Ji Hyo had been awake for a few minutes. She knew that it would be morning soon and that she and Jong Kook needed to leave and try to sneak back out onto the field, but she was trying to put off those thoughts and cherish these last few moments for as long as she could.

Last night, they had found an entrance to the stadium that was unguarded and had snuck into the interior and up the floors, narrowly avoiding soldiers here and there, until they came to the floor where the sky boxes were. The sky boxes were small private rooms with glass fronts that allowed for a view of the field below. There were two tables inside the sky box they entered: a round dining table in the center and a long buffet table along the wall. Both were bare but for a white linen tablecloth on each. Jong Kook had taken one of the tablecloths and had laid it down on the floor, where they had made love for hours and hours, pleasuring each other late into the night.

Afterward, they had used the other tablecloth as a sheet to cover their bodies while they slept, which Ji Hyo now pulled up to her shoulder as she her side and rested her head on Jong Kook’s chest, absorbing his warmth. She loved the way his body felt, how big and hard it was. She ran her hand across his chest now, letting her fingers circle around his s and then glide down to his stomach.

“Ji Hyo-yah?” Jong Kook mumbled, his eyes barely open. When he saw her look up at him, he closed his eyes again and smiled. “Saranghae,” he whispered. He pulled her soft body in closer to him now, his arm around her.

“We have to go,” she said. “It’ll be light out soon.”

Jong Kook sighed and lightly brushed his hand along her arm. “I don’t want to go,” he said.

Ji Hyo kissed his chest and then leaned in close to his face, their eyes just inches apart. “We can’t stay. I wish we could but we can’t.” She kissed him but only briefly, not wanting to get lost in his lips, and then she tried to pull him up to sit.

Jong Kook sat up reluctantly, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and looked at Ji Hyo now. “What if we don’t go? What are they going to do?”

“They have guns,” Ji Hyo said.

“They’re not going to kill us, Ji Hyo-yah.”

“But… but they have food.”

Jong Kook’s mouth dropped open as he smiled. “Ah! So that’s why you’re really in such a hurry to get back,” he said, teasing her. “You love food more than me!”

Ji Hyo hit him playfully. “I need food to survive!” she said. “And so do you. Weren’t you just complaining last night that you needed to eat more to keep your muscles?”

Jong Kook glanced toward the windowed front wall and saw a corner of the dark sky already awash in the emerging colors of the sunrise. “Do we have time to do it just once more?” he asked.

Ji Hyo smiled and then stood up, revealing her body to him one last time before she began dressing.

“I guess that’s a no?” he asked.

Gary woke up and sat up in his cot. He usually slept but, considering what little privacy everyone had at the stadium, he had decided to keep his clothes on. He wondered what had happened to their old clothes and if they would ever get them back. During the check-in procedures, a soldier had mentioned that their clothes were confiscated for contamination reasons, and Gary supposed now that his blood-splattered clothes were beyond the point of washing. But he wished that they had given everyone two sets of clothes so that they’d have an opportunity to change. He felt grimy and unclean. And then he realized that, in his walk along the perimeter, he hadn’t seen anyplace to shower.

As he was thinking about this, still half asleep, he noticed that CL was awake in her cot next to him. He saw that she was sitting up and reading something. Gary smiled now, realizing that Seungri had given her the letter. He put his shoes on and walked over to her cot, interested in hearing her reaction to Seungri’s confession.

“Good morning,” he said, peeking through the plastic that hung down around her cot.

CL smiled and then folded the letter discreetly. “Anyone else up?” she asked.

“I don’t think so.” He pointed down to the letter in her hands. “What are you reading?” he asked.

“Ah, you caught me,” she said, smiling. “It’s just a sweet note from someone.”

Gary smiled. “From an admirer?” he asked, trying to pretend he didn’t know who the writer was. “A fan or someone we know?”

“Someone we know,” CL said. “I guess he was too shy to tell me his feelings in person.”

“Men are like that,” Gary said, laughing. “We don’t know how to talk to women. But it seems like this man, whoever he is, must feel deeply for you if he was willing to risk everything and expose his feelings.”

CL unfolded the letter and read over the words again. “Yeah, I just never expected this. We don’t know each other well.”

Gary shrugged. “It seems like he wants to know you more, though. And for you to know him.”

CL looked at Gary suspiciously now. “That’s… that’s kind of what it says here,” she said.

Gary swallowed hard, realizing his blunder. “Ah, yeah, I guess everyone feels that way, right? Like just wanting to feel more connected to someone.” He knew that he was a terrible liar and needed to get out of this conversation fast. “So, anyway, I’m going to go. I want to find out where we can wash up.”

“They’re going to bring us basins,” CL said. “At least, that’s what I heard. I think Daesung’s sister mentioned something about it, about how everyone gets a rag and a small basin of water each morning, just before they deliver the food.”

