Stranger

.THIRTY SEVEN.

AN AWARD SHOW
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"How.... why... what? What are you doing here, Seojun?" Jennie asked in a hushed tone, knowing it was Seojun under the face mask.

She had just bumped into Seojun backstage at an award show for idols, but from her recollection, Seojun wasn't an idol.

"Jennie unnie, we have to get to our seats soon," Rosé said after approaching from around the corner. "Ah, hello. Sorry for interrupting."

Seojun bowed to Rosé and Jennie was staring at Seojun in disbelief.

"Unnie... let's go," Rosé said awkwardly and tugged on Jennie's arm.

Jennie reluctantly walked away from Seojun and Rosé apologized before they left.

"I told you that you'd be caught, hyung," Chan said from behind Seojun and startled him. "Anyway, it's time to be seated. I'm not sure where you're gonna go though."

"Stray Kids! This way, this way," a staff member of the show said and pointed in a direction. "Please take the mask off, sir."

"I'm not-"

"We can't have you wear it out there."

"But I'm not-"

"Seojun, just go with it. We'll keep you safer than TWICE. Promise," Chan said and patted Seojun on the back.

Seojun took his mask off and walked out with Stray Kids and many other idols and other groups from different companies.

They were seated next to a girl group and Seojun sat at the end, closest to the girls. Behind them was a boy group, then another girl group, and coincidentally, BLACKPINK sat three rows back.

Seojun turned his head to look and saw Jennie settling into her seat. She didn't see him staring at her but he eyed her outfit for its entirety. It made him feel like pervert so he finally looked away.

"Hi, were you the person I ran into by accident? I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," the girl sitting beside him said.

"Huh? Oh, it's okay," Seojun replied and looked ahead.

She still looked at him with a smile.

"You're a member of Stray Kids, right? I feel like I've never seen you before. Omo, are you a new member that hasn't been revealed yet?"

Seojun nodded awkwardly and avoided her eye contact.

"I'm from LOONA, if you didn't know. My name is Chu," she said with a bright smile still on her face.

"Uh... M-my name is..."

"Jun," Chan said from the other side of Seojun. "They might do close ups on groups so if that happens for LOONA, try to get out of the shot."

Seojun nodded and Chu tapped his shoulder.

"You don't have to sit so far from me, though. There are twelve members in my group so I'm sure the camera will be more zoomed."

Seojun bowed in appreciation. With everything happening around him so fast, this award show was very nerve wrecking and confusing. He felt even more out of place than before, he felt like an impostor.

"Jun, are you okay? You seem a little tense," Chu said and Seojun tried to avoid looking at her again. "You don't have to worry about looking at me. If we're not doing anything, my fans wouldn't assume we were dating."

Chu laughed softly and her voice had a weirdly calming effect on him.

"I'm new to this..." Seojun replied.