At the beginning of stardom, fanmeetings are something special. But after some time you'll get less and less excited, because it's always the same: Fans come to you, shake your hand, take their sign and leave. Out of sight, out of mind. Sometimes you're able to remember the face of a fan, because they did something very funny, but nothing more. Not so with Tea. Her short, brown hair were the first thing that got my attention. Between all the blackhaired, asian girls it might not seem like something big, but if you know, that I didn't remember her blonde friend who went with her, then – you have to agree – that's something big. Good thing, Kevin noticed the blonde girl, as I found out while talking to him after the fanmeeting.

 

„Did you see the foreign girl today?“

 

I was a little bit shocked. Kevin liked her? He also noticed the short-haired girl? But she wasn't his type! Not at all! Well, but she wasn't exactly my type either, to begin with... A tomboy, loud but charming, funny and she'd always put passion in her works, no matter what she did. And she was my nuna. Now, I'm not stupid enough to believe in love at first sight, but if Kevin started to talk about one specific girl, then that girl has to be something special. Even though I didn't really want to fight over a girl, I felt like I wouldn't be able to let him win her just like that. „Do you mean the one with the short hair?“, I asked, trying to sound cool. Kevin looked confused at me for a moment. It seemed like he was looking at all the fangirls again in his mind, searching for someone with short hair. Alone this behaviour let me feel at ease again. „Oh, you mean her! No, I'm talking about the girl that was right in front of her. She had a namesign and it said 'Martina'. Do you remember her? Somehow she stood out.“, he said. „Really? I liked the one with the short hair way more!“

I didn't think before talking, because I was so happy that he didn't like the same girl I liked. I wanted to talk more about the foreign girls, but Dongho came in and called us out for our next schedule...

 

Already in the van, I started to think that maybe it would be better to forget the fanmeet from today and with it the girl that grabbed my attention. Two foreign girls, that could only mean that they were in Korea for a vacation and were lucky enough to be able to come to our meeting. They would soon return home. And even if not – she's a fan. Who knew if she didn't like Kiseop more? And aside from that problems that only stars had when they liked a girl, there were also problems every guy has when he falls in love at first sight: Does she have a boyfriend? Can she speak english or korean well enough to talk with me?

Additonal to that, she could be one of those extreme fangirls, that go crazy whenever they talk to a star... I sighed loudly and only realized it, because Soohyun turned around to me with a worried expression. „Are you all right?“

„Yes, hyung. I'm only a little bit tired.“

I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep while I kept thinking about a nameless, short-haired girl.

 

I nearly forgot everything about Tea until our next meeting. Kevin seemed to not think about his girl either, or at least he didn't talk with me about her. Since I thought that the girls were already far away from Korea again, I was surprised to see her standing in front of me. She put a can of Red Bull on my table and while I was shaking her hand I was able to talk to her.

„Where are you from?“

„Austria. Mozart, you know? And there are no kangaroos!“

I laughed about the description of her country and found her nametag. Tea. Like, tea? She looked where I was looking at and ended up looking at her s. Somehow I felt the need to hide under the table or at least tell her what I was doing, but she was faster. „My name is Tea.“ I noticed how the staff member behind me started to feel uneasy, because we took such a long time to talk, so I hurried up to ask the one question I wanted to ask so badly: „How long are you staying in Korea?“ Tea only could lift up three of her fingers, while some securitymember was pushing her on. „Three years!“ is what I read from her lips, and then she was gone.

 

Back in our car, Kevin and I managed to get the two places in the last row and so we started talking about the fanmeeting, without letting the others know. „Her name is Tea“ I simply answered his question, but my heart skipped a beat. It was already so bad, that I couldn't even say her name out loud without getting nervous. That was unusual for me. „Were you able to talk to each other?“, was Kevins next question. I couldn't stop myself from smiling happily and answered: „She'll stay in Korea for the next three years. She's from Austria.“

After I told Kevin all the precious information I had gathered, I felt like I hardly gathered any information. I didn't know anything about Tea. It was as if I threw the little time that we had together out of the widow. But on the other side, she was the one fan I talked the most with so it wasn't that bad. Kevins look on his face confirmed my thoughts. He nodded and suddenly seemed disappointed with himself. „Nuna is 23.“, he said suddenly and I had to think who he was talking about. „Oh, your blonde friend was there again?“ Somehow I managed to miss her in the mass of fans. Again. „Yes, but I could only ask for her age because Manager Hyung started to push her forward. I should've asked how long she'll stay, too! And where she lives! And where she comes from!“

I tried to confort Kevin while patting his shoulder. „Next time, you have to show her to me!“ „Yes. If she's coming again.“, is what he answered me with a deep sigh before he started to stare out of his window. With that, the talk ended, I guess...

