XLIX. BTS IN LA PT. 4

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Taehyung showed paper while Gyeoul showed rock.

"Yes!" he cheered, capturing her fist with his hand to show paper wrapping around rock while doing a happy dance to provoke her.

Speechless, the woman stared at her hand with vexation clear in her earthly irises. Disbelief colored all over her features, feeling utterly betrayed that her intuition turned against her.

She sighed, "I'm a performance director, I'm the one who's supposed to boss you around. I won't let you do this."

Taehyung only laughed at her and went down the aisle, adjusting his grip on her hands so their fingers were laced together. Defeated, Gyeoul sluggishly trudged behind him and allowed him to pull her to that part of the aisle that made her pinch the bridge of her nose. She turned away, dreading even seeing the wretched thing.

Oh, how she regretted succumbing to Taehyung's wish to go back to that avenue they went to for their food crawl to explore more of the shops instead of the restaurants somewhere in between the week-long break before their last two shows in LA. She wanted to hide from him so he wouldn't let her go through with it, but a deal was a deal.

A few moments earlier, in the bliss of their exploration, Taehyung's eyes caught sight of a group of four leaving a shop, not far from where they were, and all of them were clad in a certain red uniform from a Korean drama that boomed with popularity worldwide just after its release on a widespread platform.

With excitement stuck in his head, Taehyung suggested that they revisit their childhood memories by wearing costumes again. Gyeoul instantly agreed.

But, they both wanted the same cool costume. Not wanting to childishly bicker over who gets to wear the costume, they settled on doing rock, paper, scissors. The game, although played dominantly in childhood, was not childish at all. It was fair. It was the cure to all clashing conflicts, the solution to all problems. It was godly.

Unfortunately, Taehyung's angel was by his side, and Gyeoul lost.

"I won fair and square to a deal we both agreed on," Taehyung denied, an annoyingly smug grin on his face. He picked up a costume and handed it to her. "Here, have fun with that."

He then reached for the costume beside it and waved it on her face. Gyeoul swatted the costume away and glared at him in envy.

She drew in a sharp breath, "We didn't say 'challenge' so that was only a practice game. Let's do a rematch."

"No can do, loser," Taehyung quickly disagreed. He ruffled her hair and took her costume, ready to pay for the costumes on the counter.

Thousands of people were in the stadium already, just a little less than fifteen minutes before the concert would start. As a performance director, she should already be backstage to give out last-minute instructions to the idols and dancers because everything would be in a frenzy by the time the concert started.

But being Hyeonsu's favorite pain in the ass, Gyeoul was instructed by him to sort out the situation out front even if it wasn't her job. Some of the backup vocals and members of the live band were kept outside. None of them brought any identification that they were part of the concert so security didn't let them in. Such a situation would have been handled easily if they would ask the staff to communicate, but they couldn't since everyone was running around and trying to make sure everything was in order.

The entrance backstage was blocked off because flocks of people, ambitious paparazzi, and gossip bloggers were trying to get in through there. Security thought that the performers were some of these people and shooed them away. They had no means of getting in because everyone else they were trying to contact was too busy to check their phones.

They were lucky that Hyeonsu checked his phone for texts from Songhwa.

Although she was more than willing to help, Gyeoul knew of the undertones of his request. He just wanted people to see her in a player's outfit from Squid Game.

Earlier, she walked in backstage and faced the laughter of her seniors and the other staff for turning up in a costume, some even asked her for a picture. She stated that she had no intention of showing people other than the people backstage that she was wearing the costume.

And she had no idea why Taehyung told her to wear it on that day.

Without a doubt, she truly cares for her senior and actually considers him as an older brother. Just an older brother she would never want to have.

Dear universe, make him trip over the wires tonight, please, she wished.

She sprinted across the stadium, holding her sling bag in place to keep it from bouncing along as she did so. Many eyes trailed after her sprinting figure along the space, most of them stared at her in disbelief while a few screamed, probably from the sight of her in the flesh mixed with the adrenaline of the concert.

