The day flew in a blink of an eye. After the sudden surprise birthday party that morning, Nikki was back to her happy carefree self, all traces of guiltiness about her last encounter with Doyoung disappeared. Actually it was not her birthday yet, but for some reason they decided to celebrate it that day. It was to be expected from Julie. Her reasoning was that ‘Celebrating on the actual birthday is too boring and old fashioned. So it’s better to celebrate it on a day you least expect it. That’s more fun’. No one bothered to question her either. It was not every day that all her friends get to get together like that. So a chance like this is very much appreciated by all of them. The sooner the better.

As always the lecture was too boring for Nikki to pay full attention. Julie snoring besides her didn’t help either. The only good thing about the lecture was Jason sitting on the other side of her giving her occasional glances and small smiles. If it was some other time, Nikki would be all giddy and excited but right now she was too bored and her eye lids were getting heavy.

It was a matter of few seconds before she get completely knocked off and that’s the last thing she wanted. She was still not ready to face Doyoung, specially without a good “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop” speech.

And the next thing she know, shes in a bright loud room with some luxury music playing in the background. “ughhhhh…” She groaned loudly. ‘Why do I always fall asleep in lecture hall these days?’. She looked around herself to find some place to hide first before she get face to face with Doyoung. She needed a few seconds to come up with a good few words. There was a small table in the corner of the room that looked like it could fit someone under it. She quickly crawled under it before releasing her breath that she held in unconsciously. She took a few seconds to scan the room.

 It was a dressing room or a waiting room or maybe a salon. She was not sure. There were few mirrors around the room. The room was not very crowded as only a few seats were occupied. She noticed Jaehyun, Taeyong and Johnny sitting infront of the mirrors with hair stylists doing whatever to their heads. There was some other person at the end of the room too but she could not clearly see him from her angle. It should be definitely Doyoung or else she wouldn’t have woken up in that place. She took some deep breaths.

“This is no big deal, It was not like I spread rumors about him. I will just say ‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your phone call I was about to go outside to see if I could see some other idols...’ Yeah right that’s the best way, I should not make a big deal of this. Lets play it cool, right.. I can do it. Fighting!!!”

She knew her plan was dumb but she had no other choice. She did not want to look like a cheap crazy fan infront of Doyoung. That’s the best idea came to her tiny brain. She fisted both her hands and crawled back out from under the table confidently. She took small steps towards Doyoung cautiously. Finally she was infront of Doyoung but he was just staring at his hands placed on his lap. The stylist was dying his hair and it looked like its ‘Dirt brown’ this time. She made a small sound from hoping to get Doyoungs attention but he did not lift his head up. ‘Is he ignoring me? Is he mad at me? Oh my god I’m doomed!!’

“Doyoung ah... Are you really gonna give your iPod to Haechan? I thought you were joking”
Johnny said looking at Doyoung through the mirror. He did not make any sound or any movement of acknowledgment. Nikki stared back and forth between Johnny and Doyoung confused at the odd interaction.

“Yah.. you asleep? That’s why I told you to sleep early yesterday..” Taeyong said with a amused laugh. That’s when it clicked her. He was not ignoring her, he was just asleep. She does not have to apologize to him. Suddenly she felt like giving a big hug to Taeyong. Of course she didn’t.
Now that she had nothing else to do, she decided to just roam around the place. It was a chance that no other girl would ever get. So why waste it. She first started with Jaehyun who was the closest to the door. He was reading a magazine while getting his hair dyed. Up close he had very clear skin. He really looked 100% flawless. Nikki moved her head closer and closer to his until only about an inch of space left between their faces. She was practically sitting on his lap. His only reaction was to twitch his nose a little in a cute way. Nikki tried so hard not to squeal loudly. She was loving it way too much. Suddenly out of nowhere Jaehyun let out a big sneeze. Nikki flew out and landed on the floor with a hard thud. To be honest it was not a very graceful sneeze. Jaehyun gave a sheepish smile to the shocked stylist and Taeyong.

“ Sorry.. It bothered me for too long..”
Nikki stayed on the floor for a few seconds out of shock. She made a mental note to never go near Jaehyun again. She slowly got up from the floor. Her was throbbing from the hard fall. Or maybe she thought so. She was not sure if she can still felt pain or not.

