❛  FOURTEEN ❜
───── WHEN LOVE TAKES CENTER STAGE

THE BACKSTAGE has always been the noisiest and busiest place ever especially when its a music show or an award show. It was time for GDA and LAVELLE were one of the artist who'd be performing and were nominated for several categories. As for the members, they have been preparing properly for the performance and they don't really care about the awards as long as their fans are happy and satisfied with their performance.

The members arrived at the arena around 7am in the morning since the soundcheck will be taking place by 9am in the morning and some fans who have the pass with special VIP tickets would be present.

Jaerim slept properly yesterday but due to the exhaustion from the past weeks due to practice and some diets ─── she was feeling a little tired and wanted to sleep more. She dressed herself up in a olive green pants and a white oversized shitt which would be comfortable for her for the practice later.

The sound crew were attaching the microphone and speaker on their clothes as they give a small soundcheck while some other artists were performing on the stage. JINSEO was the first person fixing her mic so she quickly sat at the chair kept around in order for idols to take rest.

"Lyn-eonnie, did you bring your green tea drink?"

LYN handed over the small bottle which contained green tea and handed it over to the youngest who quickly took some sip of it before passing it on to Jaerim then next to YUE.

LYN sighed at her members and came to sit next to them "It seems like I prepared the tea for you all"

"We love you"

The members talked among themselves regarding their formation in order to not forget where they had to stand or when they were supposed to put the ad-lib.

Soon, the backstage received few more artist and one of them were SEVENTEEN. HANA who noticed the leader of Seventeen making his way towards the music crew let out a fake cough and nudge YUE.

"Is our brother-in-law here?" Yue purposely emphasized the word "brother-in-law" which caught the attention of Jaerim whose eyes was focused on the phone. Her gaze shifted towards the guys who were coming in together and her gaze landed on him, who was coming with his arms around Seungkwan.

LYN suddenly stood up and approached Jaerim whose eyes was still on Mingyu "Come, I'll go and catch up with Seungkwan"

The other girls laughed at Jaerim whose face was flushing red from embarrassment. The members had to act as the matchmaker because they know for sure that their little sweetheart will never be able to approach him and talk to him alone.

LYN saw that Jaerim wasn't moving so she had to grab her by the arm and dragged her along as LYN put on a big smile, making her way towards her little bestie; Diva Boo.

"Kwannie!!"

"Noona!!"

The besties gave each other a small hug and Seungkwan immediately greeted the other girl beside LYN with a smirk "Hello there, Jaerim-noona"

"Hello"

"Are you not going to look at me?"

Jaerim threw a glare towards Mingyu who had a smug smile while the two besties laughed out loud. One was confident while the other was shy and didn't know how to react.

"Stop being narcissistic hyung! You'll scare Jaerim-noona"

Mingyu slightly stood closer to Jaerim "Am I scaring you away? Jaerim-ah?"

The way he addressed her name was almost like a whisper which sent goosebumps all over her body. Jaerim suddenly wishes that she was a wall or either to be struck by lightning right now, she just can't stand being teased especially when it's Mingyu.

"Hooligan!"

Jaerim slightly pushed the man away who just smirked while the two besties were in their own world.

"By the ─── "

"Mingyu-sunbaenim"

Mingyu was cut off when he heard his name being called and his head turned towards two girls who came towards him with a small smile.

"Hello"

Jaerim recognised them. They are a member of a girl-group "AXIS" who made their debut two years ago. It was Bora and Chaerin, the two vocalist of the group. Jaerim promoted with the team for few comebacks and liked their song, so she was aware of it.

The two girls greeted the rest but their main focus was on Mingyu .

"It's really awkward right now but we took a lot of courage to say it but, Mingyu-sunbae..... Can I get your number?"

Jaerim's stomach dropped, Seungkwan and LYN's gaze fell on Jaerim who was avoiding eye contact with anyone. LYN grasped Jaerim's hand and gave a light squeeze while Seungkwan was feeling a little uncomfortable and glanced at Mingyu whose eyes were still on Jaerim.

"Hyung?" Seungkwan couldn't help but call out his name with some hidden meaning behind his tone. It was like a warning for the older guy to remember the presence of the girl and also to not accidentally expose himself but if he rejected them, the two idols would be embarrassed after all, they came up and asked for his number personally.

"I don't think it is appropriate to share my number. My girlfriend will get mad at me"

Seungkwan and LYN gasped while Jaerim's eyes immediately fell on Mingyu who was already looking at her. The two female idols knew that he might not give them and prepared themselves for it but they didn't expect Mingyu to really reject them and also expose himself.

"We're sorry. We didn't know that you had a girlfriend, please excuse us"

"All the best for your performance"

The two idols immediately left feeling defeated but they knew it was coming because a man like Mingyu couldn't be single when half of the Korean female population wanted his number and be with him.

Seungkwan couldn't process what just happened and nudge the taller guy "What just happened and when did you have a girlfriend?? Wait? Then why are you with Jaerim-noona?"

The tall guy couldn't believe what the younger one said and just roll his eyes "Do you think I would give out my number randomly? Most importantly, in the presence of my lady? Even if she wasn't here, I wouldn't give"

The atmosphere turned lighter and Jaerim could only blush but she wanted to smack off the smug look from Mingyu's face. He had a cocky look but which girl could not feel butterflies after being called as "my lady" and being referred to as their "girlfriend"

"I... I am not your girlfriend.." Jaerim stumbled with her words

"If not a girlfriend then... my future - girlfriend?"

"Kim Min ──── "

"LAVELLE members are requested to be at the backstage for practice stage within 10 minutes"

Jaerim internally thanked the staffs for calling up. She immediately made the excuse of being called for rehearsal "We will go ahead then... see you all later"

Seungkwan and LYN gave each other their significant friendship handshake. As Jaerim was about to turn, a soft lips pressed on her forehead quickly

"Do well, I'll be cheering for you"

Mingyu smiled and left with Seungkwan. LYN who saw what just happened couldn't control herself but squeal and pull Jaerim with her who was still processing.

"Too much PDA. I feel like I'm eating dog-food"

Jaerim looked around to see if anyone saw it but seeing that there weren't many people around and it was a little dark so she sighed out in relief but the sudden forehead kiss was giving her butterflies through out her whole body.

"I know you're getting butterflies but we need to go for rehearsal"

Seo Jaerim, focus !!

The moment Jaerim was on stage, she calmed herself down and became professional and performed well like how she was supposed to. While dancing, she could see Mingyu from the corner of her eyes holding a phone and capturing video of her looking like a proud boyfriend seeing his girl performing on stage.

Meanwhile, the Seventeen members were all looking at LAVELLE's stage rehearsal and the main reason was because of Jaerim. As they see Mingyu clicking videos and complimenting Jaerim, they could only tease him and act like they were disgusted with him but deep down, they were genuinely happy for him.