Nodus Tollens || Jung Jaehyun

Introduction: Bring Luck to Get Luck

I have to hurry.

Shim Jiwoo's eyes drifted from the time on her phone to the elaborately lit stage in front of her. She had about 10 minutes to succeed in her mission.

Doable, but tight on time.

She hurried through the rows of seats, 8 rows to be exact, within 7 minutes, leaving a salt trail behind her. With the fangirls so engrossed with the performance, Jiwoo was able to do her job like a passerby just trying to escape to the aisles.

The young woman hummed to the catchy tune currently being performed as she slipped her small sack of salt back into her shoulder bag. Next was the final part of her mission, and yet one of the most important. From her jacket pocket, she took out three yellow slips of paper, unmistakably all talismans that were hand written just the day before.

If she doesn't succeed in leaving these charms around the auditorium within her time limit, then who knows what could happen to her boys' grand debut? She worked way too hard in her studio for the highly anticipated group to flop.

If only I hadn't arrived to Music Bank so late.

Jiwoo had to roll her eyes in annoyance; that bit was not her fault.

She scanned the packed auditorium. She had a lot of ground to cover, but if she hurries, she'll make it on time. Additionally, on the plus side, security guards were all a good distance away from her, giving her a better chance to leave the talismans at the perfect places without being caught. Who knows? Maybe the slips were rubbing off some of its luck on her right now.

After some quick contemplating, Jiwoo jogged to the very right of the auditorium to start her last mission. Cautious, she made sure to count the rows to a specific number so to leave her first talisman at.

Hello, chosen fan number one!

At the seventh row, she tapped lightly on the shoulder of the fan who sat at the very end. The girl was definitely younger than the 20 year old, and nonetheless, was surprised by the sudden interaction in the middle of the show.

The brunette girl bared her most dazzling smile to show she wasn't of any threat to the fan and she asked her kindly, "Hello, sorry to bother you but do you mind sticking this talisman under your seat? I want to spread good luck to NCT U's debut stage and this is supposed to bring them a lot of luck." Much to her delight, the fan obliged and agreed to the odd request, taking the paper and sticking it to the bottom of her seat with no comment to spare, she didn't seem to see any harm in doing so.

Jiwoo beamed brightly, pleased that she was successful on her first round, "Ah, thank you so much!" She rummaged around in her bag and managed to get what she wanted to give to her, a small keychain... a poop keychain with a cute face printed onto it. "Please don't be offended by its shape! It's meant to bring good luck so I hope you would accept it." Again, the younger went along with Jiwoo's words and took the keychain into her grasp without a complaint. "Please support NCT U!"

Moving on.

Jiwoo shuffled away to find the next best place to leave her second talisman. She reached the pathway that separated the area of seats, somewhere nearby would be a good enough for the charm. With lips pursed, she sneaked along the back row of seats and at the third seat from the left, she patted the talisman down, firm that it wouldn't fall off.

Unfortunately, the girl's sneaking skills wasn't on par as she thought, improvement would've been good at this point. The fan in the seat, as well as her surrounding friends, turned to look at Jiwoo, eyeing her with utmost irritation. The group definitely weren't as kind as the last girl Jiwoo encountered.

She tried her best to smile innocently at them, taking out another poop keychain to give to the peeved off girl, "Sorry, don't mind me. Please accept this as an apology, it'll bring you good luck!"

The look of disgust on the fan's face was enough to let Jiwoo know that her attempts to smooth things over failed. "How is that piece of crap keychain supposed to bring me luck? Do you think I'm stupid?" The furious fan boomed, chucking the keychain to the ground. The current performance may be loud, but it didn't stop a few onlookers... as well as curious security guards from turning their heads in their direction.

Jiwoo clicked her tongue in frustration. Now that she received some unwanted attention, her time to finish her objective was cut shorter.

She shot the girl one last (fake) smile before rushing away to continue on with her mission. She took long strides towards the back of the auditorium to where a couple camera people stood. In the distance, some of the guards talked into their walkie talkies while they gazed at her, surely to call in backup for this silly predicament. Jiwoo has to work faster now, or there won't be any guarantee of the rookies' success.

Sprinting over to one camera woman in particular by chance, Jiwoo wasn't expecting to run into a familiar face. The older woman noticed her presence and was quite appalled with her appearance as well, her lips slightly agape. "Jiwoo-yah, what are you?--" The woman paused and shook her head once, understanding the situation at hand... or rather the last talisman in Jiwoo's hand. "Are you really doing what I think you're doing?"

The younger let out a sheepish laugh.

What were the odds she would find a trustworthy friend on the job today? Luck really was on her side today!

She beamed at the camera woman, batting her lashes as she usually would to get whatever she wanted. "Boram-unnie, please accept my talisman to place on your camera to shower good luck for our boys?"

The older lass smiled in amusement before taking the slip from Jiwoo's hands. "Lady Luck is sure on your side that you found me just now." She placed the talisman on the side of the camera, its red lettering out on display. This makes for a pleased and relieved Shim Jiwoo. "You sure do go great lengths to support your company. I feel like you support them more than your own cousin, and he's an official representative."

"Well, you know me, unnie! I'm just that great," Jiwoo winked.

"And, it looks like the end of the road for you." From both directions of the pathway, the women could see the security guards closing in on them.

What a laugh!

Did they really have to call five of them to handle one 162 cm woman with no desire to fight back?

"Don't worry, Jiwoo-yah. I'll get really amazing shots of the rest of SM's artists."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, unnie. Thanks."

Jiwoo stepped forward with her hands up ready to be captured, admitting her defeat. Just as one guard was about to grasp onto her arm in a rough manner, she flinched away and glared the man down for even attempting to grab her. "That's not damn necessary, you know? Just lead me to the exit." The guards looked clueless, but decided it was best to go along with the request, so to not cause any more unnecessary attention to themselves.

Just as they began walking to the closest exit from the auditorium, a familiar beat of the upcoming song brought Jiwoo's focus towards the stage. The rookie group she had worked hard to bring success to were finally there, about to show the world how to make a proper first impression.

The grin on the girl's face was undeniable. She was extremely proud of those five boys. It was finally time to debut the lads she had watched grow up into the idols they are today. And she couldn't wait for the day the others who patiently waited at the company to finally reach their glorious moment of fame.

That could have been me.

Jiwoo gasped at herself for thinking such a thing. Her time had passed, and she has no desire to go back to that time of her life. At least, not to that part of her life.

She pushed aside her selfish thoughts. Today was the boys' day, here to support her SM Entertainment mates, not to dwell on the what ifs of her past.

With one last sigh for a job well done today, the young woman let herself walk out of the music show with no more complaints to shed, the heavy beats of 7th Sense and the excited cheering of fans the last thing she heard behind her.