"WE'RE DONE!" Taeil shouted as he ran outside the building. Byeol chuckled as she watched Haechan and Jeno join him. It was Thursday afternoon; all the students were done with testing.
"Let's go somewhere to celebrate!" Sicheng joined in. Everyone from the group was there– all twenty three of them, plus Byeol.
"You guys go ahead without me, I need to go pack." Lucas said as he waved at them and headed in a different direction. He was moving to Korea over winter break; it was part of the contract he signed with that company. He told them a week ago and, well, the time was approaching.
"I'm going to miss him," Yangyang pouted.
"Me too." Hendery nodded, then sighed. "Okay, where to?"
"Let's go to the mall!"
Simply put: the mall was a disaster. Everyone split up into various groups of two to four and roamed around. Byeol got lost, poor girl, and Taeyong and Ten had to stop their video game shopping to relocate her. Taeil kept calling each group every ten minutes to check in, but then Johnny kept getting annoyed and he put his phone on silent. It resulted in lots of arguing.
After a couple of hours, they went back home. Taeyong and Byeol had gotten matching bracelets, but other than that, the boys mostly got video games and some new clothes/accessories. Believe it or not, they were quite the fashionable type.
The next day was actually pretty fun. To relieve stress, the teachers make their students watch movies or play games in every class (even in chemistry!) so the day was totally chill. There was one thing that had Byeol on edge, and that was weird smirks from Elaena.
As if she knew something Byeol didn't.
"It's your turn, Byeol!" Mark's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and Byeol nodded, shaking away the image of Elaena's creepy smile and focusing on the board game in between them.
Soon, it was the end of the day, and the students rejoiced as the first semester ended. Byeol and Ten met up at the dance studio as usual and they went over their choreography one last time. Both dancers knew it like second nature. Ten just went over some pointers for facial expressions, how to warm up right before getting on stage... everything that a professional would know.
They went home and changed. Their outfits were pretty simple and comfortable. For Ten, a loose, white sweater with a few strands hanging from the hem over matching pants. For Byeol, a tight, black long-sleeves tucked into black denim. Her straight, brown hair was left loose.
Ten and Byeol had decided to meet by a specific section of backstage. Ten checked his reflection in one of the mirrors as Byeol looked around amidst the various students, trying to find him. Her eyes finally landed on the white silk and she ran to him.
"Ten!" She called and he turned to face her. She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck.
"Hey there," He furrowed his eyebrows as she pulled away, then peeked her head out to look at the crowd. The numbers were growing by the minute.
"There's so many people..." she mumbled nervously, running her eyes around the stage.
"It's okay! Look at me," Ten grabbed her by her shoulders and locked eyes. She bit her lip. "You're going to do great. Okay? Even if you mess up, it's okay. This is only your first performance. Just do your best, and I know you'll be wonderful. Okay?"
Byeol nodded, hugging him again. "I'm so nervous, oh my gosh..." she mumbled, shaking her head.
"Come on, let's go sit with our friends. Our performance is second to last, which means we can leave the crowd and come backstage during intermission. Sound good?" He led her to the stairs at the end of the stage and she nodded, following him. They stood there for a moment, searching the crowd for their friends, when they spotted a few hands waving in the air. Byeol recognized Taeyong's purple hair as he stood by where the rest were sitting and she ran down the stairs, running to him and engulfing him in a huge hug. Ten followed with a sweet smile. They're so cute!
The lights started to dim and they took their seats, Ten and Byeol at the end of the row for easy getaway, Taeyong next to Byeol for her comfort. The first few acts were quite cool, actually. Some kid named Taehyun did magic and a few girls sang acapella. Jaehyun, Doyoung, and Jungwoo did a Christmas carol mix.
Byeol's anxiety was fluctuating worse than the stock market. The only things that kept her under control was holding Taeyong's hand and drinking water.
By the intermission, she finished her bottle and Taeyong's hand...
"I'm okay," he assured her and she smiled painfully as Ten stood up. She apologized one last time and then followed Ten backstage. Once they were out of eyesight, he groaned in pain and held his hand close to his chest. The other boys laughed at him as he bit his lip with a chuckle.
"Is my hair okay?" Byeol fussed, leaning into the mirror. Ten was sitting on the chair watching her with an amused smile. She turned to face him. "Is it?"
"It's perfect!" He said loudly. "Stop worrying, will you?"
She chuckled, looking away.
"I'm sorry, I'm just... so nervous." She admitted, covering her face in her hands. "What if I mess up?"
Ten stood up and walked closer to her, placing a hand on the side of her head. He tucked her loose hair behind her ear and Byeol watched him closely, somewhat calmed by that action.
"You won't mess up, Byeol. Do you know why?" Ten asked. She shook her head. "Because you practiced your butt off for tonight. And I'll be right there next to you throughout the whole thing. I promise."
Byeol looked at him for a moment longer, then nodded. "I-I'm just going to go to the bathroom really quickly. I'll be back soon– how much time do we have until we're up?"
Ten checked the big clock on the wall, then looked back at the girl. "A few minutes until the intermission ends, and then at least fifteen minutes until we're on." Byeol nodded and started to walk away before Ten called out to her again. She turned back.
"Keep your phone with you," he said, handing the purple-cased phone to her. She mumbled a thank you and he watched her walk away into a some hallway.
Twenty minutes have passed.
Still no sign of Byeol.
"Where is she?!" Ten mumbled as he tried her phone for the millionth time. The person you are trying to reach– He turned off the phone with an angry sigh. How can she stand me up now?! Is she really choosing her nervousness over me??
"That was a wonderful performance!" The MC started to say. Ten was really panicking. They were going to be called on any second now. He couldn't tell backstage to switch the setlist to stall for Byeol because it was already too late for that. So, it was either him going on alone or not going on at all.
His parents were in the audience. This might be his last chance to redeem himself. He...
He had no choice.
"For our next performance, please welcome on stage two talented friends from the sophomore class... Ten Lee and Byeol Choi!" They said and then headed off stage as the audience started clapping. Ten looked around backstage a few more times. No Byeol.
Ten took a deep breath and walked on stage. Mr. Davis, in charge of music, frowned from his seat in the control booth when he noticed only one person on stage. Ten sighed and readied himself on the stage, hopeful eyes glancing around the audience one last time. He noticed his friends exchange confused glances.
Ten looked away and tried to focus his mind as he waited for the music. He could hear some muttering from the audience when the music took too long to start play. He glanced to the side and locked eyes with Mr. Davis' confused ones. Ten simply gave him the signal and Mr. Davis, well, he only had one job. He played the music.
YOU ARE READING
Counting on Stars // NCT Ten
Fanfiction"It's just me, you, and the music." Byeol has moved schools again. It's normal. But just because things happen often doesn't make them easier. Throughout her difficult time adjusting to the new settings along with leaving so much behind, Byeol meets...
