After eating, you ended up having to drive Jaebum, Mark, Jinyoung, and Yugyeom back to their apartment they shared so they could get the things they needed before going to the Melon Music Awards. Jackson, Bambam and Youngjae lived separately and had close friends pick them up from your house before you had left.
You and Got7 didn't have to be on stage to practice until four so you had a few hours to get ready and clean up your house. What you were currently wearing was definitely not appropriate attire for the award show. After returning to your house you took a shower and quickly put on makeup. You didn't want to wear anything crazy so you put on a simple black blouse with jeans and a forest green trench coat, but you did keep on the earrings Yugyeom got you for Christmas. You also grabbed a pair of light beige heels and black sunglasses to complete the whole outfit.
You still had to clean up your living room from last night, but you had taken so long to get ready you didn't have enough time to much more than pick up a few pieces of trash and stick some plates in the sink.
Grabbing a matching beige purse you headed to out to your car. You were supposed to be backstage a little bit before Got7 because you needed to meet with NCT's choreographer and go over a few last minute details of the joint performance.
By the time you arrived, it was just a quarter to three. There were many other groups already backstage getting ready. It was something you still weren't used to yet. This was much different than regular concerts, every group had their own makeup team, managers, and their own choreographers not to mention all the crew that was running the actual award show. It was like a zoo in the backstage area. After walking through the maze of other kpop groups you found the area assigned to Got7. There were a few members of the makeup team including Jinhee and Misun already in the waiting area. You spent a few minutes talking with them until it was time to go find NCT's choreographer, Junho.
Junho was a short but muscular man that no matter what occasion dressed like he was a British spy in the 1990s about to shoot a laser out of his Rolex. He had a short beard that covered the entire bottom half of his face and slicked back hair that was covered in gel. Today when you finally found him, he was wearing a dark gray suit with a black dress shirt that had the top two buttons undone.
He was standing on the edge of the stage watching as NCT 127 finished their practice run of their performance. "Junho" You smiled as you approached the stage, your hands in your pockets. Junho turned around and waved you to join him. You had to meet with him on several occasions spending a few hours in the dance studio at SM to prepare the joint Got7 and NCT stage. You made a slight bow out of politeness before standing next to him. You took off your sunglasses and placed them on top of your head. "NCT looks ready to perform," You noticed how well their practice run had gone as you watch them finish dancing. "I just hope it'll look this good in a few hours" Junho laughed at himself.
Once NCT finished they walked over to you and Junho, most of them were sweating and out of breath. You hadn't actually met NCT before this so when they walked up to you they all bowed and greeted you overly politely. "Hello" You smiled and bowed back to them. "You can all go backstage now just Taeyong, Yuta, and Doyoung please be back here after Got7 finishes their practice" Junho nodded and then let his members leave the stage.
"So where are Got7?" Junho asked noticing they hadn't arrived backstage earlier. "They should be on their way, they don't practice until after Twice finishes," You noticed the large girl group making their way on the stage. You and Junho sat down in the audience seats while waiting for Got7's turn. There were other choreographers sitting as well waiting for their group's turn to practice. You talked with Junho as Twice practiced talking about the group stage, making last-minute comments and suggestions on the performance you worked on together.
Twice had the stage for about twenty minutes before it was time for Got7 to practice. When Got7 was walking up onto the main stage, none of them had makeup on yet and they were wearing practice clothes, Jaebum was still wearing the same pants he had on at your Christmas party.
Junho joined you on stage as you walked towards Got7. "Are they all sick?" Junho commented quietly so only you could hear. It made you smile, Junho didn't know but you did. They all probably felt gross and yucky from drinking so much back at your house. You felt fine despite yesterday but you couldn't say the same for Got7. "I don't think so" you added back smiling at Got7.
"You all remember where you start for You Are right?" You asked once you got close enough to Got7. You glanced over and saw the piano for Youngjae making it way on stage. They nodded and headed to their various positions on stage except for Yugyeom. He stayed standing in front of you and was staring at you. His face was blank but you could feel a hint of anger radiating off his skin. His body was telling a different story than his face. You were confused "Something wrong Yugyeom?" You asked as he continued to look at you. He still didn't respond to you. His arms were down at his side but his hands were balled up into a fist. You could feel Junho looking at you, just as confused as you were.
After a minute of this weird stare, down Jaebum came walking back and pulled Yugyeom into his stage spot. Even after he was being pulled away Yugyeom stared at you. "What was that about?" Junho asked you as you watch Yugyeom move into his spot. "I don't know..." You frowned crossing your arms walking back to the smaller stage queuing the music people to start the practice.
You couldn't figure out why Yugyeom had made that face at you. You were just standing there why would he be mad? After watching Got7 perform their practice run of You Are with the new dance break you made, you walked to the members who were standing on the front most part of the stage out of breath and sweating. Junho had stayed behind and watch from below the stage. "Youngjae you play the piano so well" You smiled trying to pretend like something wasn't off with Yugyeom. "Ahh thank you" Youngjae smiled. After making a few comments to the members you dismissed them to go begin to get their makeup on. "Jinyoung Bambam you can hang out in the seats with NCT for a few minutes Yugyeom can I talk to you?" You sent away the other members and watch Jinyoung and Bambam take a seat next to Taeyong and Yuta. You walked to the other side of the stage so no one could hear you, Yugyeom following you.
