The Shift - Chan

Third life - 2

"Chris..."
Almost as if the boy could hear me, he turned towards the area where I was stood. I wasn't right at the front by the stage but still could be easily spotted from his position. The rest of the boys were getting into their opening poses but Chan kept scanning the crowd. He never saw me before the music began.

The booming track came back on from earlier with the sirens and then the backing music fading in. All those around me screamed but I was still in awe. Awe at Chris on stage performing and in awe at the fact that this was a parallel version of Chris and that I was in a completely different reality from my own.
District 9, the song itself, was very good, and I never knew that Chris even had that much talent singing wise. In Australia, it wasn't necessarily something he showed off. He wasn't one to enter talent shows and would more often than not only sing with me in the car.

The song ended and the fans cheered out. The guy at the front had a surprisingly deep voice and there was something oddly familiar about him. However, Chan, who was stood in the back row of formation caught my eye. I was clapping along with the other fans and I gave him a small smile. His face remained emotionless. The cameras beeped off and the boys all gathered round to congratulate each other on a good stage. They took it in turns to wave to the fans but Chan dashed off stage momentarily. He came back with waters and escorted the boys off to their changing rooms I'm assuming.

I checked my phone to see if my parallel self had still got Chan's number but the contact just read 'Chris?' so I'm assuming that he may have changed his phone when joining a company. I exited the building, taking one last look and hoping that he might be in the wings glancing back, but it wasn't to be.
As I stepped out the stage area, I slumped against one of the walls, away from the crowds. I began to question about how I got here and whether I could travel through sleep to other places like with dreams. Yet, I had nowhere near the right scientific knowledge to explain what was happening. Maybe there wasn't one. Either way, I wondered if my Aussie boy Chris could help me out or help me find someone who can help.

"Excuse me miss."
Some guy in a dark uniform came up to me. He wasn't too much taller than me but had a badge on and so I assumed he worked somewhere in this building.
"Are you Y/N?"
I nodded and asked him why he came up to me. He responded saying one of the guests had asked to see me and that I could be brought backstage to a more discreet location. If I had to bet, I'd say it was Chan.

The minute I reached this random area, I knew I should have placed money on it. Still in black shirt and black jeans from the stage, was Chan.
The uniformed guy left us he and so it was just the two of us alone now.
I had no idea what to say. There were so many ways to go about this. In all honesty, I wish the other me would have taken over at this point. I didn't want to ruin what she had but it did seem they were distant. So, as long as I'm myself and am polite then it can't hurt to talk to a parallel version of my boyfriend.

"That was a great show." I smiled. My palms were sweating at his cold stance. He was just taking everything in, not even looking like responding anytime soon.
"I mean it," I continued, "you and your group are off to a great start."
He licked his lips before replying, "why did you come here Y/N?"
Why had I come here? To see Chris of course. If my last encounter with him was anything to go by then there was still a lot of unresolved tension.
"I came to see you. Steph was always watching your show and so when she said you made final debut it made me think... wow, he's achieved what he really wanted, I'm proud of him."

"And the show is over now so you don't have to act so polite."
"What? Chris?"
"How many times Y/N that's not my name anymore!" He shouted at me, "I could just report you as a saesang and... and..."
"And you'd never see me again."
I may not know too much about the Korean music industry but we'd all been told of stalker fans. Everyone knew of them but I'd never known anyone who was one. It always seemed obsessive and unnecessary in my opinion. We all love our favourite singers but there's no need to stalk them, scare them and make their lives miserable.

In that moment, I could tell Chri-Chan was spitting venom at me. The boy who loved me, who felt the same, offered complete alienation like it was nothing.
"Go on then," my voice remained quiet, small, as if I was cowering below him, "I cared about you enough to wait but that wasn't good enough for you. You act like you weren't hurt the day you left so why don't you call security? The only one who'll get hurt is me."
He gulped. Never make an empty threat, because some people don't forget them. If he couldn't keep to his end of the bargain, then I would always remember when he threatened to cut me out of his life like I was trash. He would not live it down.

In true stand off fashion, someone had to budge, and this time... it was Chan.
"I didn't want to leave you, you know that, but I had an opportunity to chase my dreams-"
I retaliated, "then why couldn't you let me chase them with you?"
He fell silent so I carried on, "I was happy to wait, happy to support you but you never gave me the chance. I would have given you anything you wanted just to make you stay."
The words were heavy but I knew it's how I'd feel in the situation. It's what my gut said. Chris was my person, it didn't matter what reality or what country we were in, I cared about him and that fact would never change.

"Is there an issue here?"
Peeking his head round the door, was one of the members from the stage earlier. I knew no one's name but he was definitely the one I remember being familiar.
Chan turned to him, a small but fake smile masking his pain.
"It's okay Felix, would you and Lee Know mind packing my things up, I shouldn't be too much longer."
The boy nodded and retreated. Felix? Is there a Felix in my world? A Felix that knows Chan and also knows me..?