Many see idols as people living their lives luxuriously, wearing expensive brands and having many fans. What they don't see, however, was the amount of hard work and sacrifice idols have to make to be where they are now. Those people certainly don't consider the obsessive fans called 'sasaeng or sasaeng fans' idols have to deal with on a daily basis. 

Although they usually come from love, sasaeng invades idol's privacy by doing a lot of things; from visiting a cafe their idols visit a lot in hopes of meeting them to following them to where they live or buying a place near their idols' place so they could always be in close proximity. Every idol has encountered these sasaeng fans on certain levels and that includes you. You're known as a carefree, girl crush idol and many girl fans dig that and few of them even became sasaeng fans. They would follow you to every schedule you have, visit the cafe you used to frequently visit, and even try to follow you home by driving near the car you're riding in. The first two conditions you don't really mind much considering your schedules are meant for interactions with fans and them visiting the cafe gives them extra income, but the last one is a safety hazard for you and your members; they do live in the same place as you so if the sasaeng found out where it is, it's a safe bet they're going to tell the rest of the girls' sasaeng fans. 

Due to your group's rising popularity, the group's schedule had increased (as well as your solo schedule) which meant the interactions with fans became more frequent with fansite masternims and some regular fans following almost your every step. Unfortunately, that also meant the sasaeng fans were there. At first, there were no extraordinary things that happened. Yes, people push here and there where you walk and everything but security managed to keep all of you mostly safe. Then, the airport accident happened.

Red Velvet had a schedule outside of South Korea so all of you were at the airport, minding your own businesses, walking through it as calmly as you could with security and managers surrounding the group. Flashlights came from all over the place, screams of your names erupting every second from fansite masternims and news outlets combined wanting you to interact with them or in this case, their cameras. Due to safety reasons, all of you were walking in line with you at the very end, your height towering as an extra safety precaution. Your black belt in karate was also in consideration. You had Irene in front of you, manager-oppa on your left and one of the bodyguards sightly on the right, just between you and Irene. Suddenly, there was a commotion before the crowd on your left just surged forward causing manager-oppa to scoot closer to you and Irene, the last line of defense from the rest of the crowd.

You knew he was getting squeezed and wanted to help him first but you've been told in situations like this, you had to think about you and the members first. With that in mind and not wanting anything to happen to your guardian, you quickly wrapped your right arm around Irene's shoulders and forced yourself to stand on her left in the tight space, pulling her even further into your figure. In turn, Irene quickly wrapped her left arm around your waist and hugged you tighter, slightly burying her face into your chest. You kept leading her towards the gate, knowing the bodyguard would deal with the situation when you suddenly felt your bag being pulled from the direction of the crowd quite strongly, causing you to stumble slightly. 

"Omo-" you hugged Irene tighter in an attempt to keep your balance which caused her to close her eyes, whimpering into your chest as she hugged you even tighter in an attempt to not lose her hold on you. She hated tight spaces filled with a lot of people and this was her worst nightmare. 

You turned around to see who had pulled your bag only to come face-to-face with one of the sasaengs you knew was after you. You've seen this girl so many times in the past few months even your fansites had contacted both you and the company to let them know that there were sasaengs following you, along with pictures as proof, and one of them was this girl. You glared at her and pulled your bag towards you stronger which caused her to let go and stumble. 

"I love my fans and I know they love me so if you're a fan, you wouldn't hurt me or my members like this." You muttered quietly but clearly, looking at her dead in the eyes before turning around and directing your attention towards Irene again. 

"It's going to be alright, Unnie. I'll protect you." You kissed the top of her head, leading her even closer towards the gate. She only nodded and whimpered in response. 

You were sure somebody was recording that incident and you didn't care if what you had said had been uploaded for everyone to see. The public had to know the problem and right now all you cared about was the safety of your members. You looked over everyone to see they were safely in-between managers and bodyguards and you sighed slightly in relief. At least there was only one problem to deal with. 

"This has to stop, Unnie," you paced back and forth in the airport lounge in front of your manager, a serious look on your face. The members didn't dare interrupt as they watched you let out your stress. "Not only was I targeted but Oppa was also hurt. How is he, by the way? Is he okay?" 

You stopped your pacing as you stared at your manager, concerned. You weren't really affected by the accident as you had taken karate classes since you were little (so you're used to being pushed around and put into inconvenient situations) but you knew your members were affected a lot and now your manager too. 

She sighed, standing up from her seat. "He's fine, a little breathless but he's fine now." Due to her height, she had to look up at you but the intensity in her gaze didn't relent. 

"Eli, you best believe I'm taking this seriously so I have reported it to the company. I'll make sure they do something about this quickly, okay?" She put both of her hands on your shoulders firmly. "Now, please focus on the schedule. I'll let you know of any updates about this. Hopefully, something will be done by the time you guys get back," she ended her speech with a warm and hopeful smile, hoping to calm you down somewhat. 

She knew it was mostly useless when your members' safety was in concern but a woman could hope.

You stared at her before letting out a defeated sigh, relaxing your posture slightly. The rest of the girls could be seen sighing in relief as well, glad their most protective member was now slightly calmer. They didn't want to admit it but you could be scary when you're serious like that. 

