A World Without Them: Part 5

"Taehyung! What are you doing?" Manager Eun scolded, tapping on Taehyung's shoulder.

Taehyung sat on a leather sofa, one leg crossed over the other whilst playing with his phone. Upon Manager Eun's voice interrupting his mindless scrolling, he looked up calmly with cold eyes.

"The show starts at 7PM. It's only 5PM right now," Taehyung replied coolly.

"You still need to eat, dress and apply make-up. The staff are currently testing the lights and sound equipment again."

"En."

Manager Eun bit her lip at the lack of response from Taehyung. She looked through the schedule once more, her brows furrowing in worry. What if there was something wrong with the equipment?

She snuck a glance at Taehyung.

What happened to him? He loved to perform at concerts. Only yesterday, had he told her that he couldn't wait to perform at Citi Field today. They held a rehearsal and sound check yesterday, and he sung with deep enthusiasm and a bright light within his eyes. Now, that light had faded, leaving Taehyung to seem almost hollow. Was it stress? Nerves? Tickets for the Citi Field had been completely sold out; 42000 seats gone in a little over an hour. Twitter had completely blown up, shooting the hashtag #citifieldxbts to the top trending within a few days.

There were even articles discussing fans who had been camping for a week outside Citi Field. And it wasn't just a few either, no, it was in the thousands.

There was definitely reason to be nervous.

Taehyung sighed.

As the day had went on, his body felt the energy within slowly drain out. He wanted Namjoon here with him to lead everyone onto the stage. He wanted to sink into Jimin's arms, to allow himself to recharge.

He didn't want to do this alone. He didn't want to perform on a stage that was all too big; all too reminding of the loneliness in his soul. He didn't want to hear himself sing the songs that everyone poured their heart and soul into; only for him to monopolise everything.

His body refused to listen to him, to dance to the songs that should've been a group dance.

He didn't want to hear the cheers that were for him. No, those cheers should be for all of them. They should've performed this, together, on this special night.

Taehyung remembered their rehearsal night.

"Watch me do a flip," Jimin said excitedly.

The rest of the members watched in amusement as Jimin ran across the stage and did a perfect flip. A round of applause echoed throughout the empty stadium.

Jungkook whistled in appreciation.

Taehyung felt his body thrum with electric excitement, the sparks racing through his veins; taking control of his emotions. Playing with his heartstrings like a vivacious melody; a messy dance that had no sense of rhythm but a hidden glamour.

He looked up towards the sky, the bright lighting of the stage blinding his eyes at first. In the distance, he could just make out the faintest glimmer of the stars, twinkling. Taehyung turned around, and saw the same glimmer in the stars hidden within each of their eyes.

His heart was full.

Taehyung stood up suddenly, the momentary perfect dream collapsing. He took a deep breath and cleared his head.

"Let's go," he said.

Manager Eun jumped at the sound of Taehyung's voice, and her eyes widened. She stood still for a moment, before leaping into a state of frenzy once more.

"Right, yes. We have to go. Yes, we have to leave now," she stuttered.

Taehyung nodded and walked out the door first.

Manager Eun hurried beside him, her heart fluttering.

During the car ride, Taehyung absentmindedly scrolled through his Twitter, checking all the tweets by his fans.

[I can't believe I'm seeing BTS tonight!!! I'm gonna die from Tae's beautiful face]

[Tae tae is the only solo korean artist to have sold out Citi Field]

All the tweets were about him. There was a small tingle of warmth in his heart, knowing that no matter what world, fans still behaved the same. The only problem was that this fanfare that didn't belong to him in the first place, was placed on his head like an unforgiving crown.

Why was it that it was only him left?

He wasn't particularly special like all the other members. Yes, he was pretty, he could sing, and he could dance, but everyone in the industry was like him.

Why was it, that fate decided that only he should stay?

Was it a kind of punishment?

The sudden slam of the car door interrupted Taehyung's thoughts, making him jump with a slight shiver.

"Taehyung, we're here," Manager Eun said, tapping on the glass of his car window.

As soon as Taehyung got out of the car, he was immediately ushered away into the backstage, where the various staff were rushing around. A few glanced at him curiously, and a few accusatory for his lateness.

Even though the concert started at 7PM, Taehyung should've been here by at least 4PM to get ready.

A staff member came up to him and roughly shoved an outfit into his hands, pointing towards a changing room in the corner before leaving.

The outfit for tonight was pretty simple, a mix of a few bright colors, and a bomber jacket with navy patterns.

Taehyung shrugged and went off to change, before coming back and walking over to the makeup area.

One staff directed him to a chair, where the make up artist was. She was a tall women with brown hair that had obviously been dyed to look golden, her brown roots barely peeking out from the top of her head.

She cooed over Taehyung's perfect skin, her thick accent showing through.

"Not much I can do. Just light powder is enough," she explained, dabbing more powder onto Taehyung's nose.

Taehyung smiled at her. Even their make up artist was different here.

With a final touch of lip gloss, she patted Taehyung's shoulder and said, "That is enough. Go. No more time."

Taehyung nodded in understanding and rushed off, making sure he thanked her properly before he left.