"Sir!" she called out as she made it to the entrance. The performers cried out in relief at the sight of her. She smiled, raising her ID to show that she was part of the staff, "Hello, I apologize for the trouble, but they're part of the concert."

With a nod, security nodded at the performers, giving them the green light to enter. They sighed in relief as they passed through the entrance.

They all ran along the stadium. It didn't help that backstage was so far away.

"AHN GYEOUL!"

Everybody slowed to a jog at the sound of the high and piercing scream and turned around to see an ARMY wearing a bright smile as she excitedly waved both of her hands at the dancer. Two others, presumably her friends, cupped the sides of their faces and pretended like they didn't know her, but still, they also waved at Gyeoul.

Gyeoul could feel herself feeding off of that ARMY's enthusiasm and waved back with an equally bright smile. She noticed that she wasn't carrying an ARMY Bomb with her while her friends each had their own.

Turning to the performers, she nodded her head, "You guys go ahead."

One of the band members smiled back at her, "Thanks for saving us. We owe you."

She bowed her head at them and jogged over to that ARMY, making the others sitting nearby either scream or jump in their places. Shyly waving at the others nearby for a short second, she turned back to the girl who was now speechless.

"Hey, what's your name?" she asked over the blaring music, leaning over the barricade.

"Am I finally living my Y/N moment?" the girl murmured to herself, making her friends simultaneously nudge her out of her daydream.

Gyeoul furrowed her eyebrows, "I'm sorry, I don't think I got that."

She cleared her throat, "I'm Amy."

"It's nice to meet you, Amy," Gyeoul smiled, tilting her head at her. One of her friends sat down and fanned her face, clearly more flustered than Amy herself. "I noticed you don't have an ARMY Bomb?"

Amy smiled sheepishly, nodding her head. "But I'll cheer and do the fan chants louder to make up for it!"

How sweet, Gyeoul thought. She pulled out her Bomb from her sling bag and handed it to her, "It's yours." She winked, raising an eyebrow at it.

She nodded goodbye at Amy (who was completely frozen in shock) and her friends before turning around to go backstage but halted as one of Amy's friends called her name.

"Can we ask why you're wearing a Squid Game outfit?" she asked, looking at Gyeoul with wide eyes. "Not that you don't look pretty in it."

Laughing, the dancer shrugged, "I lost a game and was told to wear it today, I don't know why though."

Waving at them with more finality in her intentions, the dancer proceeded to run back backstage. The moment she passed through the doors, Hyeonsu sighed in relief and handed her a headset.

She bent over, her hands on her knees as she panted. Who wouldn't be tired after literally running across a stadium?

"Thank god, I thought you got lost or something. I wouldn't hear the end of it from Songhwa if you get lost because of me" he muttered, patting her shoulder before taking her sling bag from her. "I'm taking this and putting it with my stuff so you won't be bothered by it later. And Taehyung's been looking for you. He's in HMU."

Gyeoul thanked him before jogging off to HMU before she would go with the dancers. She rushed by the many staff, smiling at them and quietly cheering them on with their work. Everybody looked like they were the emotions in Inside Out that would frantically run about as they try to resolve a crisis.

She knocked on the door and waited for someone to tell her to come in before opening the door.

At an instant, her eyes met Taehyung's and she couldn't help but smile. All of the others were already there. The members all tried to stifle their laughs as they saw her outfit for that day once again. The action made her playfully roll her eyes and turn to the chief performance director who had his arms crossed.

Taehyung, already done with his makeup, made his way to her and pointed his small battery-powered fan to her face upon seeing her panting slightly. She squeezed his arm appreciatively before turning back to the others.

"Everything's in order now, just some light mishap with the security," she explained. She clasped her hands behind her back and hummed, "How are you?"

For the past concerts, she had asked the same thing and she would always get the same answer.

"We're great. Nervous, but the good kind."

Hoseok leaned back on his chair and stretched his arms, "I feel like I can conquer the world!"

"That's great. You practiced a lot for this. But still watch out for yourselves, alright? Do your best, but you still need to listen to your bodies." She raised her eyebrow at Taehyung and Yoongi specifically. "Have fun, but don't push yourselves too hard."

