The neon purple lights, the loud music blasting through speakers, the massive crowd of people chanting all sorts of chants, the huge banners with crazy illustrations and colorful block letters hanging mid-air. It was all right before his eyes yet it felt surreal to him. Without any warning whatsoever, a sudden wave of pain gushes through his head and he felt his entire body trembling so bad out of fear, His breathing soon turned ragged with his chest rapidly moving up and down with every breath. Small clear beads of sweat formed on his pale white forehead and trickled down the side of his face. He clutched the microphone in his hands tightly, making his palms and the tips of his long fingers pale white.
From a distance away, a figure came running closer with swift footsteps. His jet black strands of hair bounced loosely everywhere, his eyebrows scrunched up together, evidently showing that he was everything but calm. His jacket flaccidly and barely holding on to his broad shoulders. He blatantly ignored the glares and stares he was receiving from the other students in charge backstage.
He thought "I just need to get there. Who cares if these people think that I have gotten out of mind?"
Yes. Watanabe Haruto was indeed popular in his high school. After all, he has got all the traits. Looks? Ethereal. Grades. Top-Notch. Athletic? Of course. Sociable? Very. Personality? Super Friendly. The guy was almost too good to be true so naturally, he got a whole damn army either swooning over his looks or trying to approach him or admiring his perfect scores.
So, why was this guy running around rushing like a maniac? Well, he was looking for his best friend. As the good friend he always had been, Haruto was extremely worried about his best friend's stage fright problem. He would feel intense fear of becoming overwhelmed when being in front of a big crowd of people to perform.
When he spotted the latter, he came to a stop and halted his steps.
"Hey, Junkyu- OMG! Wait a second. Lemme grab a bottle of water."
He rushed off to the nearest supplies table, grab the bottle, and handed it over to his trembling friend. He watched the latter grasp the bottle and gulped the water forcefully down his throat.
"Ruto, I'm scared. What if I messed it all up? What if my voice just cracked in the middle of the performance? Aish, why did Mr. Choi have to pick me for the opening act of the ceremony when he could have just gone with Jeong-"
Unable to witness his friend flooding his mind with the self-doubts, he cut him off by closing the distance between them, pulling him into a tight, warm, and comforting embrace.
Haruto laid his hands on Junkyu's back and patted it in the gentlest way possible. While doing so, Junkyu got a whiff of Haruto's "oh-so-comforting" scent. It was a subtle scent of bubbly cream and vanilla.
"You wore perfume?"
Junkyu blurted out of the blue with his muffled voice pressed against Haruto's chest. He then felt the taller shaking his head, denying it.
"It's my natural scent" he teasingly sneered, making Junkyu chuckle lightly.
However, a quite loud voice cut their "bonding" time, making them jump apart and out of each other's embrace.
"Lovebirds, the show's starting in like 5 minutes and you're out here shoving your bodies into each other's arms like an effing K-drama. Ahhhhh..., speaking of hugs, I miss Sukkie~" Jihoon playfully hollered from a meter away.
Junkyu silently rolled his eyes and unconsciously jutted his bottom lip out slightly. Not to let his guard down, he mouthed a quick "We're not even dating".
Amidst the chaos going on behind the red draping curtains, the host in a black dashing suit and slicked-back hair, came out so majestically. He quickly took his position in front of the crowd. After giving a deep bow, he briefly read from his cue cards in a bold and loud tone, welcoming the performer onto the stage.
