Not Alone || Jung Jaehyun

Chapter 26 | "figure it out"

"Jaehyun, that's awesome! Congrats man!" "That's amazing!" "You deserve it!" "Congratulations!"

The team congratulated him, giving him encouraging pats on the back and quick hugs.

"Thanks, guys."

"Of course, this is fantastic news!" Sana relied with a smile. "We get how that can be distracting, you're career is about to take off and we're so happy for you!"

"Thanks, Sana, but I know I need to focus. I'm glad I got that off my chest. I promise I'll focus now, no more mistakes." He said with a serious nod.

"Well, good. If this is gonna be your last competition for a while, we want to make it count." The older girl replied with a nod.

Soon the team dispersed, going to take a quick break and grab some water. Yuta walked up to Jaehyun, giving him a pat on the back.

"That's awesome news, Jae, congrats man."

"Thanks, Yuta, I'm really excited."

"So what did Hyemi say when you told her the news?"

"I, uh, I haven't told her yet."

Jaehyun watched nervously as he saw Yuta's expression morph into one of shock, his eyes widening.

"You told all of us before you told your girlfriend?"

"Uh, yeah... I-I'm scared about what her reaction will be and I don't want it to screw her up-"

"Jaehyun, this is so much more important than Nationals. This is your career and your relationship. Hyemi isn't a little girl. She can handle this. She's professional. But she should've been the first person you told."

"I know..."

"You better tell her. She needs to know." Yuta gave him a serious look before walking away.

- - -

"Hey, you ready?" Hyemi asked as the team gathered backstage.

Jaehyun still hadn't told her about his tour yet and it was eating him up inside. But, he was able to run the dance a few times, mistake free. He still wasn't dancing his best, but it was definite improvement from earlier.

"Yeah, I think so." He responded with a nervous smile.

"Are you sure you're okay? You know you can tell me anything, right?" She asked again, noticing his continued odd behavior.

"I said I'm fine!" He snapped, his anxiousness causing him to lash out.

"Okay, sorry I was just making sure." She replied, looking away from him, shocked by his outburst. "I'll, uh, I'll be with Yeji in the audience, good luck."

She turned to walk away but he quickly grabbed her arm and spun her around, pulling her into his chest.

"Sorry for snapping at you, I'm just a bit nervous."

She relaxed into his touch, standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"I know, don't worry about it. Do good, I'll be cheering for you!"

He released her with a smile as she bounced away to go find her seat in the audience.

"Still haven't told her yet?"

Jaehyun turned to see Yuta walking up to him. He shook his head no and Yuta let out a sigh.

"Whatever, let's just make it through this next dance and we'll deal with that later. Stay focused out there." The older boy said sternly.

"I will. Totally focused." Jaehyun said with a nod.

Yuta turned on his heel and walked away, getting into position as the group before them completed their routine.

"And next up, performing to NCT U's 'Work It', the Seoul University All Stars!"

Hyemi and Yeji cheered as their team took the stage, the crowd falling into a hush right.

As the dance started, things were going well. The team was dancing together in sync and their energy was fantastic, not to mention that the crowd was loving it. Hyemi kept her eyes nervously trained on Jaehyun, he still wasn't up to his normal standard, his intensity was low and his moves were a bit sloppy. They finished the performance mistake-free and walked off the stage after a bow.

"That was pretty good." Yeji said, turning to Hyemi as they rose from their seats to meet the team back at the dressing room.

"Yeah I guess, at least there weren't any obvious mistakes." Hyemi said with a nod. "We won't get eliminated today."

"Yeah but you're boyfriend needs to figure out what's going on. If he keeps dancing like that, we won't win."

"I know, I know. I'll figure it out." Hyemi said quickly as they turned into the room.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Hyemi, hey Yeji! How's we look out there?" Sana asked as all the members gathered around them.

Well, all except one.

Jaehyun was sitting by himself in the corner. He was upset with him self because he knew he didn't do his best, and he was still worried about telling Hyemi.

"It was good. You guys did good." Yeji said with a firm nod.

"Just good?"

"Very good. But not great." Yeji replied to Yuta with a small smile.

"Yeah, there weren't any obvious mistakes but the intensity needed to be turned up and some of the moves were a bit... sloppy." Hyemi said awkwardly. "But that's just us being hypercritical. We definitely won't be eliminated today and it was still a solid performance."

"Let's just hope we can step it up for the next rounds." Sicheng said with a nod before the group split up.

Hyemi noticed Jaehyun sitting in the corner and walked over to him, taking a seat next to him.

"Hey, good job out there."

"Thanks but we both know I didn't do well."

"It's alright. It's just a warm up. Let's head to the hotel, get some food and rest snd I'm sure you'll be back to your normal standard in no time. It's just some dumb nerves." She said reassuringly, holding out her hand and pulling him to his feet.

"Y-yeah. I'll probably be fine by tomorrow. Let's go."

Jaehyun threw his arm around her as they followed their team out of their dressing room.