A/N: I'm so sorry for a long delay! I didn't have access to my computer for a few days, that's why it took me more time to finish this chapter. I hope you'll find it worth waiting for! It's definitelly an explosion of many contrasting emotions that go along with such an important moment in this story. It is also the longest chapter I have written (26 pages!) :>

Anyway, enjoy!

Fly higher

(Jiyong's P.O.V)

“Jiyong, could you please stop wrinkling your lids? It really doesn’t help me,” CL complained, her minty breath tickling my nose.

“Sorry,” I murmured and exhaled slowly, trying not to move too rapidly. CL hummed something in response and continued applying my make-up. Soft touch of her fingertips and gentle brushes on my face were quite soothing, but unfortunately not enough to let me feel at ease.

“Keep it like that for just a little bit longer. I’m almost done,” Chaerin said. “Think about something pleasant.”

If only it could be that easy. Currently, my mind was too one-tracked to concentrate on something different than my arising nervousness. With every minute I was getting more and more stressed. I had thought that all the interviews and discussions from yesterday were nerve-racking, but this was a whole new level of mental agony.

The tactic of clenching my fists and tightening lids didn’t work. Not only it disturbed CL, but also made the tension inside me build up. I decided to relax my taut muscles for a change. I let the thoughts about upcoming event drift away and my mind switched to a basic mode, gaining information about my surrounding only through my senses, excluding sight. It turned out to be so wonderfully absorbing that I internally chided myself for not coming up with this idea earlier.

I knew that backstage auditorium was an enormous place, but now it seemed to be even bigger. All these thrilled voices, muffled conversations, gales of laughter and sounds of high-heels clicking on the wooden floor made it seem that the room was occupied by not a hundred, but a thousand of people. Excitement could be smelled in the air, along with overwhelming heavy hairspray and a sickening mixture of exotic perfume and spicy cologne. Intense lights of dressing tables in the make-up and hair-do section were almost blinding, even through closed lids. I wondered, if other models, who also had their make-up done at the moment, felt the same.

“Okay, I’ve finished!” CL announced and clapped her hands. “You can open your eyes now.”

I did as she told me and blinked a few times to adjust to the dazzling lightning. Chaerin’s face appeared in front of mine and she admired her work with a small nod.  

“I did my best. What do you think?” She handed me a magnifying mirror, so that I could get a good close-up. I took it in my slightly trembling hand and hesitated for a short while before looking into it.

Mirrors had never been my good friends.

However, when I finally did look, I couldn’t take off my eyes of my magnificent reflection.

The make-up was stunning. Graceful black lines framed my eyes and it was visible that the hand that had made them was far more skilled than my own. Light touches of gold and amber brown shimmered in the light, emphasising the colour of my irises that seemed to be brighter thanks to the perfect combination of the shadows.

Is it really Kwon Jiyong?

Dark circles from my lower lids disappeared and my skin looked healthy with its balanced rosy colour. Highlighter in the inner corners of my eyes and white pencil on my waterlines gave an impression that I was fresh and wide-awake. It surprised me that make-up could erase the signs of your tiredness so easily. CL had to teach me these tricks later.

“Wow,” I sighed and smiled at myself in the mirror. “It’s gorgeous, Chaerin!”

“You’re gorgeous, Yongie,” she chuckled in response. “You look better than any girl in this auditorium.”

I put on a gleeful expression and looked in the mirror once again to see blush settling in my cheeks, before giving it back to CL.

I’ve changed so much since November, I thought to myself. It’s only three months and I’m a completely different person.

The smile didn’t disappear from my face, when I stood up to join my teammates in the waiting section. The place was so packed with people that I had to be very careful not to get my outfit destroyed. I had some difficulties with keeping CL’s pace, as she breezed effortlessly through the crowd, so she reached our spot before me. When I finally arrived, I saw her already sitting with the rest of our team. Everyone was in their outfits, struggling to remain as motionless as possible in their stiff positions to avoid creasing of the clothes. They tried to keep up a chatty conversation, but it was visible that the stress of anticipation was taking its toll on them.

Bom was the first one to notice my presence.

“You look marvellous, Jiyong-ah!” she exclaimed in her childish tone that almost made me feel like at home. Or rather at the cosy Land of Sweets café.

“So do you, Bommie.”

Tonight my godmother fairy was a walking definition of the word magical. It had been a very hard task to make a dress for her that could be better than any of her Sugar Plum Fairy costumes Seunghyun had ever designed, but it seemed that we had managed to do it. Dressed in wedding-like long a-line pure white dress, Bom became a Swan Princess. Later her majestic look would be completed by a Venetian hand-made mask with swan feathers that was now resting on the coffee table in front of her. It was indeed beautiful, but not very comfortable to wear. I had tried wearing it myself to check, if it wouldn’t fall apart and, really, I had almost gouged my eye out with one of the feathers.

Speaking about the feathers…

“Have you seen Seunghyun?” I turned to my team, having suddenly reminded myself that I had no time to stand there and gawk at our wonderful creations. “We have to check your wings-“

“He’s already done it,” Seungri interrupted me with a smile. “I mean, Hyung. Hyung has done it,” he corrected himself.

It wasn’t the first time I heard him speaking about Seunghyun without the honorific, when he was absent. Daesung and Taeyang kept reminding him that Seunghyun was older, but Seungri was still forgetting about it. Or maybe he did not forget, but was doing it on purpose, because I wasn’t calling Seunghyun ‘Hyung’ either. Recently Seungri had a strange habit of trying to imitate me and I wasn’t sure, if I should be happy about it or not.

At least I was a better role model than Dongwook.

“It seems that applying your make-up took us more time than I had expected,” CL said, rising from her seat. “You have only my wings to check, then.”

I did it quite swiftly - fortunately, the thin brown fabric on wire frame was attached to back of CL’s owl dress properly. I only smoothed the feathers in the places, where they had been standing out weirdly, and then removed the protective straps from the lower parts to check, if the whole construction was ready to move appropriately. It all ran like a clockwork.

I expelled a relived sigh and let Chaerin sit down again.

“So we’re completely ready for the show,” I commented with a satisfied nod.

“At least physically,” Dami added, wincing.

Taeyang and a few others nodded in agreement and I quickly grasped, what they had on mind.

“I know, what you feel.” I said with a sigh. “But please, don’t worry too much. There are only amateurs here, no one is a trained professional,” maybe except Minzy’s hired models, “so everyone can make a mistake and it’s fully acceptable! But I’m sure you’ll do great, because you were totally awesome during the rehearsals. And this time I’ll be here with you backstage, so I’ll remind you about everything, if you have any problem.”

“Thanks, Hyung,” Daesung spoke with a beaming white smile.

“Your presence will surely help us,” Tablo said. “But we have memorised the choreography by heart, so I’m sure we won’t forget anything.” I noticed that he was holding my sister’s hand in a loving and reassuring gesture and I felt my insides fill with tickling happiness.

“That’s great,” I replied with a delighted expression. “We all have worked really hard and I hope it will be appreciated by the judges and audience. All we have to do now, is present the collection the best we can!”

The team agreed with smiles and nods and I finally decided to take a seat with them, but before I could do it, I heard a familiar voice calling my name. A voice that I would recognise everywhere.

