Amina walked into the auditorium and noticed a section of the Hall roped off for fans.  She scanned the room for the row furthest in the back with an aisle seat.  It wasn't hard, considering how all the VIPs were already crammed up front, close to the first row which was marked "reserved".  But as she walked down the aisle, she overheard a few fans whisper and point at her.

Amina quickly grabbed the hat and shoved it deep into her purse.  As sweet of a gesture it was for Youngbae to give her his hat, it the last thing she needed.  She didn't want to deal with hundreds of angry VIPs tonight.  She needed to figure a way to give the hat back to him.  Amina sat down, thankful for a moment of rest. Her headache still lingered.  She removed the hair band from her ponytail and let her hair down.  A little bit of the pressure around her head eased, but the pain was still there.  She closed her eyes and rubbed her left temple with her fingers.

"Unnie... Who's your bias?" a squeaky voice to her left asked.

Amina opened her eyes.  It was a small girl with a short bob hair cut.  She appeared to be twelve or thirteen and was there with her mother. Or was it her grandmother? Amina couldn't tell, but the woman appeared to be in her mid fifties.

"Oh.. mine?"  Amina replied when she realized the girl was asking her the question.  "I don't know... I like them all the same, I guess."

"Mine's Taeyang-oppa..." she whispered.  "He's the best."

Amina nodded and smiled secretly.  "Well my friend's bias is Seungri, so don't tell her that when she gets here.  Yuri thinks Seungri's the best."

The little girl nodded. "I won't say anything."

Amina smiled.  "What's your name?"

"My name is Jin-Ju."

"Well it's nice meeting you Jin-Ju."  Just then the lights flickered off and on, lighting and dimming the room to signal the start of the show.  A few fans cried out in excitement and started chanting "Big Bang!" over and over.  Yuri appeared out of nowhere, panting.

"Aish! Unnie... why are sitting all the way back here?  I was looking all over for you." She squeezed in between Amina and a few seats away from Jin-Ju.

"Mianhae... I don't know if I'm going to last the whole show."

Concerned, Yuri turned to face Amina.  "Are you okay?"

"Neh... I feel a bad headache coming on, that's all."

Just then, the boys appeared on stage with Jiyong in the lead.  When Youngbae appeared at the end of the line, hobbling behind, a loud roar of cheers echoed throughout the Hall. He smiled, waved, and acknowledged the welcoming.  But instead of clapping with the others, Amina completed a quick evaluation.  She saw that Youngbae didn't need crutches to walk across the stage, but noticed a slight limp when he stepped down with his right foot.  She wondered if it pained him much to walk so soon. 

Stop! Amina told herself.  Tonight, she was off duty.  She needed to turn off her doctor mindset and just enjoy the evening like any other person here in the auditorium. Her thoughts were interrupted by Yuri's loud screams.

"Unnie..." Yuri whispered loudly to her.  "They're having mock auditions!"

"What?"

Seungri's voice resonated throughout the Hall.  "Neh... Why should we do all the work tonight? Show us whatchu got, VIPs!"  A loud cheer went through the room. Seungri enthusiastically clapped in response.

Jiyong eyed the maknae with a slight humorous expression.  He briefly explained the rules of the game. "The winners will be decided by us and will receive a gift bag filled with goods.  So if you think you can dance or sing, please line up next to the stairs by the stage.  We'll only take the first fifteen."

Lots of nervous laughter and shrieks floated throughout the crowd.  A few girls dragged their friends up front, along with a couple of guys that thought they were good enough to showcase their skills.  Amina could see Jin-Ju trying to peek over the crowd to see who was standing in line.  "Umma... Do you think we could try out?"  Amina could see Jin-Ju's mom start to shake her disapprovingly.

"Amina-shi, you should go up there," Yuri announced.

"Wae? Why me?  You should go up there," replied Amina.

Yuri sighed.  "But I can't sing!  You can sing.. I know you can sing.  You sounded great when we went to karaoke a few weeks ago."

Aigoo... How could she forget? "Yes, but that's because I had a little too much to drink last time," confessed Amina.  "Besides, I'm still trying to recover from my illness.  I..."

"Just one spot left," announced Jiyong.

"Just do it! What do you have to lose?" asked Yuri.

