Capítulo 8: Chapter Eight- Healing
~Erin POV~
"Erin! Are you finished I need to use the bathroom!" Euna called from outside the bathroom door, I glanced one last time in the mirror, adjusting my black dress and running a hand through my hair before opening the door. She gave me a sad smile before going in. I headed into the kitchen exchanging small nods as greetings with the two girls in there. Everyone wore black and solemn expressions on their faces. Today was the day or Mina's funeral. We were all upset, as to be expected, but we all came to have peace over the matter.
-Flashback-
"Why did this happen?" I mumbled through my tears as Namjoon held me. He pulled away and looked at me. "Hey, don't cry you know Mina hated to see you girls upset even in the slightest. The girl would go crazy if she saw you right now. Smile, for Mina." I sniffled and rubbed my eyes, looking around at the others.
Euna spoke up "He is right, Mina would also be upset if we postpone our debut. She knew how important it was for not only us but herself and she would probably be really mad if she heard we were even considering to postpone. We will debut on the day we originally planned for." We all nodded "Yes and we will finish Mina's song and perform it for her, let's keep working hard and make a group Mina could be proud of!" I said, again nods and soft smiles drifted onto all the faces in the room.
-Flashback End-
We arrived at the church where the ceremony was being held. Bangtan even cleared their schedules for the funeral and were there too. Namjoon sat on my right with the rest of Bangtan sitting on his other side while Alex sat at my left with Aeri and Euna sitting next to her. Mina's parents gave small speeches and played some of Mina's favorite songs and showed a slideshow of her life. I didn't say it but I was really grateful for Namjoon and Alex staying beside me. After that we moved to the cemetery to lower the casket into the grave. Then it was my turn to give a speech before her casket was lowered.
I took a deep breath before stepping forward. I let it out slowly before beginning to talk. "Mina was more than a friend or just another trainee, she was a sister, like family. If you were upset or had a problem of any kind, Mina was there to lend an ear and let you vent whenever you needed it. I think I'm speaking for all of the members of LIT M when I say, she was a light in the dark. Her smile could light up a room and chase away any tears or anguish." My voice choked a little and I took another deep breath, Namjoon looked like he wanted to comfort me, but he stayed where he stood.
"It's taking all my strength to keep from crying, but I'm keeping it together because I know Mina wouldn't want us to cry. She wouldn't want us to grieve for the her life she didn't get to live, no she would want us to celebrate the life and memories she did have. So let's all smile and remember what an amazing life she led. I know I will forever cherish the times we spent together. Thank you." I said, my voice breaking before I hurried back to stand next to Namjoon and Alex.
As soon as I got to his side Namjoon pulled me into a hug as I buried my face in his shirt. I didn't want to cry, I wanted to smile for Mina but I couldn't hold it back anymore as the tears spilled over and I cried silently into Namjoon's chest his arms gently cradling me. I bit my lip, fighting to gain control over my emotions once again. After taking a deep breath, the scent of Namjoon's cologne also helping take my mind off of what was happening, I calmed down.
I reluctantly pulled away from Namjoon's embrace, grateful I had decided against wearing makeup this morning. He gave me a soft smile before wiping away a few extra tears I had missed. The familiar butterflies raged in my stomach and I turned my attention to the casket as it was being lowered into the grave.
We all grabbed purple irises, Mina's favorite flower, and threw them onto the casket. Namjoon gently held my hand, moving closer to me so it wouldn't be as noticeable. I laid my head on Alex's shoulder, seeing tears started to fill her eyes I also wrapped my free arm around her shoulder. We all talked to Mina's parents before exchanging hugs and heading back to the dorm, Bangtan walking us to our car because theirs was right next to it.
Jungkook hugged Alex and they stood like that for a while as Alex laid her head on his chest. Namjoon gave my hand a squeeze as he laid a gentle kiss on my forehead. I smiled weakly to him before giving him a quick hug and getting into the car. I sat behind the passengers seat and stared out the window.
Alex got in shortly after, her eyes still watering, taking the seat next to me, with Euna taking the seat next to Alex, behind the driver. Aeri sat up front in the passengers seat and didn't say a word, probably thinking over everything that had happened. I had thoughts of my own, our debut was in two weeks, were we ready? Would we break down into tears on stage? But even as I started to think negatively, an image of Mina smiling came to mind and I knew we would all do well because Mina was rooting for us, maybe even singing with the angels. Before I knew it, I had drifted off into my dreams of past memories with Mina and the rest of LIT M.
It was now the day of our debut, all of us were a bucket of nerves and were hoping for the best. We had gained some popularity due to our teasers and promotions, and were hoping our debut would go well. All of us used our free time to finish Mina's song, naming it Laughter. We had a lot of work, having to split Mina's lines and fix some of the choreo, but we all kept smiling hoping to be a group not just our families could be proud of, but Mina too. Bangtan had been very supportive, doing things like bringing us all lunch when we were working on choreo or singing and rapping, or just coming and giving us tips with our dances.
I had been talking to my parents everyday, and even sometimes my brothers and sister. It really made me home sick but I told them I was doing well so they wouldn't worry. But I think all the hard work we had put in was finally going to pay off and we were going to live our dreams. We released our music video for our debut song Live and were off to have our first stage, and it made us feel better that BTS were there too and we were opening for them. We were all hoping the fans liked us.
