"Who knew you'd really end up living in Korea."

"Not to mention dating a singer."

The good thing with old friends was that no matter how long it had been since you last saw each other, it felt like no time had passed at all. Well, except for the different wardrobe and marital status. For Eunhye, she had gone from being a college fan girl, to a foreign engineer, to a hallyu star's girlfriend, then ex-girlfriend, to a game creator and another hallyu star's happy(but lonely) girlfriend.

"And you, a father," she said to Jhed, one of her friends. "I was sure you were gay."

"Gay but not sterile," Ricco, another friend, commented.

"Shut up, you, two," Jhed told them. "I love my wife."

"You should bring her," Eunhye said.

"Nah, we couldn't get a babysitter," Jhed replied. "Besides she's a YG fan."

"You used to fanboy over TOP, too," Bee remarked. "GDragon was my husband then." They laughed at that, remembering how Bee knew all the words to his songs even though she didn't understand any of it. She just liked the music, she was no Eunhye. "And you," she pointed at Eunhye. "You were head over heels with EXO's Chanyeol."

Jhed pulled on Bee's hair, just like old times. "He's her exboyfriend. Be sensitive."

"Honestly," Ricco told Eunhye. "You just went to Seoul to serial date famous idols, didn't you? Game making, my ."

They had met up for lunch on the day of the concert to catch up. Eunhye's coming home brought them all together. She already bought tickets the first day it came to market. She got seats right in front of the stage, just as Mark demanded. He knew she would be bringing friends along, but he didn't know they all got backstage passes. There are perks to being Park Jinyoung's friend(and not artist).

As soon as Gaeil and Bee's sister, Tay, came, they went to the venue and fell in line.

"I'm gonna go backstage," Eunhye told Gaeil. "Wanna come?"

Gaeil only shook her head and went back to reading manga on her phone. Bee spied on it and asked Gaeil about it. Soon, the two were immersed in Manga-talk. Old habits die hard. Eunhye went out the back alone, calling Junior and asking where they were. She had told Mark she'd be meeting him after the concert.

Jinyoung and Jackson met her on the hallway, meeting her with big arms.

"Noona, I missed you!" Jackson said, jumping up and down.

Eunhye motioned for him to keep quiet, and hugged him back. "Jaljinhaesseo?Have you been well?"

"Yeochin jakku bogoshipeosseoHe kept missing his girlfriend," Junior answered for him. "Ni yeochin ije yeogi eobgoYour girl's not here anymore. Markhyung-hante peuranhaji?Envious of Mark, now, huh? Eunhye noonaneun wasseunikkaNow that she's here."

"JoyonghiQuiet," Jackson told Jinyoung. "Noona, Jinyoung-ui mal deuljimaDon't listen to him."

"Noona, yeogi chingudeul-irang wasseo?Did you come here with your friends? Yeoja isseo?Is there a girl? Yeppeo?Is she pretty?"

She flicked Jinyoung's ear. "IsseoYes. YeppeoShe's pretty. Yakhonjado isseoShe's with her fiance."

"ByeontaePervie," Jackson said to Jinyoung and dragged Eunhye towards their waiting room. 

They went in. Mark was still dancing with his back to the door, memorizing the dance steps, so he didn't see her get in. He had his earphones on, which was also why he didn't hear the door open. Bambam made an attempt to get up from his seat and hug her but Jinyoung motioned for him to stop so he didn't. Eunhye, having watched him perform too many times, knew the steps herself, and danced behind Mark, much to the members' amusement. Mark was dancing Gimme Gimme. Yugyeom suddenly laughed and Mark looked at him then, thinking the maknae was laughing at him.

"Wae? Shilsu?Did I make a mistake?" Mark stopped dancing, and so did Noona. She stood still behind Mark, stepping to the left when Mark turned right so he won't see her.

"Ani. JalhaesseoYou did good."

