looked at you like he was memorizing something in your face. His hand hovered near yours for a second, unsure, then settled in his hoodie pocket.

He leaned in a little closer, his voice low and soft.

"I want... keep talking. If okay?" His smile turned sheepish. “Not good English... but I try.”

Your heart thudded. You nodded before your words could catch up.

"Okay," you said, your throat tight with something you didn’t know how to name.

His grin widened, and he tapped his phone screen with a little shrug, pulling up the LINE app.

You both exchanged contacts. His name popped up in your chat list in Hangul, 송민기 - and then he quickly sent a wave emoji and a spark so you’d know it was real.

Before you turned to go, he reached out once more and tapped his fingers gently against yours, not quite a hand-hold, but not nothing either.

"Talk soon. Okay?"

You nodded again, this time more firmly. “Yeah. Talk soon.”

And then you left, heart rattling in your chest like a speaker turned too loud.

---

You don’t sleep the night after the show.

Not a wink.

Not in the Uber. Not even once you finally crawl into your bed after peeling off the last bits of your deep red dress that proved to now be your favorite concert outfit. It almost felt like a second skin as you finally got it off and threw it to the side.

Your thoughts consume you. What if you sleep, maybe you’ll wake up and it’ll all dissolve - like a hallucination caused by exhaustion and wishful thinking.

Your sister passes out almost instantly, curled up like a cat across the foot of her own bed, still smiling in her sleep. But you sit upright with your knees hugged to your chest, phone in your lap, staring at the lock screen.

Nothing.

You don’t expect him to message you immediately. That would be insane, right?

But still.

You wait.

And by the next afternoon, just when your brain starts whispering, It was a one-time thing, of course it was, your phone buzzes.

LINE - 송민기
[🐥]:
Hello. It’s me.
You back home safe? 😊

You almost drop your phone.

Your heart slams against your ribs so hard it aches.

And without thinking, you reply.

[Y/N ✨️]:
Yes! I got home safe.
Thank you for checking.
Are you already on the road again?