-A couple months later-

I shivered nervously in the well-lit dressing room, waiting for my turn to sing my first ever, live, debut song on KBS’s Music Bank.

I heard a soft knock on the door.

“C-c-come in?” I hesitantly stuttered.

“Hey!” Nichkhun’s head popped through the crack of the door, a huge smile on his face. “Are you ready? You’re on in 15 minutes!”

“Y-y-yeah…” I said again, my voice still shaking.

“Hey,” Nichkhun entered the room this time, walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong? Why are you so nervous?”

“It’s my fist ever, live, show…I’m scared to death that I’ll make a mistake and get bad criticism! I can see it already, ‘Melody’s horrific debut stage!’ written as the headline on some tabloid!” I was nearly in tears.

“Don’t think so negatively!” Nichkhun turned me around and squatted, meeting me at eye level, as I was sitting on a chair. “Look at me. You’ve got a natural talent, everyone can see that. JYP saw that, that’s why you’re being put out there so soon! You’ve worked extremely hard too, it’s not like you relied on just your talent. You deserve this, don’t worry what people think. Go out there and have a good time!”

I gave a smile as I stared into Nichkhun’s large eyes. They were so pretty, and he was so cute that it almost distracted me from his pep-talk.

“Right,” I agreed.

“That’s my Melody!” Nichkhun gave me a hug.

I gave a little sigh of relief when I fell into his arms. They were strong and secure.

Also, my heart fluttered. It had only been less than a month since the day Nichkhun pulled me aside and asked me to be his girlfriend, yet already, we were a pretty lovey-dovey couple.

“Let’s go,” Nichkhun drew back and lifted me out of my seat.

“Okay,” I smiled weakly, the butterflies of nervousness returning to my stomach.


“Waaaa~ That was a great performance by SNSD! They really know how to get a crowd going!”

I heard the MCs of the show praise the stage performance before mine, and the butterflies in my stomach became worse.

“Okay, next we have a brand new artist making her first debut stage tonight! She’s one who was found with pure, natural talent, and her debut song’s music video received more than 250,000 hits on Youtube!”

“Wow, you really do look nervous,” Nichkhun next to me said, and squeezed my hand. “Shall I give you something before you go up there that’ll make you happy?” He gave a mischievous, shy smile.

“And what would that be?” I questioned.

As the MCs revealed more information about me, Nichkhun simultaneously leaned over and gave me a full kiss on the mouth.

“Go out there and make me proud, baby girl!” Nichkhun pulled back and sent me on my way.

I hurried onto the stage, surrounded by the backup dancers, and got into position.

“Please welcome, newcomer Melody singing her first hit, debut single, ‘Will you Be There.’”

The music began and my heart rate pounded in my chest, but Nichkhun’s kiss had given me some more strength.

“Melody-Unnie!!!!!!”

“Melody-Noona!!!!!”

“Melody-Sshi!!!!!!!!!”

I heard people in the crowd begin to scream my name, which shocked me slightly. Did I already have this many fans?

I smiled, and made my mind go blank, focusing only on the song vocals and dance.


Before I knew it, the song had ended, and the crowd erupted into cheers. I gave a shy smile and wave and happily skipped off-stage, where Nichkhun was waiting for me, arms stretched out to give me a hug.

“You were wonderful!!!!!” He congratulated me as his arms enveloped me.

“Oh, it was so much fun! I can’t believe I was so nervous!” I replied.

“What did I tell you? It went fine!!!”

“Yes, it did. Oh, I can’t wait for my next stage tomorrow on Mnet Countdown!” I breathed.

“I have something for you,” Nichkhun smiled and reached into his pocket to reveal a long, slender box.

“What’s this?” I answered, surprised.

Carefully removing the top of the box, I looked inside to see a simple, silver necklace with the message ‘N♥M’ as the pendant.

“I requested it to be made that way,” Nichkhun gave a smile and a little chuckle to conceal his slight embarrassment.

“It’s so pretty!” I carefully lifted the necklace out of its box to look at it closer.

Nichkhun took it from me a few moments later and fastened the clasp around my neck.

“Don't you dare take that off, alright?” He made a fake stern face with a slight pout.

“I won’t,” I the pendant and smiled.

“The message is totally true, I love you Melody,” Nichkhun said more softly and pulled me towards him.

“And I love you too,” I gave him a hug.

I felt a strong hand gently lift my head up, to which Nichkhun’s lips could reach mine.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Taecyeon popped out of nowhere, interrupting the perfect moment.

“Yah! Why are you guys doing that here?” Jaebum sauntered up from behind Taecyeon, his face scrunched up in mocking disgust.

“You were great up there, Melody!” Junho arrived next, along with Wooyoung and Chansung who were squabbling over a packet of crackers.

“Really, good job. We were all cheering you on!” Junsu waved at Nichkhun and I, his girlfriend, Eun-Gyo, held onto his arm.

“Thank for totally ruining our great moment,” Nichkhun huffed and pouted.

“Awww, well that’s too bad.” Seulong entered the scene.

“What are you guys doing here?” Nichkhun, in shock, replied as the backstage became crowded with all the One Day members surrounded the two of us.

“We haven’t officially met her yet, Khunnie!” Jokwon smiled goofily and pushed through the sea of bodies. “Nice to meet you Melody, nice debut stage!” He said while doing a y wave, I assumed he was trying to copy my dance move.

“Don’t corrupt her!” Nichkhun protectively covered my eyes.

“I think it’s too late,” Changmin gave a smirk.

“Welcome to the One Day life,” Nichkhun gave a laugh and gestured to s.

“Let’s go out for some food and a drink!” Taecyeon gave a toothy smile and waved his arm to herd the pack.

“Whooooooot!”

The boys nosily shuffled out of the cramped backstage space, until it was just Nichkhun and I again.

“Well, before we get going,” Nichkhun grabbed my waist and pulled me close to him again. “We should finish what we started,” He smiled and leaned in to kiss me again.