ARROGANCE | m.yg

t w e n t y t w o - y o o n g i

   I find myself beaming as the emcees of the show announce that we've beaten Twice and won the showcase. I look out at the crowd, read some of the signs fans made for us, and bow, tugging on the sleeves of my gray t-shirt. We're all dressed in the same clothes from the music video— undoubtedly the most comfortable performance outfits we have for this comeback, but I'm excited to change out of them nonetheless. Namjoon takes the mic and says his thanks to the producers and staff members at Big Hit, and then Seokjin spends a minute or so thanking all the ARMYs out there. I don't speak, but my head is buzzing the whole time. After we finished up our actual performance, Manager-nim told us that we were free until noon the next day. Immediately, my head went to spending some time with Rin, as I haven't seen her outside of the recording booth in a few weeks. As I clap and smile, my mind wanders to ways I can convince my manager to let me hang out at Rin's place or to let her come to the dorm.

   Jimin punches me in the shoulder and I realize it's time for the encore. Behind me, members of other idol groups are giving us congratulatory remarks. I say my thanks to a couple members of Seventeen and Momo from Twice before I make my way to the front of the stage to perform the encore with everyone. We have fun up there— as we always do— but I say my thanks quickly and almost forget to bow before I book it offstage, my members close behind me.

   "You alright, hyung?" Tae asks, giving me a concerned glance.

   "He's just— hang on, the mic's off, right?" Jimin asks, fumbling around for his mic box. After turning off the power and pulling the mic from the side of his face, he tries the statement again. "He's just excited that we've got the day off tomorrow, for Rin reasons."

   I punch him in the arm in an irritated but playful way, nudging him from my side. "So what if I am? I'm trying to make as much time for my friend as possible. Is that such a crime?"

   "Friend," Namjoon scoffs. "Totally."

   "Here, go get changed," Jungkook says, taking my mic from me. "That way you can hurry up and ask Manager-nim."

   "See? This is why Jungkook is great and the rest of you are pigs. Except you, Hoseok— you're alright." I give my brothers a quick salute before heading back to the dressing room, changing into black joggers and a baseball t-shirt. I also wipe most of the makeup off my face before I head back out into the main hallway to find my manager. As I leave the dressing room, I see the rest of the boys entering.

   "Manager-nim is out back by the van," Jimin says. "And he's in a good mood because we won." He shoots me a wink and I roll my eyes but follow his instructions to the back of the building. Sure enough, my manager is there, leaning against a wall on his phone with a smile on his face.

   "Hi, Manager-nim! How are you?" I ask, shooting him a grin.

   "How are you, Yoongi? Actually, let me rephrase that a little. What do you want?"

   "Damn, got me red-handed," I say, snapping my fingers in mock defeat. "I was wondering if you could drop me at Rin's place? Since we're free tomorrow I thought it would be good if we could work on our track a little bit more."

   "Yeah, I had a feeling that's where it was going. Sure, we can drop you off. Don't do anything stupid, though, okay? Promise?"

   "Swear on my life."

   "Good."

   From there I shoot Rin a text to see if she'll be cool with me coming over, only to find out that she's with Juyoung. I gnaw at my lip a little at this information, but when she lets me know she'll be leaving soon and tells me to let myself in I don't feel half as bad. Hey, at least we're getting to hang out, right?