The sudden shaking of the airplane woke me up. Outside, the clouds looked sad and unwelcoming. The tires screeched against the airport’s pavement on cue with the captain’s announcement: We have landed in Hong Kong.

                The first step I took outside the plane was uncomfortable. I was alone amongst the screaming girls waiting behind the beaten down railings- waiting for my friends or clients. Yes, I think client is a more fitting word.

                I rushed to the baggage claim hoping to not damage my eardrums any further. There was still a sea of people; children running to get their Winnie the Pooh strollers, parents running after them and idols- idols everywhere some with heavy coats and masks, others ironically still had sunglasses on despite the weather and despite being indoors which caused me to laugh a bit. Maybe they, too, were hiding some sort of loneliness. An arena containing 10,000 fans and an ocean of whatever their fandom’s color is doesn’t really help sometimes, well, that’s what they usually tell me.

                My phone rang as I grabbed my suitcase from the conveyor belt nonchalantly. “Yoboseyo?”

                “Eodiya?!”

                “What a great way to say hello to your dongsaeng, Jiyong oppa.”

                “Arasseo… An-nyeong Hase-YO, Jiyeon-ah! How was your day? Did you wake up nicely? Because ….. I DID NOT! We still don’t have a performance for tonight. Jiyeon-ah… jebal… palli juseyo, eo? Oppa’s about to have a heart attack.”

                “Geokjeongma! Aish, oppa  your like an ahjumma sometimes you know?... Hello…? Oppa!!” He hung up. I was about to go when someone tugged on my luggage.

                “Noona, that’s my bag.” A child’s voice got my attention so I turned around.

                “Kid, you shouldn’t bring this big a luggage for your…” I turned around and looked up and down a height of around 6 feet. “….age?.... “ I swallowed a gulp of air. “Were you the kid who spoke to me?.....” He nodded to me instantly.

                “Noona, I think this is your bag.” He handed me a similar-looking suitcase but one with a red ribbon on it as my mom always taught me so I’d easily distinguish my luggage. I glanced back at the one I was holding. It had a bunny sticker on it. I should’ve seen this coming.

                “Choiseunghaeyo.” My phone vibrated again and I left him there after exchanging the bags.

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                I peered out the streets through the heavily-tinted windows of YGE’s expensive rented vans. It was so hard to see through it being the weather was also dark and gloomy. I didn’t need such van. I’m not an idol anyway. I’m not going to sacrifice my life to please people.

                The van stopped at the backstage door of the Exhibition Centre. Jiyong oppa and the rest of Big Bang were already there rehearsing the lines of the songs we agreed on. They greeted me with happy but with nervous looks. They were all tired having come from various countries only a few hours ago as well. Truth is I find better satisfaction in lifting up their spirits than planning their stage performances.

                We moved to the actual stage. Most of the artists were now doing hair and make-up. Despite only four years of doing this, I’ve grown accustomed to unoccupied arenas and such.

                The boys and I discussed for a few minutes what the whole stage  will be like. It usually takes us only that long since the minds of Big Bang has been exposed to many styles therefore they think of many things. The ending: a monster theme, a huge skull backdrop, TOP coming out in a robe and pretending to be Jiyong while rapping to Crayon, Daesung comes out with an army of Edward Scissorhands people during the chorus, Youngbae raps the next verse and comes to meet a disguised Seungri at the seats provided for the idols signaling him to take off his Halloween mask. The skull breaks in half revealing Jiyong mashing up the song to Fantastic Baby and the rest of the performance continues in a concert-like, non-broadcast, way- something very typical of us to think of due to time constraints.

                Big Bang did one run-thru of the whole performance and it was flawless. I always had to watch them perform. It was my job. I was to blame if their performance . My peripheral vision took notice of an idol group still not dressed and seemingly waiting for their turn to do rehearsals- either that or they wanted to watch the practice. I noticed one staring at me though it’s pretty hard to tell since he was wearing a cap. We soon went off stage so that the boys can get ready. The idols at the back then climbed on stage and some music went on. It was pretty catchy despite the very repetitive ‘NO! NO! NO! No Mercy!’ and I decided to stay behind.

            A blonde man- actually, they were all blonde- it was really hard to tell. But one of them perfectly hit a 2-octave rise somewhere near the end of the song. It’s a shame they cut the song short. My feet dragged me to the first step of the stairs off the stage until I heard a deep voice Warrior’s back. Suddenly everything was a mixture of heavy beats and whistles with a hint of violins at the background- something I would consider overwhelming- but it just wasn’t. Somehow, it was even better, in a way, than some of Jiyong’s random beat experiments. I looked back at the stage and saw the six blondies dancing a very expressive dance- the capped boy controlling the other five - something like a puppet dance. They were taking me in with every move. The capped boy then raps albeit, a bit normally. His stage presence was like that of Jiyong back in 2008. He’d grow into a respected rapper, I can assure that. But then…. he hits me with a rapping style I know only Outsider can do- and he did it in 2 seconds. I swear I look dumbfounded. 

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Aigoo~ sorry to cut it short~ I was about to make this one-shot but because i realized i made this fic too long~ well? 3 chapters maybe?