Taehyung's P.O.V

I laid there, exhausted, and especially frustrated with myself. It had been a sleepless night, and the worst possible night to not get any sleep, because the competition was only a few hours away, and I needed all the rest I could get. But I'd only gotten about three hours of shut eye. My phone buzzed.

"Aish..." I groaned as I rolled over to answer it.

"Where are you? I've been sitting here for ten minutes!" Yoongi complained over the phone.

"Omo! I'm so sorry, hyung! I completely forgot!" I shot out of bed. "Just give me one minute!"

I threw on some clothes that lay on the floor and scrubbed my teeth for about five seconds. I was out the door in two minutes tops. Or so I thought.

"That was four minutes." Yoongi scowled at me as I jumped in.

"Was not!"

"Were you the one sitting in annoyance and timing it? No!" He grumbled. "And we still have to pick up Jimin and Hoseok."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," I said, slouching down into my seat.

As it turned out, I wasn't the only one who'd had a restless night.

"Took you long enough," Jimin snapped as he opened the door.

"Why is everyone so grumpy?" I asked.

"Please, no more talking, I have a headache."

"I barely slept a wink last night, what about you guys?" Hoseok asked, cheery as he buckled up.

We were all nervous for the competition, much more nervous than usual. Probably because of the pressure Namjoon was putting us under to win. He wanted to win so badly. I had a feeling it was for my sake. Or Nabi's.

When we got to his house Jungkook and Jin were sitting on the couch, Jin looking annoyed.

"Is it so hard to just be a little on time for once?" Namjoon asked as he walked in.

"Let's just begin," Jin said, getting up in a huff.

The day was certainly not off to a good start.

••••••

"Nabi. I have something to tell you. Can we meet before the show starts?"

My eyes scanned the unsent message for the tenth time, my finger hovering over the "send" option. It just seemed wrong, but at the same time, I was so anxious to tell her. I gulped. Then sighed, tapping the screen. Deleting the message. Not yet.

"Break time's over, dongsaengs," Jimin told Jungkook and I, who were sitting in Namjoon's kitchen.

"We've been practicing for hours," Hoesok whined as we returned to the room.

"It is lunchtime," Jin agreed.

"And the competition is tonight. But if you wanna waste our precious practice time eating, be my guest." Namjoon crossed his arms.

"Fine, fine, lets run through it again."

We started, but I couldn't stop thinking about my unsent message to her.

Nabi's P.O.V

"For the tenth time, Rachel: No way!" I argued.

"Naaaabi!" She whined. "This outfit is perfect! You look amazing! We have to look amazing together!"

"I told you already, I'm not dressing up."

She stuck out her bottom lip and grabbed my hands.

"This is probably like, the biggest school event of the year, and you--" she took in a breath, as if composing herself,"--want to dress how you do everyday?"

"What's so wrong with that?" I frowned, pulling my hands away.

"No offense, babe, but you dress like a bag lady." She shook her head.

"That's--that's not true!" I insisted.

We were both quiet, staring at each other.

"Fine, I dress almost like a bag lady. But what's so wrong with that, if I'm at least comfortable?"

"Ew. Comfort is definitely not important tonight."

"Why not?"

"Listen, Nabi." She grabbed my hands again. "Tonight is the night you come out of your comfort zone. No comfort! It's like your first time going to the battle of the bands!"

"Yeah, and I'm suddenly feeling like it was a bad idea to agree to going," I told her, but I didn't pull away.

"I know you don't mean that. You are going no matter what."

"I am. But I'm not wearing that no matter what."

••••••••

I tugged at the dress, that Rachel had forced me into, for the twentieth or so time. It was constantly riding up my leg, leaving me more uncomfortable by the second. It's not like it was really short. It wasn't even that tight. I just hated wearing dresses. With a passion.

"We look so cute, you know that?" Rachel looped arms with me.

"You owe me," I reminded her again.

"Yeah, yeah...oh! He's cute! What school do you think he goes to?" Rachel rambled about the different boys walking about, and the different outfits other girls were wearing.

I listened to some of it, comforted by the sound of her voice. In all honesty, I didn't mind being forced into a small dress, as long as I was with Rachel. I'd missed her and my mom. It was so good to have them both back.

My thoughts drifted to V. I wondered where he was and if the band was ready. We were already inside and on our way to the auditorium before I zoned back into Rachel again.

