Kai

I wonder how many marker pens I can stack on top of each other. I wonder if I should—“Owwwww!”

Kai was rudely interrupted when Suho stepped on his foot from under the table.

“A fan’s been standing in front of you, waiting to get your signature for five freaking minutes,” Suho whispered fiercely. “If you keep spacing out like that we won’t get home till the next century.”

He snapped his head up and immediately flashed the fan a smile. “What’s your name?”

And the cycle repeated. Kai appreciates the fans. He really does. But waking up at odd ends of the day to fulfill schedules and sleeping at ungodly hours of the night weren’t exactly helping him stay focused. Fans' faces were becoming a blur as he smiled and signed, smiled and signed. Don’t they need to eat dinner? Ugh. I’m hungry. Aren’t they sleepy yet? Can I just please take a nap?!

He continued the little conversations in his head, trying to keep himself awake the best way he could. Another fan stepped up to get a signature. Huh. I haven’t seen her before.

“안녕하세요!”

“안녕하세요! I haven’t seen you before, have I?”

She blushed. “I don’t think so… I’m not exactly from here.” Kai noted that her Korean sounded accented—a foreigner. Accented as it was, though, her grammar was perfect.

“What’s your name and where did you come from?” Kai was suddenly genuinely interested. After getting to know his four Chinese members, Kai became fascinated with foreigners. Why were they so interested in Korean?

“My name’s Clarissa and I came from California! I’m in Korea for a visit and saw that you guys had a fan meeting in the area, so I dropped by.” Clarissa gave him a shy smile before looking at the poster waiting to be signed.

She looks cute when she smiles. Kai unconsciously smiled back, but the smile quickly turned into a frown. “I’m sorry, but what did you say your name was, again?” He was too busy noticing her smile to remember the task at hand.

She laughed at him and snatched the pen from his hands. Kai felt a tingle in the spot where her fingers brushed his. She quickly wrote something on her palm and gave the pen back to him. “Here. This is how you spell my name. I know it’s a bit difficult to write.” She laughed again.

It was his turn to blush—Kai knew how to spell. But her laugh was infectious: she wasn’t laughing at him. She was laughing with him. He didn’t feel so embarrassed anymore.

“I hope I can see you again,” Kai blurted out.

She looked a bit taken aback. “I mean—as a fan… to, uh, support our group.”

Clarissa laughed again, her eyes crinkling into a beautiful eye smile. “Of course I know that’s what you meant. Don’t you say that to all your fangirls?”

“Um… Y-yeah. I guess.” But I didn’t mean it that way when I said it to you. “When do you go back to America?”

“Actually, I’m here for a while. Who knows? You might see me again.” Clarissa winked at him playfully before taking the poster from his hands. She started to walk away.

“Hey, Clarissa!” She turned back to him. “So does that mean you’re a fan girl too?”

She looked confused. “What do you mean?”

He chuckled lightly. “You said I say that to all my fangirls. So you’re one of them, right?”

“Well I’m here, aren’t I?” Clarissa resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him.

“I’m glad you are, then.” And with a last smile towards Clarissa, Kai turned to the next fan, leaving her flustered and blushing.