I can’t believe I’m finally here! It feels great to finally be back in Korea after spending the whole summer away! I took a deep breath and stretched, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun and cold breeze mixing together. I looked out over the water and smiled at my friend, Anna, who was busy taking photographs. “How many photographs have you taken?” I asked as she quickly checked her camera, “Only sixty seven. I got some nice ones of you.” She replied with a smile. I rolled my eyes, “I thought I told you not to take photos of me without my permission?” I said, pretending to be angry, but we both knew there was no point arguing with her. “The lighting was perfect.” She muttered as she scrolled through the photos.

She looked behind me and sighed loudly, “I wish I was over there taking photos though.” I turned around to face the same direction and nodded. We had come to the ocean the same day as the super popular group VIXX were here for a photoshoot. There were so many fangirls, and boys, crowded around them, being held back by members of security while the boys posed for their photos. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “One day that will be you taking their photos.” She flashed me a grin before returning to trying to find the perfect shot of the sun setting over the ocean.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time when I heard a loud scream from close by, I jumped and almost dropped my phone over the railings. There was a girl about my age leaning over the railings screaming at the top of her lungs. I looked over the railings and saw a kid in the water. He was flailing badly, it looked like he couldn’t swim. I swore loudly and ripped my jacket off, throwing it to the ground. “Call an ambulance!” I shouted at Anna as I threw myself over the railings. I heard her scream my name until I hit the water. It was so much colder than I had expected. My limbs froze up as I forced myself to the surface. I took a deep gulp of air and rapidly looked left and right, desperately trying to see the little boy. I finally spotted his red and blue hoodie and swam towards him, my muscles cramping up from the cold.

His head started to disappear under the water just as I managed to grab a hold of him. He wrapped his arms around my neck, wailing loudly. It was so much harder to keep us both above the water than I thought it would be. I wrapped one of my arms around his small body, using my other arm and legs to tread water. I really should have thought this through, what the am I gonna do now? The waves felt like they were stories high as they slammed into our bodies. A particularly large one slammed us against the wall, I turned myself so that I wouldn’t squish the kid.

I looked up and saw a huge crowd of people leaning over the railing, hanging over clothes and other things for us to try and grab onto. I tried to find something to hold onto on the wall, but my hands just slipped on the slime and seaweed. Another massive wave crashed into us, I could feel bruises starting to form. The kid was freezing, he was shivering so badly in my arms. . I need to get him out the water now. “What’s your name?” I asked the kid as I struggled to keep his head out of the water.

“JiHun.” He managed to say after a few attempts. I noticed the superman symbol on his hoodie which gave me an idea. “Hey JiHun, you like superman right?” he nodded jerkily. “You know that you can be superman too right? I just need you to be brave for one minute. Can you do that? Can you be like superman?” JiHun nodded again. “You see those people up there? I’ll push you up and you need to use your superman strength and grab onto the things they’ve got hanging over, alright?”

“I don’t think I can…” he mumbled as tears mixed with the sea water on his face. “I think you can. You look really strong.” I said, trying to sound encouraging, but I could feel my strength slipping away. JiHun looked up at me with teary eyes. “Let’s try, ok?” JiHun nodded and wiped away his tears, even though he was still being covered in water from the waves pushing against us. “You have to keep your legs straight ok?” I found a small crack in the wall for my foot, so that I could have some sort of leverage and I used all my strength to push him upwards. I felt my head go under the water from the force of the push. JiHun’s fingers just touched the sleeve of a hoodie but he couldn’t grab on and fell back into the water. I quickly grabbed him again as another large wave slammed against us. I felt my head smack against the wall and bit back a scream, I didn’t want to scare the kid any more than he already was.

