“It’s her…” He breathed, staring through the curtains on the side of the stage at the VIPS that were crushed against the front rail. “She’s here.” A grin spread across his face, causing his eyes to crinkle, his other members staring at him curiously.

Jongup began to shiver from the wings, not from the cold but from nerves. His hands absently went to the hem of his suit jacket, the first outfit they were to wear on stage. An idea struck him and he gestured frantically to a bouncer by the corner of the stage, who turned and raised an eyebrow to him curiously. “Her. Do you see her? Please make sure she’s okay. Make sure she has plenty of water and doesn’t get hurt.”

The bouncer nodded, grinning and walking back to the pit in front of the stage, standing close to the girl Jongup had mentioned.

“Is that the girl you talked about? The one you saw in the elevator, but didn’t have the balls to talk to her?” Daehyun murmured close to him, adjusting his own jacket and rolling his neck as he smiled playfully.

“Yea! I had hoped she would be here, but I had no idea she would be in the front row… now I’m nervous.”

“Hyung, you’ve performed these songs hundreds of times! There’s nothing to be nervous about! And besides; how do you even know it’s her?” Zelo chirped from the side where a stage hand was quickly attending to his hair.

“I knowwwww… But I am! And I know it’s her, Zelo… I know that hat.” He groaned, swallowing hard as he saw the lights dim, and hearing the screams of excitement from the crowd caused all of them to bounce on their feet and roll their shoulders, getting ready.

Together they burst out onto the stage, roars of appreciation belting through them as they danced around, pumping up the crowd. Timidly Jongup felt his gaze pull toward the girl in the front, who was holding a camera up in front of her as she screamed in excitement.

He had no idea why she was affecting him the way she was… Maybe it was the fact she was one of the few fans who hadn’t mobbed them when she saw them at the hotel. Yongguk had told him after she got out of the elevator that he had seen her in the lobby, but instead of screaming at him and rushing for his autograph, she merely smiled nervously and slowly turned away.

The night went by as a blur, full of laughter and smiles as they did what they loved; performed. Jongup occasionally teased the audience by pulling up the hem of his shirt, showing off his well-coveted abs. At one point during a “down part” where he wasn’t jumping around frantically, he stood close to the girl on the stage, throwing glances her way to ensure she was having fun.

His heart stopped as she grinned and threw her hands up into the infamous “heart” sign, causing his mouth to quirk up into a smirk. Shyly, he stared at her intensely and put his hands into his own “heart,” blushing faintly and whipping his head away to hide his reddening cheeks.

Finally the encore song came, and they stood there, sweaty and tired, but invigorated as they performed “With You,” serenading the audience and providing a ton of fan service. However, Jongup refused to do anymore “heart” signs from the other fans, instead waving and winking at them. Once they did their final bow and shuffled off, all the guys started crowing that they were hungry and wanted food, grumbling as they downed some water in preparation for the Hi-touch.

“I don’t wanna do this… I’m all sweaty.” Zelo muttered, peeling his shirt away from his chest as Himchan nodded sullenly, wiping his face on a towel.

“Hey, Jongup, maybe that girl will be there.” Yongguk teased, nudging the younger with his shoulder.

“Yaaaa… shut up Yongguk..” He groaned, running his hands through his damp hair. His nerves, so recently dissipated, rose violently to the surface, causing Daehyun to look at him nervously.

“Are you okay, Jongup…?” He murmured quietly to him, handing him some bottled water, which Jongup downed eagerly. “You’re very pale.”

“What if she IS there, Dae? I don’t know what I’d do.” Anxiety tore through him, and he glanced over his shoulder at the crowd that was shuffling out of the audience slowly.

“Think of it this way, Moon.” Himchan declared, leaning against the wall as he fanned himself with a piece of paper. “If she is, you see her for another five seconds, and then she’s gone. Don’t mean to be grim, but you’ll probably never see her again.” He shrugged, folding his arm over his chest while the other still fanned.