I turned around to see Seunghyun approaching and I held my breath at the sight. He looked stunningly amazing with his dark brown hair styled up into a chic pompadour. His lime green suit hugged his slender legs and broad shoulders, emphasising how tall and slim he was. Thoughtful frown and serious attitude suited well the marvellous collar made of peacock tail feathers, making him look like a royalty. Because, indeed, he was my Prince.

“Hyunnie!” I exclaimed and ran to him, immediately forgetting about my plans to sit down and rest for a while.

I threw my arms around his neck, even though it wasn’t that easy due to the many layers I was wearing, including heavy cape tossed over my shoulder. Seunghyun helped me a little by pulling me closer, so that my face could reach his despite all the technical difficulties.

“These outfits are seriously only to be shown on runway,” Seunghyun chuckled, when we were only an inch away from each other.

“Completely impractical,” I agreed, before closing the distance between our lips.

The kiss was chaste and quick. We didn’t have time for anything longer, but as for now it was satisfying. I had missed Seunghyun’s closeness, despite the fact we had spent the whole day together. But it was the day filled with hard work, without a single minute to share a hug or kiss. It hadn’t been especially disturbing as I had had my mind occupied, but only until we had finished restoring Minzy’s collection and parted our ways to concentrate on our own duties. With Seunghyun’s disappearance, I suddenly felt so lonely and nervous, that I realised, that I needed him to stay calm.

Now in Seunghyun’s loving embrace I could finally feel more at ease.

With his beautiful face so close to me, he looked even more handsome. I let myself sink in the depths of his dark coffee eyes, cupping his chin in my hands, thumbs caressing his smooth cheeks and lovely dimples. I noticed that there was almost no trace of Minzy’s punch - the swelling from Seunghyun’s jaw had disappeared and there was only a small red mark in the corner of his mouth. I kissed that place gently and buried my face in his feathery collar, but didn’t manage to remain in this position longer than just a few seconds.

“Yah, it tickles!” I groaned and pulled away. “These clothes are really disturbing!”

Seunghyun laughed, making me smile wider.

“Fashion for fashion, hm?” he said leaning down to peck my nose.

“You know I hate this idea, Hyunnie,” I complained with a teasing smirk. “Promise me, that our future collections will be for people, not for the runways.”

“I promise,” Seunghyun agreed. “It’s our first and last time making clothes that are completely inoperable.”

We sealed this promise with another soft kiss, that was unfortunately interrupted by Mrs. Hwang’s sudden appearance. Sight of a bright pink envelope in her hands made my insides squeeze and I unconsciously held my breath again. Bye, bye, relaxed Jiyong.

Our team got excited in an instant and I could hear other groups reacting in the same way. It seemed that everyone got their envelopes at the same time.

I felt Seunghyun’s fingers encircling my clenched fist and I let them thread through mine, his touch making the situation more bearable. Together we came closer to our thrilled tutor, who handed me the envelope. I looked at it with hesitation, not sure if I wanted to see its content. What if we had to perform as the first team? I needed some time to get mentally ready before going on stage. But what if we were the last ones? With all those amazing collections before us? With all these damned angels, aliens and Greek gods? No, no, no…

I closed my eyes tight, praying that the envelope would be gone, when I open them. And then to my surprise, I felt the paper being slipped out of my hands. It was either Bom, who read my mind again and decided to help me with her telekinesis, or the Greek gods themselves pitying me. But it really didn’t matter, as long as my prayers were heard.

I kept my eyes shut for a little bit longer. Seunghyun’s hand had already left mine, so I assumed that he was the one to check the contents of the envelope. My guess was proved to be true, when I felt Seunghyun leaning to me.

“Number five,” he whispered into my ear, making my eyes snap open in glee.

“Exactly in the middle!” Mrs. Hwang exclaimed, as Seunghyun showed a big ‘5’ made of shiny purple paper to the rest of our team.

“It’s good, right?” Seungri asked and I answered him with a satisfied nod.

“We will have enough time to get ready and then to relax, before the results being announced,” Seunghyun explained. “No bout is perfect, but being fifth is just fine.”

Mrs. Hwang jumped in joy and hugged me and Seunghyun, squeezing us tight reassuringly.

“I’ll be there, watching you from the audience,” she said. “But if you need any help, I may just stay here.”

“We’re perfectly fine, Mrs. Hwang,” Seunghyun replied. “I’m sure your presence in the great hall will give as more support than anything else,” he sent her one of his charming smiles that could make any woman (plus me) swoon.

“You’re such a smooth talker, Seunghyun,” the woman giggled, covering her rosy lips with her hand. Her cheeks flushed with the same shade of pink as her nail polish.

“Oh, indeed. Always charming the ladies,” I added with a sly smile, making Seunghyun shoot me a surprised glance. His brow rose mockingly and I could almost hear him asking, ‘Are you jealous, Ji?’

My lips formed a pout, before I could stop it, but Seunghyun said nothing to comment it. Instead, he calmly listened to Mrs. Hwang last pieces of advice and when she finally finished with “I’ll keep my fingers crossed!” and left the auditorium to take her sit in the audience, he decided to explain himself.

“Ji, you know I had to make her leave,” Seunghyun said, his hand sneaking around my waist. “She’d make a hell here with her constant chattering. It’s enough that we have Bom and her never-ending stories about buying, cooking and eating corn.”

“Hey! I’ve heard that!” Bom exclaimed and folded her arms across her chest, pretending to be offended. Everyone burst out laughing loudly, catching attention of the other teams, who looked at us weirdly, but it wasn’t long before this attention was diverted.

“The designers are requested to get ready to come on stage in five minutes,” the announcement from the speakers resounded in the room, making all the laughter and talks fade away immediately.

It was probably impossible, but the whole auditorium fell silent for a few seconds. Then everyone jumped to their feet, as if this whole hundred of people wanted to go on stage right now. It was the realisation that the gala had just started, that caused all the models and designers to freak out a little. We were just a bunch of kids, who were going to pretend to be professionals. Most of us would supposedly make fools out of themselves on that runway. This thought was painful and almost unbearable.

“Jiyong, relax,” Seunghyun told me for the thousandth time, his tone equally soothing as it had been during past three days.

I tried to swallow the bump that had arisen in my throat, but it turned out to be harder than I expected.

“I don’t want to go there,” I choked out quietly, so that only Seunghyun could hear it.

In response, he embraced me tight and kissed the top of my head.

“We’ll be fine, Ji,” he whispered against my hair. “It soon will be over, there is nothing to worry about.”

There were plenty of things to worry about, but I didn’t want to mention that fact aloud, trying to forget about them and let Seunghyun’s warmth convince me that he was right.

“Ji, let’s take off our jackets,” he suggested and at first I didn’t know what he meant. It took me a while to realise that we had to go on stage before our team’s presentation, both being fully dressed in the outfits from our collection, that shouldn’t be shown too early. It wouldn’t be a good idea to spoil our concept.

Trying not to do it in a rush, I helped Seunghyun with taking off his lime jacket and he did the same with my golden one. We placed them cautiously in the garment bags and left them on our team’s coffee table, where we hoped they would be safe. The rest of our team promised to take care of them and wished us luck with the first appearance on the runway.

Seunghyun took my hand in his and together we went towards the stage entrance. Most of our competitors were already there, gathered in the small dimly lit room. All of them were wearing clothes from the sponsors, I recognised some brands and internally praised them for good choices. Almost everyone went for black, so Seunghyun and I were standing out from the crowd with our bright outfits. I could tell that only we had decided to be models, apart from designers. And now, while standing among these elegantly dressed people, I began wondering if it was a good choice. It seemed so ridiculous and unprofessional, cliché even. Like a director playing in his own film. I was almost sure it would make a bad impression.

