16.

Looking up from the white envelope in my hand, I take a deep breath as I walk up the steps to the concert hall. Two Korean girls brush past me as they giggle to themselves, running towards one of the countless growing lines. I shove the white envelope back into my bag and swiftly make my way to a line. I take a glance around the premise of the concert hall, watching fans gushing over cut out pictures of their favorite members, while clutching their handmade fan signs and glow up sticks.

I feel so out of place….

I can barely remember the names all of the members…

But Minseok wanted you here.

Subconsciously, a smile grows on my face.

He wants me here.

“Why aren’t we going in yet? It’s almost 7:15pm,” a girl, in front me, rants to her friend. As if he heard her, a man at the beginning of the line begins to open the doors to let us go in. A chorus of screams and squeals fill the air as we make our way into the concert hall. Twenty minutes later, I reach the door. The man glances over at me and pauses before he opens his mouth.

“Uh...t-ticket?” he says, with an accented English, gesturing a ticket with his hands.

I reach into my purse and pull out the white envelope, revealing the ticket to him. He takes a double look at the ticket and then looks back at me. He scans the ticket and gestures for me to wait. Turning around, he strides to one of the security guards, clad in a navy blue, wind breaker jacket and says something to him. The other man nods and follows him as they walk back to me.

“Uh, you…you have-uh...pass?”

I nod, pulling out the pass. He takes a glance at the guard, who nods and unenthusiastically gestures for me to follow him.  I follow him through a back stairwell that leads directly into front of the concert hall. He leads me to my seat and pauses for a moment.

“Uh….my English not good. Um…”

I raise my index finger, signaling him to wait a moment. I reach into my purse, pulling out my note pad and pencil.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t mention it earlier, but I understand Korean. Go ahead.”

Flabbergasted from what he read on the paper, he lets out a long sigh and runs his right hand through his hair.

“You should’ve said that earlier,” he exhales in slight frustration. “Making me feel like a fool,” he mumbles under his breath.

“Anyways, you have a special ticket and pass, so once the concert is over, you can meet the group backstage. Go through the stairwell we went and make a left. Someone will meet you there.”

Meet. The. Group?

I dunno if I’m ready for that….

I slowly nod in response and he shoves my notepad into my hands before walking away. I look down at my seat and at the surrounding empty seats.

He got me front row seats… This must have been an expensive ticket.

Slowly the seats around me begin to fill and the chatter around the concert hall gradually increase. Moments later, all of the light turn off and neon blue, strobe lights appear in the center of the stage, formed in circle. Music begins to play from the mega speakers and from the base of the stage, figures of eight men rise up on the platform. They strut off of the platform, straight to their positions on the stage. As the music continues to play, they all dance in synchronized formation, never missing a beat. My eyes scrambles from each face of the members to find Minseok. As I turn my attention to the member dancing in front of me, it clicks.

Is that Minseok?

He looks completely different,

…but really good.  

My eyes are glued on him. After the first two songs end, the group introduces themselves on stage.

“Hello everyone. We are one! We are EXO,” they greet in unison.

Minseok walks over to where I am seated and slyly waves in my direction. Blushing, I wave back. A member taps him on the shoulder, who appears to be Chen, and whispers in Minseok’s ear. Minseok laughs and nod. Chen glances in my direction and frantically waves. Minseok loudly laughs and slaps his back, telling him to calm down.

As the concert goes on, my eyes never leave Minseok, carefully watching him. His every move, turn, the curves of his lips as he sings his lines, the jokes he whispers into one of his group member’s ear as the rest talks to the crowd, and how his eyes light up as he brightly smiles. From time to time, his eyes would make contact with mine, causing a small smirk to creep on his face. But at this point, I didn’t care. His stage presence is mesmerizing.

He really loves doing this.

Before I knew it, the concert was over. Everyone begins to gather their things and make their way to the exits. I reach into my bag and pull out my VIP pass. I follow the security guard’s directions and walk into the stairwell, weaving through the scrambling members of the backstage crew. I notice an opening on the left of the hallway and walk down the path, for a couple of steps, before I see a young woman, holding a sign that displayed my name. Cautiously walking up to her, I flash my pass to her and point to the sign.

“Aya?” she softly asks.

I nod and quickly pull out my notepad.

“I was told by the security guard to come here.”

“Uh, yes,” she answers with a confused look on her face. “I’m one of their coordinators. They’re currently changing right now. They should be done within the next five minutes. You have to wait here before you can go to their dressing room.”

I stand beside her alongside the wall and look at the ground.

“He mentioned that you didn’t talk…I didn’t know he was telling the truth.”

Minseok must have told her…

I release a sigh.

“But like he said, you are very pretty,” she continues.

My head snaps up to see her face, but her attention is focused on a distant figure walking towards us.

“Aya!”

Minseok lightly jogs up to us with his glistening, sweat drenched hair swaying as he jogged.

He still has on his clothes from the concert.

