"Keep your phone with you," Ten said, handing it to Byeol. She mumbled a thank you and exited backstage through a side door. She recognized the hallway and started heading down to where she recalled bathrooms were.
The silence of the hallway, while eerie, calmed her a little bit. Ten was right; she had worked really hard for tonight. I shouldn't be this worried, she thought. Besides, what could go wrong?
As Byeol washed her hands, she checked her reflection for the millionth time in the mirror. Her hair looked pretty nice actually-
Byeol squinted suddenly as she saw a figure move behind her. She guessed it must just be another student when...
She recognized the blonde curls.
"I can't believe it." Elaena's high-pitched voice said behind Byeol and she froze.
Please no, please no, please no, no, no, no, no-
"You thought you can actually pull it off? Dancing with Ten on stage? My Ten?" Elaena walked closer to Byeol and lowered her voice. "I told you I'll break you. You're asking for it."
Byeol didn't know what to do. She glanced towards the exit and didn't think twice.
She turned on her heels and sprinted towards the exit, but Elaena caught her arm and pulled her back harshly.
"You just won't learn!" She yelled and threw Byeol into the very last stall, the bigger one with the door that opened outward. Byeol stumbled over her feet and turned to face Elaena, who grinned victoriously as she glared down at Byeol's pleading eyes. "You're staying here tonight."
Byeol reached forward a moment too late. Elaena had already shut the door. The lock was on the inside, but the door didn't work when Byeol tried to open it. She banged and pushed on the door, hoping that Elaena was just standing in front of it or something.
"Don't even bother! I bought this cool new lock just for you, babe." Elaena's voice said joyfully. "And I'm staying right here, so don't even bother calling any of your friends." She mocked, referring to the boys she hung out with.
Byeol stepped away from the door as she tried to take deep breaths. She held her hair in fists. How could she let herself into this mess? She can't even call the boys into the girl's bathroom...
Text!
Byeol opened her phone and sent a hundred messages to whoever she could: Ten, Taeyong, Jisung, Jaehyun- even Lucas, but then she remembered he wasn't even at the show. She had at most ten minutes until she needed to be on stage.
However, much to her dismay, the messages weren't sending. She switched off the school wifi and tried her cellular data, but there was no service in the bathrooms. There was never service in the bathrooms! Byeol growled from frustration. What could she do now?
"I don't understand why you hang out with them, anyways," Elaena was saying. Byeol heard her voice fading in and out mixed with footsteps, so Byeol guessed she was pacing around.
Byeol sighed and leaned against the wall. She kept checking her phone to see if the messages would work... but they weren't.
There wasn't much she could do anymore. It's over, she failed Ten. She went through everything just to be caught in the last minute. It was stupid.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Byeol responded back to the door.
"You know, all of Ten's friends. They're way out of league for you." She said.
"Oh, really? Well, I didn't know people who were out of league would throw a surprise birthday party for me." Byeol said nonchalantly. Elaena gasped.
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...
