Fate

16

"I thought you were Jun. I'm so sorry." I kept rambling on, and I didn't even know if he could understand me, and he eventually just held up his hand to stop me.

"Seventeen's Jun?" I nodded and he smiled.

"I'm Heechul. I'll take you to him." I bowed slightly and followed close behind Heechul so I wouldn't get lost again. We eventually ended up right in front of their dressing room, and he just opened the door without knocking.

"Thank you for bringing me back." He smiled and patted my head before leaving me with the seventeen members. Vernon immediately pulled me in and sat me down on the couch.

"How the heck did you end up with Heechul sunbaenim? Why did you leave Seungkwan hyung and Jun hyung?" I sighed. Vernon looked very stressed.

"I was talking with Mark and Jackson, but then Jinyoung picked me up and took me to Stray Kids. Then everyone left for stage rehearsal, and I was trying to find my way back. That's when I thought Heechul was Jun, and he luckily took me back here." Vernon plopped dramatically on the couch next to me, and placed his head on my shoulder.

"Did everyone just pick you up and whisk you away?" I nodded with a frown, and Vernon laughed.

"The8 hyung should teach you some self defense."

"Yes, please." We just sat there next to each other for a bit, and all of the seventeen members were doing their own thing.

"Do I get to watch your stage rehearsal?" I questioned once I remembered all of the other groups were going up, and Vernon nodded.

"As long as you don't get lost again, and you have your phone on you." He held up my device and I took it from him with a smile.

"It's not like it's completely my fault I got lost." I glared at Seungkwan from across the room, and he just smiled innocently.

"Are you able to come to kcon tomorrow to watch us?" Vernon lifted his head from my shoulder so he could look at me with his excited eyes, and my mood fell.

"I can't, I have physical therapy on the weekends now so I can work the weekdays." Vernon pouted, but I could see him working through some things in his mind.

"I could get you a pass so afterwards you can come back here. That way you won't be lonely and I get to hang out with you all weekend." I nodded excitedly and Vernon stood up to go talk to a staff member. Jun and Seungkwan immediately came over, and Seungkwan sat next to me while Jun just stood in front of us.

"Sorry for losing you." Seungkwan said. His head hung low, and it was obvious that both of them felt bad.

"It's okay, I had fun." Joshua quickly translated while he sat down next to us, and the two of them perked up a bit. Seungkwan said something in Korean, and he held out his hand, making me extremely confused.

"He would like to see your phone." Seeing no immediate harm in handing it over, I placed my phone in his outstretched hand with a shrug. There's literally nothing on there anyways.

I watched with a smile as Seungkwan ran around the room with my phone to take pictures of all of the members. I could tell he was a bit upset that filters weren't an option on my phone, but it was obvious that it wasn't stopping him.

Seungkwan eventually got bored of his members (he literally said that and Joshua translated for me) and he sat down next to me, but he still had my phone. Vernon had now finished his negotiation with the staff, and sat down next to Seungkwan with a smile on his face.

"I got you a pass!" He happily held it up, and Seungkwan snatched it away from him to look at it. Without even saying anything, Seungkwan took the lanyard that the pass was on, and tried to tie my hair up.

I instantly moved away from Seungkwan and tried to get him to stop messing with my hair, but he didn't seem to understand. I looked to Vernon with pleading eyes, and he finally noticed what was happening.

My right ear's hearing had increased since the accident to make up for my left, or lack of, but I still felt uncomfortable showing it off. It was taking a lot of mental strength for me to even be out here with all of these flawless looking people.

"Remember when you first met Doe? She doesn't want people to see the scars where her ear should be." Vernon said to Seungkwan in Korean, and he instantly nodded and gave me a side hug as an apology. Not that I really knew what Vernon had said, I was just assuming it was an apologetic hug.

"Who is this?" Seungkwan asked me in English while holding up my phone so I could see what he was talking about. I expected it to just be a text from Felix, but it turns out it was a picture. A boy who looked a couple years younger than me was making a funny face for the camera, and I could see some resemblance between us. Mainly the eyes and lips.

"I don't remember him, but it's either an old friend or my brother." Seungkwan nodded and Vernon gave me a soft smile. I watched Seungkwan set my home screen and lock screen to two different photos that he had recently taken on my phone, and add his number into my phone.

I noticed that he made sure to put a picture of Jun and The8 on my lockscreen, and the gag trio on my home screen. He probably remembered when I told him that The8 was my bias, but all of the bias rankings went out the window when I saw everyone in person.

Their manager announced something, and the boys all started packing up and getting ready for something. Seungkwan gave me back my phone, and Joshua offered a hand to help me off of the couch.

"It's our turn to practice on the stage." I nodded and stayed close by to Vernon and Joshua while they walked to the backstage area. Vernon lead me into the empty audience so I could watch from there, and opened his arms toward the stage. The bright lights were shining down everywhere, and different colors were displayed on the side panels.

"Welcome to the stage."