I watched people being called to the door. No one seemed alarmed. It was… perfunctory.
As my breathing settled into a steady, if still somewhat fast rhythm, I ran over my notes and questions.
I’d used similar ones with other artists. There was nothing here that the group wouldn’t have heard before, and while unoriginal, there was some safety in the expected, because we’d both know what their audience wanted to hear from them.
Time passed, and I settled into a sort of calm.
I had convinced myself of this so well, that when my number was called, I looked towards the door with mild surprise, imaging my outward appearance to be almost nonchalant, and I congratulated myself.
I approached the door on autopilot, pasting a smile onto numb lips.
“Frequency?” The older woman asked politely. I nodded, and she held out her hand for my credentials.
“Follow me, please.” She spun on her heel without waiting for a reply, and obediently I did. We walked down a short corridor and approached a nondescript door behind which I could hear the low murmur of voices.
My skin instantly chilled and my palms grew clammy again. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to throw up, or…
I’d never know the ‘or’ option, as the woman knocked on the door and pushed it open. I paused in the corridor, frozen. Fight or flight, without the option of either.
“Frequencymagazine,” I heard her say, “Kaiya Thompson reporting.”
Silence.
There was a blanket of quiet beyond the door, and in the corridor, it pressed down on me like snow.
The woman looked back at me and frowned, a slight break in her composure. She moved further into the room, holding her arm out to indicate I should enter.
Move.
MOVE.
I forced my feet to take the steps needed, looking down at the ground so I didn’t trip. And to put off the moment I feared the most.
The room was warm. Stage lights had been placed beside the plush armchair clearly intended for me, and behind the large sofa I couldn’t look at.
In the quick glances I’d allowed myself, I could see a camera rig set up midway, so the operator could switch between my location and the group. I’d already signed the waiver that’d informed me this interview would be filmed.
Youngsoo was standing behind the camera, arms folded, mouth agape as he realised who I was.
I moved towards the armchair on autopilot, standing straight, shoulders back. Eyes still on the ground.
I sat.
I took a breath. her
And looked up.
“Hi. I’m Kaiya Thompson. I’ll be interviewing you forFrequencymagazine.”
Chapter 44
My smile was frozen in an approximation of a real one as I took in the familiar faces of the members of GVibes.
They seemed as paused as I was.
The men I’d spent Christmas with, once upon a time.
My smile trembled.