Icy needles jabbed my heart painfully, but I tried to ignore this unpleasant feeling.

I saw the Frenchies, who waved at us happily, so I waved back, even though something was telling me that I shouldn’t. I couldn’t tell, whether they were surprised to see us here or not. There was no evidence that they were the ones, who had destroyed Minzy’s collection and tried to put the blame on me and Seunghyun, but I still didn’t feel that we could trust them.

My eyes began looking for Minzy and I found her standing in the far corner of the room. She kept her head low, her attitude so different from the one she had been showing yesterday. Minzy found herself in a very uncomfortable situation, but I had thought she would be a better actress and at least pretend that everything was alright. The other designers were whispering and pointing at her, and I knew they sensed a great change in her.

If she didn’t want to give away our secret, she would have to behave naturally. I decided to try to tell her about it as soon as there would be a good possibility for it. It would be even more suspicious, if I went to her right now, because officially we were still in the state of war. That was why I had to wait for a better moment.

A new person entered the room. I recognised one of the committee members, who was now dressed in a neat white outfit and had a headset placed on his neck. The man introduced himself as the technical director’s assistant, who would be guiding us from the backstage.

“My name is Jaemyung and I’m here to help you,” he said.

It was good to know that there was someone to take care about us. Wrong timing and coming on stage too early or too late could be crossed out of my lists of possible unpleasant accidents.

The man explained, where each team should stand and how to leave the runway after the official presentation of the contestants. Fortunately, we weren’t expected to do any improvised speech and this confirmation made me expel a relived sigh.

We waited a few minutes more in nervous silence that started to make me feel sick. I wanted someone to say something or scream myself, because the darkness and absence of sound was driving me crazy. Before I could do anything stupid, music on the other side of the wall increased in volume and the door leading to stage opened up automatically to remain like that till the end of the gala.

The final show had started.

“It’s time for you,” Jaemyung told us. “Go. Number one!”

To my surprise, the Frenchies dashed towards the stage entrance, only to stop a step in front of it and put wide smiles on their cute faces. They entered the stage bright and confident and I wondered, if such things are taught in art schools. Runway Education or something.

“Number two!” The guys from Kwangju, Seunghyun’s stalkers, were next.

I closed my eyes, realising that soon it would be our turn. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to gain composure. ‘It’ll soon be over’ Seunghyun’s words echoed in my mind. I knew that there was only one thing I should do - pretend that the great hall was empty, that there was no one in the audience, just like in the morning, during our rehearsal.

Only Seunghyun and I.

T.O.P and G-Dragon.

“Number five!”

I straightened up immediately. Seunghyun squeezed my hand encouragingly, before letting it go. Arm in arm, we entered the stage, taking confident steps.

“Team five: GD&TOP from Seoul!” the host shouted into the microphone, igniting enthusiastic applause from the audience. Bright lights blinded me unexpectedly and I hitched my breath at this sudden loss. My heart stopped for a second and then began beating again wildly, as if it wanted to jump out of my chest.

My eyes got accustomed to the dazzling spotlights and hundreds of camera flashes going off. I put on a dauntless expression, my lips twitched into a gentle smile, as I was following Seunghyun to our place on the main stage.

Grin and bear it, that’s what they say.

It felt a bit better, when we took our position and everyone’s attention was focused on the upcoming teams. I stood next to Seunghyun, my arm pressed to his side, because I had to touch him not to lose balance.

“It’s quite a nice feeling,” he said quietly, but loud enough for me to hear it, despite the blaring music.

I didn’t know, whether he meant the attention that we had got or just standing with me here on stage, but it didn’t really matter. Something was blooming in my stomach - a little seed of an unfamiliar feeling started to grow inside me, making me confused, but not in a bad way.

Smile spread wider on my face at the realisation, that I understood what Seunghyun wanted to say.

“It’s amazing,” I whispered, mainly to myself, but still it was a response to his words. I observed the audience with a brand new attitude, suddenly feeling honoured to stand in front of them.

The rows of chairs were set along the runway, so people in the audience had to turn their heads to look at the main stage. I was spiritually stimulated by their approving looks or cheerful expressions. I had an impression that they were here for pure pleasure and suddenly felt guilty for my previous negative attitude. I should be here to entertain them and to have lots of fun myself. It might be only one such occasion in my life.

“Team ten: Minzy from Incheon!” the host’s voice boomed from the speakers, waking me from my thoughtfulness.

I turned my head to the side to look at the girl, who took her place on the other side of the main entrance. Seunghyun and I were finishing the first five starting from the right side of the stage and Minzy was at the end of the second one, beginning on the left side. We stood relatively close to each other and I was able to feel Minzy tense under my glance. She pretended to be unaffected by it and a few poses for the paparazzi and then looked in our direction, her eyes meeting mine for the briefest moment.

I was aware that it wasn’t stress or timidity that was taking its toll on her. It was rather the feeling that she shouldn’t be here. She had told me about it.

I really had to talk to her after we get off the stage.

Her eyes went back to carefully searching for something in the audience. I observed her scanning the crowd with a deep frown and nervous bite on the inside of her check. Suddenly, an unravelling thought struck my mind. She wasn’t searching for something, but for someone.

“Do you think Minzy’s father is here?” I turned to Seunghyun, tilting my head to look at him.

A smile bent itself on his lips, making his eyes narrow into half-moons flickering with warmth.

“I have no idea about hers,” he said. “But mine is here.”

“What?” I gasped in surprise. “I don’t understand.”

Seunghyun’s smile grew bigger. “My father is sitting in the audience.”

Something knotted inside my heart and I swallowed hard. I turned my glance away from my boyfriend’s joyful face to focus it back on the audience.

Seunghyun’s father? The renowned owner of a prestigious international company, whom I have never got a chance to meet?

Immediately, I became worried inside. What if he didn’t like the idea of me being his son’s boyfriend? I could see my father in his position. His reaction would be shock and denial. I didn’t want Seunghyun’s father to spoil this evening I had been finally beginning to enjoy.

“Why is he here?” I asked and it didn’t sound as rude and harsh as it had in my head. “Did you know about him coming?”

“No, I didn’t. I’ve just spotted him,” Seunghyun replied calmly. “First row on the left, in the middle, next to the woman in pink.”

First row. The row for VIPs. Of course.

My eyes followed Seunghyun’s leads and I quickly found the man. He was wearing a dark blue suit with a shirt in the colour of cool grey. A pair of glasses in thick frames was nestled on the bridge of his nose. He did remind me of Seunghyun, when he had his contacts off. That was Seunghyun’s father, without any doubt.

When he noticed my gaze on him, he raised his hand from his lap and greeted me with a nod and smile. My eyes went wide at the exact moment, but I returned the greeting with equally positive smile and nod.

“Does he know…?” I asked Seunghyun, my eyes still on his father.

“He does,” Seunghyun responded close to my ear. “And has nothing against.”

‘Really?’ I wanted to ask for confirmation, but words got stuck in my throat. Unexpected feeling of lightness filled my chest and I found myself being instantly so elated, as if we had already won the competition.

“He’s the same type as my grandmother, totally inherited her personality,” Seunghyun explained and I could hear him smiling. “His priority is my happiness. Plus, I’m sure grandma and mom made you quite a good advertising campaign. You know that they love you.”

