“Judith!” Someone slapped me lightly. “Judith!” I could hear screaming girls and a wonderful dramatically sung melody with words I didn’t understand. “Judith, come on!”, Isa shouted and slapped me even harder. Suddenly, I heard Sari’s voice and sat upright. “Wow, that was fast”, Isa shouted. I smiled at the faces staring at me and stood up to see him again. “I’m sorry Isa…”, I screamed in her ear. “Sit down Judith! Now!” Isa pulled me back on the seat and stared into my eyes. “I was worried. Should we go outside?” “NO!”, I screamed. She raised one eyebrow. “Sari…It’s him”, I said. She opened her eyes and stared at the stage. I listened to the music again. Lee Hongki really had a powerful voice. The song ended and everyone was cheering. “How much did I miss?”, I asked Isa. “Sit down again!”, she pushed me back again, “Only the greatest SHINee performance ever! Onew tripped twice!” She laughed. Then she was serious again: “You were right, Sari really has a beautiful voice.” I looked to the ground. Why hadn’t he told me? Actually, I wasn’t able to hate him for that. Minho had told me himself that being popular wasn’t always great.

Suddenly, somebody talked in English. Somebody whose voice I had been dreaming of: “Chudith? I was told you were here, so I wanted to say sorry for not telling you about me. I hope you will accept this apology.” I stood up and took the binocular. Sari was standing in front of the microphone with his guitar, a spot directed at him. A murmur went through the audience and he played the first accord.

“If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of a the sea,

I’ll sail the world to find you.

if you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can’t see,

I’ll be the light to guide you…”

I cried. I seriously cried. Isa stood there stock-still and stared at me.

“You can count on me like one, two, three, I’ll be there,

and I know, when I need it

I can count on you like four, three, two, you’ll be there.

Cause that’s what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah…”

Count on me from Bruno Mars. The song he had sung the day we’d met. He was sunken in the song, not opening his eyes. Isa hugged me and wiped away my tears. She didn’t let go of me until the end of that song. I stared into Sari’s face and watched his mouth move. I felt like there was only me and him. When the song ended, everybody started to cheer again, but still, I could see people shout into each other’s ears with wondering looks on their eyes.

“Let’s wait for them at the foyer!”, Isa suggested, “We are never going to get to them here.” “But maybe they aren’t coming tonight. Maybe they are celebrating their concert!” SHINee had been really great in the last two hours. The concert had ended in a highlight, SHINee and FT Island performing together.

“It’s worth a try”, Isa said and called our limousine. I wasn’t so sure: “And why should we wait for them?” “To congratulate them? To say thank you for the tickets? To quiz them out about Song Seunghyun!” I sighed. I had to admit, I was very confused. Sari suddenly appearing on a big concert, singing a song for me…” Wake up, Judith, our taxi’s here!”, Isa shouted. We got inside the cosy black Mercedes and left the staring people. “That was so much fun!”, Isa said. “Yeah”, I just murmured. She my shoulder: “Don’t worry! You are going to meet Sari again!” I nodded and stared out of the window.

When we arrived, we brought our bags into our room and sat on the couch in the foyer. I got out my phone and we listened to American pop music. It already was quarter to twelve and Isa was yawning. She put her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. I knew I wasn’t going to sleep and nodded to the beat of the songs. The next time I looked at the clock, it was one am. Suddenly, the idea of waiting for key and Minho, Taemin and Onew and of course Jonghyun appeared stupid and I just wanted to get up, when the door opened and SHINee came in. They were laughing and Minho gave Jonghyun a high five. Key was the first one to spot us on the sofa. He came over to us and asked surprised: “Hey, have you been waiting for us?” I blushed: “Well, kind of…we wanted to say thank you for the cards, but unfortunately, Isa fell asleep before you appeared…” He laughed: “Oh, no problem! Did you like it?” I thought of Sari’s song: “Yes, it was really impressive and cool!” “Thanks!”, Minho said and smiled, “I’m glad you liked it.” Isa yawned. Key chuckled and knelt in front of her so he could look into her eyes. As she opened them, both started to laugh and Isa jumped on her feet: “Oh my god, Key, your concert was so cool! It really was! Wow, you five were amazing!” They all laughed and started to walk towards the elevators. I wanted to follow them, but in this moment, the doors opened again and Sari came into the hotel, carrying a big suitcase.

