I walked into the packed auditorium mostly filled with students. There was five judges sitting at a table directly in front of the stage. I looked around and saw a few of the parents here and some of the students were even holding signs cheering on for whichever group they were rooting for.  I walked slowly down the aisle towards the backstage door. As I opened the door, I almost pushed the door into Seol-Chan manager.

“Oh, sorry, Hi is thier group on this side?” I asked sweetly. He nodded and pointed to them. They looked like they were about to jump out of a plane besides Seol-Chan who was trying to calm them down but in a very terrible way. I quickly walked over to them. The group turned to me with looks the pleaded for encouragement.

“You guys are going to do great, you have practice extremely hard and you will do great win or lose, I’m still proud of all of you” I said smiling up at them. I don’t know why but that seem to calm them all a little bit. All For One would be going first so I pulled them as far away as I could from the side entrance but the music was still clear and beautiful as ever. We listened to them barely breathing. It was undeniable the music was moving and played perfectly.

“How are we supposed to beat that?” Do-Nam asked when they finished and the applause erupted.

“You guys are just as good, just a different style of music. You different but just as good” I said confidently. Seol-Chan quickly agreed plus he was a star and never lost anything. I watched them go on stage knowing they were going to lose. It was the simple fact that they were different which would cause them to lose.

“Do you think they will win?” the manager whisper in my ear as they arrived to their places on stage.

“With the judges, I doubt it. With the crowd, hopefully” I whispered back. He looked as if he didn’t understand what I was saying. Before I could explain they started playing. Do-Nam beats blended beautifully with the guitar and all of their voices harmonizing together. They were very impressive. Instead of watching them play, I had watched the crowd. Even if they didn’t win the judges over, they won the crowd over and sometimes that’s more important.  They came backstage with the cheers following them and huge smiles all over their faces. Hope was starting to build in my chest with how loud the crowd was. 

“I don’t even care if we win, that was amazing” Eun-Ha said through a huge smile.

“The crowd loved it, that’s for sure” I said smiling towards them. The manager walked over and hugged Seol-Chan; he looked like a proud brother.

“Really?” Do-Nam and Kyu-Dong said together. I nodded and pointed towards the hidden crowd that was still cheering. They seemed to be so proud of themselves, I couldn’t help but wish they would win. I pulled out my phone and texted SungJae something I had been afraid to do until this moment. It was such a good moment, I knew no matter what his answer was it wouldn’t bring my mood down.

Let’s go on a date, Your treat :)

I put my phone up just as the groups were called back to the stage for the announcement of the winner. I took a deep breath and without really meaning to I grabbed the manager hand. He held it tight as we both watch the man open the envelope and announce the winner.

It was silent for a moment and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. The booing came rushing into my ears as I realized it was true. They had lost. I had a feeling no matter how good they did, it wouldn’t matter but it was still crushing after that moment of hope. They were different and this school wasn’t exactly found of different. They walked back very slowly. I wasn’t sure what to say.

“Why are you guys holding hands?” Seol-Chan asked accusingly. The manager and I both looked down and jerked back at the exact same time. Apparently we looked funny because the group busted out laughing.  I smiled at them happy that the lost wasn’t too bad for them

“How about victory dinner, my treat?” Sun-Woo offered to the group. We all turned surprise at what he said.

“We didn’t win” Do-Nam said raising an eyebrow to him.

“Well, maybe the judges didn’t like you but the school did…I think that’s a victory within it’s self” I said looking towards Sun-Woo wondering if that’s what he meant.

“My thoughts exactly, plus I’m pretty hungry” He said rubbing his stomach with a sly smirk on his face.

“I vote yes” Se-Yi said raising her hand. I nodded in agreement and so within a few minutes we were walking down the street trying to figure out a place to eat. I grabbed the manager shirt and softly pulled him towards the back of the group while the others started fighting over where the best noodles were at.

“We need to talk in private, We are trying to surprise Seol-Chan for his birthday, how likely will that be to happen?” I whisper towards the manager.

“I could help with that, I believe that’s a great idea” He said a little to excitedly causing Seol-Chan to look back.

“What is going on with you two?” Seol-Chan stopped causing the group to look towards us.

“I’m in love with your manager and was trying to figure out a way we could get married” I said the first thing that popped in my mind. The entire group including the manager went still. I guess I might have said that a little to serious. I really needed to work on my humor.

“What about SungJae?” Seol-Chan asked looking at us strangely. I burst out in laughter.

“Well of course I was going to keep him around, I like him too” I said laughing and walking towards a restaurant that I knew to be great.

“Let’s eat here” I said smiling back to the group. They instantly agreed and walked with me into the restaurant. The owner came to greet us personally and showed us to the best table in the back.

“You didn’t have to do this” I said smiling up at her. Seol-Chan smirked believing that this table was because of him.

“Thank you very much anyways, would you like an autograph?” He said smiling up at her.

“What? Why? Plus I would do anything for Rose, she helped me out of a tough spot. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have this restaurant anymore. So anything on the house is yours, except if it’s too much…I still have to pay my bills” She said smiling before walking away sending a waitress over immediately to us.

“How did you help her?” Eun-Ha asked looking over her menu at me once the waitress had left with our drink order.

“She was having some problems with a few thugs, I helped her out of the situation…it really wasn’t that big of a deal, she just owed some money and I convinced them to give her some more time” I said simply lowering my menu to the table.

“Wow…so you really are a gangster?” Do-Nam asked looking more impressed.

“How did you and Nana meet?” Se-Yi asked from across the table beside Do-Nam. My phone vibrated and I pulled it out quickly.

Let’s do it, I’m free Thursday X)

I squealed and responded to him saying that would be great, what should we do. Nana asked what that was about and I told her I had a date with SungJae.

“You have a date with him, like a real one?” Seol-Chan asked aggressively from across the table sitting beside Eun-Ha. Eun-Ha looked up at him with a weird look on her face.

“Yes, Seol-Chan a real one. Why do you seem so against it?” I said crossing my arms and leaning back in the chair almost pouting.

“I’m not, I’m not. I mean just how much do you know about him? Doesn’t it seem kind of rushed?” He said trying to be less rude.

“Isn’t that what a date is for, to get to know him more?” I said raising an eyebrow at him. He nodded in agreement but he didn’t seem to approved of it none the less.

“So Nana and I…well that’s kind of a story”