6 WEEKS LATER; JULY 21, 2019
Y/N POV
It's actually here, the final day of the tour. It feels like a lifetime ago that I ran late to the surprise performance the took place only three miles away at the gymnastic stadium. As I rose onto that stage, I had no idea that I'd find new best friends and fall in love, but here I am. I look over to Rosie and grab hold of her hand giving it a good squeeze. She looks over to me and smiles. Rosie, Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, Lee, Paul, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Greg, and I are all in the backstage lounge with a few minutes remaining before we begin the show. Paul came out to support the final weekend of the tour, and with tonight being the last night, Em and Dre are doing the final act before the encore with me as a surprise for the fans and a special treat for the recording.
"Alright everyone, this is it, the last show of The Worlds Collide Tour," I begin my speech to the group. The girls all holding back tears to avoid ruining their makeup. Even Greg's eyes are getting all watery. "When I was told about this tour, I'll be honest, I was angry and upset. I thought you were all going to be slightly talented hopefuls and that I'd spend the entire time getting hated on for doing more work with pop singers. While I was right about the hate, I couldn't have been more wrong about you girls. You're all some of the most talented, hardworking people I've ever met and I couldn't be more proud to call you all my friends. We've all been there for each other during times both good and bad, and that won't stop after this tour. If you ever need me I'm just a phone call and a flight away no matter what it is. I love all of you. Now, let's kill this shit!" I say.
"WORLDS COLLIDE!" Greg shouts out and we all look at him confused, "I... I thought we were all gonna..." We burst in laughter. Em, Dre, and Paul all just shake their heads in the corner of the room.
"Alright, everything's set for recording," Dan, the tour manager says to us. Paul and Dan had arranged for the last performance to be recorded so that it can be released and sold as a CD & Blu-ray combo to fans. The girls and I loved the idea because it also gives us a great memento of the past couple of months.
The stadium is filled with Blinks and my fans. The electricity in the air is palpable. A slideshow showcasing me and each individual member of Blackpink cycles through when everything suddenly goes black and the crowd starts screaming. It's showtime. Pink neon lights fill the stadium as an extended intro to BOOMBAYAH starts to play. The girls slowly rise onto the stage only their silhouettes visible against the pink lights. Jennie shouts into her microphone, "Blackpink in your area! Blackpink in your area!"
"Been a bad girl, I know I am. And I'm so hot, I need a fan. I don't want a boy, I need a man." Lisa raps as they do their choreography, still only visible as silhouettes. The beat drops and the stage lights shine down on them as Jennie breaks into her opening verse.
They continue all the way through the first chorus. "Boom boom bah BOOMBAYAH! Blackpink in your areaaaaaaaaAA!" Then I quickly rise onto the stage for my verse of the BOOMBAYAH Remix and the crowd screams wildly!
~ ~ ~
The rest of the show goes on without any problems. Blackpink finishes up the solo stage act and Greg and I head back out on stage. The crowd continues to scream like they've been doing all night, taking breaks only to sing or rap along and I look out. "You want some more?" I shout out to them and they roar in response. "That shit was weak, I said you want SOME FUCKIN' MORE?" I shout even louder at the fans. They manage to roar even louder.
"What more could we possibly give them?" Greg asks me into the microphone, playing along.
"Fuck if I know man," I say to Greg also in the mic. "But I think I know who to ask. We'll just have to find him first."
Suddenly music starts playing through the speaker system in the stadium with the sound of a nasal woman making an announcement. "May I have your attention, please? May I have your attention, please?" The crowd starts to cheer, realizing what's happening as the recording continues. "Will the real Slim Shady please stand up? I repeat, will the real Slim Shady please stand up? We're gonna have a problem here." A platform quickly rises up onto the stage, carrying none other than Eminem and the crowd explodes into cheers and screams.
"Y'all act like you never seen a white person before. Jaws all on the floor like Pam like Tommy just burst in the door..." Greg and I act as Eminem's hype-men throughout the song as we all move about the stage while the audience raps along.
We eventually reach the end of the song, "So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up. Please stand up. Please stand up up up up..." The pyrotechnics blast off as the last word echoes through the speakers. A piano immediately begins playing the intro to Lose Yourself and the crowd screams as the three of us go right into the new song without taking a break.
After we finish Lose Yourself, the crowd cheers. I look over to Eminem and say into the microphone, "Em, thank you so much for coming out and doing this last show with us here in Seoul." The crowd cheers for Eminem and he looks at me and responds, "Oh you don't think that's all right? This is the last show of your tour and we're in mothafuckin' Seoul right now!" The crowd cheers more. "We all need one more thing before calling it quits tonight!" Em says just before the stage blacks out and Greg sneaks off stage in the darkness. The sound of Skylar Grey singing starts to flood out of the speakers as the images of the angelic figure from Dr. Dre's I Need a Doctor music video start playing on the screen.
