The GRAMMY's.
The Grammy Awards are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognise "outstanding" achievements in the music industry...if you believed what you read on Wikipedia and if you didn't see the artists who had brought exceptional change to the music industry like Lana Del Ray, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and even Diana Ross.
BTS were included in that list of people who had changed the music industry, had made Billboard change their rules every time they brought out a new single or album, had streaming numbers no one else had and yet for all the Grammy nominations, performances and making an appearance, there was no Grammy.
Until they had received a notification from Bang-PD to their phones, though five of those messages had been delayed in getting to their recipients.
Grammy Nominations have come through - Grace has got 3.
7 Rings - Record of the Year
In My Head - Album of the Year
7 Rings - Best Pop Solo Performance.
Each had a different reaction to the news, which was understandable. At first, there was elation over the fact that at least one of them got a Grammy nod, second was amazement that she had scored three big major categories and then worry mixed in with disappointment. Why hadn't they had the nomination? Whether solo or as a group, the Grammy's had left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Namjoon, Yoongi and Seokjin knew Grace would flat-out refuse to perform or even go to the awards. They knew her back to front - her loyalty stood with the group and if they weren't getting a nomination, then neither would she.
However, this was a defining moment in her career, their careers, their history and for the country.
And for those who knew what kind of start Grace had, this would be the perfect way to celebrate that career.
She started as an admin assistant, straight out of school and into employment with Big Hit Entertainment who then saw that she could do ballet dancing, and ballroom dancing, who could sing though that skill was untouched, spoke perfect English, could speak German as well and had all the charm of an idol.
Yet there was no place for her.
Everyone knew Bang PD wanted a hip-hop group and that's what he started with in Namjoon, then Yoongi and Hobi. Grace was added as a backup for the ability to sing their ad-libs and rap alongside them without any problem. Then along came Seokjin & Jungkook, Taehyung and Jimin and suddenly they were an idol group.
A woman shouldn't be doing hip-hop with a boy group and so she had signed a two album contract which had left her on tenterhooks as to whether all the skills she had gained while working with Bangtan Sonyeondan would now be worthless. But along came Skool Luv Affair and Dark & Wild and everything fell into place.
Now they couldn't see the group without their eldest member, the only female, their noona. The woman who protected them in every sense of the word and who had always been there for their solo projects and careers. Her own started very late after their military careers had started so she had full reign of being the BTS representative.
If her upcoming tour was a testament to how well her solo career had taken off, then a Grammy nomination would just solidify that.
Updates were coming in every day and then it was the date of the Grammy Awards themselves. Jungkook, Jimin, Taehyung, Namjoon & Yoongi were given special permission for absence of leave for two days so Seokjin planned a private viewing party just for the boys, their close friends who knew Grace as well and some of their team.
Seokjin had been up till late preparing snacks and food as the Grammy's would start at 10am their time. There was plenty of alcohol covering his kitchen counter and there was food everywhere when Hobi had arrived first.
"Hyung, have you been stress cooking again?"
Seokjin paused where he was putting out plates and cups, chilling the expensive alcohol that had been gifted to him by someone and making sure there was enough kimchi in the container. Multitasking at its finest.
"Maybe? I can't help it. I'm nervous, more for Grace than anyone else."
Hobi sighed, having had the same conversation with every other member of the team and Grace herself. She had massive reservations about attending and performing, believing it all to be a big farce so they could have big viewing numbers.
"I know, but noona will be fine. She's a lot stronger than us and a loss at the Grammy's won't affect her like it did us. As she said, as long as her performance is killer, who cares."
Nothing more could be said as the front door opened and the rest of his boys poured through, Jungkook first then the rest following with bags of more food and alcohol.
"How drunk are you all getting?" Hobi laughed, receiving hugs and pats on the back as he looked at the various sized bags that were being dumped in the kitchen.
"It would have been more but Yoongi-hyung stopped us," Taehyung shrugged as he dropped his bag and then lifted his arm, flexing it to show off his muscles which caused Jimin to roll his eyes and push at him. "We've all got muscles. It hasn't been that long since Hobi-hyung has seen us."
"Are you feeling okay?" Yoongi and Namjoon asked Seokjin at the same time, causing the two to pause, look at each other then back at their hyung.
