and finally, it was the day of the festival.
seorin couldn't get any sleep the night before. maybe it was because she was excited to finally see her boyfriend dance- or maybe it was because her room-mate was a loud snore-er.
but when she saw the bags under her eyes that morning, she wanted to turn back time just so she could get rid of them. thank god for makeup, though.
all of her older friends had to leave the dorm early to get things done. hyemin was called for a briefing with all the photographers who were going to be documenting the entire day, yasuko was called for last-minute stage design alternations and ofcourse, heejin was called for rehearsals and fit checkings.
for a festival at a university, the management was not playing. it felt like an elite awards show with only the most famous people in the world.
she decided to get things done around the dormitory before waking meihui up and actually getting ready for the day.
but there wasn't a lot to do aside from the few dishes in the sink. as chaotic as the girls could get when they were together, they still preferred to keep their surroundings clean. seorin didn't really like the process of it, and she felt really lazy when it came to start cleaning, but for her the results mattered more.
but since there was nothing to clean, she plopped herself down on the couch to watch some TV.
as anyone would on a Saturday morning while watching tv, she started to doze off. that wasn't until her phone vibrated on top of her stomach.
rooftop fighters
jeno
good luck for today
guys
renjun
thanks jeno
who the fuck stepped
on the flowers i made for
mark's stage??
haechan
it isn't only mark's stage
💔
heejin
yeah we're performing too
also, thank you jeno
would you mind picking
the girls up from our dorm
too when its time?
jeno
sure, no problem
what time are the
performances starting?
chenle
at around noon
jeno
okay I'll be there with
them
renjun
WHO STEPPED
ON MY FLOWERS
mark
..... i made a mistake
yasuko
we worked so hard on
them :(
mark
im sorry I'll help
you make more
haechan
you can't you need to come
and rehearse with us
renjun
just go we'll
do something about
these flowers
seorin
top o the morning!
chenle
g'day lad!
seorin
good luck today guys
how's jisung dealing with
everything rn?
chenle
thanks rinn
he's in full panic mode
jeno
he'll be fine when he
gets on stage
jisung 🙀
what if i shit my pants
seorin
don't you fucking dare
jisung 🙀
yes ma'am no pants
will be getting shat on
mark
wait omg
JISUNG WHY ARE YOU
WITH THAT
jisung 🙀
wink ;)
heejin
OH MY GOD
SEORIN IS IN FOR A SURPRISE
seorin
im confused
whats going on
chenle
you'll find out ;)
jeno
dw I'm confused too
is meihui awake yet?
seorin
snoring like a horse
haechan
do horses snore?
seorin
probably
jeno
i'll pick you guys up at around
11:45, be ready by then
haechan
jeno the valet
seorin
😭😭
no bcs he's a big guy too
walking with him makes me
feel so safe
mark
also bcs he looks like a dog
but it doesn't help that he's
a samoyed
haechan
cutie
heejin
lmaoooo you mean
he's like one of the dogs girls
walk at night so they don't
feel threatened? 😭
jeno
😐😐
I'm getting dental coverage
so i wont be saying anything
meihui
🤬🤬😤🤬😡😡🤬😡
rin jist hit ne on ny head
w a sooon
mark
what
haechan
translation:
🤬🤬😤🤬😡😡🤬😡
rin just hit me on my head w
a spoon
seorin
had to wake you up somehow
😇
jeno
please never wake me up
seorin
who knows, lee.
i might get an opportunity to wake
up all of you someday 😇
chenle
yeah by the gates of hell
yasuko
imagine making it to
hell and seorin's just standing
there with a wooden spoon
in her hand waiting to hit
everyone on the head
haechan
naaaahhh i imagine it to
be yasuko not seorin
seorin
ty bestie 🤪
yasuko
donghyuck i will ruin
your stage props 🥰
haechan
go ahead 🥰
the only prop we'll be
needing is my handsome
face 🥴
yasuko
then I'll ruin it too❤️
mark
hyuck come on we gotta
rehearse
haechan
i gtg slay besties
renjun
we're going too, now
have fun guys
seorin
good luckkk
jeno
im stuck with the
children now
meihui
hi jeno
seorin
hi jeno
jeno
hi jeno
im jeno
am i jaemin??
am i a dog???
woof woof??????
seorin
sis said tomorrow x together
😭😭
jeno
🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭
meihui
what the fuck are you
talking about
also where's hyemin i need
to borrow one of her shirts
for today
jeno
jaemin told me the photography
majors were gonna start their
work earlier than the rest
i think they have to document
all the rehearsals and stuff too
meihui
guess I'll just take her shirt then
seorin
CLOSET RAID‼️
jeno
yeah you guys do that
I'll pick you guys up
be ready by 11:45 plEASE
not a minute late
meihui
yessir
turns out, jeno was the one who was late by 3 minutes, but meihui didn't let him live it down when he went to get the girls.