Sungdeuk nodded in agreement, "Exactly. There's a lot of room for possible injuries with the setup, so you still need to be careful." He turned to Taehyung and gave him a pointed look, "And real fire shoots out from the stage, you can't just smack it away."

Taehyung smiled sheepishly, "Noted, teach."

Gyeoul clapped her hands, "Alright, guys, good luck with the show."

Before she could walk out, Taehyung caught her elbow and puckered his lips. She gave him a playful look, her eyes flickering down to the costume he made her wear. Taehyung chuckled, pressing a kiss on her cheek and giving her the battery-powered fan.

She pecked his lips at the last second before walking out of the room and to the front where the dancers were waiting. They were jumping around, some were doing push-ups and jumping jacks, but most of them were goofing around to get themselves warmed up.

"How're you guys doing?" she asked, pointing the fan to those who approached her. "All doing good? Does anyone feel nauseous?"

Gabe, one of the younger dancers, jumped towards her and kept jumping in his place. "I feel like I drank ten Redbulls all at once."

Gyeoul smiled, pointing the fan at him.

Everything became a blur right after then. The concert started and everyone backstage started to move like clockwork. To Gyeoul, time felt meaningless. Fifteen minutes felt like three, an hour felt like twenty, and the whole concert felt like it skirted around thirty minutes. With the way she's been running around and watching the monitors, there's no surprise that she was losing track of time.

She was listening to her headset, listening for the instructions of the stage directors and managers, and volunteered whenever the need arose.

There were times wherein they'd forget to do the dance because they were having too much fun. While it somewhat annoyed them as performance directors, it was endearing to see the expressions that would cross their features as they would realize.

Gyeoul handed the staff a fresh set of towels that they would put aside if the idols would ever need them later on. She rolled her shoulders back and continued to stand beside her seniors.

Caleb pursed his lips to keep himself from laughing at her costume yet again. It looked less of a costume now and more like a PE uniform with how Gyeoul was wearing it.

Her hair was pulled into a messy half ponytail that had strands sticking out and standing up all over. The jacket was tied around her waist, her shirt's sleeves were rolled up to her shoulders, and her pants were lazily bunched to her knees. Her ID was put in an odd position since Gyeoul kept moving around and didn't bother to fix it, now the card was on her back, making the lanyard around her neck look like a choker.

"Instructor Ahn! Will you please help me with—"

Both Gyeoul and the staff member froze as they saw what appeared before them.

It was Kim Taehyung wearing the guard's costume.

The staff member snorted, looking between the two before turning to Caleb, "Instructor Lee, will you please help me instead?"

Caleb openly laughed as he and the staff member passed by Taehyung. The idol nodded back at him, his chin high as he took pride in what he was wearing.

Gyeoul pursed her lips, her eyes shamelessly admiring how her childhood friend looked incredibly alluring in his current get-up. She expected him to look as ridiculous as she was wearing a costume. How stupid of her. Not only did red compliment his skin and features well, but he also carried a certain swag that made the costume suit him better altogether.

How unfair.

"I know I look good, darling, but there's no time to ogle," Taehyung teased, stepping closer to her.

She snorted and side-stepped him, reaching for a water bottle by the side, "You do. You look really handsome, but I think wearing the mask would be the cherry on top."

Taehyung placed a hand over his heart, "It's a good thing that I know when you lie." He slung an arm around her shoulder and walked with her to the front where the others were waiting. "Remember when we fought about costumes when we were kids? There was this one time I wanted to dress as Anpanman and Baikinman."

Humming, she looped her arm around his waist, "And I wanted to dress as Cruella de Vil."

"And you wanted me to dress up as a dalmatian! No wonder I hated you for more than a week."

She laughed, "You'd look cute in black and white. You used to love polka dots, remember? I think a dalmatian look will still look good on you today."

He smiled upon hearing her laugh, "I won in the long run, anyway. Who's wearing the guard's costume now?"

Rolling her eyes, she tickled his side for a short moment, making him jump slightly. "I'm just glad no one else gets to see me in this."

