Before you disappear

Chapter 10

My friend had left about ten minutes ago to meet up with her date. She'd been nervous, pacing the room and checking her make up every few minutes.

I'd been nervous, too, but not because of her date. I glanced at my phone. Stacey still hadn't responded to the message I had sent last night about meeting up for lunch. What if she's not going to reply? Maybe she already made plans.

I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to wait any longer. I'm not even that hungry anyway.

I was just too nervous for what was to come that I hadn't been able to eat properly since my friend had informed me about the concert. Even last night's dinner had ended up in the trash.

"I should eat something before going into the stadium," I muttered to myself. "Maybe something light."

As I gathered the essentials for the concert, I thought about what to do to until I would meet up with my friend at the venue.

"I'll probably be there around 3," she had told me.

I checked my phone. That gave me about 3 and a half hours. A grin spread across my face as I remembered the Waterstones book shop we had passed when we arrived here last night. "Perfect way to spend those hours."

Just then my phone beeped. Stacey had finally messaged me. "I'm so sorry! I ran out of battery last night and just saw your message. I won't make it for lunch, but we can meet up at the venue?" I read aloud. "There'll be a food cart for sure, and I won't be too far away from that. Let's meet up there!"

"Sure! I'll find my friend and then come join you at the food cart!" I quickly replied, then turned the phone off. "But first; books!"

***

Nerves kicked in as I approached the venue. I was met with the noise of people singing to songs, shouting and laughing with each other. It wasn't that I was scared to join in, but I usually had a hard time feeling comfortable in large crowds. I always felt like I had to be more outgoing or else I'd be made to feel invisible.

I was the typical introvert; I loved being by myself, reading or writing. I didn't actively avoid crowds, but I wasn't known to go look for them either.

The things I do for BTS.

As I entered the venue's grounds, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at the sheer number of people that were already waiting there. The stadium had a capacity of around 90,000 seats and it was sold out. Still, knowing the number of seats and then actually seeing that many people were two separate things.

How was I going to find my friend in such a huge crowd of people? Perhaps I can call her.

My hand went inside my jacket, taking out my phone. It was almost half past three, so my friend should already be in the vicinity.

As my phone rang, I wondered if she'd be able to hear her phone in the noise of all the people here. Moments later, I got my answer; it went to voicemail.

Sighing, I started typing a message to her. "I'm here. Where are you?"

The message was delivered instantly and as two blue checks appeared beside it, I knew my friend had read it. Three dots appeared, signaling my friend was typing.

My eyes were glued to the screen, waiting for her message to appear.

"I'm INSIDE," I read. "Jake managed to let me watch the rehearsals! You can come too!" She continued with instruction on how to find the entrance to the backstage area.

My heart was pounding as I followed the directions on the screen, careful not to make eye contact with any of the people waiting outside. Soon, I found the fence she referred to and it appeared I was actually leaving the venue, but then I spotted the specific door she had told me to go to. It didn't even look like an entrance at first, but when two buff guys exited, followed by my friend, I knew I was at the right location.

"Come quickly!" she waved enthusiastically.

I looked over my shoulder at the crowd behind the fence. A few girls were looking my way, some even pointed in my direction and I instantly felt like I was trespassing.

Once inside, I couldn't shake that feeling. Granted, my friend's date was working here, but did he really have the authority to sneak in two women?

"Are you sure this is okay?" I whispered to my friend as the two buff guys led up through a few corridors.

"Yes! I told you Jake's working at the venue. But he's actually the sound guy!" she said as she linked her arm around mine. "He said we could check out BTS' rehearsals, but we can't go up to the stage. We have to stay at the sound booth."

Entering the stadium and seeing how huge it was, made me feel queasy.

"There's Jake! Come, you must meet him!"

My friend pulled me towards the sound booth, though my eyes were glued towards the stage area. Soon, BTS would be performing there. How far away would we be? Would we see them up close, or would they just be specks, forcing us to look at the giant screens in order to actually see them?

A darkhaired, blue eyed guy held out his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said, smiling brightly and shaking my hand. "You guys can sit over there. The rehearsal will start any minute. Please do not leave your seat though. You might get me in trouble." He winked at the last sentence, making me unsure if he was actually serious about getting in trouble.

Besides, what did he expect? That I would just scream and run up the stage? I was more of the freeze-until-it's-over type of fan.

I nodded, still dazed about what was happening.

My friend pulled me towards where Jake had pointed us towards, and as soon as we sat down she leaned toward me. "Isn't he the best? I can't believe we're actually going to watch the rehearsals!"

"What is happening?" I muttered and just like that three beams of lights appeared, shining onto the stage.

Seven figures stood behind a see through curtain. My heart started racing. We were way too close not to be noticed.

***

Author's note

Okay, MY heart is racing now, too! Can you imagine this moment? Seeing the silhouette of the guys through the curtain? I mean... AAARRGGHHH! 

So, I have no clue if it's actually realistic to have someone working at the stadium and that person being able to bring two fans in for the sound check. But hey, a girl can dream right? It would be freakin' awesome to be one of the few to see them rehearse.

And I know BTS has done rehearsals in front of a group of fans. I just don't know if those kinds of rehearsals is something they only occasionally do, or if they do it with every concert. If you know this, please let me know!