Soon after the attacks in Paris, I got invited to an award ceremony. The reception took place in Busan. It was my first time there but I didn’t get to visit. I only had few moments to drop my luggage at the hotel and change into appropriate clothing. A car came to drop me at the location. Looking like a moron, I couldn’t stop my mouth to drop at everything around me, I was fascinated. After getting star-trucked a few times, I finally sat at a table, in the corner of the room. From my seat, I could see the stage clearly without feeling the burden of the cameras. I don’t even understand how my agency got me invited at such an event. It’s not like I did such great things to be recognized. Whilst people were getting at their seats around me, I refrained myself to open the enveloppes on the table and discover who will be seated next to me. 

The lights were heating up the room. The stress was eating me up, I didn’t know about the etiquette and I couldn’t bother someone to define the limits.. My anxiety rose up with my thong rose up in my crack. I was stuck and I didn’t know if I will be considered mannerless if I get a little too confortable with my body. A drop of sweat that I couldn’t wipe was falling in my neck as I saw the first person sit across the table.I stood up and did a full bow. The lady in a long black dress addressed me a shy smile. This must be the secret timing to start a conversation. I stopped peeking at every sides to find someone that I know and tried to focus about what I could say. My mind went blank. I have to act right. We might have acquaintances and I can’t make a fool of myself. I sighed, thinking about my agent who must have been through a lot to get me at this seat. Fortunately, she found more interest in the mirror that she was now holding. A ball in my stomach started forming. I must forget about it. No one would know me this night, I had to act as friendly as possible. 

The mood was getting weird. I tried to meet her eyes but she kept on waving at people across the room. Why did I get to meet a popular one at first ? I went back to my quest and looked for a friend.

I got caught staring a little too much when I finally understood that the reception is more like a charity event at which every recognized celebrity of Korea was supposed to attend. I started panicking about a donation, no one told me about it. The ball of stress kept on growing. How will I get out this mess ? Seeing comedians, actors and singers didn’t surprise me anymore. The disposition of the people clearly depended on the level of popularity of each one. As the seats got filled, I noticed a lost puppy at each table. There was always someone looking desperate or completely lost. It should have clicked earlier. Only unknown faces were seated before me, all the others were at the red carpet, getting photographed, one by one. With the realization of my ignorance, my jealousy against the lady seated in front of me disappeared. She was not that famous. I sat straight and observed her correctly this time. She was wearing way too much makeup. A thick layer of powder failed to hide the blemishes of her skin. The cleavage of her dress was scandalous. If she wasn’t walking on the red carpet, what was the purpose ? The central piece of fabric only started at her navel and came up to cover her s only at the front. A smirk emerged on my lips as the image of Jessica Rabbit appeared in my mind. The only detail missing was the color.

After a while, three people came to seat and I had to get up to bow. Fixing the bottom of my dress that wrinkled, I didn’t notice 2 other celebrities behind their seat. A hand sprung before me before I could react. « Hello, I’m Zico. » My head jerked up so fast that I could have broken my neck. His eyes met mine for few seconds. My cheeks burned when I noticed that I didn’t return his greetings. I bowed abruptly. As I stood back up, he had a smile over his face. « Hello, I’m __ » He chuckled, I frowned. What was wrong ? I stared at him until he moved his hand, still hanging, towards me. Aware of my mistake, I lifted my right hand before freezing. My fingers were drenched in sweat. Smiling, I wiped my palm quickly on the side of my dress. He kept my hands a little more than what I was used to. Come on, you must be imagining things. It didn’t last that long. I turned my head to greet the last person and my body got numb. The last person I expected to see was staring at me. Lee Soohyuk, the guy I dumped few months ago was standing across the table. If my inn