It was 5:30pm, and only an hour and thirty minutes until she would appear right in front of my eyes. I was ridiculously excited, to the point where I had packed a sick bag into my satchel just in case I thought I was gonna throw up from all of the nerves and butterflies.

"Will they really let you in this early?" my dad asked me as we drove to the arena.

"No idea dad, but it's just in case they do! And if they don't, then I'll be one of the first ones in when they start to, won't I? Smart, huh?" I smirked.

My dad ignored my comment, and kept his eyes fixed on the road, "do you have enough money for food or merchandise or whatever kids spend money on at concerts nowadays?"

I opened up my bag, but I noticed that my hands were shaking, and began to fumble around to try and find my purse, "ummm," I located the little red money bag and shook it. There was a small jingly sound, and that either meant I had more notes than loose change, or I had no notes and barely any loose change.

It was me, so, I kinda guessed the latter would be true.

I opened the metal clasp, and to my suprise, there was a large roll of notes in there and a few coins at the bottom.

"HAH! I put all that in last night for you. Smart, huh?" my dad grinned.

My heart was warmed; my parents were really determined to give me the best birthday present ever.

"I LOVE YOU APPA!" I squealed, and my hand instinctively touched his on the gear stick as a thank you gesture.

"I love you too, Sooyoung," he smiled, "now, if I've done my research correctly, the money in there should get you a t-shirt, a light stick, a poster and a few snacks if you want them."

I was glowing.

"THE POSTER I'VE WANTED FOR MONTHS!"

I saw him nod, but his eyes were still on the road.

"So it was a good plan to come early, because then you can avoid the queues and get all of your merchandise!" he chuckled to himself, "who's the daddy?" he whispered.

"Appa, don't embarrass yourself now," I giggled.

His face formed an ironically embarrassing grin, but he stayed quiet.

"Almost here, did you see the sign?" he asked as we passed a brown sign with the words "SEOUL ARENA" pasted on it in bright white capital letters.

"I saw," I squeaked, and I felt bubbles popping in my stomach.

To say I was nervous was an understatement, but I had no reason at all to be nervous. I wasn't meeting her, I was only seeing her sing with a couple of thousand other people. It wasn't that big of a deal. People go to concerts all the time and I'm pretty sure no-one gets nervous about them, right?

"I SEE THE ARENA!" the words bursted out of my mouth instinctively.

"Wow, I haven't seen you this excited since we brought out your birthday cake when you were 5!" my dad joked.

"Shhhh," I grumbled, a little embarrassed about my outburst.

He drove the car into the parking lot pretty swiftly; I guess he could sense my excitement.

"Right. We're here! Go off and have fun, text me when you get in the arena, and text me when she's singing her final encore," my dad smiled with a sweet of my face.

"I will! Thank you thank you thank you!" I squeaked as I jumped out of the car.

"Oh and Sooyoung?"

"Yes appa?"

"Happy birthday."

My eyes formed crescents and I leant back into the car to kiss my dad on the forehead.

"Now go have fun!" he ordered playfully, and with that I shut the car door and began to walk towards the arena.

From what I could see, there were already about 100 people lingering outside and in the entrance of the stadium, and I was hoping that the queues inside proved to be small so that I could get my poster.

I walked quickly, with a little bounce in my step, and smoothly pulled open the door to the inside. It was masssive. The tainted glass roof had a slight shine, and there were neon lights around the edges. The queue to the merchandise store wasn't long, but still I jogged over towards it just in case it somehow filled up in a matter of seconds.

My mind was flipping out.

I could see the poster right at the top of the stall on display, and people were walking away with bags full of Sunny Lee merchandise. My hands were trembling again, and I was approaching the front of the queue.

"Can I have a poster please?" I heard the girl in front ask. There were two of them, and they looked like sisters or best friends.

"Of course!" the guy behind the stall replied, "only two left."

The other girl in the pair turned around and smiled at me, "did you want a poster?"

I stumbled over my words in my excitement, "y-yes I did."

"Then, Yuri and I will share, so you can get the last one!" the girl replied. Her smile was warming, and I think she could sense my excitement and nerves.

"Wow, um, are you sure? I mean, if you want the poster then it's fine," I replied in shock that the girls were so nice to me when they didn't even know me.

"We're sure. Yoona and I share all the time!" Yuri smiled as she turned around to face me.

"Thank you so much! Wow... I'm so grateful!" I bowed slightly, to show my genuine appreciation.

The darker haired girl, Yuri, handed the stall owner the money and took her bag, then stepped aside to let me get to the front.

"Hi, what would you like?" he asked kindly.

"I'd like a poster, a t-shirt and a light stick please," I said shyly as I got my money out of my purse.

I noticed that the two girls who were in front of me were still standing beside me, waiting patiently.