Jungkook, while looking every inch the military man he had become, had wrapped his arms around Seokjin and pushed his face into his back.
"Nervous," Seokjin admitted while patting Jungkook's hands. "I'm more nervous for her than about the whole thing. But I know she can handle it. It's just a big thing."
"For everyone," Namjoon smiled slightly and reached over to give Seokjin's shoulder a squeeze, causing the man to squawk at how strong that grip had become. "Ah, sorry hyung."
"Come on, let's get the TV sorted before everyone else comes. And start cracking the bottles open hyung, let the champagne breathe before we get started," Yoongi grinned as he took control of the situation, shooing people to start doing jobs.
Even though it was early in the morning and most people had been up all night working, everyone was in bright spirits as the coffee churned. The living room was filled with about 20 people, some on the couch, some on the floor, some on chairs they had brought over. Jungkook had even stolen the spare mattress in the other room and had laid it out on the floor for some.
BTS, however, had taken control of the couch.
They barely listened to the people talking on the screen as they all settled down with their various glasses of drink though Seokjin, Hobi and Namjoon had stuck to iced coffee for now. They wanted to be sober enough to get to her performance before drinking any type of alcohol.
Their phones went off at the same time.
"Oh my god, look at her!"
Taehyung lifted his phone up and began showing it around to the others. Sejin had sent a picture of Grace between her parents, dressed in her Elie Saab dress and made up to the nines as her father stood in a suit to her left and her mother stood to her right in a gold dress. They all matched perfectly to what Grace was wearing.
Messages quickly flew out of good luck, hope it all goes well, kill the stage, etc. None were read by Grace but Sejin sent a thumbs up emoji back with a winky face.
There was silence in the room as they watched the red carpet, pointing out the various celebrities they knew of or had met. They had immediately spotted Liam McEwan, one of the reporters who they actually liked. And then they saw Bang PD step out of the car with Grace's parents, a member of staff leading them past the red carpet and inside.
"Here we go," Seokjin muttered as Namjoon's hand squeezed his shoulder again, a bit more gently this time.
The noise from the crowd was instantaneous.
Hands reached forward for the remote control to turn down the volume a bit as screams were heard, many heads turned as the camera switched to Liam McEwan. "Everybody, Grace Chu from BTS has arrived! The queen is here."
The boys held their breath until the camera caught up with where it was meant to be, showing Grace in front of the Grammy backdrop, cameras flashing in her eyes as she smiled for the photographers. The dress sparkled each time the camera flashed and then she was moved along, straight towards Liam.
"Seee! Told you she could do it," Yoongi said as he raised his glass of whiskey, not at all a bit tipsy as Jungkook reached over and filled it up for him. When did he get started on that?
"She hasn't even gotten inside yet hyung," Jimin laughed, already opening another bottle of champagne as if Grace had already won her three awards and had been crowned Queen of Korea.
Seokjin and Namjoon as well as Hobi, the only three who had been determined not to drink until the end, slowly sipped on their iced coffee and laughed as they watched an excited maknae open Taehyung's bottle of wine for him.
"But she's won everyone over! I mean, that dress is amazing on her," Taehyung said as he stood, pushing over Jimin who spilled himself into Hobi's lap. Obviously, a career in the military had done nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.
Taehyung stood next to the large TV screen, pointing at various parts of her dress. "I mean, it's pretty low. I wonder who signed that off but either way, she looks amazing. And look! Cleavage! No one has seen noona with cleavage yet."
Yoongi groaned, covering his eyes. "Don't mention Grace and cleavage in the same sentence. I'm not drunk enough yet."
Seokjin hid a grin behind his hand and tried not to chuckle, ignoring Hobi who was cackling into his back and Namjoon who stood ready to defend his noona's honour until he was pulled back down.
"What?" Taehyung asked, grinning. "Okay, okay. But this is history in the making here. She's got everyone eating out of her hand already and she's not even inside yet. Is that Taylor Swift she's saying hello to? Oh, it's Nicki Minaj. Ah, another collab being set up there."
"Tae," Seokjin started and threw a napkin at him. "Sit down before your eyes turn into the same shape as the TV. You're blocking the view as well."
There were plenty of voices who agreed with him as Tae pouted and sat back down, ignoring the maknae line's giggles.
