Dear Diary,

It’s Youngjae. When Jinyoung asked me to help him take his phone back from the manager after one of our concerts, I accidentally stole a peek at his wallpaper. It was a picture of two people, standing a few metres apart with both their heads bowed as the sky rained down on them. At the bottom, was a quote in plain, white letters: “But every once in a while, you meet someone who’s iridescent, and nothing else can compare.”

I’ll be candid with you. I pretty much thought the quote was bull.

Part of me was curious enough to ask Jinyoung what his intention was behind setting that sentence as his wallpaper, but the other half of me was too sceptical to believe it.

How many jaw-dropping, life-changing people could you possibly meet in your one and only lifetime? I mean, sure, maybe after a really long time, someone comes along and changes your own perspective on seeing things, but the quote on Jinyoung’s lockscreen? It was way too romanticised, and I bet Jinyoung himself was just caught up in the romance and gallantness of whatever heroic movie he had watched.

In fact, it wasn’t until our most recent fansign, did I meet the said eye-catching person in question. And after having what I would sum up to be a pretty thought-provoking conversation, was I ready to take my harsh criticism back.

The event and location was nothing out of the blue. Our management had been organising regular meet-and-greet sessions to interact with and thank our fans for supporting us. We had never been disappointed by the turnout before, but the cheers from the crowd were especially loud. The sheer number of people who had turned up astounded all of us, and the queue continued way past the tentage that had been set up. It almost seemed as though we would not get to shake each and every one of their hands, but eventually, after about three hours, the event ended. The security was really tight, and although the guards didn’t have to step in and take any safety measures, they did their job in making sure the line kept moving. Bambam wasn’t too happy about that, because he had to cut many of his conversations short due to the guards pushing for the fans to keep moving.

I was seated in between Jackson and Jaebum, which was probably not a wise choice, because I could almost feel the tangible difference in the treatment between the three of us. Sometimes, it even felt as though I was just being bypassed, as the fans moved from our leader to the comedian of our group. Jaebum would shoot me encouraging smiles every now and then, and squeeze my hand under the table when he sensed that something was off. Jackson was more oblivious, but I knew he didn’t mean it one bit. It was just hard facts – not every member would be a fan’s favourite.

Still, there were fans who went out of their way to leave an impression on me. Some of them were shy, and barely met my eyes as they shook my hand and exchanged greetings with me. Others left placards with my name decorated in shining letters, and a few gifts such as a bandana, a hairband with cat ears and a flower crown. I shook most of their hands, and we had bits and snippets of conversations before they were ushered past me towards the rest of the members.

After about half an hour had passed, a certain girl in the waiting line caught my eye. She was taller than the rest, and had black bangs that framed her small face. She was wearing dark pants that were neatly tucked into her boots, and a smile that set her apart from her group of friends. I first noticed her colourful scarf, which looked as if someone had randomly splashed paint over the fabric. It was too gaudy not to be seen, and it almost looked too clashing to be matched with any item of clothing, but it looked just right sitting around her pale shoulders. Slowly and unconsciously, I found myself stealing glances at the line, and using her bright scarf as a reference as to how much longer she had to wait before reaching where we were seated.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t anything like love at first sight, because I’m not the type of person to believe in such glamorised revelations to begin with. She was just someone who happened to be too noticeable, and there was a gut feeling that told me she wasn’t just an ordinary girl.

True or not, it’s up to you to decide. When she finally appeared in front of me, I wasn’t sure of what to expect of her. I didn’t hold any specific expectations, but I was definitely anticipating something.

“Youngjae oppa.” She smiled at me, her eyes forming little half-crescents behind her glasses as she greeted me politely.

“Hello, nice to meet you.” I replied her, as I shook her warm hands in mine. “What’s your name?”

She retracted her hands and pulled out a box of chocolate-flavoured biscuits from her bag. “Crystal. Oppa, do you like biscuits, by any chance?”

I smiled back at her, having to crane my neck slightly because of her height and because I was sitting on a chair. My eyes landed on the box of confectionaries that she placed on the table, and glazed over with fond memories of our trainee days. Those were the exact same biscuits that Jaebum used to buy for us to eat as midnight snacks, when we were too poor to buy fried foods from the roadside stalls. He would use his own pocket money to buy chocolate biscuits from the convenience store for us, resorting