"not a minute late," meihui threw her arms up, "he said, 'not a minute late.' boy do you see the damn time??!! we're late by 3 minutes!"
"gee, sorry for falling asleep," the boy said, tired.
"i mean, it is a relief we only have to walk like.. a few steps to get there- holy shit this crowd is humongous!" exclaimed the youngest when the big amount of people came into view, "will the rest be with us or will they be backstage?"
"well, jaemin and hyemin will be going around, but i think the rest will be backstage until its their turn to perform, then they'll join us after performing- i think" jeno said, adding the 'i think' at the end just so he could defend himself if he turned out to be wrong
seorin looked over to the stage to see art majors setting it up for the first performance while a few were setting up the microphones. a few music students were doing soundchecks and photography students were recording every second of it.
she was amazed by the large production scale of the whole thing. for fuck's sake, it was only a university festival!
"man, I'm so glad it's winter. imagine standing in this crowd while it was winter," meihui scowled, tugging her jacket closer
the trio found a pretty nice place in the crowd from where they had a pretty good view of the stage, just not being able to see the further left side, but they'd take it.
"i can't wait to see who's hosting it this time," jeno's eyes roamed around the place trying to find potential hosts but only found the two girls giving him a weird look
"what?" he asked
"there's a host?!" meihui yelled a little too loud, gaining the attention of the people around them
"i thought a professor was just gonna go up and introduce all the performers?"
"well, no- the professors choose two hosts from any major every year for this. but they always choose from the fourth years, since they're graduating and all." jeno explained
"man, this is way too much for a university festival," the chinese muttered, making seorin feel better for not being the only one who felt that way
"ah- AH!! MIC CHECK AAAAAAA-"
"STOP YELLING INTO THE FUCKING MICROPHONE, LEE MINHO"
"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO KIM JUNGWOO"
"I CAN TELL YOU WHATEVER I WANT TO"
"WELL, I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT TO DO"
ah, yes. the two hosts.
"the one that was screaming into the mic before is minho sunbae, he's a performing arts major like me and mei," the samoyed pointed to the angry rabbit on the stage, arguing with yet another puppy looking guy, "we all call him lee know because he knows almost everything about dancing"
"ohhh, that's the famous lee know!" meihui exclaimed, "he's cute- I'd hit"
"what the fuck meihui"
"and that," jeno ignored meihui and pointed to the other puppy looking guy, "is jungwoo- he's friends with us as well."
it was quiet for a while before seorin asked, "so what's his major?"
jeno was silent
"jeno?"
"yeah?"
"i asked-"
"no, i heard you- it's just I don't know what his major is. it's.. a mystery"
"MIC TEST" jungwoo yelled into the mic, making everyone stop whatever they were doing once again
knowing he gained the attention of the crowd, he smiled in satisfaction
"good after- wait is it after noon or just noon? who cares, hi guys!!" he greeted into the mic
"welcome to neo arts and science technology university's uh- 28th annual welcoming the batch festival! that is such a long name," said minho, sighing at the end, making the audience roar with laughter
the hosts had undeniably great chemistry. but something told seorin they didn't rehearse their commentaries at all- just improvising everything as they went on. the fact that they held no cue-cards with their scripts on it added on to it. but she shrugged it off, having fun with the chaotic duo leading them through the festival.
"alright, so for our first act we have lee mark, lee donghyuck, jung heejin and zhong chenle from the music department! they even have a team name!" jungwoo excitedly announced and minho stepped forward to introduce the four further
"please welcome to the stage, performing 'what a time' by julia micheals, haechan's children!" minho welcomed with a round of applause followed by the crowd as the four entered the stage and the two hosts left.
seorin, meihui and jeno cheered as loud as the could for their friends. the people next to them could get their ear-drums burst but they didn't give two shits in the moment.
when mark starting his guitar, the whole crowd went crazy- and when heejin began to sing, everyone cheered louder. some people, including the three friends, sang along.
how high was the possibility of everyone getting hoarse voices and sore throats after this? very. did they care? not at all
the group looked absolutely gorgeous. from their outfits to their hair and makeup- they looked stunning. the two bestfriends in the crowd were proud when they saw heejin's makeup. she put her amazing skills to use and it payed off really well.
not the mention the vocals. did haechan have to pop off that hard, though? and how did chenle make hitting the beautiful notes and harmonizing so effortless? and oh how heejin's voice melted everyone's ears. the eargasmic voices mixed with the gentle strums of mark's guitar sent chills down the spines of almost every person in the crowd.
and before they knew it, the song ended. and to the friends' surprise, heejin and donghyuck didn't fight at all during their performance.
as the four took their exit, the hosts went up on stage again.
