It seemed like this venue was bigger than the last one the Catalyst had performed in.

The line was certainly longer. In just a few weeks Catalyst’s fan base seemed to have doubled, as well as the merchandise they had brought with them; they had all come early in an attempt to get the best spot in what Ellie shortly learned was another general admission first floor, their objective being to get as close to the front and as close to their favorite member as possible. Brian was still the top candidate for their affections, but Jae and Wonpil weren’t far behind.

Ellie opted to stick to the mezzanine again. She’d had a great view at the last concert, and as much as she enjoyed seeing Jae up close, she told herself that she got closer to him than her fans ever would on a regular basis; plus, there was nothing that was going to make her stand in that pit – she remained firm on that. She was in her seat well before the show started, and when she wasn’t watching fans and their increasingly outrageous outfits and hairstyles, her eyes were trained on the microphone positioned on the far left side of the stage, accompanied by three guitars waiting to be played. The sight of this display made Ellie’s heartbeat accelerate; she was sure that it wasn’t nearly as close, but she felt like she was one of the anxiously waiting fans around her for a moment.

She was up on her feet as quickly as anyone else around her when the lights dimmed, and, as hard as she tried to pay attention to the others, her eyes were glued primarily to Jae. It was something that she couldn’t help; he was fully invested in his performance and it was evident in the look on his face, and the way he moved his head and body. It made Ellie wish that there was something she loved as much as Jae clearly loved music – writing just didn’t feel like the same thing – and at the same time she couldn’t help but just feel proud. He was hers, and he had chosen her - the fact that the thought had come to mind was shocking. She was so caught up in her own thoughts as usual that she almost missed his eyes moving across the audience, seemingly looking for something, or someone. He finished scanning the pit and moved upward to the mezzanine; his eyes passed over Ellie’s face and she paused as they came back. After a few moments of him watching her she lifted a hand and waved tentatively, just to see if he was actually looking at her; to her surprise he smiled, and in the swift and most discreet of movements, winked. It was then his turn to sing, but Ellie was stuck staring at him even after he turned away, her face hot and her heart beating faster than before.

The concert ended entirely too soon for Ellie’s liking, but she reminded herself that, unlike the rest of the people in this venue, her time with Jae and his friends was far from over. There wasn’t much of a backstage area this time, so Ellie waited out in the hallway for everyone to finish. Sungjin was the first to leave; he thanked Ellie for coming and asked how she enjoyed herself before heading out, clearly ready to get home to Shavon and their daughter. Wonpil and Dowoon left together, talking about a video game tournament they planned to continue, and then Jae appeared, hoisting his backpack and guitar onto his shoulders as he called out parting words to whom Ellie assumed was Brian. He turned to look at her and paused, a smile pulling at his mouth as he let the door close behind him.

“There you are.” With a smirk Ellie moved to close the space between them, only to be caught off guard as Jae wrapped an arm around her shoulders and stole a kiss, without the warning he had promised. She didn’t have much time to react, either; he immediately began leading her towards the exit, and her attention as diverted to keeping up with his long strides.

“Do you have plans tomorrow?” he inquired of her as they emerged from the building, heading to the garage where he had parked his car.

“Besides laundry? Not really,” Ellie responded with a shake of her head. “I’m off tomorrow.”

“Good, then you can spend the night.”

“What?” They had reached the car and Jae turned his attention to getting Ellie and his guitar situated in the passenger’s seats before focusing on getting in himself. “Jae, you can’t just spring that kind of stuff on somebody.”

“Why not? It’s fun.” Ellie rolled his eyes, folding her arms across her chest as she turned away from him. “Come on, Ellie, we’ll do each other’s hair.”

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