The next time they saw Grace was sitting with her parents in the main room, taking a glass of water and gulping it down before Sejin and the Grammy team led her away.
"Oh this is it," Jungkook whispered as he somehow managed to squeeze in next to Seokjin. If there were two people in the room who were close to Grace and could feel her nerves from here, it would be them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to 5-time Grammy nominated member of BTS, Grace Chu," the loud announcement came.
"Okay. This is it," Namjoon said as he went into leader mode. "Everyone shut up and let's enjoy it." Nothing more needed to be said as everyone went into quiet mode, 20 sets of eyes on the TV that showed a black curtain being lifted as the opening to the Sound of Music's 'Favourite Things' was being played by a small orchestra, dressed in black dinner suits and dresses.
Jungkook reached over and held onto Seokjin's hand tight.
Each light in the middle came on to show her standing there, in her blazer dress that was very short but presentable and caused some uproar from the boys the moment they saw it but a quick look from Namjoon and they settled again.
Her eyes met the camera as it slowly zoomed in and she gave a small smile as she started to sing, four female dancers walking on stage to meet her dressed in white suits.
"My wrist, stop watchin', my neck is flossy," Grace and Jungkook sang at the same time, though he did it under his breath as he watched the choreography on the TV. By the time the chorus came, the four female dancers spread further apart to allow the seven male dancers to come alongside though they were dressed in matching black suits.
"Wearing a ring, but ain't gon' be no Mrs," Grace sang as she flashed her left hand, wiggling slightly causing Jimin and Taehyung to giggle.
There were more outrage noises when it came to the second pre-chorus, the female dancers were back as the lyrics "my smile is beamin', my skin is gleamin'" were sung but instead of Grace doing the usual choreography that the boys were used to, it had been changed for American tv.
All five women turned and leaned forward, resting heads on backsides as Grace shifted hands to turn her head towards the camera as she sang the rest of the lyrics, "the way it shine, I know you've seen it" as her hand went down the thigh of the dancer who she was resting on.
"I bought a crib just for the closet," Grace sang as she rightened herself, not paying attention to the crowd's delighted noises or what her parents were going to think. Right now, it was a cause of getting through this song to get to the rap part and then done.
All dancers were back for the chorus and Yoongi, Hobi and Namjoon shifted towards the edge of the seat. They had seen the many comments around this song and whether Grace could perform the rap part live, since it was so fat, not realising she covered their rap parts with ease when they needed her to.
"When you see them racks, they stacked up like my ass yeah," she sang/rapped, turning her body a little to camera to show her hand grabbing a chunk of her backside to match the lyrics. She then fully turned to the camera, the dancers in formation on either side of her as she continued the verse.
"Shoot, go from the store to the booth. Make it all back in one loop, gimmie the loot," she continued as she danced her way through the verse without stopping to take a breath.
In complete jubilation, every single person in Seokjin's living room sang along with her.
"Nevermind I got the juice. Nothing but net when we shoot. Look at my neck, look at my jet!"
"Ain't got enough money to pay me respect. Ain't no budget when I'm on the set If I like it, then that's what I get," Grace continued from where they left off singing.
The dancers all left the stage as the orchestra took over the last chorus, letting the song play out once Grace stopped singing. The audience stood, clapping and cheering for her and even though the camera's didn't show it, she did a full bow to the crowd.
"Okay, that was amazing!"
The alcohol was flowing now the worst of the nerves were over with and Seokjin happily accepted the glass of wine, Namjoon a whiskey from Yoongi and Hobi a washed down glass of white wine. All seven boys, their close friends and team lifted their glasses in cheers.
"Namjoon, you do it," Yoongi said as everyone looked to Seokjin to lead the toast.
"Oh right," their leader said as he stood, making his way to stand next to the TV where the awards were flowing.
"When I first met noona, I was a shy teenager who had no clue, probably like many of us. She didn't care that I was into hip hop, that I had big dreams and that I wanted to be something. All she cared about was Namjoon - what did he want? And I never knew the answer to that question until the day she and I were out buying plants," Namjoon paused then laughed when he realised he was getting teary as was the rest of the boys in front of him.
