“Irene-ah, marry me!” “Irene, please look over here!” “Irene unnie, I’m a big fan!”

Irene continued walking straight, tons of photographers, fans, reporters, and mere strangers who followed with the crowd like bandwagon-goers surrounded her as she moved forward. Days passed by like this, with her hearing the same words every day. At first, she was moved by these simple words of admiration, but up to this point, she felt like the same words had become meaningless. Fans screamed these words just for a simple glance and smile back. What if Irene had not smiled at her fans and ignored them? Would these fans continue to desperately scream their lungs out?

Irene’s manager opened the van door and before hopping in, she glanced back one last time at her fans whom she could never resist. Her eyes locked with a certain woman in her 20s, her blue eyes resembling this particular person from her past. She blinked twice and sighed as she realized it wasn’t the woman she had in mind.

Flashing one last smile, the van door shut closed and her lips formed back into a thin line.

“You’ve got quite loyal fans there, Irene.” Her manager complimented her, yet it sounded like a burdening remark. She nodded silently, her eyes focused in empty space while the memory of her childhood friend remains still in her mind. She closed her eyes for a time, attempting to remove her face from her thoughts, but it was no use.

“Irene?”

Irene opened her eyes in shock and turned a shade of pink as she saw her manager giving her a weird look. She nodded, “Y-Yes?”

“You seem distracted lately. Is anything bothering you?” She asked Irene, but the latter just shook her head, “Everything’s fine.”

It’s not fine. It’s not the end for us. Right, Seungwan? Irene stared outside the tinted window, knowing her fans wouldn’t see her. She watched her fans disappear from her sight as the van began to head north. She rolled her eyes and reached for her phone from her right blazer pocket to get her mind off of that girl named Seungwan. Move on, Irene. She’s not coming back.

March 2001.

Joo Hyun's heart failed her. Only about 30 people or so were here watching her, yet she was about to have a panic attack. She felt like the whole world was watching her tremble at the stage, her eyes shaking in the uncertainty of where to focus her attention. This is my dream… My mom told me to follow these dreams… have strength, Joo Hyun.

However not even those words helped her. She loosened her grip on the mic that was as tall as her and bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes. As her arms lifelessly dropped down to her waist, a voice rose in the audience.

“You can do this! I want to hear your voice!”

Joo Hyun’s eyes rose to the audience and for a split second, feelings of regret plunged her heart down to her stomach and she wanted to disappear, but when the owner of the angelic voice spoke once more, her eyes searched for that tiny source of hope. As she made eye-contact with the girl, perhaps a year younger than her, she smiled softly, drowning herself in the blue eyes that resembled an ocean. There was always something about the ocean that calmed Joo Hyun; the ocean brought her back to the time when she and her mother sat by the shore and just watched the waves crash into the shore numerous times. It was pointless, watching an endless act of nature, but the endless essence of it created a new world for Joo Hyun. That new world lasted forever, e