Hongki

              "Hey are you ready yet?" Jaejin asked me backstage while preparing his bass and earphones. "You seem lost. Are you fine? Are you sick?"

                "No." I lied.  I was not fine at all. For one, Hyelim just broke up with me. Two, I kept on running into people today, I even bumped into one lady that seemed lost today. She was dazed in the middle of the sidewalk. I did not know where to go and I just run without a direction.  I thought she was going to move away but obviously she did not. Our shoulders made such a huge impact that made her fall to the ground, I did not notice it until I heard and saw the people around us gasped. I turned to see the situation, and there she was, with her skinny figure, on the ground, both palms on the cement floor,  still dazed.

                "Miss are you ok?" I was so shocked. It seemed like I have hurt her so much. "I'm so sorry I was in a hurry and-"  I realized I was barely understood so I took off my mask. "-I'm just really sorry." Without my notice, my eyes widened to see a bruise on her elbow. So I kneeled down and we had our sight at eye level. "Miss? Miss?" I was trying to make her come to her senses so I grabbed her shoulder and shook her enough for her to realize that there was another person before her.

                  "Ugh, yeah... I'm alright." She looked up to me said with her fingers in an 'ok' sign and she keeps on nodding while trying to stand up. Oh ok, she's ok alright. Now that I see her eyes, I can see that she was in pain, not physically but her inner self had more of a dilemma that she does not feel the pain I have caused her.  Feeling guilty by the minute, I bowed and bowed and bowed and asked for forgiveness plentiful of times. She said she was really alright and without knowing i let out a smile.  I looked at her injured elbow but she obviously hid it away from me. It obvious she does not want to deal with me.  I was going to open the topic about her elbow but she just ran away from me. So I just rid the bus that has stopped in front of us because I can't be late because I had a gig.

                "Hey Hongki-ya!" Little did I know that Jonghun was in front of me snapping his fingers to wake me up. "Shall we not do this? You don't feel like yourself. Are you ok, man?" He looked at me and let out a smirk. "So unlike you, man. You were itching for a gig and now you have one. You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

                "Let's get this ing started." I said and in a second the whole band gathered our hands with palms down, I put my hand in first and the rest followed. "Let's ing blew them away." I looked at each one of them. "Fighting!"

                I was actually doing fine than what I thought I could. I did not let the break up with Hyelim affect my performance.  Except for our happy songs. I had trouble for I have to smile in order to connect to the audience but the rest are fine. I did fine until this one girl in the pit was waving at me intensely. She's drunk, obviously. She kept on waving at me with one hand and the other was on her chest like feeling the beating of her heart. She had eager eyes on which surprised me because suddenly she was crying without her noticing. And uh-oh, she's familiar. I can't concentrate on singing when she is waving at me like that! Oh , she's the one I bumped into a while ago. Now that I realized, she held her hand higher and bam, I saw the wound on her elbow. She was talking to me but I can't hear over the music. But I guess it's just normal. Fans do it a lot. 

            At one point of the song, Jonghun looked at me quizzically as if asking "What's up with that girl?" And I just shrugged, But little did I know that she was slowly coming up the stage during our last song. I noticed other fans was telling her off but after the song, I approached her, held her in the elbow and escorted her to the corner of the stage where it was dark enough for fans not to see. It was the spot where, it is not the stage and is barely the backstage.

            "Hi. what's wrong? If it was about the thing a while ago. I am really sorry." And I bowed.

            "Oh no it was nothing! I'm glad you're here!" She said to my while holding a pair of heels which were apparently hers. She was just looking at me intently and I noticed that she was bloody sweaty.

                "I'm really sorry." And bowed again and when I got up, she was still staring at me and her sweat was pouring down like her sweat and gravity can't wait to meet. "Wait a second." I asked her to wait and I moved to the corner side of the stage and the crowd was shouting encore and it got louder once they saw me. I smiled at them and waved. I approached one fan and she was so happy and can't believe I was in front of her. I asked to borrow her towel- a fan merchandise . She gladly gave it to me and I said my thanks and shook her hand in return and walked away. I walk back to the lady with heels in her hand and she was there on her exact spot where I left her, still with heels in hand. She was looking at me anticipating, and of course, sweating. Without hesitation, I wiped her sweat away. "I'm really sorry, miss. Could I know your name?"

                "Psssh, don't pretend you don't know me, Sungmin."

                Sungmin? Who's Sungmin? Who is he supposed to be? Does she think I'm a different person? But in that moment of wondering and confusion. She suddenly gagged. Uh oh. Oh no. Oh no no no no no. She searched the place but it was too dark. She gagged again and had her cheeks puffed this time around. She dropped her heels leaving her hand empty this time. She gestured her hand in a inverted half circle. Signaling something, a cup or pots -anything that would catch her vomit, maybe. I did not know what to do, I should take her to the backstage, I thought. She looked at me with wide eyes and I looked at her with wide eyes as well but mine were filled with a mixture of nervousness and fear.

                "You can't vomit here!" I told her

                "Mmm! Mm! Mm!" Obviously she can't speak at her current situation.

                "Don't talk!" I shushed her. "Don't talk it will just worsen." and she nodded. She's still looking at me with anticipation in her eyes as if waiting for me to have a solution. But right there and then, she swallowed her vomit. Which was... "Ew." I suddenly let out without realizing.  I see the band behind her. They were confused on why I have this girl here. They signaled me to hurry up because we have to go on stage for the encore. So I told the lady here that I should go. "Hi, umh. We have this, umh, encore left so I should go now. You can chill at the backstage if you'd like and you can--" I stopped myself because I noticed she was not listening. She looked up, turn her head around then and moved closer to me and suddenly she had her arms on my shoulder and looked me at the eye.

                "Thanks, Sungmi-" And in that split second...

                 Whoops, there it is. Vomit was all over my shirt. I heard my band mates and manager gasp in shock.