2026 BTS Family Photo
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2026 BTS Family Photo
GRACE TOUR DIARY: April 23rd, London & Manchester
APRIL 23RD – LONDON TO MANCHESTER
There was a tangible excitement in the air now that the tour was moving on to its final stop in the UK. This was the last stop in the UK, and there were only three more concerts in Europe before Grace went back to Asia. And Manchester had been marked as one of the biggest stops for one simple reason: Grace was going home.
She hadn’t been back to Manchester since the Love Yourself World Tour, when she’d taken a single day to travel up, be driven around the city as much as possible, and then return straight to London for rehearsals.
This time wasn’t much different in terms of schedule. While her tour didn’t allow for much time in the city, she would have a day and a half before a full day of rehearsals and press, followed by the concert itself. The hype had been building ever since Grace landed in London, if not before, and for some ARMY, getting tickets for Manchester had felt like a pilgrimage because of what it meant to them and to Grace.
For Grace, it wasn’t an early start, but she had been wide awake since 6 a.m. Maybe it was excitement, maybe nerves, maybe just the urge to get going. Whatever it was, it gave her time to soak in a hot bath, ease the tightness in her muscles after a demanding concert, and slowly pack away the things she hadn’t sorted the night before.
For Seokjin, it was a different story. He peeled his eyes open at 7:30 a.m, groaned, rolled over, and muttered into the pillows, “I’m awake.”
By 9 a.m., they had eaten breakfast, packed their things, tidied the hotel room, and taken a quiet moment to bid a fond farewell to the O2 Arena from their window. At exactly 9:15, Sejin knocked on the door.
“You ready?” he asked, stepping inside with two bodyguards who immediately moved to collect their bags.
“Ready to go home,” Grace replied with a grin, pulling out her passport and driver’s licence and handing them over. Sejin returned the smile, slipping the documents into his pocket before following the others out.
When Grace had started planning the tour and Manchester had come up as a location, she had been adamant about one thing: she would drive herself from London. Some had called it a security risk; others, an insurance nightmare. But Grace had already proven, on the drive to New York, that she could handle long distances.
More than that, it simply felt right. The roads might have changed, the layout might be different, and the city itself might be evolving year by year, but it was still her city.
Downstairs, the hire cars were waiting. Large enough to seat four comfortably with space for luggage and a second vehicle for bodyguards and additional team members. The stage had left the O2 the night before and was already en route to Manchester, while the dancers would follow later in coaches provided by Big Hit.
The rolling circus was on the move.
The morning air outside the hotel was cool and sharp, the kind that still clung to the last edge of spring before the day had properly woken up. London was already moving around them in its usual rhythm: black cabs gliding past, buses hissing at stops, people with coffees in hand and nowhere to be except exactly where they were going.
“Okay, let’s load up,” Sejin called as he climbed into the back of the car with Hana, while Seokjin took the passenger seat and Grace slid into the driver’s seat.
“Do you remember how to drive?” Seokjin asked, pulling on his seatbelt as he watched the first raindrops land on the windscreen.
“It’s automatic; I’ll be fine,” Grace laughed, pulling her seat closer to the pedals and adjusting everything until it was exactly where she wanted it. “Alright, here we go.”
Getting out of London at that time of morning was a nightmare in itself, with stop-start traffic, roadworks, and the general busyness of the city. It wasn’t until they reached the outskirts that the traffic began to ease and the motorway finally opened up ahead of them, the navigation occasionally piping up with directions.
Seokjin, in his never-ending quest to document everything, filmed Grace driving, took selfies with Sejin and Hana in the back, and sent them all to the BTS group chat.
“How long will it take to get to Manchester?” he asked, glancing over at the navigation.
“All being well, about four to five hours, depending on traffic,” Grace answered, not even needing to look at the estimated time on the screen. “And a pit stop at the services, because at some point we’re all going to need the loo.”
“And coffee,” Hana added from the back, typing something on her laptop.
“And coffee,” Grace agreed. “Service station tea is rubbish.”
They were roughly halfway through their journey when they agreed to stop at the services in Corley. It wasn’t like service stations in America or anything like those in Korea, so Seokjin was practically bouncing with curiosity about what he was going to find.
“Expensive stuff,” Grace answered, slipping her hood up as she frowned at the sky.
Seokjin didn’t care. He got to use the bathroom, which was massive with rows upon rows of cubicles and more sinks than he could count. And when it came to food, there were so many options: KFC, Starbucks, Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, Krispy Kreme doughnuts (which Grace side-eyed in disgust), and a Chopstix noodle bar, which Seokjin made a beeline for.
The team split up, with one bodyguard accompanying Grace and Seokjin as they grabbed what they needed. Grace reappeared with a bag bearing the WHSmith logo.
“What have you got in there?” Seokjin asked.
“Books and snacks,” Grace replied with a shrug as they headed towards Burger King, having already picked up their coffee from Starbucks.
No one batted an eyelid as they moved around, though a couple of people looked over, more because there was a large group of Korean people in a UK service station than because anyone recognised them. Everyone was busy going about their day, using the place as a pit stop to refuel both themselves and their cars before continuing their journeys, and that was precisely what Grace had expected.
What she hadn’t expected was a tweet seven hours later from an ARMY who had been in the very same service station, also on their way to Manchester, and had spotted Seokjin first, then Grace, and then the rest of the team. No one approached, no one said anything, no one made a fuss as the group left the services and went back to the car.
What Grace did notice was that an hour later, when they hit traffic on the way from Birmingham and got stuck on the motorway, the car was just sitting idly there while Seokjin went through his playlist. A muffled noise from the car next to them had Grace glancing over, and she immediately laughed, reaching over to hit Seokjin’s arm.
“Ya!” he started and then looked where she was pointing.
They had come to sit next to a car that had their BT21 characters along the bottom of the passenger window, and there was another BT21 character hanging from the rear-view mirror. The occupiers of the car looked horrified but delighted at the same time, trying not to look while looking and without making it look more obvious.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Sejin said from behind Grace.
“Me? Never,” she grinned, but rolled the window down anyway and motioned for the passenger to roll down theirs. It took a couple of seconds of nervous fumbling, but the window rolled down.
Two ladies, around the same age as Grace, didn’t immediately get their phones out to start filming, which was one of the reasons why Grace approached first. If anything, they look horrified to be seen blasting BTS music in the car with the actual stars of the track sitting next to them.
“Do you want us to sign anything while we wait?” Grace called over.
A second round of fumbling with mutters of swearing and ‘oh my god' when finally a notebook had been produced with a BTS pen. Grace unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned out the window, grabbing the items before sitting back in the car. “Are you heading to Manchester?” she then asked, uncapping the pen.
