The problem wasn’t the intolerable heat of the sun. It wasn’t the endless queue of fangirls purchasing the official merchandises either. Jo’s worry lies on the fact that her mind was completely occupied by one person she knew she doesn’t deserve, Lee Jonghyun – the guitarist of world-renowned Korean band CNBLUE.

What happened had happened and it’s not like she can ask for more. She was demoted from a PA to a merchandise vendor for the reason that she talked to the artist in charge of her on a personal level. Funny, right? How could a normal conversation between two normal people be that much of a mistake?

But then again, it’s only her who’s normal. Lee Jonghyun isn’t, and will never be.

Jo puffed a disappointed sigh as she tried to ask herself for the nth time why she forgot the number one rule in her contract. Although the announcement that she will be his PA was quite short-noticed, it isn’t an excuse to forget the most important thing. Though she couldn’t understand why that counts as an acceptable rule, she couldn’t complain. If there’s something crueler than the Philippine entertainment industry, it’s its Korean counterpart.

Her gaze wandered around the lobby of Araneta Coliseum. There was no longer anyone in sight except some janitors who were seemingly clueless as to who was holding an event inside the dome. The only companion in the store she got was also nowhere to be found, but she guessed she’s already inside the venue because she’s actually a ticket holder.

Damn it, she mentally cursed herself.

She slapped her face rather violently as she tried to get back to herself. The thoughts of Lee Jonghyun and whatever they had shared that morning was seriously eating her up. No matter how ridiculous it sounds to her, she wanted to see this stranger again – even for the last time. She wanted to apologize, express her gratitude, and say goodbye.

But how to do that?

Her All-Access ID was confiscated. She wasn’t allowed to enter the backstage premises then. She couldn’t enter the main concert hall as well since she got no ticket. Remember? She wasn’t a fan until everything concerning the guitarist happened.

The girl desperately ran her fingers through her soft hair as she tried to shy away from the impending frustration. But then, she’s already frustrated. She has things she wanted to do and she couldn’t do it. Not now. Probably not ever.

Loud roars coming from inside the dome signaled the start of the concert. Jo shut her eyes as her hands blindly yet expertly rummaged through her bag to get her phone and headsets. Good thing, she put some rock songs in her playlist the other week. Hopefully, playing it in maximum volume would drown the noise from the concert, as well as the feeling of envy that’s starting to boil deep within her.

Thankfully, it somehow did.

***

Jonghyun consumed a whole bottle of mineral water in one drinking as soon as his back came in contact with the leather couch in their dressing room. The concert had just ended and he feels exhausted – not a normal thing, to those asking.

For the first time in his life as an artist, he couldn’t find satisfaction in his performance. Typically, the screams and cheers of his fans would put him in ecstasy, pushing him to do his best. But that night, it was all different. If not for the professionalism imbued in him and the fact that his whole system was so used to performing that he can do it perfectly without thinking, he would have terribly messed up the concert.

And he didn’t like it a bit. He couldn’t believe he just put every effort to risk just because he couldn’t sort out his feelings.

But as if he can control his emotions?

If there is one person who can handle love matters the best in the team, it would surely be Lee Jonghyun. That’s the reason why his record on girls is so clean – because he knows how to play it down. That is why it is entirely crazy how one girl could make him like this – especially a stranger who he had just met a few hours ago. How is it possible to be this attracted to someone he barely knows?

Attracted. Yes.

During the concert, as his eyes continuously flickered through the sea of faces in front of him, he realized that he’s really attracted to this girl. And he wanted to find her – to offer himself an assurance that she wasn’t a pigment of his wide and infinite imagination; that she was real, that she was there with him.

The whole time he was on stage, when he couldn’t find her from the throngs of girls in front of him, he knew he couldn’t let go. It may just be a fleeting moment, an accident, an unintentional encounter – but he wanted it all to stay. He got one chance on her. Will he ever get another one?

He threw the empty bottle to the nearby trash bin as he pulled himself up to change. He needed to feel comfortable inside so as to feel better inside, hopefully.

It didn’t take him more than two minutes to change inside the restroom. When he got out, he immediately went to his guitars, placed it back to its respective cases, and packed his personal things scattered on the make-up table into his Louis Vuitton bag.

“Hyung, what you going to eat later? The staffs are asking,” Minhyuk suddenly came to him as he was busy piling his guitar cases on a trolley along with the other band instruments.

Jonghyun looked at his dongsaeng apologetically and softly shook his head. “I don’t want to eat. I’m tired and I want to go back to the hotel first,” he casually said and left.

Yonghwa saw what happened and silently mumbled to himself. “It wasn’t just ‘maybe’, after all,” he told himself as he recalled his conversation with the younger member earlier that day.

***

Araneta wasn’t that far from Bayview Park Hotel where CNBLUE was staying. Miraculously, the traffic in Manila was light once more so Jonghyun got to his destination faster than expected.

As he stepped out of the vehicle, the welcoming party of the hotel – consisting mainly of girls – scampered to the entrance to provide ‘assistance’ to the VIP; but Jonghyun knew better and decided to just head to his room at the 14^th floor. He wasn’t in the mood to fake smiles and talk to fans. At that very moment, he knew there was only one person he so wanted to see.

His feet stopped automatically as he reached the elevator. He pressed the up button and stared at the floor indicator as it turned from 2 to G. At least, he didn’t have to wait.

His head was starting to ache thinking about everything. As he rubbed his temples to somehow control the impending pain, he shut his eyes for a moment, relishing the silence – which was easily evaded by the sound of the elevator pinging.

He saw the doors slowly sliding down as he stared at the floor. As if there was an unseen force that urged him to look up, he slowly shifted his gaze from his feet to someone else’s inside the lift. Little by little, his gaze moved upwards until it rested to a familiar figure.

As his eyes continued to wander, he felt his heart throbbing violently against his chest, as if rejoicing. Maybe, it was telling himthat finally, it had found what it has long been looking for.

As the doors fully slipped into hiding to reveal who’s inside, Jonghyun felt his breathing constrict. His finger automatically flew to the button on his side, to prevent the elevator from closing on him.

And the figure did the same, like a reflection in the mirror. And at the same time, their lips twitched upwards as the two persons both recognized who they were looking at.

Jonghyun blinked for a moment, wondering if it’s a dream. But alas, he opened his eyes, and there still stood that familiar figure.

He then knew it was all real. And as he stepped into the elevator and let the doors close freely, he stared into her eyes lovingly.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," she retorted.