How about my dignity? "What if I fall or make a fool of myself?" worried Amina.

"You and everybody else!"

"You can do it unnie!" urged Jin-Ju.

Amina looked around Yuri and could see Jin-Ju's excited face.

"SHE'LL DO IT!" shouted Yuri, as she lifted Amina's right fist high in the sky.

Everyone turned around to see who had claimed the last spot.  Amina hadn't had this much attention on her in a long time.  She was caught off guard and didn't even know how to react when Yuri started pushing her towards the stage.  Before long, she was standing at the end of the line.

Yuri sensed a connection between Amina and Jin-Ju.  "Do it for me and the kid!"  She gave Amina a quick swat on the and skipped back to her seat.

"Alright guys, head up on the stage," a coordinator said as he led them up the stairs.  He began to number them off into their groups of five.  Amina was grouped with two other girls and two other guys.  One girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen.  She had shoulder length black hair and had the Big Bang Alive logo emblazoned across her t-shirt.  She wore ripped up jeans and high-top sneakers.  The other girl wore similar attire, but was slightly heavy set with the Big Bang crown tiara on her head.  Her name was Mi-Yun and she appeared to be eighteen or so.  The boys both appeared to be in their late teens and had on skinny jeans with hoodies.  They both sported jagged layered locks - one of which had blue and pink streaks throughout his hair.  Amina suddenly felt old and out of place in her group.

"Annyeonghaseyo!" A smiling Daesung greeted their group.  "I'll be your leader for today."  A gasp of delight and smiles were shared amongst their group.  "Ok, so first, we need to assign band parts."

"I'll be Taeyang!" volunteered the smaller girl.  "I know all his moves."

"Can I be Seungri?" asked the shorter guy.

"Sure, I don't see why not," replied Daesung.

"I'll be G-Dragon," said the other boy in their group.  "I think I look like him."  Amina and the rest of their team turned to stare at him.  Other than the crazy hair color, there really wasn't much resemblance.  But everyone was too nice to say anything.

"Okay then, that leaves Top hyung and my part, " said Daesung.

Amina and Mi-Yun looked at each other.  "Do you have a preference?" asked Amina.

"I..I..." Mi-Yun stuttered.  "I don't mind, but..." She glanced at the ground.  "I really can't sing.  I can only dance... a little."

"Then we'll just play up each other then," smiled Amina.  "I can sing better than I can dance."

"Okay," Mi-Yun smiled in response.  "I'll be Top-shi then."

They turned to Daesung for further instructions.  "Alright, it's settled then.  Those will be your assignments, but if you want to work with each other on switching up the parts, feel free to do so.  I'm just here to help you with any questions you have for your performance."

He paused as Jiyong walked by with their music selection.  "Here you go!"  Jiyong handed him a CD.

"Are you serious?"

"Yessir!" replied Jiyong with a mischievous smile.  He sauntered off the stage to take a seat next to Youngbae in the front row.

"What song did we get?" asked the shorter boy.

Daesung turned to his team with a worried expression on his face.  "'Fantastic Baby'."

"Yes!" exclaimed everyone except for Mi-Yun and Amina.

"'Fantastic Baby'?" moaned Amina.  She glanced at Mi-Yun and saw fear in her eyes. 

"I know," replied Daesung.  "'Fantastic Baby' is one of our harder songs on the album, but it's also the one with the most energy.  I think if we can focus on entertaining the crowd we might win."  He glanced back at the group and pulled out his smartphone.  "We only have 10 minutes to prepare. Let's take a look at the choreography before we move on to the lyrics."

Mi-Yun pulled Amina aside.  "Unnie, I don't think I should do this.  I don't know any of my lyrics."

"It's okay, I'm not sure I know all of mine either," Amina lied.  Who was she kidding?  She was a VIP at heart.  But she didn't want Mi-Yun to quit. "I'll tell you what.  Just focus on the dancing and I'll sing with you on your parts, okay?"

"Jinjja?" exclaimed Mi-Yun. 

"Neh," Amina smiled.

They watched a short clip of the dance rehearsal and immediately went into their first trial run.  Amina could see the other groups struggling to know their parts as well. 

