SHATTER.

CHAPTER 23.

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› 23 | CHERRY BOMB! ‹

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JUNE 18, 2017.

Sweat dripping, muscles aching, seriousness painted all over their faces and exhilaration racing through their bloodstreams. UNAI exhaled in fatigue as the music came to a stop, waiting for the cue to walk off stage. Their fans screams were blaring in their ears, deafening them. But it was a nice type of deafening, comforting almost. It felt amazing knowing that they had such loyal fans, ones that came to every stage and every venue, screaming until their lungs gave out and their throats were dry.

UNAI loved their UNITES more than anything.

Before they knew it, the stage director signalled the 7 girls and they teetered off stage, quickly so that the next group's performance could be set up. The last thing they saw before going into the break rooms was a glimpse of their fans, all waving lovingly with unofficial light-sticks in their hands.

One of the disadvantages of being a 2 year group was that UNAI's break room was located so closely to the hustle and bustle of the stage line-up, meaning that whatever nervous commotion that was outside could be heard from the inside. However, the girls gratefully took the free water bottles that MBC had given them and drank until their thirst was quenched, a comfortable silence settling between them.

Everyone was as quiet as a statue until Chaeyeon happened to hear a familiar voice from outside, making the girl stand up as if she'd been electrocuted. "Did you guys hear that?" She asked her members, but when they all shook her heads, she huffed in exasperation.

"I know I'm not wrong!" She mumbled under her breath, before racing out the door and leaving her members blinking in confusion.

"Hana, Areum, make sure she doesn't get up to anything dumb." Saeron ordered tiredly, before going back to her phone. Hana and Areum could only sigh in annoyance then follow in pursuit of Chaeyeon.

MEANWHILE...

The 95' liner knew she had heard that voice, the ghost of it lingering where she stood now, rooted to the spot. While running a hand through her blonde hair, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and a smile bloomed on her face.

She twirled around, and upon seeing the face towering above her made her, her brain made the sudden switch from Korean to English.

"Johnny! I knew you guys were here in the building somewhere!" She spoke happily in silk-like English, accompanied by the American accent and fluency of a native English speaker.

"Chaeyeon! Yeah, me and the boys were here but when I went to get a water bottle, I think they ditched me," the boy chuckled playfully, "and now I'm stranded. Wanna help me find them?" Johnny suggested, perfectly styled eyebrows arching up in hopefulness.

Chaeyeon delightfully agreed, and the two kept walking and chatting in English. All the while Chaeyeon kept admiring Johnny's sudden transformation for their new song Cherry Bomb, remembering how varesely different he'd looked in his SM trainee days. When Chaeyeon had known him back then, they hadn't interacted much before her short demise at the company. Nevertheless, her friendship with Taeyong had blossomed into her reconnecting with Johnny's vibrant personality with a proper introduction this time. She smiled while pondering this, while also asking him about all their promotions and praising him for how well their song had done in the past few days. The fellow American member of NCT gushed in return about UNAI's release Golden Tragedy, which had come out earlier in June.