His black tank top hugs against his body as his movements transforms into a smooth walk as he got closer to us.

“Thank you, noona. I can take it from here,” Minseok smiles to the coordinator. Minseok places his hand on my back and guides me down the hallway.

“So, what did you think of the concert?” He questions, locking eyes with me.

“I loved it. I barely recognized you up there. You were really good.”

“Thank you, simply the work of back to back rehearsals.”

“The coordinator back there said that you guys were changing. But you didn’t.”

“I thought about it, but then I got excited because I knew you were waiting for me. Don’t worry, I’ll just change when you’re meeting my group members, who are, by the way, excited to meet you.”

“Really? What did you say?” I hand him back the notepad with a raised eyebrow and playful smirk.

“Nothing. They just know who you are. That’s it.”

“Mmhmm…being a little sketch right now.”

“No sketchiness here,” he laughs. We reach a black door on the right side of the hallway. Minseok knocks twice and turns the knob. Ten faces turn to our direction, three of which appear to be part of their management team and the seven – EXO.

“Is this her?” One jumps up from his seat, walking towards to us.

“Yes, Chanyeol. Relax,” Minseok comments.

I smile and bow.

Chanyeol reaches for my hand to shake it. I oblige and return the handshake. Minseok hands slides off of my back to my elbow.

“I’m going to go change,” he informs me. Turning towards everyone else, he points his finger at them.

“Guys, behave,” he warns before disappearing behind a side door. I turn my head towards of the other members, who are blankly staring at me.

“Come sit with us,” another says, who appears to be the youngest, Sehun. Sehun gestures to a seat on the black couch in the middle of the room.

“If only Lay hyung was here, he would love to meet you,” Chanyeol comments.

“You really don’t talk?” A voice from the side of the room asks.

I shake my head and look down at my hands.

“Baekhyun, stop,” D.O slaps Baekhyun at the back of his head.

“Excuse him,” D.O. apologizes with a smile.

I feel a pair of eyes, whose gaze is burning into the side of my face. I turn my head in its direction to see Kai silently watching me. He quickly looks away, blushing, bringing a small smile to my face.

“Did you like our concert?” Suho queries.

“I loved it. You guys must have practiced a lot,” I write with big letters and hold up for everyone to see.

“We did, but this is what we love to do. So what songs did you like the best…. Or you can tell us who is your favorite member?” Chanyeol probes.

“I loved Growl, Call Me Baby, and Lucky, I think that’s what it was called. I’m not sure. For the member question, I don’t have one yet.” I hold up the notepad with a coy smile.

“So hyung told me that he met you at a coffee shop?” Chen questions.

“Yeah, my grandparents own it.”

“How long have you been in Korea? Do you like it?” Kai walks in closer and asks, sitting on the opposite arm rest of the couch.

“I was born here, but after I turned eight, I moved here from the US. I love Korea, it’s my home.”

“So what do your parents do?”

“Guys – chill with all of the questions,” Minseok strides into the room, freshly changed into a blue and white flannel shirt, with a simple white shirt underneath.

“Everyone, I just got a call. There’s a meeting for you guys at the SM office,” a manager says to guys. A series of groans fill the air. The manager turns to me.

“I’m sorry, but you have to leave soon.”

“But hyung,” Sehun pleads.

“Sorry Sehun, I have no control over this,” the manager responds, patting Sehun on his back.

“It’s fine. I shouldn’t stay out too late. It was really nice to meet you guys.”

I get up and wave towards them.

“Thank you for coming!” Several of them say.

“EXO Fighting!”

“I’ll walk you out,” Minseok walks up from behind and whispers in my ear and I respond with a nod.

We walk out through the door, back into the hallway, heading towards the exit.

“Sorry I couldn’t spend that much time with you.”

“It’s okay. I understand that you guys are busy. But, I really enjoyed the concert and talking with everyone else.”

“I’ll try to visit the shop tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.” I glance down to place my notepad and pencil into by purse. Raising my head, my eyes catch Minseok’s, which are carefully watching me. He stops walking, which causes me to stop as well. A short chuckle escapes from his lips before he opens his mouth.

“While you were talking with everyone else, Jongin, uh Kai came up to me and told me that you were beautiful.”

My eyes widen in response.

“I mean, he wasn’t wrong. You really are.” He turns his body towards me and takes a step closer. His eyes flicker from my eyes to my lips. My eyes move to his lips, which are ajar.

They look really soft.

“I..,” he says, with his voice no higher than a whisper.

“HYUNG!” A voice yells from down the hallway.

“I… I have to go,” his eyes flicker to mine. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Aya.” He touches my arm before turn to walk back down the hallway. I watch his figure disappear.

Um….d-did that just happen?

Author's Note:

This chapter is soo long. I think this has to be the longest chapter I've ever written lol. 2042 words. Whew. Well that was that.

Things are heating up....heheheh lol

I hope you guys liked this chapter.

Don't forget to comment and upvote!

Too adorable