True Acceptance- A True Beauty Fanfic

37- Zico

SEOJUN POV

Zico... He was going to Zico's concert tonight. Seojun hadn't slept great the last few nights due to the level of pure excitement. Apparently they had VIP tickets, enough for the band and Suho and of course a few guards.

He spent the better half of the night before planning his outfit, what should he wear? Tactical pants and a cool gray shirt mixed well, but did he want to look intimidating or sleek? What about a button up shirt and ripped jeans? Chains maybe?

He finally settled on black tactical pants with a cool black chain on the hip, a black long sleeve shirt with rips at the shoulders, and lots of silver rings. It took an act from God for him not to change into it first thing in the morning and make his way to the venue early.

They did have an early morning dance practice that took Seojun's mind off of things, and then later they had a meeting to begin planning the next comeback. The meeting took several hours of pure nonsensical rambling over concept ideas, song themes, photo themes and more.

"PD-nim-" Seojun pulled aside their director after the interview. "Do you remember the hello counselor interview I was supposed to do?"

"Suho's taken care of the footage, it's not getting released, don't worry."

"No... The- the girl that was in the show, the young one who was there for help, is there any way to track her down?"

PD-nim hums for a long time and shifts his weight around but eventually spoke, "Yes I suppose, the show would have their information down on an NDA they've signed, a phone number or something."

"Do you think you could set up a private meeting for us? I feel really sick over not being able to help any, I don't want her to feel guilty for me running out either."

"I don't know if..." PD-nim huffs, "I suppose we could draw up an NDA for her and her brother too, so nothing gets out. Why? What do you want to say to her."

Seojun unfolds his cane and lets his body relax once he feels the end of it tap the floor. "She's been through a lot, she's young too, and scared. I know what it's like. I just wanna offer some encouragement and maybe- her brother said they couldn't afford therapy-"

"They'd definitely need to sign an NDA if you're going to offer to pay for that."

After all had been decided, Seojun had to keep his phone off for both, but once he was done, he slipped out to the hallway and dialed Sujin.

The call went to voicemail.

"That's not like her." He mutters with a frown and types out her number again. Voicemail again.

"We gotta get going to the dorm." Minjae came out beside him, "Concert starts at eight but the drivers want us to get there at seven."

"Yeah..." Seojun turned his phone off. A sour feeling rumbles in his stomach.

"What's wrong? Talk to me."

"Sujin told me last night she was running a fever, and now she's not answering her phone. She usually always answers- unless we've fought or something." He turns the phone over in his hand and sighs.

Minjae pats his shoulder and they both turn for the elevators, walking side by side. Minjae asks, "Want me to try to call her?"

"Sure."

Minjae's phone beeps and boops as he types out the numbers on his keypad. He huffs. "Voicemail."

"Should I swing by there?" Seojun's throat burned and his hands twitched, wanting to reach for his phone again.

The elevator dings and they circle around to the right, going towards the back of the building.

"If she doesn't call back before we get to the apartment, I'll ask a guard to go over and check in. That okay?" Minjae opened the back door, sunlight spilled into Seojun's vision and swirls of foggy shapes float in front of his right eye.

In the last few weeks his eyes have definitely changed. With sunlight, his eye would make out more foggy and soft shapes, like billows of clouds in front of him. His left eye was more crisp, able to see lines of items that were backlit. It was quite interesting to see how much his vision had changed since last November.

Once in the car, his phone rings. Seojun grabs it instantly and swipes up, "Hello?!"

"Sorry, I was in the bathroom." Sujin croaked, her voice sounded like hell.

Seojun pressed a hand to his chest and sighs, head back against the car headrest. "It's fine, are you okay?"

"I think I've puked an entire week's worth of food up." Sujin chuckled weakly, "I think it's food poisoning, not sure."

"Damn baby." He didn't want to go have the time of his life while she's at home puking her guts up. "What did you eat last night?"

"I met my friend Lira and we had some sushi." She answered, letting out another dry heave, "I think it'll ease up soon."

"Do you need me to come over?"

"No!" She shouts, "Tonight's your night, you get to go have fun. Enjoy it."

"Should I call eomma and let her know you're sick?"

"No,don't risk it. In case it is a bug or something, she doesn't need to catch it." Sujin responds.

They turn down into the garage and begin descending underground. Seojun wanted to abide by Sujin's wishes, but he couldn't shake this feeling that something worse was at play, she didn't need to be alone. Not while she's been puking and running a fever.

"I don't like this, Sujin."

She groans over the phone and there's a rustle on the other end, it sounds like she's crawling back into bed. "I think I can last until your concert is over, just swing by afterwards, is that a good compromise?"

"Yes, but I have some rules."

"You wouldn't be you without rules."

"Text me anytime something changes. Anytime you take your temperature or eat or puke, or anything. Text me."

"Do you wanna know my bowel habits too?" She laughs.

Seojun opened the van door and walked alongside Minjae to the elevator, a smile gracing his face. "If it's out of the ordinary for you, yes."

"I'll be fine, just go, I'll text you when I need, okay?"

"Promise me you'll let me know if anything changes."

She promised, and they hung up. Back in the apartment, Minjae asked. "So what's wrong?"

"She thinks she has food poisoning, been puking all day."

"Can food poisoning cause a fever?"

"Yeah, it did with Jeongin last year." They go back to their rooms and grab clothes, Seojun went into the bathroom to change.

He's never felt cooler. His entire outfit just felt awesome, like he was the main character in a fantasy book.

He gelled his hair but left two swoops against his forehead, two silver studs in his ears and rings coating his fingers.

"You look-" Minjae spoke once he stepped out into the living room.

"Awesome." Seojun said. "I know. Where's Heejung and Jeongin?"

"They're riding with Suho, still at the company."

There's a knock on the door, their driver signaling that they needed to go.

"Let me grab an earbud." Seojun grabbed his wireless earbuds and shoved them in his pocket, ready for when he needed to listen to text messages from Sujin.

Though this night was supposed to be heaven, supposed to be fun, he couldn't shake the feeling that something awful was about to come crashing down.