Awards season was finally approaching once more which meant spectacular performances by many groups and artists all in one night. Minju found herself surprised when she managed to score some nominations such as Best Female Artist and Best Solo Dance Performance. She was also offered a spot to perform which she accepted without a second thought and started preparing as soon as she could.
She had a nice variety of songs she could perform but she couldn't make up her mind. She wanted something her fans would love to see but also that she had never done before. She consulted with her members, listing off her many ideas to the girls who tried their best to give their input but could only give maybe a nod for it was two in the morning and they would rather be asleep.
Minju went in between preparing for the Red Velvet comeback and practicing for MAMA, barely able to catch a break. There were times that the members would wake up and Minju still not have returned, just to find her asleep on the practice room floor with her jacket as a makeshift pillow. The girls would practice in the morning, preparing for their new song Be Natural, wanting to put on a good performance for it was their first official comeback as a group before Yeri was able to be added.
Some days were calmer than others. The girls were in the practice room but were strewn out across the room. They had long ago paused the music, choosing to take a break from the constant pausing and rewinding of the recording. Yeri joined them that day after she returned from school, doing her homework since she wasn't able to perform with them just yet. Irene sat down on the bench in the practice room while Seulgi, Minju, Wendy, and Joy laid on the floor, enjoying the coolness that radiated from the floor beneath them.
Their break eventually came to an end as their choreographer returned, ushering the five older girls to their feet. They returned to the chairs that were in the middle of the practice room floor, two chairs back to back on either side of a singular chair in the middle with just enough room to avoid being kicked in the head by a high heel. Irene took her place in the middle while Minju stood by her chair that was behind Seulgi, giggling at a comment the girl made that was loud enough just for her and maybe Irene to hear.
The practice went on for hours before the choreographer finally let them call it quits for the night. Yeri had already returned to the dorm for she had school the next day. The rest began gathering their stuff while Minju opted to once again stay the extra hours to rehearse her own songs. With a goodbye and a stern look from Irene that meant stay safe and don't push too hard, the practice room door was shut and Minju was left to herself.
She sighed, pulling her phone out to look at exactly what plan they had made for her performance. Her outfits were still in the works, the fitting not scheduled until at least a month later. However, they decided what songs she was gonna perform, a shortened performance of Uh - Oh that would lead into a brief instrumental and then into Black Dress to finish. She was already dreading having to take more pole dancing lessons as she hated the pain in her legs afterward.
She eventually decided to get up and get on with practicing but before she could even get the music started, her cellphone started ringing. She picked the device up from the bench and glanced at who could possibly be calling her at whatever time it was. She was shocked to see that it was Jimin, and she quickly answered the call with a, "Hello?"
"Hey," he answered, and judging by his tone something was wrong.
"Are you okay?" She asked, worried something had happened to him or one of his bandmates. "Is something wrong?"
"No, everything's fine, it's just-," his words were cut off by a sniffle and it didn't take her much to figure out that he was upset.
"Where are you now?" She interrogated, wanting to know so she could either come to him herself or text her brother and have him check on him.
"Practice room," he murmured, and Minju quickly assured him that she was going to be on her way and hung up before the boy could have a chance to say otherwise.
She gathered her things as fast as she could, sending a text to her brother in the process but got no response. She instead dialed the phone number of her manager and was surprised to get an answer. She begged her manager if she could go to the Bighit building, and with some major convincing he gave her the okay. She wasted no time in hurrying to where her car was parked and tossed her stuff in the backseat.
Seoul at night was beautiful, the stars littering the sky behind the massive building. Minju was always one to appreciate the beauty of things in any environment, but she instead had to focus on the road in case someone decided to speed out in front of her without any warning. Her eyes darted to the sides, scanning the building for the familiar Bighit building that she had been to for many occasions, mainly to see Yoongi or her brother.
She pulled up to the side of the road the best she could, never having been a great parallel parker. She easily made her way through the building for it was much smaller than her company's and she had already been there countless times anyway. She stopped in front of the practice room, opening it to reveal a dimly lit room and for a minute she couldn't even see Jimin anywhere, but then she spotted his figure on the floor, body shrouded by a dark-colored hoodie and some sweatpants.
Without a second thought, she sat down beside the boy, pulling him close to her. He cried into her shoulder, his tears spilling down his cheeks and onto her jacket but it was the least of her worries. She ran her hands through his hair, whispering words of comfort as his tears eventually stopped and his cries died down to a sniffle every now and then.
"Now tell me, what's wrong?" Minju asked as he finally looked up at her, his eyes were red from crying.
"I don't know," Jimin shrugged. "Everyone's been arguing about something, and sometimes I just want to quit and go home. I miss my parents, I miss my home," he sniffled, and Minju knew exactly how he felt.
"I know how you feel," she began. "Leaving my parents and everything I knew was hard too, but you're doing so good. I know your parents are so proud of you because you're so talented and you're doing what you love. You're always welcome to come with me next time I get to visit my family, too. I know my mom would love you."
At some point during the night, the two fell asleep on the practice room floor. She checked her phone and was greeted by many missed calls and texts from her bandmates. She shook Jimin next to her who only made a small noise of acknowledgment before seemingly going back to sleep. She shook him again, this time he opened his eyes and sat up with a stretch.
Minju walked with him back to their dorm, which was still unlocked. They said their goodbyes and with a thank you, he retreated back into the BTS dorms. She made her way out of the Bighit building and to her car, heading straight to her own dorm where she was instantly bombarded with questions about where she was. She answered one or two before she decided to go to bed, exhaustion hitting her like a truck.