I couldn’t stop a giggle from slipping out of my mouth. Seunghyun’s words sounded as if I was Choi family’s favourite shampoo or other product, that needed advertising to convince the head of the family to use it. Simply ridiculous, but I did understand what Seunghyun had on mind.

It seemed that Mr. Choi already liked the Jiyong shampoo. I hoped he wouldn’t get disappointed after using it. I mean, meeting me.

I didn’t know, who I had expected Mr. Choi to be? A strict workaholic, who didn’t care about his son feelings and wanted him to be a proud representative heir of his business? In Dami’s fanfiction or dramas there was always such a parent, whose actions would lead to problems in their child’s relationship. However, it seemed that our story was different. We had already come through many other difficulties, an overbearing father wasn’t something that we needed. Honestly.

A wave of applause burst in the hall, making me jump at the spot a little. I realised that I hadn’t heard a word from what the hosts were saying for the past few minutes.

Oops. I hoped it wasn’t anything important.

“They described what the previous stages of the contest looked like and introduced the rules and important points in judging the collections,” Seunghyun said, properly guessing the reason of my sudden tension. “Nothing especially interesting, we already know these things from the regulations the committee gave us.”

“Thanks,” I whispered back. “What about the judges?”

“It seems they had introduced them, before inviting us to come on stage.”

I looked at the judges’ table occupying the far end of the runway. It was the best place, from where the five people would see the models emerging from the auditorium and approaching them along the catwalk. Now they were observing the contestants with intrigued expressions, all five pairs of eyes glued to one spot on the stage.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. “Seunghyun,” I breathed out. “We have to stop talking. The judges are looking at us.”

“I guess it’s not that,” amusement was again hearable in his voice. “It rather appears that they like our outfits. We’re kind of conspicuous, Ji.”

Yeah, I had noticed it earlier. It seemed that Seunghyun was right, because the judges’ interest was positive, not scolding. We were indeed attracting special attention - tall and handsome Seunghyun in his lime green trousers, dark blue shirt and bright yellow tie, and me with my ‘adorable messy hairstyle’  (as CL was always describing it), my amber military breeches and carmine turtleneck pullover. That exotic mixture of colours was particularly visible among people dressed all in black.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad choice to wear something different than designer clothes as the others did in attempt to please the sponsors. I doubted that they even had a word in the process of choosing the winners.

The hosts finished talking about the previous editions of the contest, whose winners were now working for leading clothing brands worldwide, and then announced that the prizes this year would be especially interesting.

I supposed it was only a trick to make the contestants more motivated, but I had to admit it kind of worked. I felt G-Dragon’s mode activating in me again. I didn’t want the money nor the fame, though. I wanted to win for me and Seunghyun. We really deserved that.

“Team five, team ten! Leave the stage!” I heard Jaemyung calling us, so I shot one last smile towards the audience and judges and spun around gracefully to disappear in the darkened room. Seunghyun and Minzy followed me and I wanted to catch the girl to talk with her, but she somehow dematerialised.

“Where’s Minzy?” I asked Seunghyun, but he only shrugged in response.

I decided to wait for her near the entrance. I watched other designers heading for their team’s place in the auditorium, but Minzy wasn’t among them. However, I got a chance to see the Frenchies’ models, dressed in their alien outfits. They all looked as if they had stepped out of Katy Perry’s ‘E.T.’ video clip and I almost burst out laughing, when a few minutes later I heard the exact song in remixed version playing as background music for their collection.

So predictable.

Still, I had to admit that the girls did a good job, as expected from the students of Incheon Arts School. Although I caught only a glimpse of the shiny alien dresses, I was able to asses that the usage of fabrics and metal tiles was really worth attention. The only thing that disturbed me was the fact that it seemed they concentrated too much on the accessories and make-up. The pattern they had used for sewing the clothes was quite simple and repeated itself more than twice, the only change being the colour and upper part of the dress. I wasn’t sure, if it would guarantee them victory, but I wasn’t the one to make this decision.

I gave up on waiting for Minzy and finally came back to our spot in the farther part of the auditorium, where my team members had been expecting me for a longer while. The moment Dami saw me, she ran to me to hug me tight.

“I heard it all went smoothly,” she said. “I’m so proud of you, Jiyong.”

“Well, there wasn’t really a thing that could go wrong or was particularly hard, but thanks, Noona,” I chuckled and patted her back, giving her a signal to let me go, because I slowly started losing the air to breath with.

My sister dragged me to the sofa and made me sit down to rest for a while and soon I was given a glass of mineral water from Daesung.

“Thanks, Dae,” I smiled at him cheerfully.

“No problem, Leader!” he replied with his usual wide grin that turned his eyes into half-moons. I almost choked on my drink, hearing how he had called me. I really had to get used to it.

Leader - I had never expected that I would become one. But it seemed that it had always been somewhere in me, deep inside and hidden from the world.

Now it was my time to shine.

In exactly twenty minutes, to be precise.

I made a decision to spend this moment in silence, not talking to anybody, trying to reach a state of tranquillity to be able to focus on my task.

Seunghyun entertained our friends with the stories from the official presentation on the runway. He described the judges and how they had been observing us with visible interest. He also mentioned his father’s appearance, earning an “Oh!” from Dongwook and CL, who both hadn’t seen the man for quite a long time. His calm deep voice was the best source of relaxation, that let my thoughts drift away for a short time.

When the third team returned to the auditorium with their flying mystical creatures and the fourth one entered the runway, I decided that it was high time for us to get ready. Seunghyun gave a short encouraging speech, while I was putting on my jacket and the cape  When he finished, everyone looked at me expectantly and I could do nothing, but smile at the sight of my friends, all rough and ready for the show.

“I really want to hug all of you now, but that would crease your outfits, so…,” I said with feigned sheepishness, making them burst into laughter. “I’ll do it after our presentation, but there is one condition! You can’t disappoint me, alright?”

“Yes sir!” they answered in unison and we laughed some more, before Seunghyun announced that it was time for us to go.

We all gathered near the darkened room, from where Jaemyung signalised with a gesture that we still had some time left. Seunghyun suggested that we could use it productively, so he began checking the wings and the costumes, while I described the choreography again to make sure everyone remembered it. Fortunately, it turned out that all the costumes were fine and this reassurance let me breath less heavily.

We heard applause from the audience and less than a minute later, team four came back to the auditorium. My state of nervousness reached its highest level, when Jaemyung encouraged us with a gesture to go inside. In a one swift motion, which I hoped the director’s assistant didn’t see, I wrapped my hands around Seunghyun’s neck and pulled his head down for a quick kiss that was exactly the only thing that I need right now.

“What if we don’t meet everyone’s expectations?” I choked out quietly, but Seunghyun only shook his head in response.

“We’re doing it for ourselves. Not for anybody else,” he said.

He pecked my lips one more time, before heading for the opposite part of the room. We had divided the models, including ourselves, into halves to make the moment of emerging from the auditorium less monotonous. Seunghyun and I were the last ones to come on the runway, so we stood the farthest from each other We did it on purpose, to allow ourselves to concentrate on guiding our team properly, without any distraction.

But now I somehow regretted it, preferring to have Seunghyun close to me during this important moment.

“Are you ready?” Jaemyung asked, ready to pass the message through his headset.

“Yes, we are,” I answered with a nod, surprising myself with the confidence in my voice.