“Yeah, to see you,” the driver laughed. “We didn’t need to spend all that money if we knew we were going to bump into you on the motorway.”
Grace laughed and quickly translated for Seokjin, who grinned and signed the page first and then handed the notebook back over to Grace. She was quick in what she wrote but left a meaningful message all the same. ‘See you later in Manchester; sorry it cost so much money. Hope it’s worth it. Thank you for the support and love. Have a drink on me.’
The two women looked as though they might actually pass out when Grace handed the notebook back. “Can we,” the passenger started, then covered her mouth. “Can we maybe get a really quick selfie?”
Sejin let out a long, suffering sigh from the back seat, but Grace was already laughing.
“One quick one,” she said, glancing at him over her shoulder. “Traffic’s not moving anyway.”
The driver was so flustered she nearly dropped her phone trying to unlock it. Seokjin, fully embracing the chaos now, leaned across Grace without a shred of shame and angled himself perfectly into view.
“Make sure you get my good side,” he said, as though there were such a thing as a bad one.
That, somehow, made both women laugh hard enough to settle their nerves. Grace leaned slightly out of the open window, Seokjin ducking in beside her, and the passenger twisted around with the phone held out in trembling hands. The resulting photo was hurried and a little crooked, Grace half-laughing, Seokjin doing an uninvited peace sign, and both women looking like they’d just won the lottery.
“It’s perfect,” the driver said instantly, staring at the screen as if she might cry.
“Good,” Grace said warmly. “Now keep it for yourselves until after the concert, yeah?”
Both nodded so fast it was almost violent. “We will, we promise,” the passenger said. “Thank you, seriously. Thank you so much.”
“Drive safe,” Grace replied.
The traffic began to stir at last, the line of cars inching forward with the slow reluctance of motorway congestion. Grace gave them one last smile and rolled the window back up, settling into her seat just as the car ahead moved.
The second the glass closed, Seokjin burst into delighted laughter.
“Did you see their faces?” he said, turning half around to look at Sejin and Hana. “They looked like they were about to leave their bodies.”
“You are both unbelievable,” Sejin muttered, though there was no real annoyance in it. “One day, I’m going to ban you from interacting with anyone through a car window.”
“But not today,” Grace said brightly, easing her foot back onto the accelerator as the traffic finally loosened.
“But not today,” Hana echoed, smiling down at her laptop before closing it for good. “That was actually adorable.”
After the traffic jam, the drive to Manchester was smooth. Lorries thundered past; the sky gave way to drizzle, and the further north they went, the more the signs changed. Manchester appeared on signs directing them north alongside Leeds and Liverpool, and the further north they went, the more the miles to Manchester started to count down. Grace watched each number with a strange sense of excitement and nerves. She had left the country when she was seven years old, returned as a member of one of the world's biggest groups, and was now returning as a solo artist with her own sold-out world tour.
In typical Manchester fashion, it wasn’t straightforward getting to the hotel, as it was nearly in the middle of the city centre and only a 10-minute drive to the arena, but getting to it from the motorway with roadwork signs in place and diversions nearly at every turn meant a slightly longer journey than anyone would like.
Grace parked the car outside of the Stock Exchange Hotel and breathed for a moment. She was finally home in the city that birthed her, where her parents had moved to before she was born and where she had left at seven to go to Germany and then onto South Korea, and now she was back. And just as everyone started moving, the heavens opened to a downpour.
“About right,” Grace laughed as she pulled her hood up and ran inside.
Checking in didn’t take too long, as they had been given an early check-in, as they had booked out the hotel for Grace, Seokjin, and the rest of the core team (with the dancers and crew spread across two other hotels across town), and within a few minutes, they were inside their room (which had formerly been the boardroom of the Manchester Stock Exchange).
Now Grace understood exactly why Sejin had booked this room for her.
It wasn’t just because it was beautiful, though it certainly was. It was because, tucked near the mini kitchen, there was a long table that looked as if it had been designed specifically for meetings. Proper meetings. The kind with laptops open, papers spread everywhere, water bottles lined up, staff leaning over schedules, and Sejin standing at the head of it like he was about to brief a government department.
And sure enough, not even five minutes after they had arrived, he had already claimed it.
Grace had barely managed to peel off her damp hoodie and hang it over the back of a chair before Sejin started spreading her schedule across the table.
She stared at him. “Not even five minutes.”
Sejin didn’t look up. “This is me being restrained.”
Across the room, Seokjin had already started unpacking their clothes, moving around the bedroom area with the calm efficiency of someone who had accepted that if he didn’t do it now, they would both be living out of a suitcase for the next three days. He shook out a jumper, glanced toward Sejin, and smirked. “He looked uncomfortable without paperwork.”
“I noticed,” Grace said, kicking off her trainers near the door. “Manchester rain has barely dried on me, and I’m being managed.”
“You are always being managed,” Sejin said.
Hana stood beside him, tapping something quickly into her phone, probably confirming their arrival with three different people at once. Grace watched her for a second, then glanced down at the neatly arranged papers on the table: schedules, call times, venue notes, press details and security routes.
Manchester looked a lot less sentimental when printed in bullet points. “So,” Sejin began, tapping the first page with one finger, “you’ve got the rest of today to relax and have dinner.”
Grace narrowed her eyes. “That sounds suspiciously generous.”
“It is generous.”
“Which means there’s a catch.”
“No catch. Just rest.” He shifted to the next page. “Tomorrow, we start at 9 a.m. The day includes an interview with a local radio station, a meeting with the mayor, and then the rest of the day is yours to do whatever you want within reason.”
Grace grinned as she nudged her trainers properly out of the walkway with her foot. “Within reason, he says.”
Seokjin looked up from the suitcase. “Dangerous phrase.”
“Very dangerous,” Grace agreed. “Lots of room for interpretation.”
“There is no room for interpretation,” Sejin said flatly.
“That sounds like your interpretation.”
Hana smiled down at her phone but wisely said nothing.
Sejin ignored both of them and continued as if Grace had not spoken. “The day after tomorrow is a full day of rehearsal for everyone. Dancers, the band, production, wardrobe, sound, lighting, and all departments. We start at 10 a.m. sharp.”
Grace made a small face. “Full day, full day?”
“Yes.” Sejin finally looked up from the schedule. “Any questions?”
Grace raised one hand.
Sejin stared at her immediately. “Relevant questions.”
Grace held his gaze for half a second, then slowly lowered her hand again.
From the bedroom area, Seokjin didn’t even look up as he started opening one of the many toiletry bags they had somehow brought with them. “That was going to be a question about food.”
