ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜰᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ᴡʜᴇɴ [ᴇɴ- ᴘᴏʟʏ]

Chapter 123

The commotion outside that was persistent throughout the time I was here, was now fading away. I braced myself for facing anyone who might enter the room.  A few minutes passed but no one did. Though I did hear a few muffled words.

"Backstage...five minutes...hurry up."

The show was starting in five minutes. Even after feeling conflicted, I didn't have it in me to imagine their worried faces if they didn't find me in my seat. But wait, what if they did something reckless if they didn't see me? They'd probably delay the concert to look for me. And the staff assigned to bring me to my seat would get the burn of it.

The thought made me jump up. I wiped my tears and fixed my dress before throwing the door open and running out. I made my way down the corridor and to the arena gates. A few staff members were shocked to see me still inside the building. They quickly moved aside and one of them pointed to the way to front row. I thanked her and entered the arena.

I had to stop at the entrance to take in the whole stadium. Screams of Enhypen were deafening. All the sections of the stadium were lit up in rainbow colors with the light sticks. The huge screen behind the stage was counting down two minutes.

I ran through the aisles to reach the front row. There were little sections indicating the row numbers. I quickly went ahead for A section and got to my place. The stage was only a meter away from me. The girls around me were quiet. In fact the whole stadium was quiet. Everyone held their light sticks and banners and waited. I fished out my light stick and connected it to the code given to my section. The countdown came to seconds.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1

All the lights turned off. The stadium turned dark, save for the flashes of the camera. An intense intro boomed through the dark arena. The screams were at par with the atmosphere. On one end of the stage, a platform started rising. I recognized the silhouette at once. Jake. The spotlight shined on him. The smaller screens on either side of the stage showed his closeup in a circular frame.

He was in his element. His dark eyes flashed as he produced a red envelope. He flicked it once and the edges caught on fire. My mouth fell open in shock. I hadn't known about this entrance. He tossed the envelope to the side and bright flames erupted from the edge of stage.

The spotlight blacked out from Jake and moved to another spot. Jay rose up on the stage. I felt a pang of both fear and adoration. It was such an unusual combination. But still his sultry gaze towards the camera made me weak in the knees. His head whipped to a side and the spotlight shifted again.

Niki stood tall on the stage. The expression in his siren eyes made my breathing quicker. He looked ethereal. So different than the whiny and teasing maknae I had gotten used to. I gulped lightly when he snapped his fingers and disappeared into darkness.

The projection screen in the middle started opening up and the screams just kept on increasing. The remaining four members were perched on an iron staircase like structure.

The spotlight shined on Heeseung. The intensity in his eyes was no joke. Heat started rising up my cheeks. I was watching Lee Heeseung in his full idol mode. The stage presence he had even in a single shot was insane.

And I knew that look. It was the look he gave me when I was flustered because of him. He knew exactly what effect he had on everyone in the audience. And I could imagine him internally smirking at all the girls screaming his name.

The spotlight shifted to Sunoo. The way he looked at the camera gave me goosebumps. But he still held his charm. Truly the prettiest boy I'll ever know. He held a rose up to the camera and kissed it.