Holding Me Back

Chapter 37

Somin's POV

My eyes wandered to the huge crowd as they cheered and jumped. I let out a wide smile when I saw a banner that made my heart twinge in happiness. "Kookmin Forever!" with a cute small heart at the end. I casually waved my hand at the woman holding that banner, who's eyes were on me as she squealed when I waved.

Sometimes, I'd forget that my relationship with Jongkook oppa was already known to the public. As months passed, the hate comments got lesser and by that time, I couldn't care less. Instead, there were more supportive fans and I felt genuinely glad, although I realised that I didn't need anyone's validation.

The concert was coming to an end, after 3 hours. My voice was croaky and dry but I'd still do anything for the fans. I kept my smile wide as my eyes finally searched through the crowd for my relatives.

My eyes lit up as I saw my younger brother, WookMin and my cousin's nephew, DoSang staring at me with huge grins. I waved at them eagerly, glad to see them. I gave them one last smile before turning to the members who were starting to end the long but contented concert.

I took a long sigh of both tiredness and relief as the crowd's noise died down when Jaeseok oppa talked into the mic.

Narrator's POV

"Nice to meet you, everyone," Jaeseok's voice was full of emotion. Everyone cheered as he waved to everyone. "1...2...3," He gestured to the members. They bowed to the audience respectfully and the crowd roared. Jaeseok spoke into his mic with a hint of exhaustion while he took deep breaths.

"For starters, I want to thank everyone who came to this concert this evening. And also to everyone who will be watching," He smiled towards the audience and then the cameras. "How did you like our performance?" Jaeseok stalled the thanking part as he secretly didn't want that moment to end.

"Great!" "Amazing!" "Superb!" "You guys did well!" Different responses as everyone shouted their proudness towards the Running Man members. The members laughed and smiled. Kwangsoo clapped along and his cheeks hurts from grinning too widely.

Sensing Jaeseok's actions that showed signs of tiredness, Haha took over. "So, tell us. Which performance you liked the most?" He joked, indicating he wants the answer to be him. "Haha!" "Haha hyung!" "Haha oppa!" "Haha ahjussi!" Haha laughed heartily. "I can't believe someone called me an ahjussi," He scoffed jokingly.

The crowd laughed as the members just shooked their heads in disbelief. "Enough already," Jongkook stopped him from acting crazily. Haha secretly glared at him and thanked himself for being so smart to stand at the right position since Jongkook was at the other end of the line.

"Jongkook oppa!" "You're so handsome!" Compliments from the fans burst out the crowd, making Jongkook chuckled in shyness. Somin smiled at his habit of touching his ears. "Sorry but his not the only one who is handsome, alright?" Kwangsoo interrupted Jongkook's moment and posed dramatically, receiving a good response from the audience.

"Exactly," Seokjin agreed and proceeded to pose too, making the audience laugh more. Jaeseok smirked and teased the both of them as usual. "If both of you are considered handsome, I'm considered way too handsome," Jaeseok flipped his hair awkwardly. "Isn't your neck about to snap?" Sechan went to him and checked the back of Jaeseok's neck playfully.

Jaeseok chuckled and punched him on the arm. The atmosphere was literally filled with laughters. While the members joked around themselves on stage, Somin, who was standing beside Jihyo, asked her a question. "Do I maintain a poker face or?" Somin's question made Jihyo caught off-guard. Jihyo giggled.

"It does get abit lonely when the men are always talking," She joked around. Somin laughed and patted her back. "Somin-ssi, why are you so quiet?" Jaeseok turned the crowd's attention on her. She suddenly felt nervous. It was literally a second ago she had asked Jihyo on how to act infront of the crowd.

"I think I stretched my muscles abit too much. I was too excited," Somin explained simply as she proceeded to massage her shoulders. "Well, it's going to get more exciting from now on. Will you be ready?" Somin hinted a suspicious tone in Jaeseok's voice. She arched an eyebrow as she quickly followed his gaze to Jongkook, who was beside Sechan.

On the other hand, Jongkook was about to punch Jaeseok when he asked that. "Oh gosh, could he ever be more obvious?" He facepalmed himself mentally as he noticed Sechan laughing quietly. "I swear that Jaeseok hyung is going to ruin it," He whispered to Jongkook, who was on his left side as Somin was on his right side.

"I know, I might accidentally hurt him for real if he ever ruins it," Jongkook still kept on a small smile as he said that. Sechan knew that he wasn't going to mess with this man ever again. Sechan let out a nervous laugh before turning his attention to the crowd once again.

After 40 minutes of playing games and talking with the audience, Jaeseok got a signal from the PD that the concert will end in 30 minutes. His heart felt heavy when he realised the time but when he remembered something, he smiled cheekily. The members went on backstage and changed to their signature Running Man clothes before going back on stage.

Somin's POV

We went out on stage for the last time. I head to the middle of the stage as the members lined up on my left and right side. I glanced at them, smiling. My smile slightly dropped when I noticed Jongkook oppa was not onstage yet. I asked Sechan, who was beside me. "Where is Jongkook oppa?" I asked him. Sechan seemed nervous but he quickly answered me. "Don't you know that he actually sprained his ankle?" He answered.

I felt heavy and my eyebrows frowned. "When?" I asked. "No idea when but he did. I don't know if his coming back yet. It seems pretty serious," Sechan carefully explained. I nodded sadly. The other members looked relaxed as they talked to the audience. Was I the only one worried? I looked at Jihyo unnie, who was obvious that she was hiding her smile.

"Unnie..." I called out to her. "Oh?" She smiled softly at me. "Won't you be worried if I had sprained my ankle during a concert?" I questioned. She frowned slightly. "Of course, Somin. Why wouldn't I be?" Jihyo unnie said. "Then why aren't you worried about Jongkook oppa?" Her eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.

"Why would you think that? Of course I am but that man is strong as a steel. No need to worry," She comforted me. Since it seemed like everyone was not as concerned as me, it felt slightly disheartening but maybe I was overreacting. Just maybe. As the members and I talked to the audience for about 5 minutes, Jongkook oppa finally came back.

His eyes didn't travel to me first though. His eyes went to the members, smiling as if it was a code. I glanced at his ankle. Wait, it's not bandaged? I looked at Sechan for answers but he acted like he said nothing. I looked at Jihyo unnie and she didn't say anything either.

What was going on? Was I hypnotised or something? For the next 10 minutes, we said our thanks and goodbyes. My eyes were teary by the end and Jihyo unnie was crying as I comforted her.