"1.....2.....3 breathe" IU kept replaying those words in her head. She did not know how to react, AJ was Lee Gikwang. She should have known she will meet him again some time since they chose the same line of work. But she did not expect to see him now, she should have paid more attention to the Kpop scene. She hardly watched anything in TV. She did not even read the newspaper or gossip columns online. If she only paid attention then she would have been prepared for this encounter. She grabbed her water bottle and chugged down the full remaining contents, hoping that this will help slow down her heart beating. She could not breathe at all. Was it possible to just drop dead on the floor and wake up pretending this did not happen?

"If only!" IU exasperated.  Everyone in the room turned and looked at her weirdly, even "AJ's" back-up dancers, especially the one who had spiky, black hair and fishy small eyes. "Doojoon ah." One gangster looking person said to Mr. Fishy eyes, “Let’s go. Gikwang shi needs us." Giving IU their final look, they went out of the room.

In the waiting room there is flat screen tv mounted on the wall. You could watch all the other performances from different idol artists there, just right after IU stepped out of the restroom Lee Gikwang's performance started playing on screen. What luck, right?! As usual he was dancing flawlessly, moving his body to the music and for a rookie his singing wasn't bad either. IU was totally glued to the screen and was slowly admiting that Lee Gikwang is indeed a performer to watch out for. 

While, on the stage Lee Gikwang was pouring all his energy to this performance. He actually knew beforehand that he would be sharing a waiting room with Lee Ji eun or should he call her IU? But even knowing it and having mentally prepared for this encounter, he could not stop his heart from beating when he saw her. He had to calmly run out of the room, for an easy exit to stop what was happening to his heart.He had been stretching and repeatedly practicing his moves for 30 minutes backstage while he was waiting for his turn. He had to put his mind and heart elsewhere that is why he decided to put all this emotional energy in dancing and now his performance. When he did his final dance move and paused for the dramatic ending, the crowd went wild. AJ! AJ!  AJ! As it turned out, it was for the better being emotionally twisted while performing. Doojoon and Junhyung came running towards him, "You did well Gikwang shi, so far your best performance yet." Junhyung exclaimed, while Doojoon gave him a pat on the back and messed up his hair.  "I guess performing with emotions is the best way to go." Gikwang said, thinking allowed. "Well..." Doojoon responded "Giving your heart to the performance is the way to go, and you did just that." That comment had Gikwang thinking to himself, "I did give my heart to the performance to distract it from going towards something else..... I thought I've already forgotten but my heart has its mind of its own. Sighing, Gikwang was dreading to go back in the waiting room, even though thinking that it would be nice to see IU there waiting for him.

Right after Gikwang’s performance, IU needed to get away from there. She panicked; she suddenly told her Manager Park Oppa that she needed some fresh air. Manager Park suddenly said “You can’t go anywhere. Anytime they will be calling for you and they need you to be right here patiently waiting.” IU responded stubbornly “Manager Oppa, I will pass out if I don’t get out of here.” That made Manger Park panic a little, since, IU had a track record of fainting spells during her trainee days. He suddenly grabbed IU’s bag and motioned to her to get up and follow him. As she was about to step out of the door she bumped into someone, WHAM! She thought she was about to pass out because the contact was too strong. She staggered back, losing her balance due to the very high platform shoes she was wearing. As she was about to fall….The person she bumped into grab her waist and pulled her towards him. This time she was not just breathless, she completely forgot to breathe. Before passing out due to lack of air her nose started to bleed, that snapped her back to reality and automatically she was breathing again.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A word from ALANYA: 

Who do you want?

IU Bumped into:

1. Doojoon?

2. Junhyung?

3. Yoseob?

4. Gikwang?

Please comment on your feedbacks for this chapter and suggestions for future chapters.