Parfait

Chapter Forty-Five

Having Haneul with her was more of a benefit than Hana first realized. Concert days were long, as it turned out. The omega might not have known what to do with herself if she was alone for hours in the big VIP box; the other staff that were sharing it did not show up for sound check.

Hana treated her sister to plenty of snacks from the vendors after getting a glimpse of her alphas on stage. The stadium was almost eerily empty, some of the food stalls not even open yet, and she tried not to think about how many people would be rushing in soon. "I don't think I'll be too bothered if I have to use the restroom or something," she said as they returned to their box. Someone had already furnished the place with bottled waters and packaged snacks, but the smell of hot (if greasy) stadium food had called to them. "I can handle crowds if I feel anonymous. It's stressful, but doable. It's attention that I struggle with the most."

"Makes sense," Haneul nodded, munching on a few kernels of popcorn. They made use of one of the tables in the private space to lay out their feast so that they did not have to balance it all awkwardly on their laps. "This is a good time for you to go to a concert, then. Someday your identity might leak to the press, but ARMY doesn't know who you are right now. You could even go mingle, if you want."

Hana shook her head forcefully. "Oh gosh no. Talking to strangers? That's scary."

"That's kind of a shame. Online, ARMY say that it's not like talking to strangers. It's like being around friends you haven't met yet."

Hana watched as her sister kept eating, contemplating the situation they found themselves in. After all this time, Haneul was finally attending the concert of her favorite band, and seemed to know what to expect from it. "Am I holding you back from a good concert experience, unnie?"

"Oh, no, you're not!" Haneul looked startled by the mere suggestion. "I mean, it couldn't be like that this time, we don't even speak the language. I just wanted to make you feel better. I'm sure we'll get lots of chances to see their concerts from now on." She smiled brightly, and Hana tried to accept it at face value, without beating herself up with second guesses.

They could hear it when the crowds were allowed to enter the stadium for the first time. The dull roar of hundreds of voices filled the space quickly, and it would only grow in intensity as more people arrived. Hana watched in curiosity as people milled around looking for their seats. "A lot of people have those light stick things you were talking about," she observed. "ARMY Bombs, right? Do most fans have them?"

"Some people might have them from previous concerts, or bought them just for home, but a lot of people probably got them today at the stadium," Haneul explained. "They do sync up to music videos and stuff, but the concert is where they're really fun. The latest ones have Bluetooth so you can use an app on your phone to control them. During the concert they'll change color in time with the songs, and probably make patterns and stuff."

"Really? That's amazing!" Hana leaned over the railing and did indeed see some people holding their phone in one hand and their light stick in the other, getting ready for the show to begin. "If I had known they were that cool I would have asked if we could have some."

"We still could get them," Haneul suggested, though her tone was cautious. "I saw a merch booth when we were getting snacks. But it's going to be pretty crowded out there."

Silence would have fallen if not for the noise of so many excited ARMY outside. The sisters did not say a word until Hana asked, "Was it very far?"

"No. Just past the bathroom."

"Okay." Hana took a deep breath and stood up, looking her sister in the eye. "We'll try. You'll bring me back here if it's too much, won't you?"

There was no hesitation from Haneul. "Of course. You can count on me."