A/N: I accidently deleted this chapter and had to write it again!!! Let me cry! T^T *sobs* Fortunately, I was able to rewrite it the following day and I remembered almost exactly what I had written.

The girls were hanging out in their hotel rooms in Daegu. It was already their second day there since they had arrived the day before for Asia Song Festival Press Conference like many other Asian artists. They were very excited to at the idea that they were going to perform on the same stage. Rika was the most ecstatic and had already talked to the members of the Japanese groups, AAA and Perfume.

Haeri and Jenny were eating breakfast in their room. For once, their conversation didn’t include Infinite. They were talking about U-KISS since they were also in Daegu. They wondered how Nayeon felt hearing Soohyun say he was willing to die on stage. They knew she wanted to talk to him regarding his vocal cord nodule, but she would probably change her mind because of her shyness. Therefore, Haeri and Jenny wanted to meet up with U-KISS.

‘‘We will have plenty of time before and during the rehearsals. Time is not the problem.’’

‘‘That’s right. We just need to find out where their waiting room will be.’’

‘‘You could call them. Don’t you have some of their phone numbers?’’

‘‘Yes, but it’s embarrassing.’’ Jenny said, rubbing her nape. ‘‘We are not that close yet.’’

‘‘What are you talking about? Everyone wants to get to know you. What’s going on with you? You don’t usually feel embarrassed because of such things.’’

Someone knocked on the door and Jenny went to open it. It was an opportunity for her to not answer Haeri. It was Sunha and Jenny let her in.

‘‘What are doing here?’’ Haeri asked from the table. ‘‘Did something happened to Nayeon again?’’

‘‘No, we were talking and everything was fine, but Rika came in our room. You know how they are. They enjoy being with each other without saying anything. It’s boring now. Can I stay with you until manager-oppa comes?’’

‘‘Yes, you can if you promise not to reveal our secret plan.’’

‘‘What secret plan?’’

‘‘A plan to make sure Nayeon talks to Soohyun.’’

Thirty minutes passed and Sunha didn’t say much. Jenny and Haeri were in their own world, spazzing about a celebrity pairing like if they weren’t idols. Sunha didn’t understand the buzz about Nayeon and U-KISS. She had been a fan of U-KISS for much longer than Nayeon, but no one cared. Nobody cares about U-KISS until something unexpected happens to them.

Their manager finally came and asked them to go in the coordis’ room to get their makeup and hair done. When it was Nayeon’s turn, Haeri and Jenny proceeded as planned. Because of Sunha’s involvement, they were able to enter Nayeon’s room since the makane shared it with her. Jenny rummage Nayeon’s suitcase and found what she was looking for. It was something Nayeon had planned to give Soohyun for his vocal cords. As expected, she had intentionally left it in her suitcase. Haeri and Jenny knew it would happen and that’s why they had come up with their plan.

At around 10:30 am, they left the hotel. A lot of fans were gathered outside, but the girls managed to quickly get into the car. Rika played AAA’s songs loud enough for everyone to hear.

‘‘They told me they are going to sing Heart and Soul and Music.’’

‘‘And Perfume? What songs are they going to sing?’’ Sunha asked.

‘‘They haven’t told me, but I’m pretty sure they are going to sing Polyrhythm.’’

‘‘Why don’t you play Perfume’s songs instead? I love them.’’ Haeri said.

Rika did as they wanted and during the rest of the ride, everyone was fooling around, dancing to the electro-pop beat like some kind of robots. Even Nayeon did it and it helped her to reduce her stress. For a few minutes, she was able to forget about the performance, the Asian artists she respected and admired as well as U-KISS and Soohyun. However, she started to have stage fright when she saw Daegu Stadium.

As soon as they entered their waiting room, Jenny and Haeri started to whisper. It seemed like they were arguing. Rika was curious, but Sunha rolled her eyes.

‘‘What’s going on?’’ Rika asked.

‘‘Nothing, Jenny needs to go to the washroom.’’ Haeri said, dragging Jenny out of the room.

Their manger asked them if they needed help to find the washroom, but they were obviously not looking for it. They walked far enough to make sure no one would hear. Then, Haeri let go of Jenny’s hand and turned to face her.

‘‘You must call them now. The rehearsals haven’t started yet.’’

