She pulled her car up to the curb and parked. The street was quiet, the lateness of the hour made it feel eerie and somehow still peaceful. From the passenger seat she grabbed the red rose wrapped in clear plastic that she had picked up at a gas station on the way there.

When she got out of the car, she didn’t see anyone else. The house was bathed in the yellow glow of the street lights and the cool clear moonlight. A gate surrounded it and she walked up to it and pressed her hand to it.

The metal held the heat of the sun and she imagined some of it came from the people that had been here before her. Writing covered the fence and on a couple large rectangles of poster board, others had left longer messages. She had wanted to come here for as long as she could remember and now that she was here, she couldn’t shake the feeling of deep sorrow that wrapped around her.

Walking around the fence, she stopped to look through the metal bars to look at the plaques on the ground.

“Birthplace of Michael Jackson”

She stopped at the sidewalk that led up to the house and sat down, her back pressed against the fence. She sang softly to herself, it was a song that had been a big part of her childhood. When another voice joined hers, she looked around startled. In the shadows of a tree a man emerged. She gripped the rose tight, the plastic crinkling as the man walked towards her. She jumped to her feet and turned to go back to her car.

“Please, don’t leave”, a softly accented voice said, filled with sadness. She stopped and turned to look behind her.

The man was dressed in gray sweats, a bright yellow t-shirt and a a matching gray zip up hoodie. He walked until he reached her. He was taller than her and she had to crane her neck to see his face in the semi-darkness. She could tell he was handsome but a pair of oversized sunglasses obscured his eyes and eyebrows.

“I wanted to see where he was born. He is such an inspiration to me”, the man said, pointing at the house. The young woman relaxed and smiled at him.

“Me too. All my life, his music was played at home. I remember having a crush on him when I was ten and that summer, I wore cuffed blue jeans and a pair of thrift store loafers, trying to copy his style”, she said with a laugh and a blush he couldn’t see in the dim light.

The man chuckled,”It’s amazing the things kids will do when they are younger”, he said and slipped his sunglasses off and tucked them into his hoodie pocket. She could see that he had thick eyebrows over brown eyes that had a sparkle in them, like a secret he carried.

“So…..”, she said, the rose still clutched in her hand,”I just came to see the house and leave this here”, she said and lifted the flower so he could see it.

“I can’t stay long either, I drove from Chicago to see it just once”, he said and went to lean against the fence, standing in the same place she had been sitting before he startled her.

“I’m visiting Chicago too. My best friend invited me to spend a week with her.” She took a place at his side and together they looked at the house and imagined what it would be like to live in such a small place with so many people.

“What is your favorite Michael Jackson song?”, she asked him and he thought about it for a moment before he spoke.

“I remember hearing it years ago and I made me feel like fluttery. It was something that inspired me to do what I really love”, he said and started to hum the chorus. She knew the song instantly and started to sing it and he joined her. His voice had a deep husky quality to it and she thought to herself that his voice was like butter. They sang the song to the end and when it was over, they stood in silence.

“I have to go now”, he said suddenly and she turned to look at him.

A tear drop clung to his incredibly long, thick eyelashes and without thinking she reached out to brush it away. His reaction, a flinch, made her pull her hand back. His large hand took hers and guided it to his face and with trembling fingers she brushed the tear away, feeling its wetness for just a moment before her body heat caused it to evaporate.

“It’s been so long since I met someone that didn’t expect something of me”, he said in a sad whisper as she pressed her hand to his cheek. He nuzzled against her hand for just a moment then pulled back to break their brief contact. He looked at her, sizing her up for the first time. Her hair was a mass of curls, barely restrained by an orange bandana that was tied in a bow on the top of her head. A black t shirt with something faintly written on it emphasized her curvy shape and jeans cut off at the knees led down to flip flops that showcased her toes tipped in orange polish. Based on her reaction, she clearly had no idea who he was but somehow here she stood, dressed head to toe in a color that meant so much to him. A smile quirked at his lips and he chuckled softly.

She smiled with him,”My best friend did this to me. Part of the reason I’m in Chicago is because she wants to take me to a concert. I’ve only listened to a few of their songs but I think I’ll have fun. My friend is really hype about it.”

He spoke next in a rush of words,”What’s your name? Can I call you sometime? I know it’s sudden but I think I’d like to talk to you again sometime.”

She blinked at him as she chewed her bottom lip for a moment before she held her hand out and he dug his phone out to give it to her, almost dropping it on the hard pavement.

She took his and typed her name into the contacts and added her number, calling her own phone and letting it ring a few times so she would have his number as well. She handed his phone back and gave him a smile.

“I’ve got to get back now, my friend will think I’ve been robbed and murdered”, she said with a laugh.

“I’ve got people waiting for me too, they will send out a full scale search party if I don’t get back”, he said chuckling, his voice deep and husky.

“It was nice meeting you”, she said before turning to walk away,”I’ll text when I get back to the hotel and let you know I made it safely.” She wondered why she would do such a thing, she had literally just met the man.

She felt a gentle grip on her arm and found herself pulled and spun into a warm, hard chest as arms wrapped around her and pulled her close.

“Drive safe and I’ll be waiting”, his deep voice rumbled against her ears before he released her with a soft smile. Waving as she walked away on weak legs, she didn’t see him pull his phone out and start a call.

“Can you please have 2 backstage passes and VIP perks arranged for this person and one other?”, ChoongJae said then gave the woman’s name. “I”m getting ready to head back right now, I’ll tell you all about it then, Hyung”, he said before he hung up and walked back to his car, whistling and dancing as he went.

(as stories go, this one is choppy and poorly planned but It’s also something I started over the summer and just managed to get done. My life has been as mess lately and writing is the last thing I’ve really been able to focus on. But I wanted to write this after going to see my bestie over the summer and making the drive to Gary, Indiana and seeing the birthplace of Michael Jackson. The part about the MC wearing rolled up jeans and thrift store loafers, that was me. I really did that, it was probably the summer of 1993 when I was almost 10 years old and TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH MICHAEL JACKSON lol

I read an article when I started writing this about how ChoongJae said Michael Jackson was a major influence and he mentioned Love Never Felt So Good so I had to slip it into this little thing. I’ll Be There was and will always be one of my favorite songs and The Way You Make Me Feel, well that was a last minute decision, it just seemed right to me as he was walking away after meeting this girl lol