Sebastian’s POV:

 

“Yeah sure, seeya tomorrow!”

I waved to Jae as I started walking down the street. I had been invited to his

house to catch up with his family, since we hadn’t seen each other for so long.

Despite his mother’s insistence, I convinced them that I would buy dinner for

myself and not burden them.

Right now, that was looking like a bad idea. I was starving.               

I shook my head in sadness as I continued walking. Should I buy cup noodles?

Maybe fast food? Or should I splurge the cash on a proper meal at a restaurant?

No wait, I was alone. It would look weird if I ate by myself at a restaurant on a Friday night.

I continued walking for about 10 minutes while trying to make a decision. I looked up for some inspiration, which was an example of how desperate I was getting, when I heard a loud scream.

I literally jumped back a foot and swiveled my head 360 degrees to see what was happening.

Soon, that scream was join by a chorus of loud yelling and clapping. It seemed to be coming from the building on my left.

I became curious. On what occasion did people start shouting at the top of their voices at 7pm on a Friday?

I couldn’t figure it out, so I ran to approach a man who had just exited the building.

“Um excuse me sir, but what is all the noise about? Is there something wrong?”

The dude looked at me as if I was an alien, which I kinda was, being new and all that.

“ This is the HQ of SBS Inkigayo, the most popular live music show in Korea!” He almost shouted at me.

Oh! This was the thing Jae had been telling me about. But I didn’t see the big deal about it.

The guy continued. “They record the show on Fridays, and the show has just ended, and all the performing artists are leaving the building. That’s why everyone is screaming, it is because they want to see their idols and get photos or such with them. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He said as he hurried off in the direction I had come from.

Ahh. It made so much more sense now. I could see where the appeal of such a show came from.

Should I try and see some idols?

“Why not?” I reasoned as I walked over to the side of the building, where the car park was. This was where I supposed the artists’s transport was, and so many people would be here to see their favourite idols.

And correct I was. I saw a large mass of people in front of me, cameraphones and autograph books out to try and make a dream come true. Of course, I couldn’t actually see the artists because there was a black sea engulfing them, so I sighed disappointedly and continued walking home.

I had only made it 20 metres or so, when I heard a voice. It was quite faint, so I didn’t pay much attention to it, but only when it got louder did I bother trying to make out what it was saying.

“-astian? Is that you?”

Wait, was the person calling me?

Ok, think Sebastian. How many people you know in school live around here?

How many people even know you?

“Ah no on would call me,” I reasoned and trudged on, only to realize something.

How many Sebastians were there in Korea, let alone Seoul?

I pivoted on my feet to try and identify the caller, and only saw, I think it was, 6 figures walking towards me.

“Sebastian? Is that you?” The person repeated, and whose voice seemed to be coming from their direction.

“Who’s asking?” I called out, becoming wary of my surroundings.

“ You don’t recognize me?” The caller said, with a tinge of hurt in their voice, and only when they stepped into the light cast by a street lamp did I see who it was.

“ Naeun??” I blurted out, clearly not believing my eyes.”

“ Seb! Fancy seeing you here!” She said, coming to a halt and waving at me.

“Wha-What are you doing here? I thought you stay quite far away from here?” I asked, genuinely not knowing why.

“ We were here for Inkigayo, since today’s the show. It just finished.”

I frowned in confusion, then relaxed as I remembered I had famous friends.

Speaking of friends..

“ Um, are these your other group members?” I tried very hard to restrain my fanboying in front of a friend.

“ I thought you would never ask,” Naeun beamed as she rattled off introductions of the rest of her members.

“This is our leader Chorong, our dancing machine Bomi, our talented vocalists Eunji and Namjoo, and our maknae Hayoung,” Naeun finished with a dramatic sweep of her hand. The other five members, as their names were introduced, smiled widely and waved, each with their own little personal greeting.

I stared in response. I wasn’t used to seeing one of my favourite groups up close in person, especially when all of them were super pretty and had disarmingly cute smiles.

“Uh-uh-uh, n-nice to meet me-I mean, you.” I stuttered heavily, before bowing very, very low.

I heard a spontaneous laughter from them.

“Naeun ah, he’s so cute!” Bomi exclaimed, making my day instantly better.

“ Was he the one who saved you from that car?” Eunji asked.

Naeun merely nodded in response and smiled.

“Wah! You’re so brave Sebastian!” Chorong smiled happily. God, it was going to be difficult to not drop my formal self and start fanboying over them.

How did they know my name again?

As if reading my thoughts, Hayoung replied “ Naeun talks about you a lot, since you two are classmates. She talks about you like-“

At this, Naeun yelled and playfully clamped her hand over Hayoung’s mouth, much to the surprise of the latter. “That’s enough, Hayoung!”

As the rest of the members laughed, I noticed how easy they were with one another. They turned to me once their fits of laughter stopped.

“In all seriousness, thank you for being a genuine friend of Naeun. A lot of guys want to be her friend because she’s popular, but we think that, from what Naeun has said, that you are very caring and friendly person, so thank you,” Chorong began, as all the other members nodded their agreement.