"She asked what I wanted? And I picked up this plant pot because it was cute. And I realised there and then, that all noona wanted from me was to be happy and if a plant pot made me happy because it was cute, then that's what she was going to get for me. Seeing her come from someone who didn't know their place in the world to now seeing her up there on the Grammy stage, I'm very thankful that I have Grace Chu in my life. So fuck the Grammy's, who gives a shit. Grace Chu just made history!"
Everyone's glasses went up with cheers. "To Grace Chu!" they all said then downed their alcohol in one go, only for glasses to be filled again just as quickly.
There was complete and utter silence when she didn't win Best Pop Solo Performance, though Jungkook could see the storm brewing over his leader's head. "Noona isn't bothered," he muttered as he pointed to her on the screen as she laughed and talked to her parents, completely unbothered by the fact she didn't win.
It turned out to be a very long morning as each award came and went.
"The nominees for Record of the Year are," that sentence interrupted all the conversations in the room, heads turning on a swivel to stare at the screen.
BTS turned to look at each other and as if they had the same thought, they each reached over to clasp hands. Namjoon closed his eyes, let out a breath and prayed.
"And the winner is," there was a giant pause and Grace on the screen turned to her mother to say something before the answer was revealed: "7 Rings - Grace Chu."
There was complete and utter pandemonium in Seokjin's living room. Namjoon had fallen to the floor on his knees, Jungkook on his back. Taehyung and Jimin were hugging each other, Hobi stared at the screen in utter confusion and Yoongi reached over to wrap an arm around Seokjin's shoulders.
"She did it, hyung. She actually did it."
They missed most of her speech, only calming down enough to hear the last part of it.
"Holy shit," Namjoon muttered as he wiped a hand down his face and stayed where he was. Jungkook grabbed hold of his shoulders and whispered hurriedly at him. "Hyung, hyung, look."
On screen, Chris Martin from Coldplay was walking across the stage.
"No way," Seokjin whispered as Yoongi grabbed hold of his hand, squeezing tight. If there was anyone who was important to the couple and to the rest of the band, it would be Chris. The fact he was there to present the biggest award of the night was not missed by anyone.
"The winner for Album of the Year," Chris paused and turned to look at Grace. "In My Head" by Grace Chu, produced by Bang PD & PDogg from Big Hit Entertainment. Congratulations."
There was silence for a moment and then a multitude of noise. Cheers, screams, crying, hooting, laughter and some kind of noise Taehyung had produced at the news. Each man had a different reaction as they watched Grace stand and walk up to the stage, greeting Chris the traditional way before hugging him.
They went silent again as Grace started her speech, each of them holding their breath as they were standing. It wasn't missed that she had said her boys, ARMY and her man separately and for her to acknowledge Seokjin like that on American TV was another big moment.
Jimin's phone rang just as Grace walked off stage and he quickly pulled it out, seeing Sejin's name on the screen.
"Ah Sejin-hyung," Jimin said while he put the voice call on speakerphone so they could hear their old manager.
"Grace is just coming backstage now so I've got you on speakerphone, one moment." They could hear the tears in his voice over the noise in the background. "Grace, the boys are on the phone."
They were all screaming their congratulations on the line and suddenly they heard Bang-PD on the line.
"Boys," he started crying again. "I'm so proud of you all. So proud. I'm letting Grace have a moment with her parents but I just wanted to say I'm very proud of you all. Thank you."
It was hard to even get their words out but there were promises for a celebration dinner when they got back and Grace would speak to them later once she got back to her hotel.
"She did it," Namjoon whispered as he saw the notifications on his phone on various media outlets across South Korea and America reporting on Grace winning her two Grammys. CL, IU, TXT and others were posting on their social media, tagging BTS and Grace in their posts. Even Billboard had put up a post.
"She did it," Namjoon repeated as he rested a hand on Seokjin's back and an arm around Jungkook's shoulders. Hobi joined them at Jungkook's side, pulling Jimin and Taehyung in and Yoongi joined them by wrapping an arm around Taehyung and Seokjin.
Grace would return back to Korea, to them, as a twice Grammy awarded artist. And no one would be able to say that Korea's Noona hadn't broken the barrier that they all needed to be broken and no one could say that they as a group and individually weren't leading the way for other Korean idols and groups.