"So the basic step is the wiper motion," said Daesung.  "It goes like this." He demonstrated a portion and watched as everyone repeated his moves.  "Good." He nodded.  "We'll just do the main chorus parts together, but we should just ad-lib throughout.  It's supposed to be chaotic, so just freestyle."  The group members got into position to practice their new moves.  He turned towards Amina, who was re-watching the video.

"So do you have any questions?" he smiled apologetically at her.  "I was hoping for an easier song..."

"Oh... well, I think we'll be fine," replied Amina.  "There's a ball step change after the wiper motions right?"

"Yeah, you dance?"

"A long time ago," confessed Amina.  "But not hip hop.  It was more lyrical and jazz."

"But you have musicality, so it shouldn't be too hard to for you then."

Amina shrugged off the compliment with a slight laugh.  "You're right, I'll probably be fine for the dancing.  I'm a little more worried about the singing.  I have no idea how I'm going to hit your high notes."

"Oh, you just sing from your gut.  Anticipate the note and just take a deep breath.  Use these stomach muscles," he took her fingers and pressed them lightly against the middle of his belly.  The muscles tensed underneath her hand.   "Try it. 'Ganeungeoyaaaaaa...!'" Daesung bellowed.

Amina was too embarrassed to sing right away, so she nervously laughed instead.  Once she gathered her courage she began.  "Ganeungeoya..." she sang softly.

"The notes are there, you just need to power sing it now."  He took his fingers and pressed them against her stomach.  "Again," he commanded.

"Ganeungeoyaaa..." Amina sang a little louder.

"You got it," Daesung smiled.

Amina smiled in return.  "You better stand by though,  just in case."

"I'll be here," he grinned.  "But I don't think you'll need it.  You'll do fine."

Youngbae watched Daesung and Amina go over her parts for the performance.  They were standing awfully close... too close for his comfort. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  He watched as Daesung grabbed Amina's hand and pressed it against his stomach.  Youngbae gritted his teeth.  Amina laughed at something Daesung said. 

Jiyong turned towards Youngbae, who was seated next to his left, and could feel the tension vibrating off his body.  Youngbae's jaw was locked and he sat unmoving.  Jiyong followed the direction of Youngbae's glance and found the source of his irritation.  Jiyong watched as Daesung put his fingers up against Amina's stomach, underneath her ribcage.  It appeared they shifted towards one another as she repeated her lyrics. 

"It's Daesung," Jiyong said simply.

Youngbae snapped his head around.  He had forgotten that Jiyong was sitting next to him. "Huh?"

"It's Daesung," Jiyong repeated.  "You know him better than I do."

Youngbae understood what his friend was trying to tell him.  He sighed and slouched down deeper into the seat.  He forced himself to look away..  "Aish... I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

Youngbae snickered at himself.  "Yeah, you remember what happened the last time I did that."

"Yeah, but I warned you about that girl.  I told you that one was bad news."

"And how are you so sure about it this time?"

"I can tell that she likes you too."

"How?" Youngbae said too loudly as he jerked his head around to face Jiyong.  A few fans glanced at his direction.  He lowered his voice.  "How can you tell?"

Jiyong grinned. "Well, for one, she acts differently around you then when she's around other people.  You said she keeps her guard up, but I don't think she does that with everyone - just you."

Youngbae nodded.

"That tells me that she either really likes you and is scared to let you know how she really feels..." He paused, "Or, it could mean she doesn't really like you at all."

"Aish!" Youngbae exclaimed, shaking his head.  "You're speaking in riddles."

Jiyong laughed.  "Well.. have you made a move yet?"

Youngbae looked away.  He his lips while considering what to say.  He turned back to Jiyong.  "I... What do you mean by move?" he asked with a straight face.

"Yah!" Jiyong grinned, shoving Youngbae.  "You know what I'm talking about, so don't even try to play me."

Youngbae grinned sheepishly. He knew he'd been caught.

"So, was there a connection?"

Youngbae sighed.  "I don't know..."  He rubbed his hand over his face and looked back at Amina.  "It seems like so long ago."  He looked up towards the auditorium's cathedral ceiling and put both of his hands behind his head. "Sometimes I feel like I dreamt it all."

Jiyong looked at best friend and understood his misery.  "Man, you got it bad."

Youngbae glanced towards Jiyong. "So is this how it feels?"

