Off-Screen (무대아래에서) | Haobin

K-Con

Hanbin hasn't adjusted to the whiplash of their constantly changing and intense schedule. One minute he's falling asleep in Hyung's arms, the next Matthew's banging on their door to get up, they have to get to the airport. Hyung and Hanbin scramble for their passports and barely look in the mirror before they race out the door and get in the car for the airport. The WakeOne staff has to apply makeup to them in the car so they're camera-ready before their departure.

The airport is the first truly bad experience of his brand-new idol life. Hanbin's seen celebrities get rushed at public places before on the news, but it's frightening when it happens to him and his bandmates and there's nothing he can do to protect them. Hao Hyung gets pushed, which has Hanbin's heart in his throat, and he can't even see what's happening to the other members due to the crowd. Even with the WakeOne and airport staff helping, it's not enough to keep them from getting squished and bumped around.

Hanbin first checks that all the members are physically unharmed and in their seats when they finally make it through the public crush and into the relative safety of the airplane. The younger members look the most unnerved, their eyes wide and their skin pale even as they assure Hanbin they're fine.

Hyung also seems dazed. Hanbin squeezes his hand and strokes his back until he seems to focus on him again.

"That was scary," Hanbin agrees quietly. Hyung just nods his head vigorously. "We need to be careful when we get to Japan."

"But they don't want us to cover our faces," Hyung whispers. "They invited our fans to meet us at the airport."

"They weren't prepared for how many fans would show up. I'll talk to the manager. They also want us to be intact when we get to K-Con, and they didn't have enough staff to keep that rush from happening."

Hyung nods slowly.

"I doubt Japan will be as bad. People don't know us as much there."

"I'm not taking that risk," Hanbin whispers. "I'll talk to the staff."

"Okay."

The members don't sleep on the plane. They're all nervous, and it's a short flight. But Hanbin gets the management staff to agree to allow them to wear masks at arrival, and it's a much safer experience from the airport to the hotel. He expects everyone to relax when they make it to their hotel, but instead they seem even more keyed-up, including Hyung. The Incheon airport rush is still on their minds. It's still on Hanbin's mind, too. He's been walking around masked since Boy's Planet started to air, so he hasn't had to deal with a fan rush before. His meetings with fans have all been pleasant and carefully controlled by Boy's Planet staff. Now he knows how things can devolve, and it was truly frightening. He genuinely loves his fans and enjoys interacting with them. But he has to reconcile that love with more caution than he was applying before, and that's a little sad. He can see the rest of the members trying to fit the unpleasant experience into their deep love for their fans, too, and struggling with that adjustment.

They meet with their management team when they get to the hotel to review the schedule and practice their Japanese. Only Ji-Ung is competent in Japanese, so they decide as a group to keep their introductions short and simple to avoid the mistakes their inevitable nerves will produce. Later, Taerae helps resolve the tension by getting them all to sing along with his toy guitar and playfully interviewing them on their first day in a foreign country together, preparing for their first performance as a group. Yujin, Gyubin, and Ricky all seem more nervous than the others, so Hanbin spends some time with them until they all have to go to bed to get up in time for their robust schedule the next day.

Hanbin's nervous, but not about the performance. It's his first public experience as the leader of their nascent group, and he doesn't speak the language, so it's going to be even more difficult. It helps to have Hyung in the bed next to him, a comforting presence. They blow each other kisses before they turn off the lights for the night. Ricky pretends not to notice.