CHAPTER ONE

My family decided to spend the summer vacation at my aunt's house, my mother's sister’s. We went at the end of December, which would be “great” to spend Christmas and New Year's Eve with the family. The last time I went to Aunt Yoojung's house I must have been 12 or something like that, and it wasn't a very pleasant experience. Nothing major happened, but you know there is a time when a child slash teenager believes that everything their parents do is to piss them off. So obviously, in my mind, visiting Aunty Yoojung on the other side of the country was torture directed at me.

Gokseong County was one of the least populous in Jeollanam-do province, with approximately 30,000 inhabitants. There wasn't much for a kid from Incheon to enjoy, especially alone. The historic farm-themed village of Gok-song was beautiful, but that was all she had. Beauty and nothing else. There was also the train ride through the mountains of the region, in addition to the mountains themselves. I highly doubt my parents would let me walk through the mountains alone.

The only attraction in the county that caught my attention was the Gokseong World Rose Festival when every corner of that place was filled with roses of all colors. Unfortunately, it only happened in May.

My mother insisted that getting closer to my cousin Sehun, a spoiled boy two years younger than me would be wonderful. This thing of growing up surrounded by family, playing with her sister and cousins ​​was something that positively marked my mother's childhood. So, I made an effort to try to be friendly with him until I found out that he was learning to play the electric guitar. Everyone has the right to have their hobby, even more so inside their own house, so I didn't see any problem with the muffled sound coming from his room.

The real problem was that he and some friends decided to put together a band and rehearse every day in the garage of the house. Needless to say, the sound was horrible and I was forced, by my mother, to accompany them practicing for the sake of my relationship with my cousin.

However, after the third day of listening to offbeat drums, strumming guitars, and a girl trying to hit the right notes on a song above her level, I decided to spend afternoons on the playground with the neighborhood kids. This turned into a really bad idea when a little girl decided to defy the law of gravity, despite my warnings about the danger of that particular toy, and ended up landing on the floor with her head instead of her feet. I didn't expect that on my last day in that county I would take a child with a bleeding head to Aunt Yoojung's house, she and the other adults would know what to do because I didn't.

A few months later my parents divorced and every time my mother visited Aunty Yoojung, I would seek refuge in my father's apartment without a second thought. A few years went by, my mom remarried – to a pretty cool guy, and a few more years later my dad went to work in another district near the beach. Luckily, studying for the Suneung and starting college took me away from that commitment with my mom to visit her sister. Unfortunately, this winter things were quieter and I couldn't escape the annual visit to my aunt's house. That, and being coerced into the drama my mother would make about my lack of interest in her family.

Honestly, I was a little excited to return there one more time. Nothing to do with my family connections, no. That county is where Wendy, my favorite singer, and obsession for the last few years, was born and raised!

A music producer was in that city when he saw her singing in a pub called Splitz. It was a bit of recent information, but very relevant considering that she tries to keep her off-stage life as private as possible. Imagine my surprise when Sehun announced that his band would be playing at Splitz, the Saturday between Christmas and New Year's Eve. According to him, the band played there at least once a month. It wouldn't be a big deal if I went to the pub that day, as long as I didn't gossip about her. Because no one there cared about a girl who left her hometown to conquer the world singing rock music.

The pub wasn't as big as I'd imagined. Because Wendy played in sold-out stadiums and venues, I got the sense of her being a huge star from the start. It never crossed my mind that she should have started with a much smaller audience. But I also couldn't imagine that it would be such a small and common environment. The pub had a balcony where most customers ordered soju and beer, a dozen wooden tables scattered around, and a small stage half a meter high glued to the door of the restrooms.

It was something without any structure, they just had the microphone stand without the microphone, two sound amplifiers, and a white spotlight in the center of the stage. The rest of the equipment for the show was up to the band that wanted to perform, as well as the assembly of the equipment was under the responsibility of the band. That explained why we arrived two hours before the scheduled show time. We, and by that, I mean Sehun, Taemin, and I, carried the instruments and the rest of the necessary equipment into the pub in the light rain.

It was a natural reaction to go help when I saw that Taemin, owner of the drums and the kombi, and my cousin were the only ones doing that job. Taeyong was so skinny he looked like he could barely carry his bass the short walk from the pub's back parking lot to the stage. Honestly, I think I could knock him down with a push despite him being way bigger than me. Sooyoung, who goes by the name Joy when singing, tried to help, but the boys didn't want her to be out in the rain at the risk of catching a cold and not being able to sing for the next few days. We got a little wet, but the priority was to dry the equipment before turning everything on.

While they were testing the sound, I noticed that it was almost time for the band to start the show and I was the only person waiting at the front of the stage. I was disappointed. Yes, that was the right word to describe what I was feeling at that moment. I confess that I was excited when I met – once again, the other band members on the way to the pub. Even taking wires back and forth, I got into the mood to have fun since nothing there seemed to say if Wendy ever stepped on that stage. The least I expected to save the night was a hectic show. But... what would an exciting show be without at least an audience larger than the band itself?

If they played there often how come they didn't have at least one person interested in the show? At least they called some friends, or even Aunt Yoojung to pretend to enjoy the sound. I'm sure she would make that sacrifice for them.

I turned my attention back to the stage when the ambient music stopped and I heard Sehun play a few notes on the electric guitar, warning that the show would start. It was a short solo with a bit of pedalboard distortion. Much later I realized that this was the call, the warning that the show was starting. In a matter of seconds, the atmosphere of the place completely changed. Suddenly I was being squeezed by bodies that appeared out of nowhere, all wanting to get as close to the stage as possible. Splitz was definitely beyond full capacity. I don't know if people were hanging from the ceiling, but I saw some climbing on top of the tables. Most were young people in their late 20s, but I also saw a few teenagers who certainly shouldn't be inside a pub.

People were already jumping and screaming to an electric guitar alone, getting even more euphoric when bass strings began to fill the venue. My entire body got goosebumps as the drums came on strong, nearly suppressing the other two instruments. They already had the advantage of my liking rock music, but that intro hooked me like I'd heard the band before. It felt like I was one of the many fans they’d gained over the years.

Joy seemed as mesmerized by the sound as the audience, swaying almost hidden in the dark between the drums and Taeyong. She was letting the people boil. Creating expectations, and increasing the adrenaline. When she finally stepped into the white light and took the mic off the stand people went wild, some reaching out to try to reach her under the low stage. I took a few elbows to the head in the process. "Goodnight! We are Kepton4,” she said. Her voice had a relaxed and sweet tone, together with the instruments it seemed that what she said was already part of a song. “This is our last show here before we start our domestic tour. Thank you for your support all these years!”

The three instruments automatically changed notes and, without missing a beat, began the introduction of the first song. Joy began to sing. I was shocked. Of course, they weren't going to play like they did