Exhausted. Drained. Tired. Helpless. Consumed. Depleted. As they stared aimlessly at the beautiful night view of the Han River, so many questions ran through their minds. They sighed, shook their heads, looked up to the stars, closed their eyes, and repeated the cycle for the next fifteen minutes.

Back when they were in their childhood and teenage years, this dream, though it felt like an impossibility, promised a life far better than what their imaginations could comprehend. What did it feel like to touch people’s hearts through music? What would it feel like to walk along the streets and have people ask for your picture and signature? How does it feel to win number 1 on a music show?

The first 2 years were great. Yes, the adjustment period was tougher than they anticipated, but as soon as they step onstage and hear the fans scream their name and chant along to their songs, their exhaustion fades away…but now that they have been living that dream for the past few years, they’re not so sure they could say the same.

Yes, their fans mean to them just as much as they did when they were first introduced to this world. They’re still able to touch other people’s lives not just with their music, but with their other career endeavors. Their influence has spread far and wide than they ever thought it would. They’ve travelled across the globe, met and worked with amazing and equally annoying people, and they’ve won countless trophies on music shows. They can’t even walk along the streets anymore without a hundred other people crowding in on them and possibly causing chaos.

However, they’re not robots. They’re not devoid of emotions just as what their ‘haters’ would accuse. Sure, they’re trained to be more professional at handling their personal feelings but just like every normal human being, they have their limits too. There’s only so much a person can take with all the physical stress and demands of their working environment, not to mention, the public pressure they’d receive on whatever issue the merciless journalists would embroil them in.

When the curtains close, when the spotlight fades, and when silence such as this has drowned the cheers, they ask themselves: Is this career really worth it? They got up from leaning on their cars (which were parked on opposite ends) and met halfway. He greeted her first.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

The two of them smiled. As they looked at each other, with the loveliest and most heartfelt smile they could exchange, they realized that the answer to their questions is nothing more but a simple 3 letter word: YES. Just as their hearts, minds and souls are connected as one, the words hanging in the air need not to be said:

Yes, it’s worth it. Because if it wasn’t for this career, I never would’ve met you.

The end.

Author’s Note:

I finally succeeded in writing a short oneshot!!! *tears of joy!* Here’s a little something for March 14. Happy White Day Gogumas!

P.S. did I successfully deviate from my usual writing style? :p