It was Saturday afternoon.

It was Saturday afternoon and I was working.

It was Saturday afternoon and I was working in my parents' convenience store, meaning it was Saturday afternoon and I was working without pay.

Was there anything worse?

I slumped forward onto the check-out counter, staring out into the aisles with an exaggerated pout. I knew I was being a brat, but I couldn't help my feelings. Maybe it was my duty to help my family, and maybe my situation could have been much worse than it was, but it was Saturday. The first Saturday of school break following exams, none the less. I'd been hoping to spend my newly-found free time just relaxing but my parents had eaten something that hadn't agreed with them on their "date" the night before.

I hated food poisoning. I hated food poisoning even though I wasn't the one physically suffering from it.

I had to be thankful that the store was empty, at least. I'd pulled myself out of bed that morning without having been able to adequately recharge from two weeks of non-stop studying and testing cycles, so I wasn't looking or feeling my best in any respects. Actually, I was a beast and I knew it. I was a visual mess, almost utterly drained, and ready to bite the head off of anyone who bothered me. It was for the best that no one crossed me. It wouldn't have been pleasant.

Ironically, the convenience store wasn't located in the most convenient of places, which made life a little easier for me. The area was too fast paced to allow for making a stop unless it was absolutely necessary, so I knew I wouldn't have to deal with many customers. Any folk that did come in made bee-lines for the beverages, mostly, and only grabbed an additional snack or carton of cigarettes from the counter on their way out. They were generally no more interested in me than I was in them. And that was just fine. The less contact, the better.

But the lack of interaction also meant that I was slowly dying inside from boredom.

I stopped checking the clock at some point, knowing that that kind of behavior was only contributing to my slow-moving death. Without a clock to watch I was left with only a fat fly that was taking an aerial tour of the store. I mulled over the idea of trying to kill it but knew it would be a lost cause. I sat back and envied its freedom instead. It was teasing me, for sure.

Days passed between my last customer and the group that walked in some time towards sundown. I didn't pay much attention to them at first, only calling out a haphazard greeting and accepting their reciprocation with a short bow. I vaguely noticed that it was a group of boys around my age that had come in, but I wasn't very concerned about that given my mood. I stared at my hands and thought about what color I should paint my nails instead.

Since my head was in another realm entirely, I didn't notice anything strange until a small camera crew trailed in after the boys. One of the cameras seemed to be focused on me specifically, and that was enough to snap me out of my slump.

My heart stopped. I didn't have the ability at the time to think about how idiotic I must have looked, but at a later point I would realize that I must have looked idiotic. The cameras distracted me for what felt like forever, but somehow I gained enough sense to take a second look at the boys being followed by the cameras, who were in the process of exploring an aisle that I didn't have the mental energy to spare identifying. I didn't need to spare any mental energy to identify the boys themselves, though. I knew who they were without needing to think about it.

It was Ricky and Niel who lead the cabal, bouncing as they walked and giggling to each other. Changjo was only a few steps behind them, with Chunji and L.Joe trailing in fourth and fifth place. CAP oversaw the group from behind, but there was no more than an arm's distance between any of the members. The members of Teen Top, that was.

The camera crew didn't acknowledge my presence beyond shooting a few seconds of my idiotic face, but Chunji and L.Joe watched me from the corners of their eyes, probably wary of a fangirl attack. Chunji, at least, tried to cover up his reservations by sending a flash of his big teeth and a tiny wave my way. CAP's gaze darted between my unresponsive form and his group mates, and the eldest hung back for a split second to send me a sheepish grin of his own before speeding up. I had already been halfway dead by that point, so the fact that two idols had smiled at me just about pushed me over into the afterlife.

My knees were literally shaking, and my legs themselves felt like Jello molds. I had to lean up against the counter for support, my fingers gripping the end of the apron my parents' forced me to wear for dear life. I, lacking all elements of self control, pressed myself into the counter more than was necessary to maintain my balance just to gape at the boys' backs. Was I dreaming? I must have fallen asleep. Teen Top was in my family's little convenience store with a camera crew shooting them shopping in my family's little convenience store. That sort of thing didn't actually happen. Not to me.

If it was going to happen to me, I would not have wanted it to be when I was grouchy and make-up-less and feeling like a zombie. Why hadn't I put more effort into being pretty that morning? Gotten more sleep and had some coffee? Was I really wearing my mom's old jeans and not rocking a messy bun? Why hadn't I thought to plan for a meeting that would change my life? Why, why, why?

I didn't know what show Teen Top was filming, and I didn't listen in on their conversation to try to find out. My ears were ringing, so I couldn't have eavesdropped even if I'd wanted to. None of my normal bodily functions seemed to be working the right way. As much as I wanted to duck down and try to fix myself up as much as possible, I couldn't send my limbs the signal to move. I were stuck where I stood.

Maybe it was because of my lacking senses, but the experience seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye; the boys had only just walked in when they suddenly began backtracking, heading for the check-out counter. Heading for me.

There were stars coming towards me, directly towards me. It was like watching my life flash before my eyes as death approached. Why couldn't I have been more cool? If I'd known about the meeting before hand I could have been more cool. Hadn't I fantasized about that sort of thing happening at least seven times a day? I might have looked like a pre-Prince Charming Cinderella, but I could have at least adopted a more princess-like grace for the sake of the circumstances. Why couldn't I pull it together and live out one of my fantasies while I had the chance, the once-in-a-lifetime chance?

It was Niel who carried the basket of goods up to the counter, chiming a second greeting as he approached. After meeting his gaze for a fraction of a parsec I lowered my eyes. I couldn't breathe. My heart felt like it had been squished into ball and stuffed up my throat. It was the wish of me and millions of others girls, interacting with idols directly, but the only thing I wanted to do in that moment was do my job and do my job fast; I wanted them out and far away.

