Sun-kissed

Chapter 11

The crowd was energetic and the performance was intimate.  It was one of the best private shows they had given in a long time, but Youngbae's mind was preoccupied all evening.  Thankfully, there was no dancing tonight; otherwise he would have been caught off guard. They were singing "Haru Haru" acapella, which was fine by Youngbae since he only had two lines to sing.  It gave him time to assess Amina in the crowd.

Her head was down again for the second time that night.  She whispered something to her friend nearby and beckoned for that person to sit back down when they tried to assist her.  Youngbae watched as Amina slowly got out of her seat and made her way towards the exit. She was almost to the exit door, when she stumbled and lost her balance, grabbing the nearest seats for support.  Youngbae flinched and got halfway off the bar stool before he remembered where he was at. He sat back down.

Other than raising an eyebrow to question Youngbae's reaction, Jiyong didn't miss a beat as he continued with his part.  He glanced at Youngbae and could see concern in his eyes.  He followed the direction of Youngbae's gaze and only saw the exit door closing.

The song soon ended and Jiyong leaned over towards Youngbae for an explanation.  "What happened?"

"I... I think I need to go," Youngbae replied.  It was hard for him to admit it while they were in the middle of a performance, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong with Amina.

"Is it your leg?"

"No, I..." he whispered low, "I just saw Amina leave, but she seemed unsteady."  He paused.  "I just want to go check on her before she leaves."

"Alright," Jiyong said.  "We'll just call for the last song then."

They sang "Last Farewell" and it felt like the longest rendition that Youngbae could remember.  He imagined where Amina could be by now and wished he had her phone number to call.  The song ended and the crowd chanted for an encore, but thankfully Jiyong didn't make them comply.  Instead, to their delight, Jiyong announced they would have had a photo op session afterwards with the fans.  Everyone but Youngbae, that was, whose "leg was acting up."  Youngbae felt a twinge of guilt for the lie, but was grateful for Jiyong's insight.  He was in too much of a hurry to leave the stage.

Youngbae headed backstage and took the nearest exit that would lead him into the hallway.  He frantically scanned the empty corridors and headed towards the ladies' restroom. Unable to enter, he paced outside debating on what to do.  He jerked in surprise when the door opened and Amina walked out.  It appeared she had just splashed water on her face, the fringes of hair around her temples still contained small droplets of water.  She looked tired and flushed, but became alert when she noticed Youngbae waiting outside.  Her eyes widened in surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

He ignored her question.  "You need to go home and rest."

That's the second time he's said that to me tonight, Amina thought annoyingly to herself.  "I'm fine," Amina stated as she brushed past him and started walking down the hall towards the front entrance.

Youngbae walked after her and grabbed her right wrist.  "Where are you going?"

Amina looked up at his face and couldn't understand the concern in his eyes. "I'm going home."

Youngbae's shoulder slumped in relief.  "Good.  I'll take you home."  He started to pull her in the opposite direction, towards the back entrance of the auditorium.

She tugged on his hand slightly and he stopped to face her.  "I'm fine.  I can get home by myself."

"I just saw you stumble out of the Hall.  You're in no condition to take the transit by yourself."