“Dinner in the restaurant downstairs is booked for 7pm.” Sejin said as he left the papers where they were since they were Grace’s copies. “Unpack, relax, and if you want to go out, message Hana or me and we’ll see what we can do.”
With that, Seokjin and Grace were left to it.
By the time they had unpacked and walked around the suite, figuring out where everything was including having a good look at the mini bar that looked like it should be part of a nightclub rather than a suite, they had a wander around the private entrance which had stairs that led down to reception and Seokjin marvelled at the shower which, according to the card that explained the room amenities, could hold two people.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Grace said as she unpacked her books.
“Me? Never,” Seokjin grinned as he took pictures of the room as part of his Grace world tour album. He fled back into the bedroom area with a laugh, leaving her to mutter under her breath as she continued unpacking her books.
That was another little ritual of hers on tour. Clothes could remain in suitcases for longer than they should. Shoes could be lined up badly by the door. Makeup bags could migrate across bathrooms like invading armies. But books had to be placed somewhere. Even if she only read three pages before falling asleep, even if she carried more than she had time for, having them out made a hotel room feel less temporary.
Seokjin called it nesting.
Grace called it being civilised.
They had arrived at the hotel around half past two, and after unpacking, exploring, making fun of the minibar, inspecting the private entrance, judging the shower, and deciding which side of the bed belonged to whom even though they always ended up tangled in the middle anyway, the afternoon had slipped toward half past four.
Manchester rain still tapped faintly against the windows.
The city outside had settled into that damp late-afternoon glow, all wet stone, traffic lights, and people hurrying beneath coats. The room had warmed around them, no longer just a hotel suite but the beginning of a temporary home.
They had arrived at the hotel around 2:30 pm, and after unpacking and figuring out where everything was, it was getting towards 4:30 pm. ‘Reservation at 6 pm,’ came a text from Sejin, who had obviously forgotten to omit that detail.
“He said seven,” Grace muttered.
By five, they were both in the slow, mildly chaotic process of getting ready. Not glam. Not proper event dressing. Just polished enough to walk into a hotel restaurant without looking like they had spent the last hour arguing with a minibar and photographing bathroom fixtures.
Grace brushed out her hair and left it loose around her shoulders; the blonde falling softly now that it had escaped the pressure of stage styling. She kept her makeup minimal: a little concealer, a little definition around her eyes, and lip balm because the weather and travel had betrayed her skin. She changed into black trousers, the soft knit Seokjin had suggested, and flat shoes because nobody downstairs deserved to see her suffer in heels after a motorway drive.
Seokjin dressed with unfair ease in dark trousers and a clean shirt, then added a jacket that made him look immediately more expensive than everyone else in the room.
Grace caught sight of him in the mirror and scowled.
“What?”
“You look annoying.”
He checked himself. “Handsome?”
“Annoying.”
At exactly 5:50pm, the doorbell to the suite rang, and Sejin stepped in with Hana and one bodyguard just as Grace was grabbing her phone and the room key, which Seokjin took off her and slid into the pocket of his trousers.
Dinner was a quiet affair in the hotel’s Michelin-star restaurant, and while the menu seemed to hold a lot, the prices had Grace’s eyes widening slightly, especially when she saw it was steak and chips, but everyone from their core team found something to eat. Seokjin, being brave, ordered the roast pork loin with pork belly, black pudding, braised red cabbage, broccoli and cider jus.
“Jus?” He questioned. “Be concerned for the black pudding,” Grace responded with a grin.
There was no recognition in the restaurant from other diners who had booked tables; there were no loud gasps or someone trying to take a hidden photo. It was simply an expensive restaurant with gorgeous food that had Seokjin experiencing a moment, where Grace could relax and not feel like she was on public display.
When Grace finally climbed into bed that night after a silly amount of time on skincare, they ended up eating WHSmith snacks, sitting in the bed in comfortable silence while the rain continued outside the window. Seokjin opened one of the bags of crisps from the journey. Grace pulled out a chocolate bar she had bought at Corley and forgotten about. They shared both because that was Bangtan style.
Manchester breathed around them, wet and dark and waiting. Downstairs, the hotel staff moved quietly through old corridors that had once held boardroom conversations and stock exchange decisions. Across the city, ARMY were arriving in hotels and flats, planning outfits, making banners, sending messages, and counting down. Somewhere, the AO Arena was being prepared for her stage. Somewhere, her dancers were settling into their own rooms. Somewhere, her name glowed on posters in the rain.
Tomorrow, she would wake up and be BTS’ Grace, but for now, in a bed in her hometown, she was simply Grace.
Aera and Jung Kook of BTS surprise fans on Day 1 of the Arirang tour
ARMY was given a huge surprise on Day 1 of BTS Arirang Tour when Jung Kook and Aera performed an unreleased song. The two took the stage and belted out harmonious vocals to the new R&B masterpiece titled 'Still Beautiful' which was written and produced by both members with lyrics written by Aera.
Still Beautiful tells the story of two people who fell in love when they were kids but had to part due to certain circumstances. The melancholy expressed in the first half of the song is pulls at your heartstrings, but in the last half it changes from melancholic to upbeat with themes of reminiscing. You might start with tears but end in a smile.
We hope this song stays on the set list and ends up on Spotify soon!
GRACE TOUR DIARY: April 22nd, London
Note: I really really really wanted to get to Manchester. So this is kind of rushed even though it's been in my drafts for ages and I needed to finish it so I could get to Manchester.
APRIL 22ND – LONDON, DAY TWO
Day two in London felt different for a lot of people.
For the fans who had tickets for both night one and night two, there was already a sense of confidence in the air. They knew what to expect now, at least a little. They had a rough idea of the setlist, knew which songs to emotionally prepare for, and, most importantly, knew exactly what merchandise they wanted this time after panic-buying half the stand the day before.
For the fans seeing the show for the very first time, day two came with a small advantage. They’d spent the morning scrolling through posts, group chats, fancams, and fan accounts, learning everything they could from the people who had already survived night one. What time to get to the station, which merchandise stand had the shortest queue, who was giving away free stuff and which songs made everyone cry and, depending on how spoiler-friendly people had been online, maybe even the set list too?
For the staff, dancers, band, and everyone else working behind the scenes, the day was much calmer. It was mostly made up of light rehearsals, a few run-throughs of anything that had felt slightly off the night before, and then as much rest as they could squeeze in before doing it all again. For Grace, though, there was a different kind of energy building inside her.
No matter how hard she tried to stay calm, she couldn’t stop the excitement that kept bubbling up every time she remembered that tomorrow morning, she’d be arriving in Manchester. London was home in one sense. It belonged to her mother. It was where her parents had met, where their story had started, and where so much of her family history lived in the walls and streets and names of places.