Taehyung smiled with a mischievous glint in his eyes, worrying Gyeoul. She narrowed her eyes at him, pouting in thought. His smile grew even wider upon seeing the growing suspicion on her face. His gentle eyes turned to crescents as he watched her, reaching for her cheek with her other hand and pinching it.

"I feel like kissing you right now," he admitted lowly.

She swatted his hand away from her cheek, "I feel the same, but—"

Suddenly, a body came wiggling between them facing Taehyung, and gave them no choice but to pull away.

"As much as I find the two of you cute, we need to get on stage in thirty seconds," Jimin smiled.

Gyeoul patted Jimin's back before walking off, standing beside Sungdeuk and crossing her arms to oversee their exit. Taehyung stood with the others and was handed his green microphone. He adjusted his in-ears, turning back to Gyeoul and sending her a smile. She returned the smile, unaware of how much it boosted Taehyung's confidence at that moment.

An idea suddenly popped into his head. He outstretched his arm and made a finger gun. Gyeoul already knew where this was going and raised her hands as if she was surrendering. Taehyung laughed and 'shot' her. Letting out a small 'ah!' and pressing on her stomach as if she was hit, she took a few small steps back.

Yoongi saw the whole interaction and shook his head fondly, "Kids these days."

The last part of the concert went on smoothly. Everything was in order so Gyeoul took over the performance director responsibilities and her seniors were able to relax.

She shifted on her feet as she watched the monitor with eased eyes, subzero no more. Thanks to Taehyung's random choice of wearing a Squid Game costume, the whole atmosphere of the concert became even more humorous than usual. He kept dancing krump and tried fancy footwork. Those moments would be included in those 'try not to laugh' videos of BTS that he liked to watch so much.

"Donut?"

Turning to her side, she saw Hyeonsu holding out a chocolate donut covered in rainbow sprinkles. He was eating his own as he stared at the screen.

Gyeoul accepted the donut, looking at it warily, "It's not poisoned, is it?"

Hyeonsu furrowed his eyebrows and turned to her, "It worries me how serious you're asking that question. Have we not gone through anything together?"

"But you're mean."

"Then I guess you should be worried that I poisoned that thing after all."

Chuckling, she bit into the donut and walked away from the monitors and towards the dancers since their cue was nearing.

"You're coming out as soon as Jimin sings his verse, alright?" Gyeoul yelled over to the dancers. She bit into her donut again and adjusted her headset.

Sienna approached her and asked if she could take a bite. Gyeoul nodded and held it to the younger dancer's mouth, keeping her hand below it in case some would fall off. Another dancer came and asked for one as well. Then another and another and another.

Until there wasn't anything left for her.

Sighing, she dusted her hands off and placed them on her hips, closing her eyes and stretching her neck. She pursed her lips and watched as the dancers jump up and down as they did earlier, preparing to give their all in the short moments of the ending stage.

"Are you going to post your outfit? It's a shame that we're the only ones that would get to see it," Sienna suddenly spoke, an odd tone to her voice that Gyeoul didn't quite catch.

With a glance at her ridiculous ensemble, she breathed out a laugh. "I'd actually prefer it if nobody saw me in this," she snorted, shaking her head.

It was the truth that she'd rather wear anything else than a silly costume. But the way her boyfriend suggested wearing them with so much excitement in his eyes? How could she turn him down? So there she was, walking around backstage, enduring the teasing and jokes from the staff and the dancers.

"Four... three... two..." she trailed off, listening to the group's voices with undivided focus. Too focused that she didn't notice that two members were creeping behind her with cheeky smiles. "Go! That's your cue!"

Before she knew it, two pairs of hands took hold of her arms.

Gyeoul struggled against their grips, a perplexed expression etched on her face. "What are you two doing?" Josh and Julian only grinned at her and kept dragging her with them to the stage. "Let me go, guys, I'm not kidding. Do you have any idea how the media will react if they see me out there?" She struggled again but their grips only tightened and their amusement only increased. "When did you get so strong? When I left, you were only kids!"