Jiyong pondered his previous relationships. "In the beginning, yes.  There's this infatuation you have for the other person because of the mystery of not knowing.  You don't know how you feel about her and you don't know how she feels about you." He glanced back at the stage.  "Damn, I need to write this down," he teased.

Youngbae laughed.  "I'm glad one of us is getting something out of all of this."

"Naw, man, just be real with her," replied Jiyong. "The last thing you want is to put up a front and not have her like and know the real you."  He looked back at Amina on stage.  "Same thing goes for her.  I mean, did you think she'd be up there right now?"

"No," Youngbae replied. "She doesn't seem the type."  He paused before saying, "Honestly, she's doesn't seem to be my type either."

Jiyong looked back at him with an incredulous expression on his face.  He raised an eyebrow.

Youngbae back-tracked and grinned.  "I mean, yes, look... she's cute."

Jiyong laughed at him. "Cute?"  They both knew it was understatement. Jiyong took pity on his friend.  "I know what you're trying to say.  She doesn't seem, personality wise, to be your type. She seems prim and proper.  Maybe a little too serious?"

"Yeah," nodded Youngbae.  He remembered how passionate her response was when they kissed.  Was it so long ago? He couldn't put that girl and the one he saw on stage together.  "But maybe I'm mistaken."

Jiyong checked his watch.

"Maybe it really is just an infatuation," sighed Youngbae.

"Maybe.  Or maybe not," replied Jiyong.  "Don't try to figure it all out now. Just let whatever happen, happen."  He stood up and shouted to Seungri, Seunghyun, and Daesung on stage.  "Time's up!"

Amina watched with the rest of her team from the side of the stage.  She could see Big Bang sitting in the front row.  They were smiling politely as the first group performed. Daesung saw her standing behind the side curtain and gave her two thumbs up.  She smiled and returned the gesture. 

They watched the first group, led by Seunghyun, complete their version of "Blue." 

"I wish we had gotten that song," said Mi-Yun. "The singing isn't as complicated and the dance moves are simple."

"Yeah...," sarcastically replied the youngest girl in their group. "I think G-Dragon gave them that song on purpose because Top was their leader." A nervous laughter was heard from both teams. The group finished their song and the audience politely applauded.

The second group went and did their rendition of "Bad Boy."  Although their singing was off pitch, their dancing was on point.  Their coach, Seungri, stood up and gave a round of applause when they were finished, earning him laughter from the crowd. The audience responded louder this time and clapped their hands.

Amina exhaled. "Alright guys, we're next!"  She looked at Mi-Yun, but she was nowhere to be found.  "Where's Mi-Yun?"

Her teammates shrugged their shoulders.  "I bet she bailed!" exclaimed the younger girl.  "Perfect!"  She threw up her hands and walked on stage to get into place.

"What do you think we should do?" asked the Jiyong "look-alike".

Although she was freaking out on the inside, Amina put on a brave face.  "We'll just have to complete the performance without her. Let's go!" she smiled encouragingly. She watched as the two boys proceeded to the center of the stage and got into position.  Amina closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.  She ran through a short calming exercise she used to do when she was younger.  Just another recital... she told herself.  She opened her eyes and walked on stage.

A murmur went through the crowd when they realized it was only four performers instead of five. Jiyong turned towards Daesung, who was seated on the other side of Youngbae.  "Where's your fifth person?"

Daesung signaled his hand questioningly at Amina.  She shrugged back apologetically.

"I guess that means, we don't know." replied Daesung to Jiyong.  "Aigo... I bet the song choice scared her off."  He rubbed his arms in nervousness.  

"Maybe we should give his team an extra point advantage," suggested Youngbae.

The first loud electronic bass note of "Fantastic Baby" blasted the speakers and the Jiyong look alike grunted his opening verses.  The rest of the team got into their liquid dance poses, including Amina. A loud cheer swept through the crowd when they realized the song choice.

Jiyong laughed, "Maybe they won't need that extra point."  The boys watched in awe as the youngest girl in the group mimicked Taeyang's moves perfectly as she made her way towards the front of the stage.

"Everyone get up!" shouted the shorter boy, urging the crowd to stand and dance along.