But Manchester? Manchester was hers.
It was her city. Her home city. The place that had shaped her, raised her, and stayed stitched into every part of her, no matter how far away she’d gone. And tomorrow, she’d be going back with a bang.
Of course, there was another side to it, too.
The day after the Manchester concert, she’d be flying to Sweden, while Seokjin would be flying back to Seoul to begin his own solo journey again. So while Manchester would be a homecoming, it would also be the beginning of another goodbye, even if only for a little while.
Still, Seokjin was excited. Excited for Manchester. Excited for her. Excited for himself, too, even if he tried to act casual about it. And Grace would never be the person to hold him back from something he loved.
Speaking of Seokjin: He was currently stretched out across the couch like a man who had achieved true inner peace, having demolished two full rounds of a full English breakfast and followed it up with three coffees. If there was anyone in the hotel suite operating at full power that morning, it was him.
Grace, meanwhile, was sitting nearby staring blankly at the TV, feeling like she needed to borrow even a fraction of Jungkook’s natural energy just to function.
“Aish, why did they post that?” Seokjin pouted suddenly, holding his phone up in offence.
Grace lazily turned her head toward him just in time to catch the video on his screen, a fancam from the concert the night before. Someone had very clearly recorded him dancing and singing along to one of her songs in the crowd, making a complete fool of himself while somehow still looking annoyingly handsome doing it.
A grin immediately tugged at her mouth. “You did a better job than I did,” she said.
Seokjin scoffed, but he kept scrolling anyway. Every few seconds, he’d tilt the screen toward her to show her something new: selfies fans had taken outside the venue, mirror photos of carefully planned outfits, handmade signs decorated with glitter and tiny hearts, videos of fans screaming in train stations, and clips of people finally meeting in person after years of only knowing each other online. There were posts from fans documenting every part of the experience, like they were desperate to preserve every second before it slipped away. Videos of flights landing in London that morning, train journeys, coach rides, hotel check-ins, Airbnb room tours, and coffees in hand, bracelets stacked on wrists.
It was all there.
Tiny little pieces of joy were being saved in real time.
"Are you excited to go home?” Seokjin asked after a while, still half-scrolling.
Grace took a second to answer, briefly wondering which home he meant, Seoul or Manchester, before she realised. Her face softened instantly. “Yeah,” she said, smiling properly this time. “I can’t wait to feel that Manchester rain, smell those weird city smells, and go to Greggs.”
Seokjin looked up from his phone. “Greggs?”
Grace’s mouth fell open in horror. “Oh, my God.” She immediately shuffled across the couch and climbed over him until she was practically lying on top of him, stealing his phone out of his hand with the ease of someone who had done this a hundred times before.
“What do you mean, Greggs?” she gasped, already opening the website like she was about to give him the cultural education of a lifetime. “Sausage rolls. Pasties. Steak bakes. Yum yums. There’s this thing called a vanilla slice that could genuinely change your life.”
Seokjin squinted at the screen as she enthusiastically scrolled. “Doesn’t London have that?”
“Yes,” Grace said, with the seriousness of someone discussing fine cuisine. “But it’s different when it’s from Manchester.”
He blinked. “How?”
She looked at him like the answer should’ve been obvious. “It just tastes better.”
An hour was spent looking at Greggs and texting Sejin to see if he could place a delivery order to the hotel in Manchester for tomorrow, when they got there. There was no reply for ten minutes until a message came back with one single emoji: the eye-roll one.
“That’s a yes then,” Grace grinned. After another hour of mindless scrolling, lounging around, and doing very little of actual importance, it was finally time to head to the O2 Arena for light rehearsals, glam, and the slow build-up to night two.
She went straight into glam, where the next few hours became less of a routine and more of a full reset.
The blonde dye she’d had done before the tour began in Seoul needed freshening up, so her hairstylist got to work on her roots almost straight away, parting through her hair with practised precision and brushing colour in section by section. At the same time, someone else settled beside her to start on her nails, laying out a new set of press-ons while Grace did little more than sink into the chair and let herself be fussed over.
For once, all she really had to do was sit still.
So she did, half-listening to the low hum of the room around her: dryers, makeup cases clicking open and shut, crew members passing the door while sorting out last-minute details, dancers drifting in one by one for light rehearsal, their voices rising and falling in the corridor outside.
Seokjin, meanwhile, got the full experience of what actually went on in Grace’s dressing room.
And more importantly, the level of gossip that somehow always seemed to blossom in there the second the door closed. At first, he looked relaxed enough, lounging in the corner with a coffee like he thought he was just there to observe a bit of harmless chatter while Grace got ready.
That lasted about five minutes.
“How did that date go last night?” the hairstylist asked, brushing dye into Grace’s roots while the nail stylist pulled out all her tools and the three makeup artists laid all their expensive bits and bobs on another table.
“Horrific,” the nail artist said flatly.
That got everyone’s attention.
“We ended up at a sushi place,” she continued, already filing one of Grace’s nails as she spoke, “and he asked what I did for work.”
Grace glanced down at her, already sensing where this was going. “I told him I do nails for artists,” she said, gesturing lightly toward Grace. “I even dropped your name, sorry.”
Grace snorted. “You’re fine.”
“He had no clue who you were,” she went on. “No idea what’s happening at the O2. And then", she paused for effect, looking around the room, “he asked if being a nail artist was a real job.”
The reaction was immediate with a chorus of disbelief, sharp inhales, offended noises, and one very loud, “You’re joking.”
It didn’t take long for the rest of the room to start piling in with their own gossip from everything that had happened between Grace’s makeup session the day before and now, and apparently, there was plenty of it.
For Seokjin, it was a rare chance to witness something most of the BTS members never really got to experience firsthand: female gossip. Usually, most of the women they worked with kept things professional with polite conversation, quick exchanges with staff, the occasional gentle instruction, and not much more. But with Grace, people relaxed. They opened up properly around her. And because of that, Seokjin found himself being let into an entire world of gossip, intrigue, female problems, and all the little bits of life that usually stayed behind closed doors.
Within minutes, the whole room had settled into that easy, overlapping rhythm Grace always loved before a show.
One story rolled straight into another. The bad date at the sushi place opened the floodgates, and suddenly everyone had something to contribute of a friend’s disastrous Hinge match, an ex who had the nerve to come back after six months with a “hey stranger", and a man who’d posted a black-and-white gym selfie with a caption about “protecting his peace” after being the actual problem in the relationship.
Grace sat in the middle of it all, letting herself be worked on while the room carried on around her.
Her roots were carefully sectioned and brushed through; the blonde refresh brought life back into the colour she’d had done before the tour started in Seoul. At the same time, the nail stylist worked steadily with her hands. Grace kept glancing down every so often as each nail was pressed into place, the new set glossy and neat, chosen to match the night’s look of dark orange and black.