‘‘Calling? Can’t I just send a text?’’

‘‘Do as you wish, but do it quickly.’’ Haeri said as she started to get impatient.

Jenny took her phone out of her pocket and look at her contact list. The names written in Latin alphabet were all at the top of the list. She scrolled down and saw ‘‘Eli’’, then ‘‘Kevin Woo’’. She had typed Jaeseop’s real name in hangul.

‘‘I tweeted Kevin and Eli a few times. I think I should text one of them.’’

‘‘Text Eli! Tell him Rika wants to talk to him.’’

***

***

In room 26, the mood was really good. The members of U-KISS were excited because it wasn’t their first time to perform at the Asia Song Festival. Because they had received the rookie award before, they wanted to show how much they had improved. They all wanted to do well and impress everyone. Soohyun in particular wanted to give a perfect performance despite the condition of his vocal cords.

When Eli told them about Jenny’s invitation, their manager agreed to let them go. The members of U-KISS started to get used to meet Aurora backstage. Dongho hoped for something like this to happen since he hadn’t talked to Sunha after the recording of her drama. On the other hand, Kevin was a little bit jealous because Jenny had texted Eli and not him. As for Kiseop, he didn’t like to see his fellow members get so close to Aurora.

Since they had nothing to do before the rehearsals, they went to Aurora’s waiting room right away. Rika and Nayeon were very surprised since the others hadn’t told them they had invited U-KISS. All the members of Aurora bowed to U-KISS. Even though they had met a few times already, they wanted to show respect to their seniors.

The members of U-KISS were standing side by side and it started to get awkward. However, Dongho stepped forward and went to Sunha. They sat and immediately started talking. There was no awkwardness between them.

‘‘I have sent you a couple of texts. Why haven’t you replied to me? I was worried.’’

‘‘Ah… Sorry about that. They confiscated my phone.’’

‘‘What! Why?’’

‘‘The college entrance exams are in one month. Since my schedules are going to be really packed for a few weeks, my parents want me to start studying in advance. My phone is seen as a distraction.’’

‘‘Right… You’re a senior student.’’

Dongho suddenly felt sad. Although he joked about Sunha’s age, he didn’t see her as a nuna, but a friend of the same age. Next year, she was going to be a university student and he would still be the young high school student.

***

The members of U-KISS were standing side by side and it started to get awkward. Eli saw Dongho going to Sunha. Even he didn’t really know why they were there. He looked at Rika, but she didn’t look at him so he turned to Jenny.

‘‘You told me Rika wanted to see me…’’

‘‘Not exactly, I said that she WOULD LIKE to talk to you.’’

Haeri hit her with her elbow. She had figured out what Jenny had said to Eli.

‘‘Okay… I’ll… talk to her then.’’

He went towards Rika, but she was still looking elsewhere. At that moment, it was obvious that she was avoiding his eyes.

‘‘Hi, Rika-ssi. How are you?’’

‘‘Perfectly fine.’’

It would have become even more awkward, but Haeri went towards them and took Nayeon’s hand. She told Eli to sit at her place beside Rika. She then left them alone, dragging Nayeon with her. Eli sat and couldn’t look at Rika anymore. His shyness had found its way. They remained silent for a few seconds.

‘‘Are you U-KISS’s Eli?’’ Rika suddenly asked smiling.

‘‘What? Of course I am.’’

‘‘You seem… different. On Twitter, you weren’t so… shy.’’

‘‘It’s just that I’m not the kind of person to talk first. It’s easy to joke when the person I’m talking to isn’t really there.’’

‘‘So, you were joking when you said you wanted me to thank you?’’

‘‘No. I wasn’t. I think I know why you don’t want to thank me.’’

‘‘Oh, really?’’ Rika said with a playful tone.

‘‘It’s because you’re stubborn. You don’t want to admit that you sometimes need help. You are the leader of Aurora, not a super hero or a real goddess. You are weak, but you don’t want to let other people know. You think you must be the strongest and the most reliable of all because you’re the oldest. I’m pretty sure you regret fainting. You think you could have avoided this situation, but the thing is that you were probably exhausted because you didn’t allow yourself to rest for the sake of your group. That’s what I think.’’

