“Move! Move! Move!” Jiha pushed and shoved her way through the claustrophobic mass of girls who all gathered in the arrivals area of Incheon Airport. Adrenaline collected in her veins; she was fully aware that she would have, at most, twenty seconds to complete her mission. The excitement within her made her feel slightly sick and feverish; she hadn’t slept all night thinking about this one moment. The dense crowd of girls was suffocating, there was no air to breathe, but Jiha up all her discomfort, content just to be there in the first place. A taller girl blocked her way and she stopped momentarily.

“Move!” her friend screeched from behind her. So Min pushed past Jiha, got in front of her, and when the taller girl wouldn’t move, So Min grabbed a fistful of her hair and shoved her aside. “Get out of the way! They’re coming!” The taller girl screamed in pain. Although So Min was smaller than most of the other girls, her passion was what overwhelmed the others. Jiha firmly believed that there was no one who loved EXO more than So Min did. In fact, Jiha would believe that So Min loved EXO more than some parents love their own children. That was what Jiha admired most about her friend; her fierce loyalty to something, or someone, that she honestly cared about. Enough to brave such a dangerous environment for one glimpse of her favorite idol.

Jiha followed behind So Min, stepping over the tall girl who had been shoved to the ground. Serves her right for not letting others have the same chance to see EXO as she did, Jiha thought. So Min was aggressive, shoving more and more girls aside. “Move! I have to see them!” So Min reach behind and pulled Jiha beside her. The two girls were now at the front of the crowd, but that didn’t mean the fight was over. They had to make sure they kept their spots until EXO finally walked out those doors. 

“Are you sure it was this time?” Jiha asked So Min. 

“Yes, I’m sure!” So Min said, slightly offended. “Who else knows EXO as well as I do? I am positive it’s at this time, I know everything about those boys!”

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

The screaming girls finally got louder, ear-splitting loud, when the doors flew open and carts of luggage were wheeled out by staff members. Each bag was labeled with the EXO logo and the girls went mad. So Min gripped Jiha’s hand and squeezed it tight.

“They’re coming! They’re coming!” So Min’s excitement was turning into unintelligible hysterics as the first of the EXO members to emerge, Xiumin, was nearing them. A team of security guards were overwhelmed by the crowd. The girls behind began pushing inwards, causing the walkway to narrow. Hoards of fans were squeezing into the space reserved for walking. On either side of the first EXO members, hands and gifts and DSLRs were pressing against them. Xiumin kept his head down, not meeting anyone’s eyes as he walked. The security teams had to work fast against the fans. They all but ran over to the exit, keeping Xiumin between them, knocking presents out of fans’ hands as they did. A few fans began to cry and grumble about how unfriendly the first member had been. After all they did to greet him at the airport, not even eye contact to reward their efforts. Couldn’t he see how hard they had worked to arrange this welcome-home event for him?

But no matter. The other members were exiting now. The next one out was the youngest member, Sehun. So Min’s scream turned so shrill that Jiha had to cover her ears. Sehun was So Min’s favorite person in EXO. When the youngest EXO dancer came closer, So Min could hardly contain herself; as he neared where she was standing, she seemed more like a hysterical monkey, caught somewhere between defending her territory and dying of a heart attack. But right behind Sehun was Kai, and Jiha felt the entire world going silent, time slowing down. All of So Min’s piercing screams died into a single hush, the crowd of girls became abler of color, and for a brief moment, no one in the world existed except she and Kai.

Jiha’s breath caught in . His head was down, but he was walking right toward her. Her heartbeat began to beat fast and hard. A group of two or three security guards were handling Sehun, but only one was handling Kai, and the guard was overwhelmed by the amount of girls. With the security guards busy, it would have been easy for Jiha to simply walk up to Kai and talk to him. Maybe this was it. Her big chance,  her god-sent opportunity to finally talk to her one true love. This was destiny calling her name, daring her to be brave enough to take the risk for love. Kai walked closer. The crowd was pressing even hard. Girls were screaming, the air was thin. It was hot in the center of the crowd. Jiha made a fist and bolted into action. Jiha jumped right into the center of the divide, the designated walkway where EXO was passing through. She dodged a guard who tried to grab her, pushed aside another EXO member all in an attempt to get to Kai. She stepped on someone’s foot. She accidentally kicked another person’s shin. She accidentally knocked over an old lady. But she didn’t care. All she cared about was her Kai finally coming home, and she just in time to say welcome. 

“Kai!” she yelled as she finally got close to him. But with the crowd pushing against her, Jiha lost her balance. She fell forward, bumping into his shoulder and the force of it knocked the wind out of her and knocked Kai to the ground. The boy went sprawling to the floor, and as he did, he glanced up for a split second and Jiha caught his eye, an expression or pure terror painted on his face. He hit the hard floor of Incheon airport, and immediately the fans swarmed around him, engulfing him. Jiha dove after him, wanting to ensure that he was safe.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” Jiha said, grabbing his sleeve and attempting to pull him back up.

