"— Ah yes! And H.O.T. thank you so much for letting us interview you despite your busy schedule!"
"No no it's fine, thank you for having us."
Heejun switched off the television and sighed deeply, scratching his head carefully so that he wouldn't mess up his hair, "Didn't we seem awkward?"
He asked, not directing at anyone in particular.
"Not really, I thought it went smoothly," Jaewon responded, feeling a sense of proudness after watching their interview. Watching himself with the other members on TV was something he loved, it was the one thing that made him realise that they were really celebrities now, even if had only been a few days since debut.
"Ten minutes to stage!" Their manager suddenly called out from a distance, making the members feel a slight discomfort due to the abrupt announcement. Heejun leant on his chair and glanced backwards, scanning the faces of his members. Sensing their discomfort, Heejun reached into his bag and pulled out a retractable knife before standing up and poking Tony's arm with it.
"Ouch!" Tony yelped, rubbing his arm and giving Heejun a slight glare.
"What are you moaning for, it's plastic!" Heejun giggled, and continued to poke the other members with it until their names were called.
"HOT!"
At the sound of their name, everyone grumbled and stood up, leaving the room one by one.
"Jeez, how many times do we have to tell them? It's H.O.T, not HOT..." Heejun mumbled just loud enough for the others to hear as he tossed the toy knife onto the table beside him.
Jaewon quickly stretched, about to leave the room before momentarily giving the toy a glance, "Ah, I should probably take it, they'll forget it otherwise anyways..."
He picked it up and slid it into the pocket of his outfit, doing the button up to make sure it wouldn't fall out during the performance.
"They'll probably thank me later..." He smiled to himself, innocently imagining the older members praising him for remembering to take it with him.
"Jaewon, hurry up."
The manager's words broke his little fantasy, and Jaewon hurriedly rushed along to the stage, ready for the group's queue to enter.
—
The song ended, and the members scurried off the stage rapidly in order for the next artist to perform immediately. Fans screams could loudly be heard from backstage, H.O.T's bold presence still etched into their minds.
"Wow, that really tired me out..."
Kangta huffed, leaning over, his hands resting on his knees, smiling out of breath, "Why does it seem to get longer each time we perform?"
Tony laughed breathlessly and handed him a bottle of water, "I know right, I'm worried I'm not gonna be able to keep up."
The members watched as another group exited the stage not long after them, and they automatically assumed their performance had been cut short too.
"Weren't we the only ones?"
Kangta looked over to Heejun, wiping the droplets of sweat from his forehead after taking a long sip of water.
"To have the song shortened? We should've been, but they can't have been up there any longer than a minute," Heejun ruffled his hair, loosening all the spray and gel that had been put into it beforehand to prevent it shifting. He shrugged and made a baffled face at Kangta, before moving his hands to direct the other members away from the surrounding stage area.
The group made their way outside, still rather worn out, only to be greeted by two little, excited fans.
"Hellllooo!" Heejun cheerfully waved at them, smiling brightly as if he wasn't panting heavily only a few minutes ago, "Are you our fans?"
