The auditorium was blindingly bright, as if parts of the sun had been scattered about, yet the light was artificial. Several camera flashes flickered throughout the crowd, the cause of the bright lighting along with the strong lights over the stage. A growing buzz emitted from the crowd, made by the overlapping excited chattering by the reporters and cameramen attending. A few questions pierced through the stuffy air in the form of screams, struggling to be heard over the buzz. On the stage, a tall young man with blonde hair and sharp but handsome features stood by himself in the center, smiling with blinding white teeth and waving a hand in a practiced manner.

“Taehyung Kim!” He heard a yell ring out from the flashing and buzzing mass. It was painfully close. “Are you dating anyone at this time?” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his faithful manager come out from the sidelines to prevent a particularly wild reporter from getting closer to the stage.

Taehyung sighed inwardly. He kept smiling and waving, but the corners of his mouth and his arm were weary. He felt like he had just worked out heavily at dawn; his limbs felt like jelly. ‘For the cameras…’ he thought bitterly. His eyes kept wandering to his manager.

Manager Song finally gave him the okay sign with his fingers. Relief washed over him. He gave the crowd a parting nod, along with his signature white grin, and made his way off the stage. As soon as he stepped onto the level ground, several cameramen rushed at him. He braced himself, although he knew that he had no need to. A few of his bodyguards immediately gathered around him to prevent them “from flattening him,” he thought privately.

He gave all of the reporters nearby a wide smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was led outdoors, and a ray of sunlight touched his face. He breathed deeply and felt its warmth – it was natural, unlike the fake lighting inside. Resisting the urge to glare at the screaming reporters, he entered the black car and one of the bodyguards closed the door for him. His manager was waiting in the driver’s seat, having shoved his way past the dangerous mass to get inside before him.

“Uncle,” he said. Manager Song wasn’t his real uncle, but since he was a fatherly figure to Taehyung, Taehyung called him this nickname. “Uncle, what is my schedule for the rest of the day?” He groaned as he stretched in the wide leather back seat. “I can’t believe they held a press meeting so early in the morning. I’m tired already – I couldn’t even sleep much last night.”

“Sorry, Kid, but you have an interview with Pops in Seoul before noon and another with After School at three in the afternoon. Also, the CEO would like to have dinner with you in order to talk about attending the debut party of some new idol group of SM Entertainment with him as the star idol of our company," Manager Song said. Taehyung groaned again.

For a moment, he watched the cars and city buildings go by through his tinted window. When the car left the busy part of the city and tall buildings became sparser, he suddenly cried out, “Stop the car!”

With a screech, Manager Song did as he was told. “What’s wrong?” he exclaimed, clearly alarmed. Without another word, Taehyung opened the car door and jumped out.

“Sorry, Uncle.” He gave his manager a mischievous grin. “I don’t think I can stand this any longer – I might explode if I see another camera. Don’t worry; I’ll come back later tonight in time for dinner with the CEO. Please cancel the rest of my plans today.”

Manager Song’s expression was full of agitation. The young idol had never refused to follow his busy schedule before. However, after slamming the car door shut, Taehyung ran off on the sidewalk without hesitation, feeling free from his troubles for the first time. The only thought of regret that passed his mind was that of forgetting to bring a pair of sunglasses as a disguise. He hoped that he wouldn’t get chased by half the people in the street screaming in his ears for autographs like the time he snuck out for a cup of coffee. He suppressed a shudder, remembering that he had locked himself in the bathroom and called for his bodyguards to him back to the company unscathed.

**********

Eunkyung rushed out of the subway, nearly smashing into several people waiting outside in line. A few of them gave her nasty glares, but she didn’t notice. She was running towards the exit, drawing weird glances from passers-by. No one, especially adults (for she was now a young adult), dared to act so wildly as sprinting inside the subway station. But she couldn’t care less; she was late for her university lecture.

She exited the underground station and began running on the sidewalk, huffing from breathlessness. If only she had remembered to set her alarm clock last night… She grimaced at that thought and didn’t realize until it was too late that there was another person with wandering thoughts in front of her. She ran right into that person.

Her head slammed against the stranger’s chest and their bodies met like crashing cars. The impact was big enough to knock her backwards onto her bottom on the hard sidewalk. Eunkyung uttered a groan, a pain throbbing in her forehead. “I’m sorry,” she managed to whisper, the ground spinning in her eyes.

“Are you blind? Watch where you’re going,” a sharp voice snapped at her. She looked up, half-dazed, at a young man with wavy blonde hair. He was staring directly at her, but then cast his gaze to his surroundings quickly, as if worried someone had saw. There were very few people walking by so early in the morning, so he looked back at the fallen girl with relief in his eyes.

Eunkyung frowned. Just her luck to crash into a rude stranger. She had expected at least a mutual apology – she hadn’t been the only one not paying attention to the surroundings. She found herself glaring at the man, who kept standing in front of her with expectant eyes.

Taehyung expected her to recognize him any moment and jump up in a rush to change her attitude and ask for his autograph. He was sick of girls off the street running up to him in public and whining to take selfies together, but this girl looked close to his ideal type, so he decided that he wouldn’t mind much. Anyways, how could he help being so popular and good-looking? He gave the girl a smirk, but all she did was narrow her eyes.

He extended a hand to offer her help standing. Eunkyung scoffed at it and stood up by herself, wobbling unsteadily. She was about to tell him to get lost, but the thought of the lecture passed through her mind like a flash of lightning. Glancing hurriedly at her watch, she forgot about the boy in a second and passed him. She broke into a run towards the university buildings, which were a couple of blocks away.

Stupefied, Taehyung continued to stand there. He had turned to face the opposite direction, where the girl had been running towards. She disappeared behind a building. Why hadn’t the girl been excited about meeting him? Did she not know who he was? He scoffed. There was no way – she’d have to live under a rock.