I took a shaky breath as I fixed up my appearance in the mirror. My bowtie is almost always perpetually crooked, making me want to roll my eyes.

"Fuck, this is not what I want to be dealing with right now," I mumbled.

I continued to straighten out my appearance when the door to the men's bathroom opened, revealing a male, around my age, clad in a dress shirt and nice jeans. He gave a slight nod before walking to a urinal.

"Come on, you stupid piece of shit," I groaned, wanting to bang my head against the wall.

The man finished his business, washing his hands and drying them with the electronic hand dryer.

He gave a small nod towards the bowtie. "Need some help?"

"God, yes, please! I've spent ten minutes trying to get this damn thing to straighten out."

He chuckled and walked closer, his hands working on my bowtie. Within a few seconds, he patted my chest softly and turned me towards the mirror.

It was the perfect bowtie. I would hug this stranger if it wouldn't mess up my newly-straightened out bowtie.

"Wow, thank you! I owe you one!"

The man just shrugged. "Don't worry about it." He checked the time on his watch and sighed. "I have somewhere to be. Good luck."

••

Moments later, I stood outside the door with a large sign labelling "auditions." My violin was in my hand, freshly tuned, but my fingers ached to re-tune, needing it to be perfect.

The door opened and a man gave me a smile. "Kim Taehyung?"

I nodded, extending a hand to the male.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Song Jeonhyun, the current concert master. They wanted me to sit in on the audition process before I officially retire."

"It's wonderful meeting you, sir. I have been a fan of your playing for many years."

"Flattery gets you many places in this business," Mr. Song chuckled. "Let me introduce you, and then we will begin."

He held the door open for me so I could entire the small stage.

Mr. Song extended his hands. "This is our recital hall. We hold many solo and small group performances on this stage." He then led me down some steps to where a table sat in the middle of the audience. Three silhouettes sat at the table.

I wiped the sweat off the palm of my free hand as we walked near.

"Kim Taehyung," Mr. Song introduced. "This is our owner of the facility. We call him Mr. Bang." I shook the man's hand with a small smile.

When the next person cleared their throat, I froze.

Mr. Song motioned to him. "Mr. Kim, please meet the conductor, Jeon Jungkook."

"N-N-Nice to meet y-you, M-Mr. Jeon."

"Dr. Jeon, actually." He said, making me nod.

After I was introduced to one of the owners of the facility, I was instructed to go on the stage and play my selected piece for them.

As I tightened the bow hairs once again, I released a long breath slowly.

This is just another performance.

Come on, TaeTae. You got this.

•••••

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Kim," Mr. Song said as he began to stand up from the table.

"I can walk him out," Dr. Jeon offered, making me gulp.

After exiting the stage, Dr. Jeon faced me with a smirk.

"Who knew the man whose tie I fixed earlier was the Kim Taehyung. I always assumed you were... hideous because you hid your face."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave a slight shrug. "I just wanted people to follow me for my playing abilities, not because of my appearance."

The conductor nodded, guiding me down the hallway to where my violin case and other personal items were stored securely in a room.

"Well, it was certainly a surprise to me. Now, I'm not supposed to say anything really, but you had an incredible audition."

A smile crept onto my lips as we entered the room and I set my violin down. "Thank you, sir."

Dr. Jeon hissed slightly. "Don't bother with the formalities. I, uh, typically reserve those for... special moments."

My eyes grew wide as I nodded. "I apologize, sir, um, Dr. Jeon."

The conductor chuckled and gave a slight shake of his head. "Well, I should get back for our next audition, but I predict we will be seeing a lot more of each other soon. Best of luck, Mr. Kim."

The man walked out before I could bow in thanks.

Once the door was closed, I gave out a squeal and a leap before gathering the rest of my belongings and leaving the performing arts center.

•••••