When the chorus came on and the team did their wiper dance, the crowd went wild as well as the guys.  Youngbae couldn't help but admire Amina's tenacity for matching the moves of her other team members.  The team did a lot of freeystyling, but it matched the mood of the music perfectly.

When it was Top's part to rap, Amina strutted slowly from the back to the front of the stage.  She flicked her hair and dirtied her voice, spitting out the lyrics on cue. Even her hand motions were just like Top's.

"Oh !" Jiyong laughed and jumped on Youngbae, while the other guys started smacking each other around jokingly. "Top-shi," Jiyong yelled over the music, "I think I found your replacement."

Seunghyun grinned, impressed, at how Amina was attacking his part.

After Taeyang's part was sung, Amina returned to sing Daesung's part in the verse. Her voice was confident and filled with energy as she hit all the notes in the right places.  Jiyong nodded his head. "She's doing pretty well, covering two parts."

Youngbae smiled and nodded in response.

The chorus came back on again and the boys cheered in delight as the girl who took on Taeyang's part started break dancing on stage.  She completed her windmill as the crowd cheered her on.  Amina returned to the stage with the rest of her team to dance for the "Boomshakalaka" portion.  The shorter boy sang Seungri's part and Amina and his other girl team member pretended to his body.  The real Seungri couldn't help but laugh at the rendition.

Amina stood up and started singing Top's next two lines.  As the Jiyong look-alike came on to do his part, Amina did a y wiggle dance and crooked her finger towards the first row.  The guys went slack-jawed for a moment.  Jiyong looked at Youngbae.  Youngbae looked confused until he glanced over at Daesung.  Daesung looked at Amina with a surprised expression on his face.  "Me?" Daesung mouthed as he pointed to himself.

Amina nodded and smiled in response.  Daesung stood up and jumped on stage just as Amina continued to beckon him on with her version of  "I can’t baby don’t stop this, oneureun tarakhae".  She handed the microphone to Daesung to finish it off. 

The other girl finished singing "michyeo barakhae" and Daesung didn't miss a beat as he sang "Ganeungeoya" and held out his note longer, like he did at the concerts. The crowd whooped and shouted "Wow! Fantastic Baby!". The chorus came on and the team shouted in unison "Go Daesung!, Go Daesung!, Go Daesung!" urging him to show off his moves to the crowd.  To their delight, he complied, and went crazy on stage doing a little robot popping move.  Smiling, Daesung helped them finish off another round of "Boomshakalaka" dance, his moves more relaxed and confident than the rest of the team.

The taller boy jumped up front to finish the song, as Daesung and the rest of the team pump fisted the air on the "Yeah Yeah Yeah" portion.  They struck a pose as the song ended.  The crowd clapped their hands and hollered and the Big Bang members stood up from their seats to applaud. "Take your shirt off!" shouted Jiyong jokingly, earning him a bashful smile from Daesung.  "Well, I guess we all know who the winner is," Jiyong said to Youngbae.

"Unnie!  You were amazing!" shouted Yuri, as Amina returned to her seat. 

"Aigoo... I can't believe I just did that," Amina replied, her eyes bright from all of the excitement.  She reached under the seat for her purse and pulled out Youngbae's hat.  She motioned her hands towards a surprised Jin-Ju. "C'mon..." Amina smiled.  "And tell your umma to come too. Let's go pick up the prize together."

Jin-Ju couldn't contain her happiness as she walked closely behind Amina towards the front of the stage.  Amina pulled Jin-Ju in front of her and plopped the hat on top of the little girl's head.  Jin-Ju recognized the cap and gasped in delight. "Is this Taeyang oppa's cap?"

"Neh," smiled Amina.  "And you can keep it too if you'd like."

Jin-Ju turned around to give Amina a bear hug. "Kamsahamnida!" Amina returned the hug and could see Jin-Ju's mother expressing her thanks as well.  Amina bowed and nodded in response. 

They walked up towards the coordinator and grabbed the gift bag.  It was filled with all sorts of Big Bang goodies ranging from a deluxe album, concert DVD, and t-shirt. But the best item in the bag was a red and white varsity jacket with the Big Bang logo on the upper right chest and several decals stitched along the side of the arms. "Omo... this is so cool!" exclaimed Jin-Ju.

