The Assistant || Chanbaek

Chapter 22

Baekhyun was scared.

No.

Baekhyun was terrified.

He was feeling such an abundance of emotions all at once, he couldn't even register anything that was going on.

It felt as if he was bending space time and moving faster than light, traveling through thousands of galaxies.

He could hear the screams and cheers. He was standing just outside of the wing of the stage, his thoughts racing so fast he was certain his brain would explode.

It was finally time— the performance that he had been dreading. He had stayed up practicing his set nearly all night. Unfortunately, because of the perfectionist that he is, it took quite awhile.

Chanyeol approached him from behind and could literally sense the tension from there.

"You ready?" He said gently, placing his hand on the nervous boy's shoulder.

Baekhyun nodded slightly in response, his mind still buzzing.

"You know, I remember the first time I performed on stage. I was probably as nervous as you."

"Really?" Baekhyun asked, now turning around fully to face his boyfriend.

Chanyeol hummed while nodding his head.

"I was 14. My parents had forced me to join the school talent show. There were only like 100 people in the crowd and I couldn't even finish my song before sprinting off stage and hiding in the bathroom stall."

Baekhyun laughed at the thought, and he finds it a bit hard for him to imagine the performance pro acting in such a way.

"But guess what? I got through it. And because of those experiences I was able to get to where I am now. Learning through my mistakes is the best way to improve. There is no progress without struggle."

Baekhyun let the wise words sink into his brain. It seemed to ease him quite a bit, and suddenly he felt a great deal more relaxed.

Chanyeol smiled softly, before Yixing came to the two and hurriedly announced that Baekhyun was to begin entering the stage.

He could hear the screaming fans, (although he knew they weren't for him; yet somehow that made him feel better) and he gave one last glance at Chanyeol before walking onto the stage. People began cheering louder, and his gut was surely going to explode.

He made his way to piano that was brought especially for him, extremely careful not to fall in the process. It felt unreal. It felt as if he was living vicariously through someone else, and he was simply a spectator.

Although the second he felt the cool piano bench he was snapped back to reality.

This is happening.

The microphone had been preset to his height and it was directly in front of lips.

Here we go.

Baekhyun introduced himself to the crowd extremely formally, which made Chanyeol grin goofily from the wings. Always so professional, that one.

He glanced down at the keys and before he could comprehend anything, he began to play his first song. The notes sang beautifully, and the piano was amplified throughout the entire stadium. Chanyeol couldn't help but smile.

His performance was so powerful, nearly the entire audience fell silent. They listened intently to the beautiful voice accompanied with the ringing of the piano, and it was so breathtaking that it was almost unreal.