Sungmi grabbed the handle on her luggage with more force than necessary while taking in her surroundings. Everything about the day made her feel uneasy. The last time she was in Korea was 10 years ago, so everything around her felt unfamiliar once again. This, combined with the fact that her audition to become a trainee at S.M. Entertainment was scheduled for tomorrow, made her feel as jittery as ever.

As she walked out of the airport terminal, she saw a massive crowd of people. The airport seemed much busier than she last remembered it. Taking a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself to make her way towards the exit.

She took a step forward into the crowd, only to end up on the floor almost instantaneously. A suffocating force pinned her to the ground, and a bolt of pain shot to her right ankle. Panicking because her field of vision was blocked, she cried out and started smacking the source of her suffocation.

“Ouch!” she heard someone yelp as the world came into view once more. She looked up, and saw a body hovering over her. It took her several seconds to realize that it was a man, and her hands were currently smacking him on the chest. Sungmi’s eyes widened and her arms quickly dropped to the floor. She was too stunned at that point to be embarrassed that she was in such close contact with a complete stranger.

“Are you okay?” the man asked, while getting up from the ground and offering her his hand.

She started to nod, until she felt another throbbing sensation in her ankle. She tried to ignore the pain and grabbed onto his hand as he helped her get up from the floor. However, as soon as her foot hit the ground she lost her balance and started to fall. The man caught both of her arms and held her steady as she struggled to stand, her face wincing from the onset of pain.

“My ankle…” Sungmi rasped.

The man frowned and immediately picked her up, carrying her across the airport bridal style. Sungmi’s shock had finally worn off enough that she was able to get a better look at the man. Despite being extremely tall and slender, he had a surprising amount of strength in his arms as he effortlessly carried her through the airport. She couldn’t tell much about his face, because it was hidden beneath both a hat and sunglasses, but he seemed to be fairly young. She determined that they were probably close in age to one another.

After what seemed like an eternity, he gently set her down on a nearby bench. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, while gingerly picking up her afflicted ankle to inspect the damage. “This is all my fault. If it wasn’t for the crazy fa—“ his explanation got cut off by another guy running toward them.

“HYUNG!” the guy yelled. “We have to leave now! They’re coming this way!” Strangely enough, the new guy was also wearing sunglasses and a hat. ‘That’s odd,’ Sungmi thought as the guy stood next to them, practically panting.

The man who had knocked her over earlier let go of her ankle and sighed. “I’m really sorry, but I have to leave right now. I will send someone else to help you, if you can just wait here a few more minutes.”

Dazed, Sungmi just nodded her head as the two guys started running away at blazing speed. When they were out of view, a large crowd consisting of mostly girls seemed to magically appear. They bullied their way through the airport traffic as one collective force. Sungmi felt herself cower when she locked eyes with a fiery glare from one of the girls.

“You!” a girl from the crowd called, pointing at Sungmi. “Have you seen guys wearing hats and sunglasses going through this part of the airport?”

Sungmi stared at her for a moment, debating whether or not to tell the truth. “They went that way,” she told them, while pointing in a completely different direction than the one the guys had gone.

The girl stared her down before leading the crowd in the direction she pointed. Sungmi shivered as she watched the stampede fade off into the distance. ‘What the heck was that?!’ she wondered, contemplating the whole situation. ‘Were they celebrities or something? Criminals? Those girls certainly chased them like criminals.’

She continued to wait on the bench for several minutes, trying to ignore the increasing pain in her ankle, until someone hovered nearby. “Excuse me miss, is your ankle injured?” asked a man who approached her. Unlike the other strangers she had met that day, Sungmi could clearly see his face. ‘He’s definitely older than me, but he’s kind of handsome,’ she thought, as she scrutinized the man. “Miss?” he interrupted her train of thought, causing a slight blush to rise into her cheeks.

“Y-yes. My ankle is injured,” she replied a few seconds later than she should have.

“Can you stand?”

“I tried to earlier, but then I ended up falling.” As soon as she said that the man swooped her up into his arms, making his way towards the parking lot. For the second time that day, a man she just met carried her like a princess. If she wasn’t blushing before, she was certainly blushing then. She had no idea where to look, so she just closed her eyes.

“Don’t be scared. I was sent to come pick you up,” the man said in a soothing voice. Trying to will her cheeks to a normal shade, Sungmi just nodded her head and focused her eyes on her now swollen ankle. “My name is Kim Junghoon. I’m an SM Entertainment employee. EXO’s managers are a bit busy with all of this chaos, so I was sent to come pick you up instead.”

‘So that means those guys were celebrities, after all. EXO…SM Entertainment… wait… my audition!’ Panic coursed through Sungmi as she remembered the audition she had scheduled for tomorrow.

When Junghoon saw her eyes widen, he grew worried. “Does your ankle hurt a lot?”

“Yes, but that’s not the problem right now.” Sungmi sighed and furrowed her eyebrows in worry.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you to a hospital safe and sound!”