I froze on the couch. He went to the information desk and checked in. I couldn’t stop staring at him. His hair was a little messy, probably from the wind. He wore a modest white T-shirt and black Jeans. He turned and noticed me staring at him. He stared back for a second and said good-bye to the receptionist. Then he came over to the couch and I got up. “Chudith”, he said quietly and let go of his case. I threw my arms around him and started to cry. He put his arms around me tightly and I laid my head on his shoulder. He was here! I really had been able to see him again! I took a step back and stared into his face. He was smiling. “I missed you so much”, I sighed. He looked serious now and pulled me towards him. He kissed my lips lightly and smiled again: “I just had to do that.” I giggled happily and grabbed his suitcase. “Where’s your room?”, I asked. “5th floor, room number 589”, he answered and pressed on the button of the elevator, “Where’s yours?” “4th floor, room number 489.” The doors opened and I pressed on the five. “How did you get here?”, he asked and leaned against the glass. I smiled: “By plane!” Sari chuckled. “No, I mean, why are you here? Why a five star hotel? Well…I mean…”, he didn’t know how to ask me without sounding cruel. “You want to know who pays for this?”, I helped him. He blushed and nodded. I laughed at his cute reaction: “I actually won this. So the radio station I am always listening to has to pay.”

The doors opened and we stepped in the hall. He opened his room and took a look at it. It was exactly as mine and Isa’s. There even was the same double bed! I stepped inside and bowed in front of Sari: “Please enter, Sir. We are thankful that we are able to give you a room. Thank you for choosing this hotel!” He laughed and pushed me lightly. He put his suitcase next to the cupboard and jumped on the big bed. I threw myself next to him and asked: “Where are the others of your band?” “They’re on the plane to Korea right now. I’m only here because I don’t have any schedules at home and I am going to fly back with Key and his mates”, he answered. I raised an eyebrow: “No schedules?!” He shook his head and closed his eyes. I yawned. “You should go to your room and sleep now”, he suggested and pushed me out of the bed. “Hey!”, I screamed and tried to defend myself, “Don’t start getting all mean again!” He stopped. “How was I”, he asked. I didn’t know what he was speaking of. “I mean at the concert!” “Oh…you were awesome. You know you have a wonderful voice?” He smiled: “Thank you! Now go!” I laughed and we got up, he hugged me again and then I left.

It was about two o’clock when I finally was in bed. I told Isa what had happened after they had gone upstairs and she was really happy for me. She was about to freak out and so I asked her what she’d done. “Oh, well, we just were laughing the whole way up here, I don’t even now, why. And then Key came into our room with me and…”, she said. “And?”, I asked anxiously. “..and he told me about Seunghyun.” I was confused: “What?” “Well, Seunghyun had told him about a girl he had met and how much he’d wished he could have seen her again, and they found out it was you. You know, they are like best friends. So Key gave me those cards…” “He gave them to you because of Seunghyun?!” “Yeah, well, he wanted to make sure you were going to hear Songhyun’s song for you. And then they had the idea of Songhyun living in the hotel.” I was a little shocked. They had made such an effort just for me? I was sure Sari hadn’t seen his family for a while. Why didn’t he spent his free time with them? “Sari kissed me today”, I said. I couldn’t see Isa’s face because of the darkness, but I bet she looked very surprised right now. If she had her eyes open. “Seriously?! That is so cute! Oh my god! Wooow!”, she started to yell. I put my hand on and laughed. “I wish Key would have kissed me”, she sighed. She really liked him. “Well, always when you were around he tried to do something with you”, I tried to cheer her up. It was true anyway. She chuckled: “But he didn’t kiss me!” I hit her with my pillow. “Don’t be too impatient!”, I mumbled, “Now good night!” “Good night”, she answered.

I thought about what Isa had told me. Sari seemed to like me very much. But still, I bet I liked him even more. I couldn’t forget the kiss. Wasn’t that a proof that he loved me? Actually, everything he had done was a proof he loved me, but I was scared of being wrong.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face.