Moving Forward

25. Heartbeat

(Credits to Face Yourself for the video above)

June 13, 2033, 6 PM. One hour to go before showtime and they all sat at the dressing lounge, feeling dread and a foreboding of things to come. It was quiet, too quiet. In their previous performances, at this time ARMY would be chanting their names repeatedly. There would be screams and sounds of an ARMY eagerly awaiting their appearance. Tonight there was none.

They viewed the crowd outside the stadium earlier, and there were only a few people in line. They had given this event away for free yet very few seemed to have accepted their invitation.

Hobi was sweating profusely beneath his suit. He was so nervous he felt he wouldn't be able to stand up before a near empty stadium. They all had been afraid of this at some point years ago, when they anticipated a time when the applause would finally fade.

"How many do you think are out there?" he asked the members.

"Maybe 5,000," Yoongi answered while biting his nails. "It's okay, it's been a long time. ARMY can change too."

Namjoon stood up and paced the floor. "Regardless of how many or how few, let's do our best." The BigHit Music staff around them moved about with lowered eyes, probably not wanting to embarrass them about the low turnout.

Jungkook kept sighing deeply, trying to release the tension inside him. "I'm sorry. Maybe I did something wrong. We didn't advertise this as much as BHM used to. Maybe ARMY didn't catch it." He began pushing his fingers through his hair, causing his stylist to panic.

"Relax, whatever happens, we'll do what we came here for," Jin assured them. "There are ARMYs online too." Last they checked there were around 9,000 unique viewers of the livestream.

"It's okay. Remember when we used to be happy with just 2,000. We'll do alright." Jimin didn't mind. He was just happy for a chance to be with ARMY again.

Taehyung was the most relaxed of them all. He took a selfie and posted it in his IG story with the caption, "See you later." He had seen ARMY before, he was confident they would come.

When it was time, they were called to proceed onstage. They all stood in front of the mirror and took a photo. This was it. They had tried their best, and they were looking their best too. The rest was not up to them anymore, but they were ready to face it.

Jimin held Suga's hand as they went up and it was cold. He squeezed his shoulders, "It's okay, hyung. We'll get through this."

A porous light metal curtain separated them from the stage. They could see shadows beyond it but no lights. It was a black ocean.

The curtain parted to let each member out one by one. RM was the first to step onto the stage. Silence greeted him. He kept walking the long ramp to the front, followed by Jin, Suga, J-Hope, V and Jungkook. Jimin waited for his cue. They had planned to surprise ARMY, who thought he was still asleep.

The six of them faced a full-packed stadium, with an audience all seated and no army bombs in sight. They wondered if there were any ARMY members at all before them or if this was just a random audience who came for a free concert. They smiled bravely and proceeded to introduce themselves. They held each other's shaking hand and began to bow.

"Hello, we are BTS!" They did their best to say the words with composure, despite the fact that deep down they were trying hard to hold themselves together.

As they straightened up to face the audience, someone shouted from the middle of the second section of the stadium.

And the magic began.

One light emerged at the ground level, and from there spread one by one until the whole stadium was lighted up with white army bombs, turning to purple hearts everywhere. The members stared wide-eyed around them. Then the music started, not their programmed number, but ARMY singing the chorus of Young Forever.

Forever we are young
Even when I fall and hurt myself
I endlessly run toward my dream
Forever ever ever ever
We are young

RM put his hand to his mouth and looked at the night sky above, trying hard not to let the tears fall. No one was successful. The members were openly crying now, and Jungkook was beginning to break down.

Jimin saw everything from behind the curtain and took it as his cue to come out. At the sight of him, ARMY began screaming. He joined the line beside J-Hope and waved to ARMY, smiling broadly as he greeted them. Their screams were so loud that it must have been heard as far as Gangnam. And they didn't stop. They could hear their names being called out in the chant, over and over. ARMY didn't lose their breath. Their love didn't fade.

The members all looked at each other, overwhelmed. They couldn't talk, how could they sing like this? Jungkook was sobbing into his hands and J-Hope picked him up and hugged him. Soon each member surrounded them and they hugged each other in a tight circle, hiding their faces and their tears.

ARMY began to sing again and suddenly it was raining rose petals all around, in different colors, its fragrance filling the whole stadium. They broke away and faced their audience again.

"ARMY!" RM shouted. "This is too much." He smiled through the tears. Then he motioned to the members, asking them if they were ready. He was afraid their voices wouldn't come out well, but this was ARMY. They would understand.

They settled into their positions and their music began. They would sing Heartbeat, which they rarely sang. It would be their apology and their plea. ARMY settled down too, realizing what this song meant to them. They kept their army bombs lighted, so that BTS would not lose their way again.

(Credits to theultimatedodo for the video above, taken at Wembley 190602)