You sat there in the hair salon on Saturday, and closed your eyes while the barber did your hair. This was the first time you were going to lighten your hair and get it waved. You had called to tell your Grandfather all about it beforehand. Although he wasn’t too sure if it was a good idea, you proceeded anyway.

“Done!” Alex, the barber, stated and you opened your eyes. You stared at yourself in shock. You looked like a completely different person! Your wispy bangs looked perfect against your forehead. Your light brown hair looked amazing and wavy reminding you of Jun’s “girlfriend”, Ara, who you met at his exhibition.

“Let me put some make up on you,” Alex stated and proceeded to pull out some brushes.

“No, I’m good,” you replied.

“It’s free girl! Just do it,”

And with that he proceeded to line your eyes and pat some foundation onto your skin. After he finished adding some light mascara onto your lashes, he brushed a tint of pink onto your lips and ushered you out of the salon.

Your phone rang and you looked to see an unfamiliar number.

“Hello?” you asked.

“Hey there, this is the principle at Pledis, Mr. Kwon,”

“Oh! Mr. Kwon…yes. How are you?”

“I am well. We have a play happening today in roughly an hour. We are a bit understaffed. I was wondering if you could come and help?”

You wondered why this principle felt he had the power to manipulate you. As if he read your mind he continued, “I’ve spoken to your Grandfather and he thinks this would be a great opportunity for you to meet our staff and students,”

You rolled your eyes. How dare your Grandfather go and volunteer you?!?!!?

With the most obedient tone you responded, “Yes sir, I will be there.”

The crowd at Pledis was exactly the same as when you attended Jun’s exhibition. However, this time people wore fewer business suits making you feel less out of place.

You stood by the backdoor of the stage and directed traffic. Technically, bathroom traffic. Before long, the crowd died down and the show started. You could hear the music echoing from inside the auditorium while the crowd cheered every so often. When you suddenly felt the urge to urinate yourself, you hurried to the women’s restroom. You exited out from the restroom and headed back towards your duty spot only to witness a little girl crying; sitting where you had sat with Hansol the first time you met him.

“Are you ok?” you asked while walking over to her.

“I lost my mommy…” She replied.

“That’s not good…did you go to the bathroom with her?” you questioned. The little girl and her watery eyes nodded at you and you helped her up.

“Yuna!” a woman called from down the hall, “What are you doing? I thought I lost you!”

You watched Yuna’s mom hurry over. When she scooped Yuna into her arms you wondered how it felt to be loved and wanted by a mother. The only memories you had of your parents were fading and disappearing day by day. Even when you tried to remember them, all you could recall was your Grandfather holding you at their funeral.

Suddenly the backdoor flung open knocking you to the side. A tall girl ran out and down the hall towards the restrooms.

“Ow…” you announced while rubbing your shoulder.

“Thank you for finding her,” Yuna’s mom stated.

“Well I didn’t do anything…she was actually here already,” you explained and smiled at Yuna who was now wiping her tears with the large sleeve of her jacket. Before you could say another word the backdoor flung open again, knocking you over for the second time.

“Iseul, we don’t have time for you to be conversating,” someone stated from behind you. Before you could comprehend what the staff meant, she yanked you through the backdoor of the auditorium. The darkness made you wonder what the heck was going on. Another staff snatched your beret off your head and you scrambled to take it back.

“Hey! That’s mine…” you tried to explain but before you could finish speaking three other staff members began to undress you and you struggled to keep your clothes on.

“What are you guys doing? What…that’s my dress…why are you taking off my shirt?” you panicked while you asked away a thousand questions. Your eyes began to adjust to the dark room backstage while another staff slapped a mask onto your face, tying it tightly behind your head. Right afterwards, someone zipped a thin fitting short dress onto you without warning. The chaos made it hard for you to defend yourself, let alone escape. There were too many of them around you, fixing, spraying, and binding everything so tight.

“Why is this shoe size so large?” another staff spoke from beside you. Suddenly they were fixing a pair of heels onto your feet and buckling it tightly around your ankles. Before you could ask another question, they rushed you over and shoved you into the arms of some random person.

“Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” you asked in a panic, “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean? We practiced this,”

“Practiced what?” you questioned with irritation and began to walk away but the guy grabbed your arm and pulled you back to him. Only when the lights lit up and the clapping roared behind the curtains did you realize where you were. Your heart began to pound. This could NOT be happening!

“What are we doing???” you whispered trying to keep your volume at a minimum.

“We are going to dance. Why are you asking me like we never did this?”

“I don’t know how to dance,” you admitted quickly. Your blood pressure went through the roof as you struggled to think of a solution. How did you end up in the back of the stage dressed in whatever the heck you had on???

“Over more Hoshi,” a staff whispered and you stared at Hoshi’s dark silhouette before you. Hoshi fixed his hand at your waist and moved so close to you, you felt like Minghao in the locker room, violated. However, you did hug him without feeling violated before. Would it be weird to think that way now?

In a panic, you grabbed the fabric at Hoshi’s chest, yanked him towards you and whispered, “Hoshi it’s me. I don’t know how to dance. I don’t know what is going on.”

“Who?”

“It’s me!” you squealed in a fright and told him your name. Hoshi’s eyes shot open as the blinds began to part and the music grew louder, filling your ears completely. You noticed a few other students already dancing outside the blinds, bringing a romantic feel to the scene.

Hoshi’s lips were moving but you couldn’t make out a thing.

“WHAT?!” you questioned. In that moment Hoshi bent over and placed his cheek against yours.

“Hold onto me,”

You hesitated at his remark.

“Hurry,” he demanded anxiously and you quickly abided to his authority as you wrapped your arms around his waist

“No, my neck,” he directed. When you secured your arms around his neck, Hoshi wrapped both of his arms tightly around your waist, picked you up slightly and placed you on top of his feet.

“What are you doing?” you asked.

Without explanation, Hoshi commanded, “Don’t let go,”

When the stage lights warmed your skin, you looked up to see that Hoshi wore a dark purple mask lined with jewels around the edges. His blinking eyes, flushed lips and chin were the only parts you could see. Your fearful eyes were glued to Hoshi to keep the audience out of sight while he shuffled you