“Let go of me!” Kai yelled, snatching his sleeve from her, leaving a dazed Jiha to stare, dumbfounded at his cold reply. The girls descended upon the commotion. Hands reached out to Kai from every direction, and he struggled to get back on his feet. Someone had taken the cap right from his head. Hands were touching him, grabbing at his shirt and his arm, gifts being shoved into his face. He was sure he felt someone him on his way down, too. 

“You okay?” One of his teammates asked, finally sting down to help him stand. A team of security guards came to his rescue, pushing the girls away from him. Kai kept his eyes downward. Jiha tried to approach him again.

“Kai, wait!” Jiha yelled after him. “I just want to say - !” Jiha couldn’t finish her sentence. As soon as she stepped after him, a security guard shoved her out of the way. In the very last moment, Kai looked back at her. Jiha caught his eye in that brief moment that seemed to last forever. And he gave her such an intense look of hatred, that Jiha was sure to never forget it. The young girl fell against another group of girls, who in turn shoved her back to the walkway. For a moment, she fell to her knees, but broke her fall with her hands. Her fingers hurt. Jiha felt like she was caught in the whitewater of turbulent rapids, except instead of protruding stones and rushing waters, she was caught between a sea of rabid demons all reaching out to bring down the angels that passed by. She finally felt someone grab her arm anchoring her down, and So Min pulled her aside. She half expected her friend to ask if she was alright. Instead, So Min was ecstatic.

“I touched him! I got to touch him!” So Min exclaimed. “Sehun! Oh my god, he was walking by and I followed him and I was so close and I just reached out and I grabbed his sleeve, and he slowed down, and his sleeve got caught on my watch! Oh my goodness, it was unreal! It was amazing! I mean, he did turn and glare at me and the security guard pushed me away and I accidentally tore his sleeve, but it was awesome! What about you? Did you get any luck?”

Jiha bit her lip. The crowd of girls was starting to dissipate as they followed the group outside the airport, no doubt to take to their cars and taxis and follow them all to their dormitory apartments. Jiha was almost hesitant to tell So Min of her experience. 

“What is it?” So Min asked. “Oh , you got lucky didn’t you? Oh my god, come on, Jiha, tell me! Tell me!”

“Well, I,” Jiha said, slowly. “I pushed him to the ground… accidentally.”

So Min just stared at her for a moment, and Jiha thought she would yell at her for doing such a thing. But in the next moment, So Min began laughing. 

“You lucky !” So Min exclaimed. “You actually did get to touch him, you accidentally pushed him!”

“Oh stop it, I didn’t mean to!” Jiha said.

“No, it’s fine!” So Min said. “I mean, it was an accident, right? And oh my gosh! That means you did get to touch him! Where? Where did you touch him? His shoulders? His back? Did you feel his muscles? Were they flexed? Did you feel his abs? Were they rock solid? You’re killing me, Jiha, give me the details, come on!”

Jiha pursed her lips. She couldn’t help how guilty she felt about the whole situation. But So Min was so excited. Jiha indulged her.

“Well,” she said. “I did get to touch his shoulders. I also think I broke a finger or something.”

So Min squealed. She hugged Jiha and began jumping up and down in excitement.

“You got to touch your favorite’s muscles!” So Min chanted. Jiha relented and jumped up and down with her. “I am so happy for you! Oh my god, this is such a great day! We’re gunna have so much to write on our blog! Our followers are going to freak out once they learn we got to touch them. Ugh, just think how jealous everyone will be. We’re going to be Internet-famous! Okay, we can’t just let this isolated incident stop us. There’s still the signature event tomorrow! Don’t forget!”

So Min had a substantial presence online among other EXO fans. She wasn’t just a regular fan anymore, she was the kind of fan who had her own fans, the kind of fan that fans around the world knew about. She and Jiha went around chasing after EXO and publishing short fan accounts of their interactions online. Their follower count was up to 6,000 by now. Jiha shared her friend’s excitement. Although she was sure she must have sprained her index finger or something, she too couldn’t wait to tell their fellow fans about their exhilarating experience at the airport today. But in the back of her head, Jiha pondered whether or not to write about Kai’s fall, or the look of disgust in his face when he turned and looked at her. Jiha decided to shrug off the encounter. It was natural of him to feel that way; he must be tired. That didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate her or her efforts to see him. And besides, now that he’d had a substantial amount of time to look at her face, Jiha blushed at the thought that Kai would recognize her. She was no longer just another face in the crowd. She was the girl he fell for. 

A/N: To be continued. I'll post more when I finish the story. It's six parts long, but I've written only up to part 4 right now.