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the girl traveled to the venue with her team, having triple checked to make sure she'd packed all of her needed outfits + accessories for the day ahead.
her fingers couldn't stop playing with eachother as she sat in the car, music blasting in her ears to at least attempt to distract herself from her worried conscience.
questions of how the public would react filled her mind, scared she'd picked too 'grown-up' of a choreography to perform with her secret soulmate.
she was terrified of receiving hate online, being aware of just how crazy netizens could be if they didn't like something.
what if they didn't like her? surely someone would try and come after her, inevitably attacking ni-ki in the process. that's what scared her the most, the boy getting hurt. she'd take a million bullets for the boy she'd grown to love so deeply— but she didn't want him to suffer.
she watched intently after noze had left the room for the red carpet, eyes trailed on the screen as she waited for her 언니 to appear. a small smile took over her face as she saw the older, watching the rest of the carpet in attempts at calming herself down.
when her eyes fell on her boy as he and his hyungs walked into the red carpet, she felt her heart accelerate by a hundred beats per minute. a small blush appeared on her cheeks as she watched him do what he'd promised he'd do— the girls quickly surrounding her to tease their maknae.
the red carpet had quickly come to an end, much to byeol's dismay. she sucked in a harsh breath as their makeup and hair staff pulled her towards the vanity area, nervously chewing on her acrylics.
as the first stage went on, the soulmates had to gather with the stage directors, making sure everyone agreed on the timings. ni-ki was able to sense her anxiety from the getgo, slyly reaching for her hand, rubbing soothing shapes on the backside of her palm.
he'd forced his emotions towards her outfit down, even though his insides were begging to practically fanboy over the clothes she'd been put in. despite it being all black, he believed the material of the outfit helped accentuate her breath-taking features.
the award prior to their stage was announced, byeol focusing on her breathing patterns to stay calm. why was she so nervous? she'd performed on stage plenty of times before— it was simply the backlash she was scared of for this particular performance.
oh well.. can't back out now
the stage director turned to the pair, giving them a two signal, telling them they had only two minutes until stage.
the girl turned towards ni-ki, the day-older softly chuckling at the glisten in her eyes. he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, lightly kissing the top of her head, not caring that anyone else was around. for her sake.
"you're gonna do great, chieko.. you made the choreography, after all. show them how talented you are,"
she softly smiled at the words that he hummed against her forehead, softly nodding afterwards.
the boy gave her a final squeeze as the director signalled a one, the pair seperating before standing directly behind the curtain, waiting for their final cue to walk into the spotlight.
