Light A Flame || Hoshi

Chapter 15

He was on the way from solo practice when he saw a her being taken away on a stretcher, the blaring ambulance siren serenading the chaos of the situation. Hoshi stopped in his tracks, taking in the features of the fainted. Of course it's Jang-mi. Who else would faint so much?

The doctors quickly carried her away, frantically yelling instructions at those blocking their path. Soon, the other members approached him to ask what was going on.

"I have no idea. I came here and she was being carried away," he shrugged, half-mindedly answering their questions.

"Did she look okay?"

"Hell knows. Her eyes were closed, so she could either be sleeping, comatose or dead," he responded drably.

"Shit. Soundcheck is in 2 hours, will she be fine?"

"Don't ask me," Hoshi grumbled, feeling a familiar sene of déjà-vu from the ill-fated practice session that had made her cause quite the stir. She was definitely unlucky, that's for sure.

The day had suddenly become much more interesting for Hoshi. He wasn't stupid, he knew what just happened was probably linked to her previous fainting, her framing for the accident, and maybe even the Dispatch photos. Actually, no. Dispatch was just a pain in the ass. Whilst he cared little for her personally, he was still intrigued by the misfortune that followed her like a shadow.

This is just Bad Clue, except extremely unscripted, and now I'm alone.

**

"AJU NICE!" the members yelled to the hundreds of Carats assembled to watch their soundcheck, the stadium slowly but surely filling up with chatter and anticipation. Some were crying, others were dancing, one had fainted. Gonna have to pick up Mingyu's ab lawsuit again. Ugh.

Soundcheck passed by as he would have expected, the concert soon beginning a few hours later. He had still not received an update on Jang-mi, causing him to worry disproportionately about her. Well, no, not her: the performance. But he couldn't afford to think about that now, whilst trying to power through Clap - which made him worry even more. Was that not the song that drew him to her from the start?

Their second ment had begun playing, the members streaming into the small waiting room to change and refresh before going into their most intense part of the setlist, but this time with the small amendment that had caused them so much trouble. Hoshi heaved himself down as Haeyeon approached him, a large water bottle and small white towel in hand.

"My God, you sweat buckets," she remarked, gently wiping off his sweat. "I powdered you up so much I thought it would be enough to last you at least two sections, but I guess not," she smiled.

"I'm sorry, noona, you know I go full out in this part," he responded, his chest rising heavily up and down as if fighting for every new breath.

"Look at your condition... honestly, you kids need to stop overworking yourselves so much," she reprimanded him, holding out the water for him to drink with a straw as she continued to wipe his face and reapply makeup.

"It's all part of the job," Hoshi said. Right then, a familiar figure wearing a black, form-fitting dress and equally dark high heels strolled into the room. Jang-mi seemed to be fine, though her eyes were somewhat glassy and her stance looked unstable, as if she could trip at any moment. Her bright red lipstick only accentuated the redness of her eyes. All gazes were on her, the room suddenly hushing down, as if anticipating some sudden action from the newcomer.