Chapter Twenty Six 

It was finally the day of the concert and Dino was honestly nervous. He and his members were doing last minute practices to perfect every move that needs to be perfected. They trained their facial expressions to look cool in front of their fans. 

Woozi checked their songs once again before giving an approving nod at his works. He grabbed the pen drive and gave it to the staff who will bring it to the arena they will perform at. Woozi kept a copy just in case. 

Seungcheol looked at his members before giving them an approving nod. "Let's get into the van right now. We have to check the place out and do our practices there."

"Nae, hyung!" all the others said in return before they all proceeded to the van.

Dino sat next to the window at the back. He stared out of the window, staring at the scenery. The large van drove past E-Cube Mall and Dino was suddenly reminded of their first hangout there. Dino held back the sudden stinging tears and let his head concentrate on better things. 

But he couldn't get Hyejin out of his mind. The fact that they were flying out of the country because of their world tour saddens Dino even more. He wouldn't even be staying in Seoul for a week after their concert here. 

They arrived at the arena short after and got out of the car, grabbing their needed items and heading inside. The staffs guided them to where they had to be. They left their bags at the waiting/changing room and headed to where the stage was. 

It's empty, Dino thought as he stood on the stage and overlooked the entire place. It was huge but empty. 

The other members had walked away to scan other areas to see what they were working with but Dino stood at the same position he stood, which was on the stage. His eyes glanced at the entire arena with the empty seats. It seemed intimidating to Dino, but he knew that his fans were one of the greatest people in his lives. 

But there he stood, wondering whether or not Hyejin would come to the concert. He wouldn't be in Seoul for long, so he wanted to see her one last time before he couldn't. Despite being rejected, he still liked her. He knew he will never have a chance in her heart as a simple guy. He was her in her heart, but it remained only as her idol. Nothing more. He got that. 

"Yah, Lee Dino," a voice said, throwing their arm over his neck and surprising the poor maknae at their sudden appearance. 

Dino looked up and noticed that it was Mingyu. "Huh? What? Is something wrong, hyung?"

"I should be the one asking you that question. You're dazing off again. Your body is here but your soul isn't. Is something wrong these days, Lee Dino?" asked Mingyu. 

"I was just wondering how many Carats will show up," Dino lied, overlooking the empty seats yet again.

"Hmm... if you say so. Come on, we have to follow Coups hyung. He has things to say to us. Him and his leader duties, you know?" Mingyu gave Dino that smile. The one that always killed a Carat's heart. 

Dino smiled at Mingyu before following him to where the other members were standing in a circle. 

Seungcheol looked around and made eye contact with each member and began, "I know it has been hard so far but at least we're having fun. This will be our last concert in Seoul before we have our world tour. Please make this concert something memorable for our Korean Carats, okay?"

"Nae!" they shouted, in sync and as a group. 

Seungcheol smiled a fatherly smile before he pulled everyone into a group hug. "SEVENTEEN, fighting!"

"SEVENTEEN, fighting!" the others echoed loudly. 

+ + + 

After the few hours of practice and testing out cool effects and stage entrances, they were finally ready. Fifteen minutes until the start of the concert. Dino was still wondering whether or not Hyejin was here. He hoped that she was, but part of him also knew that she might feel a sense of awkwardness after having to reject him. 

But that was almost weeks ago, she could have already forgotten about it, right? 

Dino threw a question, but it was a soundless reply. There were no answers so he was left to assume. Without knowing which could have been right, he gave up trying. He just continued to hope that Hyejin was somewhere among the crowd and will silently watch him in awe, like she always have before she became well-known. 

"Standby!" a staff shouted as other staffs busily rushed around to make sure everything was well prepared. 

SEVENTEEN was already dressed in their cool outfits. The stylist noonas made sure to add finishing touches so that they would shine tonight. When Dino looked at himself in the mirror, he felt like he was seeing a whole different person. The makeup he had on tonight made him look fierce and hot. Melting the Carats' hearts would be an easy thing tonight. 

