“I’m still getting dressed!” The persistent knocking on your dressing room door didn’t help the fact that you, yes you, had arrived late for your debut. Hurriedly, you slid yet struggled into your outfit for the debut stage. In your mind you scolded the person that decided that you’d be wearing skinny, black shiny leggings along with a matching black fitted sleeveless top with a silver zipper at the front.

The thumping on the door continued, as you approached the door, only just zipping your top before opening the door.

“YAH!” You screamed before attempting to slam the door behind you, but failing as someone’s foot blocked it from closing.

“It’s only me, pabo” Yonghwa entered the dressing room, making his way to the dresser mirror and dropping a bouquet on the table, as you watched your reflection as your tousled your hair for the show.

“…Is that for me?” You asked, with a slight tone of suspicion.

“Yeah” He replied blandly, “Not from me. From Minhyuk”

A small part inside of you was just that bit disappointed, sort of hoping that it was from Yonghwa himself.

“Then why are you here?” You gave him a suss look, scanning him at the same time.

Scoffing, before placing his hands in his pockets and staring back at you, “He couldn’t make it” Yonghwa replied, “He’s recording an episode today”

You sighed before dusting your face with light foundation, since all the makeup artists had already left before you even came.

“I guess that’s what happens where you’re two celebrities in one couple” You said, adding the final touches to your makeup. Ignoring the fact that Yonghwa was still there, you speedily put on your platform heels, cropped leather jacket and made your way out of the door.

“Hey, wait up!” He called out, following you out of the room to the corridors of the backstage area. You initially thought that it would be hectic backstage, workers and managers running around crazy but that thought diminished as you turned in all directions to see and hear almost nothing.

“Now you’re really late” Yonghwa teased casually, trying not to make it awkward as he stood next to you.

“No thanks to you” You joked back with a serious face just to play with his mind. You spotted a sign directing to the stage and began to pick up the pace in its direction, leaving him behind once again.

With each step and sound of your heels clicking against the corridor floors, you began to realise more and more that your tweenage dream of becoming a kpop star was soon coming true. You stood by the stairs that lead up towards the back of the stage, taking a deep breath only to be cut halfway through the breath.

“______!” Yonghwa called your name, loud enough for you to guess that he was standing right behind you. You closed your eyes, slightly frustrated that he had ruined your zen but you turned around to face him anyways.

“Yes sunbae” You pretended to be respectful in case a reporter or any one of any authority was to walk by.

“Ya, no one’s here” He scoffed, still looking around in case, “That’s why I’ve got to give you this”

At this point, you figured that you had become used to Yonghwa and his unfortunate timing.

“Give me wha-”

Right by those stairs, Yonghwa quickly, yet assertively pecked you with a kiss on the lips, so unexpectedly yet expectedly. It felt good; you had to admit, even for someone like him. You lost balance in your heels for a second before regaining it as you returned to your senses, a fist forming on your hand, ready to hit its grinning target.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK-” You were just inches from taking out Yonghwa, till he blocked the blow.

“…Unnie” a small, young voice peeped out of nowhere. Tugging at your other hand, you realised there was a young girl, probably ten years old beside you, holding a signature book and sign pen.

“Uh… Anneyong” You eye smiled towards her, bending to meet her height.

“Unnie. Don’t hit oppa” She said, a puppy look forming on her moonish face, “You shouldn’t hit someone that you kiss”

Yonghwa’s chuckle echoed in the background, you ignored it, trying to make sense out of the little fan.

“Kiss? What kiss?” You questioned, hoping the little girl was naïve.

The young girl begun to blush, and covered shyly before removing her hand so she could speak.

“I just saw unnie and oppa” She whispered, giggling afterwards.

“Aigoo” You stomped your foot in frustration, “...uh, how about you keep unnie’s secret?”

The girl looked up to think before placing her autograph book and pen in your hand.

“Only if you sign this” She replied, as you signed what was your first ever fan signing.

