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We could be a world apart

And I’d still be by your side

If I lose everything but your hand in mine

I’d still have all I ever need

The song finished. Quietly, and with no flourish. Jihoon dropped his head, and from the angle they’d filmed him on the screens, I couldn’t tell if it was sweat on his face, or something else. The noise from the crowd started like rumbling thunder, quiet at first, somewhere in the distance until it rolled across the arena and echoed off the stands. Lightsticks flashed from stormy blue to bright white light, little beacons that dotted the dark stadium like the constellation they were always meant to be.

After the concert, Becka and I joined the members at a restaurant for dinner. It wasn’t a large gathering. A bigger party for the rest of the crew had been arranged for the following day to celebrate the end of Reset.

I did not sit next to Jihoon. Nor did I want to, much to Becka’s surprise.

“Despite how it felt sometimes,” I told her wryly as we sat at a separate table, “this tour was not about me. It was about them.” I indicated GVibes. They laughed, but there was something bittersweet about it, even from this distance. They joked with each other with the air of people who’d just graduated college. Relief, pride, melancholy. Like they weren’t quite sure if they’d ever do anything quite like this again.

My eyes tracked Minjae as he got up from the table, and before I could talk myself out of it, I got up and approached him, far enough away from everyone else to speak freely.

“Minjae, have you got a second?”

He paused and turned to me with a look that told me he knew what I was going to say, but was polite enough to let me say it, anyway.

“Of course, Kaiya.”

I’d rehearsed this in my head several times, but with his full attention on me, all my pretty words abandoned me. So I just spat it out.

“I just wanted to say how sorry I am. About how everything happened,” I clarified. “The timing… the timing sucked. I never meant to derail the tour, and it wasn’t fair that it affected you, and the others.”

He watched me for a moment, his grey eyes speculative. I didn’t know him well enough to understand his expression.

“Kaiya, you didn’t ask for this any more than we did,” he said eventually. “Yeah, the timing wasn’t ideal,” he said with a small laugh, shoving his hands into his pockets. “But it never would have been. There’s never going to be a good time for something like this.” He let out a breath, and for a moment, I could have sworn his expression was almost sad.

“But I don’t want you to think we ever thought badly about you. Or about Jihoon being with you.”

I fiddled with my ring, looking down, finding the intensity of his gaze too much in that moment.

“I appreciate that. I just hate that it became everyone’s problem.”

To my surprise, he laughed. It wasn’t quite a happy sound, but nor was it bitter. Perhaps closer to resigned.

“We also would have preferred your personal lives to remain personal, but not because you and he are a ‘problem’, Kaiya. Nothing you did is wrong.”

“Will it be okay?” I asked in a small voice, not realising how much I needed the reassurance that I hadn’t blown up the group until just then.

Minjae shrugged. “People will always find reasons to criticise us. The company believes it will blow over. Eventually.” He gave a small grin and tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kaiya, I am not worried about us. I just want you to be prepared, because this is your life now.”

“Is anyone ever prepared?” I asked hopefully.

Minjae blew out a breath. “You won’t be alone.” He nodded his head at Jihoon, who was laughing at something Woojin had said. “And neither will he.”

It wasn’t an answer, but it was as close as I think I was going to get.

After the meal, people began to move, swapping seats, going outside to smoke, or just generally lounge around. To my surprise – or, perhaps not – Woojin came to sit beside Becka. I tried not to eavesdrop, but it was clear they’d been keeping in touch, if the casual way they spoke to each other was any indication. I hid my grin behind my hand, and caught Jihoon’s eye. He nodded to the empty seat next to him, and without hesitation, I got up to join him. No one looked at us twice.

We didn’t stay long, although I kept trying to tell Jihoon he could stay as long as he wanted. He insisted he wanted to save his energy for the bigger party tomorrow.

I told Becka we were leaving, and offered to give her a lift.

“I’ll take her back to her hotel.” Woojin turned to look at me, taking me by surprise. But again, also not.