The KPOP Festival was off to a start. Swarms of people were everywhere, trying to get in. But, no one really expected much. Maybe a few rookie bands would perform. This was, after all, in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. (Yeah….this is pretty much impossible here.) I found my way to the stage, standing shoulder to shoulder with teens of all ages. The MC came up. Welcomed everyone. Talked about how fun the day would be. Told some jokes. That’s when I saw them. The two walking back stage, going to their places. I had seen their faces, yet why were THEY of all people here. The number 1 group in Korea. The one with the most fans. None other than TVXQ.

The MC walked off stage, and the music started. People jostled around, getting ready for the singing and dancing to begin. No one really realized who they were. No introduction, just blackness and music. Lights came on. Singing began. The crowd cheered. I stood there, baffled, at what was before me, but quickly joined in. But one thing kept striking out at me. Max Changmin was staring at me. Maybe it was in my direction, but everytime I looked up, there he was. Smiling at me. But I blew it off as nothing.

After the concert had ended, I found myself aimlessly walking. I bumped into a shoulder. There he was, Max, standing right in front of me. I took a step back, and decided that I should just greet him and keep calm.

(Please note here, that I don’t even know who is who in the band. This morning, when I image searched him, it was the same guy in my dream. The mind is pretty powerful and cool….)

“Annyeonghaseyo, oppa! You did really well today!” I smiled.

“Annyeong. Um…thank you.” He said with an accent. He reached out and shook my hand.

“It was nice seeing you. How are you doing?”

His face looked puzzled. He probably didn’t know much English. I looked around me, people were clearing out. Dangit.

“Um…I am well.” He managed to reply. Then he scratched the back of his neck, and looked nervously around.

“That’s good. Well, I should be going. Have a good day! Annyeong, oppa!”

Then he hugged me. My arms stayed at my sides, as he tightened his hug.

“W-what? Why are you hugging me?”

“Because I dreamed of you.”

Okay. Max Changmin hugging…me? What the heck.

I pushed on his chest to loosen out of his hug. People were staring, looking as confused as I was. There was a scream. “OPPPPAAAAAA~!” He turned to see the girls running at him. He grabbed my hand, and ran in a random direction as fast as he could, dragging me along. Back behind the stage, and into the dressing room, where U-know Yunho sat drinking water.

“What the? Who is this?” U-know asked.

“Oh. You know English. I’m wondering exactly the same thing.”

Max walked over to U-know and started speaking in Korean. They talked for about five minutes, while I stood there, feeling super awkward.

“Are you serious? Wow, Max” U-know laughed. He walked over to me, explaining that Max thought I was the girl of his dreams. He had seen me in the crowd, and knew it was destiny. I couldn’t help but giggle. U-know laughed along. Max walked over and grabbed my hand. Suddenly, he knew English, but the accent was still there.

“Would you like to hang out with me all day?” He asked.

I thought about it for a second. What was I getting myself into. But I didn’t want to crush his dream. Plus, he’s an idol! Who wouldn’t want to hang out with a KPOP star for a day, no matter who they were.

“Sure!” He grabbed my hand, a pair of sunglasses, pulled his hoodie up, told U-know goodbye, and walked out the door.

“Where are we going?” I asked. It was a carnival like area. The games typically seen were everywhere. Screams came from fast moving rides.

“Anywhere. We’ll just hang out all day.” He said in reply.

I found myself throwing darts at targets, knocking over bottles, and getting sprayed with water guns by Max. So many rides were ridden, and I felt sicker by the minute. (You see, me and carnival/amusement park rides just don’t match.) He kept his arm around my waist, as we walked through crowds of people. Sometimes he pulled me in closer, and his warmth would make my side completely hot, as if it wasn’t hot enough outside. We would stop and take pictures every so often, but we had to be careful, because he didn’t want to get noticed. But for every selca, he would take off his shades and smile along with me, so you could tell who he was. All of them were completely adorable. The sun was beginning to lower. It was about 4PM. (Why the concert was in the morning, I didn’t know….)

“You hungry?” He asked. My stomach answered with a nice growl. He laughed and walked over to the concession stands. He bought two water bottles, one blue Vitamin Water, two hot dogs, and fries. We sat at one of the smaller picnic tables, and began to eat. I knew that KPOP stars had diets, and did eat a lot to keep their levels up, but boy did Max eat. He finished his hotdog in a matter of seconds, and began to munch on fries. Then, he reached into his bag and pulled out two apples, and began eating those. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” He asked with a smile.

“Nothing! You really do eat a lot!”

“Well, I’m used to it, really. I always eat a lot. I’m just not used to American food, and it’s so good sometimes.”

“Sometimes.” I echoed. He understood. A lot of food these days was greasy and not very good looking.

I reached to open the blue Vitamin Water at the same time he did.

“Wait, you like the blue one too?” He asked.

“Yeah, it’s my favorite!” We decided to share. It wasn’t until later on that I realized I had just had an indirect kiss with the Max Changmin.

The sun set farther, and we continued to play the games. I was getting super tired now, and I could tell he was too. We walked toward a pier area, and he stopped to get a Sprite.

We leaned against the railing on the pier and looked over the water. He opened his drink, took a gulp, and then began coughing. It was still super fizzy, and he had inhaled some. I began laughing, and he put on the cutest pouty face ever, which made me laugh even more. We walked over to the edge of the dock, hand in hand, and sat down. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he began to sing.