"Of course!" the man said as he turned around to collect my purchases for me.

"So, this is your first Sunny Lee concert right?" Yoona asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

I nodded shyly, "first concert ever..."

"Wow!" Yuri exclaimed.

"I guess you're here alone, huh?" Yoona asked, a little invasively, though I could tell her intentions weren't mean or rude.

I nodded again, and my hands were fiddling with my purse.

"Well, we're in the standing part, so if you are, then you could stand with us so you're not alone..." Yuri offered with a pure smile.

I tried to remember where I was, and I was pretty sure I was also in the standing part.

"I don't really remember where I am, can I check in a moment?" I asked the two kind girls.

"Of course!" Yoona nodded, and I noticed her hand slip into Yuri's.

The man turned back to hand over my items and I handed him over the correct money.

"Thank you," I squeaked as I walked away to the side to let the people behind me advance in the queue.

I placed my bag down on the floor and searched for my ticket.

I was also standing.

"I'm standing too!" I giggled.

"Great, so do you wanna stand with us? It would mean you're not alone," Yoona encouraged.

I looked at these girls, and they seemed genuine to me.

"Sure, why not," I smiled back, "that was very kind of you."

"Well, we both know how it feels to be alone at concerts," Yuri explained, "it's totally better when you can fangirl with people!"

I nodded as we walked.

"You guys seem pretty close, are you sisters?" I asked curiously.

Yoona started to giggle, and I saw her squeeze on Yuri's hand a little.

"We're actually dating."

I watched as they looked lovingly towards each other.

"Aigoo! So cute!" I giggled. 

"Thank you," Yoona replied, going a little pink in her cheeks.

"OH! Look, they're letting us in! Come on. We wanna get as close to the front as we can!" Yuri shouted as she began to run, and Yoona was pulled along behind her.

I decided to run with them so that I didn't get left behind.

We showed our tickets and were led into the standing part of the arena, but they were still running to get to the front. We managed to get about 5 rows from the front, but that was just perfect enough for me. I mean, I wouldn't get to touch her hand, but I was close enough so that she might be able to see my face.

I began to glow as I thought about it, and turned around to see that already, almost all of the arena was full up.

"Where did all these people come from? Back there near the merch there was only like 200 people..." I puzzled.

"There are like 4 other entrances!" Yuri giggled.

"Oh wow," I said staring around in wonder.

The lights were slowly dimming, and one by one, more purple lights were turning on and being waved about in the air. I decided to pull mine out and give it a go.

"Did you guys get light sticks?" I asked, pulling mine from my bag and switching it on.

"We brought our own from the last Sunny Lee concert we were at!" they said together, almost in sync.

I nodded as we held our sticks up in the air.

"Woah."

A purple ocean.

The lights were very very dim now, almost pitch black, and I knew it was nearly time to see my idol.

Yoona suddenly screamed.

"LOOK! I SEE SUNNY IN THE RIGHT WING!"

She was tall, but of course, I was tall too, and I began to look for myself.

.

I could see her.

Just her head.

"She looks so good tonight," Yuri mumbled.

"Doesn't she just. Man I could just marry her right now." Yoona joked.

"YAH! What about me?" Yuri pouted.

"I was kidding. No-one would replace you, silly."

"Saranghaeyo," Yuri said with aegyo, and Yoona kissed her on the cheek.

Usually I felt sick hearing couple aegyo, but these girls were way too cute. It was genuinely adorable.

"LOOK, IT'S STARTING!~"

The arena went pitch black, and there were screams from all corners of the place. Purple lights were waving everywhere, and everyone was just waiting for her to appear. I knew everyone couldn't wait, but I was pretty damn sure that I wanted to see her the most. 

The tension was thick, and I was now shaking extremely rapidly.

All of a sudden, the music broke through the screams, and there in the middle was my idol.

Sunny Lee.

She broke out into her hit song, and my mouth was moving before my brain even had time to think. I was screaming the song at the top of my lungs, so energetically that people were beginning to stare.

I didn't care though, I was having the time of my life.

Song after song after song was sung, and I was jumping and dancing and screaming and singing. My emotions were rocketing sky-high. I couldn't contain myself, and I thought my body was going to spontaneously combust or explode over everyone.

She began to speak to us, but it felt like she was only speaking to me.

"I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING AN AMAZING EVENING! Thank you for showing me love and singing along so crazily. I love you guys!"

I couldn't breathe.

I was singing along crazily.

I was excited and a little delirious.

"NOW, one question. Who wants to come up here and sing with me?"

My heart fell out of my mouth.

ME. I WANT TO!

But that was only in my thoughts; I couldn't speak.

Suddenly Yoona caught sight of me hyperventilating.

"HER!" She screamed while pointing, and immediately, fans turned to me and pointed too.

