Spring Day 轉; knj + ksj

First Dose

Despite all we did to prepare for the showcase of "No More Dream" at a local musical festival, we barely had any attendees. We did all we could from handing out flyers to strangers to inviting friends and family. Well, the friends and family side were skipped by me. I didn't want them to know what I was doing. They'd only lecture me for skipping cram school and wasting time a hobby that wouldn't further my future. I lied to them that our school had a study event where the teachers were preparing us for the next round of exams.

Besides lying, there was another problem. Hoseok had sprained his ankle, so all of us had to cover his position. He was supposed to be the star dancer, yet Jin and I had to struggle to learn some extra moves at the last minute. We were the worst dancers of the bunch. Neither of us had formal dance lessons and we both seemed to be very stiff. I'd also get my left and right side of my body mixed up, so often I'd crash into someone else. Jin, on the other hand, was often one beat behind. The only thing that could have been done was to tuck us in the back of the group in hopes that no one would be able to see how poorly we danced among a group of six.

It was only five minutes before opening and when I peaked at the stage once more, only around ten to fifteen percent of the seats were filled for our segment. Most of the attendees had left because the gig in front of us had already finished performing and they were a popular underground hip hop duo. We were nobodies. Even worse, I swore I saw Choa and Momo. It was fairly easy to spot Choa partly due to the small audience and mostly due to her short, blonde hair and prominent features. Momo also had this intense presence that would capture people's attention. They were, after all, one of the two most popular girls at school. As soon as I made eye contact with Choa and she, as a result, waved at me, I quickly pulled the curtain behind me and scrambled somewhere back stage.

Unfortunately, I nearly bumped into Yoongi who had a stern look. "Don't tell me you've got stage fright and you're backing out last minute," he grumbled in a way where only his lips moved.

"N-No," I stuttered quickly. "Just . . . saw some familiar faces."

"Oh!" Jin cheerfully exclaimed. "Choa and Momo came? That's great!"

"Great?" I blurted. "It's horrible!"

"What? Why?" Jin wondered.

"It's embarrassing!" I huffed and crossed my arms.

"What?" Yoongi snapped. "You think our performance is embarrassing? And here I thought you were starting to—"

"I think he's just nervous that he'd make a mistake in front of his friends." Jimin stepped in between Yoongi and me to break up a potential fight. Then he tugged my sleeve and verified, "Isn't that right?"

I was shocked at how Jimin could be so aware of what I was thinking. Now that I thought of it, Jimin always seemed to be able to sense other people's feelings and adapt to them. Somehow, no one hated him and it wasn't like Taehyung where he could say random words and then get away with them. Jimin had a way with words, a sort of quiet, resilient power behind his soft, meek demeanour. I always admired that about him even though often, he'd think too much and criticize himself too heavily. It seemed like he set a very high bar for himself and no matter how high he jumped over that bar, he'd always fall. No, it wasn't that he didn't meet other people's expectations. In fact, he excelled. He was just too self-critical and sensitive that I knew that one day . . . he'd hurt himself. It was just a matter of time.

"Y-Y-Yeah," I murmured quietly to myself with my head sinking low. I didn't want to admit that I was scared of spectators. I didn't want to look like a coward.

"That you don't have to worry," Jungkook chimed after whistling a tune. "There's barely anyone here, so no one would even care about our mistakes."