It was strange how normal it all felt, despite the expensive glamour and time restraints, as the finishing touches of the night were being put in place. Grace was led over to the sink, where the dye was washed carefully from her hair. Warm water ran through the blonde, and even before it was dried, she could see the difference.
The first hand of nails was done. Then the second. Her blonde was blow-dried in sections, the stylist lifting and smoothing and reworking pieces until it began to fall the way Grace liked. The makeup artists came in next, starting with skincare and base, layering product into her skin with that calm, practised focus that always made Grace feel like she was being slowly rebuilt.
Outside the room, the backstage noise was changing too.
More footsteps in the corridor. More voices on comms. The distant thud of a bass check. Dancers starting to gather properly now, warming up, half-running formations in trainers and oversized hoodies. Somewhere out there, wardrobes were steaming costumes, sound was testing levels, and stagehands were marking positions for the night.
The show was no longer something that would happen later.
It was moving toward them minute by minute.
Eventually, Sejin reappeared at the door to remind Grace she needed to head down for light rehearsal.
“You’ve got fifteen,” he said, checking his clipboard. “Hair can finish the styling after.”
Grace nodded and stood carefully, one hand instinctively going to protect the half-finished work on her face even though no one had told her to. Her robe was pulled around her to keep everything safe, and she slipped into trainers for the walk to the stage.
The walk to rehearsal always felt different from the glam room.
Back in the dressing room, everything was warm and close and cluttered with laughter. Out in the corridor, the scale of the night came back. The crew passed by carrying cables and cases. Security stood posted where they needed to be. Dancers were already clustered near the stage entrance, stretching arms and necks, their chatter lower now, more focused.
When Grace stepped out onto the rehearsal stage, the O2 was still empty enough to feel eerie.
Rows and rows of vacant seats rose into shadow. The giant screens were black and waiting. The stage lights were brighter than the house, cutting through the dimness in pale beams. Without the crowd, every sound echoed: boots on the floor, a laugh from one of the dancers, the click of a mic being tested.
It was only a light rehearsal for the sound and cameras, making sure they were happy that nothing had changed too much in the notes from the last night and the dancers got a quick run-through again to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything in the last twenty-four hours.
Grace sat again and the room closed around her at once. This time, the team were well aware of time ticking away as the O2 arena announced they were opening the doors to the crowd in half an hour. Hair was resumed and styled into a ponytail this time; make-up was kept light but heavy so it wouldn’t melt under the lights and the sweat, and the nails were given one last coat of clear polish to shine.
The air around them got thicker with anticipation as the sounds of the crowd started to fill up the place, the excitement of 20,000 people slowly echoing around the arena as hair and nails started to pack up their tools to be transported up to Manchester.
Grace’s first outfit was slipped onto her body, Seokjin holding her steady as she slipped into her heels and the last touches of lip colour were brushed onto her lips. Now she could feel the anticipation and energy, not just of the crowd, but also of the people around her. It was nearly showtime.
Outside the O2, the queue had already started to break apart into excited streams of people being guided inside, and the second ARMY stepped through the doors, the whole place changed.
Lightsticks glowed in hands and poked out of tote bags. Girls stopped every few steps to fix each other’s hair, adjust signs, check tickets, and squeal every time they realised just how close they actually were. The concourse filled quickly with the sound of trainers on the floor, drinks being poured, card machines beeping, and dozens of overlapping conversations all saying the same thing in different ways.
“Oh my God, we’re actually here.”
Some rushed straight for merch, hoping there was still something left in their size. Others made a beeline for drinks and snacks, bottled water, and overpriced arena cups they would absolutely keep afterwards. Groups of young men and women, the elderly and the young, clustered around the seating entrances, double-checking sections and rows, taking photos before they went in, promising each other they’d meet back in the same spot after the show.
And then, one by one, they started finding their seats.
Every time someone stepped out into the arena properly, there was that same moment of pause, that little intake of breath when they saw the stage for real. Phones came out instantly to take photos and videos, posting quickly to various social media. Voice notes to friends. Some people laughed in disbelief; others just stood there staring for a second, overwhelmed by the size of it all.
Down below, the floor was beginning to fill. In the tiers, people were shrugging off coats, placing drinks under seats, trading freebies, and waving at strangers across rows who were just as excited as they were.
Twenty thousand people were settling in as BTS music played around them, staff helping those last stragglers, and under the stage, Grace let out a breath and waited.
It would never get old hearing the noise swell when the VCR started, when the live band joined the backing track, when those familiar opening notes of 7 Rings rang out, and then the deafening roar that followed the moment Grace appeared on stage.
It never got old hearing the song sung back to her or seeing thousands of people forget, just for a little while, about whatever problems or worries they had carried in with them. For two hours, none of it mattered. Not really. Not with the lights this bright and the music this loud.
And as Grace stood there on the thrust stage, she could feel all of it. “London,” she called. “Welcome to night two of the In My Head tour!”
They were louder than the night before, louder, it felt, than any other stop on the tour so far. As she and the dancers bowed in thanks to the crowd after her introduction, the roar that came back at them was almost overwhelming.
Grace laughed, breathless and glowing beneath the lights. “London, we’ve only got one more night in the UK after this,” she called. “So tell me, are you ready to have a good time?”
A deafening wall of screams crashed back at her, so loud that Grace had to laugh and pull the mic away for a second, her shoulders shaking as the dancers around her grinned. “London, I need you louder than that.”
And they never stopped the noise. They never quietened down, even on some of the softer songs. It was as if they were pouring every single noise and energy into tonight because they knew it could be a while before they got to experience this again.
And then came the moment that would feature on everyone’s social media, in the Disney+ documentary tour, on Big Hit’s socials as well. Everyone knew Grace did a BTS song at the concert, somewhere towards the end, but no one knew what it was. Not even Seokjin. Only the band and dancers knew of the songs at each stop.
So when the lights went down, and a single spotlight went towards Grace’s foot, and the opener to Mic Drop started, ARMY didn’t know whether to scream or cry.
The camera pulled back as the lights came up, revealing Grace standing centre stage with seven dancers, male and female, surrounding her in that instantly recognisable Mic Drop formation BTS had made iconic.
Of course, it had to be Mic Drop in London on night two. The biggest song for one of the biggest nights of the tour. And Grace committed to all of it.
She didn’t just cover the lines; she covered every movement, too. Throwing herself fully into the performance with the same sharpness, swagger, and force the song demanded. ARMY never let up for a second. The fanchant started right at the beginning, loud and perfect, just before Grace launched into Hobi’s verse. They kept going through Yoongi’s “mianhae eomma,” and they were somehow even louder by the time the chorus hit. It felt like the whole O2 had become part of the stage itself.
