Midnight

Anti-fan

the car ride was awkward as expected.

jaera glanced at him from time to time, but he would did his best to ignore her attention.

"is this the right address?" he stopped in front of one spooky road.

she double-checked the address, as she also did not feel safe here.
"see." giving him the phone to confirm. "i'll go now. thanks by the way."

"are you sure you'll be fine?" he stopped, catching her stunned.

after all, he still cares.

she gave the usual smile and nodded. "yep. besides, it's very common that the studio of this kind of concept could be kind of odd."

"still, shouldn't at least someone company you?"

"i'm sure our staff is there."

"call them to come out to pick you up. or else, I won't let you walk there by yourself." she was taken back at his demand, but knowing him, this was not new.

she sighed. "fine." closing the door and texted her stylist.
"she'll come right away."

now, what?

they sat back in a tensed spacious room.
"so," she started. "do you like it so far?"

"what do you mean?" acting clueless.
"you debut successfully. you proved your family wrong. how does it feel?"

he hated that she knew so much about him.

"not that great." he answered anyway. "especially after knowing what they did to you."

she chuckled to hide the pain. "don't take it the hard way. at least, we both can do what we want now, can't we?"
their eyes met. then, hers felt on his hand, a specific finger that something supposed to be held there.

their promised ring was gone. what did she expect?

"we can't." he swallowed hard, seeing the disappointment in her eyes that quickly disguised with kind smile. as much as he wants to deny, it's just as painful to him.

"you're right." jaera turned back to the front. "we might be on stage, up above while in fact, we're at the very bottom, getting told what to do, and what not." chuckling in disbelief.
"on this note, it's still surprising to me that someone like you deal with this very well."

that brought smile to his face. "maybe I enjoy what I do."

"right. your passion in music is something else. I respect you for that."
after a while, they're able to hold a genuine smile, and normal conversation.
though it's not long, there's nothing else jaera could ask for.

"oh that's her." her stylist waved at her from the entrance of the building.
but before she left, she turned to ask for something. "can we at least stay as friend?"

"sure." he hold out his hand. "I wish you and your career the best."
she accepted his hand gratefully. "same to you, jen."

-

after about three months since the band's debut, they finally have their first oversea schedule.
their first airport fashion attracted more attention then expected. everyone tuned in.

yes, everyone.

the airport was packed.
it reminded them of their first public appearance where cameras were shoved to their faces and barely enough space to move.

luckily, their management planned ahead this time, and provided them enough security.

as soon as they got on the plane, they were provided with gopro cam each.
aeri sat next to yangyang. they fought on who got to hold the cam. in the end, yangyang won.