The Prince of K-Pop || Bang Chan FF

Chapter Seven

          It was surprising to Naty how early she had woken up. That was until she realized that she was on a different coast and so her waking up "early" was actually her waking up three hours later than normal. She looked over to her phone to immediately go over the messages of the group chat. She added her status as alive and well.

          Naty wished she could tell them what happened the night before with Tara and Ashley. The thought of them made her gut twist with anxiety. She decided before bed that she would stay the duration of the trip without making any fuss. With effort, Naty decided to move her mindset into a position of gratefulness. She was in a different state, in a beautiful hotel, and going to see an incredible concert. All of which free! She had to appreciate it.

          A bitter sting reminded her of the twisting disappointment that coursed through her veins. The fantasy of a trip with Bang Chan was dead. Her mind went through the information that had been unloaded onto her the evening before. The first that tugged on her mind was that Chan had missed his flight for her. Equal parts of butterflies and anxiety swam through her at just that fact. Naty had no idea that he was missing his flight to talk to her but it did make her feel special that he thought their conversation decent enough to do so—though it was being used against her currently.

          The other information was that airport photo scandal. She thought it had been so low-level it wouldn't get his team's attention. The photo itself only had twenty thousand likes! Naty wondered if Chan had been able to see it or what he thought of it. She did think it was a lovely picture and it was still her phone wallpaper—though it was being used against her currently.

          The last bit of information that stood out to her was the fact that they were attempting to "smuggle" her in. She didn't gas herself up too much. There were others on the list of contraband with her. What did make her so curious was that she seemed to be the only individual they made their stand for. Ashley and Tara kept referring to "the Kids," meaning the whole eight members of Stray Kids seemed to want her to be present.

          Naty wondered what that could mean. She didn't delight herself enough to imagine that she was special in any way. The only thing she could imagine was that they—obviously—knew that Chan wanted her there and so had his back. He had probably invited many other people but Naty was the only one that had agreed to come. It was that fact alone that made them take their stand. They wanted Chan to have a friend there to watch their performance. That was the only thing that made sense to her.

          Ugh, but Chan was so adorable!

          Her mind replayed seeing him at the airport and the car ride to the hotel. He was cuter than she recalled. Perhaps it was simply that seeing him on a phone screen did not live up to the full thing. She had avoided watching too much of Chan's room since meeting him in person for that very reason. He was just so cute!

          Though Naty had no hope of alone time with him, she knew she could still enjoy her trip and seeing him perform on stage. There was always hope for time to hangout the next time there was a hiatus. Until then, Naty had to enjoy her time in California...which meant getting on better terms with Tara and Ashley. They were just doing their jobs and she couldn't fault them for that. She decided she would make it her mission to be on their good side for the remained of her trip.

          Knock, knock.

          Naty got up from the bed immediately. The only person it could be was Tara or Ashley or hotel staff with her clothes. She rushed to the door to avoid keeping them waiting. With a big smile she opened the door, "Good mor—"