euphoria | knj √

2: interlude: wings.

"This small feather was going to become my wings. And with those wings, I was going to fly."

0:00 |───────── 2:24

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The crowd hadn't received her with too much enthusiasm at first, but once she got into her headspace, she charmed them, just like she knew she would. With a voice dripping with honey and appeal, her inviting movements around the stage reeled people in like flies to ripe fruit until all eyes were trained on her. The bass shook the floor, and her delicious sound rocked the whole club until it stood on its hind legs, waiting for the next drop. Rein liked that.

Though she didn't have the stage as much as a normal concert, the new city and the new, more picky audience made for a challenge that paid off in the end.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead as she finished the note of her last song. As the crowd thundered and whistled at her smokey form on the platform, she smiled; she never got used to the high after a performance.

Damn, I want a cigarette. She had never even so much as held one, but she was itching for a puff as she descended down the stairs. The only time she wanted to chain smoke was after a show.

Funny how that worked.

People pushed past her as she made her way to the base of the stage, some congratulating her, some that recognized her asking for autographs, and she obliged them all. They didn't seem to notice the tiredness in her eyes, the sweat on her brow. With little smiles and waves, she dismissed them one by one, and just as she sighed a breath of relief, Rein saw her manager at the steps talking to a tall man in grey. His and her manager's height difference was astounding, as Ms. Cho had to tilt her head back to converse with him. He looked... interesting, to say the least.

"Uh, hello," Rein said, tapping Ms. Cho on the shoulder with a smile, "who is this?"

The man blinked and gave her a crooked smile. Ms. Cho drew her lips together firmly, mentally scolding Rein for her lack of formality, no doubt.

Putting a light hand on her shoulder, Ms. Cho said, "This is Manager Hobeom. He saw your performance tonight and was telling me what a delight you are. Come, introduce yourself."

Manager for what, exactly?

"I'm Rein. It's a pleasure to meet you," the singer said, shaking his hand. Though she could infer that the manager wouldn't be able to understand too much English, she was much too exhausted to care or make an effort to speak Korean.

"Ah, yes..." he responded with a confused smile. He then turned to Ms. Cho and spoke to her in rapid Korean, glancing at Rein every few seconds.

"With you and Namjoon acting as translators, I believe we can build a strong rapport between us."

She quickly translated the sentence from Korean to English in her head.

Did he say... Namjoon?

The name sounded so familiar, yet Rein couldn't place where she had heard it from, though she could easily deduce that this "Namjoon" was someone famous. Why would he want to work with her, a singer, if he was a Korean-American translator? An enigma she hoped she would find the answer to as soon as possible.

"Will she be able to meet him today, or sometime in the near future? I know the process might be... complicated, but I would like it if they got to know each other before meeting the rest of the group," Ms. Cho responded as she looked at her with eyes that Rein couldn't decipher.