"SEVENTEEN, you're needed on stage now!" a staff shouted as the other staffs ushered them to the direction of the stage. Outside, the lights slowly turned off and SEVENTEEN had to be extra careful on where they had to step. There was no room for injuries. 

Dino was in position and his eyes stared down at the floor of the stage, waiting for the lights to turn back on and for the music to start playing so that there would be a cue for them to start their performances. 

The lights were back on. It was bright but Dino didn't let anything distract him, even if the light was really bright. The music started and that was when they slowly moved to the beat and finally displayed the performance they have been perfecting all this while. 

The screams coming from the Carats energized Dino even more. He shot them a hot stare. Unlike performing during Music Bank, M! Countdown or Inkigayo, he didn't have to look at the camera. It was between him and the fans. 

While performing, he tried to look around to see if Hyejin was anywhere. He made sure not to look obvious that he was searching for just one person in the crowd, but it was dark on their side. The only source of light coming from them was their official light stick. 

Because of that, Dino was unable to find her. He would have to wait until after the performance. Until they could interact with the Carats by playing games or singing to songs. In the meantime, he'll continue to show Carats how cool the maknae could be. 

+ + + 

It was finally time for interactions with fans. SEVENTEEN sat on the stage with their legs brought up to their chest and waved at everyone. 

"Wow, so many people showed up today!" Seungkwan said through the microphone, scanning around the arena. "Thank you guys for showing up today! Did you guys enjoy so far?"

"Nae!" everyone answered back loudly. 

Dino smiled as his eyes scanned back to the crowd, his eyes searching once again. He just wanted to find one girl out of the crowd. What if the reason why he couldn't find her was because she wasn't even here in the first place?

Dino tried not to discourage himself. He liked to believe that she was here, somewhere in the crowd, probably even hiding because she didn't want to get recognized. He hoped it was that exactly. 

"It's time to have fun everyone!" Jeonghan said, standing up as he and Joshua ran behind stage to grab something. 

They carried a table back and on that table were packets of Peppero. 

Wait, don't tell me... 

Wonwoo, who was next to Dino, slightly screamed with his cute little nose scrunch he has. 

"Yes, Carats, you would want to see this right?" Seungkwan asked, slightly scared just as well. 

Oh, great! It's the Peppero kiss game... Oh no. 

Dino watched in horror as Seungkwan pulled players to join the game. First up with Jun and The8. Both looked scared, but the fans were cheering loudly—probably even close to tears. Who knew?

The game went on and Dino was standing face to face with Hoshi, a Peppero stick in between them. Both members looked nervous but the game finally began and Dino was being cautious. 

When the Peppero stick became smaller and Dino was nearing the mouth of Hoshi's, he couldn't take it anymore. He stepped back, flustered and laughing all at the same time. There were crumbs on his lips too. 

The fans were screaming and saying, "Awww." 

Seungkwan laughed and turned around to face the fans. "We're sorry, Carats! We'll have to take a quick break before we continue. Don't worry! After this will be a special performance by vocal unit!" 

The fans cheered and the SEVENTEEN members quickly moved down the stage. While the other members were taking their time, vocal unit was ushered and rushed to get changed. 

Dino was walking down the wide hallway casually until he saw someone familiar. He even had to check whether or not he was seeing things but came to a conclusion that it was really her. 

Since they were in public, Dino quickly shouted, "Ji!"

Just like the way he had told her to call her before. 

The girl turned around and met his eyes. She was wearing a mask and Dino slowly came to a conclusion that she was always seen wearing a mask around. She approached him. One step at a time. It only made Dino's heart race even faster. 

"Lee Chan," she called in return, probably smiling behind that mask of hers. 

Dino wanted to say more words to her, but he couldn't think of anything else. The only thoughts that circled his head was, You came. You actually came. 

~Author's Notes~ 

As promised, Kimichies! <3 Also, two more chapters, I'm having mixed emotions!