bodyguard ; kth

11 ; another one?

the resonance of the crowd spread throughout the club. bright spotlights waved their radiant beams in every direction. the limousine slowly descended onto the front of the building. i witnessed a sea of people patiently waiting for aera's arrival.

my mind drifted back to the death threats. what if... the killer was here? they could be hidden in this crowd, quietly waiting to seize and devour its prey.

"yeah, let's go party!" gun yelled, causing me to flinch out of my thoughts. the door to the limo was opened and junsoo stepped out first. he held aera's hand as she walked out, earning a loud applause from the crowd. i saw how the security struggled to keep the fans behind the gate. we needed to get aera inside..and fast.

"jae, take the limo to the back of the building," i instructed, getting out quickly. aera and her team started heading towards the entrance.

"this way!" gun yelled, placing a hand on aera's back, leading her inside. some exhilarated fans tried pushing through security, coming closer towards us. aera would smile and wave, doing the same for other fans. i couldn't understand how calm she looked, i could barely breath with all this congestion of people. jaeho looked at me and asked over the noise, "you alright?!" i squinted my eyes to the flashing lights coming from the paparazzi, nodding timidly.

after more pushing and shoving, we finally made it inside. we entered aera's dressing, all exhausted. aera slumped into her chair with a deep sigh, fixing her hair. she complained, "it's hard being so famous."

i rolled my eyes, ignoring her. there was a poster on the side of the wall, it was the program for tonight's event. to my shock, aera was performing first. i creased my eyebrows, looking at junsoo and said, "who said she could perform? i never approved of this."

i started getting anxious. aera would be performing in front of an audience, an audience where a person had bad intentions. i cannot let her perform.

"calm down, she's only doing one song," junsoo replied, pouring himself a glass of scotch. before i could reply, jaeho walked in and yelled, "everyone except taehyung, get out! aera has to get changed for her performance." junsoo took his glass, walking out with gun following him. i looked at aera who was looking through her fan mail.

as jaeho was leaving, i gripped his shoulder and hissed, "jaeho, you know you're risking everything by letting her perform, right? that punk could be here right now and you're letting her go on stage?!"

he raised his arms up in defence and said, "it was junsoo idea, he said it was good publicity for her new album."

"what? i don't care about the publicity, i care about aera's safety."

jaeho sighed, not replying. he closed the door behind him, leaving me alone with aera. i could hear the distant cheers from the fans, all waiting for aera.

i turned to look at aera, she was holding a piece of paper in her hands. she read the contents and a frown appeared on her lips. tears started streaming down her cheeks and her lips started trembling. she looked at me with wide eyes, the letter shaking in her hold.

'shit,' was the first though in my head as i fast paced towards her, snatching the letter from her hands. a wave of distressed crashed upon me, it was a threat..a death threat. she covered her face with her hands, silently sobbing.

i read it quickly,

mae aera,

you have everything, i have nothing.

your pretty life will vanish before your eyes.

hell is waiting for you.

mae aera...you shall die.

i looked at aera who was crying into her hands, staring blankly at the ground. she looked terrified. i was about to say something when jaeho and junsoo walked in.

"aera, we're ready for.." junsoo immediately stopped after seeing aera. he looked at me, holding the letter, and took it from my hands.

"another one.." jaeho muttered quietly.

aera lifted her head up and looked at jaeho, she looked confused and quietly asked, "what do you mean another one?"

my body went still. i snapped my head towards jaeho, yelling, "you didn't tell her?"

"didn't tell me what?" aera asked again, looking at both of us. jaeho looked at junsoo who started looking nervous. he said, "look, aera..this isn't the first time." she didn't understand, looking at him with squinted eyes.

jaeho continued, "we've been getting these threats for a long time now..we didn't tell you because we wanted to protect you..i'm sorry," he explained with a sad expression. she stayed quiet, her eyes fixed onto the ground.

"baby..we're really sorry..after that bomb, we did-"

"bomb?! what fucking bomb?" aera exclaimed, looking at junsoo with wide eyes. he was tongue-tied, not knowing what to say.

jaeho placed a hand on her shoulder, "we know we messed up, we're sorry." she sniffed and tried calming down, wiping her tears. she looked at the door and said, "is he out there?"

"he might be.." i said quietly. she looked at me, fear evident in her eyes.

jaeho asked her, "now, it's okay if you don't want to perform." she looked at him, thinking to herself. i watched her, mentally praying she doesn't want to.

she released a breath, looking at her hands. everyone's eyes were on her, waiting for an answer. her fans chanted her name from outside, they were waiting too.

she finally stood up, wiping her tears.

"no, i'm going."