“It’s ok. That was just practice. Ready for the real thing?” JiHun nodded, a determined look appearing on his small face. I found the crack in the wall again, the people above us were all holding onto each other as they leaned over, trying to get as close to us as they could. I vaguely noticed that my bias, Hakyeon, was leaning over and yelling down to us, but this was not the time to get distracted, this kid’s life is literally in my hands…

I took a deep breath and with every last ounce of strength I had, I pushed Jihun upwards, this time he thankfully managed to grab on and he was quickly pulled over the lip of the ledge and disappeared from my view. I let out a cheer of victory which was cut abruptly short as yet another wave hit me. This time I didn’t have the strength to fight it. I felt the water force me under and flipped me around. My eyes were shut tightly against the painful sting of the salt water, my lungs started to burn with the need for oxygen. I couldn’t tell which way was up as I flipped over again and again.

I struggled with everything I had and somehow made it to the surface. I pulled in breath after breath, trying to sooth the burning in my chest, my throat felt raw from the water I was forced to swallow. I heard Anna’s panicked shouts from above me. “Mai! Mai!” she screamed my name over and over again. I looked around, trying to get my bearings and finally saw my red-headed friend. The last wave had pushed me about ten meters away from where I had been. A small crowd of people rushed down closer to me and started shouting encouragement to me.

I forced my tired body to swim back towards the wall and from nowhere a life ring appeared. I grabbed onto it for dear life and felt myself being pulled upwards. Once I was finally back on sweet, sweet dry land I looked around trying to find Jihun, “The kid? Where’s the kid?” I said through chattering teeth. The one and only Taekwoon appeared in my line of vision and pointed at JiHun who was in the arms of the girl that had been screaming over the railings. I caught his eye and gave him a thumbs up. “Knew you could do it Superman.” I shouted over to him, my voice cracking a little. He smiled back at me and returned the thumbs up. Suddenly my view was of Anna’s worried face, “Mai, are you alright? What on earth where you thinking? You crazy idiot!” she said as she wrapped my jacket around me, but the thin material did little to warm me up.

“What else could I do? Let him drown?” I said as I pulled my jacket tighter around my body. “No, but you didn’t need to launch yourself over like that, I almost had a heart attack!” she wailed. I laughed, “You did? Imagine how I feel.” I tried to stand but my legs didn’t have their strength back yet. I felt a strong pair of arms catch me. I looked up and found myself face to face with none other than Cha Hakyeon. I willed myself to say something witty, but instead I just froze. It’s not every day you get to meet an idol, let alone your favourite idol.

I smoothed my hair back, not that it would do any good. I knew I must have looked like a complete mess. Soaked from head to toe, my makeup undoubtedly a complete riot. Not exactly how I had planned on first meeting Hakyeon, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. “Are you ok?” he asked, his voice a little deeper than I had imagined it would be. I nodded dumbly, my brain obviously too shell shocked to form words. Way to go brain. Thanks for all your help. He slipped his jacket off and wrapped it around my shoulders and held me against him. I silently prayed to every god I knew not to let my face go scarlet.

“Do you have any other clothes with you?” he asked looking between me and Anna. Anna shook her head and I managed to force out a quiet “no”. Well at least I didn’t confess my undying love for him or anything. That would have been awkward. “Ok. Come with me.” He said as he led me back to their vans. He left us by the vans with the other members while he went off to look for something. I was still shivering when Taekwoon offered me a large coat from their van. “Wear it.” I smiled at him and put the coat over the other two jackets. He shook his head a little, he had obviously expected me to return the other jacket but I was just way too cold.

“You were seriously cool back there.” Ken said as he gave me a big grin, “More like seriously cold.” I replied and he laughed at my terrible attempt at humour. “Honestly though, that was super brave.” He said, his grin still in place. “And kinda stupid.” Anna added which earned her a quick elbow in the ribs but it was cushioned by all the jackets I was wearing. “There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity.” I muttered and Anna elbowed me back, “I know which side of the line you usually stand on.” She said as she stuck her tongue out at me. We started laughing as Hakyeon appeared again, a bundle of clothes in his arms.

“Here.” He said as he handed me the bundle of clothes. “They’re not the most glamourous clothes in the world, but they’re better than the wet ones you have on. You can get changed in the van, it has tinted windows and I’ll make sure none of these little erts look at you.” He said giving me a wink and ignoring the loud protests of his band mates. Anna and I laughed as I thanked him and we went inside the van.