I bowed and nodded my head in return. “It’s been an honour being her friend.”

As soon I had finished saying that, my stomach rumbled. Really loudly.

My face turned completely red in utter embarrassment.

Noticing this, Namjoo said to me, “ We were about to head off for dinner, would you like to join us?”

I balked. “Really? I mean, if that’s ok with you guys?”

“Sure, why not? After all, we want to get to know Naeun’s new best friend a little better, right?” Bomi looked to her other members.

“Ok sure, I would love to join you guys for dinner. Where are we eating exactly?”

Naeun butted in. “ Seb, have you tried samgyupsal gui yet?” ( A/N: samgyupsal gui, if I’m not wrong,  is grilled pork belly.”

I shook my head. “ No , not yet.”

“Great! We’ll go to a good place for that then!” Hayoung said enthusiastically.

“Yay! Let’s go!” All of Apink chorused.

I interrupted their cheer. “ Aren’t you guys tired and want to go home to rest? I mean, it’s really fine if it’s inconvenient for you guys.”

“ No no, it’s not a problem at all! Anyway, we’re all energetic from out performance!” Eunji said, almost jumping up and down now.

“Well, ok then,” I smiled inwardly as I was dragged along by the members.

 

At the restaurant:

 

Oh yes.

Spending time with Apink for dinner? Friday nights couldn’t get a whole lot better.

And now, looking at where we were eating? The sight of the chefs cooking a steaming hot, fatty yet sumptuous pork belly made my mouth water in anticipation.

We entered the restaurant, and almost every head in the damn building turned around in unison and looked in our direction. I felt so awkward and out of place with such famous idols, who were adored by fans almost as gods. I kept my head down and walked to the table where we were to be seated.

“ Oh, Naeun-ah, we saved you a spot next to your best friend!” Bomi squealed, indicating the empty seat next to me.

“ But Bomi unnie, I want to sit next to-“ Hayoung was cut off with a light punch of her shoulder by Chorong.

I glanced at the girls, confused and for some reason, somewhat suspicious. Was there something going on that I didn’t know about involving me? Did it involve Naeun as well?

I didn’t want to think about such things now, especially since I had a once in a lifetime to meet such famous, and extremely pretty idols. I wasn’t going to waste the time.

At least, I hoped so.

“ So Sebastian, Naeun told us that you came from Singapore, was it? How was it there?” I glanced up from collecting my thoughts to find all 6 members looking at me with eager faces.

“Well…” I started as I rattled off my life story condensed into about 5 minutes, including why I came to Korea.

“ Wah, that’s so interesting! I’ve always wondered what life in a foreign country would be like,” Namjoo exclaimed.

Soon, the conversation had changed into a full-on, interrogation-like interview, except I got cute girls asking me personal questions instead of grumpy police officers.

Seriously Sebastian. Hormones.

Hey, don’t blame me, I’m 19.

Anyway, I obliged in answering their questions because they seemed sincere enough in finding out more rather than doing it out of nicety. It was a relief, though when the food finally came, giving me a temporary respite.

Ohhhh damn! That was good!

Careful Seb. You don’t want to embarrass yourself by eating too fast or impolitely infront of girls, especially famous ones.

Turns out I wasn’t spared from questions even whilst I was eating.

“ Seb-ah? Who is your bias in Apink?” Eunji’s question caught me off guard.

Since when did I allow her to call me Seb? I didn’t even like my shortened name.

Oh well, I would have to make exceptions.

But back to the question.  Crap, I  had hoped they wouldn’t ask that particular question.

Because the answer might give Apink the wrong idea, and I really really didn’t want to screw up on our first, and possibly last meeting.

“ Umm, umm,” I stuttered, desperately trying to think what to do. Should I just be honest, or lie to get out of an awkward situation? Jeez, I thought my difficult decisions would come at a different time.

“ Oh well,” I thought “ Gentlemen don’t lie.”

“ My bias? I think my favourite would have to be..” and as I said that, I turned to my immediate right and awkwardly looked at Naeun.

And that was the truth. I may not have admitted it before, but I was crazy over Naeun even before I came to Korea. That’s not to say I didn’t like the other members, but Naeun caught my eye immediately, and stuck as my bias for the longest time.

“Omo! That’s so cool! You two would be so cu-,“ Again, Hayoung was cut off again by a look by Chorong that signaled “ Don’t say anymore.”

Ok, something was going on, and I hated the fact I didn’t know what it was.

“Sorry about Hayoung, she likes to think without speaking,” Chorong said in an apologetic tone.

I didn’t catch the last word Hayoung was about to utter, but I had a hunch over what she was trying to say, and I didn’t like it one bit.

Thankfully, Namjoo changed the topic. “  So Sebastian, what do you think of the people here in Korea?”

Finally, an easy, non-personal question. “ Actually, I find Koreans really polite, and eventually friendly. It’s a welcome change from the people in Singapore!” I laughed at my own joke. That was lame.

Bomi smiled very slyly.

That wasn’t good, was it?

“ What do you think of the girls here in Seoul? Are they prettier than in Singapore?” Now, all of them were looking at me intently, smirks plastered on their faces.