"that.." minho started, "that was like honey to my ears"
"tell me about it, man. i feel like my ears are gonna get diabetes," jungwoo said, sincerity lacing his tone, making the crowd erupt into a fit of laughter
"i mean, i knew they could sing but damn that was another level of it all. it was heavenly," the puppy said and the bunny agreed
"exactly, it's like that's what you would hear at the gates of heaven"
they complimented the performers a little more before beginning to introduce the next act- a group of dancers performing a choreography of a kpop group.
the performances kept going and as time went by, the young adult backstage kept getting the urge to pee- even though he had peed several times already. park jisung was so nervous, he kept biting his lip- ruining his lip makeup and getting scolded by heejin everytime.
the girl graciously offered to do everyone's makeup for their performances, the girls agreeing to it, saying she was the best at makeup amongst all of them. but how she hated it when jisung kept ruining it.
"jisung if you mess it up one more time, i swear I won't fix it for you" she said, fixing it again
"I'm sorry," the boy apologized, "I'm just too nervous- what if seorin doesn't like what i prepared?"
"dude, don't even worry about it. she'll love everything you do, as long as you don't ruin the outfit she made," mark responded, patting the youngest's shoulder, "but you'll do amazing, jisung."
"there's sooo many people out there though"
ofcourse, would donghyuck and chenle breathe properly without teasing their youngest?
"chenle, you're gonna make him pass out," heejin warned
"but chenle's right, almost everyone from the uni is there- even the science students" haechan added fuel to the fire
"yo, wait did the science students contribute anything to the festival?!" mark yelped
"I don't think so. i mean it makes sense, its an arts based festival." chenle shrugged, "they also have completely different buildings so it would've been a hassle for everyone to go back and forth"
the group of four fell into a conversation just like that, completely dismissing the topic of jisung's nervousness. it somehow helped him overcome it a little but the nerves rushed back the moment he was told he was next
the four friends who were with him gave him words of encouragement as he moved closer to the entrance to the stage. renjun and yasuko, who he saw on the way also wished him good luck but boy oh boy he was convinced he was going to throw up on stage
"for our next act, we have one of our golden juniors in the performing arts department," minho spoke into his microphone
"i know this guy personally, and damn this kid is talented- and so humble about it." jungwoo added
"up next we have park jisung performing..." minho furrowed his eyebrows and looked back to jungwoo who was equally as confused
"we don't know what he's performing but he is performing!! give it up for the baby giant!"
seorin was going feral in the crowd, screaming at the top of her lungs, "THAT'S MY BOYFRIEND YOU FUCKASS BITCHES" while jeno tried calming her down, meihui only recording it.
the boy stepped on the stage, immediately wanting to go back. his legs turned into jelly but somehow he made it to the microphone stand.
seorin?
she was going wild when she saw the object in his hands.
"WHY THE FUCK IS HE HOLDING A FUCKING GUITAR OH MY FUCKING GOD?!!?!"
jisung took a deep breath and closed his eyes, holding his guitar closer to him. he opened them again and tried to find his girl in the crowd. he smiled when he saw her confused face, gaining the confidence to start his act.
seorin, being a die-hard fan, knew exactly what song he was strumming his guitar to on the first chord.
"HOLY SHIT WHY IS HE FUCKING SINGING LOVER BY TAYLOR SWIFT?!?!?"
and when he sang the first line, seorin folded.
his soothing deep voice went super well with the vibe of the song as he sang. he knew how much she liked taylor's music. he took his time selecting a perfect song to sing to her at the festival. he wanted to make the moment special for them both.
she was entranced by it all, mouth agape now, instead of the yelling from earlier. she could hear jeno cheering for him from one side and meihui singing along from the other. but seorin couldn't bring herself to physically react.
she wasn't aware of the waterworks behind her eyes until they blurred her vision and fell on her cheeks.
park seorin felt so loved and so wanted. she knew she would do anything for the boy.
jisung kept his eyes closed during the entire performance, afraid of messing up if he opened them. but subconsciously, he opened them as he sang the last line, making eye contact with his girl, who had an unreadable expression on her face. her mascara was running down her cheeks- which made him panic on the inside. thank god the song had ended, it would've been weirder if he ran backstage mid-performance.
jeno shook seorin's shoulder, bringing her back from her thoughts.
"c'mon, he's backstage now. lets go meet him and the rest"
and ofcourse, she made a run for it.
🪐
THE👏LONGEST👏 CHAPTER👏I👏HAVE👏EVER👏 WRITTEN
I've been writing this over the course of 2 days damnnnn
excuse any typos, i didn't go back to check for any 😭
thoughts? 🤩🤩🤩