Dario, another dancer, laughed as he pushed her from behind, "Sorry, Gia. Some beautiful guy dressed in a Money Heist uniform told us to bring you out here. We're only following orders."

"Money Heist? You uncultured idiot, it's from Squid Game!" Sienna laughed, smacking Dario's arm.

It was too late to turn back.

She was at the very front, a bunch of giant purple balloons in every direction thrown by the dancers. All of the BTS members faced the back with open arms to welcome the dancers, their laughs uncontrollably echoing from their microphones as they saw Gyeoul. Screams from nearby sections that had a perfect view of the dancers screamed as they saw her.

Suddenly, someone from behind her hastily removed her mask, lanyard, and headset. The screams only grew louder.

A plan formed in her head.

Stick to the middle and hide. If you get to the very back, even better, you can leave immediately, she thought.

But her plan was deemed an utter failure when Taehyung noticed her, bringing also the audience's attention to her. He gave her a big wave as he kept singing on the mic.

Gyeoul inwardly groaned as she rolled her sleeves and pants back down and wore her jacket. She jumped around with the dancers while Josh and Julian followed her around to make sure that she wouldn't run off.

"GYEOUL!"

A piercing scream that rivaled the one from earlier reached her ears, making her eyes widen. She turned around and waved in the direction it originated from, her eyebrows knitted in concern for that person's vocal cords. After that, she kept jumping around and clapping to the song, pretending she wasn't wearing a matching set that stood out very much.

People started to point behind her, but Gyeoul was too busy trying her best to vibe with the song all the while trying to keep a low profile at the back to notice it.

"Teach, behind you!" Jungkook warned excitedly through his mic, earning a kick to the butt from Jin for being a tattletale.

Gyeoul turned around and saw Taehyung running up to her while holding a big purple balloon over his head.

Her eyes widened and her childish instinct drove her to run away. They ran around for a quick second while giggling like children in a playground before he chucked the balloon in her direction, only for it to slip through his fingers and hit his head instead

The dancer burst into laughter, shaking her head and jogging back to the other dancers to stick with her plan to blend in. Taehyung laughed back at her, chasing after her.

"Having fun?" he asked as he passed her, taking out his earpiece to hear what she has to say.

She smiled, "Yes, but probably not more than you."

His boxy smile grew wider, "This is you as a dancer for BTS. Let go of your worries and enjoy it with me, Player 067. Even if it's just for a few minutes." He raised his hand for a high five and Gyeoul fist-bumped it instead.

With one last humored look in his direction, she once again joined the dancers as they skipped up front. The BTS members greeted her with high fives and uncontrollable laughs, forgetting to sing the song. They pushed Jin, who previously styled his hair as Younghee, to act like the doll again.

Gyeoul, who knew the performers inside out, was inwardly stressing because they were about to miss their cue to dance. She didn't want any more reason for the company to scold her.

"Go back to your positions!" she laughed, shooing them away.

Their eyes simultaneously widened upon realizing that they were about to miss their cue to continue the song. Gyeoul turned to Sienna and the younger one pointed to the spot beside her.

While the experience was extremely nerve-wracking, it was a core memory for her. Now she understood why the other dancers loved performing on the stage with BTS. The ARMY Bombs looked like bright stars and the cheers that came along with them droned out every thought in your mind and all you can think of was this moment. You're alive and you're having fun doing what you love.

That's all that mattered.

And Taehyung's was right there in front of her and she couldn't be more grateful. Of all the lights in the stadium, he seemed to shine the brightest.

All the cheers around them were proof and made it clearer to her that their fans loved them so much. What a relief that BTS had ARMY cheering them on.

Feeling eyes burning at the back of his head, Taehyung looked over his shoulder as he danced, his heart swelling with warmth as he saw the exhilarated smile on his lover's face. Her starry eyes stared back at him with so much happiness that it made him let out an overjoyed laugh.

'Cause, we don't need permission to dance.

"Make some noise!"

"One more time, let's go, ARMY!"

The music started again and the dancers dispersed.