"Fine," you stepped back so your manager's hands fall off your shoulders. You then put your arm on her back to lead her slightly away from your members, wanting a bit of privacy. You ignored the feeling of stares on your back and the hushed whispers coming from where your sisters were.

They were probably wondering what could be so secret you had to speak so far away from them.

"You probably would find this hard to believe, Unnie, but I'm not really worried about me," you tried to joke as you smiled sightly before turning serious again. "I'm more worried about the members, especially Joohyun-unnie and Yeri. The crowd was too close today, Unnie. What would happen if we lack managers or bodyguards? Something could definitely happen and I'm the only one that knows self-defence; what would happen then?" You stared at her. 

"Something needs to be done about the crowd," you stated with finality. 

Manager-unnie stayed silent before sighing but nodding nonetheless. "I know and I agree, Eli-ah but you know how the company is like. We'll do something about your sasaeng first then the crowd, okay? Now please let this go for now, focus on your members and your schedule." She diverted her gaze towards your members, prompting you to do the same.

You could see the worry in their eyes and expressions, including Joy's and Yeri's. The look didn't suit them, any of them. 

"They need to know you're okay, El. They're worried." She turned her attention back to you before ending the conversation by giving you a smile and a warm hug before pushing you towards your members. 

Your members, seeing you coming to them, replaced the frowns with smiles and dispersed from their little circle. You gave your signature grin back, dimple on display.  You could worry later, right now what you needed to do was make your sisters feel safe again.

You opened your arms wide as you neared them. "I'm okay, everyone. Group hug!" None of them hesitated to run towards you, throwing their arms around you and forming a tight group hug.

Moments like this helped you forget accidents like that. At least for the moment. 

The schedule went well and you had a lot of fun. There wasn't any accident at the airport there but what you didn't know was another problem awaited you in your own country. As soon as you landed and went out of the gate, reporters swarmed your group. Along with fansite masternims who were also trying to find good spots for photos and other fans trying to get a glimpse of Red Velvet, everything was just chaos. You couldn't even focus on looking for potential sasaeng anymore. Being tall really came in handy in times like this because you could easily urge your members to form a little circle surrounded by you, the managers, and bodyguards. You respected reporters but if they were going to invade your group's privacy and make them uncomfortable it was the end of nice Eli. You were going to protect your members no matter what it took. 

Your group kept walking forward and you kept reassuring them amidst the chaos. "Just a little bit more, guys. I should know I'm the tallest here," that got them giggling, the slight smiles on their faces bringing a similar one on yours. 

"Eli, your video went viral! How do you feel about that sasaeng?" A reporter shouted from somewhere, making other reporters follow. 

"Were you hurt?" Uh... did you watch the video?

"Eli! Please tell us how you feel!" Nope, I have no obligation to you thanks. 

"We hope you're fine, Eli!" Well, at least that was a nice wish. 

The shouts of questions didn't stop until all of you entered the car, finally letting out big breaths of relief. 

"My God, that was horrible." Joy muttered, putting her hair up in a ponytail. She couldn't believe the nerve of some people. 

Seulgi sighed, closing her eyes and leaning back in her seat. "I never want to go through that ever again." 

"Amen to that," Yeri cheered from the middle seat in her cheery voice, making some of you chuckle. 

It was honestly one of the worst experiences you guys ever had with the media and that's saying something. You kept thinking about what the sasaeng incident had brought and couldn't help but feel guilty for making your group put up with the aftermath. You continued to overthink and the others focused on themselves while Wendy could only focus on you. Irene would do the same thing but she was upfront so she figured Wendy could fill in her role at the moment.

You hadn't relaxed completely and Wendy could basically see the tense muscles on your shoulders. "Liza," she put a hand on your shoulder making you turn slightly towards her, the frown turning into a slight smile on your face. "You okay?" 

You were in fact, pissed. You were angry that those reporters had the nerve to act just like those sasaengs, making your members scared and uncomfortable. You were angry at what the incident with the sasaeng had brought upon your group, making them suffer instead of only you. You felt like everything was just all over the place and you hated it. 

"I'm pissed, Wendy, but I can't do anything about it." You purposefully talked in English so the rest wouldn't understand much, honorifics be damn. Wendy already gave permission to do so when talking in English anyway. "It's not right that they could act like this. Sasaeng is one thing but reporters acting like that? That's an invasion of privacy that shouldn't happen!" You continued your rant though your voice stayed low, not wanting to disturb the others. "Don't they have rules for that ?" 

Wendy gasped, slightly amazed at your angry rant. Never knew you would curse in front of everyone. "Liza!" She half-gasped half-chuckled in disbelief. "Calm down, take deep breaths please babe." 

Wendy knew how much this disturbed you and how you probably felt responsible even though you weren't. The group had agreed to face this problem with you no matter how bad it would turn out, together. They knew how stubborn and selfless you could be though, so they knew it would take some time to convince you. 

At this point Irene turned around to see you, concerned. She knew that tone. "Eli, we'll talk at home, okay? Just know that none of us blames you and feels like you're responsible," she gave you her warm smile, making you slightly calmer. "We're in this with you. We're family, aren't we?" With that she turned back around, letting you process her words. 

Well, gotta listen to the leader. You eventually just put your head on Wendy's shoulder and closed your eyes, trying to find your peace of mind even for a little bit. 

You didn't know just how much you were going to need it.