The sparks catch everyone's attention and I am quickly pulled from the area by one of the staff nearby. Jimin and Taehyung roll in the opposite direction, separating after they get to a safe distance, and stand to watch how things settle.
I know I'm likely the cause. These are professional people with professional tools of their trade. This doesn't just happen in a production this large. Fuck.
I walk quickly away from the stage entirely, worried that I will cause further damage. Not even stopping to look at where everyone is or what they are doing I head back to the staging hallway, figuring that not being in the line of sight will lower my chances of screwing up what they have worked so hard for.
****
I got lost. I know I am still in the same building, and I haven't seen the stadium seating yet, but this place is too big to have a mental map for. I look to see if I can find a fire escape map on one of the walls or doors, but I haven't seen one yet.
Ah, a bathroom. It's not female, but I suddenly am aware of my need to go... bad. Hustling in I am happy to at least see stalls with doors that close and lock. Going to the next to last one I set myself up to do my business, pulling out my phone to see the results of my email to work.
'Where do you think she went?' A voice suddenly catches my attention just outside the bathroom. I don't know who it is, but I don't think it's one of the guys.
'We have to find her fast. If she ruins anything else this concert is going to be a disaster.' The voices are fading, they are walking away.
Fuck. That hurts. A lot. I didn't mean to create a problem. I don't want to be a burden.
With my tears dropping one by one onto my phone and my hand I sniff, wipe at my cheeks and try to dry my hand enough to be able to use my phone without short-circuiting it. Finally I give up and put my phone away until later.
****
Wandering back in the general direction I came from I go back to my phone to find out what's happening at work... and figuring out how to explain this to my sister.
Work is as expected, I can use my remaining 2 sick days without any problems, but after that if I fail to come it it will be grounds for automatic termination. I sigh, rubbing my forehead. I know I'm going to have to just suck it up, but I have no idea how I can keep going forward with the guys on their tour. I don't have a passport, and it takes weeks to get one.
Finally I get to a decent number of bars on my phone at a certain point in the too large hallway I am walking down and I stop, pulling up my sister's contact info to call her.
'Y/N!' I look up to see Seokjin loping towards me. 'Are you okay? We are worried about you! Did you catch fire?!'
I laugh for a second at that concept. Them, worried about me. 'I'm fine. I got pulled out of the way fast, so not even a burn mark on my clothes.'
'Actually you do.' He replies. 'The back of your shoulder has a dark spot it didn't have before. Those are your only clothes here, correct?' He asks. When I nod his eyes become concerned. 'Then I will have one of the staff get you a few changes when going out to collect your passport.'
Confused I just stare at him for a moment. 'Uh, hate to tell ya, but I don't own one, and it takes weeks to get one once you apply for it.'
He just chuckles. 'Y/N, we're rich. Money buys time as well as stuff. You didn't know, but you got your passport expedited, and its waiting to be picked up.' At my shocked look he quickly goes on. 'You may not have known that we were doing this for you, but I promise it was with the best of intentions. The passport is fully yours, we won't have a copy or anything. We just used a capture from one of the cameras at the fan-meet to get your photo for the passport. Everything else we needed we...' he paused, rubbing the back of his neck, 'we got from your ticket purchase info, and your online profiles.'
Shocked I stumble and my knees fold, forcing me into a sitting position on the floor. Now I am looking waay up to see Seokjin's worried face.
'Are you okay?' He offers a hand to help me up. I automatically take it, the instant lighting effect making him look like he's an angel sending instructions from on high. We quickly let go of each other, blinking and blushing, and I finally get my legs working again, getting my knees under me so that I can stand on my own.
Shakily I reply. 'I'm fine. I mean, I am not physically hurt... this is just a lot to process. I don't know if I should feel grateful or offended at the intrusion on my personal info, whether it was for my benefit or not.' Standing and shaking my head at the problems I didn't know I had, I continue. 'I kinda got lost and am not sure of the way back. Why don't we return to the rest of the group before an uproar over your absence happens.'
Confused, he asks 'ab-sense?'
'Not being there. Missing from where you are expected to be.' With understanding in his eyes he leads the way, looking back occasionally and pausing to let me catch up. Everyone of these guys has legs almost as long as me, I swear.
****
Settling down on a bench away from anything electrical I open my phone to call my sister. Hmm, it hasn't lowered the charge to below the 80 percentile range since Friday. I can't decide if this is something to worry about or not, so I shrug and check the time to verify that sis is out of work, and give my her a call.
'What is going on with you?!' I don't even get to say hello to her as she picks up, with her pretty much yelling into the phone. 'I went by your place last night and you weren't there. You aren't home today either... did you get a boyfriend at the fan-meet?' She suddenly squeals. It's loud and obvious. I get looks from some of the staff. Looking out I can just see seven men doing one of their routines on the main stage, getting ready for tonight.
