TOUR MOMS

Begin

Allison's POV

            When Allison got out of the SUV, she had the overwhelming urge to jump up and down. She almost couldn't contain it. In fact, she had to grab Moe's shoulders to keep herself grounded. But Mr. Lee was watching them closely, and Allison didn't want to look foolish in front of this intimidating man.

On the drive over, Allison felt every yard, every foot it took for them to get closer to BTS. She was almost down to inches. Each rotation of the tires was another reminder that she was going to see BTS soon.

She couldn't help but feel a little pride for being the one to make this happen. She didn't know where she'd acquired the skill to write such a compelling letter, but she was not going to complain about it. It got them this far. It was going to get them through those ominous metal doors.

Mr. Lee informed them at their luggage would be taken to the hotel and put in their rooms for them. Allison thanked him, then faced the door again. Should this feel as dramatic as it did? Should these old, slightly rusty doors of a concert venue feel like they were the precipice of something huge that would bleed into the rest of her life? These doors were as metaphorical as they were physical, and Allison just needed someone to open them.

As if on que, the doors opened. Allison knew she shouldn't expect to see the seven members on the other side of the door, but a tiny part of her was slightly disappointed when all she saw was two women.

The girls were beckoned by the ladies to go through the doors. Allison held her breath as she crossed the threshold. She was officially in the same building as BTS. She forgot she was holding her breath for nearly a minute before she involuntarily gasped for air. Laney gave her a confused look, but Allison quietly laughed it off and put her attention on the two women before them.

The women were shorter than Allison, even slightly shorter than Laney. They seemed really nice and like they didn't know a whole bunch of English. They told the girls to follow them, so holding hands, Allison, Melissa, and Laney did so. They followed the women through empty hallways and hallways bustling with activity. There were wires everywhere, so many wires snaking through the whole building. Laney kept almost tripping on them and Allison had to watch her feet to make sure she stepped over them herself.

They were eventually led to a room that contained a long table. Entering the room, they saw that at the table sat several men, a few women, and, most shockingly, Manager Sejin. Allison was not prepared to see him in real life so soon. She didn't realize this until she saw him in person, but to Allison, this man was pretty much a fictional character. No more real than Mickey Mouse. But he was real, and he was sitting right in front of her, and she hadn't been ready.

Neither were Laney and Melissa apparently, because Melissa gasped out loud when she saw him. She tried to cover herself with a cough, but Sejin definitely knew what was up because he smirked at them. He was also...a lot more attractive than Allison originally thought. In the way that adult-adult men can be attractive. And he was so big. Even sitting down, Allison could tell he was super tall with very broad shoulders. And he was real.

The girls were directed to sit at the table with all of these seemingly important people. All eyes were on them, and it made Allison feel very, very small.

Down they sat, and suddenly Sejin stood up to introduce himself and everyone else at the table. A mix of personal managers for the boys, tour managers, and other types of managers that Allison forgot their purpose. At first she was confused why they were meeting all of these people at once, until she realized that their official position was "Rest Managers," which, though Allison knew this wasn't really the case, technically put them on the same level as all these other managers. Which was, not to be repetitive, insane.

Sejin and everyone else had a lot of information for the girls to take in, basically debriefing them on how things worked around here. Everyone spoke in Korean, but thankfully BigHit also had a translator on hand (Translation Manager maybe?) to tell the girls what was going on. Allison hoped Melissa and Laney were listening, because she was not. Allison's mind was reeling from the realization that she was, for all intents and purposes, a manager for BTS, working under BigHit. She knew she wrote the letter, she knew she'd sent in her resume, and she knew that if BigHit didn't think her capable they wouldn't have hired her, but Allison couldn't help but feel she was seriously underqualified to even be in the same room as these people. These professionals. These people who'd been doing this job for years, who knew BTS inside and out, people who were not American, southern girls barely out of their teens.

Allison tried to pay attention after she'd come to terms with reality, but by that point, the meeting was pretty much over. She really hoped Moe and Laney had taken all of that in.

Meeting adjourned, everyone stood up from the table at the same time (except the girls, but they followed suit very quickly) and filed out of room. Each person split off into a different direction to do their job, but Allison, Melissa, and Laney just stood outside the door, not sure where to go. After a few seconds of hushed "What do we do?" "Where should we go?" "That was Manager Sejin!!" the two women from before came out of the room and told the girls to follow them again.

"BTS," said one of the ladies, putting a lot of emphasis on the name. "BTS, follow," she insisted.

Oh gosh.

They were leading the girls to meet them. This was really happening. Allison could feel the inches fall away with every step she took. She was making strangled noises, and so were Melissa and Laney. Allison was scared to look at them, for fear that if she did, they would all either start crying, or would wake up at home in their respective beds. Allison wanted neither to happen, so she kept her eyes on the ground, counting her footsteps.

They stopped at a set of black doors. These doors, though physically smaller than the huge metal ones outside, were so much bigger in Allison's mind. So much more daunting. Held so much more behind them.

This was the precipice over which Allison was willing to dive.