Blood Sweat & Tears: A BTS Story ✅

Chapter 17: The Tour Part 1

We're on a private plane flying to the state to start the US leg of the tour. We had to be at the airport at three in the morning in the hopes of not drawing a large crowd. This plan was only slightly successful, fans did mob the airport but not in the numbers that they usually do if the boys leave at a normal hour. I'm just happy that it was something that we could avoid. The last thing we need is some sort of fan mob before the tour has even started.

Our first stop on the tour is in Chicago and we have two days there to prepare before opening night of the tour. Once last dress rehearsal with the stage set up at the current venue and one day of rest. The boys get one day of pure rest before they will be busy for the unseeable future. When we arrive in Chicago we will be staying at a hotel until we have to leave for the next location of the tour. The bus company we rented our tour bus from is still being driven to our location. The company made a mistake and wrapped the bus in a picture of the boys and that is just too conspicuous for their safety. It's better to travel with one that just looks like it belongs to a family going on a vacation. Plus, the boys just really hate sleeping on the bus. Who would enjoy being crammed into a small bunk when you could have a whole hotel bed to yourself? I know I'm not looking forward to it, at least not for long periods of time. I've never had a "world tour" experience before so everything is new to me, but the boys are used to it by now.

On the plane, I've been sleeping for quite a while. Waking up in the dead of night to leave the country and then having to adjust to the time difference is a lot and I just want to sleep to make it easier. This private plane is huge. It has chairs and tables and even sleeping rooms. Not wanting to impose on any of the bed spaces, opted to sleep on one of the many couches. I'm in joggers with my eye mask covering my eyes while wrapped in a fleece blanket I bought just for the tour. It's huge, I can wrap myself up in it multiple times, and I am. I must look like a very fuzzy burrito to any onlooker.

Richard is flying with us for opening night, but he won't be with the boys for the whole tour. He has lots of responsibilities back in Seoul and he doesn't like to leave his family for long periods at a time and taking his family with him interrupts his children's schooling. Besides the tour crew and the stylist and wardrobe people, I'll be the boys' main form of contact. At least when Richard is gone. But even when Richard is with us he won't be staying on the bus. When I asked why he looked at me with his eyes raised, "I am an old man, Rose. My back would not recover from a week spent on those bunks." And I laughed much to his disdain.

I'm really glad I brought a brand-new box of earplugs. The boys are a noisy group and if I'm unable to get sleep I'll be one grumpy bitch. The ones I have in right now have a small string attached to them so they are harder to lose. After what I can assume is a couple of hours, I start to hear the vague sound of talking, but I choose to ignore it. I'm tired and going to working non-stop for months on end, so I'm not waking up until I have to. We're in the air over an ocean, there cannot be anything the boys need that they could not get themselves. They aren't spoiled. They don't expect me to wait on them hand and foot. When they were trainees they learned how to rely on each other as a unit, and they prefer to return to that dynamic most times. If anything, my role is most like a Shepard. I'm herding the sheep where they need to and making sure they are well fed.

"—-on the couch." Is the only part of a conversation I hear. I try to ignore it so I can drift off to sleep again, but the voice gets louder. Suddenly I feel around come around me and lift me in the air. It's hard to get a hold of me since I'm one tightly wrapped burrito.

"Hey—" I call out, my voice thick with sleep and unuse.

"Shh," Someone whispers, and then I'm set down on what I assume is one of the beds. I can't see with my eye mask over my eyes. I want to yell at whoever thought it was okay to just pick me up and move me like I'm some piece of furniture, but I'm too tired. The only thing that comes out of my mouth is a garbled mess. I hear a chuckle and the click of a door sliding shut and then I'm asleep.