'It's... complicated. I need your help.' I reply.
'I can't afford ransom money, so where do you want me to dig their grave?' She responds sassily.
Chuckling I quickly give her the basic details of what's been happening. Except for the occasional exclamations and squeaks from her she lets me get it out as concisely as possible.
'Not to beat around the bush, but you can have the food in the fridge and pantry. I don't think I'm likely to see my apartment again. Heck I'd offer you the apartment itself, let you take up the lease, but I know it's smaller and further away from your job than your apartment is.' I can almost see her nodding in agreement. 'I think they're going to send movers to pack up my stuff. If I can get the scheduled time that this happens can you supervise to make sure they don't take stuff that isn't mine from the apartment? I don't need a bill from the landlord for taking stuff that is not mine.'
'As long as I am not working that day that's an easy yes from me. But, how are we going to have weekend spaghetti dinners again?!' I can hear the pout and I chuckle.
'You know I am going to be missing that hard too. Let's see if I can't convince you to come see me when this tour is finally over. Who knows, maybe we can even find you a job and a place nearby and we can continue that tradition!'
We sigh at the same time. We both know how difficult that's going to be, but we can dream, right?
'So what exactly is this "condition" the doctor says you have... and gave to BTS?' She asks.
'From what I can infer it's likely something like those fan fiction "Soulmate Bonds". It's weird, this kind of fantasy is only in books, not in reality, so it's a very jarring experience. I think even the guys find it that way too, and I don't know if they have read any of the fan fiction I am talking about.'
'The bigger readers might have read a few, but for the most part, since I don't really know how much is in other languages, I would guess only Namjoon would have an idea.'
'Yeah, that seems right up RM's alley'. Sis hums in agreement. Hearing footsteps I look up to see the man just mentioned coming towards me. Thankfully he's still far enough away he likely didn't hear that, but still...
'Gonna let you go. I'll give you the deets on stuff once I know them myself. Oh, and I'll text you later tonight, Kay?'
'K. Love ya sis! Show them you're no wilting wallflower!' And with that my phone call ends. Thankfully Namjoon paused a couple of steps away, being polite about my phone call. I nod my thanks to him and stand, and approach him to find out why he's here to talk to me.
'So I heard from Jin that you need a change of clothes. Sorry that your needs got lost in the shuffle to get here.' Namjoon seemed embarrassed by his confession.
'It's all happened so fast that I don't think anyone has even caught their breath yet.' Looking behind him at the rest of the guys talking to staff on the stage I continue. 'Honestly I am not sure if any of you ever catch your breath. It seems like almost every moment is precious and can't be wasted on anything not already planned and noted in a minute-by-minute calendar somewhere.' Looking back at him he seems surprised. 'Since we got here everything reminds me of my mom trying to fill my after school with activities. I didn't get a chance to even just relax in my room until it was time to shower and go to bed some years. I know I put my foot down one day as a teenager and finally got to have free time, but it seems like you guys never do.'
He nods, considering this. 'You may be right, but we chose to be like this.' I cock my head to one side, listening as he continues. 'Each of us has a drive to do this. Maybe for different reasons, but we all want the same results. And we want to work to make those results happen.' I nod. It isn't my place to ask what those reasons are, but I understand what he is saying.
'I just finished talking with my sister. If I can get the schedule for when my stuff gets packed up she can be there to help with sorting things and making sure it goes smoothly.' Namjoon smiles, pulls out a small notepad and starts making notes. 'I also heard back from my work. After my last two days of sick leave are used up they're going to have to terminate me.' Shocked, he looks up. 'No, not kill me, remove me from employment there.' He seems soothed at that clarification, and goes back to note taking. 'I just need to get my medications and a few changes of clothes... and I guess the surprise passport you guys got me,' I shrug, smiling, 'and I should be good to go.' Pulling my phone back out, I open one of my favorite apps. 'Oh, and I should probably buy and download a ton of books.' That last part I say under my breath as it was mostly a reminder for me.
'Do you need something else to read on? Would you prefer real books?' Namjoon asks softly, making me look up. His eyes are trained on me, his hands are full but they are almost reaching out to touch me as he speaks.
Shaking my head I blush, looking away. 'No, I can read off my phone easy enough. You don't need to spend that kind of money on me to keep me entertained while you guys do your thing. I'll try to stay out of your way and not cause any more trouble like the electrical thing earlier.'
'No.' He says stridently. I whip my eyes to him, shocked at his tone. 'You are not in the way. You are not causing trouble. And you not being bored is important, to me and the rest of us.' I look at him shocked and confused. Realizing he's making a scene he lowers his voice, but he's no less firm in his following statements.
'I don't know why, but you are important, even necessary, to our success... and hopefully we are for your success as well.' He pauses, suddenly aware of what he said, but looks at you, even more resolute. 'We all want to help you with your successes as well. We want to be important, to be necessary to you.'