Addicted To You

30 - Red Carpet

The car door opened and I froze like a deer in headlights when I saw the cameras and people lined up along the sides of the red carpet. It seemed to go on for miles and I felt panic building. The camera flashes just made it worse. Jooheon noticed and took my hand and held it to his lips. He kissed it and smiled at me.

"You'll be great. Just stick with us."

I nodded at him because my voice had disappeared. The eight of us were split into two cars, Shownu, Kihyun, Wonho, and Hyungwon in the first, then Minhyuk, Changkyun, Jooheon, and me in the second. The other four were already on their way up the red carpet, and I was last out of our car.

Changkyun held out his hand to help me out and I willed my legs to move. I forgot about the split skirt and let it fall as I was getting out. Minhyuk stepped up to block the view from the cameras and spectators. He gestured and I adjusted it quickly as I left the relative safety of the car and they flanked me in a protective maneuver. I entwined my arms with theirs and plastered a smile on my face. The strobing effect from the camera flashes was making me dizzy and I was thankful for my support system.

They waved to the onlookers with their free hands as we walked. I was too focused on putting one spiked heel in front of the other and praying I wouldn't fall to pay attention to the shocked reactions to my being on Minhyuk and Changkyun's arms. As well-known as I was in the fandom, I still wasn't recognized outside of it so much. People were shocked to see a foreigner with them. It didn't seem to matter that my attending the shows with them had been announced on both of our socials.

The short walk seemed to take an hour and I was very happy once I was inside and not so exposed. Monsta X was not performing at this show, so we didn't have to go backstage. We were shown to our seats and they positioned me in the middle. We had the whole front row of the section to ourselves. The seating seemed to have been arranged to make it easier for groups to move to the stage when necessary. Changkyun and Jooheon stayed on either side of me. Minhyuk relinquished his spot to Jooheon, to keep up appearances that nothing was going on between us.

I felt like a carnival freak on display as we took our seats. People were not expecting some random white woman to be escorted to the VIP seats. Some seemed to know who I was, but I saw most of the others pointing and talking to each other and looking at their phones trying to figure it out. I wanted to melt into my seat, but instead, I sat proudly with my men. They were unphased by the attention or the whispers. This was not their first time under scrutiny.

I let the fangirl in me take over and turned my attention to the famous faces all around me. I saw actors and other idols that I had only seen in dramas or MVs. I was beyond starstruck. I grinned like an idiot and grabbed Jooheon's and Kyun's arms when I spotted Lee Min Ho and Ji Chang Wook sitting in the same row. They grinned and laughed. Minhyuk pretended not to notice.

The lights dimmed and it was time for the show to begin. The hosts were perfect and beautiful and so were the performers. ATEEZ had a fabulous performance and I was glued to them while they were on stage. I felt the eyes of my companions on me and shrugged when I saw how jealous they were. The phrase 'sorry I'm not sorry' came to mind. I giggled and turned back to the stage.

There were several girl groups, which I wasn't into, except for Itzy and Aespa. They were both impressive. I had always thought of them as female versions of Monsta X and I did enjoy their performances. Jooheon was very much into their performances.

There were many groups I had heard of but not listened to. Most of them were good too, but a couple were underwhelming. My guys were nominated for several awards, but only won two... Song of the Year and Group of the Year. I was the proudest Monbebe ever when they were announced. I forgot about all my nerves and stood to applaud when they stood to go up. I wasn't alone.