Beyond The Stage

Recoup Day

Alexis's POV

"Get your ass up!" Do-Song yells. "You've slept for over a day!"

I hug the pillow, grumbling. I should never have opened the door for him. I thought he would just watch TV or something while I rested for a few more minutes, but no. "Don't grumble at me, I'm doing you a favor." He says.

I turn around and ignore him, but he takes the whole blanket off. And says nothing.

After a minute, I turn to my back. Song stands over me with an expectant eyebrow and my blanket in his hands. We stare at each other for a moment. Unsatisfied with his silence, I kick my legs in irritation.

"Stop whining. Is this the thanks I get for taking care of your stuff?" He asks, crossing his arms. I frown up at him. He's not wrong. My family was able to send my stuff over from America, but I couldn't use the hotel address. He let me use his apartment address and agreed to hold my stuff until I can find an apartment. I am grateful for his help, honestly. But my sleep.

"You've got bags under your eyes." He says.

I sit up and rub my eyes, "I know." I take the blanket from him and put it back on the bed before getting up. "I'm sorry, I'm just tired."

"How are you tired, you've done nothing but sleep. You said you got back yesterday."

"Yeah..." I agree. "I didn't know how tiring travelling was. The back-to-back flights and constant moving is exhausting, it's going to take some getting used to."

"Well, you have to get up. It's going to take longer to get in sync with the time zone if you let yourself sleep."

"You're right," I agree as I close my eyes.

The next thing I know, Song is shaking me. "Did you just fall asleep sitting up?" His eyes are wide in astonishment. "You know what, never mind." He reaches over and grabs my legs, throwing them off the side of the bed. He grabs both of my wrists and forces me to stand up.

"Thank you." I say with my eyes still closed, and my head lolled to the side. My voice rasps unintentionally.

He huffs, "Yeah, yeah, get going sleeping beauty." He pushes my back to make me move. I walk in the direction of the bathroom with half-lidded eyes as Song grumbles about something I'm too tired to hear.

"Oof!" I gasp out when I run into the doorframe. The right half of my body hits the frame, while the left keeps going, so I just end up falling into the bathroom. But the tile feels oh so comfortable, and I let myself rest on the cool floor.

A shadow casts over me as someone blocks the light. "Today will just be a recoup day," Song sighs.

~~~~~

"I take it that you haven't found an apartment yet." He suggests, handing the popcorn to me. Some American reality show is playing on the TV with Korean subtitles for Song.

I shake my head. I never paid attention to how close the dates were. I had imagined that it would be hard enough with the concerts and travel, but it was hard for even me to time manage. I can work and go to school with adequate grades, but my sleep has been almost nonexistent because of it. Because of that, I never got the chance to find an apartment. I'll have to reduce my number of classes next semester.

"I'll find some time to do it later. But for now," I throw a single kernel in my mouth and lean back, "recoup day." I quote his words.

"How long do you have until the tour continues?" Song asks.

I watch the television as Daniel try to kiss yet another girl. Fortunately, she doesn't let him. "Yes Jasmine, stand your ground girl!" I cheer her on, spilling some popcorn on Song.

He catches almost all of it, eating as he goes. "Respect," I comment.

"Anyways, we won't leave again until the twentieth, but I start work at the company tomorrow." Even with my exhaustion, I am eager for tomorrow. Not only because It'll be it's my first day, but also because I get to see my soulmates.

As if reading my mind, Song asks about them, "Have your soulmates tried to call you?"

"Yeah, they called me an hour or two before you so rudely woke me up. Some of them texted me yesterday too. They go back tomorrow as well." I smile thinking about how flustered they sounded when I told them I was sleeping. Taehyung, Jin, and Jungkook called me, but immediately backtracked thinking that they woke me up. Which they did, but I didn't mind it. I didn't require me to get out of bed unlike this jerk sitting next me. They've all been texting me, but Hoseok has been the most consistent, always checking in on me.

"I bet you're happy about that." Song infers.

I look at him incredulously, "Of course I am, I always want to see them."

He scrunches his face, "See, you say it so easily in front of me, but there always seems to be miscommunication with them."

"That's because I'm a wimp." I respond. I've been getting better, more comfortable around them. Lowering them from the high pedestal I've always had them on, down to my level. Because now I know. They aren't saints or angels, they are human. But lord do they look heavenly.

"At least you know." He says contentedly. "But I do like giving relationship advice, it makes me feel smart." He rubs his nonexistent beard.

I chuckle, "Hopefully, I won't need anymore advice. Once I get settled, things should start being easier. Especially once the tour's over."

"Did you get your soulmate visa? I think you'll need it for an apartment." He adds.

"It's still in progress, but I'll look anyways. I actually did some research on the plane as I was coming back." I mention, "I still have a lot to do before I can really live here, but it'll work out." I say cheerfully, "No Jasmine!"

Daniel grabbed Jasmine by the wrist as she went to leave, and now they're cuddling. "No! The horror!" I cry.