Mark turned around and saw her there, finally. She put on a poker face at him, trying to play with him, but his face suddenly went serious. Did she do something wrong? Before she could open to ask him what his damage was, Mark pulled her into the makeshift room made of dividers, where they had changed into their costumes.

"Mwoya?" she asked him when he let go of her abruptly.

Instead of answering her, he took her face in both hands and covered with his. Shocked by his aggressiveness, she wasn't able to do anything but let him kiss her. She let Mark push her against the wall, his hand now on the back of her neck holding her in place. He didn't have to bother because she wasn't going anywhere. Yet, she liked him taking control, leading, his lips demanding more from her as he deepened their kiss even more. She had to stop herself from making any sound when he slid his tongue to meet hers. She had to remember they were not alone in the room.

"You're real," he muttered, breaking the kiss.

Flustered, she could only nod. Mark usually give her high fives when she visit them in their waiting room. Or poke her back. Or pull on her hair. Or flick her ear. Anything but dragging her to a secluded corner and kissing her wits out of her. And that was exactly what Mark did. 

"Neomu palkkanneYou're blushing," he told her, his thumb brushing her left cheek.

"Ya think?"

"Noona kwaenchanha?" Jackson called from outside. "Do you need help? I'll come get you--" His other words were muffled. Apparently someone covered his mouth. They heard the door close and they could tell Jackson was dragged out. Mark guessed it was Junior.

Eunhye made an attempt to slip out of Mark's grasp, but he caught her waist. If he went on doing this, he might end up not performing.

"Eodiga?" he whispered to her. "Jogeumman isseojwoStay for a while. BogoshipeosseoI missed you." He pulled her closer and kissed her hair.

No more aggressive Mark? Eunhye encircled her arms around his neck and breathed him in. She liked his scent, even though she kept telling him she hated it when he's all sweaty. It was just her way of preventing herself from having ert thoughts because sweaty Mark is oh so y.

Eunhye pulled away and pecked him on the lips lightly, and ran away.

***********

*Hajima hajima haji hajima
Niga keoreolttaemada michilgeot gata
nae nuneul bomyeo saljjak useojumyeon
dallyeogaseo neoreul anabeoril geotman gata*

Eunhye was the proud girlfriend. She smiled when the girl behind her screamed Mark's name. Watching him on stage now felt different than any other times she'd seen him perform. And it's not just because it was in her own country. Rather, it's because she had now fully accepted that this was what he really was, a singer (rapper, whatever), and she was no longer afraid of his fame.

Mark searched for her on the crowd, and when he did see her, he pointed at her while he sang his part. The fangirl inside her screamed. Jhed, her friend who was sitting(now standing) beside her, tugged on her hair and messed it up. Eunhye just yelled some more, moving closer to his ear, a trick she got from Jackson.

"He pointed at you!" Bee yelled at Eunhye's ear. "You should die!!! You're his girlfriend, that's not fair!" They both laughed like idiots.

On Mark's second rap part, Eunhye (along with other Mark-biased fans) sang along in perfect synchronization, at the top of her lungs.

*na jeongmallo aju gwaenchanheun namjaya I’m a good boy
taseoge han beonman sewojumyeon mallu po
neoneun naegen sungnyemunboda sojunghan gukbo
geureoni gihoereul jwo geuge naegen gajang keun chukbog*

"You're hopeless," Jhed commented.

The song Girls Girls Girls came next, which would be their last song for their solo stage, and then Sunmi would be performing next. When the song ended, Mark sneaked at another heart gesture towards Eunhye, and the girls behind her squealed.

"Oh my god, Mark looked at me," said one.

"Aaaaaah!" replied her friend.

The language inside the arena was like that, half were sqeals, the other half, the idols' names.

Sunmi's performance was hot as usual, and after her, came MissA. Jhed and Ricco's jaws were dropped the whole time. They practically begged Eunhye to introduce them afterwards. She got backstage passes for all of them, but now sh