Chapter 6: Simon’s POV

There were many things about the idol world that I wished someone would have warned me about before I made my debut. One was the red carpet – it's not anything like it’s made out to be by the media. The best and probably only way to describe the red carpet experience is chaotic. There are dozens of reporters pelting you with questions from all sides and even more photographers accompanying them. The “nice” ones will yell at you to turn towards them so they can capture your best angle. The others will just take your picture, regardless if the angle is flattering or not.

Going on the red carpet as a group makes the entire experience even worse. On top of everything that you have to deal with when you’re by yourself, you now have to worry about how you’re going to position yourself on the carpet. Space is tight – the carpet is not as long or wide as you would assume – so you’re always being told to gather in closer, to the point where there is hardly any room for you to breathe comfortably. At least when it’s fall or winter, you can huddle together for warmth but when the air is hot and humid, it’s torture. If I’m already uncomfortably hot, the last thing I want to do is get closer to a group of other people who feel the same way.

But thankfully on this warm spring night, I’m making a solo appearance on the red carpet.

After what seemed like forever, I was finally ushered off the carpet. With my vision still spotty from all of the camera flashes, I managed to successfully make it to the front of the Calvin Klein store, the venue for tonight’s event, without tripping on my own feet.

“Welcome to Calvin Klein,” the two attendants by the door greeted with a smile.

The store was filled with people from models to celebrities to stylists to business executives. They all were divided into small groups around the room, chatting with each other quietly as servers circulated the floor with trays filled with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. I scanned the entire room, trying to find a group that I could join, but had no luck in finding a face that I’d met before.

A female server came by with a tray of champagne flutes. Normally, I didn’t drink within the first few minutes of my arrival at an event, but honestly I could use a glass of champagne right now. Accepting one of the slender glasses, I moved off to the side so I didn’t look as lost by standing in the middle of the store and sipped it as I continued to search for someone I at least recognized.

“Simon oppa!” a voice then called out.

Handing my now empty glass to a nearby male server, I turned around to find Yoonji, standing a few feet away, waving at me. Letting out a sigh in relief, now that I wasn’t alone at this party, I waved back and made my way over to where she was.

“Where are your other members?” she asked after we exchanged more formal greetings.

“They’re back at the dorm,” I replied. “I’m the only one here.”

The topic of our conversation naturally shifted to work. Once I mentioned that we were doing promotions for DMTN’s latest song, Yoonji immediately told me all about her upcoming comeback after quite a long hiatus. After co-starring in Reply 2004 as American transfer student and DBSK fangirl Nam Yeonhee about a year ago, Yoonji gained quite a bit of popularity as an actress. After the drama wrapped, she decided to take a break from singing and has been appearing frequently in dramas.

Having just made a comeback myself, and just like Yoonji after spending a long time away from the stage, I know just how excited she feels right now. The weeks leading up to our first stage, I remember, our performance was all the members and I talked about with each other and everyone else we knew. The comeback was all we wanted to talk about, we were that excited. But now that I was on the receiving end of these pre-comeback conversations, I realized just how boring they could get for the unaffiliated party. I mean, what she told me about the song and the album’s concept was interesting. But once she started going into the details of her wardrobe options, my interest in the conversation quickly faded. Not wanting to leave her though, since she was the only person that I knew here, I tried to make it seem like I was listening as I looked around at my surroundings in an attempt to keep myself entertained.   

Unfortunately, the store wasn’t much better. Nothing had really changed from when I first arrived, except for the fact that there were even more people packed in on the storeroom floor. Yoonji’s one-sided conversation seemed more interesting at this point. But just when I was about to bring my full attention back to what she was saying, one person across the room caught my eye.

Initially, it was the dress that came to my attention. It wasn’t that hard to spot – after all amongst a sea of blue, grey, and black shirts and jackets a pink dress would surely stand out. But that wasn’t all that struck me. Though I could only see her back, seeing the way her dress hung off of her slight frame and the way her hair, which gradated from a deep brown to a light caramel color, cascaded down her back caused a sense of familiarity to wash over me. Haven’t I seen her before?

“Irie,” I whispered in realization when it all clicked in my mind.  

My suspicions were confirmed when she suddenly turned to the side to address a guy that had just approached her, revealing her profile. Between the gently sloping nose, the full lips, and those eyes that I was first captivated by, there was no mistaking that, that girl was Irie.  

“Did you say something Simon oppa?” Yoonji asked, her voice snapping me out of my trance and serving as a reminder that she was still there.

“Bathroom,” I fibbed. “I’m just going to go to the bathroom, so if you’ll excuse me.”

“Come find me when you return. I’ll be around,” she called after me. 

I was now back to where I started at the beginning of the night – in the middle of the storeroom floor and surrounded by people I didn’t know. Fortunately, Irie was still talking to the guy, who I now realized was one of her co-workers present at the album release party. If I could just get across the floor in time, then maybe, if I was lucky, I could at least greet her.  

Well, whatever luck I had, or at least thought I had, dried up pretty quickly because when I looked up to find Irie again, she had disappeared. Now that there was almost no chance in me finding her again, I decided that it would be best to turn around and look for Yoonji again. If only I had spotted her sooner, or acted quicker. Then maybe I could’ve been more successful in talking to her.

“Simon?” an oddly familiar voice exclaimed in surprise.

I froze. I knew that voice all too well.

“Simon,” the voice rang again, along with the sound of high heels clicking against the hardwood floor.

It’s been a while since I heard her calling my name like that.

“I knew it was him,” another voice said.

He's here too. Great.

“Yudai, Kei,” I managed to say as I turned around to face the two of them, who at one point were pretty important people in my life.

His arm was secure around her slender waist and she was pulled in closely to his side. I felt my throat run dry. Even now, seeing those two together still stings a bit.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Yudai remarked. “I had no idea you still modeled.”

“Yeah,” I managed to reply.

“How are you?” Kei asked.

“Fine,” I said. “You?”

“We’re good,” Kei said with a smile.  

So they’re a “we” now. Funny how just a year ago, Kei would’ve still considered herself and me as a “we.” In fact, Kei and I were a “we” for three years. It would’ve been four last November, if she hadn’t left me that one day and taken my best friend with her.

We continued to make small talk for the next couple of minutes. It was suffocating. I hated pretending to be friends with them, when we all knew that nothing would ever be the same between us ever again.

I needed to get out of here and fast.

With a quick turn on my heels, I made a beeline for the door. Fortunately, there weren’t many obstacles in my path, until I was back in the middle of the floor.

A delicate figure collided into my chest and sonn followed a stumble and the scraping of heeled shoes against the wooden floor. Judging from the voice I heard muttering a mild expletive after plastic clattered against the floor, I knew that I had bumped into a woman.

“Sorry,” she apologized.

“No, I’m sorry. It was my fault,” I said as I took a step back to see whom I had just walked into. “I should have been watching where I was going.”

She was bent over, picking something up from the ground, so I couldn’t see her face. But when I saw the color of her dress, I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat. 

“No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been texting and walking at the same time,” she chuckled as she straightened up.

When she said that, I couldn’t help but chuckle myself. Her laugh was infectious and warmed my heart.

“Is your phone alright?” I asked, noticing that she was still inspecting it.

“Oh yeah, it’s fine,” she said with a smile, tucking the device away into a side pocket on her dress, before looking up.