NeoNara || TXT || taebin || yeonkai

2016: Sunday, Part Two

2016, DAY THREE
Sunday, August 15, 2016 12:31 PM

Yeonjun first notices it when he gets to Waeng's bus.

He already knows that this hasn't been a normal NeoNara for the band. They came in quickly on Saturday to see King Solomon's set, they stayed the night overnight (well, Kai stayed with Yeonjun), and now they're leaving to make their next concert. Since Yeonjun isn't technically on the band's payroll yet, he is not permitted to travel with them. He knows he'll have to leave Kai behind for a short time.

This is fine.

It's not like Yeonjun hasn't been away from Kai for the past five months. He can certainly do another few days. No pressure at all.

But last night keeps coming back to him in bits and pieces. Kai looking at him through the lights of the fair midway, riding on the Ferris wheel with all of his stuffed animals. Actually having a conversation, discovering Kai had always loved him, kissing him. Returning to the hotel, and Kai's body against Yeonjun's, and staying up late into the night, both of them catching up from where they had left off. He chuckles for a moment as he remembers how Kai, in a sleepy stupor, had put on Yeonjun's shirt instead of his own that very morning before switching back.

The shirts have returned to their normal owners, but Yeonjun wishes now he could just put on Kai's shirt and wear it forever. He wants to turn Kai into a blanket and wrap himself up in it. But Kai is all smiles as he waves at Beomgyu and Tatiana, and Shelly and Angel, and the few touring staff who have come with them. One woman notices them approach, and Kai introduces Yeonjun to her.

"This is the man I was telling you about, who should take over for our press," Kai explains, and once the woman realizes that Yeonjun is Daniel Choi from the Shampoo Fairy blog, his reputation precedes him. Soon, she is all smiles, shaking his hand and insisting the paperwork will be faxed to him ASAP...except Yeonjun has to explain that he doesn't have a fax machine.

"If I email you the forms, they will need to be filled out on a hard copy and faxed back to me," she explains. "Once we've cleared your background check, you can join us at our next tour stop."

"I'm hoping to be there by Philadelphia." Please, Yeonjun thinks in his head to whatever god might exist, please let me join by Philadelphia.

They stay for a few more minutes, and Yeonjun watches Waeng in their element. Tatiana is helping Beomgyu lift suitcases under the bus, her military training coming in handy. Angel is on the phone with someone seemingly random until Yeonjun overhears their conversation, and it turns out she's speaking with the venue owner of the next show. Kai comes back over and holds Yeonjun's hand, but it doesn't solve anything, doesn't solve this weird feeling that he ate the wrong thing for breakfast. What did he even have for breakfast? Oh, right. He had eaten eggs back with Soobin and Taehyun, with Kai, at their RV.

Were the eggs bad? Yeonjun's pretty sure Taehyun didn't eat any eggs, but Soobin might have. He texts Soobin, quickly. Hey, did you eat the eggs? Do you feel sick at all?

"Okay, I think this is everything." Tatiana slams the cargo door shut, patting the side of the tour bus. "We better get a move on. We literally have a show tonight. It's not far, but still."

"Sounds good." Beomgyu turns toward Yeonjun, and Yeonjun feels woozy for a second. He wonders, for a brief second, if Taehyun's Meniere's is contagious. "You two good, or do you need an extra minute?"

"I think I'm gonna throw up," Yeonjun says, and he lets go of Kai's hand, running around the other side of the bus. The bus is parked on the edge of the festival, near a service exit; normal festival-goers are leaving the campsite in a steady stream through the main gates. There are still a few acts that have yet to play NeoNara, but for the most part, the festivities are complete.