The minute the metal hit Chan's palm he opened his eyes and snapped them to mine.
"Fine," he growled and walked away. He slammed the door behind him so hard that it made me jump. I put my t-shirt and sweatpants that I had been wearing on over my outfit. It was his own fault that this happened. What did he expect?
I went to my own suitcase to see if there was anything I could possibly wear tonight when someone knocked on the door. I went to open it, but Chan stormed past me to get to it first.
The security guard handed him a wardrobe bag, and he flung it in my direction halfheartedly.
"Here," he mumbled.
I picked it up and brought it to the bathroom with me to change into.
Inside was a pair of black skinny jeans and a silver silk tank top with a lace trim. It was much more appropriate and something I would've chosen for myself. I changed and walked back out to grab my pair of silver boots.
It wasn't lost on me that it would've matched perfectly with a silver bracelet that was no longer on my wrist. I sighed and curled my hair into an updo, opting for large silver earrings since the bracelet wasn't an option as a stand-out piece.
The entire time that I was getting ready, Chan sat on the bed with his headphones on ignoring me. I put on a nude lip oil and went to wait in the hallway. I could ignore him just as easily.
This would be my first concert as Chan's girlfriend. I needed to look happy and like the luckiest fan alive who had all of her dreams come true. I was practicing smiling when Hyunjin strolled out of his room.
"That's not what I expected you to be wearing."
I gave a small laugh in response.
"Did you two have a fight?" He nodded towards my bare wrist.
"Yea," I sighed.
"He's easy to fight with," Hyunjin admitted.
"He packed all of those things knowing I had a reputation to fix," I complained.
"I know. I'm sure he's sorry."
"He is. But it doesn't change the fact that he did it."
Hyunjin just nodded and more members joined us in the hallway. Chan came out last and had moved his headphones to sit around his neck. He was blasting the BTS Dark & Wild album. Hyunjin shook his head which let me know not to say anything to him.
I guess I was seeing sulky, moody Chan now. He texted someone and then looked up to the group.
"Let's go," he ordered and snatched my hand, leading me down the hall first. I passed Felix and Han, and they filed behind me and others fell in line behind them. Chan didn't pause in the lobby to line up as usual. He kept marching straight outside.
Luckily, Dimitri was already there, and the barricades were set up. He put on a fake smile and waved at fans as we walked by. I did my best to seem so excited to be with him when all I wanted was to be home.
Chan got us onto the bus and let go of my hand. He headed to the back and got into his bunk with the curtain closed.
I sat beside Felix and across from Seungmin. They asked what had happened. Seungmin seemed more eager to chat than he had earlier. I knew he viewed this as an opportunity to try to change my mind.
I explained the argument and Seungmin seemed shocked. Hyunjin must've already told Felix Chan's plans because he didn't seem as surprised.
"I'm glad you were able to get something more comfortable," Felix remarked. He kept staring at my wrist, and it made me self-conscious.
"I'd never do that to you," Seungmin promised. Lee Know overheard him and rolled his eyes.
The second the bus stopped, the curtain to Chan's bunk opened, and he stomped down the aisle, ripped up my hand, and pulled me out of the bus.
I felt like a dog on a leash. He moved so quickly that I didn't even have time to acknowledge any of the fans at the barricades...not that they were mine to treat anyway.
He might as well have pushed my hand away with how aggressively he dropped it when we got inside. He continued sulking towards the stage for mic checks.
Felix waved me over to walk with him instead. He explained that I could stay backstage or use the box seat during the concert. Dimitri would go with me and bring me back at intermission or after the show, whichever I chose.
I headed off to the seat and decided I would come back mid-show to avoid fighting the crowd when we left.
"Good luck," I shouted, as I headed to the audience.
A few of the guys turned to smile and wave as I left. Chan ignored me completely.
The box seat with Dimitri was actually quite fun. I had nothing to do but watch the show, so I made him play drinking games with me while they performed.
1 shot for every accessory that they broke or lost
1 shot for every forgotten lyric
2 shots anytime Chan looked up at the box seat like he was trying to set it on fire with his mind
I proved to Dimitri that I was actually really fun when I wasn't being driven to crying by Chan or gross men in hotel lobbies.
And he proved to me that the stereotype about Russians drinking vodka like water was definitely true. Each shot seemed to have no effect on him. He didn't even make a face at the smell.