"Nabi! I'm...I'm growing weak at the knees. Y-you might have to catch me if I faint." She stared ahead in awe.

I rolled my eyes at her and turned to see where she was looking. A large group of boys were down the hall a ways in front of us, some laughing, some singing broken bits of a song, others just conversing.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"Um, really? They're from Bugil High. Aigoo. If only it wasn't an all boys school. I would so enroll."

"And abandon me? What about Bangtan?"

Rachel turned to me in surprise.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's have a round of applause for Nabi, who finally said their name correctly!" Rachel literally began clapping in the hallway.

Only us and the group of boys from Bugil were there now, and the sound echoed throughout the hall. Turning their attention to us.

"Of course, I love them. But Exo? It's such a hard decision..." Rachel had finally noticed them watching and trailed off.

I gave them a quick wave and grabbed her arm, dragging her away.

"Now, I think I am actually going to faint!" Rachel whined as we turned a corner. "That was seriously embarrassing!"

"It wasn't that bad. You've done worse," I reminded her.

She stopped, and turned with a determined look on her face.

"You know what? I look really cute tonight. And they've already noticed me. Why let this embarrassing, yet golden opportunity go to waste? I'm going to talk to them," she said, firmly.

"You go girl." I gave her a half-hearted fist in the air, chuckling.

"I'll meet you in the audience, since I know being my wing-woman is never gonna happen for you." She flipped her hair, and strutted back around the corner.

I burst into laughter, I don't know why. It wasn't that funny. My shoulders shook as I tried to cover my mouth to keep from embarrassing her further. I realized it felt really good to laugh. And I actually felt happy. Happy for Rachel, and happy for my own body. Happy because I hadn't laughed in so long. Not a real hardy laugh. I was happy.

"Nabi?" A familiar voice asked.

I turned to see Jimin watching me in confusion.

"S-sorry, I don't know why I'm laughing so hard," I said between giggles.

He probably thought I was insane.

"M-my friend is kind of hysterical," I admitted.

He probably thinks I am too.

I knew explaining it wouldn't really help him understand, so I turned away, my face blushing, but small chuckles still slipping through my lips every few seconds. After a minute, I was able to mostly compose myself.

"Anyway, I should find V, wish him good luck. Where is he?" I asked Jimin.

"Oh, he's around here somewhere. I was actually looking for him right now, we're about to start a quick warm up. Wanna search with me?" He asked.

"No, it'll be quicker if we separate. If I find him, I'll have him text you. See you later, good luck!" I said, hurrying away before he could disagree with my plan.

I was still worried he might like me, and splitting up was more efficient. I walked in silence, wondering how much time we had till the competition started. I passed other people, some of who I didn't recognize, and figured had come from different schools. I still grinned at the thought of Rachel, talking with that large group. Had she called them Exo? I actually found myself shaking with anticipation. This time, though, it was good anticipation. I was excited to see them all perform and wondered who would win. Eventually, I heard a familiar voice.

"If you need it, I can probably give you a pretty good idea of how big the stage is," V was saying to another group of teenage boys.

I hung back, feeling shy suddenly. I decided to wait for him to be finished talking. But he must of noticed me walking towards them, because he glanced over to me.

"Oh, Nabi! I was wondering when I'd see you." He smiled and waved me over.

"Um, hi," I told him.

Thanks V.

"This is one of the groups competing tonight, BAP," he explained.

"Hello." I bowed and prayed they would finish up their conversation quickly.

I wondered if V had forgotten how much I didn't like talking to people I didn't know. I'd never told him specifically, but he should've noticed by now.

"Anyway, V. It's fine, I think we can manage. Thanks again," the one in front told him after they'd greeted me.

They turned and filed back into the room behind them.

"The band is looking for you, V," I told him, after they'd closed the door.

"Yeah, I know," he said as we began walking.

"Text Jimin and tell him you're headed back, okay? I told him you would."

He nodded and pulled out his phone. I wondered what had made him so quiet all the sudden. He stuffed the phone back into his pocket after tapping on the screen for a minute, and we walked in silence. After a while, he began slowing down, then finally, stopped completely. Confused, I stopped as well and turned to look at him.

"Nabi," he said, grimacing for some reason. "Um. I have something to say."

My stomach lurched nervously. I had no idea what V could have wanted to tell me. But I didn't get to find out at that moment.

"Look who it is," Someone said.

V and I turned in surprise to see Got7 standing in front of us. Once again.