Chanyeol watched Baekhyun continue to rehearse out of the corner of his eye. The girl beside him. Baekhyun had said her name was Daehyun. Continued to chat. And he paid attention with half an ear. Which for a guitarist like him meant he was paying attention almost as well as a normal person. But he still found himself choosing to ignore everything she was saying.
As if she sensed his mind was elsewhere. She suddenly stood saying she had to get back to the mess up there. And make sure things were going smoothly since they were short-handed.
And he felt himself nod agreement. And say a quick polite goodbye. But his eyes were now already glued fully on Baekhyun.
Baekhyun was talking with some of the band on stage and going over positions and chords he wanted.
They seemed to be doing fine. And the band made multiple small starts at different parts of the chorus and bridge during Close to me.
Chanyeol closed his eyes to listen to his music.
"YAHHH! WHAT IS WITH THIS NIGHT!" Baekhyun snapped. And Chanyeols eyes flashed open he expected to see Baekhyun ready to blow up again. And there was a clatter of a few instruments stopping abruptly. But Chanyeol looked and instead Baekhyun seemed frustrated and stressed. He was angry but it was more annoyance than what was there before.
Baekhyun st down in the first row and sighed. He leaned forward and placed his face into both of his palms.
Chanyeol watched from a distance. Wondering what it was he could do. How he could make it better.
But a man came out and talked to Baekhyun and after a few minutes, Baekhyun got back on the stage and got ready to do his next set. People walked around and milled on the stage as they set up. And as Baekhyun waited in position for it to start over. And when he gave the cue they finally began.
After roughly six sets. Daehyun popped in and Baekhyun gave her an "okay" smile. And Chanyeol realized that while he had been staring at Baekhyun as if he were getting a private concert. The other people had disappeared.
Baekhyun looked up at him and smiled. A sweet energetic smile. That lit up his whole world and caused it to sparkle. The Baekhyun from TV.
"Park Chanyeol"
Chanyeol blinked as Baekhyun addressed him for the first time in his life by his name. He thought he would stop breathing and he had a huge lump in his stomach that seemed to be sloshing around.
"Sorry if your fan sneak peek was not as amazing as you had hoped for. It's no excuse but it's been a really rough week. I hope you can still enjoy the concert and have fun together with me..."
Baekhyun smiled big.
"Thanks for being my fan." He held up a finger heart and smiled sweetly. Before he turned and went behind the now drawn dark blue curtains over the stage.
Chanyeol stared dumbfounded.
'How was he supposed to feel now? Because that felt a lot like the kid from his childhood. The person on tv and the normal Baekhyun he had known to grow and love.
'That didn't feel like the jerk he had known for a moment before.'
'Had he misunderstood him? Was he really actually nice?'
'But his manager had seemed genuinely scared there... was there really a scary mean side to Baekhyun?'
'A side so dangerous that only those who spent lots of time with him knew about?'
Chanyeol st back down. Feeling entirely confused. More confused than he could sort out at that moment. As people started to pour into the stadium. And the seats beside him started to fill.
He found himself watching and wondering. Just what kind of person they had all come here to support.
****
Chanyeol watched the concert enraptured, in awe by seeing the very songs he had been in love with. Performed in front of him. And even though he had seen a sneak peek at the rehearsal the moment everything came together it was magical.
He found himself yelling and jumping along with the rest of the crowd. Because Baekhyun was captivating. Tantalizingly captivating.
Baekhyun did sets of three to four songs before he would take a small break to either talk or grab a drink. And a few times he would stop and let the crowd sing along.
There was even a point when the fans all held up a single banner at the same time. Someone beside him handed him one. And Chanyeol held it up along with everyone else to create a sea of color all expressing love and adoration for the singer.
Halfway through. There was a brief intermission. Chanyeol was lightly chatting with a young girl next to him who had flown halfway around the world just to see this concert. When he noticed out of the corner of his eye Baekhyun peek his head out from behind the curtain
From this vantage point, Chanyeol thought he looked a bit flustered.
He saw Daehyun come out and she went around the security guard and barrier banisters before heading his way.
Daehyun stopped in front of him and crouched forward.
She nodded politely to the person on either side of him. And looked nervously around.
"Can you play any instruments?" She whispered.
Chanyeol stared at her then nodded his head slowly wondering what that was about.
She motioned to him to follow her. Then turned around and headed back the same way she came. Chanyeol looked at his bags and wondered what to do with them. The girl beside him looked at him and smiled.
"It's alright I will watch them for you." She said kindly.
"Thank you." He said, and then followed Daehyun.
The security guards looked at him for a moment when he got to the barrier and he stared back at them unsure what to do as Daehyun had gone ahead of him.
"Uhhhh, I'm with Daehyun." He said carefully.
The guards looked at him. And despite the fact that he was taller than both of them. He felt intimidated.
Daehyun peaked her head out from the back. And he waved at her. She rolled her eyes and the guards saw her and let him through.
He passed through the opening they created. Rather meekly, even though he knew he was being allowed. It felt so weird.
Once behind the curtain, he realized the band was all set up just how it had been earlier during the rehearsal, but this time there was a seat empty in the middle.
Baekhyun stood in front of him in a billowing dark purple long silk shirt. It flowed and twisted with the smallest of his movements. And he adjusted the microphone earpiece.
He turned around and Chanyeol's breath caught in his throat.
He was done up in his stage makeup and even had bright blue contacts in. Which made him look amazing. But Chanyeol couldn't help but compare it to how beautiful he was with his regular honey-colored eyes.
He still though natural was better. But kept his mouth shut.
"Can you play guitar?" Baekhyun asked softly.
'My guitar player sprained his wrist lifting stage equipment a few minutes ago and now we don't have anyone to play the solo.'
Chanyeol hesitated. He didn't want to say that he had no clue how he would do in front of crowds. Or that the idea of one seemed terrifying. After all, Baekhyun did it every day. But he didn't know how to explain to this stranger that he had a phobia of playing for others. Not to mention that it had been thirteen years since he had played in front of anybody. Since the last person who ever heard him play was Baekhyun he was sure Baekhyun must have assumed if he still played that he could play period.
"I...I...I... don't..." Chanyeol fumbled as he tried to share that he was mortified of doing what Baekhyun did all the time.
'Could someone like Baekhyun understand him at all?'
***