2

I think I just saw my soul drifting off to heaven.

That girl has practically stripped down to her underwear already.

I'm pretty sure one of the singers is sweating foundation.

My head was positively pounding and if I had to describe my overall experience on a survey, it would deserve a zero out of ten. On top of that, this concert was nearing the top of my 'Never Do Again' list, soaring right over amusement park lines and security checkouts.

"Come on Michelle, at least try to have some fun!" Hannah croaked into my ear, having long lost her voice within the first few minutes.

I shot her my best eye smile, but she grimaced and turned away.

Well then, I'm offended.

Whenever Orange glided past our side of the stage in some fancy dance move, which by the way, I admit, he can dance, Hannah would erupt in screams and flail her arms, hoping to catch his attention. Too bad the other girls around her did the same, maybe even more enthusiastically. I swear, these fan girls are the epitome of perseverance. It would take a miracle for the recipient of their affection to notice them, but they never gave up and continued to scream their lungs off.

Better stock up on honey and lemon before there's another cat fight.

"Hannah, I'm seriously dying. Can I just wait outside?" I pleaded, stopping Hannah in the middle of another scream fest. "I swear I saw my soul float out of a vent earlier."

"That was just a towel that Jin threw, Michelle," she rolled her eyes and returned her attention back to the stage, where Orange was winking at a camera. "I think my ovaries just exploded."

I think my eardrums just blew.

Heaving out a deep sigh, I narrowed my eyes against the bright spotlights and faintly made out the hazy silhouettes of the twirling figures on stage. Sweat was flying everywhere and I winced when some landed in my eye, causing a dull burn to erupt. Suddenly, the crowd surged forward again, pushing my stomach against the railing so hard that I had no doubt it would leave a mark.

"TaeTae you're so rude! Stop body rolling!" a girl next to me full on cried, pawing at my shirt with her manicured nails.

"I'm done," I growled, hoping that all my negative feelings would transfer off me in waves like in the animes so everyone would move out of the way.

It didn't work.

Clearing a path through the crowd with my arms, I stomped toward the exit off to the right. This time, I only received a brief second of annoyed glances before the entranced masses returned their attention to the Barbies on stage. My hands were already up in the air when I pushed through the exit, ready to cheer for my freedom, but they drooped in disappointment when I was faced with a boring white wall in a boring white hallway.

"Dear Lord, what have I done to deserve this?" I groaned, leaning my forehead against the wall.

I figured that I was clearly overreacting, but if I didn't vent, Hannah's body would end up in some dark shady alley on the way home. Closing my eyes and taking a deep labored breath, I calmed myself down and straightened up.

I might as well find a way out.

The cheering could still be heard through the thin cement and the bass pounded against the walls. Testing my luck, I decided to head right, whether that was up the hallway or down, I didn't know, but at this point, it didn't really matter. When I turned the corner, I was almost ran over by a small woman dressed in black and a headset around her neck. Barely dodging out of her way, I watched as she ran towards the direction I came from, speaking frantically into a mic that was connected to the headset.

"Sorry," she called, waving at me before leaving.

The last few words I managed to pick up before she disappeared were, "There is a brief intermission. Bring them backstage and touch up their makeup. We need to adjust the lights before they can go back on."

Shrugging my shoulders, I continued to walk through the hallway, constantly searching for the glowing exit signs. Suddenly, the cheering increased in volume, masking the absence of music.

Are they taking a break?

The abrupt end of the hallway gave me two choices. By now, doubt was starting to creep into my mind. I had the feeling that I had been walking for quite a while now, but there was still no exit in sight. I was left with the two options of continuing through the double doors, or branching off into another hallway that led to the left. There was someone talking now, but the words were muffled and incomprehensible. As I neared the doors, the faint sounds of voices and shuffling feet floated through the cracks. I shuddered as images of jostling bodies and emotional sobbing flooded my mind. My feet immediately steered me away from the doors and down the hallway that branched to the left. My hope was rekindled by the doors that lined both sides of the hallway. I was almost certain that at least one of them would lead to an exit. Just as I was about to try my luck with the first door, another door opened and out walked some vaguely familiar faces. The first thing I noticed was the myriad of colors that painted their hair.

Finally, people who can give me directions.

I had barely taken a step before my eyes zeroed in on the bright orange hair that adorned one of the figures.

"Please let that not be who I think it is," I muttered to myself as I walked slowly towards them.

Strangling the fingers of my right hand with my left, I fought to keep my gaze off them, trying to avoid eye contact for as long as possible. It seemed to me that they had not noticed me yet, too busy fooling around with each other and laughing.

