Constant and Changing (kryber)

Chapter 11: Red Light

9 minutes. That was the amount of time that Krystal, who was on the verge of fainting, needed to hold on for. f(x) only had their Red Light performance left to do. If Krystal could keep herself from fainting for 9 minutes, Krystal would consider the performance to be a success.

9 minutes to go. With her members' support, Krystal made her way to the staging area.

8 minutes to go. Krystal leaned her head on Amber's shoulder and held her hand while Luna stroked her hair. She could hear Victoria informing the staff of the possibility that she might faint.

7 minutes to go. The staff was radioing for a security van and a medic to come to their staging area.

6 minutes to go. Her members gave her a few last words of encouragement and urged her not to over-exert herself.

5 minutes to go. f(x) stepped out from under the stage and ascended the stairs in darkness, waiting for their performance to start. Amber gave Krystal's hand one last squeeze as they parted to take their positions.

4 minutes to go. The music for Red Light started playing. Krystal started dancing and sang her opening line. The spotlights were strong and she was grateful for the sunglasses. She prayed that she could hold on.

3 minutes to go. They reached the first chorus. Everything that Krystal loved about Red Light, from the strong beats to the frantic chorus to the powerful dance moves, now turned against her.

2 minutes to go. They reached a key point of their choreography, the group formation with Luna at the center. She spun Amber and Victoria away from her and they headed into the second chorus. Krystal felt like she was dying.

1 minute to go. Luna hit her high note. They headed into the last of their solo lines. Krystal covered Sulli's part. They danced in circles. She sang her own last solo line. The madness felt real. Krystal could barely perform the steps. She skipped the last jumping moves, walking through the steps to keep in sync with the others.

0 minutes to go.

"Ne apui RED LIGHT!" f(x) sang, ending their song. Krystal held the final pose just long enough to be able to say that she did it. The lights on their stage turned out almost immediately and Krystal started to stumble for the stairs while the others held their poses. Amber reached a hand out to her as she passed by, brushing her arm gently, but Krystal couldn't hang on long enough to stop.

"No fainting on stage," she screamed to herself with every step, forcing her body forward.

Krystal reached the stairs first and started down without anyone's support. Her head was pounding, her ears were ringing, and she couldn't see anything but darkness now. She took one unsteady step down the stairs.

"No fainting on stage," she begged her body one last time. She took a second step and finally, mercifully, she was off the stage. Her body gave out at that instant, falling forward like a rock. She would find out later after her managers showed her the fancams that she literally fell into one of the waiting staff members near the bottom of the stairs. She was lifted over his shoulder like a sack of rice and placed into the waiting van along with her members.

Krystal wasn't sure how long she was out for, but it wasn't more than a few minutes. When she awoke, she was still in the van with her members nearby. She feebly reached out for Victoria's hand, which was closest, letting her leader know that she was awake.

"Oh, oh!" Victoria exclaimed, alerting the others. "She's awake! Soo Jung-ah, how do you feel?"

"Terrible," Krystal admitted, closing her eyes again. "But I didn't faint on the stage, right?"