I looked at the clothes, a simple pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt. “Do you think they’re his?” Anna whispered to me. I felt the familiar burn of a blush on my cheeks. “No way.” I quickly changed, with some help from Anna as my cold fingers weren’t cooperating well. Anna made a fuss over the bruises that were forming on my body from my repeated introductions to the wall. After I finished changing, we opened the door and Hakyeon presented me with a pair of socks and trainers. “They’ll probably be a little big…” he said as he handed them to me. I thanked him and quickly pulled on the socks and shoes.

 “Are you ok?” Hakyeon asked as he fussed over the sweatshirt, tutting at how big it was on me. I nodded, but before I could say anything Anna glared at me, “You are not ok.” she scolded, “You’re covered in scrapes and bruises, plus you might have hypothermia!” I rolled my eyes, “Drama queen.” I muttered. Anna gave me a half-hearted shove. “I just watched you throw yourself into the raging sea to save a drowning child from certain death! I think I’m allowed to be a little dramatic.” I gave her a smile and linked my arm with hers, “I wouldn’t exactly phrase it like that, and it wasn’t as heroic as you make it out to be.”

“It was pretty heroic.” She said as she hugged my arm. Suddenly, a member of staff came up and announced that the photo shoot wouldn’t continue and that they were packing up to go back to Seoul. A wave of guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry, this is probably all my fault.”

“Don’t be silly! It’s not because of you. We were practically finished anyway, you saved us from having to stay out here for the next couple hours, we should be thanking you.” Hyuk said with a warm smile which I found too easy to return. “How did you two get here? Do you live close by?” Hakyeon asked and we both shook our heads. “We came from Seoul.” Anna answered as she checked the time on her phone. “Shoot, we better hurry up if we wanna get the bus.” She said as she helped me pick up my wet clothes from the van. “You can’t get the bus back like this, you can come with us.”

Anna and I exchanged shocked glances at Hakyeon’s words. “We can’t do that, we’ll be fine. We can make the bus if we go now.” I said but Hakyeon wasn’t listening. He was already dividing up the rest of the members into different vans to make room for us. “Ok, it’s settled. Ravi, Hyuk and Hongbin can go in that van, while Ken, Leo, me and you two can take this van back to Seoul. I never got the chance to ask, what are your names?”

“I’m Mai, and this is Anna.” The boys all shook hands with us one by one before we split up and got into our respective vans. One of the staff members was driving our van, “It should take us a couple of hours to get back, make yourselves comfortable back there!” he said happily as he looked at us all in his rear view mirror. Anna and I sat in the middle row while Hakyeon, Leo and Ken sat in the back, Anna and I turned around to chat with them.

I can’t believe this is happening. I am in VIXX’s van, with half of VIXX. How hard did I hit my head? This has to be a dream right? I’m gonna wake up any minute in a hospital bed, with Anna by my side laughing at how I was mumbling Hakyeon’s name while I was unconscious from hitting my head when I was in the water or something. I discreetly pinched myself. Ok, that hurt. So I’m not dreaming. Be still my fangirling heart.

I was worried when we first set off, thinking it was going to be super awkward, but the three of them turned out to be super friendly. Their personalities were almost exactly as they appeared on TV, luckily Leo was a little more talkative than he appears. About an hour into our journey, Leo and Anna had already fallen asleep. I could tell Ken and Hakyeon were sleepy as well so I encouraged them to sleep as well. “You should try to get some rest as well. You’ve had quite the adventure today.” Hakyeon said as he shot me a smile. I couldn’t help but return it. I curled up in my seat, letting the fatigue settle over me.