We arrived and were ushered into a dressing room to change into the clothes we were to wear for our performance. We had picked black skinny jeans, each of us wearing different kinds of shoes, and our shirts were button up blouses that varied by member. Euna picked a purple button up blouse, Aeri picked a red button up blouse, Alex picked a white sleeveless blouse, while I picked a blue blouse. We all wore black baseball caps too. Euna wore her hair in a braid over her shoulder and my hair was down in loose curls, my accessories consisted of a white belt and black ankle boots with heels. Aeri wore a pair of work boots, Euna wore knee high black boots with heels, and Alex went with black ankle boots without heels.
We were about to go on, anxiety coursing through me. Bangtan were slowly coming out of their dressing room, coming to give us some words of encouragement. "Don't worry, you guys worked really hard you will do fine." Yoongi said as he was adjusting his earpiece, Jimin nodding from beside him. "Yoongi hyung is right, you all are very pretty too so everyone will love you!" Hoseok gave Jimin a look before shaking his head. "Do you ever stop flirting?" He mumbled and it gained a laugh from us.
The dressing room door opened and Taehyung came walking out. I will admit, they all looked good wearing all black suits for their comeback stage. Taehyung saw me and smiled before hugging me tightly. "You look even prettier than normal!" He proclaimed happily, earning another eye roll from Hoseok. "You guys need to stop flirting, even though they all do look very pretty." Jimin and Taehyung looked at him with a smirk. "Hyung is a hypocrite!" Jimin said with Taehyung echoing it. Hoseok shrugged and laughed happily while Yoongi just shook his head. Jin, Namjoon and Jungkook finally exited the dressing room.
As soon as I saw Namjoon, my breath hitched in my throat. I saw Alex watching Jungkook, trying not to make it look obvious that she was checking him out. But I had no room to judge as I was doing the same to Namjoon. Our eyes met and he smiled, those damn dimples giving me butterflies again.
~Namjoon POV~
I stepped out of the dressing room, my gaze searched for Erin, finally landing on her. I couldn't help but let my eyes scan up and down her body. She looked absolutely gorgeous and she didn't even need to try, she didn't need to wear short skirts and high heels like other girls, she looked perfect without any effort. She wore a little makeup but it merely enhanced her features a little.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jungkook checking out Alex, a small blush coating his cheeks before he swallowed and smiled at her. I had the urge to hug Erin, that's when I noticed Taehyung was already doing that. I felt a frown pulling at my lips, but I kept it from my face so Erin wouldn't worry. I want her to be as calm as possible for when they have to go on stage.
I got in front of her and pulled her out of Tae's hug to wrap her in one of my own. She melted into my arms and snuggled into my chest her arms wrapping around my torso. I leaned down and whispered in her ear. "You look beautiful, don't be nervous you girls will amaze everyone." I hesitated wanting to say what else was on my mind, finally letting the words slip out of my mouth hoping she wouldn't be upset that I said them. "I will be here watching, I love you Erin." She gasped slightly but didn't pull away, I don't know if it was just my imagination but the tip of her ears were a shade darker. I reluctantly released her from my hold and she smiled at me before they were told to get into position.
The girls hurried off, Erin taking the lead. I didn't miss our maknae watching Alex as they left. We watched as the girls got into position to start, determined looks on each of their faces. I smiled, they will be amazing idols.
~Third Person POV~
The girls all held hands and whispered a quick cheer before getting into position. The music started and then the lights switched on as Euna began her part. She sang beautifully and she felt as if she was just in the practice room, not in front of an audience who were all watching her. The girls were doing their choreo perfectly in step with the beat and after Euna finished her part, it was Erin's turn to rap. She stepped forward as the girls continued the choreo steps behind her. She felt a rush of excitement, along with a chill as if Mina was on stage with her right now.
Of course Erin wasn't the only one to feel the chill, the other three did too, also having the same thought of Mina and a renewed energy as they wanted to perform perfectly. Erin finished her rap, fist bumping with Alex as they had practiced so many times, before Alex began to sing the chorus. Aeri smiled as she saw how the crowd was actually getting into the song, lots of them were cheering too. Aeri now stepped forward, rapping her part with as much energy as she could muster. All she though of was how happy Mina would have been on this stage. After her rap was over Erin sang with Euna and Alex as backup vocals. They finished the song with huge smiles, they actually had a lot of fun like they had always imagined.
The crowd was cheering and the girls all decided to introduce themselves before they perform their last song, Mina's song. Erin being the leader went first. "Hey everyone! My name is Erin and I'm the leader!" Next Aeri began "What's up everyone? I'm Aeri and I'm the oldest!" Alex smiled happily and waved to the fans. "Hey guys I'm Alex the maknae!" Euna smiled "Hi I'm Euna, the visual!" And all together they all yelled "We are LIT M!" The crowd cheered and Erin spoke up. "We have one more song before BTS come out. This is a song for a loved one that passed named Mina. She will live in our hearts forever!" The girls all got into position and the piano began.
Alex sang the first part, putting her emotions into each lyric. Aeri began to rap, raw emotion sounding in her voice as she did so. They kept dancing to the slower song, glad to have a small break from the song before. Erin began singing her part, closing her eyes as she just wanted to hear the song and think of Mina. Euna began her part and then Alex and Erin began singing together, harmonizing perfectly. Euna finished the song with a high note before the crowd erupted into cheers and thunderous clapping. The girls thanked everyone before running off stage.
Bangtan were already getting into formation when the girls got off stage, but they made sure to congratulate them before heading onto stage themselves. The girls all came together into a group hug, tears of happiness running down all their cheeks, even Aeri who hated crying. She knew Mina was watching them, and maybe even crying with them. They had finally reached their dreams and did it together. All the girls exchanged laughs before more hugs and cheers were filling their dressing room. Sometimes bad things happen, but it's those who can get through it and live on that will continue living happily.
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