Behind Grace, the giant screens flickered between close-ups of her, shots of the crowd losing their minds, and the lyrics flashing across the backdrop, including a graphic of her Grammy the moment she sang, “my bags filled with trophies.”
“ARMY, are you ready?” she called as Namjoon’s “haters gonna hate” line rolled through the backing track.
The answer was deafening. Then the beat built louder and louder, the tension tightening with every second, until all the dancers suddenly rushed the stage for the defining moment, and the entire arena exploded.
And as suddenly as the concert started, it was suddenly just at the end. Two hours had flown by in a combination of hard choreography, slow songs, Mic Drop and, finally, Dangerous Woman.
“London,” she said, and the tone of her voice changed immediately, still smiling, still warm, but more grounded now, more sincere. “Before we go, I just want to say thank you.”
“Thank you for tonight,” she continued. “Thank you for showing up for me. Thank you for singing so loudly, for dancing, for crying, for screaming, for making this feel so special. Night two in London has been,” She shook her head, searching for the right words, then laughed softly. “Honestly? A little bit unreal.”
That got a swell of cheers.
She turned first toward the band, who were spread out behind her, still riding the high of the last number. “I need you to make some noise for my incredible band!”
The spotlight swung toward them, and the crowd went wild at once. One of the guitarists lifted his instrument in acknowledgement, the drummer standing from behind the kit to wave both sticks in the air while the others bowed or laughed under the attention.
Grace grinned. “They’ve been unbelievable every single night, and they make me sound much cooler than I actually am.” Then she turned, reaching a hand out toward the dancers gathered around her.
“And please, please make some noise for my dancers!”
That might have been one of the loudest cheers of the entire goodbye. The dancers immediately started laughing and bowing, some blowing kisses, some pointing out toward the crowd, others wrapping arms around each other’s shoulders as Grace introduced them one by one in quick bursts, giving each of them their moment while the arena cheered harder every time.
“You already know they carry me through this show every night,” Grace said once the applause had settled just enough. “They are insanely talented, ridiculously hard-working, and somehow still put up with me.”
The dancers crowded into her for a quick, chaotic little group hug that made the arena melt all over again.
When they broke apart, Grace glanced out toward the wings and then up toward the tech areas and control positions around the arena. “I also want to thank my crew,” she said. “The people backstage, side stage, front of house, sound, lights, video, wardrobe, hair and makeup, production, and security, every single person you don’t always get to see who makes this happen every night.”
The crowd erupted again, louder than some people might have expected, because they understood exactly what she meant.
Grace nodded gratefully. “This tour would not exist without them. Not a single part of it.” Then she smiled and added, “And I want to say thank you to all the staff here at the O2 as well, everybody working tonight behind the scenes, helping everyone get in safely, keeping this whole place running, and looking after us.”
That drew another wave of applause, warm and genuine, and somewhere off to the side a few members of staff who had been watching from backstage exchanged startled little smiles at being acknowledged.
Grace stepped a little further down the thrust stage after that, closer to the audience and closer to the barricade, and the crowd surged toward her again with fresh screams. “And finally," she said, though by the way her voice softened, they all knew where this was going. “ARMY.”
“I just," she paused, looking out over them, her expression turning openly emotional now. “I never want to take nights like this for granted. Ever. I know how much it means to be here. I know some of you travelled a long way. I know some of you planned outfits for weeks, made banners, traded freebies, queued for hours, saved up, counted down, and gave me your whole hearts tonight.” By now the arena had gone softer around the edges. Still loud, still emotional, but hanging on every word.
“And I felt every bit of it,” Grace said. “I really did.”
A few people near the front were visibly crying now. In the tiers, lightsticks swayed slowly while phones kept recording, desperate not to lose a second of this part either.
Grace smiled through it, eyes shining. “Thank you for trusting me with your night. Thank you for giving me your energy. Thank you for being so unbelievably loud.” She laughed faintly. “And thank you for making London night two something I will never, ever forget.”
The response that came back at her was huge and messy and full of love. Grace looked out over them all one last time. “We’ve got one more UK night after this,” she called, and that got a fresh scream immediately. “Manchester, I’m coming home tomorrow.”
The O2 answered with cheers, and Grace smiled at the little twist of emotion that line always pulled through her. “But tonight,” she said, “London, you were everything.”
She took a few steps back toward centre stage, where the dancers were already gathering in a line beside her, the band still visible behind them, everyone settling into that final end-of-show picture.
“Alright,” Grace said, lifting the mic one last time. “You know I can’t leave without hearing you properly one more time.” The noise that followed was probably louder than the crowd had been all night, as if hoping that, by screaming loud enough, Grace would never leave.
Then, together, Grace and her dancers moved forward and bowed deeply to the crowd.
The band followed behind them, waving and bowing too. Confetti cannons burst from either side of the stage in one final explosion, sending glittering pieces spinning through the air as the arena screamed itself nearly apart again.
Grace straightened from the bow and waved with both hands now as the crowd struggled to get last-minute photos, last-minute selfies with her in the background. “I love you!” she shouted. “Get home safe, and I’ll see you again soon!”
And then, still smiling so hard it looked like her face might ache from it later, Grace backed slowly toward centre stage, where her team waited. Then, with one last smile meant for all of them, Grace disappeared into the dark as the house lights began to rise and the O2 struggled to accept that the night was finally over.
The second Grace stepped offstage, the roar of the O2 changed.
It didn’t disappear, not properly, but it became muffled by concrete walls and backstage corridors, swallowed into the building as she moved out of the lights and back into the world behind them. Even so, she could still hear it. The cheers. The chanting. The last scraps of voices from people who still weren’t ready to let the night end.
For a few seconds, she just stood there at the side of the stage, chest rising and falling hard, the last of the adrenaline still racing through her body.
Then the backstage world rushed back in.
Crew members clapped as she came through, some calling out how good it had been, others already moving around her with the efficiency of people who knew the show might be over, but the night definitely wasn’t. Her mic pack and in-ears were removed and packed away almost immediately, and Hana appeared a second later to drape a robe around Grace’s shoulders.
There were quick hugs, tired grins, and someone dramatically fanning themselves while claiming they’d nearly died during Mic Drop. Then, gradually, the group started to break apart. The dancers peeled away towards their own dressing rooms while the crew disappeared back into breakdown mode. Racks were already being wheeled past as headsets crackled. Somewhere nearby, someone was asking for tape, someone else was calling for a case, and the machine of tour life was already moving on to the next thing.
