I Will Fight For You (A The8 Fanfiction)

Chapter 23

"Wow! This is pretty good for a rookie group! Of course, I'll let you go along. Just promise me you will be safe while you are overseas, ok?" my grandmother replied.

"Thank you, halmeoni! Yes, I promise I'll be safe," I hugged my grandmother tightly.

A week and a half from now, Seventeen will have their Asia-Pacific Fanmeet in some countries such as Singapore, Manila and Indonesia. As their stylist, of course, I should go. Since this is a big event for Seventeen, they have been practising non-stop. Minghao would rarely contact me but he when he did, it would be for a short period of time. He was definitely tired. I did not have to see his eyebags or his slouched figure to know. His slow replies and sometimes, his sudden inactivity in chatting due to him falling asleep was enough to tell me so.

When possible, I would stay up to or wake up at 4 am in case he tried to contact me. He did need some sort of support in this stress period.

3 days to the first fan meet, I woke up at about 4.10 am to the sound of my phone ringing. I picked up the phone call in case it was an emergency. He had always messaged me instead of calling. Today was different.

The moment I picked up, there was just silence. I kept calling out to him but received no reply.

"I assume you called me on accident then. I hope you rest well. Goodbye-" I was interrupted before I could end the call.

"No! D-don't go. I just wanted someone to confide in. It's been really stressful these days. On top of that, I feel extremely anxious about the fan meet. I felt I should find ways to calm myself. So I called you. I just wanted to- I uh I just wanted..." he dragged, unable to complete his sentence.

Perhaps he was trying to find the word he wanted to say. Perhaps he was too shy to admit.

"You wanted to hear my voice, huh? Aigoo, you're so cute! You can just say it. I'm your girlfriend," I chuckled.

"Y-yeah, whatever. You can just talk my ears off now. Tell me about your day," he uttered.

I could not help but smile. He was still not very comfortable about being lovey-dovey and all and to be honest, me too. I guess you could say it was not really our thing.

Without much hesitation, I started off, telling him about my day. I shared about some other things about myself. My dreams and my interests. He was silent the whole time, indulging himself in my voice the whole time. He listened intently. Every once in a while, I would call out to him to check if he had fallen asleep.

"To be honest, I never liked that neighbour. She's too intimidating. I would have to prepare for a round of questions every time I bumped into her," I spoke through the phone.

"Interesting... So, Hee-young, how long have you been calling Minghao? You two seem very close, seeing that you're calling him at this hour," a different voice spoke.

I jumped up in shock. I started feeling shaky. I hope whoever he was, he did not find out about our relationship.

"Did he fall asleep?" I asked, timidly.

"Minghao? Yup! Like a baby," the boy answered.

I tried to think of a way out of this.

"Oh ok, that's good! I hope you rest well too! Good night!" I quickly told him before ending the call abruptly.

He barely managed to say anything else. Well, that was the best way I could figure out to end the call. After ending the call, I hurriedly went back to sleep in case he called back. Thankfully, he did not.

Minghao's POV

I woke up the next morning, used to my mere 3 to 4 hours of sleep. However, I woke up on the sofa this time since I fell asleep while calling Hee-young. I felt around the sofa looking for my phone but all I felt was the smooth fabric of the sofa.

I sat up and looked around only to see it missing. My heart started to race. Where could I have put it? Did a member take it?

"Looking for this?" a familiar voice rang out.

I looked up to see Seungcheol-hyung emerging from behind a wall. He held my phone lightly, making it obviously he had it. He fiddled with it. I got up in a flash and rushed up to him.

"Ah, yes. Thank you. Can I have it back, please?" I tried to be polite with my hyung.

I reached out for the phone but he brought his hand away. He smirked.

"Not until you tell me why you were on the phone with Hee-young at 4 am in the morning," he mentioned.

He gripped my phone and crossed his arms. Oh no. He just had to make it harder for me.

"Why can't I?" I asked.

"Because it's a girl. Plus, it is suspicious to call a girl at 4 am. As the leader, I feel the need to know what's going on around the dorm," he explained.

"Ok, I'll tell you. I have been feeling rather stressed out these days and talking to her makes me feel calm. That's all," I told him.

Technically, I was not lying. He smiled and ruffled my hair. I crossed my arms and glared at him. No way would anyone think they could just pet me like some dog. Nonetheless, he was senior to me so I brushed it off.

He handed me my phone and wished me good luck. Well, I did not really need it since I've got the girl already. Haha.

I would mentally laugh whenever a member encouraged me to try hard to get with Hee-young. As they shared tips whilst thinking I was hopeless at courting a girl, in reality, I was already attached. All I would ever struggle with was making sure we stay together through the deepest of troubles.

We piled into the dorm hours later, flopping onto the sofa or the beds respectively. Tomorrow (or more of today seeing that it was now 3 am) would be a free day for us to pack for the overseas fan meet. While some started packing, the rest made a beeline for their beds for their trip to slumberland. In my mind, I thought of staying up to try to start on my packing at least but I could hear Hee-young's adorable yet fierce voice nagging me to just rest up first. Even if I did call her to ask for her opinion, I think I know how it would end. I would still go to sleep anyway.

I headed right to bed. Before going to sleep, I sent her a text to inform her. She was probably peacefully fast asleep right about now.

Hee-Young's POV

My room was in a chaos. My mind was in a chaos. I glanced at the clock and panicked even more upon seeing the hour hand at 3. I stayed up this late?!

I scratched my head and held up the two articles of clothing. It was just 2 days yet I worried so much.

"Is this too much? Is this a little too casual? What would be considered respectful? Will this be counted as offensive to the country? I'll google that. Is google reliable though? Nevermind, at least it's better than not researching at all," I wondered and panicked.

My mind; a chatroom of me talking to a bunch of myselves. I questioned everything. I had to make sure I myself did not get in trouble. I yawned and my eyelids felt heavy. I decided that I would just ask Sun-hee tomorrow. She would know. Hopefully. I closed the luggage and placed it by the side.

I turned and barely made a few steps before ending up on the floor. Pain rushed through my body. I groaned in pain and stayed on the rather soft carpeted floor for a while.

When the sudden pain wore away, I rolled on my back. I looked at my feet to see the unnoticed pile of clothes that was like a boulder. It took me some time to get up due to my recent leg and arm injury.

I climbed on the bed and laid facing down. I felt around on the table beside my bed for my phone. I gripped it and brought it in front of my face. I had received a message from Minghao.

"Hey, I'm going to sleep. You don't have to stay up and wait for me. It's a free day tomorrow anyways since I've gotta pack for fanmeet."

Well, more sleep for me then. I placed my phone aside and went to sleep.