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"Up the audio volume for #11!"

"Got it."

An organized chaos. That's how you would describe your job. As part of a production team, your days are always hectic; months of planning and coordinating; creating programs and detailed instructions; tiresome rehearsals and the nerve-wracking event itself. And if anything goes wrong on your side, well, you don't really want to think of it especially that today is a big event.

"Seungkwan? Is the volume okay?" you asked as he stopped beside you.

He adjusted his earphones and his mic. His face had this concentrated look as he listened for a moment before smiling and nodding at you. "The volume is just right but the new in-ears feel kind of uncomfortable. I feel so far from our fans."

"I could fix that," you said smiling before turning to your mixer.

He stood with you silently and watched. Usually, tuning, testing, and mixing are just a piece of cake. But with Seungkwan watching you...

Your hand hovered on the dials for a good half a minute before you dared to peek from the corner of your eye only to see him smiling knowingly, his eyes looking at your hand.

"Alright, everyone. Standby!"

You breathed, thankful for the interruption, as he moved towards the edge of the curtain with the others. You looked back on the mixer and finally found the right dial, adjusting it and taking a listen yourself just in time for Seungkwan to throw you a thumbs up.

Then, they set out to perform, the cheers of the fans welcoming them as they went to the stage.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," a voice behind you said.

You turned to see one of your co-workers watching the group in awe. You smiled. "I know. I still can't believe I'm actually doing this for a living. To think that I could watch him perform and hear him sing for a long time...I'm probably in heaven now."

Your friend shook her head as she laughed. "Are you sure you should be saying those words so carelessly? What if someone hears you?"

"As long as they don't tell Seungkwan then I'm good. I don't think I can handle him knowing how much I like him. My mind even went blank a while ago! I mean, me! I've been doing this job for a while now but I blanked just cause he was standing next to me being cute and really kind and his smile is just—"

"Easy, tiger. Your fangirl side is showing."

"I know, I know. Be professional," you said turning to watch them perform. "I feel like I'm in a movie or something with this stupid forbidden love," you sighed.

With words like "Bye!”, “Be careful going home!”, and “Thank you for coming!", the event ended.

They all walked in, handing you back their earphones and microphones as they usual before you noticed something. Most of them, if not all, either had this secretive smile on their faces or did a tapping motion on their in-ears as they thanked you.

"Thank you for the hard work," Seungkwan said arriving last. He stood on the balls of his feet, fidgeting as he watched you arrange their equipment on the table when he spoke. "Did you really mean it?"

"Huh?"

"When you said that I'm cute and really kind and that you like me?"

For the second time today, your mind went blank as you felt your heart lunge forward.

"I heard it, you know. We all did," he nodded towards the earphones with a small laugh. "I think I did a great job distracting you a while ago. I received an indirect confession."

Running away would've been nice but your knees wobbled and you felt like collapsing on the ground instead. But seeing him getting so shy and red, how could you do that to him?

"So...uh...do you want to maybe grab some dinner after or something?"

"Wait. Are we allowed to do that?" you asked. "What if...people misunderstood?"

"That's true," he admitted, giving you a sympathetic smile. "But we could eat in the cafeteria for a start if you like?"

The cafeteria wasn’t exactly ideal but at this point, being picky isn't an option. Besides, everything already feels surreal. Maybe you can start this, whatever it is, slowly.

You smiled back. "I'd love to."