Rika was speechless. Eli perfectly understood her personality. Starting from that moment, to her, he wasn’t U-KISS’s charismatic rapper or the guy full of himself on Twitter. He was someone who knew actually what kind of girl she was.

***

The members of U-KISS were standing side by side and it started to get awkward. After Dongho and Eli left the others, Jenny approached them. She greeted them with her cute eye smiles, which made their heart skip a beat. She was even cuter than on TV. Her friendly aura made everyone fell at ease very quickly.  Haeri took Soohyun apart which left only Kevin, Hoon, Kiseop, and AJ with Jenny.

''You don't know why you're here, right?''

''I didn't know there was a specific reason. I thought you just wanted to kill time before the rehearsal.'' Kevin said.

''Well, yes, but we need to know something.'' Haeri said when she came back.

''What is it?'' Hoon asked.

''We gave you our signed CD last week.'' Jenny whispered. ''Did you read our messages?''

''Yes of course.'' Kevin said.

''Why hasn't Soohyun called Nayeon yet?''

''Oh, believe me. We are also wondering.'' Hoon said.

''I think he has realized that Nayeon isn't the one who wrote her phone number. I bet Nayeon-ssi doesn't ever know that Soohyun-hyung has it.'' Kiseop finally said.

''What!'' Kevin asked.

''Come on, guys. It's obvious. Haeri-ssi wrote this number. It was her handwriting.''

It seemed like Kevin and Hoon didn't know, but AJ said he had also noticed the different handwriting.

''You're clever.'' Haeri said looking at Kiseop.

''Not really.'' he said, a little bit embarrassed.

''You must be a type A for sure.'' she continued.

''Woh! The blood type has nothing to do with it. I'm also an A, and I didn't know.'' Hoon said.

Jenny and Haeri told them about Nayeon's feelings for Soohyun, or at least, the feelings she seemed to have for him. The boys all agreed that Soohyun definitely had a thing for Nayeon as well. They talked about the episode of Quiz That Changes the World. None of them were there during the recording and they were all impatient to watch it. Unfortunately, they would miss the original broadcast because it was going to air that night, during the festival.

Kiseop felt much more comfortable with Haeri. Listening to her, he realized that she wasn't scary at all. She was as friendly as Jenny, but in her own way. However, although she seemed to enjoy their conversation, she was hiding something. In fact, she felt uneasy because AJ was in front of her. She avoided his eyes because she was afraid to feel electricity going through her body like the last time.

***

The members of U-KISS were standing side by side and it started to get awkward. Nayeon was surprised when Eli came towards her and Rika. She listened as they started to talk to each others, but Haeri came and pushed her at the back of the room where their bags were. She looked at her, totally confused.

''Haeri, what are you doing?''

''I'm doing what you can't do by yourself. Soohyun is here. I know you want to give him something. Here it is.'' she said taking a jar from her bag.

''What! When did you--'' Nayeon started, but Haeri was already gone.

She came back with Soohyun and left them alone without saying anything. At first, they were so surprised that they couldn't say anything. Soohyun looked at the jar she was holding. He didn't understand what was going on and waited for Nayeon to say something, but she didn't.

''Hi...''

''Hi...''

That was the only thing they could come up with. Without realizing, they were looking into each other’s eyes.

''What is this?'' Soohyun finally said.

''Oh, this is honey. My father is a beekeeper.''

''Oh really! Wah!''

''I... I wanted to give it to you... for your vocal cords.''

''For real! Wah, thank you. Really.'' he said taking the jar.

''Get well soon, Soohyun-ssi.''

''Taking it with tea, I'm sure I will.''

''Oh, no! Don't drink tea! The caffeine in the leaves does no good to you vocal cords. Put honey in boricha instead. There's no caffeine in it.''

''Ah! Thank you for the advice.''

It started to get awkward again, but Nayeon decided to ask him how he felt to perform at the same festival they had won an award in the past. Soohyun was surprised because he didn't thought she would know. She replied that he had said it at the press conference, but in fact she already knew it. She was hiding how much she knew about U-KISS although she had been a fan for less than a month.

***

A/N: Yay for the super long chapter! XD

Kiseop gives me headaches. I wanted him to be friend with Haeri, but I don’t know how to make it happen. >_<

*Credits main image: as tagged + YOOKISS @ ROCKETBOXX.NET