“Thanks,” Sungmi replied, sighing as she was set down again in the front seat of a vehicle.

As he set off towards the hospital, an awkward silence permeated the air in the car. Her mind was racing, filled with questions about what she should do for her audition in her current state. She sighed again, looking at the window and narrowing her eyes slightly.

“I apologize again. EXO’s fans have been quite out of control lately.” Junghoon said softly, while focusing on the road ahead of him.

Sungmi turned to face him again, slightly annoyed. “Who are these EXO people anyways? And why are their fans so out of their minds? What’s so great about them?”

Junghoon gripped the wheel a bit tighter, taken aback by her sudden change in tone. “They are a very popular rookie boy group in Korea. They just released a song called Growl not too long ago. The public was very receptive of the song.”

“Never heard of it,” Sungmi stated matter-of-factly. The thought of her audition being ruined because of a song really got her blood boiling. She was betting everything on that audition.

“Oh, well… that’s too bad. It’s a catchy song.”

“Catchy enough to cause the kind of commotion I saw back in the airport?” Sungmi raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

“Well, those were their sasaeng fans. EXO has many sasaeng fans that follow them around everywhere—even to the bathroom.”

“I’d kick people that follow me into the bathroom.”

“Well, it’s different for them because they’re celebrities. I suggest you don’t become a celebrity. Though you do have the look—“ Junghoon stopped himself from going any further, his cheeks becoming a bit red. “I apologize, that was inappropriate of me.” He coughed awkwardly, focusing on the road again.

‘Celebrity life, huh? Is that what I wanted to get myself into?’ Sungmi wondered as she stared out the window again, watching the multitude of cars pass by them.

“Here we are,” Junghoon said as he stopped the car and got out to help her once more.

‘Oh boy, my return to Korea is off to a great start,’ Sungmi thought as she resigned herself to spending the next few hours of her life staring at white walls while waiting for a doctor to tend to her.

“Well, this is your stop. Sorry that took so long. Do you need help getting inside?” Junghoon opened the door for her once again, in a gentlemanly fashion.

Sungmi looked down at her feet as she hoisted herself onto the crutches the hospital had given her. She felt extremely guilty for her attitude with him earlier when all he had done was apologize profusely and try to help her. Plus, he had kept her company at the hospital for the last four hours. “Please, stop apologizing. It’s not your fault. You have been quite kind to me through all of this. I’m sorry for the way I spoke earlier.” She tried her best to smile brightly at him in apology despite her dampened mood. 

He grinned back at her, looking quite pleased with himself,  “Well, it is my job to clean up after the messes of SM Entertainment’s artists. I’ve been in this business a long time, so I’ve had much worse things said to me. In comparison, you’re quite harmless,” he paused, as he looked her up and down briefly, “Though you are more feisty than you look. I thought you were shy at first.”

She laughed for the first time that afternoon, while readjusting her grip on her crutches and shifting her weight slightly. “And what is that supposed to mean, exactly?”

“Please excuse me if this is inappropriate, but you look very delicate. You remind me of an actress I saw in a drama a few years ago. I forget her name, though. She’s very pretty.”

Sungmi’s cheeks grew slightly pink as she scoffed at him. “I’m not delicate.”

“Alright, alright. I see that.” Junghoon lifted his hands up in the air in submission briefly, before reaching into his pocket to pull something out. “Here’s my business card. If you need anything else, please let me know. I’ll take care of any further complications you may have. Remember to rest and ice your ankle. Take care, Sungmi-sshi.”

“Thanks again,” she called out to him as he got back into his car and drove away. Sighing for the hundredth time that day, she hobbled her way to the door of the apartment in front of her. She lifted a hand off of one of her crutches in order to knock on the door, nearly losing her balance in the process. 

The door flew open almost immediately. “Sungmi, you’re finally here! Wait—what happened to you?! Who did this to you? If I catch them I swear I’ll—“

“Calm down, Eunhee. I’m fine. Just help me get my luggage inside, please?” Sungmi briefly smiled at her friend before hopping inside the apartment. “Thank goodness you live on the first floor of this building,” she said as she plopped herself down on the living room couch, before facing her friend again.

“Hmph.” Eunhee brought Sungmi’s luggage inside and then shut the door behind her before turning around to glare at Sungmi. One thing about Eunhee that she was sure would never change throughout the years was her quick temper. Though Sungmi also had quite the temper herself, Eunhee had a history of being at least twice as excitable despite her shorter stature. “Tell me what happened to you. Now.” Eunhee leaned back against the wall as she stared at Sungmi expectantly.

“I just signed a confidentiality agreement.”

Eunhee narrowed her eyes. “Go on.”

Sungmi shifted uncomfortably under Eunhee’s sharp gaze. “Well, I guess it’s alright to tell you since you won’t tell anyone.” Eunhee let out an exasperated sigh, signaling Sungmi to continue. “I was walking through the airport when a guy crashed into me with excessive force—he was running from a mob.”

“As in the Mafia?”

