“I have a surprise for you!” Jiha announced at the dining table one evening a year later. Her parents looked up from their meal with anticipation. When she had their full attention, Jiha pulled out a manila envelope and presented it to them. A report card. Her mother took the envelope from her and opened it, making a dramatic of doing so, as well. Her mother scanned the paper quickly, and when she finished, passed it to her husband and then threw her arms around Jiha. 

“I’m so proud of you, sweetheart!” she said. Congratulations were passed around the table. Jiha looked down at her straight A’s and her new, strong GPA and her heart swelled with pride as well. After all these months, she finally had something to show for her progress and hard work. She had certainly come a long way with the help of her family and her lovely new friends. She couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Now, we have a surprised for you, too,” her father said, reaching for his pocket.

“Really?” Jiha said.

“Yes!” he said. “Honey, we are just so pleased with your progress lately that your mother and I put our heads together and got you a present!”

“Oh, dad!” Jiha said. “You didn’t have to.”

“Oh, no, we were happy to do so!” He took a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Jiha excitedly. Jiha took the paper from him and she looked down at what happened to be a VIP access ticket to an autograph event next week… for EXO. Jiha looked up at her parents, looking a little confused.

‘But I thought - ,” Jiha said before begin interrupted.

“Well, you’ve been working so hard lately,” her mother said. “There’s no harm in having a little fun, right? Besides, I know you love EXO. That’s fine; I had a favorite band, too, when I was your age. Go ahead!”

Jiha looked down at the ticket. It had been a long time since she last thought about EXO. She had been too caught up in other things, fixing her life and hanging out with new, better friends, studying and work. She’d forgotten how crazy she was over this band. Granted, she was no longer a die-hard fan, but it didn’t mean she thought fondly of them. And she did make a lot of progress; she did deserve a little fun a little indulgence, and perhaps even a little closure. Jiha stood and thanked her parents.

Kai signed his name for the nth time that day on the newest album that EXO released. Young girls abounded in that enclosed venue. He was in the point of his career where he was finally starting to get used to it. His signature however, was starting to get old. He laughed a little every time he got too caught up in the motion of signing his name and he would end up writing “Kal” or Kap” instead of Kai. His cheeks were hurting from smiling so much, but the infectious energy of the fans was what kept him going. He signed another signature for a particularly shy fan and then sent her back to her seat with well-wishes and a smile. 

“Thanks for coming!”

“Have a lovely day!”

“Thank you for the support!”

“Good luck on your exams!” he would chime at each girl who visited his end of the table during the fan-sign event. He was on a high that day, and he was feeling good.

“Next please,” Kai said, and the next girl approached. She laid her album down in front of him, and Kai began flipping through the album for his picture. When he looked up at the girl to say hello, his smile dropped. He recognized her. Convenience store girl, he knew her as. The girl who knocked him down at the airport all those months ago, the one who tried to give him a Rolex watch, who started a fight at the last autograph event. He hadn’t seen her in a while, and for a while, he thought he was finally free of her. He supposed she was now back from her hiatus. He started to sign his name without looking at or talking to her.

“You know, you’re looking a lot better since I last saw you,” Jiha said. Kai just shrugged. She fidgeted with her fingers, not sure what else to say to him. She chewed the inside of her cheek. Kai finished signing his name and then pushed the album back across the table toward her. He was about to shout for the next person to come forward when Jiha cut him off.

“You know, I stopped,” she said. Kai closed his mouth and looked up at her, raising a brow.

“You stopped what?” he asked. 

“Being a sasaeng,” she said. Jiha looked at Kai’s face. Today he was wearing makeup, his hair had been styled,  and he wore stage clothes instead of sweats and hoodies. But Jiha was able to see past all that now; she recognized the humanity in him now. Kai caught her eyes and he searched them for any sign of jest. But in them, he found only determination, resolve, and a blooming new sense of confidence. Something that he didn’t see in her before, nor had ever seen in any other sasaeng fan. He felt overwhelmingly proud of her, suddenly, for overcoming that stage in her life. And more than that, he was thankful.

“Really?” he asked. Jiha nodded. Then she reached into her pocket for something else. She laughed as she slid it across the table to him. Kai took the folded paper and opened it up to reveal a report card. Jiha watched his face as he looked over it. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. But in the moment he read her grades, the corners of his lips suddenly pulled upward, his eyes narrowed while his cheeks bunched up. And there it was: a smile. A genuine, sincere, Kai smile, the kind that Jiha had been longing all her life to see. And now here it was, right before her. Kai looked up at her as he folded it back up and handed it to her. Without breaking eye contact, he extended a handshake to her. Jiha smiled, her body feeling light as a feather, as she took his hand, and he said:

“Congratulations.”

A/N: Ended up finishing this early, and I'm not really all that concerned about getting subscribers or anything, so I just posted the thing in it's entirety. I know it's not really a good, literary piece or nothing, but it was for a project & I wanted to finish it ASAP.