In-ah’s POV

Following the directions given by the GPS, I reached the concert venue and thankfully found a parking spot. I was vibrating restlessly with excitement, unable to believe my luck. I have a free backstage pass! I get to see GOT7 live! This was my moment to shine as a fangirl. Seriously, it was like I prepared all my life for this. After being pent up with all this fire from hanging out with GOT7, whoever had the guts to stop me now, watch out. I will make you sorry for getting in my way. I did not endure an entire morning of powering through my research papers and lab protocols like a malfunctioning android for nothing. The concert was worth it.

I was daydreaming as I entered the building, imagining how loud and jumpy I would be during the performances. It was a good thing I didn’t have any work tomorrow, or else my raspy voice would be hard to hide. Not knowing where I was supposed to go, I notified Jackson of my arrival. He quickly sent me directions to the backstage area.

“There you are!” exclaimed a lively voice. Jackson came into view, sidestepping the people roaming the halls. “Hey, you look good today,” he said as a greeting. “Ready for our performance? Our music lineup is no joke.”

I thanked him and agreed with him in the same breath. He gestured for me to follow him, and we slipped into the waiting room.

My appearance caught the eye of GOT7’s manager, who recognized me from last time. He approached me with a genial smile. “Well, hello, In-ah-sshi! Nice to meet you again. Glad you could join us!” We shook hands, and he added, “Thanks for taking the guys out during their break. I hope they weren’t troublesome.”

That last part was accompanied by a sharp look aimed at the younger members, who all flinched and purposely averted their gazes. I held in a snicker, wondering what was the manager’s secret in handling their chaotic energy.

After checking his watch, the manager faced the boys and clapped. “Alright, you know the drill,” he said. “Time for warm ups. Don’t slack off, okay?” He then addressed the other people in the room, reminding them to finish up the members’ hair and makeup.

Yu-gyeom bounced over to me. “Noona! Do you like my outfit?” I eyed him up and down as he did a full turn. Stylish but easy to move in. I told him so, and he beamed proudly. “Are you excited to see me dance?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” I answered, and although I wasn’t lying to Yu-gyeom, since I really did want to see the members perform, I was actually looking forward to Jackson’s solos the most. He was, after all, the number one person who captivated me with his stage presence out of all of them.

Someone interceded by clicking his tongue in mock condescension. “Yu-gyeom-ah, we went over this already,” said Jackson, coolly shrugging on his jacket with a flourish. “I’m her favorite, so it’s me she’s excited for the most.”

His haughty attitude immediately triggered a childish argument over who they thought I was most excited to see onstage.

“Alright! Enough, all of you!” I shouted, my stern voice resounding across the room. You could hear a pin drop in the following silence. A hand on my hip, I evenly stared at each member and enunciated clearly, “I am delighted to see all of you perform. Please don’t get worked up before the performance. You need to keep your head steady on your shoulders and rest properly when you can.”

My fierce momma bear outburst stunned everyone, and then Young-jae broke the silence with a bark of laughter.

“Wow, did you really think we were fighting?” He smiled goofily and confessed, “We like to tease each other before we perform. It helps to keep our mood up!”

Hearing this relieved my anxious heart. From their lives and shows, I knew the boys were hotheaded and energetic, but witnessing them bicker and posture close up was bewildering.  

Sometime later, someone announced it was time to go. GOT7 invited me to their pre-performance cheer, and I was honored to have a first-hand listen to their pep talk. The boys were raring to go, hooting at the top of their lungs. I wished them well as we parted ways in the hall. A staff member escorted me to my seat.

Before I knew it, I was one of thousands of fans that occupied the audience. I screamed, overjoyed when the boys appeared and began performing the new songs from their latest album. For my first ever K-Pop concert, I was having a blast. I struggled to keep ahold of myself, alternating between singing along, shouting the boys’ names, or pumping my fist when I wasn’t mesmerized by their stage presence. GOT7 is a masterpiece, I thought proudly, not a single shred of doubt in my mind that they worked hard to be where they were now.

Later on, it was time for the unit and solo songs. My heart raced, because the first performance scheduled was Jackson. Don’t blame me if I was acting like a maniac. I couldn’t help but to shout and dance like my life depended on it. At this rate, when I showed up for work tomorrow, I would be on the verge of death, but even on my deathbed I would carry no regrets for what happened.

As I was enjoying myself, I heard a small round of applause nearby. Peering around, I froze when I spotted the other members, who were smiling and staring at me in amusement. I nearly fainted out of complete embarrassment. IN-AH! I inwardly wailed. HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME? WHAT HAPPENED TO BEING COMPOSED?!

