As soon as your teacher announced the end of class, you sprinted your way out of there. It had been a few months since the last time you left class with a smile on your face. One day in High School you had decided to study Public Administration in order to become a Human Resources expert at some prestigious company. Though the further along you came, the less you wanted to still become a Human Resources employee. With your Master’s studies coming to an end, you were starting to realize that choosing to study Public Administration was probably the worst decision you could have made. And as if that wasn’t enough, there were multiple other Master studies that could lead to getting a job in Human Resourcing. So jobs were scarce and you were screwed. You worked your off every day in statistics classes and made endless research papers. But knowing that there would be no job in sight for you after all that struggle left you completely unmotivated. The only thing that got you through the week was your part time job. Every other night and sometimes on the weekends, you would build up stages in one of the biggest concert halls in Seoul. The job couldn’t have been a more different from your studies, but it was exactly what you needed. Just whacking at some stage elements with a hammer and tearing it down at the end of the night, it was a good way to cope with frustration. And it was also a good job to meet people, people who could help you get a job sooner or later. Your job wasn’t just a frustration outlet, it was also a networking swimming pool. Every time you had to attend work, you talked to everyone, made sure to remember their names and receive a business card if possible. Your job had become your hope for the future.

But that day when you sprinted out of class as soon as you could, you didn’t just run out of class because school was boring. And you didn’t just hurry over to the arena because you wanted to montage some stuff together so badly. It was because on that day, you were going to set up the stage for a special concert. A few months ago you had built up the stage for a performer named Kai and after the show you ended up talking to him all night. You figured he knew lots of people so he would be an amazing addition to your network. And well, you also couldn’t deny that he was ridiculously handsome when you saw him perform on that stage you built. When he introduced himself to you that night, his name came out so beautifully from his singing throat that you remembered it instantly: Kai. It was like his name got tattooed on your memory and it would never leave. Kai, the amazing dancer with the beautiful smile. Whilst you were talking to him, the little things he did made you admire him even more. The moments when he’d smile showing all of his teeth, or the times when he’d nod with his sparkly eyes obviously alert. He was a charming guy who, for whatever reason, understood your sense of humor perfectly. As if his stage performance hadn’t impressed you enough, his personality surely convinced you. It took you weeks after that conversation to stop thinking of him every day. One time you even busted yourself on doodling his name in your notebook during a boring class. It was childish but completely unintended.

Of course you were no stranger to the way celebrities functioned. Your years of stage building had made you see a significant amount of idol-behavior. Some artists were so incredibly nice that it blew your mind, but they would forget the person they met instantly. Their minds just couldn’t process every single person so they resorted to just being nice to everyone. Others didn’t even bother to pretend that they cared. They would give short answers to people they knew wouldn’t be an addition to their own life, cutting a conversation short bluntly. There were some in-between types as usual, but you realized very well that the amount of people these celebrities met in a year overwrote all the other people they met before. There was no way that Kai felt or thought the same way about you as you did about him. You remembered him because he was the only special person you met all year. He met tons of special people in the last month. Besides, he didn’t ask for your number and he didn’t give you his when he could. You had a nice conversation, one of the nicest you ever had, but a conversation that Kai would have long forgotten days later. Months passed and you had forced your memories to fade. Though seeing that you were scheduled to build Kai’s stage a week before the date, brought back every thought you had carefully put away. You were most likely going to see Kai again on your networking after party. And it was scary to realize that he wouldn’t remember any of what you had talked about months before. You knew he wouldn’t remember, but actually having it confirmed would be so much worse.

A week of mental preparation later you entered the hall where your work was laid out for you. Your co-workers and other people you knew through your network happily said hi when you came in. You quickly got to work, to get your mind off of what may or may not happen later that night. But that day, everyone seemed to think that talking to you about the artists coming to perform would be a good idea. No matter how subtly or unsubtly you tried to change the subject, nobody cared. Kai was coming and the universe had to remind you every single minute. You were about to scream from frustration when someone came up to you again and asked,
“Do you know who’s coming?”