Now, in these circumstances, tact was key.

“ Well, I think the girls here are more cute and innocent, which appeals to me more, so I guess-“

“ So like Naeun?” Hayoung blurted out, evidently not being able to hold it in anymore, and before Chorong could stop her.

Now what was I to say? , this was very very very awkward.

“ Umm, I suppose Naeun, yes,” I found myself saying, without pausing first to think about the repercussions of what I was about to say.

Simultaneously, all the members, including Naeun, covered their mouths in shock, but was that a smile under their supposedly shocked expression.

“I mean, someone like Naeun, yes,” I said, trying to correct my mistake, but the damage had already been done.

I looked over at Naeun to see her reaction. She was looking down at a 45 degree angle presumably to avoid my gaze, as a result of the shocking turn of events. I couldn’t detect the expression on her face, which worried me even more.

I would have to talk to her later.

The rest eventually recovered from their “shocked” states, but I could see Hayoung and Eunji suppressing smiles. Heck, all of them were.

I coughed to break the awkward silence, and tried desperately to think of a new topic.

 

30 minutes later:

 

 Call me a fool for wanting dinner with Apink to end, but I was glad the awkward atmosphere had dissipated.

“Ah, I’m so full” Bomi moaned, clutching her stomach.

“ And I’m so tired,” Namjoo added.

Before anyone could interrupt, Naeun’s voice rung in the air. “ Uh guys, you can start walking home first, I need to talk to Seb. Alone.”

At the last word, I tensed. The way she had said it made me extremely nervous. Was she going to address my mistake earlier?

The remaining members sighed.

“ It was nice meeting you Sebastian. I hope we can meet again in the near future!” Chorong smiled, and the others each gave their own form of approval.

Phew. At least I hadn’t creeped them out enough yet for them to completely disassociate themselves with me.

“ Thank you so much for having me for dinner. It is certainly a memory I will cherish for a long time. I wish you all the best in your upcoming promotions and activities.” I bowed low to signal my respect and thanks.

“Bye!” Hayoung exclaimed, as they started walking off in the direction of their dorm, leaving me and Naeun alone outside the restaurant.

“ So, what do you think of my members?” Naeun asked me.

“ They’re even cuter in person! And they are all so really friendly. I’m really glad I got to meet them. Thank you giving me the opportunity,” I said, sincerely grateful.

She smiled. “ Don’t mention it. But about just now..” she said, looking away from me, and I knew full well what she meant.

“ I hope you don’t take what I said the wrong way. I really hope we can still be good friends without letting my mistake affect our relationship.” I apologized, before realizing something.

! Why did I specifically use the word relationship? Right after apologizing, I just screwed it up again! Good job Seb!

“ So you don’t have “special” feelings for me right?”

Way to put me on the spot man.

And once again, continuing on my streak of speaking before thinking, I said something I would regret almost immediately.

“ Nah, not really.”

At this, she looked down, masking her true emotions from me.

I lied. Blatantly.

There. I admitted it. I think I felt something for Naeun.

Was it love?

I didn’t know what to feel right now.

“ Ok. I’ll be going now. I’ll see you on Monday?” Naeun looked at me.

Did I sense disappointment in her eyes?

“Hm? Yeah sure, bye.” I could barely look at her.

Then something strange happened. Although, not like nothing of that sort had happened already tonight.

Naeun took a step. But it wasn’t towards the right to proceed home.

It was towards me.

I held my breath, tensing inside.

She moved forward, leaning, but at the last moment, hesitated and drew back, leaving me positively stunned.

“ Bye then Seb,” she ended, and started walking home.

Was she about to hug me? Maybe even further than that?

I wished she would have hugged me, even as friends.

That said a lot about me.

Did she feel something for me too?

Nonsense, no one felt that way for me.

Her expression had been presumably sad or disappointed when she had said goodbye. Did that reflect her emotions on what I had said?

Was I falling for Son Naeun?

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Hi guys, thanks for reading!

Looks like Seb is expressing his feelings more! Is he really falling for Naeun? Does she like him back? Stay tuned to find out!

Apink in this chapter! Yay! I’m not sure if I want to make them prominenet characters in the story, but rest assured they will appear more :)

 

Sadly, I will probably not be able to update with any more chapters in the next few weeks, as I will be on holiday in the States to relax after a stressful, busy year. I hope that will not deter you guys from reading the story and staying committed, as I will probably start drafting the next few chapters whilst away. I will definitely be very active writing the story when I come back, as I still have a month before school starts again after that.  Sorry once again, and thanks for understanding.

 On another note, I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you who have read my fanfic. Whether it was one chapter or the whole thing so far, whether you happened to stumble across it or click on it by mistake, thanks you very much for reading it. Even though not a lot of people have read it so far, I appreciate that someone out there took his/her time to read and hopefully enjoy a teenager’s attempt at fictitious writing.  I would appreciate it even more if you leave a vote or comment to express your thoughts and feelings on the story so far, as firstly I can thank you personally, and also because it means a lot to me and will help give me a further motivation to write better chapters for you guys to enjoy.

 

So thank you once again, and peace out :)