Closer than Ever

Chapter 45 - Sofi D1

When I wake up, we are in the usual spoons position with Tae's leg thrown over me. I smile gently and yawn, feeling very happy and relaxed. I turn to grab my phone and see that it's only 9 a.m. He tightens his arm across my chest. "Don't go, Birdie!" he mumbles.

I laugh lightly and roll over toward him. "I'm not going anywhere, love. I just wanted to check the time. It's early, you don't have to be awake."

"I'm not awake," he says, and we both chuckle. "I'm starting to get nervous, though." He cracks one eye open and looks at me.

I scoot a little closer and put my arm around him, humming. "Don't be nervous, sweet man. You guys are going to be amazing, like always!"

He sighs heavily. "It's been so long. What if nobody shows up? What if we can't dance for that long? We always end up going harder when ARMY is there."

"You guys have been practicing hard. Just try to pace yourself so you stay healthy and have something left for tomorrow, my love. And I'm pretty sure the stadium is going to be packed to the rafters with ARMYs, considering that the tickets sold out in presale and thousands of people were mad that they couldn't get any..." I kiss his chin.

"Mmm," he says, his eyes still closed.

"What time do you have to go today, my love?" I ask.

He sighs. "We have a team meeting at 1, go out to the stadium, I have physical therapy first, then final costume check, hair and makeup at three, soundcheck at 5, show at 7:30. So I need to be back at the other hotel around noon." I kiss his chin again, and he chuckles.

"Well, that's three hours from now. You can go back to sleep, sweet man. I'll make sure you're awake in time."

"I'm too nervous to really sleep. I've just been laying here dozing for a couple of hours already."

I sweep his bangs back from his eyes, and run my hand through his hair. Then I push him over onto his back and purr, "I can help you relax, babe." His eyes are still closed but he breaks into an open-mouth boxy grin as I slip down beneath the blankets.

Emerging from the covers a short while later, I see a blissful smile spread across Tae's face as I snuggle up on his chest. He wraps his arms around me weakly, gently stroking my back. "That was amazing, Birdie. Thank you. I definitely feel more relaxed now!" he whispers, and chuckles softly in his deep voice.

"It's my pleasure. You taste so good! And I like making you feel good." I kiss his pectoral muscle. "Sleep a bit more, if you can, Tae. You have time."

He sighs again and closes his eyes, drifting away, and I pull the duvet cover up over our shoulders and do the same.

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ARMYs have been lining up outside the stadium since the wee hours of the morning, from what I see on social media. I decide that I don't need to be there that early, since the gates don't open until 5:30 anyway. Tae had asked me if I wanted a soundcheck ticket, but I decided not to get one since I can see the guys up close at work, but other ARMYs don't have that opportunity.

Around 5 p.m., I steer my rental car through the LA traffic and into the designated orange parking area. Lines and giant clumps of people are standing all over the stadium grounds, and it looks pretty chaotic. I don't see many stadium staff around to direct people, just those manning the checkpoints for covid vaccination status. My vaccination card is in Korean, but hopefully they'll let me through anyway...

I get into what looks like one of the lines, and start chatting with the other ARMYs around me. Everyone is really happy and excited to be there, and people are exchanging little gifts and goodie bags with one another. My clear stadium bag is filling up with freebies; I feel bad that I don't have anything to share with people, and wonder if I can assemble something before tomorrow night's concert.