"Yugyeom what's wrong?" You asked in a way that sounded both concerned and a bit angry. Before Yugyeom responded to you he stared at you again. You had your arms folded waiting for Yugyeom to answer you. Then everything exploded "Who is that guy that was standing next to you? Why were you standing so close to him?" Yugyeom suddenly blurted out. You were taken back. 'Who did Yugyeom think Junho was?' You thought.
"That is Junho he is NCT's choreographer and I've had to work with him to make the dance you, Jinyoung, and Bambam, are about to practice," You said very angrily. 'What was Yugyeom thinking!' you thought as you felt your body tense up in anger. You could see the sudden change in Yugyeom's face. He was now bright red in embarrassment. "Who did you think he was?" You asked still annoyed.
"I don't know. Soomin I was worried..." You didn't let Yugyeom finish. "Worried what?!" You blurted in English "That I brought a guy with me to work when I'm in a serious relationship with you?" Even as you said it, it made no sense. Why would you bring someone with you when you were working, and why would Yugyeom think that. "Soomin I'm so sorry, it's just Jackson made a comment earlier and then you were laughing at something he said. I didn't know what to think." You could see the guilt on Yugyeom's face. "Junho is a colleague from SM, that I am only working with because for this joint performance. Yugyeom I only have feelings for you, but I have to work with other people all the time." You started to relax a bit.
You weren't as angry anymore seeing the way Yugyeom was reacting. "We need to do the practice run with NCT now. After the show is over we can talk about this more" When you finished speaking you started walking back to where the three NCT members and Jinyoung and Bambam were waiting.
They were all standing on the main stage ready to start the practice run of their performance. You could tell they had all watched your conversation with Yugyeom and knew something was wrong. You stood next to Junho while Yugyeom joined Jinyoung and Bambam. "Everything alright?" Junho asked in a quiet manner. "Yea just a minor hiccup," You lied since you obviously couldn't explain the actual situation.
Twenty minutes passed as you watched NCT and Got7 practice their joined dance. As you watched you mostly focused off of Yugyeom, you felt bad for getting angry but you were still annoyed with him. "Thank you for working so hard" You started speaking to both Got7 and NCT "I need to go take care of something but Junho has a few more things to say?" You bowed and began walking off the stage. You wanted to leave before Yugyeom got a chance to try to talk to you again. You weren't mad at him anymore but you knew you did not want to open the conversation back up just yet.
You walked backstage and joined Jinhee and talked with her while she was putting Got7's makeup on. When Yugyeom, Jinyoung, and Bambam returned you could feel Yugyeom trying to get your attention multiple times. You glued your eyes to your phone trying to act like you couldn't see him. It wasn't until Got7 finally left to watch the show could you relax. You helped Jinhee pack up her makeup and then said goodbye to her as the makeup team and a few other people left.
The only people left backstage were just you, Got7 manager, and one or two other people. While the award show was going on you read a book you had brought from your house. There wasn't much else to do and you didn't want to waste the charge on your phone.
Since you were waiting until the end of the show you spend three hours backstage reading. You only stopped reading when it was Got7's turn to perform. Even if you were annoyed with Yugyeom you wanted to watch them and wish them luck.
It wasn't until you began to notice different groups walk past where you were sitting that you realized the show had ended.
By the time Got7 arrived back, it was very very late. Their manager wanted to leave as soon as the members were ready to go. You were sitting in one of the makeup chairs when they arrived, waiting for Got7's manager to speak to them not wanting to be disruptive. When he had finished speaking JB told the other members to gather their things and head to their cars. Everyone except Yugyeom followed directions. He had moved in front of you leaning against the table waiting for the space to clear.
Until you were sure everyone had left you kept your eyes on your book, pretending you were still reading it. The last person to leave was Jaebum, making sure no one left anything behind and letting Yugyeom know he had only a few minutes before they would leave without him. You had thought about what you wanted to say to Yugyeom but you wanted to wait and hear what he was going to say to you first.
You closed your book and stood up from the makeup chair finally meeting Yugyeom's eyes. You could feel how sorry he was just by looking at him. "Soomin I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have assumed Junho was anything more than a colleague" Yugyeom started to apologize. "Yugyeom I don't want you to apologize" You sighed "I'm upset you would think I would think about any other guy like that, but that isn't the problem. We can't have that happen again when we're working, our relationship has to be a secret. It was too obvious that you were mad at me and we can't have other people questioning our relationship" You felt like you just dropped a ten-ton weight from your shoulders.
"You're right. I totally screwed up. I just got jealous thinking... thinking I could lose you to someone else" Yugyeom looked down at the floor angry at himself for thinking such things. His hands balled into fists again. You felt bad you didn't want Yugyeom to beat himself up so much. You moved closer to him and cupped his face between both your hands. His skin was still hot and slightly sweaty from performing earlier. "Yugyeom there is only one person I want to be with and that's you. Don't think that I look at anyone else the same way I look at you because I don't..."
"You're right. I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I'll never think that way again" Yugyeom put his hands on top of yours, moving your hands off from his face giving you a quick kiss on the top of your left hand. "I know after this week is over we have some time off. Let me buy you dinner?" Yugyeom asked. "That sounds good to me" You smiled, wanting to kiss Yugyeom but resisted since you were still in a very public place and anyone could walk by.
You continued talking with Yugyeom backstage for a few more minutes until you knew it was time he needed to go find Got7 before they left without him. You bowed professionally to him and he did the same since people were still wandering the backstage area. After that, you grabbed your purse and walked alone to your car and headed home.