We had to be ready, that was now or never.

Jaemyung spoke to his microphone and soon we heard the host’s gleeful voice announcing our teams presentation.

“The fifth collection ‘Fly Higher’ by GD&TOP!”

My heartbeat quickened immediately, but despite that I felt a smile bending itself on my lips. The first notes of our intro began playing, rising above the applause. A bead of light formed in my stomach and I could sense it with every cell in my body. My tension gave way to excitement.

1, 2, 3 Go! - I counted in my mind and CL left for the runway, as if she had heard my thoughts.

The intro changed into the proper background song. We had chosen one we thought suited our concept and attitude towards the whole competition the most, and even if I wasn’t a huge fan of American rap, I had to admit this song became one of my favourites, when Seunghyun had first introduced it to me.

Familiar tunes of Nicki Minaj’s Fly were booming from the speakers, making me smile wide, but when the prelude ended, instead of Rihanna I heard CL and… Bom!

My eyes widened in surprise and I shot a shocked glance at the other side of the room. I managed to catch a fair eye-connection with Bom - she smiled at me before putting on a serious expression and entering the runway.

Fond warmth was filling my heart as I waited for CL to come back. I wanted to thank and hug her for such an amazing surprise the moment she appeared in the darkened part of the auditorium, but when the first chorus was over, I found myself struck by another revelation that was nothing in comparison to my earlier bewilderment.

It was Seunghyun rapping Nicki Minaj’s part of the song.

“Oh my God!” I squalled in awe, raising my hands to my mouth. I craved to run to Seunghyun and kiss him until we both fainted from breathlessness, but I knew I couldn’t do it right now. I saw him beam at me and he mouthed an ‘I love you’ that made my heart melt in an instant.

There were no words that could describe how elated I was.

Bom came back a few seconds after Daesung had left and I nodded to Taeyang to give him a sign to go. I crossed my fingers tight, hoping that the first special effect would work without any problems.

I win, thrive, soar, higher, higher, higher! More! FIRE! - I sang internally along with Seunghyun’s amazing voice and an orange glow lit up the room.

A surprised gasp of the audience let me know that they hadn’t been expecting the fire effect, which was only a product of right combination of artificial smoke and coloured spotlights, but indeed it did look stunning.

It was Tablo’s idea to use this trick and now he had a chance to see it himself, as he replaced Daesung on the runway.

So far everything was going smoothly and I hoped it would remain this way till the end of the show.

Seungri joined Tablo on the runway and I really wanted to check, if he was all fine and didn’t forget the right catwalk pace I had showed him, but instead other person asked for my attention.

“Jiyongie,” Dongwook turned around to look at me. He was next in the row to go on stage. Did he feel nervous or something?

“Y-Yeah, Hyung?” I asked with a tune of hesitation in my voice. My relations with Seunghyun’s brother had really warmed up recently, but it still was hard for me to treat him with complete ease.

“I’m sorry,” he said and smiled sadly. “For turning your life into a misery. I mean, no one deserves to be treated like that. And I wanted to tell you that I really admire you as a person. Thanks for not breaking because of me.”

I stared at him wide-eyed and said nothing, being only able to blink a few times and force myself to nod.

Wow, that was something. Dongwook had apologised to me before, but then it hadn’t sounded so sincere. Did he really admire me?

“Go, Hyung!” I choked out pushing his back gently, because he was about to forget about his turn. I was the only one left now on my side, Dami and Seunghyun being on the other. The rest of our team, including Seungri and Tablo, gathered in the middle, getting ready for the final sequence.

I sent my sister an encouraging smile and when she disappeared behind the scene wall, I turned to the rest of our models.

“Do you remember everything? CL, be sure to walk as fast as you can, but don’t run,” Chaerin nodded and bent down to check, if her brown leather boots on high-heels were laced tight enough. “Taeyang, please be carful, I don’t want you to fall-“

“I’ll be fine, Ji. Don’t worry. I have been practising it for ages,” Yongbae reassured me.

“Bommie, do not spin so rapidly, okay? And Seungri-“

“Jiyong,” CL interrupted me. “We’ll be fine. We know exactly what to do, we remember every your word.”

She pulled me into a tight embrace and I expelled slowly, letting out the tension from the inside of my chest.

“Just trust us,” CL said into my ear.

“I do trust you.”

CL pulled away and looked at me with brightness in her eyes.

“So now, go, Jiyong. And show them who rules this runway!”

She turned me around and pushed towards the stage entrance.

I realised that I had missed the moment, when Seunghyun had been leaving and something knotted inside my heart. I should have paid more attention and share this special moment with him. I was sure he hadn’t got angry at me, but I decided to apologise to him for that later.

Now I had only one thing to focus on.

I came to win, to fly, to conquer, to thrive.

The stage and audience looked so different from the time during teams’ presentation. Maybe it was the merit of different lightning and artificial fog, or maybe it was the music, but indeed there was something much different about it.

I took me a while to realise that it was my attitude that had changed.

I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise

Dami’s hand brushed mine as we were passing by each other and I suddenly realised that this runway felt like home. This statement sounded stupid in my head, but I couldn’t deny that it was true. When I had been trying to visualise myself here during the final show, I had invented a strategy to use, not to do anything stupid like fainting from too much attention from every side. I had planned to imagine that I would be walking through a meadow, my bare feet making graceful steps on beds of flowers, that would be so smooth and ticklish against my skin, that they would concentrate my whole attention.

Here and now, I found out that this strategy was useless.

To fly, to fly, to fly!

Nothing felt as great as the shiny platform under my feet. I had never felt more self-confident than I did at the exact moment. It was great, it was thrilling.

Get ready for it, get ready for it, get ready for it…

I looked up, raising my chin high with a stoic expression, only to see my beloved Hyunnie standing not so far away from me, close to the judge’s table. He had his back turned to them, facing my approaching figure.

…I came to win!

I took my position in front of him, knowing that the rest of our team had already left the auditorium and was now reaching for their places along the runway for our special sequence.

My  heart seemed to be beating to the rhythm of the last chorus in its slowed down version, perfect for the few simple dancing steps, in which a pair had to change their positions, drawing a circle by their lithe moves, without even touching each other, but not breaking the eye contact. However, the main target was for a person to stand directly in front of a ground spotlight and a fog machine, which started emitting wind just at the exact moment, when CL and Bom on the recording began singing the final chorus.

It was the time to present our wings. They were set in motion and were aviating in the air, making everyone draw sharp breaths of amazement.

That was something they had never seen before. That was the thing we aimed for. To leave them shocked, flabbergasted, astonished. Even if we didn’t win, Seunghyun and I wanted to stay in these people’s memories as the kids who attempted to revolutionise the usual pattern of a fashion show.

They had to know how special we were.

I hoped that I would get access to the recordings the camera men were making, because I really wanted to see how awesome our special scene did look. I really wished that my soul could leave my body, which had to remain proud-looking and motionless with magnific eagle cape hanged fluttering around, to have a chance to see everything now and feel the emotions the audience was full of.

To watch Bom’s marvelous dress and the layers of feathers floating as she was spinning around gracefully like a ballerina.

To admire Dami’s colourful wings attached to her sleeves, when she put her hands up, holding them above her head.

To envy Taeyang for his amazing acrobatic skills as he performed a back somersault and then stood on his one hand, the wind unfolding his short black wings of an exotic toucan.