I'm probably backstage right now, but why weren't there any security guards at the entrance?

"Excuse me, is it time for us to go back on stage?" a one of the members in the band asked.

Just my luck, it is them.

As I raised my eyes to meet his, I was met with shocking pale pink hair and a dimpled smile.

"I'm actually not a staff member so I wouldn't know the answer to that question," I replied, backing away a few steps. "Although, I did hear someone mentioning the need to adjust the lights before you could go back on stage."

"If you're not a member of the staff, how'd did you get backstage?" Pinky asked, tone immediately turning guarded and voice dropping.

"I'm actually a little lost and would appreciate it if you could kindly direct me to the nearest exit," I said quietly, hoping that he wouldn't freak out and start yelling for security.

Pinky was about to reply when out of the corner of my eye, I caught something that made me snicker.

"By the way, your fly is down," I nodded towards the member that was standing next to orange. "Very nice teddy bear print underwear, I must say."

He immediately flushed a bright red and swiveled his back towards me. Orange and two other members immediately burst out laughing and began to slap the embarrassed one on the back, but the others weren't so amused. I heard a, "Jungkook, I can't believe you actually wore that. It was meant to be a joke."

"I'm sorry, but are you a sasaeng?" a member with mint green hair asked, tone hostile and cold.

"I don't know what a sasaeng is, but judging from your tone, it isn't a good thing and I can assure you I mean no harm," I said calmly.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, I've pissed them off. This is not going to end well.

Green was about to reply when suddenly, two pairs of hands grabbed me on each arm and yanked me roughly away from the band.

"I'm sorry for the trouble she caused Suga-sshi," one of the men who grabbed me said bowing. "She must have slipped through the entrance when we weren't looking."

"Just see that it doesn't happen again," Pinky said as he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Of course, we will her out now," the man replied and began to drag me down the hall with the other man trailing behind.

"Well, I guess I'll be kindly escorted to an exit now," I called to Pinky. "Thanks anyway."

He simply nodded his head indifferently and lead the rest of the band members in the opposite direction, a few still laughing about the underwear situation.

"You are lucky that you didn't cause too much trouble," the man 'escorting' me said gruffly. "Just stay away from the concert venue. We don't want anymore incidents."

We stopped in front of what I presumed to me a side entrance and gestured for me to leave through the door.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," I said, seeing if it would get a reaction out of him.

"I can't say the same about you miss," he retorted and promptly shut the door in my face.

Turning around, I took a deep breath air and began to walk towards the parking lot. There were still a few girls lingering around the venue, waiting for the concert to be over so they could get a glimpse of the band.

"Excuse me, do you know when the concert is going to end?" I asked a group of girls who were camping outside the front entrance with gift bags and signs piled in their arms.

"The concert should be ending soon, but there's going to be a signing event and hi-touch afterwards that is going to last until midnight," she squealed and hugged her belongings, careful not to crush her poster of Pinky.

"Thanks," I said politely and stomped angrily towards Hannah's car.

Damn, I should've snagged the keys from her.

I should have felt at least a little bit guilty for leaving her alone in that sausage fest, but I just regretted not stealing the keys from her. Leaning against the car, I sighed and rubbed my arms, the chill breeze making my skin prickle. Even if I did find a way to get home, I would probably get mugged and tossed in a dumpster.

Hannah, I'm seriously going to break your nose.

Scuffing my shoes against the cement, I trudged out of the lot and onto the streets, where there was practically no one since it was so late.

"Mrs. Park is going to end me," I muttered to myself, causing some of the few pedestrians out to cast me weird looks.

If you let Hannah stay out past ten o'clock one more time, I'm going to shred your plane ticket.

One more incident and you're going back to the Lees.

Shudders ran down my spine as the horrible faces or Mr. and Mrs. Lee flashed through my mind, their contemptuous sneers and their devil's incarnate of a daughter, Ashley.

Brightly lit shops with music blaring out of them drew my attention and I entered a small store with a cluttered display window, the bell ringing as I pushed open the door.

"Is there anything you're looking for?" a bored voice called from the cash register.

I raised an eyebrow at the blonde girl behind the cashier as she typed furiously on her phone with the unnaturally long stiletto nails.

"Just looking," I called back as I looked around at the shelves, stacked with different types of sweaters and little knick-knacks.

"Well hurry up, we're closing soon," she drawled, flicking her wrist like I was an annoying fly that she tried to swat.

Rolling my eyes, I ignored her and began to flip through the racks. There were many distinct sections, each with a cheesy poster and separated by metal dividers.

