IU paced back and forth her dressing room, nervous about her upcoming stage. She wore a black, princess-like outfit. the trim was a bit short, so she tried to get her stylist unni to change it. Unfortunately she couldn't do much in such limited time, so IU had no choice but to stick with what she had.

Today was the day. She was to share the stage with Taeyang. Being a massive fan of Taeyang, she couldn't help but to feel extremely happy. They had already practiced many times together, but he would always leave right after they finished. She didn't get a chance to know him better, to ask him for his phone number.  She was content with her meetings with him, the occasional hello when they passed by eachother backstage at Mucore and if she was lucky, he had enough time to fit in a 5 minute conversation. He was busy, she understood that. It wouldn't hurt for him to have dinner with her sometime though...

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door accompanied with the pleasant voice of a man. It made IU jump, just a little bit.

"Jieun? Are you okay?"

The owner of the voice opened the door and peeked in headfirst.

She looked up from the ground. It was Taeyang. He wore a gothic black suit, chains wrapped around his pants. It was strange, but somehow he looked nice. He could pull anything off.

IU stuttered, "A-a-ah Taeyang oppa."

"Are you nervous?" he asked, inching closer and closer to her until they were eye to eye, nose to nose.

Of course I would be nervous if you're this close to me, thought IU.

Hearing no reply, he got unpatient. He pinched her cheeks with both his hands.

"Ouch," IU shrieked, while making the most ridiculous face.

"Don't be nervous, you'll do fine," he said in a comforting voice. "You look beautiful."

He took one hand off her cheek and brushed her bangs away from her face. Taeyang planted a kiss on her forehead, then gave her a reassuring smile. 

A stage manager could be heard yelling,"Taeyang, we need you for rehearsal!"

"Oops, got to go," said Taeyang as he quickly dashed towards the direction of the noise.

Once he shut the door, IU fell to the floor. Her face was bright red and on fire. She touched the spot where Taeyang had kissed her. The lingering feeling was still there. 

"IU, we need you now!"

This isn't the time to think about these things, thought IU. Time to be a professional.

She stood up and joined Taeyang for the rehearsal.