“No, I don’t think so. But they were fierce enough.” Sungmi shuddered as she remembered the look in the eyes of the girl who asked her which way the guys had run off to. “Anyways… the guy that bumped into me, causing me to sprain my ankle, is a member of EXO—“

“Na eureureong eureureong eureureong dae!”

“I know you’re mad at the guy who made me like this, but we have to be careful since he’s a celebrity.”

“That’s their song.”

“What?” Sungmi paused, looking a bit confused, “Was that what Junghoon-sshi was talking about?”

“Who’s Junghoon-sshi? You got yourself a boyfriend and didn’t tell me?!”

“N-n-noooo he’s not my boyfriend. Just the SM employee sent to help me after I was injured by the EXO member.”

“Oh, how disappointing. Well, which member was it? Was he the cutest one?” Eunhee stared at her with renewed interest.

“How would I be able to tell? He was wearing sunglasses and a hat in order to conceal his identity.”

“His height, his ears, his nose even… weren’t you paying attention?”

“I was a bit preoccupied, you know. He was quite tall, several inches taller than me. That’s about all I could tell.”

“So, it could have been Kris?! Kris is my favorite.” Eunhee giggled, losing the ferocity she had before. “You should have gotten his number!”

“Your mood completely changed after hearing EXO was involved.” Sungmi laughed.

“Did you hear him speak? How was his Korean?”

“Um… a little. He sounded like a fluent, native speaker.”

“Oh, so not Kris then. His Korean has a small bit of an accent.” Eunhee’s face fell slightly.

“Sorry?” Sungmi rolled her eyes.

“How could you be auditioning for SM Entertainment and not know who EXO is?”

“You know I don’t pay attention to rookie groups.”

“But they’re really popular lately. They’ve sold a ton of albums. And Growl is always playing on the radio. Anyways, your mystery man could still be Sehun, Kai, or Chanyeol-oppa,” Eunhee cooed, tugging on the end of her braided hair in excitement, “they’re all quite tall. And handsome. Really handsome.”

“Oh, you dyed your hair,” Sungmi noted, staring at the golden brown flecks in her friend’s hair.

“Yeah, I got some highlights not too long ago. Wait… are you changing the subject?”

“Maybe. Ow.” Sungmi winced as her ankle started to throb again. The medicine she had received at the hospital was starting to wear off.

Eunhee’s eyes grew wide as she was brought back to reality. “Your ankle! Let me go get some ice!” She came back a few moments later, a bag of ice and a towel in hand. She wrapped the towel around the ice bag and then around Sungmi’s foot as well, taking care to be as gentle as she could. “What are you going to do about the audition tomorrow?”

Sungmi’s expression darkened as she remembered the audition once again. “Well, I won’t be able to dance in this state, so I have to sing instead.”

Eunhee frowned. “I’ve only ever seen you dancing. Can you sing at all?”

“I really don’t know. I’ve never even taken a vocal lesson before.” Sungmi sighed, running her fingers through her long, wavy hair in frustration.

“Well, maybe if you explain the situation to them they’ll let you get by. You’re naturally pretty, so they will probably let you in no matter what.”

Sungmi pursed her lips. “That isn’t exactly what I was going for. I wanted to get in with my talent. I figured they would teach me how to sing after I became a trainee.”

“Your beauty can be considered a talent, in a sense,” Eunhee joked, trying to lighten the mood, but Sungmi wasn’t feeling it.

“You know that everything rides on me passing this audition. I came all the way to Korea for this.”

“I know, Mi. After what happened at home, I understand why you came back to Korea. But, it’ll all work out even if it doesn’t.”

Sungmi sighed once again. Her first day back in Korea felt like one giant sigh, since that was all she seemed to be doing that day. ‘Maybe I should have put more thought into leaving the States. Eunhee has been my friend for a while now, but I don’t want to trouble her too much.’

“What I mean is, you can stay with me even if you fail the audition. I can help you get a job—”

“No, I don’t need another job. I want to be a performer, a well rounded performer who conveys emotion with both voice and body.”

“You’ll get there, Mi. Just try your best tomorrow. Being overly tense isn’t going to help.” Eunhee smiled encouragingly and ruffled Sungmi’s hair, causing her bangs to cover her eyes.

“Hey!” Sungmi protested, combing her bangs carefully back into place.

“I’ll be here for you. So just try your best, okay?”

“I will.” Sungmi smiled, feeling a small bit of her tension melt away. 

------------------------------------

Awkward Author's Note Time:

So that concludes the first chapter of my first fanfic. YAY.

I finally posted this fic that I've been thinking about since August.

I hope you guys enjoy it. I'll probably upload chapter 2 in a few days.

For anyone who doesn't know, Kim Junghoon is Super Junior's manager aka "Prince Manager" (and he's quite good looking) here are some pics of him: 

Thanks for reading~ if you like it, please subscribe or comment :)

Also any suggestions are welcome (also if you spot any typos I may have missed please let me know)

*goes back into awkward turtle mode*