"Exo?" I murmured as I stared at the poster that featured nine men, each with a generous amount of eyeliner, about a thousand ear piercings, and heavily ripped black jeans. "They seem like a pleasant bunch."

I only realized they were a band when I saw the piles of CD's and fan merchandise underneath the sweaters.

Am I in a band merch shop?

Deciding to explore some more, I browsed through section after section, retaining none of the numerous bands that I saw.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a section filled with pink and blue covered CD's and black jumpers with numbers on them, but I didn't get a good look because the bratty cashier decided to make herself known again.

"We're closing so get out," she snapped, ushering me through the door and practically flinging me out into the street.

"I hope you don't break a nail closing up," I said sarcastically as she was about to go back inside.

"Whatever," she scoffed and flipped her fake blonde hair into my face.

She's like a bad mixture of Hannah and Ashley. I feel sorry for her parents.

Glancing at my watch, I grimaced when I saw that it was already fifteen minutes past midnight. Hannah was probably still galavanting around the venue, trying to stay as long a possible. Sighing, I searched through my pockets for a 500 ₩ coin as I headed over to beat up payphone that was outside a dingy storage unit. Shoving the coin into the slot, I dialed Hannah's number, knowing that she wouldn't pick up.

Please leave a message.

"Come pick me up after you're done. I'll be in the nearest pastry shop," I grumbled into the phone, keeping it well away from my lips. "Don't be too surprised if your bank account takes a hit."

Hanging the phone back onto the receiver, I reached into my pocket again to reassure myself that Hannah's 'emergency' credit card was in there. I still had some leftover cash that she chucked at me earlier so I was set for the rest of the night. As I walked down the streets, cars passed by in a continuous stream, washing cold air onto me as they drove past. Shivering, I saw a small little cafe and rushed inside. Warmth enveloped me like a blanket as soon as I stepped inside, making me relax and let out a sigh. Making my way over to the counter, I saw a tired looking barista who was giving me weird looks and casting glances at the clock.

Figures. It's one in the morning and I'm probably the only person crazy enough to come for coffee at a time like this.

"Can I get a regular black coffee and a large box of cream puffs?" I asked, ignoring another weird look that he threw at me.

"That'll be 40,000 ₩ please," he said.

I wordlessly handed him the money and took the box of patries that he held out to me.

"These were fresh made ten minutes ago and your coffee will be ready soon," he explained and I nodded.

Placing down the box one of the tables, I immediately opened it and shoved one into my mouth, savoring the rich taste of cream.

Almost makes coming worth it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the barista place a cup of coffee on the table and I nodded to him in thanks. The minutes ticked by in silence as I continued to empty my box. Just as I finished the last cream puff, a tinkling bell interrupted the silence. A man wearing a jumper with the name 'Jungkook' and a number 97 walked into the shop. Shrugging, I turned back to my box, but my face fell when I was met with just a blank sheet of wax paper at the bottom of the cardboard.

"Hey aren't you the girl that snuck backstage?" the man said, causing me to look up.

Oh crap, it's underwear boy. What was his name again?

"Are you Jungkook then?" I asked, hoping that I got his name right.

"Well, that depends," he said and raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to jump me?"

"I don't know," replied back. "After hearing 'Jungkook you y beast!' throughout the whole concert, maybe I'm starting to think that they're not wrong."

"Are you flirting with me?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Not really," I shrugged and went back to staring at my empty box of cream puffs.

He left after that, but I faintly heard him talking to the barista. I couldn't make out any of the words but he seemed to be counting things on his fingers.

Should I buy another box?

"Here," Jungkook said when he came back to my table. "It's my way of saying thanks."

"For what?" I asked distractedly, eyeing the box in his hands.

"I would've flashed everyone if you didn't say anything," he grinned, setting the box on my table.

"I'm sure the fans would've wanted to see it though," I retorted, opening the box and inhaling the sweet scent of more cream puffs.

"Not with that underwear. Calvin Klein maybe, but definitely not Care Bears," he smiled and took a seat.

I was going to say something, but decided against it. He was about to say something again when the bell jingled and several pairs of feet strode inside the cafe.

And I thought I was the only one.

"Who's this Jungkook?" a voice said.

Jungkook then said something that made me spew cream all over his shirt.

"A sasaeng that to likes collects our underwear."

~

I feel like this chapter isn't that good because I read 'My Immortal' recently and it killed off a bunch of my brain cells. For those who don't know what it is, it's a Harry Potter fanfic that's often called 'the worst fanfic ever written' because that's how bad it is. I need to read some better books to replenish my brain cells. Enjoy.