Dangerous Woman - BTS 8th Member

GRACE TOUR DIARY: April 3rd 2025 - New York City

The red roses were the first thing Grace woke up to the next morning. She could see them in their vase as they sat on the vanity table of the bedroom of her hotel suite, and the team had already packed away the teddy bear. It was going to be a long but hectic day—soundcheck, go through any rehearsals of pieces that needed a last-minute touch, and then it would be the concert, and afterwards, straight to the airport to head to Seoul.

It was a little vacation, but at the same time, the concert that the idol industry and the government had put together as a tribute to BTS had fallen right in the middle of her tour. It was a little amusing that they would do this after everything that they had put BTS as a group through.

None of the boys would be performing, with those in the military given leave to attend. It had been put to her while she was planning her own concert whether she would attend or perform, seeing as she would be the only member to do so (something she questioned as to why she would be the only one performing but it was easier to bite your lip and say nothing).

There had been a lot of secret planning and a lot of secret rehearsals with those idols and groups already signed up, and somehow Seokjin had found out. He had accidentally seen the concert plans and set list, seeing Grace's name predominantly with some of their hardest yet popular songs. Sworn to secrecy, Seokjin locked his mouth up, threw away the key, and said nothing.

Yet the red roses and the note meant he hadn't forgotten she would be flying into Seoul tomorrow, undercover to hide the fact she was back in the country.

But that was later, and right now, Grace had to perform on the last night of the American leg of her tour.

Second nights were always easy—it was the same thing; maybe one or two costume changes added a bit of variety to the night—same venue, crew, dancers, city. There had been no major hiccups other than one VCR didn't play on time for when it was needed, and some dancers wanted a run-through of two songs, In My Head and Dangerous Woman. Everyone knew the songs like the back of their hands, but sometimes a refresher was needed.

After all, it had been a while since they had put together the concert with all the songs, VCRs, costumes, and dance routines.

A long, refreshing shower woke up Grace, and she could see that her blonde dye would need a top-up soon. That would need to be added to the list of things to do the moment she got to Seoul, and that list was growing every moment.

"Just think about your own concert, not that one coming up," she muttered to herself as she changed into her casual clothes to go and get breakfast and meet up with the team.

There was nothing to report over breakfast, and with plenty of time until she had to drive over to the Barclays Center, she packed up everything in her room and mournfully looked at the red roses. They wouldn't be able to come on the flight with her, and as much as she wanted to take them with her, it wasn't going to be practical. So the note was tucked carefully into her purse and with instructions to give the flowers to someone who would appreciate them for longer than she could, Grace was ready to go home.

Rehearsals went smoothly, and any little knots were worked out. Dancers were happy, the team were happy, the venue staff were happy, people selling food and merchandise were happy, and all Grace had to do was wait.

She hated waiting and was one of the most impatient people in the group, always just wanting to get on stage and just go for it. The wait to get into costume, grab her mic, pump up her dancers, and then finally, finally, get on stage - it allowed for unwanted thoughts to creep into the mind.

What if no one turned up? You sold out the stadium for two nights in 10 seconds.

What if there was a threat? There is plenty of security and police around to stop it.

What if you mess up? You've done this job for nearly thirteen years, so what?

As the costume for the opening segment slid up her legs, Grace allowed herself to relax. The chatter of the staff and the noise of the crowd above her allowed the nervousness and anxiety to wash away. The moment the mic was in her hand and her team was pumped up, the idol persona washed over her, and in that moment she was Grace of BTS.

"New York!"

The crowd was even louder than the night before. The lights, the signs, the costumes, the people - it was just bigger and louder and more hyped up than anything she had seen. It was as if they knew this would be the last time they would see a BTS member until they were all back together again and back for their world tour.

"Welcome to the In My Head tour! Are you ready to help me finish this leg of the tour?"

Grace grinned at the noise in return and nodded, letting the crowd and their feelings hype her up through every performance.

And when it got towards the end, when they knew the BTS song was coming, the noise grew.

"This is the last night of the American leg of the tour, and it seemed only right to have this song for this moment. I just wanted to say thank you to all of the team, staff, dancers, band, venue staff, and, of course, ARMY. You have come out in your thousands to fill up this stadium of 17,000. And to those who are outside, I hope to see you all soon when we will hopefully be back as an eight. Until then, let me remind you of a special place."

The instrumental of Magic Shop soon started, and it took all of Grace's professionalism not to stop singing and burst into tears. Hearing 17,000 voices sing along to a Korean song that was written with ARMY in mind, and after all the hard work, pressure, tiredness, and sickness and everything else that came along with creating this tour, this song meant more than anything.

She had a good cry in Sejin's arms when she got backstage, and her bodyguard stood in front of them, not even letting the normal BANGTAN BOMB cameras capture this moment. Every bit of emotion that had been built up from releasing her own solo album to now was coming over in a wave of tears. Sniffling quietly as the make-up artists cleared her face of make-up, her last costume off and packed away, and she was back in normal clothes as handfuls of tissues were passed her way.

"Sorry," she chuckled as she wiped her nose.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Sejin sighed. "I'm surprised this hasn't happened already. The Grammy's, I think, were a good sign of you starting to realise what the music industry and the world think of you, and it wasn't because of what band you belong to."

"It was just listening to them all sing Magic Shop. It was as if I felt every bit of their emotion and thought in that one song. That all their worries and happy thoughts came at me at once, knowing they were happy to see me but sad at the same time because who knows when we can come back here?" The tissue in her hands was replaced with a new one from her bodyguard and Grace let out a huge sigh.

"I want to go home," she chuckled and rubbed a hand over her face.

While some of the team were going to stay behind to pack up costumes and make sure they arrived at the next location as well as the stage, the rest of them would be heading home for a little break. Not that Grace, Sejin, Hana, the bodyguards, or the make-up/costume team were going to have much time.

The drive to the airport was quiet. The Barclays Center faded from view, as well as the few concertgoers still hanging around. And the lights of the highway from Brooklyn down to Queens illuminated the car now and then, and finally, the JFK airport came into view.

Check-in was handled quietly and discreetly, with the private plane ready to go. As much as Grace had baulked at the idea of even having a private plane, especially one that would fly to Seoul, the government had already booked it for her to make sure that she flew home safely and arrived on time to get to rehearsals for their tribute concert.

It was awkward getting on a plane where everyone treated you like you were royalty, but once she was in her seat with a blanket thrown over her, Grace didn't care. There were fifteen hours of flying to get through and much-needed sleep to be caught up on.

But first.

Grace pulled out her phone and opened up the messages to Seokjin.

' On the plane and ready to fly home. See you in about sixteen hours.'

The reply came just as she fell asleep.

'I'm already counting down the minutes. See you at the airport. Love you.'