Fate

21

I woke up abruptly to the sound of someone knocking on my door. I quickly sat up and threw my blanket off of me before fixing my hair a bit and trying to shake the sleep out of myself. I hopped over to the door and cautiously opened it.

"Good morning, sis!" I opened the door in confusion, and Vernon came in with a few grocery bags in his hands. I shut the door after him, and he made his way to the kitchen like it was a normal thing to just disappear in the morning.

"Good morning? When did you leave?" Vernon started unpacking the groceries into my cupboards and fridge, and barely even spared me a glance.

"Around half an hour ago. I would have woken you, but you looked sound asleep." I ran my fingers through my hair to brush it out, and then moved to fold my blanket from the couch.

"Did you sleep okay?" I asked, and he came back out from the kitchen empty handed. He was dressed in casual clothing since he would probably have to get changed into something else at the venue, but he looked ready to go.

"Yeah, I slept fine. I made the bed back up for you." I tossed my blanket back down on the couch, but in a way so it wouldn't get unfolded.

"Thanks. Do you have to go soon?" He nodded and grabbed his bag from my room and placed it by the door.

"Yeah, the hip hop van is coming to pick me up in a few minutes. Do you still have your pass?" I pointed to the kitchen counter where I had put it last night, and Vernon nodded after checking it was still there.

"You're always welcome to stay the night again if you want." I offered, and he smiled brightly.

"In that case..." He jogged back into my room and placed his bag on the floor.

"Bye, Doe! See you later!" He yelled as he ran back out, lightly giving me a hug before running out of the door. I sighed with a smile before starting to get ready for the day. My apartment felt suddenly much more empty, and I knew it would be like this when Vernon went back to Korea.

Physical therapy went like it normally does, and I was feeling a bit sore on my walk to the venue, but I pushed through. I didn't have any problems with entering the building with my pass, and I was soon walking down the hallway to their dressing room.

"Doe?" I whipped around and saw Felix with one of his other members. Once he saw it was in fact me, he jogged closer with a smile.

"Hey! How are you?"

"I'm fine, but I'm just trying to find Vernon. How are you?" I asked it with a smile, but it was a genuine one.

"Super happy to preform!" He jumped up and down a bit in excitement.

"Did you preform yet?" He shook his head and kept bouncing until his other member stopped him by putting his hand on Felix's shoulder.

"Would you like to come with us?" He asked, and I almost considered it.

"I would love to, but Vernon is expecting me." His smile faltered a bit, and I felt bad, but I knew if I was too late and I couldn't be found, Vernon would be a mess.

"Could I at least walk you there?" I nodded with a smile and Felix said something to his other member. I think his name was Changbin, but I wasn't quite sure. Changbin nodded at whatever Felix had said, and waved at me before walking in an opposite direction.

"Have you preformed yet?" I asked once we started walking through the crowd of staff members and the occasional group being carted off someplace for whatever they needed to do.

"Nope! We're one of the last groups to go up. Have you seen the audience?"

"No, I just got here." Felix's eyes lit up a bit, and he seemed to get more excited.

"It's completely packed with fans. There's different light sticks everywhere, but on stage when they are all the same color, it all looks the same. It's absolutely beautiful." He sighed in recollection, and I smiled at the image he had given me.

"It makes everything seem like we're all connected." I commented, and he nodded before turning right down another hallway.

"It was nice to be able to see you for a couple more minutes. Talk to you later?" He stopped in front of a dressing room door, and I smiled.

"Of course! Bye, Felix! Good luck!" He enveloped me into a hug, and I couldn't quite tell why everyone was doing that to me recently. But it's not like I was complaining.

"Thanks, Doe!" Felix released from the hug and ran back down the hallway we had came from. I opened the dressing room door and saw all of the members I'm different places. Some were sleeping around the room, while others were getting their hair and makeup done. An empty pile of takeout dishes told me that they had already ate, and their managers were watching this all.

"Doe!" Seungkwan called out as soon as he saw me, and he got up from his position on the floor where he was playing on his phone to come and greet me. A few of the other boys offered their greetings to me, and I smiled back.

"How are you?" Seungkwan asked as he sling his arm over my shoulders and directed me towards the couch.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm fine." He practically pushed me onto the couch, and I frowned. It's not like I was going to get up anyways.

"Where's Vernon?" I asked while looking around the room just in case I missed him when I walked in, and Seungkwan pointed to a form underneath a pile of coats. I laughed and Joshua joined Seungkwan and I once his makeup was done.

"Hey, Josh." He sat down on the arm rest of the couch next to me and smiled.

"Hey, Doe. Are you ready for kcon?" I nodded aggressively.

"Definitely. Are you ready though?" I asked it teasingly, and he smirked.

"I'm always ready."