The applause is deafening. They just finished their last song and are currently saying words of gratefulness and goodbye to the audience. The fans went into an uproar as they wave and exit the stage. One by one, they give their mikes to the personnel waiting and quickly made their way into the dressing room. Once there, they all breathe a sigh of relief as the concert is finally over.

“Well done girls! You can rest for the night and I’ll tell you your new schedule tomorrow,” their manager said while entering the dressing room. The girls pout at the mention of new schedule. Even though the concert is over, their TV, radio and event appearances are not. He ignores this and put down bags of food into the table in the middle. “Dig in!” he gestures to the girls.

Sooyoung and Yoona quickly sit down and ate. Jessica is sitting at the couch, leaning against Yuri and starts to drift to sleep. Yoona passes a plate of food to Yuri along with a pair of chopsticks and she starts to eat too. Taeyeon, Sunny and Hyoyeon went to the back of the dressing room to change into more comfortable clothes. Tiffany is reapplying her make-up. Seohyun went to the table, and sees the food that she is looking for: sweet potatoes. She is about to grab it when it suddenly disappears.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want this?” Sooyoung said while chewing meat and hands Seohyun the potatoes.

“Thank you, unnie. And you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full,” Seohyun said seriously. Yoona and Yuri chuckle.

“Sooyoung, you should have known by now. Take away Seohyun’s potatoes and you get a scolding,” Tiffany said.

“Bwighmph. Phmowpphy,” Sooyoung said while stuffing and making a funny face.

“Unnie!”

Tiffany, Yoona and Yuri finally burst into laughter. Jessica is awoken by the noise. “Huh--Whasgoingon?” she said. Taeyeon, Sunny and Hyoyeon just finished changing and are also confused by the scenario. Seohyun just smiles. It is because of small jokes and exchanges like this that they are able to relieve some of their stress. She starts to peel her potatoes when suddenly—

“WE NEED TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE!”

The concert producer bursts in, panting. The shocked girls see his tattered clothes, which were just fine minutes ago.

“THE FANS HAVE BROKEN THE BARRIER AND ARE HEADING HERE RIGHT NOW!”

In the far off distance they can hear the scream of the fans. Never has this happened before; their fans are usually better-behaved than this.

“GIRLS!”

Their manager’s voice brings all of them back to their senses. Quickly they take all their belongings: phones, wallets, make-ups are quickly stuffed into purses.

“We’ll try to hold them off! Run, NOW!” the producer said.

They all dash right out of the dressing room when Sooyoung suddenly looks back and said, “Wait, what about the fo-“ Jessica yanks her forward and shouts, ”Soo, FOCUS!”

They run as fast as they can, through the maze that is called backstage. Their manager is in front, along with some other event coordinators, guiding them to the quickest way out. In the back they can feel the thunderous footsteps of the fans, along with the fervent screaming.

“In here, quickly!” The event coordinator leads them through the hallway that leads to a single door with a Fire Exit sign above it. He opens it and the girls quickly went out the arena and into a dark empty alley. They all stop to catch their breath.

“Where’s the van?” Hyoyeon said, panting.

“It’s on its way,” the manager said.

“Stupid heels,” Yoona said, massaging her foot. All of them take off their shoes, knowing that they might have to run again if the van doesn’t get here in time. All of a sudden, the screams got louder and louder while the one of the coordinators is trying to lock the fire exit.

BANG!

They can hear the door being forced open.

BANG!

BANG!

They all start to back away, slowly, into the entrance of the alleyway. Their feet are cold, their outfits brought them no warmth, and the sheer horror of what the sudden outbursts of their fans might do to them brings them more shivers. Taeyeon takes Sunny’s hand, who is standing beside her. Sunny held the next girl’s hand, and all 9 of them formed a chain, ready to pull each other when they run. Seohyun is the last in line, and suddenly realizes she is still holding the sweet potato from earlier instead of her purse.

BANG!

The door finally gives in, bursting open to let the fans out. The girls run, hearing the van pull up the entrance. The fans chase them and catch up. Seohyun screams as she feels her hair being yanked back while being pulled by Hyoyeon forward. She drops the sweet potato as she is pulled back by the fans, with their hands all over her. Hyoyeon breaks free from Sooyoung’s grip to help Seohyun, but unfortunately slips on the dropped potato and fell towards Seohyun.

THUD!

Seohyun’s head hit the pavement with Hyoyeon on top of her. The fans suddenly realize what they have done and made a space for them as the other girls rush back towards the fallen two.

“Seohyun!”

“Seobaby!”

“Maknae!”

She can hear her unnie’s voices, and opens her eyes. She can see their worried faces and forces a weak smile. However, the pain she feels in her head drags her towards unconsciousness, and slowly she closes her eyes, fading into the blackness.