Jae-beom half-heartedly covered his grin behind a hand. “No, please continue,” he insisted. “It’s fun seeing a fan like this! In fact, we’re hyped by it!” They others chimed in, reassuring me that it was cool.

Slumping in relief, I returned my attention to the stage, now cheering alongside the members. One by one, they switched in and out until the finale came.

Jackson shouted into his mic: “AHGASES! WE LOVE YOU! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE! AS AN ENCORE, WE WILL BE PERFORMING SAVE YOU. THIS IS DEDICATED TO A SPECIAL FAN!”

Hearing the words special fan, my mind abruptly stopped, and a surge of worry and shock filled me as GOT7 started to sing. Were they performing Save You because of me?! It couldn’t be! What would the media outlets say if they were piqued by this special fan?

Finally, the concert came to an end, and the staff member from before showed up to lead me back to the waiting room. GOT7 were already in the process of unwinding, and I waited awhile until I mustered up the nerve to ask about their encore performance.

“Why did you sing Save You? It’s not part of your scheduled performance.” My hands trembled where they were fisted in my lap. “And why did you confess that it’s dedicated to a special fan? What will the media think?”

Despite my fretting, the members appeared unruffled as if they hadn’t given the gossip-hungry media the perfect chance to put a target on their heads. What was going on?

“In-ah, don’t stress,” Jackson advised me with a sweet, gentle smile that threatened to knock down the defenses around my heart. “We already consulted Park PD-nim and manager-hyung. They approved of it. It was supposed to be a surprise for you, as a big show of our gratitude.”

That reason made me melt. In truth, I did enjoy the song, despite how worried I was. I should apologize. I didn’t mean to hurt their feelings with my negative reaction.

“It was all Jackson’s idea, In-ah,” Mark revealed after slapping Jackson on the back childishly. He ignored the be quiet look his friend gave him. “He was the one who convinced all of us to accept the idea.”

I frowned as a question towards Jackson, who rubbed his neck a little sheepishly. “You know that we’re leaving for Dallas tomorrow and will continue on to other cities for our tour, so… Yeah, it’s what we’ve been saying all along—thank you. We wanted to convey that through one of our songs.

Then Jackson stepped up and enveloped me in a small hug.

Instinctively, my face flared up, beet red and wide-eyed.

In the end, I was happy and impressed how GOT7 genuinely expressed their appreciation. The days I’d spent with them were the best days of my life, that I was able to hang out with people who I considered special and that, in return, they made me feel special too.

“Alright, guys. Enough of the mushy stuff,” interrupted Young-jae, a bit put off by the sentimental mood. “Let’s go have our farewell dinner with noona. I’m so hungry, I’m hangry.”

His attempt at humor was accompanied by our laughter. We lightened up, talking about how we were looking forward to dinner.

Jackson’s POV

“Hyung? What’s wrong?” BamBam prodded curiously, but no response was forthcoming. “You look like a child who lost his toy.”

“I don’t know, man,” I sighed gloomily. “Maybe I did lose something.” We had to pack, since we were leaving for Dallas early in the morning, but my mood was down, which was obvious by my sullen expression and lack of vigor. The days with In-ah where I could act like myself without sugarcoating anything were gone.

Mark studied me knowingly. “It’s because we won’t see In-ah anymore, isn’t it?” He tried to console me with a sympathetic smile and a reminder. “Don’t worry. We can always contact her. You have her number, remember?”

Jin-young added as another fact: “Yeah, plus we might see her again when we come back to Houston to leave for Seoul.”

I huffed tiredly, patting down the stuff in my luggage with more force than necessary. “I know. It’s just that… These past few days…I feel like I’m about to experience that phrase. The one about how absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Feeling helpless, I looked at my groupmates pleadingly for advice. I needed something straightforward and reasonable to get me back on track.

“Honestly, Jackson, I hate to say this, but…” Jae-beom shook his head. “I have no idea what to tell you. That’s something only you can overcome, not us.”

Yu-gyeom disliked being a downer, so he tried to lift up the mood by cheerily saying, “Come on, hyung! Don’t sweat it. It may be long distance, but noona will stay in contact with us. Now, let’s pack and get some rest. We need to focus on our other concerts.”

Afterwards, we split up, retiring to our respective rooms for the night. However, when I laid in bed and tried to close my eyes, I found myself fighting the urge to sleep. Instead, I stared at the picture I took of In-ah, lingering on her until it was my last thought for the day.