"HER!" they chanted, "PICK HER! SHE'LL DIE IF YOU DON'T!"

I was screaming internally. People were cheering for me to have the best time. These fans were truly the best.

Sunny brought her hand up to her forehead as if looking out to the crowd to pick someone. I watched hopefully as her eyes followed the mass screaming and pointing towards me.

"Her? She'll die? Is she okay?"

I went white. Sunny Lee was concerned about me.

"YES! HER!" Yuri screamed, and it was so loud that it sounded like her vocal chords were going to tear.

"Do you want to come up?"

Those magical words.

She was staring right at me.

I still couldn't really talk, and so I just gave an exaggerated nod.

"Awesome! Well, come on up. Make space guys!"

Yuri and Yoona's eyes were forming crescents as they patted me on the back and cheered for me even more.

"Make some noise! I think she's really nervous," Sunny said as I walked towards the stage.

I couldn't believe this was happening.

I couldn't believe it.

She was talking about me, talking to me. She had made eye contact with me, and now I was going to sing with her.

My footsteps were filled with nerves, and to be honest, screw butterflies - I was feeling the whole zoo.

I walked up the steps and she was standing at the top ready to greet me.

"Hello," she said warmly. Her voice was like honey, drizzling all over the screaming fans. It was making me melt. "What's your name?"

I looked at her in complete and utter shock.

"Ch-Choi S-Sooyoung..." my voice echoed through the whole arena.

She smiled sweetly at me and took my hand to lead me into the middle of the stage.

"Well Sooyoung, we're gonna sing this song together, okay?" she looked at me so lovingly. She was acting like we had met before briefly, though I knew we hadn't, and her eyes were scanning my face over and over again.

I nodded as one of the tech guys from the back came out to hand me a microphone.

"If you get nervous, don't worry. I'm here! You can even keep hold my hand if you'd like," she offered.

I nodded my head rapidly and she kept holding on tightly.

She was just as short as I expected, but I didn't care. My dream girl was holding my hand in front of 20,000 people.

The music started and she looked at me with a warm smile as she nodded encouragingly.

We started to sing, and my voice wasn't too great, but I was nervous so no-one really cared. The whole crowd was singing peacefully along and loving every moment. I felt like I was channelling every other fan's feelings inside of me as I sung. I felt like we were one.

She began to swing our hands slightly and we moved about the stage a little; she was guiding me with every step, constantly offering me that gorgeous smile to help fight the nerves. Her little hand was so soft to touch and I didn't ever want to let go.

The song ended, and surprisingly, my last chorus was less shaky and even kind of sounded good!

The crowd errupted with love and cheers.

"CHOI SOOYOUNG, CHOI SOOYOUNG," they chanted endlessly.

And suddenly, overwhelmed by it all, I began to cry a little.

Sunny saw as the emotions overcame me and immediately embraced me, shoving her mic into the mic stand.

She gripped me tight.

"Thank you for supporting me, you are the reason that I am here on this stage. I am eternally grateful," she whispered into my ear as she rubbed my back.

I sobbed even more, and the crowd was still chanting wonderfully.

"Excuse me," she spoke into her personal clip on mic, "can you bring me out some tissues and my notepad and pen please."

She was so polite.

Within seconds there was a guy running out with the items she requested.

"Here," she said as she handed me a tissue, "wipe those tears for me."

And her smile compelled me to clean myself up.

I didn't see as she was writing in her notepad as I was too busy stopping myself from looking like a blubbering wreck, but as I looked up a little to see her, I noticed a little piece of white paper which was folded up in her hands.

"Here," she whispered, "take this, and open it when you are home."

I looked at her, a little overwhelmed by everything, but gently took the paper and placed it into my jeans pocket.

"You're cute," she winked, and she politely ushered me to go back to the crowd now.

"Don't forget about the note!"

***

The rest of the night was sort of a blur. She did a few more encores, and I fangirled with my new friends, the YoonYul couple. They kept asking me what she had told me when she hugged me on stage, but I was too lost in my own world to answer them properly. We exchanged numbers and promised to keep in contact, and it seemed like all of a sudden, the night was over.

Dad came to pick me up, and in no time, I was back in my room, laid on my bed. A dreamy smile filled my face.

I told my parents I'd tell them all about it tomorrow, and they happily agreed.

My hand slid down my body to my front jeans pocket as the reality of the night hit me.

I had to check the note.

My thumb and my index finger grasped the little piece of paper and pulled it out in front of me. I began to unfold it carefully, wondering what it was going to say. I thought it was probably going to be an autograph and began to giggle excitedly. Not only did I get to sing with her, but I would have the autograph to prove that I met her.

However, the message which met my eyes was not an autograph. There was a phone number, and some writing which simply said.

Choi Sooyoung, my adorable duet partner.

Call me. <3

P.S: I'll be waiting.