Grace let herself be guided back towards her dressing room, one hand still wrapped around a bottle of water someone had pressed into it.
By the time she stepped inside, the room looked completely different from how it had been before the show. The energy had softened, and the rush was gone. Open makeup bags were half-packed, hair tools were being logged away, and garment bags hung ready to be zipped up and sent on. The bright, buzzy anticipation from earlier had been replaced by that strange, tired calm that only came after a really good show.
Then suddenly, there were hands everywhere, helping Grace break the stage persona back down into just Grace. Pins were pulled from her hair one after another, her ponytail loosened, and the blonde fell around her shoulders again, no longer stage-perfect, just soft and slightly wild. The hairspray was brushed through as best it could be for now, and the tightness in her scalp began to ease.
The makeup artists moved in gently after that. Lashes were peeled away, and with every careful swipe of cleanser and warm cloth, stage Grace disappeared piece by piece.
By the time the last of the makeup was gone, Grace looked as though the show had happened to her rather than been built on her. Her blonde hair was messier now, her face clean, her body clearly feeling every second of the night. The costume was unfastened after that and peeled away carefully so nothing would be damaged in packing, and she stepped into soft joggers and an oversized hoodie with obvious relief.
The transformation backwards was always her favourite part. It meant she could stop worrying about the show, have a day of rest, and then throw herself straight back into the chaos of tour life and do it all over again. This part was quieter, save for the occasional murmur of good job, until Sejin appeared outside with Seokjin, waiting for the moment Hana finally let her go with a fresh bottle of water and a banana.
“Ready?” Sejin asked.
“Ready,” Grace sighed, immediately melting into Seokjin’s side.
He grinned and tightened an arm around her shoulders as he guided her towards the waiting car. The ride back to the hotel was quiet apart from the occasional comment from Sejin and Hana in the front, the two of them talking through schedules and tomorrow’s journey. But the moment Grace stepped into the hotel and headed for their room, there were no more roaring crowds, no more flashing lights. Just soft carpeted corridors, tired footsteps, and the strange peacefulness that came after a night had taken everything out of you.
The second the room door shut behind them, the show felt even further away.
Their luggage and loose bits were scattered all over the room, and Grace took one look at the mess and sighed. “Do we have to do this tonight?” she asked, dropping onto the bed.
“Tomorrow us will be mad if we leave it,” Seokjin said, already starting to gather the bits for Grace’s mum and put them into a plastic bag, collecting other things as he moved around the room.
“Tomorrow me is already mad,” Grace grumbled, but she still pushed herself up and started folding the clothes that had never been worn and packing them away. Tomorrow’s outfit was chosen and hung up, and everything that didn’t need to be left out was tucked neatly back into place.
Seokjin kept moving around the room with that steady sort of purpose Grace had always loved in moments like this, when everything felt too loud in her own head, and he somehow made it all simpler just by doing the next thing.
Grace sat on the edge of the bed for a second longer, elbows on her knees, watching him through the heaviness settling into her bones. Her body had that odd, floaty ache that always came after a show: part adrenaline, part exhaustion, part the delayed understanding that she had just spent hours giving every part of herself away under lights hot enough to melt thought.
The rest of the night fell into a routine of brushing teeth and face cream. Grace stood half-asleep at the sink while Seokjin gently pushed her hair back from her face, spreading a bit of cream over her forehead. The hoodie traded for one of his old shirts. The curtains drawn fully shut against the city beyond the glass, phones plugged in and alarms set.
And then, finally, bed.
Grace climbed under the duvet with all the gracelessness of someone truly finished, turning onto her side immediately. Seokjin slipped in beside her a moment later, and she moved towards him without even opening her eyes, fitting herself against his chest, one arm draped loosely over his middle.
His hand settled at her back, warm through the thin cotton, and the room sank into stillness.
For the first time all day, there was absolutely nothing left to do.
Grace breathed out slowly, her whole body giving in at last. Tomorrow, Manchester would welcome her with open arms again, and the tour machine would carry on. But for now, she could stop and rest.
And with Seokjin’s heartbeat steady under her ear and the last of the adrenaline finally fading from her blood, Grace let herself drift, piece by piece, into sleep.
Camera Roll 03212026
Arirang Stage Outfit: Netflix Comeback Show
Grace & her collabs
Music Collaborations
“Everyday” — with Future (her song)
“Hands on Me” — with A$AP Ferg (her song)
“Side to Side” — with Nicki Minaj (Grace’s song)
G-Dragon — collaborative single
Ed Sheeran — collaborative single
The Weeknd — collaborative single
Nicki Minaj — three tracks: “Bed,” “Get On Your Knees,” “Bad to You”
Halsey — joint single
Notable Features & Media
Chase Atlantic — featured as the female lead in the “OHMAMI” music video
IU — wrote and performed “Into the I-LAND”
Beyoncé — wrote and performed an original song for a U.S. film soundtrack
Sang with IU, CL and one other idol to cover Moulin Rouge as part of a stage performance. Grace has also covered two Bond songs as part of another performance at the Royal Albert Hall
Endorsements & Brand Partnerships (Solo Era)
Alexander McQueen — editorial and campaign ambassador
Hyundai — brand partner (contract with BTS and solo)
Samsung — brand partner (contract with BTS and solo)
Christian Louboutin — exclusive tour footwear contract
Balmain — custom performance costumes for tour
Fashion & Design Collaborations
Stella McCartney — capsule collection blending British and Korean heritage
Schiaparelli — bespoke couture looks
Gucci — one-year joint contract with Jin, a couple line
Luxury & Accessories
Harry Winston — jewellery partnership
Rolex — luxury watch collaboration
Creative & Cultural Projects
UN Women — Goodwill Ambassador
The Earthshot Prize — partnership with Prince William to promote sustainability
maternity clothes - seokjin, grace & hobi
Summary: Maternity clothes is only one part of pregnancy Grace isn't looking forward to.
Words: 1.5K
If Grace were being honest, she’d been stealing from the boys’ wardrobes for the past month.
A hoodie here, a T-shirt abandoned after rehearsals, a pair of joggers that stretched without asking questions and anything from Seokjin’s side of the closet that he didn’t immediately notice was missing, though he seldom minded. If anything, he looked vaguely pleased every time he caught her in one of his jumpers, like it meant something deeper than comfort.
She’d stopped reaching for her own clothes without even meaning to. Her wardrobe was full of things that used to fit like a second skin, but now they felt like a trap.
The boys’ clothes didn’t.
Their shirts hung looser, their waistbands forgave, their hoodies made space for her stomach without making it a problem. They let her breathe, let her eat, and let her sit through meetings and rehearsals without constantly adjusting the fabric, as if she were trying to hide a crime.
