sixty-three

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
yuxi stared out the car window, nervously wringing her hands in her lap as she waited. catching the girl's nervous habit, jiae reached over and took yuxi's hand in hers, grabbing the younger's attention. jiae flashed a smile before winking, causing yuxi to let out a short laugh. 
"this feels silly... am i being silly?" yuxi rambled as she turned her head back to the window. "i'm literally in a group chat with all of nct dream, yet the thought of meeting one of the members for real makes me want to throw up and pass out."
jiae couldn't help but laugh at the younger's confession. "love the honesty, but please don't actually throw up and pass out."
"no promises."
a few more minutes passed before hyeyeong appeared outside of the car window with her boyfriend's fingers intertwined with hers. she smiled as she knocked on the glass to get their attention, and daniel opened and held yuxi's door for her. 
"thank you, sir daniel," she said in a playfully low voice as she curtsied. jiae rolled her eyes and hopped out from the drivers side, making her way to her friends before they entered dive studio. 
haechan had texted her that morning wishing her luck, and jiae was surprised he was awake that early. he said he wanted to come, but he was so busy preparing for "golden age" that he hardly had time to spare to eat. jiae worried about him so much she could barely sleep, but she promised yuxi she'd be there for her today. 
wrapping an arm around yuxi's, jiae let hyeyeong lead the way until they ran into some dive staff members.
"oh, hello!" a woman with short hair and a round face greeted, her smile contagious. the group of four returned the hello and hyeyeong took charge as the "leader", explaining who they were and why they were there. 
the dive staff member perked up immediately and stepped to the side as she gestured for the group to go to the room she'd just exited. "the hosts are in there! we have about an hour before shooting."
"we probably won't take that long, but thank you," hyeyeong smiled back as she and daniel made their way to the closed staff door. jiae and yuxi were busy silently admiring how nice the front area of the studio was. they even had live plants instead of the plastic ones jiae's hotel preferred. 
hyeyeong was about to knock on the door when yuxi suddenly said, "wait."
turning to face her, the group of three furrowed their brows. surprisingly, it was daniel who was the first to ask what was wrong. yuxi exhaled, but it was shaky. in fact, her arm in jiae's was shaking as well. 
"i'm really nervous," the youngest confessed. "like, stomach in knots nervous. i shouldn't have brought nail polish, what was i thinking?"
jiae smiled sweetly and gave yuxi's arm a little squeeze. "i know you're nervous, but this guy wants to meet you! he personally asked, and i'm sure he's just as nervous as you are. remember, you're famous in his eyes, too."