To get scared by dark Dongwook in his long atramentous black coat floating around him like raven spreading its marvelous wings in furious motion, getting ready to fly away into the depths of starless night.

To fall in love with CL’s beauty, when she a pose of a professional photo model with her chin high and eyes narrowed, resembling a proud owl preparing for night hunting.

To think that Seungri was incredibly cute while dancing his little improvised choreography in the black-and-white woodpecker tuxedo.

To feel like a guest on a tea party of hawks’ royal family by observing their heir Tablo, dressed in his majestic tailcoat in the colour of burnt sienna and an aristocratic shirt with jabot. 

To get enchanted by Daesung’s bright smile that seemed like a first announcement of spring, the same as the arrival of storks.

And last but not least – to cherish every second of looking at breathtaking Seunghyun, whose high peacock collar was now spread around his neck gloriously; the collar and a pair of sunglasses with green lenses nestled on the bridge of his nose making an impression that he was a celebrity, well-known actor, that he would surely become one day.

I didn’t have guts to look at the judges to see, if their expression betrayed what they thought of our idea. However, I did look at one person – Seunghyun’s father. My eyes somehow found him just after the dance sequence. I was staring at him and he stared back, and I hoped he could see confidence and pride in my eyes.

When Bom’s voice faded away with the last words of the song, the machines stopped emitting wind. All of us lowered our heads, just as planned, and waited for the moment in the outro, which signalised when to leave the stage. However, we found it difficult to differentiate this moment, because the outro was completely drowned out by hundreds of hands clapping enthusiastically, voices cheering and shouting out of excitement.

My heart rose to immense size in my chest and I was sure it was going to explode from elation. Luckily, before it could do it, CL, who was standing the closest to the auditorium, decided that it was time for us to leave. Everyone followed her, without bowing, because a model does not bow on the runway. We had broken enough of common rules by our performance.

We headed towards the exit, smiles plastered on our faces. Just before taking the last step on the runway platform, I felt Seunghyun’s hand catching mine, as he quickened his pace to walk along with me. Our fingers intertwined, letting me realise how hot and clammy from nervousness my hand was against Seunghyun’s cold one.

Even after our disappearance in the darkened room, the applause still hadn’t weakened. Jaemyung smiled at me and Seunghyun approvingly.

“That was well planned, G-Dragon-ssi, TOP-ssi,” he said. “You should consider becoming a fashion show directors.”

I beamed, hearing his praising words, but shook my head in an instant, “We would do nothing without our friends. We had just combined ideas…”

“Don’t be so modest, Ji, it’s all your merit,” Dami interrupted me all of sudden, pulling me out of the room to the farther part of the auditorium, to make space for the next team. I hadn’t let go of Seunghyun’s hand, so we must have created a funny looking sight, with Dami leading us behind herself, but I really didn’t care.

Back in our team’s spot, my sister turned around to face us, her bright expression betraying what she wanted to do. She spread her arms wide and embraced both of us, her action soon being repeated by the rest of our friends. I closed my eyes to savour this pleasurable closeness, feeling so fond of this circle of dearest people. I had never been a person, who needed the touch of the others, but Seunghyun had taught me to appreciate the importance of feelings shared during a simple hug.

“It was amazing!” Bom exclaimed right into my ear, but I didn’t blame her, feeling equally thrilled as she was. And probably as everyone else.

These were the best five minutes in my whole life. Okay, maybe excluding the last night. Last night with Seunghyun was the best. But undoubtedly, my first fashion show ever was an important step in the process of opening myself to the world. I wanted to say that it was the final one, but thinking about it let me realise, how much there is for me to do in my life. And I would never stop and say something was final.

“Excuse me,“ we heard an unfamiliar voice close to us. However, I couldn’t see who was speaking, because I was buried under fabrics, feathers and human bodies, or in one word: my friends. “I’m looking for a person named Jiyong,” the female voice stated.

“I’m here,” I said loudly and began unwrapping myself from my friends’ arms, until I was finally free and could see a tall slender girl, I had never seen before. But one look at her outfit made me realise, who she was and who had sent her.

“Minji wanted to talk to you,” said the girl wearing a pale yellow dress with silver stripes - a combination of the Moon and Saturn, I had made just a few hours ago. It looked stunningly great, even though it was such an improvised piece of clothing made without the process of designing it on paper or any other rational planning.

“Minji?” CL asked. “You mean Minzy? Isn’t she that y girl-“

“Okay, I will go with you,” I interrupted CL and pushed Minzy’s model’s back gently, forcing her to move away from my team. They shouldn’t know that Seunghyun and I had helped our competitor. To be precise, no one should know.

I nodded at Seunghyun to nonverbally tell him to go with me and he got my message, as always. We didn’t need words to communicate, I had discovered it long time ago.

The Moon-Saturn girl led us through the maze of people and clothing racks, until we reached the other end of the auditorium. There on a dark leather sofa sat Minzy, with her head lowered, eyes glued to her clasped hands, as if her milky white skin was a particularly interesting thing to analyse now.

“Jiyong is here,” the model announced, as if she was Minzy’s servant and then a thought struck me that the 16-year-old was actually Moon-Saturn girl’s boss.

Minzy’s head jerked up and she looked at me with her small eyes, framed by strong smoky makeup that made them seem even smaller. She nodded to herself and then her glance traveled to Seunghyun, who had been approaching her team’s spot and now stood behind me.

“Thanks, Yoona,” she turned to the model. “You can go now.”

The girl her heel after taking a bow and went away. It only proved that my observation about the boss-servant relationship between them was accurate.

“It’s good that both of you are here,” Minzy spoke to us in a low voice. “Because I have to tell you something important.”

My heart froze for a second.

Did we get caught? Are we disqualified? Has the cleaning lady, who found us in the storeroom, grassed us up despite my strong pleas?

A thousand thoughts ran through my mind during a single eye blink, but fortunately, there was Seunghyun, who managed to remain collected.

“What is it, Minzy?” he asked, his voice struggling to stay emotionless.

The girl took a deep breath and then looked me straight in the eyes. “My team is not going to perform,” she stated.

“What? Why?” the questions slipped out of my mouth, before my brain could even register them.

“Just because,” Minzy shrugged. “I don’t want to. I don’t feel like doing it.”

I felt anger rising in my veins. She didn’t feel like performing? Fifteen or ten minutes before her turn to enter the runway?

“You’re kidding, Minji,” I said, having an impression that it all was a joke. “I don’t believe you.”

“Well, you should,” she replied with a sigh. “Because I know I shouldn’t present the collection that isn’t mine.”

I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes. “Minji, we have talked about it. Of course the collection is yours!”

“You are the ones, who have made it. It’s just… it’s unfair of me to go with it on stage and say it’s all my work.”

It wasn’t the right time for sudden pangs of conscience. We had discussed this case earlier and I thought we wouldn’t have to worry about it. Turns out I was wrong.

“You’re right, the three of us know that the collection isn’t entirely made by you,” I said, trying to comprehend all the things I had told Minzy earlier in one sentence. “But you gave me and Seunghyun the bases to work with and we did it only for you to let you go on the runway with it and make your debut, which you really wanted to have today!”

“What if I don’t want it now?” Minzy retorted, her eyes suddenly filling with enmity. “I don’t have a reason to go there with some else’s collection!”

I stared at her, not knowing what to say. Why the hell was she shouting at me? I was the one who could get worked up with a justification.