Amina smiled and nodded.  "Neh... it's very cool!"  She looked up to see Youngbae's eyes on her from the side of the stage.  She didn't know if it would work or not, but she decided she'd ask anyway.  Amina approached the stairway and was stopped by the security guard.  "Could you ask Taeyang oppa if he'd be able to sign some of our gifts?"

"I'm sorry mam, but you'll have to go back to your seats now."

Amina's heart sank.  The man wasn't even going to ask for her.  She nodded her thanks and headed back towards Jin-Ju.

"Let them come up," said Youngbae.

Amina glanced up to see Youngbae approach the staircase.  He had taken his sunshades off, but she was too far away to read his eyes.  She watched as he returned back to the side of the stage, behind the curtains.

The annoyed security guard motioned her up.  Amina quickly told Jin-Ju and her mother to follow her. They were confused and uncertain whether or not to approach the stage.  "Hurry," Amina urged.  "I don't think they're going to let us meet him for very long."

At the mention of "him" Jin-Ju became very excited that she broke her mother's grasp on her hand and ran up the steps.  "Bring out your camera," Amina whispered loudly to Jin-Ju's mom.

Youngbae greeted Jin-Ju with a warm smile. "So we meet again."

"Annyeonghaseyo," Jin-Ju greeted Youngbae. 

A breathless Amina and Jin-Ju's haggard mother finally met up with the pair behind the curtains. "We were wondering if you'd have some time to sign Jin-Ju's jacket," Amina asked shyly. 

"Neh, I'll sign it."

Jin-Ju let out a small shriek of delight. Her umma smiled and nodded her thanks. "Would you mind if I took a picture?" Jin-Ju's mother asked.

"Sure," Youngbae replied, as he moved over and gently nudged Jin-Ju's shoulder towards him.

"Please, you too," Jin-Ju's mother urged towards Amina.

"Me?" Amina asked.  She hadn't planned on being part of any pictures.

Jin-Ju's mother nodded and beckoned her to join the picture.  Amina smiled weakly and headed towards the pair.  She stood a few inches away from Youngbae. Jin-Ju stood in front in-between them.  Jin-Ju's mother readied her camera phone.  She tried to step back but was blocked by the wall behind her.

"Could you scoot closer together?  I can't seem to get everyone in the picture."

Amina looked up at Youngbae and saw him politely shift his body slightly to make room for her.  An overwhelming feeling of shyness swept over her.  She inched over, her shoulder barely brushing his as they faced forward, waiting for Jin-Ju's mother to take their picture.

"A little bit more closer please."

Amina pressed up against Youngbae's side, her left brushing up against right bicep.  "Mianhae..." Amina apologized, attempting to step back.  To her surprise, Youngbae glanced down at her and lifted his right arm to settle it over her shoulders, pulling her closer to him than before.  He faced forward, leaving Amina gawking at him in stupor. Amina faced forward when she heard Jin-Ju's mother count down.

"Okay... hana, dul..." Jin-Ju's mother counted and she snapped their photo.  "One more please," she stated, holding her hand up.

Amina didn't know if it was the closeness of Youngbae's body pressed up against hers, or if the adrenaline from her earlier performance had worn off, but she started to feel dizzy.  She inhaled a shallow breath, trying to clear her head.  Feeing faint, she leaned her head back against Youngbae's shoulder and pulled her left arm around his lower back torso for support.

Youngbae glanced down as soon as he felt Amina's arm wrap around his body. He couldn't deny how good it felt to have her arms around him, but the heat emanating from her torso and forehead were scorching hot.  As soon as the second picture was taken, he turned her in his arms and peered down at her.  Amina's face was paler than usual and her eyes were unfocused.  "Amina," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?"

He saw her blink a couple of times before her knees started to shake.  She leaned heavily on him, but straightened right away.  "You need to go home and rest," ordered Youngbae.

"Aniyo... I'll be fine."  Amina shook her head to clear it.  "I just need to sit down, that's all." She looked around for Jin-Ju and her mother.  "C'mon, let's get back to our seats."

Frustrated, Youngbae watched as Amina and her little entourage leave the stage to sit back down in the crowd. He kept his eye on her until she reached her seat, memorizing which section and row she sat.

"Leggo!" Jiyong shouted, signaling the start of their portion of the show.