Their first appearance promoting the new album had just ended with the satisfaction of many fans who had been hoping for a comeback after the successfully finished world tour.
Now walking back into the green room, one by one until the last one closed the door, giving out the only sign that told them it was time to fall on the sofas, chairs or even on the floor, to let out the bothersome sighs that had stuck along in their chests from the moment their feet stepped on the venue.
"that was intense" said Yugyeom with a chuckle as he plopped himself down next to the second youngest "my hands are still shaking" he added while checking around for the other's frame of mind.
Just as expected, it took sometime for anyone to be able to respond. It was interesting how even after many years of stages, whether it was in front of 100 or 10000 fans, the same thing they felt on their first ever performance had stuck up with them even up to this point.
"no one did any mistake though, I'm proud of us" JB finally said and they all nodded overwhelmed.
Nervousness or whatever they felt had never ever blinded the effort they put into every single note they sang and every single step they danced, even during their trainee days it was impossible for them to give up the feelings they had been chasing from the moment their dreams were born.
Still it doesn't mean it is an easy job you can find anywhere or can reach because you can sing or dance, or both. It is a job that requires a lot of dedication, even when you get to a point where it gets hard to breathe.
"yo Jackson, you okay?" Mark lifted his back from the sofa to reach for a clean towel folded on the dressing table and handed it to the brown haired resting on the floor.
That year had been a tough year for the 7 guys, especially for Jackson. He had taken a new path and focused on his first album, obviously as well as being with his team in every concert and stage, but mostly working his head off when going from studio to studio not wasting a single moment inside cars to write lyrics, and sacrificing one of the most needed for humans, sleep.
Clearly it had been worth because everyone seemed to like what he had created with his own hands, what he loved doing the most was being liked and he couldn't be more grateful, always feeling too blessed.
"I'm fine" all eyes went on him when he forced his muscles to get him to stand with the help of a nearby chair "I'm perfectly fine" he repeated and slowly patted the white towel over his face and arms to sweep the sweat away.
But the bad thing is that hard work always follows with some disadvantages, and one of the many was physical pain. There's a point at which someone becomes so physically tired, that even sleeping for a whole day wouldn't help much.
"you sure?" the oldest walked to him and carefully taped his shoulder with worry. Not only him, but they all knew it had been a tough and busy year for him, barely spending time at home. He still came to visit from time to time and obviously saw them at times of new album promotions but they knew there was a special person he had been longing to see but wasn't able to for many reasons.
They could sense his desperation and it hurt them to see their brother like that, so they tried to come up with something just a few minutes before the stage, which meant not long ago.
As Mark tried to comfort the exhausted Jackson, he secretly signalled the others to come over with the other hand, and so they quickly did when they realised the start of their small plan.
"yeah, I think you should take a rest, we all know how hard you've been working" Youngjae said with a quick smile.
"go home already, we'll take care of the rest" the leader followed the chain and said his words too, but what they did not expect had just happened.