“You sing beautifully. No wonder you are a singer.” I commented. He smiled, and sang even louder. Soon enough, I had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He leaned back, making himself comfortable. I slept for about 30 mins before he couldn’t take sitting still anymore, and kissed my forehead to wake me.

“Ah! Sorry! I can’t believe I fell asleep!” He laughed. We stood up and walked back toward where the concert was. As we walked, we ran into U-know.

“Aww! Look at the lovebirds!” He said, and playfully punched Max’s arm. We all laughed. But, I wasn’t in love with him. Today was just a day. He’d be gone the next. I may be his dream girl, but this could never work, even if he tried. With their saesang fans, he had no chance.

We walked back into the dressing room. The day was ending, and I would soon need to get a taxi home. We sat there chatting as their stylists came in and took off their makeup and cleaned their hair. They messed around with my red hair as well. As soon as the stylists had left, I decided I really needed to get going. It was already 10:30 PM. I got up and he stood up as well.

“I need to go guys. Today has been truly amazing. I never thought I’d get the chance to hang out with a KPOP star. It didn’t even feel like it. I felt like we have been friends for years. Thank you for treating me so well. You guys are amazing.” I hugged Max, and then went over to hug U-know.

“I wish you guys the best of luck, and hope you do well in the future. Maybe one day we’ll meet again. Maybe. You guys are super fun. Stay that way, and keep smiling.”

“Wait!” Max said. “At least let me have your number!” I pulled out my phone, and we exchanged contact info. He smiled, and then frowned.

“Today has been fun, and I don’t even know your name.” He said.

“My name is Kat. And it has been fun. Thank you for everything!” I ce more, and walked out the doors, all the way to the parking lot. My eyes filled with tears. Today was my chance of a lifetime, and now it was over. Back to my normal life. At least it was summer.

The next morning I woke to a hpone call.

“Kat! Annyeong!” Max’s voice rang in my ears.

“Annyeong, Max. Why are you calling me?”

“We’re still here for another day. Do you want to hang out again today? I can come pick you up. We have a rental car. What’s your address?”

I gave him my address and got up to get ready. As soon as I had, my phone rang once more. He was already here. Either he sped, or their hotel was close by. Hopefully it was the second.

I ran out to the car, and they wanted to go get something to eat. They had no clue what was around, but luckily I did.

“Do you want American food or something different?” I asked.

“What do you want?” They asked back.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to try real Korean food. There is an Asian market here, if you guys are willing to cook!” He laughed.

“I’m not the best, but cooking is fun. Let’s go!” Max replied. We went to the Asian market in Mcallen, and then went back to my place to cook. (I must have been older, because I was living in an apartment by myself. Who knows? It was a dream after all.)

They cooked ramen, rice, and a bunch of traditional dishes. Then we all sat together in the living room area, and watched TV, yet we were all more focused on our conversations.

They decided after eating that they wanted to go hang out somewhere.

“What do you guys want to do? I know there is bowling, the zoo, carnivals everywhere, the movies…?” I trailed off.

“The park!” Max proclaimed. “Exercise is what we love best.” U-know agreed. The park it was.

When we arrived, Max immediately grabbed my hand. It wasn’t awkward, but we weren’t really a couple either. We messed around in the park for hours, running around, playing on the playground, me taking pictures of them getting stuck on the slides, and eating a picnic. Soon we were all sweaty and worn out. It was totally fun though.

“Ah, this was great. The sun feels so nice, but it’s so hot!” U-know said.

“Of course! You are in the Valley afterall! It’s always hot here. Even in the winter. No snow and rain for about a month during the year.” I replied.

“Wow. At least the temperature doesn’t change a lot. You don’t have to worry about wearing different things for different weather,” Max said back with a laugh. I couldn’t help but laugh along.

I felt bad, but I had to ask.

“When do you guys fly back? Tonight or in the morning?” Max frowned.

“Tonight. Our flight leaves at 9:30 PM. We catch a plane back to Seoul from California tomorrow around noon.”

“I’ll go with you guys then. To say goodbye.” I smiled, and he couldn’t help but smile too.

(Okay, so this is where my dream got super weird. When light gets in my eyes, like it did this morning, I’ve noticed that my dreams always get really freaky. I think it’s just an effect. I honestly don’t care. It makes things interesting.)

Max went off to the bathroom, and U-know began to fidget.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. He smiled menacingly.

“I’m going to kill Max. I have a plan. Would you like to help me?”

My eyes got wide, and I couldn’t help but say…

“WHAT THE HECK? What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong. I just want him dead. I have a box in the car. I’m going to put him in it, and then drop it in the ocean so he can die.”

My mouth opened wide.

“That’s super weird! What kind of joke is this?”

“I’m not joking.” Max started coming back, and U-know started walking to the car.

“Max, he says he’s going to kill you by putting you in a box and putting it in the ocean. Is he okay?”

“I knew this day would come. Come on, let’s go!” He grabbed my hand and pulled me up, and began running, right back to the pier where we were the day before. He hugged me.

“This is where I say goodbye. I love you, Kat. One day, we’ll meet again. Trust me.” He kissed me. Right on the lips. Then hugged me one last time, as a helicopter flew up above us, and he climbed up the ladder into safety. I watched as it flew off.

And then I woke up.

(Okay so the carnival part was a lot cuter, and super long, but I didn’t want to write it all out. But yeah. Ending was fun, I guess…)