"I'm about to lose my mind. You've been gone for so long. I'm running out of time. I need a doctor. Call me a doctor. I need a doctor. Doctor. To bring me back to liiiiiiiiffffffeeeee." The sound of a heartbeat monitor going flat plays as the lights burst back onto me on stage.
"I told the world one day I would pay it back. Say it on tape, and lay it, record it. So that one day I could play it back..." I rap, doing my verse to open the song. Eminem goes through his verse after and as the chorus starts to come to a close for the second time I announce into my microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen. The legendary..."
"DR. DREEEEE!" Eminem shouts, finishing off the announcement as Dr. Dre walks out on stage rapping.
"It literally feels like a lifetime ago. But I still remember the shit like it was just yesterday though. You walked in, yellow jumpsuit. Whole room, cracked jokes. Once you got inside the booth, told you, like smoke..." The crowd goes wilder than ever before during the show tonight. I can barely hear Dre rapping next to me, making it a little hard to be his hype-man.
(Y/N and Dr. Dre)
Dre finishes his verse and looks out to the screaming crowd. "Aye yo, Korea!" He says, "The three of us got one more for y'all tonight!" The intro for Forgot About Dre starts playing and Dre breaks into his verse. I perform the chorus and hype Dre and Eminem during their verses. After the song is done, the three of us all head backstage waving goodbye to the adoring crowd.
(Eminem and Dr. Dre)
After a few minutes, the DDU-DU, DDU-DU / Not Afraid mashup starts and Blackpink and I go out to do our encore for one final time. After the mash-up is finished, the five of us all join for a group hug on stage which the fans absolutely love. The tour logo appears on the screen behind us as Blackpink makes a quick thank you speech in Korean directed at all the fans who came out to support The Worlds Collide Tour. I say essentially the same speech, but in English, "Thank you to the openers who toured with us: Joyner Lucas, Royce da 5'9, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Yelawolf, Lil Wayne, iKon, and G-Dragon. Thank you to Shady, Interscope, and YG Entertainment for making this tour possible. Thank you to Dr. Dre and Eminem for making this last show even more memorable. And, of course, a big thank you to Blackpink for being the best co-headliners I could ever ask for and to my boy Proudman for always backing me up! And finally, the biggest thank you to EVERY! SINGLE! ONE OF YOU! Who came out to our shows, whether they were in the US, Australia, Europe, or here in Korea. You all are the reason we do this for a living and we couldn't be more grateful. Gomabseubnida!" The girls all wave goodbye to the crowd and I throw out the peace sign as we always do and we walk off stage.
Everyone's mood backstage is a weird mix of sad, excited, nervous, and relieved having finally finished the tour. Paul Rosenberg pops a bottle of champagne and pours everyone a glass. "To a successful tour!" Paul says holding his glass up. Eminem raises his as well.
"To new friends!" I say holding up my glass while I hold Rosie's hand. Lee, Rosie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Jennie raises their glasses with me.
"To long ass, sappy thank you speeches!" Greg says holding his glass up and we all laugh as I let go of Rosie's hand temporarily to flip him the bird. Our glasses clink against each other ceremoniously.
"Alright, drink up everyone then back to the hotel. We rented out the ballroom to celebrate and everyone's waiting," Paul says. We all chug our champagne and head back to the hotel.
~ ~ ~
The ballroom is packed with people. All the openers from the tour are present as well as other Shady Records and YG Entertainment artists like Boogie and Winner. A few other K-Pop idols and rappers from outside the labels are present too. Three girls from a group Rosie said was called "Twice" were excited to meet me. Their names were Nayeon, Momo, and Tzuyu or something like that. I'm meeting way too many new people to remember everyone's names.
After a few hours of partying, I'm starting to feel buzzed when suddenly Rosie runs over and grabs my arm tightly. I laugh as she drags me out of the ballroom and into the hallway. "Rosie where are we-?"
"Shhhh!" Rosie whisper-shouts at me. She takes me into the elevator and presses the button for the floor our hotel rooms are on.
"Rosie, what are we doing?" I ask her.
"We're going to have some fun," she giggles and winks at me.
I laugh at Rosie's forwardness, "I thought we were waiting until-"
"The tour's over Y/N," Rosie says to me coyly as we reach my hotel room door. She stops in front of it and looks me in the eyes. "If you don't want to we can just go right back down like nothing ever happened," she tells me.
I hesitate for a moment, "How much have you had to drink?" I ask her.
"Just the little bit of champagne Paul gave us after the show."
I smile and lift her into the air by her thighs. She quickly wraps her legs around my waist, her arms fall across my shoulders, and she rests her forehead against mine. "Well then. Let's have some fun," I say and open the door as Rosie giggles and we go inside.