“Oh,” Gary said. “Well, I’m going to go… wake everyone else up then. Anyway, you should definitely talk to whoever wrote you that letter and let him know soon how you feel. Don’t leave that guy hanging for too long.”

CL looked over the letter again. “I’ll talk to him today,” she said.

After they were both dressed, Jong Kook pressed his ear against the door to try to hear for any soldiers on the other side. Ji Hyo stood close behind him.

“Anything?” she asked.

Jong Kook shook his head and slowly opened the door. The hallway was empty in both directions and so they hurried back down the way they had come and followed the stairs all the way down to the first floor, where the entrance to the field was.

But the entrance was guarded. Jong Kook and Ji Hyo aligned their bodies flat against the wall of that dark tunnel as they stared at the two soldiers at the entrance, not knowing what to do.

The two soldiers had their backs to the tunnel and were in the middle of a conversation.

“This concert may not be the best idea,” the shorter of the two soldiers asked. “Don’t you think the music will attract the zombies?”

The taller soldier scoffed. “What? You think zombies like K-Pop? Come on, be serious. Anyway, these poor people need some fun. And, frankly, so do we. All this time, we’ve been following orders, doing what we’re told. Wouldn’t it be nice to just forget about all the that’s going on around us and just feel normal again?”

“I guess. Do you think Super Junior will perform even though only half of them are here?”

“I don’t know. The only group I care about seeing is 2ne1. Those girls are hot, hot, hot. Especially that CL. The body on her… did you see the ‘Missing You’ video? I swear, the things I could do to that–”

Jong Kook purposely cleared his throat.

The two soldiers turned around and instinctively took out their weapons.

Jong Kook held up his hands. “We’re not trying to cause any trouble,” he said. “We just want to get back to the field.”

“What were you two doing inside?” the shorter soldier asked.

Ji Hyo stepped forward. “I just got confused. I thought the bathrooms were in here.”

The two soldiers looked at each other and then put their weapons away. “You two just got here yesterday, right?” the taller one asked. “You came in with the 2ne1 girls?”

Jong Kook and Ji Hyo nodded.

“How about I’ll let you pass through without reporting this if you promise to get me CL’s autograph.”

Before Jong Kook could answer, a loud crackle was heard from the stadium speakers surrounding the field, followed by a low hum. A staticky voice then resounded. This is an announcement. The following people must report to the southern entrance. A long list of cot numbers then echoed from the speakers, one of which Jong Kook recognized as his own.

When Jong Kook told the soldiers this, they gestured for Jong Kook and Ji Hyo to pass, and the two then walked out to the field, confused as to why Jong Kook was summoned but not Ji Hyo.

When Ji Hyo returned to their section, she saw that only Kwang Soo was there. He was talking to a young woman with long brown hair who had somewhat of a tomboy look. Her tag said that her name was Kim Clevi.

“We were just talking about why all the singers were called,” Kwang Soo said.

“It must be for the concert all the soldiers are talking about,” Kim Clevi added.  “I was just telling Kwang Soo-oppa that if they do have a concert, I’m hoping that he can do his dance. You know that dance he always does? That robot dance?”

Before Ji Hyo could answer, Kwang Soo immediately launched into his dance, his joints like creaky hinges as he awkwardly bent his knees and wrists.

“Aah! So irritating,” Ji Hyo said.

Kwang Soo stopped dancing. “Aish, Ji Hyo-yah, why so mean?”

Ji Hyo apologized. She didn’t really find Kwang Soo irritating. She was just conflicted about the concert. Some part of her felt that it would be wrong to pretend as if everything’s normal and try to have fun when people all over were suffering. But then she realized that she had done exactly that just last night. She had spent the night with Jong Kook not only to express her love for him, but to also feel some sense of normalcy and happiness.

The more she thought about it, the more she understood the concert as a completely rational response to the situation they were in. The soldiers were right – everyone at the stadium needed, and perhaps even deserved, this break from the horror.

She sat with Kwang Soo and Kim Clevi now, not saying much but just listening to the two talk and laugh. They seemed to have formed a quick connection despite having just met. But that was how it was now – people just needed each other… not only to survive, but to feel alive.

As those whose codes had been called began walking to the southern entrance, it quickly became apparent to Jong Kook why they were summoned. He saw that his Big Bang and 2ne1 friends were all making their way to the southern end, as well as MBLAQ and the remaining members of Super Junior. Gary and Jae Suk were heading there, too.

Se7en met them all at the entrance and told them that he was just put in charge of the concert. “We’re fortunate to have so many singers here to help morale,” Se7en said. “My officers told me to tell all of you that you’d be serving your country if you perform. And you, Jae Suk-ssi, if you host.”

Hearing this, everyone began talking with their groups about which songs they’d sing and how they would manage the verses sung by members who hadn’t survived.

“When exactly is this happening?” Jae Suk asked.

“They’re already setting up,” Se7en said. 

“Already?”

Se7en nodded. “They don’t see any reason to wait. If everyone can be ready in time, they want to do it tomorrow afternoon.”