One Of The Girls

{5}

The two days of break went by fast and luckily Gaia had somewhat recovered from what happened. Did it still hurt to move? Of fucking course it did, but the pain was eased and much more tolerable since she took 1-hour baths in scorching hot water every night and the morning, buying at least three bags of Epsom salt that certainly did the trick when she filled the tub with half a bags worth of product. She hadn't seen or heard from Taehyung since then, she was surprised because he usually texted her every day.

She had gone to the company for practice and didn't see him in any of the practice rooms, and lately, he had purposely aligned his schedule with hers so they could efficiently sneak around. She missed him, even if she liked having a break from not being fucked out of her mind, she wanted to at least see him to feel some sort of comfort.

Especially considering the last time they saw each other, he was insensitive and cold. It hurt to see him that way because she had given her body for him to use, but she didn't expect to be treated like that. Much like how her body had been feeling, her heart was in pain.

The fact that Jimin was right, that Taehyung wasn't the man she thought he was, confirmed the doubts she pushed deep down inside of her so she wouldn't feel that insecurity. His behavior was foreign, it wasn't like how he usually was, but he even said it. That was him, his true self with no mask on.

Her gut was twisting as soon as she and the girls started getting ready backstage in the usual room. The concerts would go on for a while at various venues around the large city, every time tickets were sold out and there wasn't a single vacant seat. The feeling of performing in front of thousands of fans just like her made her feel on top of the world, it made her feel like a star to be onstage with the man she had loved and admired for many years.

But right now, after what happened two nights ago, after he revealed himself and his true intentions, getting up on stage with him was something she started to dread. But she pushed away the odd feeling, figuring it was just nerves because she was afraid to mess up since her body wasn't at its strongest.

She gaslighted herself into thinking that and smiled through the pain. Her heart was telling her to see him in the dressing room, to talk and see how he's been even when it hasn't been long since they last were together. Two days felt like two years to her, she was upset with him but more at herself.

What did she do to get that reaction from him? Was he afraid that she wouldn't like him anymore and shut himself off? There were so many possibilities and self-doubt harboring in her mind and she couldn't help but feel irritated. Gaia never felt this way, she could always see the good and not worry too much about how people treated her, even if it was unfair.

But she was annoyed. Her energy was off, the frown on her face spoke more than a thousand words and only one other girl in that room cared to notice. Her best friend walked up to her, adjusting the rings on her fingers and sitting down next to her on the couch. Gaia feels a weight on the cushion and her expression immediately brightens when she sees Raven smiling at her.

"Hey, are you good? What's the frown for?"

Gaia only shrugs in response, playing it off seemingly well, "Just a bit nervous for tonight. I'm afraid I'll mess up..."

She starts playing with her fingers and Raven can see something is clearly on her mind. She found it odd when she saw her best friend coming back to the hotel with three bags of bath salts and asked her about it, which Gaia, of course, played it off as 'excessive training'. Whatever the hell that meant.

Raven knew the girl's routine, and it was odd to see her acting weird these past two days. She didn't know what the change could've been, but she certainly had a feeling who was involved. She'd seen this before with the previous girls who had worked at the company and abruptly left not long after. They'd be living their lives as usual, then get real quiet, and then that leads to an odd melancholy attitude, and then they'd vanish.