A sensation of cold hit Jongup in the pit of his stomach, and he swallowed the last bit of water in the bottle Daehyun had given him, tossing the bottle into the recycling bin nearby. To be honest, he wasn’t sure if he WANTED to never see her again… The image of her face, the smirk on her lips and mirth in her eyes, was burned into his brain as he stood there against the wall, thinking about what would happen.

Soon enough they had to line up for the Hi-Touch, and painfully slowly 100 lucky fans slunk in, excitement plainly etched over their faces. The members went through their paces, high-fiving the fans as they walked by, grinning and bowing as they accepted small gifts from their fans, placing them on a table behind him. The entire time Jongup felt as if he were in a daze, smiling politely at the people in front of him, and chuckling as he saw Zelo acting like a nut with his version of a hi-touch.

Then she walked in, and he felt his heart stop. With an effort he pulled his gaze away from her, and smiled at the girl in front of him, giving her a half-hearted high-five. Being last in line, he watched as the girl walked past the rest of s, and then grinned despite himself as she laughed at Zelo’s antics. Finally she stood in front of him, and after he gave her the high-five, he heard the words he’d been dying to hear; “I love you, Moon Jongup.”

As she scurried away, beet red and embarrassed, Jongup felt a stupid grin spread across his face, unconsciously bouncing happily on the balls of his feet as she turned around to smile at him one last time.

The rest of the fans filtered through, and finally they were alone with their coordi-noonas. For a moment the guys were silent, and then Zelo threw his arms up into the air and crowed, “FOOD!” Laughter burst throughout the rest of them as they nodded enthusiastically, running to the back rooms to change out of their concert wear and back into their comfy clothes.

During the drive to Shila in Korea town, Jongup remained rather quiet, sitting at the window seat of the van and absently staring out at the buildings and people on the street. He couldn’t get his mind off of that girl… who was she? What was her name? Where was she from? How old was she? Groaning he gently rested his forehead against the cool glass and clenched his eyes shut.

He must have fallen asleep, because next thing he knew Daehyun was shaking him and telling him they had arrived. Blearily rubbing his eyes he stretched and nodded, scooting out of the van and following the rest of the group inside. Fangirls were quickly approaching, so they dove into the restaurant, allowing their managers to block the door from the inside.

“Aishh… there are fans here…” Zelo muttered, groaning as he pulled the hood of his hoodie up over his head, affecting a tired smile.

“Let’s just hope they don’t jump us.” Himchan sighed, nodding and following Zelo out onto the floor.

Again, his heart leapt; it was her. She was with a few other fans, obviously having dinner after the show; a small pile of their merch was stacked against the wall. Her back was to him, but he could tell it was her by that god-forsaken hat, and his jaw dropped open as he pointed to her absently. The girl facing him, sitting across from her stiffened as she saw them approach, and gently she reached out to touch the girl’s arm. “Steph…” He heard her mutter as she gestured to the group.

Finally he had a name! Steph! Slowly she turned and saw Zelo, and to all their surprise, not a one of them jumped up, screamed, ran to them, or tried to touch them. Instead they all waved, smiled, and politely bowed their heads, thanking them for the concert.

Relief was apparent in the guys, and they all smiled pleasantly and waved back to the girls as they marched up the stairs. Jongup was in a daze again as he walked up the stairs, another goofy smile plastered on his face as he sat down at their table at the top of the stairs.

Jongup ate his food without tasting it, grinning around his drink like a moron as the guys . “Awh, looook… Moon’s all moony!” Daehyun teased, shoving a chunk of rice into his mouth.

“Oh like you’re innocent, Dae. I saw your look at the girls down there.” Yongguk cried from the head of the table, his face red from too much soju. The rest of the group immediately began bellowing at each other, laughing jovially as they teased each other.