Jungkook was the first to reach out to hug Gyeoul. Though a bit surprised, she returned the hug. Next was Namjoon and Hoseok who approached her with open arms, making Gyeoul laugh as she hugged them back. She couldn't hug them all, but she bowed at them and at the audience instead.

Taehyung grinned, skipping over to her as she turned her back to join the other dancers. He tapped her shoulder and took a few steps back. She turned around and saw him forming finger guns with his hands again.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she shook her head with a smile on her face. Nonetheless, she raised her hands again and did that thing Taehyung did in Dynamite. He laughed, hunching over.

He composed himself and pointed his fingers at Gyeoul, shooting her.

Gyeoul pressed her shoulder and scrunched her face as if she was in pain. Though, it only lasted for a second since she needed to get off the stage and he needed to say goodbye to his fans.

She laughed, waving at him goodbye before running off with the other dancers. Gyeoul, although she only danced for one song, bowed gratefully at the ones who attended. Her smile was contagious, everywhere she turned and waved, people would scream surprisingly louder. Unsure if it were angry screams or thrilled ones, Gyeoul simply smiled at them and jogged backstage.

"Oh my fucking god," she breathed out, going to Caleb to hide herself behind his taller frame. "Every day these guys are just throwing out reasons for the company to fire me. I'm surprised I'm not jobless yet."

Hyeonsu came up beside her and handed her another donut with rainbow sprinkles and a water bottle, "But you obviously had fun, that's all that matters. If our company decides to fire you, then we'll protest and have the groups speak up for your side."

Soon enough, Taehyung emerged from the doors and went straight to Gyeoul. He smiled and trapped her in a hug, pulling her along with him to HMU where they could have their privacy.

"Is this why you asked me if I ever wanted to become one of your dancers a few weeks ago?" she asked, handing him her water bottle.

He scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah, we had everything planned as soon as you told me you were willing to become one."

"And the costumes?"

Leaning closer, he pressed a kiss on her forehead, "Those were just a bonus." Gyeoul playfully rolled her eyes and laughed. "You looked really beautiful on stage."

"So did you," she replied. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she hummed, "You were the brightest star tonight."

He scrunched his nose, "That's awfully cheesy."

"You love it."

"I love you more."

Cupping her cheeks, he leaned closer to satisfy themselves with the kiss they'd been craving ever since the concert started.

"Ahn Gyeoul, our worldwide phenomenon!"

They groaned as Jimin, yet again, interrupted a moment.

Taehyung pulled away, "We'll be out in a second."

Jimin showed the screen of his phone as he walked out to show that she was speedily starting to trend on social media. She grinned, nodding at him to usher him to go out sooner.

"Come on, you guys still have some stuff to do before you go back to the hotel," Gyeoul sighed, interlacing their fingers and pulling him along with her. But Taehyung stayed in his place, making her look at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"

He hummed, "Did you have fun?"

A smile spread across her face once again as she thought back to what just happened in the span of around ten minutes. The feeling she got while she was on stage with them. It was a burst of different shades of purple and she couldn't feel more blissful that she felt like she was painted with those colors as she danced on that stage.

"I did."

Raising her hand to his lips, he kissed her knuckles.

"I'm glad you did."

NOTE

EXCITED FOR JACK IN THE BOX YSGXBYVXHWSB

and

pov: you're the new kid in town and your new bestie is warning you about those three friends that you should always avoid because if you dare to look in their eyes, they'll make your life miserable, but you can't help but stare because you find them all so freaking attractive. then all three fall in love with you cause you're not like other girls

+ they all notice that all of them had feelings for you and decided to compete against each other for your love and attention with expensive gifts and dates hdyhaydgvwfdubw

paris trio = visual overload oh my god, and they're all interacting with a bunch celebs like thomas brodie sangster who looked like he grew younger from the last time i heard from him, diana silvers my favorite playlist maker on spotify, eddie redmayne my other newt love, and so many more

and just yesterday we were screaming about jack in the box, jin's shirtless pic, jungkook and a ton of other idols in svt's concert, namjoon's boyfriend pics, and did i mention jin's shirtless pic???