"Sir... Sir... SIR!" A heavy male voice broke him out of his memories. And startled Chanyeol blinked rapidly and looked up.
"You have to get off now. This is the last stop, so you have to get off the bus. This is the venue you needed to get too right?" The gentleman's kinda face evaluated Chanyeol's own with concern.
Chanyeol looked out at the huge arena that was hosting the concert tonight and smiled softly for a moment. He looked back at the man and nodded gently.
"Mmm, thank you, sir, for helping me," Chanyeol said with deep sincerity. The guy could have just returned the bus back to the bus station without saying a word to Chanyeol, but he had chosen to be sweet and make sure this boy who clearly didn't belong in such a big city like Seoul made it to his destination safely.
"Ah, no, no, no, don't mention it. I noticed you didn't seem like you were doing well. I thought maybe you were lost. If you are okay, that's good then... Do you need help with your bag?"
"Ah, no, no thank you. That's very kind, though. Chanyeol got up slowly bowed and then grabbed his backpack and his rolling bag and headed for the front of the bus. He passed the black and red comfortable seats and noticed that outside of his window every single warm dark blood red curtain was drawn over the windows. There wasn't a single body left on the bus, the above compartments were empty of all the luggage that had been packed tightly to bursting before. There were bits of garbage here and there but otherwise, the bus was relatively spotless. Very little to show that Chanyeol had just spent over two hours on this bus along with about forty other living breathing bodies.
The soft lights inside the bus were dim, illuminated gently the inside, but the moment he stepped out the entire area around was lit brightly. The parking lot was flooded with light outside the giant stadium. Closest tot he doors the brilliant turquoise blue lights that were Baekhyun's fan color beamed down lighting the doors. The lighting blared out into the parking lot for all of those that were parked close. Like tour buses, like the one Chanyeol had just unloaded from and close by cars.
He looked at the sheer size of the parking lot and how packed in with cars it was and knew that he was just one in a million people who Baekhyun would see tonight.
'A face among faces. Don't get your hopes up Chanyeol. It's not like you shared your lives together. It's not like you were best friends... You never even told him your name...' With that disheartening reminder, and depressing thought he stepped in through the front doors already slightly defeated.
The moment he stepped through he realized just how bad an idea this had been. The entire area was crowded jammed full of male and female bodies. All decked in various outfits, costumes. All of them flashy, distracting, brighter than the next. Some were holding signs, lightsticks, and various large banners, people with headbands, and oversized large cameras.
One girl even wore a wedding dress with a veil. Her bright red lipstick, so fluorescent it sparkled as if it were made out of crushed diamonds.
"I need your tickets and pass please!" Came an overly loud woman's voice over the constant hum and background talking.
Chanyeol looked for her and after a moment realized she was standing near a set of doors that had a large elastic ribbon in front of it. A little black sign beside it said VIP.
And now that he was looking closely, he could see how a group of people were not just standing randomly. But were rather winding in a tight circle all towards the door on the right. The one he assumed was regular admittance. But with how many bodies there were and how many more were still walking in and trying to line up. The line had progressively started to spill into the front of the VIP section. Where the poor woman was trying her hardest to still do her job and get other people with the bright Blue Cards like him through the door.
He pushed his way gently towards her and as an afterthought pulled out the lanyard around his neck that held the blue card in it. The girl who was looking increasingly more apt at her job than he would have thought possible. Seemed to hone in on his movement, spotted the card and motioned for him to come to her.
He nervously cut through the line amidst a million glares that felt as if he were being burned alive by them. Until the people noticed his lanyard and instead of hate and anger, their looks grew mildly annoyed and jealous instead, a few smiled wistfully as if they only dreamed they could be him. He nodded back at them and smiled, understanding their feelings very.
After what felt like forever, he was finally standing in front of the girl who reached out her hand for the card despite being jostled and bumped. Her short dark hair was tucked behind her ears and she looked as if she were standing in the middle of an empty room despite the commotion she was calm and collected, the only giveaway she was actually experiencing any discomfort was the small twitch to the side her eyes would do whenever the group of careless kids beside her elbowed her. Her clothes were perfect and her smile and face were clear, not a dot of sweat anywhere and her voice was clear and calm despite having to yell above everyone.
He swallowed almost a little jealous she was so calm in the presence of such chaos, he wished he could handle situations like this so easily. He pulled his bag around and gave her a look of woe. Before very carefully opening his backpack a smidge to search for the tickets he had put near the top. After a moment his hands lighted on the paper and he pulled out the two passes. One for the concert itself and one for the special meet and greet he had won.
The girl gave him a sweet, genuine smile and he found his nerves melting just a little because of her kindness.
She took the two, stamped them, ripped off the top half and then tucked the tops into a little bag at her side then pointed at his wrist. He held it out and she removed a wristband from another small pouch on the other side of her belt. She wrapped it around his wrist, leaving about two fingers worth of space between it and his skin. The moment he pulled his arm back to pull his sleeve down a little. The band caught the light and he stared amazed at how it sparkled like a million tiny stars. It's deep turquoise color only plain in the dark, but the moment the light hit it, it was like a secret gem. He smiled at the small magic in the rubber band on his large wrist.
"Are you nervous?"
He looked back up at her startled she had spoken and ripped him from his enthrallment.
"Ah..." He started, unsure of how to put what he was feeling into words.
She smiled really prettily, and he noticed this one was very genuine. Not the same smile she plastered on politely for her job. But a genuinely happy and amused smile for a stranger, one that went right to her deep dark eyes and made them twinkle in the lights.
"Don't worry, you are not his first male fan. He is just as nice to his male fans as he is for his female ones... It's not as weird as you feel it is. You get special privileges due to your ticket tier. there is no one else permitted in the rehearsal. They are quite busy just go in and sit wherever you like." She gave him a small wink, and he blushed.
She unclipped the elastic ribbon and pulled it back before opening the door and motioning for him to go inside.
He gave her a small nod of thanks before shouldering his backpack and pushing his luggage through the door.
The door opened up into the regular theater, but the moment he walked into the dark upper row of the main seating area. His breath caught.
The stage was lit with a million tiny spotlights that danced in different hues of blue and white. In the center was a small group of people surrounding one man. He stood with a mic in front of him. His black jackets sparkled in the lights as if a million stars were dancing. The sky blue silk shirt that rippled every time he moved, it danced as if there were some unseen wind blowing it and his hair gently.
"I am reminded every time I look into your eyes. Of the time I held you.
The time we stayed together all night.
And now I dream of you.
Even when I am walking through my day
I can't part with your reminders
Haunting my eyes
Haunting me
You are my chemical
My drug
The addiction in my veins
Come back
I never wanted you to leave"
"Yah!"
Baekhyun suddenly stopped singing and the backtrack halted a moment later. Baekhyun raised a hand to cover his eyes and looked out into the audience.
Chanyeol froze and wondered if Baekhyun could see him from this far back.
"Whose stupid steps are interrupting my rehearsal? Can't you see someone's working?"
The whole place dropped into silence. As if there were not close to a hundred people on site and only an empty stadium.
"Who said you could be in here destroying my creative space!" He snapped.
Chanyeol stepped back, startled.
'Baekhyun...'
***