“Are you sure you can’t stay?” Heechul asked. He and his fiancée, Anne, were standing in a hidden corner behind the stage, away from the loud crowd that had gathered in front to wait for the concert to start.

“I can’t,” Anne said. “What if more survivors make it here today? I have to be there to make sure they’re not bit...” She let her voice trail off for a moment and then added, “This place works because there is order. Without order… it would just be chaos.”

“It’s going to be chaos anyway today,” Heechul said. “I already heard soldiers talking about abandoning their guard duty so they can see the concert.”

Anne shook her head. “That’s not right,” she said. “Everybody has a job to do. Those guards are supposed to be protecting the stadium. How can they do that if they’re not even there?”

Heechul shrugged. He knew that he wasn’t going to win this argument and get her to stay to see him perform. “Can you at least find me one of those hand-held radios you all carry around so that we can still talk today?”

“Here, take mine for now.” She pulled the radio from her waistband and handed it to him. “I’ll get another one once I get back to the nurse’s station.” She kissed him goodbye. “Love you,” she said.

“Goodbye, princess,” he said. He watched her walk away into the madness and noise of the crowd, not knowing that this would be the last time he would ever see her.

The Big Bang boys, because they wouldn’t be performing until much later in the concert, were relaxed and talking with a few fans as the soldiers finished setting up the amplifiers and other audio equipment on stage. One fan, a Native American girl named Dani Jae, had been telling the boys how she had come to Seoul just in the hopes that she would meet Big Bang, and how, as it turned out, her dreams had come true.

“I just wish we could have met under different circumstances,” she said.

“Did you come in with the evacuation teams like everyone else?” T.O.P. asked.

“Yeah,” Dani Jae said. “I heard your group came alone. Is that true? Did you fight your way here?”

T.O.P. and the others nodded.

“That must have been crazy,” she said. “But it shows how strong you are. I have a warrior ancestry, but I haven’t yet had to prove myself in that way, not like all of you have.”

Daesung shook his head. “We’re not warriors,” he said. “We barely got out alive.”

“But you did get out. You made it. That makes you warriors in my book.”

At that moment, Heechul appeared from around the back of the stage. Jong Kook and Gary were scheduled to sing first and Heechul had agreed to play piano for their song, “Come Back to Me Again.” Yesterday, Gary had written out the basic melody, and Heechul was reading that sheet music now as he made his way to the stage.

Gary showed up, too, followed by Jong Kook, Ji Hyo, and Byul. Despite the noise of the crowd, baby Dream was quiet and sleeping in Jong Kook’s arms. He cradled the boy and kissed his forehead, so happy that he was able to fulfill one promise and be there for Haha’s son. If only Suk Jin’s family was here, he thought.

Just then, a huge roar was heard from the crowd. Jong Kook turned around and saw the many fans that were cheering for Jae Suk, who had just walked up to the lead microphone in the center of that stage. Jae Suk fixed his glasses, smiled, and held up his hands to quiet everyone down. But that only made the crowd cheer more, all of them so happy to see their nation’s emcee alive and well, and so happy to be there, too, alive and well themselves.

“Um, I’m sure you all know me. My name’s Yoo Jae Suk…”

The cheers and applause rang out again. Someone in the crowd yelled, “We love you Jae Suk-oppa!”

“Ah, thank you,” Jae Suk said, smiling. “This stadium,” he began to say, as he gestured around, “is where the annual Dream Concert is usually held. Today, it seems we’re having our own Dream Concert.”

Everyone cheered again.

Jae Suk looked around the stage area, which was somewhat of a mess with the audio cables strewn about. “I think we should give a round of applause for the soldiers for doing what they could to put this together.”

The soldiers were mixed into the hundreds of citizens on the field surrounding the stage. Most of those soldiers smiled and bowed slightly for the applause directed toward them. Others who had abandoned their guard posts to see the concert tried to hide their faces from the unwanted attention.

“This is our Dream Concert in many ways,” Jae Suk continued, “not only because we have a lineup of some of the best idols, but because we are all alive and here with each other.” He pointed to his wife and little boy in the crowd. “It was my dream to find my family, and I am so lucky to have them here with me now.”

