Nervous? That was an understatement. Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest any minute now and to be honest she wouldn't even be surprised if it did. Her shoulder bumping into the person to her right, Yunho, giving him a reassuring smile causing him to give one in return. She knew their chances of winning weren't very high, but she also knew that ATINY wanted this for them just as bad as they did. Jae would be lying if she said she hadn't thought of this very moment before...this time it was real. The stage, the hot lights beating down on to her skin, the crowd before her filled with hopeful eyes, her group members next to her, and the butterflies in her stomach were real.
It was all too real for her to handle because this wasn't just in her imagination while she laid in bed at two thirty in the morning. Jae knew better than to get her hopes up considering it hasn't even been a year since they've debuted, but she couldn't help it since everything seemed to have been going so well lately.
It started. First the points from the digital sales, second was the points from the physical album sales, third was the Mnet broadcast, and lastly was what everybody waited full of yearning and hope. "Finally, the winner with the higher score combined with the live text voting is...", It was as if time stood still while they waited for the final numbers to be shown. Her heart no longer threatening to burst forth through her rib cage, but feeling as though it was caught in her throat. Keeping her head forward she squeezed her eyes tightly in hopes to ease the odd feeling only to slightly relax and let her eyes fall back open at the feeling of Jongho grabbing her wrist gently.
"ATEEZ, congratulations!" Did she hear that correctly? Was this really happening? She couldn't believe it. The breath she hasn't realized that she had been holding in came out as a choked back sob as she laughed happily in disbelief with a wide smile on her face. Looking up at the confetti she let the tears that pricked her eyes freely fall down her face before looking around at the eight boys around her. These were her best friends, this was her family, they were her home and they did this together! ...yes even the one jumping around like a maniac.
Squeezing her eyes shut, for the second time that night, as an attempt to stop the flowing tears Jae felt herself being pulled into a tight hug. She didn't need to open her eyes to know that the maknae had been the one to pull her into him since the feeling was familiar yet so strange because hugs from him were so rare. He knew she needed the hug and honestly he felt like she deserved it considering the face that she's always there for everyone else, so why shouldn't he be there for her for once? She had stayed strong until this very moment. This was the first time he had seen her with her walls fully down and that was because for once she showed that she couldn't hold it in anymore. Taking a deep breath she felt the slightest bit grateful for not having to give her individual winning speech, "We won...".
Her eyes glued to the trophies before snapping towards the red headed leader whose face held nothing but happiness. Their winning song Wave rang in her ears as they were all given microphones to finish off the show, too busy showing how thankful she really was, Jae bowed towards everyone stood to the side of the stage before once again being pulled into a tight hug.
This time? By Hongjoong. They were quick to wrap their arms around each other, squeezing each other tight, his face burying into the crook of her neck for just a moment as she whispers to him a quick, "You worked hard. Thank you.", before pulling away to get back to the song.
She was overwhelmed but handling it better than she thought she would've and to be honest at one point she thought she was going to be a complete mess during this time. Singing her part of the song she looked out into the crowd and realized that they weren't the only ones who were crying but ATINY was as well. They genuinely cried with them, because they've worked just as hard. They worked hard to get them this win because they worked just as hard to give them a reason to do so and knowing that ATINY made one of their biggest dreams come true made her heart swell. Whether they've been with them since the beginning, or just joined the fandom five seconds ago, this win wasn't just for her group it was for the them, the fans and they truly did deserved it.
They worked so hard and it really payed off. This was only eight months into their careers, they were still a rookie group and just got their first win! From KQ Fellaz to just ATEEZ. From performance videos to music videos. From All to Zero to One to All. She just couldn't believe that this all happened in what seemed like such a short amount time and she was thankful beyond comprehension. Feeling an arm wrap around her waist to pull her towards the rest of the group, she snapped out of her daze, gazing up at the blonde haired boy with dimples before letting her eyes travel down the line of grinning, and some teary eyed, boys. Her lips curled into a wholehearted smile upon the realization that her long journey had just begun.
(If I gotta cry then so do all of you. Goodnight!💞)