Jongup took his chance and stood, sneaking past the managers toward the top of the stairs, fully intending to go talk to her, only to see her halfway up them. They both blinked nervously, and the girl, Steph’s, face turned pink as she stared at her feet. “You… dropped this.” She murmured, holding up an earring between her two fingers.

His hand darted to his ear, and sure enough, there was an earring missing. Smiling softly, he descended the stairs until he stood next to her, and he grinned, gently taking the piece from her fingers and putting it back in his ear. “Thank you. Did you… have fun tonight?” He asked slowly, his English a bit broken and rusty.

Looking up into his eyes, she smiled pleasantly, causing his heart to race. “I did, thank you. You remembered me?”

“Of course I did.” He murmured quietly, holding his hand up into the “heart” sign he had given her earlier and winked at her. “I don’t do that for just anyone.”

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, as the girl struggled to find the right words. After a moment she groaned and went to turn, muttering something about having to get back to her friends.

“Wait!” He cried, reaching out and grabbed her wrist gently. The last thing she wanted was for her to vanish and he’ll never see her again… he barely knew who she was, knew nothing about her, but he knew one thing, he’d never forget her. “Wait. Please don’t leave yet. I didn’t get a chance to really say hello.”

Taking a step back, he politely bowed, grinning as he did so. “Annyeong, my name is Moon Jongup! What’s yours?”

Laughter bubbled from her, and she raised her eyebrow as she looked at him, one hand on her hip. “My name’s Stephanie. And do you really think I don’t know who you are?”

Laughing, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I guess not. But I wanted to thank you, Stephanie, for coming to my show… And for not mobbing us all those times you could have.”

“Oh… you remembered me from then, too?!”

“All of us do. You’re one of the few people who didn’t leap at the chance to grab at us.”

“Then you might want to be careful leaving.” She sighed, throwing her thumb over her shoulder. “About fifteen people down there are ‘eating,’ but are really just waiting for you.”

Groaning, he rubbed his face and nodded. “Thank you again. It appears I have a lot to thank you for today, hm? How can I repay you?” As she stood there and protested for a moment, saying she didn’t need any repayment, a grin spread across his face as he grabbed in his pocket for a pen and paper. Scribbling down on it, he folded it up and grabbed her hand, placing the small square into her palm and closing her hand around it. “This… is my phone number. Please, if you’re ever in Korea… uhm… tell me.”

Blood rushed to both faces as she nodded, swallowing hard. Suddenly, as if being pushed by unseen forces, Jongup found himself stepping closer to her, cupping her face in his hands as he leaned down and gently brushed his mouth against hers. They stood there for a moment like that, until she broke away, hearing her friends wondering where she was. Smiling sheepishly, she tucked the number safely into her vest pocket and nodded, swallowing hard. “I will. I should be there in June or July… I’ll text you. T-Thank you, Jongup.” She murmured, bowing politely as she scurried back to her table.

Jongup stood there in a daze for a minute, until voices from the top of the stairs caused him to turn around. s were there, walking down and putting their jackets back on. As they asked him what he was doing, he murmured something about having to look for a lost earring, which they accepted and tossed him his jacket. Walking down the stairs, he murmured something to the rest of them about the groups downstairs seeming suspicious, and for them to be on their guard.

As a group, they slowly walked out and sure enough, just as Stephanie warned, the additional people leapt up and mobbed them, pushing at them and pleading for autographs and pictures. And, no surprise there, Stephanie’s group stayed seated, even moving their chairs into the table to allow them an easier path out of the restaurant.

The rest of the members smiled and waved at Stephanie’s group, ignoring those that pushed at them, and Jongup hung back for a moment, forcibly making eye contact with Stephanie and winking, tapping his chest to remind her about his phone number before following Yongguk out of the restaurant.

As they piled back into the van, he grinned and leaned back against the seat, folding his arms behind his head as he relaxed, until his phone buzzed. Pulling it from his pocket, he couldn’t help but grin, seeing a text message, so simple, but meaning so much. ---C u in June.---

Oh, he definitely wouldn’t forget her.