Chapter 6: Idiot's guide to riding a bike

"Sooyoung!" Taeyeon grabbed me by the shoulder and looked deep into my eyes.

"You are our only hope," she said solemnly.

I clasped the arm holding my shoulder and nodded with equal seriousness.

"I will not fail you, Tae." I promised.

Having said those last words, I dashed towards the crowd. As I ran, I put the walkie-talkie to my mouth.

"Sooyoung calling Yoona, Sooyoung calling Yoona, do you copy me?"

There was a crackling noise. Soon a voice responded.

"Yoona here. What is it Soo, over."

"Man down at area three. I repeat, man down at area three. See you there in five, over."

"Roger that."

"Over and out."

I halted my run.

Crap. The place was practically bursting with people.

But it was not as if I had a choice. My eyes quickly scanned the area for an opening.

There's one! I took a deep breath, and jumped into the crowd.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" I called in Korean as I tried to make my way through the horde. Some refused to budge, so I had to convey my request in a more, err, physical way. Oh well, you have to resort to violence sometimes.

Finally after lots of pushing, shoving and "oops I'm so sorry" I reached the center of the horde. Yoona was already there, and the two of us quickly picked up the girl who had fainted on the ground before fighting our way out of the crowd again.

We helped the semi-conscious girl to the first aid station, where we left her in the care of two medics. I put the walkie-talkie to my mouth once more.

"Sooyoung calling War― umm, WLCFDJBR."

"What’s WLCFDJBR?!" A loud voice immediately rang out from the walkie-talkie. "How many times have I told you? It's Warrior of Love, Champion of Freedom, Defender of Justice, Black Rider!"

I rolled my eyes. Why on earth must she get herself such long name? Even the acronym is a mouthful. "Anyway, Warrior-Rider-whatever, mission accomplished."

I could almost hear Taeyeon pouting on the other end of the line. "Roger that. Well done, Sooyoung and Yoona."

I lowered my walkie-talkie and looked at Yoona, who was sweating from head to toe. I was probably in the same state. We grinned at each other.

Where were we? At Ice Princess and Tiffany meet and greet session, of course. But it's more accurately described as Chaos of the Year.

Thousands of people had turned up in the venue just to catch a glimpse of the two idols, who were promoting their latest movie (yeah, the one with the hot biker chick). But under the sweltering sun and the human crush, it didn't take long for them to start dropping like flies. As you can imagine, trying to rescue these people was a massive headache, and I've had to push, shove and even leap over tons of rabid fans to get to them. Maybe I should consider a career with the riot police.

And what's with the army lingo thing? I'm bored, okay. Spice up my life.

The earlier turmoil had caused the rubber band securing my ponytail to slip. I ran my hand through my slightly messy hair before retying it, and took the opportunity to glance at the stage.

I must say I was both amused and amazed by the scene.

Ice Princess and Tiffany stood at the center of the large platform, which was surrounded on all sides by their supporters. The air was filled with constant chants of "I love Jessica" and "I love Tiffany" and totally random screams, complete with ginormous banners containing declarations of undying love. Some of which even came with flashing LED lights.

Tiffany was clearly soaking up the attention. She sashayed up and down the stage, blowing kisses to the appreciative audience. Meanwhile, the host of the event prattled on excitedly, stirring up emotions further.

I raised an eyebrow. As if the frenzy-level was not high enough. At this rate, we'll have to mobilize the defense forces soon.

Ice Princess, on the other hand, was obviously uncomfortable with the attention being showered on her. She stood rigidly, one hand holding her other arm at the elbow. She spent most of her time staring at the ground, and when she occasionally looked up; her eyes would dart around, as if afraid to make eye contact with anyone. And the more the fans hollered her name, the more adamant she was in not looking in their direction.

I couldn't help but chuckle. How can such a shy person be such a big superstar?

At that same instant, an idea came to me. I tucked the walkie-talkie into the back pocket of my jeans, and brought both hands to my mouth.

Okay, Sooyoung, time to show off your awesome lung power.

I took a deeeeeep breath.

"JESSICA JUNG!!"

Her head jerked up at once.

Our gazes met.

I gave her a cheeky grin and waved. She looked stunned for a moment, before quickly turning her face away.

Wait a minute, are her cheeks turning pink?

Unfortunately, my view was immediately blocked by a guy holding up a gigantic camera. I hopped on one leg, trying to get a better look over the crowd. Why the need for such a big camera? The guy was obviously overcompensating for something.

"Warrior of Love, Champion of―urgh, forget it. Sooyooouuung!"

Great timing, Tae. I shifted my gaze reluctantly and pressed th