It felt like only minutes later but, judging on how dark it had become, it must have been at least an hour or so that had passed when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and came face to face with Hakyeon. Don’t freak out. Be cool. You got this. “Hey, sorry I had to wake you up but we’re almost at your place.” He said with a smile. Oh my god Cha Hakyeon is smiling at me. BE COOL. “It’s ok.” I said as I sat up straighter, “Thanks and sorry again for all the hassle.” Hakyeon shook his head, “Don’t be silly. It’s not every day we get to help out a real life heroine.” I laughed at his words. “You better wake up your friend, we’ll be there any minute.” He turned around again and I shook Anna, probably a bit harder than was actually necessary. I needed to vent my emotions in a way that wouldn’t make me look like a crazy fangirl. Even if that is how I felt on the inside.

Anna grumbled as I woke her up, “Where are we?” she asked sleepily as she rubbed at her eyes. “Almost home.” We all chatted comfortably until the van pulled up outside of our apartment. Anna and I got out of the van and stood awkwardly, not sure what we should do next. Luckily, Hakyeon broke the silence. “It was lovely to meet you both, make sure you get yourself all warmed up and don’t get sick ok?” I smiled back at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Thanks again for bringing us back home.” He returned my smile, “Glad to be of service to two pretty ladies.”

Leo elbowed him from behind, “Stop flirting.” Hakyeon turned bright red while Ken burst out laughing. “Yah! I wasn’t flirting! I was just being nice.” Leo rolled his eyes and put his earphones in. “We should let you guys go. It was amazing to meet you.” Anna said with a smile and a wave. The three of them returned the wave as they slid the door shut. Hakyeon opened the window as the van pulled away and waved at us. We waved until the van disappeared around the corner. Once the van was out of sight Anna and I exchanged a look before squealing like the fangirls we are. “I can’t believe we just got a ride home from VIXX!” Anna squealed, “You need to save more children in danger if this is what it gets us!” I laughed along with her as we headed up to our apartment. “I’ve had more than enough excitement, thank you very much. All I want to do is sleep and get ready for my first day of work tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah I forgot about that! What time are you meeting Junsu oppa?” Anna asked as she let us into the apartment. “At ten o’clock. I’ll need to be out of here by eight thirty at the latest, travelling is a .” I said as I threw myself down in my favourite armchair. “Has he told you much else about the job?” Anna asked as she started raiding the kitchen for food. I shook my head, “Not really, he said I’ll find out everything I need to know tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be more of an introduction day rather than actual work, I think.” Anna came out of the kitchen with some snacks. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Eat these then go sleep. You must be exhausted.” We quickly ate up and went to out separate rooms. It wasn’t until then I remembered I was wearing Hakyeon’s clothes. Should I have offered to give them back? Should I try to go to a fan meet and return them? Is that weird? It probably is… I need sleep. I carefully folded up the clothes and placed them on my desk chair before crawling into bed.

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed but sore, my muscles were stiff from my unanticipated dip in the sea and the bruises I’d gained weren’t helping much either. I woke up super early, got ready and left with plenty of time to spare. The subway was full but I had managed to grab a seat. I finally met up with Junsu at the coffee shop we frequently visited together in the centre of Seoul. He was already standing outside, a takeaway cup of coffee for himself and a cup of tea for me. I tried to persuade him to tell me more about the job he had found for me, but he refused to tell me anything. He just kept repeating that I would love him for it, and that it was a surprise.  Anna and I have known Junsu since we were kids so I knew he wouldn’t have gotten me a job doing anything weird but I was still super curious and his refusal to say anything just made me more curious. We finally stopped outside of an apartment building.

I raised my eyebrow at him. “You haven’t signed me up to be someone’s maid have you?” I asked warily. He just laughed at me and ushered me into the building. “Trust me, this will be so much better. I got you a job as a manager.” My eyebrows shot up, “A manager? Of what?” I asked as the elevator bell dinged to sound our arrival at the fifteenth floor. “Not what, who.” He finally replied. I stepped out of the elevator feeling even more confused. Before I could enquire further, he tapped a passcode into one of the doors and swung it open. Behind that door was something I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams. Six men that I had met just the previous day. Recognition flashed in their eyes as they recognised me. “VIXX… meet your new manager, Mai.”