When the applause died down again, Jae Suk said, “First to the stage are two of my dearest friends, Kim Jong Kook and Kang Gary!” The crowd cheered and Jae Suk tried to yell above them. “And joining them is Kim Heechul from Super Junior!” The crowd cheered even louder now as the three men walked onto the stage.

Heechul bowed shyly as he walked toward the keyboard. He placed the sheet music onto the stand and waited until Gary gestured for him to start.

As the first few notes that Heechul played were amplified through the speaker system, the crowd began cheering yet again, and Gary then began the opening to the song.

As that last line echoed through the stadium, Jong Kook returned the microphone to its stand and stood with Gary on the stage, looking out over the cheering crowd. He saw the three fans that he and Ji Hyo had met when they first arrived – Shanice, Jong Ri, and Min Yeon – standing in the front row with little Ah Ri, that sweet seven-year-old who hoped Jong Kook and Ji Hyo would marry and have children. Jong Kook walked to the edge of the stage and extended his hand out to his fans as the rest continued to cheer and applaud. Gary, meanwhile, had seen his fan, Suzy, and he now waved to her and to everyone else in the crowd.

Jong Kook, Gary, and Heechul gave one final bow and then walked off the stage as Jae Suk then walked on.

While Jae Suk talked to the crowd, G-Dragon and Dara stood at the far side of the stage, away from the fans. 2ne1 was scheduled to go on next.

Dara had been a bit nervous. It was the first time that she and the other girls would be performing their song live.

“Don’t worry,” G-Dragon said. “You’ll be great.”

Dara smiled and, without caring if anyone saw, she pulled G-Dragon in close and kissed him, feeling that same rush that she had first felt when they kissed back at the YGE building.

G-Dragon wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes as he engaged more in the kiss. But they were both interrupted by Thunder at that moment.

“Erm,” he said, squeezing his eyes closed. “I don’t need to see my sister kissing!”

Dara laughed and hugged her little brother.

The other 2ne1 girls gathered around her now, and when Jae Suk called their names, they huddled together, joined their hands, and said, “2ne1! Let’s play!”

Just as they were about to step onto the stage, G-Dragon called out to her. “My sweet Sandara!” he yelled playfully. “Saranghae!”

Dara’s mouth fell open somewhat but then turned into a wide smile. She stood there, frozen for a moment, until Donghae and Siwon escorted her up to the stage.

Donghae and Siwon had spent the previous night trying to learn the unplugged version of 2ne1’s song, “Come Back Home” on the guitar so that they could provide the musical accompaniment. As they walked onto the stage now, they each sat in a chair with their guitars on either side of the four 2ne1 girls.

The girls stood in the center holding their microphones and waiting for Donghae and Siwon to tap out the first few notes.

And with that final note, the excited crowd screamed and whistled, all realizing that they had been the first to hear that new 2ne1 song live. The stadium was alive with their cheers, the noise so loud that it was nearly deafening.

CL, Dara, Bom, and Minzy bowed to the crowd, which set off another eruption of cheers for the girls. They smiled and hugged each other, all feeling the thrill of performing mixed with the emotions evoked through that song running through them. They then waved to their fans, stopping near the edge of the stage to thank them, as Jae Suk returned to the stage.

“We’ve heard two songs now of loss, of missing people, which I think, considering our situation, we can all relate to,” Jae Suk said. “This next group coming on will be singing about the light that can emerge in the darkness. They are MBLAQ, and they believe in a better day!”

G.O., Lee Joon, Thunder, and Mir then walked onto the stage and bowed to Jae Suk as the crowd went crazy, particularly the girls all screaming in delight for the handsome idols.

The boys held their microphones and waited as the soldiers in the soundroom prepared to pipe the instrumental version of “One Better Day” through the stadium speakers for them to sing over. But something went wrong. The speakers suddenly squealed out in this high-pitched shriek, which incited everyone on the field and stage at that eastern end of the stadium to quickly cover their ears until the squeal died down to a staticky feedback and then, eventually, to silence.

For the first time since the concert had started, it was quiet. And, because of that, everyone who had gathered at the eastern end finally heard the horrific screams that had been ongoing in other parts of the stadium for some time, covered up until now by the noise of the concert.

Everyone tried to peer over the crowd to see what was happening, their faces flushed in worry.

Suddenly, Heechul heard static blaring out from the handheld radio Anne had given him. He reached for the radio just as Anne’s voice came through, screaming for help.