Your colleague Aemi looked up at you from the ground, holding a clipboard in her hand. She was a few years older than you and as you got to know her she seemed to be pretty content with how her life turned out. She was wearing loose fitted clothes and her hair in a messy bun. She looked like she hadn’t slept for days, but that was the life of an event planner, you had found out through meeting her.
“Yeah, I heard lots of famous artists are coming today! So exciting!” You said, your enthusiasm half fake, half real. It’s the secret of socializing to make something you are slightly excited about sound like you’re super excited. Your hands continued to work on the stage while Aemi shook her head at you.
“No, I know you know who’s coming to perform. But I mean… Do you know who’s coming through the door any second now? Right now?” Aemi added. You were a bit confused to be corrected on your enthusiasm, so you fell silent for a second. The screw driver in your hand hung still in the air, waiting for you to make up your mind.

“Jimae!” Your supervisor called your name across the stage. You still looked at Aemi and Aemi looked back at you, both of you speechless. Just before your supervisor called again you turned around to see him walk up to you.
“Take a break Jimae, but don’t do it on the stage please, thank you.” He said loud and clear. He waved his hand towards you to make you leave. You turned back to Aemi who was now smiling from ear to ear.
“Come on. I’m sure he wants to see you.” Aemi said, nudging her head towards the door she just came out from. You stuck your screw driver back into the leather tool-pouch hanging on your waist. You unbuckled the pouch and held it in your hand as you jumped off the stage. You landed right next to Aemi, who didn’t even seem surprised to see you jump that far. She just turned around and began to walk towards the door opening, assuming you’d follow. And you did.

Your whole body was shaking from adrenaline when you walked with Aemi to the backstage area. Funny how there was a “backstage-area” even though the stage wasn’t finished yet. You couldn’t for one second believe what Aemi had said just now. She just assumed he would want to see you, but there was no way. Your self-defense mechanism had convinced you that Kai was in no way, shape or form thinking about you, ever. What would make you special anyway? You felt like a man, walking around with screwdrivers and a hammer in a pouch. Even though it was in your hand, it made you feel less of a woman to walk around with it. Yet another reason why there was no way a person like you would deserve a person like Kai. He was talented, admired by millions. You were just… you. He was so nice to you when you first met and his voice had sounded like angels were singing in your ear. Your voice was one of the things you hated most about yourself. It was so high and childish, almost nasal. And let’s not forget all the other things you disliked about yourself as well. Lack of fashion sense, no matter how hard you tried. Those damn crooked teeth that made your smile all ugly. The love handles left and right. Bottom line: you weren’t a catch.

Aemi just kept talking about how she had spoken to Kai’s manager and how nice he had been to her. But you couldn’t focus on what she was saying. You were dying of nerves while the both of you made your way to the entrance area to welcome the guests. You had dropped your tools in some corner where you knew you’d find them again and straightened your clothes to seem less like a stage-builder. Of course, knowing that Kai was coming, you hadn’t just worn your usual work clothes and you had actually bothered to put some make-up on your face. Even just that had made your fellow stage-builders suspicious, but luckily nobody said anything. You just weren’t ready to tell Kai about your actual job in this concert hall. So far he had assumed you were an event planner just like Aemi or maybe you were an intern in Human Resources? Whatever he thought, he wouldn’t assume you were a stage builder and you planned to keep it that way. You sighed and figured you were as ready as you’d ever be. And you had decided that just in time.

You turned a corner, following Aemi’s high paced steps, and immediately spotted Kai walking down the hall towards you. He was speaking to someone walking beside him so it took him a few seconds to meet your eyes, but when he saw you his mouth stopped moving. He was probably mid-sentence when he spotted you, making this situation a little more awkward than it already was. You stopped walking and waited for him to reach you and Aemi, who was busily talking and bowing to the guests she had to accompany. You smiled at Kai, unable to stop your mouth from curving into a smile. Luckily Kai smiled back.
“It has been a while.” Kai said when he reached you. You felt like you could just die right then and there. He remembered you!? You jaw dropped slightly and you lost the ability to form words. A silence fell in which the two of you just gazed and smiled at each other.

“KAI!” His manager called, already walking with Aemi back into the halls you just came from. Was everything going to be in slow motion tonight?
“Are you coming with us?” He asked. You smiled politely but quickly shook your head, showing him your most adorable face. Or at least you thought it must have looked adorable. You were starting to get annoyed with how hard you we