 

Kevin was worried for no reason, as we found out at our next fanmeeting – nearly six months later! Martina was one of the first girls to stand in front of him – and I couldn't overlook her this time, because he kicked me under the table and smiled at me brightly, while a blonde girl was standing in front of him. I had high hopes, that Tea and Martina might know each other so that Tea would be one of the next girls in my lane, but I hade to be pacient for another two hours until I finally saw her. And once again I didn't know what to say to her. Even though I was thinking so much about her, I never thought about what to talk with her. I should change that about me sometime soon. „We meet again.“ She was standing in front of me, ready to shake hands. „Yes!“, Tea said with a happy smile. Probably because she didn't think I would remember her face. But why did I even remember her? I stared at her face, instead of signing the CD. I don't know how long, but suddenly a staff member tapped on the CD to make me sign it already and make her leave. I smiled shily while giving her my signature and waved at her as she went on to the next member. She still smiled while standing in front of Kevin, but I felt like it wasn't as bright as when she was looking at me before. So she didn't like Kevin? I still stared at her, as she went on to Kiseop. Once again, no special reaction towards him. „Oppa~!“, said a voice in front of me. When I turned my head, there was the face of a girl, only one centimeter away from mine. With her big, brown eyes she looked at me and said: „Oppa, please sign here!“

I smiled at her and signed the CD. The sign ended up very shaky, because I kept looking at Tea, who was standing in front of AJ – the last member in our row. She laughed about whatever he just said while going down the stairs, that led away from our table.

 

„You should've given her your number!“, screamed Kevin in high tension, after I told him about my meeting with Tea. I'd invited him to eat dinner with me, so that we could talk about my dilemma as much as needed. He also seemed to like his fan AND he was my best friend, so there was no other person more suited to talk about my problems with Tea. But his response to my problem wasn't helpful at all. I laughed at him „Oh yes, and how did you imagine me to give her my number in front of a bazillion of other fangirls?“

Kevin bit his chopsticks for a few seconds while thinking, until he pointed them at me and said: „Just put your number into her CD! She will open it when she gets home and then she can call you. I'm smart, huh?“

Proud of himself he put a big scoop of rice into his mouth and started chewing on it. „How about a bet?“, I heard myself saying. Why, yes, that was a good idea! With that, I would be able to give Tea my number and at the same time help Kevin get closer to his girl. If everything went well, I would even win something good. Kevin looked at me suspiciously. „Why? Don't you like Martina enough to bet on her?“, I asked surprised.

I could nearly hear what Kevin was thinking right now, even though he was only staring at his ricebowl. She was beautiful, he felt attracted to her and she seemed to like him, too. But he wasn't an ordinary boy, he's Kevin from U-Kiss, an idol and pretty busy. She didn't even know his real self. If they were to be discovered, it wouldn't only lash back at him but on U-Kiss as a whole. One for all, alll for one. I knew what he was thinking, because I had the same thoughts. Just that I didn't think of Martina but of Tea.

„But yes, I do!“ I looked up from my bowl and looked at Kevin. He still stared at his rice just to suddenly raise his head and look at me. „Yes, I like her. It would be stupid not to try it. What do we bet on?“

He decided so sudden that I couldn't even think of something proper to bet on. I shrugged and said: „Loser has to fulfill one wish?“ and Kevin agreed. „Okay, if Tea calls you first, I'll fulfill you any wish. And if Martina calls first, you'll do something for me!“

 

After our dinner he seemed to be a lot happier. Even I suddenly felt better, because of our bet. One free wish from Kevin was something good and while getting it being able to talk to Tea felt like a major win already. But I forgot that there were hardly chances to meet the girls. Only a few months later there was a meeting. Finally. As soon as I knew the date of the fanmeeting, I started to think on how to pass her the note with my number. Would a normal piece of paper be enough? Did I have to buy some special paper for notes? Would the staff members keep an eye on me, making it impossible to pass her my number? What if another fan saw how I gave her the note? There were so many things to think about while I still didn't know if she would even appear! The worst thing was, that she would only stay in Korea for a little more than two years. Time flies, really. I 'knew' her for a whole year, already. And once again I got the feeling, that I was wasting our precious time. But that only gave me courage to in fact pass her my number and not chicken out.

