Bom's slim fingers entwined with Jiyong's own. She nervously shifted her balance on one foot while she tightened her grip on his hand. Today was finally the day of their long awaited debut. This was the day that dedicated all the hardships they had endured during their trainee life.

The two stood just back of the stage, with a black curtain separating them from the main stage. They were just waiting for their cue to enter the stage. And for Bom, waiting meant an increase in nervousness.

"Jiyong-ah, I'm scared," Bom mumbled.

"We did this last night perfectly," Jiyong comforted her and kissed her hand. "You can do this, my lady. I know you can."

"What if I forget the lyrics?" Bom pouted.

"Don't think that way. Just look at me and I'll give you strength."

Bom nodded and closed her eyes. Her palms began to sweat and she heard a buzzing sound somewhere in her ears. She felt light-headed and afraid to step out on the stage. Practices was a breeze for her, since it's just them, the managers, and their mentors who were around. But to step out on Inkigayo with hundreds of audiences? I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this, the thought repeated in Bom's head endlessly.

Jiyong could sense Bom's feeling, and he held her hand tightly. He knew that it was up to him to make Bom's anxiety go away. He gave a glance at her direction. Bom's long red hair was done in loose waves that cascaded past her shoulders. She wore a blue dress with matching blue heels. Their eyes met and Bom gave a small smile. Her eyes were lined with thick eyeliner that emphasized her eyes even more.

"You're beautiful," he whispered softly to her ears. Yet Jiyong knew that behind all the fancy clothes and makeup, Bom was still the same girl he fell in love with back in high school.

"Yaaa, don't say those things right now," Bom pouted. "You're making me more nervous."

"Just don't do anything provocative on stage," Jiyong joked her while pointing his fingers.

"Mwo?" Bom laughed and found out that laughter seemes to ease her feelings. "I told you it was unintentional!"

The two's laughters echoed throughout the backstage and little by little, Bom forgot about her nervousness.

FLASHBACK : ONE WEEK AGO

"So, we do it like this," Jiyong faced the mirror and demonstrated a dance move to Bom. The two were all alone in the dance practice room late at night. Their debut was just a week to go, and the two have been practicing and training hard even if it meant staying at the practice rooms until after midnight.

"Like this," Bom nodded and repeated what Jiyong just did. Tonight they were having dress rehearsals, and so Bom was getting used to the 5-inch killer heels and a very short dress. "Ahhh, it's so hard to do it in these kind of clothes."

Jiyong nodded and watched her from the reflection. He went over to her and put his arm on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll tell the stylist noona to find a longer dress. How about your shoes?"

"I'll get used to it," Bom sighed.

"Let's just run through the choreography one more time," he said and held out one finger. "We're the only ones here, anyway."

Bom nodded and took her place in front of the mirror. There were bags under her eyes and all she wanted right now is to finish things up so she could go home and sleep. Jiyong the music and their debut song "My Addiction" played all over the room. He ran quickly to his position next to Bom and gave her a quick kiss on the cheeks.

The routine went on smoothly at first. They both sang with the music and the choreography went perfectly. However, during Jiyong's rap part, Bom's right shoe slipped off. Her eyes widened in surprise but still she held on and continued with their routine. Instead of bending over to wear her shoe again and disrupting their practice, Bom just kicked the shoe away farther to avoid stepping on it. Jiyong noticed what had happened  and gave a small chuckle. Bom made faces at him in the mirror while her right foot was in a tiptoe to maintain her balance.

They finally finished with their ending pose and with Jiyong's hearty laugh as he picked up the stray shoe from the floor.

"Hahaha, daebak," Jiyong said in between his laughs. "It seems like my lady is pretty good at taking off her shoes?" He kneeled in front of her and held her ankles. Bom lifted her legs and let Jiyong put on her right shoe for her.

"Ahh, mwoya," Bom said with a pout.

"But seriously, you were great," Jiyong stood up and gave her a thumbs-up sign. "You handled it professionaly."

"It's because I want to go home already and sleep," Bom rubbed her eyes. "But if that happens on stage, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"If that happens on stage, don't do anything provocative," Jiyong glared and pinched her cheeks. "I was watching you a whle ago through the mirror to see if you'll do something like that."

"What?" she stuck her tongue out at him. "I wouldn't!"

PRESENT TIME

"You ready?" Jiyong whispered again to Bom's ears.

Bom gave a nod. They were still behind the curtain and waited for the group before them to finish their performance.

"You won't kick of your shoe again and do provocative stuff?" Jiyong joked again.

"Yaaa, I won't, I won't," she answered and hit him playfully on his arm. From beyond the curtain, they heard the music stop and a loud cheer and applause broke out from the crowd.

"This is it," Jiyong said and they heard the MCs introducing their sub-unit and their song.

"Yep, this is really it," Bom nodded and held on tightly to Jiyong's hand.

They stood hand in hand backstage, with only the black curtain separating them from the stage. The stage director parted the black curtain and motioned for the pair to step out. And now they stood in front of their dreams.

Yaaa, Jiyong-ah, isn't this so unbelievable? Bom thought to herself. We're standing on such a big stage together. We finally made it towards our dreams, and I get to do it with you...

My lady, Park Bom, Jiyong thought and looked at Bom's direction. Thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't probably have the courage to pursue my dreams further. And now here we are, hand in hand soaring through our dreams.

~~

OnO I feel sad and happy at the same time... Epilogue to follow. :(((