Page 50 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

The other girls were comparing their phone cameras, debating which setting would capture the best footage.

I tried to focus on breathing steadily through my nose. In for four, hold for four, out for four.

“You sure this is okay?” Lily squeezed my arm, her face creased with concern.

“Yeah, all good,” I lied, forcing a smile. “It’s great how close we got!”

The lights dimmed suddenly, and the crowd’s roar became something primal. My ears rang with the collective scream of twenty thousand people losing their minds simultaneously.

The stage exploded into light and movement. Eight figures in coordinated outfits appeared as if from nowhere, and suddenly the music was everywhere—pounding bass, vocals that soared impossibly high, and choreography so precise it looked like a single organism moving in perfect synchronisation.

I found myself genuinely impressed. The production value was insane. Pyrotechnics painted the arena in gold and silver, and the members moved across the stage with an athletic grace that made my own clumsy training sessions with Kit look absolutely pathetic.

Lily was singing along in Korean. She knew every word, every gesture. Her joy was infectious enough that I finally felt my shoulders relax for the first time all evening.

Three songs in, the music paused for what appeared to be a talking segment. The members spread across the front of the stage, scanning the crowd with practiced smiles. One of them—Jeonghan—was speaking into his headset mic, though I couldn’t understand a word.

“They’re choosing people!” Mia shrieked. “They never do this! Oh my God, Lily! They’re choosing people to come up!”

Lily’s grip on my arm tightened. Her eyes were fixed on the stage with laser focus, willing herself to be noticed. Several members were pointing into different sections of the crowd, and security guards appeared at the sides of the stage, ready to escort chosen fans up.

One of the members, Dino—shorter hair, stupidly highlighted cheekbones—was scanning our section methodically. His gaze moved from face to face in the front rows, clearly searching for someone.

His eyes locked onto mine.

Everything stopped.

The noise. The movement. My heartbeat.

Dino smiled and pointed directly at me. Not near me. Not at the random stranger next to me. At me. His finger was aimed at my chest like a weapon, and suddenly every camera swivelled towards me.

The crowd around us exploded into chaos. People were screaming, pushing, trying to get closer to the chosen one. Security was already moving in our direction, cutting through the crowd like sharks.

My blood turned to ice. My legs felt like they might give out completely. This couldn’t be happening. Of all the thousands of people here, all the fans who would kill for this opportunity, they’d picked the one person who wanted nothing more than to disappear into the floor.

“No, no, no,” I breathed, but my voice was lost in the noise.

A security guard reached us, gesturing for me to follow him towards the stage steps. Dino was still pointing, still smiling encouragingly. The cameras were still rolling. Thousands of people were watching me have what should have been the moment of a lifetime, and all I wanted was to run.

“Take me instead!”

Lily’s voice cut through everything. She’d stepped forward, directly into the security guard’s path, her arm raised high in the air.

“I’m his sister!” she shouted. “Take me as tribute!”

Dino looked between us. Lily’s enthusiasm was undeniable—she was literally jumping up and down, lightstick in hand. Next to her, I probably looked like I was about to be sick.

Which I was.

Dino laughed and nodded, redirecting his point towards Lily. The crowd roared their approval, and suddenly the security guard was reaching for her instead.

“Go, Lily, go!” I shouted as she was swept away towards the stage steps.

She turned back once, her face split by the biggest smile I’d ever seen, and blew me a kiss before disappearing into the controlled chaos of the stage area.

God, the relief was overwhelming. I could have cried. Instead, I erupted into uncontrollable nervous laughter.

I was never going to live this down. Never. Mia and Jess would have filmed the whole thing on their phones—my deer-in-headlights expression, Lily’s heroic intervention, probably even my hysterical laughter afterwards. Lily would gleefully play the footage once a week for the rest of my life, cackling every time she got to the bit where I looked like I’d rather spontaneously combust.