He helped me get backstage safely at intermission, and I waited in Chan's room for the show to wrap up. Luckily, we could still hear from backstage, so the lyric portion of the game was still in play.
When the show ended, they each headed back to their own dressing rooms. Chan never showed up.
Dimitri left to find and bring him to me. He whispered with him in the doorway for a moment before Chan marched into the room angrily.
"You're wasted?" he shouted.
"Shhhhh. I'm fine," I hushed him and put a finger up to his lips.
He tore my hand off of him and glared at Dmitri. "What happened? You were supposed to keep her safe."
"She is safe," he argued. I never expected to see him stand up to Chan.
"She wanted to play a game, so I let her."
"Yes, Dmitri drank more than me, and he's fine," I pointed at him standing tall and straight by the door and then at myself, "So I'm fine."
"You were drinking?" Chan eyed Dmitri furiously. He shook his head and handed Chan his bottle. Chan opened it and sniffed the clear liquid.
"That's water."
"Exactly. I was keeping her safe. I promise," he vowed and walked away.
Chan sighed and turned to face me. "We still have to do the bus walk."
I pouted and snuggled into the couch. "Can I sleep here?" I yawned.
"No," Chan mumbled as he undid the laces of his stage shoes and exchanged them for his converse.
He made me get up and dragged me down the hall to line up. I saw a girl in similar cowboy boots to mine, and I waved at her with a huge smile.
"I love your boots! You're so pretty," I complimented her, and Chan rolled his eyes.
"Thanks!" she replied.
"I have to pee!" I announced suddenly, and she volunteered to go with me. Chan led us to the bathroom, obviously annoyed to be babysitting me.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"Ariel," she replied.
"Oooh, like the princess!" I realized as I peed.
"Exactly," she laughed. "And you're Ella right?"
"Yes! That's me!" I flushed and walked out of the stall.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," I smiled at her through the mirror while I washed my hands.
"How did you get Chan? Like I know you won the intermission prize, but did you do anything special?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I won tonight and Lee Know said that I was going to be going on a date with Jeongin. Obviously, you managed to seduce Chan somehow."
I laughed at the idea of me seducing Chan. That night we'd done nothing but argue.
"What so funny?" she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.
"I didn't go on my date at all," I told her as I held my abs from laughing so hard.
"What do you mean?"
"I ran away from him!"
She was trying to keep up, but I was making very little sense. I used all of my brainpower to explain to her what I'd done more clearly.
"I called him short on the bus, then I said he was mean, and I decided I didn't want to go with him but wanted Felix or Seungmin instead since they're a lot nicer, and then, since he wouldn't let me switch, I ran out on him."
Her mouth dropped lower with every additional detail.
"And that worked? Playing hard to get? Maybe I should try that."
I hadn't been playing hard to get at all. I just hadn't liked him, but I didn't tell her that.
I remembered, even in my tipsy state, that Chan had said that they got in trouble if they didn't have a drink with the winner.
"Yes! But wait," I ran out of the bathroom.
"Where are you going? We have to go." Chan called out when he saw me.
"I left something in your dressing room," I told him as I sprinted back. Chan said they had to drink, not that it had to be alcohol...but this was my plan, and I was enjoying the shots tonight. I grabbed the bottle of vodka Dmitri had gotten for me, and Chan snatched it out of my hand when he appeared behind me.
"Absolutely not."
I grabbed it back and flipped him off before running down the hallway. He chased after me, but I'd already found the group when he managed to catch up.
"Good night shots for everyone!" I announced. "Ladies first," I shouted as I gave Ariel the first shot and myself the second. She stood next to Jeongin, and I handed the bottle to him next.
"Then our baby I.N.," I said so loudly that a couple of them caught on to what I was doing. They stood watching me with wide eyes.
"And you can pass it around the circle," I explained to him.
Once he'd taken his shot, I.N. handed the bottle to Felix and presented the sweatshirt to Ariel for her to wear on the walk to the bus. She rejected it.
"I don't want to go. I want to go home," she demanded and turned away from him. She winked at me and then headed off in the direction of the pit to leave. One of the security guards escorted her back out.
The guys watched after her until the clacking of her heeled boots faded away.
Han handed me the bottle, and I took another swig which made my face scrunch in disgust.
They all turned to face me.