“You’d waste our hard work,” I rasped with my throat suddenly so dry, as if I had just finished a marathon through Gobi desert.

Minzy’s gaze dropped to the floor, betraying that she was aware of that.

“What about your father?” Seunghyun spoke, coming up with a good idea as usual. “You told us you had to perform, because of him. Have you stopped worrying, that if you don’t go there with the hired models, your dad will never let you pursue your dreams about designing?”

Both of us stared at Minzy expectantly, waiting for the answer, but she remained motionless and silent.

“He didn’t even bother to come,” she spoke finally in a breaking voice. “His chair in the first row was empty. I called him after the teams’ presentation and he said he doesn’t have time for me today. His client in Jakarta is more important than me, so he didn’t even book a flight to Tokyo. Instead, he’s doing his business in Indonesia. Great father, isn’t he?”

Oh.

I hadn’t been expecting that. All my pent-up anger vanished in one second, giving way for compassion and sadness to fill my body. Such treatment from a parent was so unfair and I really pitied Minzy right now. No wonder she had grown to be such a hard-skinned witch on the outside, when her own father didn’t find her important enough to have time for her in his schedule. I had a feeling that it wasn’t the first time something like that happened.

“I’m so sorry, Minzy,” I mumbled and sat beside her on the sofa, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “Now I understand.”

“You do?” she raised her eyes to look at me and I nodded as a confirmation.

“But I still think you can’t give up today. You shouldn’t leave the competition now. It all has gone too far and I’m sure no one will discover our secret.”

Minzy bit her lower lip. “But these are your clothes.”

I sighed and shook my head. “Don’t think about it like that, it won’t change the way it is. There is nothing we can do about it now.”

“The show still is entirely yours, Minzy,” Seunghyun told her, towering above us. I looked up to see his familiar encouraging smile and Minji did the same. “You have worked with your models, taught them the choreography invented by yourself. You’ve chosen the music and the concept. Jiyong and I only helped you, because someone had destroyed your collection you had spent days and nights working on. You fully deserve to be on this runway today.”

In the corner of my eye, I noticed Minzy’s lips twitching into a faint smile. And I knew we won.

“O-okay,” she sighed. “You’ve convinced me, I guess.”

I beamed and embraced her in the paroxysm of joy. “Good girl,” I said and the three of us laughed.

“Don’t give up on your dreams,” Seunghyun added, when he stopped shaking from laughter; his words sounding concrete and wise “Do it for yourself, not for anyone else.”

I knew this advice really well. I smiled at Seunghyun meaningfully and he answered me with a playful tilt of his head and warm flickers entering his gaze.

We stayed with Minzy till it was her turn to go on stage, just to be sure that she wouldn’t change her mind. We helped her with checking, if everything was alright with the collection and it turned out it was good that we were there, because three of the dresses needed a quick intervention. One of them, the one which resembled effects of volcano eruption, but in fact was a combination of the lower part of Mars’s dress and pieces of Jupiter and Sun transformed into a tight, but fragile corset, was almost falling apart on the side. Fortunately, Seunghyun’s skillful hands and adhesive sewing tape were enough to prevent it.

“I still can’t believe that you can do such things,” Minzy sighed. “I wouldn’t even know how to touch it.”

Seunghyun chuckled in reply. “It takes years of practice in the theatre club. You won’t even imagine, how often the costumes break minutes before or during a performance.”

Minzy nodded as if she understood.

With her collection checked, she was finally able to go to the dimly lit room, where Jaemyung was probably waiting for her.

Minzy’s team was the last one to perform, so it meant the whole gala would finish soon and the winners would be announced. I started feeling nervous again, even though I knew there was nothing I could change now.

“Do you think it was worth it?” I asked Seunghyun, when we were left alone in Minzy’s team’s spot. “Was it right to take the risk?”

Seunghyun looked at me, soft smile spreading across his face.

“What do you mean?” he spoke. “Helping Minzy or our choreography?”

“Both, I guess,” I sighed. “I just hope we won’t regret it.”

“Whatever happens, we should believe we did the right thing.”

Seunghyun pulled me closer for a hug and we remained liked that for a while, enjoying each others warmth and closeness, until I reminded myself about something.

“Hyunnie,” I spoke, raising my head up to meet his eyes. “I forgot to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For the song. It was awesome, your rapping was simply perfect! I would have never expected it!” I replied, smiling wide.

“I’m glad you liked it, Ji,” Seunghyun chuckled. “I had to fulfill my promise.”

“Promise?” I repeated in surprise.

“You don’t remember?” he asked, raising a brow. “It was in your bedroom. You sang me Girls’ Generation’s Gee and asked me to rap something for you and I agreed on one condition: that you would sing a song I chose. And you have already done it.”

“Ah,” I gasped, suddenly reminding myself of that situation. “Now I remember! It was so long ago! But when I-“ I stopped, my mind struck by another memory. “Oh, that Miyavi, right?”

“Yeah,” Seunghyun beamed. “That was the most effective thing you could do then back in Busan to make me consider my actions.”

“Well, it was my aim, Hyunnie,” I chuckled and stood on my tiptoes to brush his lips with mine. “I really needed you back. And I hoped this song would remind you how important you are to me.”

“And it did,” Seunghyun confirmed. “I will never forget about it.”

He leant down to kiss me, gentle press of the lips soon turning more passionate, just the way I loved it. Skin on my neck and cheeks buzzed under touch of Seunghyun’s hands and I was grateful he held me, helping me to remain steady in his arms as I melted from sweet joy that was rushing through my body.

“I love you, Seunghyun,” I whispered, when we pulled away. “I can’t believe I forgot about the song promise.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Seunghyun shook his head. “Somehow I feel I’m happy you forgot. Otherwise you wouldn’t stop nagging me to rap for you.”

“Seunghyun!” I whined and pouted, feigning offence. I nudged him under ribs with my fingers, making him squirm. I laughed at his reaction and he shot me a dark glare.

“Do you want me to start tickling your little body, Ji?” he asked in a low husky voice that sent shivers down my spine.

“No, I don’t,” I replied with a mischievous smile, before nudging his sides once again and running away quickly.

I heard Seunghyun calling my name as he was chasing me through the whole auditorium until we reached our team’s place.

“Noona!” I shouted, seeing Dami, who observed us with amused expression on her face. ”Help me! Seunghyun wants to kill me!”

I jumped behind her, hiding behind her back.

“I’m still going to get you, Ji,” Seunghyun warned, approaching me and my sister.

“Have you heard it?” I whined. ”Fight, Noona! In the name of your little brother!”

“I’m not your dog, Jiyong,” Dami sighed, making everyone laugh.

“Why does Seunghyun wants to kill you, Jiyong-ah?” Bom inquired and I could feel expecting gazes on me.

“Because I did that,” I said and performed my infamous double nudge on Dami, the sudden impulse making her bend in half.

“Jiyong!” she cried and I jumped back, before she could catch me and encircle my head with her arm, as she had always done, when we had been younger, to prevent me from running away.

“I guess I’m going to switch sides and join Seunghyun,” Dami stated with a mean smile.

“Traitor Noona!” I exclaimed, igniting another wave of uncontrolled laughter. The situation must have been really hilarious, because I heard other people chortling as well, including our peers from other teams and staff members.

“You guys behave like a bunch of five-year-olds,” CL stated, but couldn’t hide amusement from her voice.

“Whoa, I need to rest,” I sighed and slumped on the sofa, having used all of my energy.

