Cov•et - ON HIATUS- K-pop/Multi Group FF

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I'm only going to add whose POV it is when it's not Cova. Otherwise, it usually will be Cova.

Friday September 30th, 2022

The next morning, I trudged into work, my mind still reeling from the events of the previous night. After dropping my coat and purse off in my office, I quickly made my way down to Ateez's rehearsal room.

"Cova!" Ha-Rae greeted me with a cheerful shout as I entered the mirror-lined studio. His voice prompted all the members of Ateez to turn and look at me, their expressions a mix of awkward smiles.

Ha-Rae stood at about 5'9", his presence commanding but not intimidating, especially to someone of my height at 5'1". His black hair, lightly peppered with grey, gave him a distinguished look that suited his age as a 60 something year old man. Despite the wrinkles taking over his features, his eyes still sparkled with the sharpness of someone who had seen it all in this industry. He carried himself with the quiet professional confidence of a veteran manager. He was also someone I deeply adored.

"Ha-Rae, what's on the agenda today?" I asked as the room filled with the opening beats of "Guerrillas." Sonni, the other Ateez manager, waved and greeted me as we began our brief morning meeting while the boys launched into their practice routine.

Sonni, standing at 5'10", was the kind of guy who exuded a quiet intensity at work. Sonni was 28 years old, and his young appearance contrasted with the cold, serious demeanor he adopted when on the job, and even more so with the warm and friendly demeanor that Rae held. His features were sharp, his dark eyes often narrowed in focus as he watched Ateez and handled his daily work. But outside of KQ, Sonni was a completely different person-warm, approachable, and quick to make you smile, it was like whiplash the moment he clocked out.

"So for this morning, the guys will be running through their setlist for the TMA's," Ha-Rae explained over the music. "By the way, you're going to be the lead management host for Ateez at the show. This will be your first time in this role, so I'll go over the details later. You'll be responsible for escorting them everywhere, staying with them and their bodyguards from the moment we arrive until we leave. Sonni will take your job and handle staff duties, and I'll coordinate with the stage managers to prep for their performance."

I nodded, absorbing the information. Being chosen as the lead host manager was a big deal. I usually handled the KQ staff during major events, but with Ran-ah moving to manage the new KQ boy group, Xikers, it seemed I'd been given a bit of a promotion.

"Also," Ha-Rae continued in a slightly softer tone, motioning for Sonni and me to follow him into the hallway, "I received some news this morning that's going to be a huge surprise for the boys."

"Wooyoung's getting duct-taped during the show?" Sonni quipped, causing me to stifle a laugh at the mental image.

"If only! That wouldn't be a surprise-it would be a blessing," Ha-Rae chuckled before getting serious again. "No, this is much bigger. We just got confirmation that our boys will be meeting Bangtan Sonyeondan after the show."

As soon as Ha-Rae mentioned BTS, my heart skipped a beat, and my stomach dropped as I suddenly remembered: I never texted Yoongi back last night.

"That's huge!" Sonni exclaimed, practically bouncing with excitement, his usual cold self morphing as he allowed himself this excitement. "They're going to lose it! When do we tell them?"

"We'll tell them later today, after their rehearsal and before their photo shoot," Ha-Rae replied, pleased with the news.

"How did we pull that off?" I stammered, now even more anxious as the reality sank in that I'd be the one escorting Ateez to meet BTS.