She then went towards Johnny who was sitting next to Jaehyun. Johnny was not really doing anything other than staring at himself on the mirror. He had a rubic cube in his hands but he was not doing anything with it. Either he got bored with it or hes got no clue what to do with it. Nikki kept a small cautious distance between them in case Johnny decided to sneeze too. He looked like a handsome, rich businessman in a drama with his dark hair jelled back and straight posture. Nikki always thought that he radiated big brother aura. Very comfortable like a friend. She liked it very much. She decided to pay some extra attention to Johnny next time.

The next in line was her precious prince, her soul mate, love of her life.. Lee Taeyong. He was wearing a cute bandana on his forehead to stop the hair from falling in his eyes. His eyes were glued to his phone screen playing some mobile game while the stylist work on the back of his head. Nikki felt her heart beat rising just by looking at him. He was really on a different level. One would think that once you see them off the stage without makeup and all, they’ll look different from the prince like figure they show on the screen. But he looked just the same. He was the same perfect guy on and off the stage. Nikki felt a bit scared to move closer to him. She stood a few feet away from him admiring him from afar.

She let out a long sigh lifting her eyes away from Taeyong to look at Doyoung who was still in dreamland, giving his stylist a hard time from the occasional swaying of his head. Nikki shook her head and strolled towards Doyoung. It felt comfortable to be close to Doyoung than others like an old childhood friend. She planted herself on the dressing table with her back facing the mirror and leaned forwards towards Doyoung using her hands to support her head. Doyoung was sound asleep. She wondered if he was dreaming.

That’s when it came to her mind. If Doyoung was sleeping, then he must be in the lecture hall right now. Just like how she was in front of Doyoung now. But then again she did not have these dreams every time she slept , neither did Doyoung. She was yet to figure out how this whole dreaming thing worked. She just hoped that she was not sleeping with open like an idiot.

Doyoungs head was swaying in all directions. The stylist looked like she was about to cry now. Nikki chuckled to herself and cupped Doyoungs face with both of her hands trying to stop the swaying. And it worked. The touch felt so soft like a touch of a feather. The stylist looked a little baffled but she ignored it and went back to her work again hurriedly with a relieved sigh. That’s when Nikki took a good look at Doyoungs face.

He looked so peaceful. His eye lashes rested on his cheeks so elegantly. His lips formed into a small pout by the press of her hands making him look more like a bunny. The corner of Nikkis lips unconsciously lifted a little. He slept like a baby.
She would have loved to keep her hands on his face for much longer if his head did not weigh like a baby elephant. Her hands were becoming numb but if she suddenly take her hands away now, he’ll definitely wake up. Then it’ll be even more awkward than before. She did not get to think for a long time. Suddenly Doyoung opened his eyes staring straight at Nikki. His eyes widened comically and his breath hitched looking at her hands on his face. Nikki had no time react as the next second her eyes opened and she was facing a snoring Julie.

She stopped breathing for a few seconds to gather her thoughts. She always wake up in the most awkward moments. She looked around in a daze.
“You okay? You had a dream again?” Jason asked sounding concerned. He was leaning down to stare at Nikkis face. Nikki just nodded her head slowly not knowing what else to say. Jason grabbed his water bottle and offered it to her. She shook her head mumbling a little ‘Thank You’.

******************

Doyoung came back to his senses after a few seconds. He was standing in the middle of some lecture hall a second earlier. He thought Nikki was in the Salon with the other members as she was sound asleep in the lecture hall, but he did not expect to have her hands cupping his head and her face right in front of his the moment he opened his eyes. Unconsciously he rubbed his face a little bit too hard trying to come back to his senses.
Then he was reminded of the strange boy in the lecture room. He was watching Nikki sleep with a stupid smile on his face. Doyoung has seen enough dramas to know that love struck look on the boys face. ‘Maybe he’s Nikkis boyfriend’. Doyoung was not sure if he was annoyed or ridiculed by them but he knew he was definitely curious about it all. He decided to put it all aside and focus on his hair at the moment as it was turning into a mop of dirt by every passing second.