The others followed my steps and all of us remained seated, when the voice from speakers announced that the second part of the gala was over and the judges were currently discussing all the collections that had been presented. A tension similar to the one that happened after the first announcement tonight filled the auditorium. The people didn’t fall completely silent as they had done an hour ago, but the difference in their attitudes was definitely noticeable.

I saw Minzy’s team coming back to their spot - her professional models remaining emotionless and upright as they gracefully strode across the auditorium. Minzy wasn’t with them or at least I couldn’t spot her. Had she disappeared to call her father again? I hoped that everything had gone smoothly during her presentation.

It took more than half an hour for the judges to make their decision. The voice from the speakers announced it in a tone that sounded more excited than before, but I, on the contrary, was even more anxious. The designers were requested to gather in the darkened room for the last time, while the models had to remain on full alert, in case their leaders were pronounced to be winners - then they would have to enter the stage.

Seunghyun decided to postpone his revenge on me and took my hand in his, leading my shaking person to the stage entrance. My heart was beating wildly, pounding in my ears and trying to break my ribcage to get free. I had forgot about my earlier amusement and now my mind could only be uneasy from anticipation and worry.

I wasn’t made for such stressful occasions.

“I’m going to pass out, Hyunnie,” I stated in a weak voice.

“You’re not,” Seunghyun replied, not even looking down at me. He only squeezed my hand reassuringly. “It’ll soon be over, hang on for just these few minutes.”

It wasn’t that easy. Even Jaemyung encouraging pat on my back didn’t help me. The stage that I had begun to like, now seemed like a place of severest torture.

All the teams took the same positions as during the opening part and I found myself looking for Seunghyun’s father in the audience. He was there, in the same place, and he waved at us in a friendly manner. It was a pity that Minzy didn’t have such a great father. Thinking about Minzy, my gaze travelled to the side to look at the girl, who should be standing on my left. But she wasn’t there.

“Seunghyun, where’s Minzy?” I whispered, feeling my insides turning into a knot.

“I have no idea,” he answered, equal worry hearable in his voice.

We have to find her, I thought, but then the applause arose and the music started booming loud, as the judges entered the room with envelope in their hands. It was bright yellow this time.

I felt my heart falling to my stomach the moment I saw them approaching and taking positions in front of their table, in the other end of the runway.

“Seunghyun,” I whined, on the verge of tears. I heard him gasping in shock and I already knew that he had realised the same thing. “It wasn’t a cleaning lady.”

Among the five judges that had been present during our presentation stood the woman we had mistaken for a cleaning staff member, when she had found us in the storeroom, working on restoring Minzy’s collection. Back then she had bean wearing a tracksuit and an old-fashioned hair band and her appearance didn’t resemble the one she was presenting now, in her beautiful crimson red dress, with her sleek long hair falling gently on her shoulders. But there was no doubt she was the same person.

It seemed that she was the sixth judge, who must have been sitting beside their table during the second half of teams’ presentations. And that meant she saw Minzy’s collection.

“Oh God,” I heard Seunghyun murmuring behind me and I had to resist an urge to turn around, bury my face in his chest and start crying.

We were officially done.

The tall man in an elegant black suit, probably the leader of judging team, took the microphone and waited until the host finished his summary of ‘the another exciting edition of >>New Fashion Talents<< Designing Competition that provided us with many surprises and great emotions’.

Oh, great emotions, indeed.

“Now it’s the moment everyone has been waiting for!” the hostess exclaimed. “The judges have made their decision and as for this moment, only they know who’ll become next rising stars in Korean fashion industry!”

Applause.

My heart fell another level down and now occupied the bottom of my abdomen.

It isn’t going to be our duo.

“As Mr. Park has said,” the judge spoke, when the hall fell silent. “We had many fantastic competitors this year. But before we can share with you, what the yellow envelope has inside,” he stopped to show everyone the mentioned object. “We have to make an announcements.” His gaze scanned all the contestants, ignoring the empty place, where Minzy should be standing. “Not all of the teams proved to be worth being here with us.” Shocked ‘Oh!’s escaped many lips of people sitting in the audience. “A few rules had been broken and all the contestants are aware of the consequences of such action. The consequences that are, of course, disqualification.”

Seunghyun tightened his grip on my hand and I realised I had stopped breathing a minute ago. I filled my lungs with needed oxygen abruptly and shut my eyes, waiting for the sentence that would bring us shame and destroy any chances of future career in fashion industry.

“It might have not been visible during the presentations, but one of the collections had been severely damaged by the opponent team. The organising committee discovered, who had decided to take such a blameworthy step, through thorough analysis of the recordings from the storeroom video monitoring.”

Video monitoring?! It was the final nail in our coffin.

At least I was happy that the people, who had destroyed Minzy’s outfits, would get punished. I wondered, if it would be Lee Hi and her friends.

“Team two: The Ultima. Please come forward.”

They were Seunghyun’s stalkers. The three guys, who had been our shadows yesterday. My mind was so occupied today that I hadn’t noticed that they hadn't been following us since noon. They hadn't even tried to talk to Seunghyun in the auditorium.

So it occurs they were having a secret they wanted to keep under wraps.

I internally apologized to the Frenchies for accusing them.

“You are officially disqualified from the competition for unsporting behaviour and breaking the rules. Please, leave the runway.”

The boys lowered they heads and said nothing. They passed by other contestants, who were staring daggers at them and I couldn’t help it and joined this act of banishment. They were too ashamed to look at Seunghyun, who had been nonverbally scolding them as well.

They disappeared in the darkened room, but the tension remained in the great hall.

The judge sighed loudly. His expression and tone of voice changed, as he spoke again, “Some had to get punished, but the others need to be praised!”

What? That’s all? What about: ‘Team five: GD&TOP - disqualification for breaking the regulations’?

My heart suddenly lifted from the depths of my stomach and came back to its proper place in my chest.

“The winning team of this year’s edition of the ‘New Fashion Talents’ Designing Competition will get full scholarship in International High School of Art and Design in Tokyo, as well as modeling contracts with our sponsors and training in Roem Industry headquarters in Japan.”

Oh. My. God.

The judge handed the microphone to his colleague and opened the yellow envelope with a wide grin. The woman held the microphone in front of his face, enabling him to speak without keeping it in his hand.

“It’s the time to announce the name of winning collection,” the judge said.

My hands started trembling uncontrollably, so I clenched my fists into tight balls.

“The Supernova...”

My eyes widened in shock and I shot a quick glance to Minzy’s empty spot. How-

“…and Fly Higher! Both collections made by amazing duo GD&TOP!”

Deafening uproar of the audience almost knocked me off my feet. The music started playing, tons of colorful glittering confetti were thrown in the air by the wind machines, which had helped us to make our presentation unforgettable.

“We- We won?” I choked out, still not believing it. I stood like frozen with people cheering around me. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the woman in crimson red, who was smiling at me wide and nodded to me meaningfully. Somewhere in the background I heard excited voices of my friends, who emerged from the auditorium to join us on stage. I wondered, if Minzy’s models came here, too.

“Pinch me, Seunghyun,” I sighed. “I must be dreaming.”

“I have a better idea, Ji.”

With that sentence he turned me around to face him and kissed me senseless, till everything around me stopped to matter.

I was taken alive to heaven. With my body and soul. On wings stronger and better than any bird could ever posses. It was Seunghyun’s love.