As I rang out the items (again, my brain wouldn't have been able to process what they were or why they would have been needed even if I'd paid attention to such a thing) I thought back to other programs I had watched, when it had been other women in my place. The store keepers were usually older, maybe not even knowing how famous the kids that they were serving were, judging by how collected they usually were. Still, though, the women always got flustered and gave into the idols' charm. It was inevitable, all sane females did it. I'd normally snicker to myself when the shop keepers would lower prices just because the boys' didn't have enough money, thinking that any average customer would never get the same treatment.

And then, as I scanned the last item, I realized what was coming. The producers never gave the idols enough money. They always had to use their charms to haggle prices. That was the point.

Teen Top was going to try to charm me out of my profit. Meaning that they were most definitely going to charm me out of my profit -- and probably out of my mind.

I gulped, but the action only half worked. "Y-your total comes to 29859.55 won."

My voice was strained, as if I had a dual lung and nose infection. I could feel all of my face and ears burning. I were a terribly obvious blusher, unfortunately.

"Bwo?" One of the boys made a noise of mild discontent. "We only have 22500..."

The typical me that still remained questioned why they hadn't bothered to keep track of what they were buying if they were on a budget, but the dominant part of me began panicking. Every cell in my body was quivering and weakening. I knew what was next.

"Can you lower the price, please? Just this once? For us?"

"We can do something to make up for the difference."

"A private performance! Or maybe just something from one of us? Which of us is your favorite?"

"Do you know who we are?"

Against my better judgment, I glanced up. Niel, Ricky, Chunji, and Changjo were huddled around the counter, and I guessed they had been the ones to speak. L.Joe and CAP were behind the friendlier four, watching with straight, curious faces. All six of them, though, were watching me.

My eyes went to each member in turn, connecting with each members' in turn: CAP's narrow, L.Joe's dark, Chunji's round, Niel's wide-set, Ricky's bright, and Changjo's benevolent. The heat seemed to turn up enough to make my blood scald my veins. The feeling only increased with each passing moment. Unable to handle direct eye contact, my gaze darted to the cameras. There were four of them, two pointed at me. Their lenses were like huge, unblinking eyes themselves, capturing and judging my every action. Behind those lenses would be thousands of other people, other fans, who would be overly envious and critical of me. All of them were watching me and waiting for my move. Waiting to pounce. No matter what I did, I was going to be torn apart in one way or another.

The vibration of my every nerve grew more and more intense until, like the rubber band I wished I'd been wearing around my wrist to snap myself out of it, I let nature decide what I would do.

I let gravity decide what I would do by falling straight to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

As soon as my knees hit the ground I rolled around so that I was sitting properly, my back up against the shelves on the inside of the counter. I curled up into a ball in that position, burying my face into my knees and wrapping my arms around my ankles.

What had I just done?

Really. What had I just done?

I could feel the confusion that filled the room and I hated it. I hated that I had reacted by giving up. I hated that I'd been given the most amazing opportunity imaginable and I turned it down by breaking down and falling down. It was pathetic. What kind of fangirl was I?

I tried to keep from crying, but in the end I really didn't have enough dignity left in me to fight off the onslaught of tears. All rationality left me and I crumbled, just like that. It was the most humiliating experience of my life. I was a fool, and both Teen Top and the rest of the world either knew it or soon would. How was I supposed to recover from something like that?

There was a small commotion coming from above me, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block it all out.

"Please take whatever you need." Some foreign voice came out of my mouth, squeaking and begging like a rodent. "Just take it. Don’t worry about the money. Just take it. Please, just take it."

I pulled myself into a tighter ball and began crying even harder, although still silently. I just wanted them to leave. I wanted everyone to leave. I wanted to be alone to wallow in my own failure. I had let myself turn into a splotchy-faced, sniveling mess on the floor while six beautiful, famous boys and all of their fans stood witness. What was wrong with me?

I sensed that someone had leaned over the counter to get a look at me, so I hunched my shoulders and dug my forehead further into my legs. It was a painful position, but I was determined to stay hidden, wrapped up and suffering in my shame. Whoever was watching me seemed to get the message and retreated.

Between my muted, hyperventilating sobs I picked up on some of what the people on the other side of the counter were saying, whether it was directed towards me or their own company.

"What’s wrong? Is she okay?"

"She's not unconscious, is she?"

"We just want to buy some ingredients. We didn’t mean to upset you!"

"Yeah, we’re not robbers."

"What should we do?"

"We should help her..."

"I don’t think she wants our help."

The voices turned into whispers. I held my breath, trying to listen in on the debate. I caught a few words here and there, but the hard beating of my own heart in my ears got in the way.

After an excruciating span of time, the room went silent.

"Agassi," one of the men said. It was a deeper voice, meaning that it probably belonged to one of the adults. "Please calm down." The request only caused another wave of misery to wash over me. My tears doubled. "We didn’t mean to upset you. We’ll just leave the money on the counter. One of our crew members will stay behind to watch over your until you recover, but the rest of us are going to leave now. Is that alright? Is that what you want?"

I nodded furiously, taking a risk and lifting my head to wipe away the snot gushing out of my nose in one quick motion. I wanted them to leave. More than anything, I wanted them to leave. They didn't deserve to be around me, and I didn't deserve to be around them. It had started out as an average bad day but progressed into what was undoubtedly the worst day of my life. I wanted it to end as quickly as possible.

"Annyeonghi gyeseyo." The phrase was repeated a series of times, each sounding awkward and uncomfortably spoken. A few of the Teen Top boys tried to say it with cheer, probably to help me feel better, but it didn’t work. I only felt better when they were all gone, leaving only that one crew member shuffling quietly in the corner.

And that was my meeting with Teen Top.