 

And finally, that day arrived. I already saw her when she cued to meet Soohyun and Dongho. With that, I couldn't even concentrate on the girls in front of me. There she was, giving me her CD. „Hi, Eli.“ I smiled at her and greeted back. The palms of my hands were wet from all the sweat. I was too nervous. I felt Kevins eyes were on me and so I tried even more to get my note out of my pocket. Without anybody noticing. So that's how mission impossible felt like. When I finally held the notice in my hand, I put it as fast as possible under the CD and signed it. As I wanted to open the CD, to finally put my phone number into the case, the hand of a staff member appeared before my eyes. He started to push the CD to the next member, my note didn't get pushed on. It layed there on the table, right in front of me. Tea was standing there, looking at me and waiting for a handshake. Without thinking I took her hand, while I was thinking like crazy. How could I pass her my note? What to do? Without realizing myself that I finally had an idea I jumped up and pulled her over the table into a tight hug. All the waiting fans started to scream loudly, so I made use of the noise and whispered into her ear: „Call me“, while I grabbed her hand, held it for a second and put my note into her hand. Everything was perfect. There was no better possibility for my mission impossible. Since I was thinking too much at this point, I didn't even dare to look at her while she was talking with all the other members...

 

When I entered the dressing room, I already knew who won the bet. Kevin sat there on the couch having the worst face ever, while his head was on the back rest. He even covered his face with a towel. So he wasn't able to pass his number. „Are you all right?“ I sat down next to him and offered him a bottle of water. He didn't know I was there, so he was pretty surprised to hear me talking next to him so suddenly. He took the towel off his face, looked at the bottle, sighed heavily and took it from me. „I didn't have enough time. I couldn't even talk to her because we had to hurry up. I didn't even see what she was wearing today!“

I smirked happily but tried to hide it from the depressed Kevin. I really felt sorry for him, but the success of my own mission impossible was too good, to not be happy about it. „Seems like I won.“, is what I said, before I took a big sip from my waterbottle. Now the only thing I had to do is wait for her call. If she ever called.

 

Still on the same evening, I got a call from an unknown number. I just came out from the shower and took the call with only my towel around my hips. Then I heard her shaky voice. „Hello... uhm... Tea's speaking.“ Silence. I couldn't sit still, was running around but I couldn't talk. I felt like my voice took ages to get out of my throat.

„Hello! I'm Eli.“

Silence.

I laughed quietly.
„Thank you for calling me.“ What? Idiot. YOU were the one who gave her your number!

„Oh, uhm... No Problem.“ Oh, it sounded as if she was smiling.

„You're not sleeping yet?“ No, she isn't. How could she call, if she would? Stupid.

„No, I'm rather nocturnal!“ Great, if that's the case she wouldn't get tired too soon and could talk to me a lot more.

„Really? So... You're a fan of U-Kiss?“ No, Eli, she only comes every few months, stands in a cue wether it's hot or cold to shake your hand because it is so much fun! What's going on with me? I sat down on the couch, too one can of Red Bull and opened it. Oh yes, there was that!

„Thank you for the Red Bull last time!“

„You're welcome! Was it good?“

„Of course! I love Red Bull. It gives me energy whenever I need it.“ I laughed into the phone while taking a sip of Red Bull. Yes, just like right now. Red Bull, my hero!

„Haha, it's the same with me!“ She was laughing so brightly!

„Are you free tomorrow?“ Oh, so this is what it means to go like a bull at a gate. Bravo. How did I end up talking about a date while talking about Red Bull? Just because we had something in common? If I didn't held one of the most precious drinks of this worlds at this moment, I would've hit my hand against my forehead. „I mean, I want to go out and drink something. Maybe you're free and want to come with me?“

Silence.

Stop being so pushy. Now she's scared.

„That would be great! Will you bring someone along?“

Why would I-... Oh. She likes someone else from U-Kiss? I'm sure it's Kiseop. He'll have to take my revenge.

„Why? Do you want to bring someone along?“

„Yes, my friend. I won't go without her, so invite someone to come with you. Best would be Kevin!“ Oh great. She's a Kevin fan. And I gave her my number. Or does she really want to see him for her friend? I decided to think about it later.

„Okay, I'll write you a message with the meeting point and -time. See you!“ That's it. Goodbye to my free wish...