Because the bump was there now, real enough to change the way she moved and the way the public was now fully aware of what was going on behind the scenes.
She was wearing one of Jungkook’s many black T-shirts that afternoon, the cotton soft from a hundred washes, when he looked her up and down and frowned. “Yah,” Jungkook said, pointing at her as if he’d just solved something. “That’s mine.”
Grace didn’t even flinch. She just lifted her tea to her mouth, calm as anything. “Is it?”
He stepped closer, squinting at the neckline as it might confess. “It’s literally mine. That’s my favourite one.”
“You have fourteen favourites,” Grace said dryly. “You’ve got about twenty black t-shirts of the same make in your closet.”
And that had been that.
But Hobi, ever nosy Hobi, had caught on and one day at a meeting had clapped his hands and declared that Grace needed to go maternity shopping. The moment the words had come out of his mouth, Grace had sighed heavily and sunk into her seat because she knew what that meant. It wasn’t a case of picking something off the shelf and putting it in the basket. She now had to try stuff on because this bump wasn’t going to stay this size, and that was something she’d had to adapt to.
Seoul didn’t exactly overflow with dedicated maternity shops, but online, there were plenty of options, and once Hobi had decided on something, it became a mission.
Two weeks later, Grace was called into HYBE.
When she stepped into the styling room, it looked like someone had raided a warehouse. Bags lined the floor in neat rows, and the stylist team were already slicing through packaging, shaking out fabrics, and hanging pieces on rolling rails. There were soft knits and wide waistbands, flowy dresses and structured sets, coats, jackets, trousers, and even underwear, all in colours that felt deliberately gentle. A few bolder pieces that screamed Hobi had opinions.
“Did you buy everything?” Grace asked, entering the room as Hana and Sejin followed, with Seokjin bringing up the rear with a bag that came from their local coffee shop.
Hobi barely glanced up. He grabbed the nearest bag and tore it open with the enthusiasm of someone unboxing a new phone.
“This is everyday stuff,” he announced, already shaking out a soft knit like it had personally offended him by being folded. “The BTS maternity wear? Designers are on that.”
Grace snorted and dropped into the nearest chair, accepting the tea Seokjin handed her with a grateful hum. “Of course they are.”
Ever since the pregnancy announcement, every designer they’d ever worked with had been calling. And calling. And calling again. Red carpets, interviews, airport looks, and finale stages – everyone wanted their name attached to Grace’s “maternity era”. It had almost turned into a bidding war, polite on the surface and feral underneath.
But everyday clothes were different.
Every day meant comfort. Clothes made by people who understood pregnancy from the very beginning, through the swelling and shifting and sore days, then after, when there was nursing and recovery and the slow, strange process of a body finding its way back toward something familiar.
It went on for two long hours.
One hour was spent wearing bras and underwear behind curtains with a member of the stylist team who knew Grace’s body better than anyone else. There was a comment that was muttered, but somehow Hobi and Seokjin managed to hear it, which was ‘Your chest has definitely grown bigger,’ and that caused an uncountable number of giggles.
“You’re both twelve years old,” Grace called out from behind the curtain.
“I told Yoongi-hyung the other day that something was different,” Hobi called through his laughter. “He told me to divert my eyes.”
Grace made a sound of pure disbelief from behind the curtain. “Yoongi said that?”
Seokjin’s laughter pitched higher, helpless. “Of course he did,” he wheezed. “That’s the most Yoongi response I’ve ever heard.”
Hobi slapped the table lightly like it was a punchline that deserved applause. “He was like,” he dropped his voice into a perfect deadpan imitation, “‘Hobi-ya. Divert your eyes.’”
Grace sighed heavily as she stripped off the maternity underwear, unimpressed. “Nice to know everyone in the group cares about my boobs.”
That set Hobi and Seokjin off again, louder this time, while a stylist rolled in the first rack of clothes. And just like that, it started all over again.
Another hour of trying on tops, trousers, skirts, dresses, blouses, jackets, coats, maternity jeans, leggings, anything with a waistband that didn’t feel like a threat. Anything that let her breathe again.
By the end of it, the pile of yes had become its own small mountain. Everything approved was clipped, tagged, and gathered to be sent straight to Grace and Seokjin’s apartment. Everything labelled 'no' was repacked with swift efficiency, including the knit dress that itched like it was made of brambles, which Hobi banished from the room as if it had personally insulted him.
When the chaos finally slowed, Grace emerged in a pair of maternity jeans and Jungkook’s T-shirt, slippers on her feet, looking and feeling like she’d just survived a war.
“What now?” she asked, dropping onto the couch and accepting the snack Seokjin passed her without even looking, pure muscle memory at this point.
Sejin didn’t hesitate. “Rehearsals.”
All three BTS members in the room groaned in perfect, dramatic unison. It was slow going, but at least they only had to travel down a few floors, where the rest of BTS was waiting.
“Does Noona have clothes now?” Jimin asked, glancing over what Grace was already wearing.
“She has more clothes than Hobi does,” Seokjin confirmed as Grace made her way over to the couch and immediately sat down, sighing. “I need a nap now,” she laughed, but accepted the bowl of fruit Jungkook had ready for her.
Taehyung wandered closer, peering into the bowl of fruit with the seriousness of an art critic. “Is that the good pineapple?” he asked, as if this mattered more than the schedule.
Jungkook nodded solemnly. “It’s the good pineapple.”
Namjoon looked up from where he’d been scrolling through the rehearsal notes on his tablet, eyes flicking from Grace’s slippers to her face with a quiet, assessing gentleness. “You okay?” he asked.
Grace popped a grape into her mouth and gave him a thumbs-up. “I survived the Great Bra War of HYBE. I deserve a medal.”
That got everyone going, laughs and teasing bubbling up at once, which jolted Hobi like someone had pressed a button. His head snapped up. “Oh!” he burst out, pointing far too enthusiastically. “Yoongi-hyung, I was right; Grace’s chest is a different size!”
The entire room went silent, as if they were right in what they had just heard, before the laughter returned with Grace joining this time, covering her eyes with her hand and wondering not for the first time in nearly fifteen years why she signed up with Big Hit.
Yoongi, who had been conserving his energy in a chair, slowly opened his eyes and looked at the third part of the rap line. “Hobi, no one is looking at Gig’s chest apart from you and Seokjin-hyung.”
The two men mentioned spluttered as they stood and tried to defend themselves, but it was no use; the entire room was filled with laughter, including from the dance team who had wandered in at the right moment, or maybe it was the wrong moment.
Namjoon, suffering as only he could as a leader, stood and sighed. “Let’s not talk or look at Grace’s chest, and let’s get on with this rehearsal.”





