Page 23 of A World of our Own

I left the bathroom not long after, dressed in Reset merch, and with much drier hair thanks to a combination of the towel and holding my head under the hand-drier. I wouldn’t be winning any best-dressed pageants, but nor would I be grumpy for the rest of the evening.

Thank you.

He didn’t respond, but I reasoned he was probably busy doing whatever it was the guys did pre-show.

I sat down, politely acknowledging the other team members and checked my watch. It wasn’t that close to the start, he had time to respond.

I checked my phone signal.

I sent a message to Becka, making sure my roaming data was on. She responded and I let out a sound of irritation, then apologised to the person sitting next to me.

I got up and walked over to the massive, plate-glass windows looking down on the stage, watching the audience file in.

I had a moment of regret that I hadn’t chosen to be in the crowd. I had planned to use tonight to see how the crowd interacted with the group, to feel the vibe. Now, I thought observing them from up here would be counter-productive. Sound check had been helpful, but the explosive nature of a full show performance…

I gritted my teeth and turned away, roughly shoving my hands in my pockets, only to pull out my blank-faced phone again.

Nothing. I rolled my eyes at myself, but opened up KakaoTalk.

You can tell me to mind my own business if you want, but are you ok?

I quickly sent the message and resisted the urge to throw my phone. I just… I needed to know he wasn’t in the back of another bus on his own.

I thew myself into another padded chair and rested my ankle on my knee, bouncing my foot until a light vibration halted my movements, and I pulled my phone out.

Joon

Are you worried about me, Kaiya?

Sent [18:37]

I exhaled, part irritation, part something else.