You handed the book and pen back and patted her on the shoulder before placing a finger over your mouth,

“Let’s keep unnie’s secret, okay?” You forced a smiled, as she mimicked the shush gesture and scurried off to a lady who was now speaking to Yonghwa. As soon as the mother and daughter left, both you and Yonghwa approached each other as awkwardly as the both of you could,

“You’re good with kids” He said cooly, trying to signature smile his way out of what had just happened, “I’ll tell Minhyuk that”

“Well are you going to tell Minhyuk what you just did?” You pinpointed him, lightly stabbing your finger into his chest.

“He told me to send you the flowers” Yonghwa begun to explain himself, “It had a card, but I lost it on the way here”

“And?” You became impatient.

“I read it before hand and it said ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t make it’ blahblahblah, ‘I know you’ll do well’ blahblahblah, ‘I love you’ blahblahblah, ‘fighting!’, blahblahblah hugs and kisses”

“Yah. It’s not literal when someone says hugs and kisses” You scolded him, crossing your arms over your chest, “And why’d you read the card?”

“I was curious”

“Aish. I don’t have time for this”

You immediately turned around, climbing up the stairs. The sound of the crowd grew louder and louder, they begun to chant out the name of each member of RockCandy.

‘Ollette~’

‘Cherry~’

‘Ria~’

The audience continued to call out the three names repeatedly. You stood at the side of the stage and looked to see your band mates already on stage, ready to greet the audience.

“You’re already the lead singer” Your manager said to you as she noticed you enter the side of the stage, “You don’t need to do these things to make you stand out more”

You looked at your managers expression as she gave you a stern look followed by a ‘fighting’ before giving you and encouraging push to the stage. There was no turning back as you walked towards the centre of the debut stage to join your fellow band mates. The audience roared even louder, chanting your name even quicker. You bowed before being handed a microphone by the emcee for your debut.

“Leader _______ is here!” The emcee addressed the audience enthusiastically, as you bowed once more in appreciation. You turned to see the expression of the rest of RockCandy. Ria and Cherry gave you expressions where they tried their best to be supportive of you whilst Ollette ignored you, basking in her glory.

“1,2,3,4” You said without the microphone to your bandmates, getting them ready to address the crowd.

“Annyeonghaseyo, this is RockCandy”

You and the band all bowed again in unity as the individual introductions began.

“Surprising like popping candy, I am Ollette!” Ollette introduced herself, including some extravagant aegyo that accentuated her being like popping candy.

“Sweet but sour like rainbow straps, I am Ria!” Ria followed, curtseying in her skirt.

“Swirly like a lollipop, this is Cherry!” Cherry spun, finishing with a pose.

And finally your turn, you put on your game face.

“Make you melt like chocolate, this is ______!” You introduced yourself in the manner that you were told to by the company; you took a step forward, placed a hand on one hip and blew a kiss.

“RockCandy!” The fans cheered, the official RockCandy cheering towels flailing in the crowds by excited SweetTooth’s, the name of your official fan group.

Despite having performed for an hour straight, you were far from exhausted; the energy beaming from the crowd had lifted the spirits of RockCandy. After finishing up one of the ballads from the first EP, the emcee took control of the mic, allowing you and your band to take a quick break before one last song and an encore performance decided by the SweetTooths.

"Good work girls!" Ria squealed, opening up her arms for a group hug.

Huddling with your fellow bandmates, you all embraced one another before immediately letting go when you realised that one anothers sweat was in contact.

"Omo" Cherry exclaimed, tying up her hair into a ponytail to avoid having strands in her face, "I never thought I'd love being on stage this much"

You let out a contented sigh, then sculled down a bottle of water, flicking the leftover drops onto your face to refresh yourself before approaching the manager who had called you over a moment ago.

"There's already reviews online" She commented positively, "But everyones been saying the same thing"

Your eyes widened, you were sure that RockCandy did a pretty good job, you thought so anyways.

"SweetTooth's were really hoping for an english song cover" Your manager flashed a twitter feed where RockCandy was the trending topic.

Your mind immediately went into song book mode, flicking through the english songs that you knew both the chords and lyrics.

"Look, you and the girls still have extra stage time, the emcee might help with the song selection" she assured you, "The team is counting on you, leader"

You took a glance at the curtain that lead back to the stage, humming randomly and hurriedly, hoping the perfect song would come to mind.