The Gocheok Sky Dome was decorated with banners and posters hanging all around the street. The ebullient tunes of fangirls chattering could be heard under the soft sunlight.

In front of the entrance, a bus with WT's photo on it stopped, the tagline on the bus wrote:

Let's hold hand in hand and fly together for a better future.

- Baidu WT Bar

The door of the bus swung open as several young girls in their early twenties exited, most of them were holding a light stick and maintained a dress code to wear the purple fan club uniform.

Mae exited at last with one of the WT Bar admins - Liu Qiàn(刘倩), or Yoo Cheon in the Korean pronunciation. They have talked online for a long time now and met up the next day Mae came back to Seoul. Mae even gifted her a Prada Candy Florale and a set of WT figures. Gifts are necessary to become close to someone and Mae was a pious believer of that.

They, who bought the tickets through Baidu WT Bar, all owned tickets which included the VIP sound check on the first day of the tour and priority entry, so they didn't get into the line just yet. They utilized their free time to roam around to buy merchandises.

Attending the concert was not the only thing these ardent fans were excited about, they also anticipated meeting their online friends with whom they chatted almost every day. Even though Mae wasn't very active in the group chat, most of the old members knew her, since she has been there ever since WT debuted. It didn't take long for her to become close with other members either. They soon started joking with each other.

When WT wasn't that popular, Mae proposed the idea of gifting WT's albums to as many cafés and restaurants as possible and requesting them to play it. Since WT focused more on hip-hop than the ballads suited to be played in there, the idea was often rejected by shop owners. Though it wasn't always a success, Mae still gained respect from the admins. After all, there were still newbies who were lured into the fandom after listening to their songs in random places.

Half an hour before the sound check, the admins of WT Bar kept reminding the members the rules and regulations they needed to maintain after entering the hall.

"...Please do not bring out your phones and take pictures or record anything during the sound check. Enjoy the show, everyone!" Liu Qiàn repeated the same thing in both Chinese and Korean, not that there was anyone in the WT bar who didn't know Chinese, but if she reminded other people of these, there will be fewer people breaking the rule.

The door towards the hall was finally opened when Mae's phone vibrated. She typed in the password while Liu Qiàn held her hand and moved forward. Mae's finger trembled while she was trying to click on the keyboard due to the movement. She decided to wait until they settle to see the message.

Liu Qiàn, being an admin of the biggest fan club in China and maybe even the world, has a habit of always hunting for the best spot, where she could stand closest to the members of WT. It was not because she could interact with the members and have a moment with them like everyone else would love to, but because she always needs to take their pictures and post them later on weibo. This habit caused her to always watch them through the screen of her camera in concerts. Even when she finally decided to leave the post and focus on her career, she had to be reminded by her peers that she doesn't need to take their pictures anymore, she can enjoy their performance live.

Mae, following Liu Qiàn, earned the spot closest to the stage. The fans weren't as aggressive as they would have been in the main concert, so they had some space to breathe before the members came up on stage.

The crowd was ecstatic as they waited for the idols they craved to meet. They brought out the light sticks and already started waving them while talking with the surrounding fans. Some of them even became friends after meeting each other for just five minutes.

Mae couldn't help but wonder how Min Cheol would feel seeing her in the audience. Did he miss her like she did over the years? Would he even recognize her? She was anticipating yet nervous, her hand moistened up as beads of perspiration formed on her skin.

Finally, after settling, Mae opened her phone. Sikyeong sent her a message just now.

"Hello everyone, how are you doing?" The members finally came up the stage as the music started to play. They didn't dance during the sound check to save energy for the concert. Rather, they spread around the stage to interact with the fans.

Baek Hyunjin jumped forward towards the fans before the first verse started. His dazzling smile caused the fans to squeal with delight. They were even more mesmerized when his angelic voice came out through the speaker as he flirted with the fans with his captivating eyes.

Mae frowned when she felt a push on the back. She promptly schemed through the text: Guess what I just heard while practicing? My label-mate is a backup dancer for this WT tour, there's a girl in the backstage waiting for Min Cheol now.

Mae's lips twitched, she hastily pushed the home button to ensure that no one beside her saw the text. She was relieved when she realized that everyone around her immersed themselves in the rehearsal. She put the phone away and tried to shift her concentration to what was happening on stage. Her hand gripped her Céline bag, something she would have never done, her fingernails almost cut the fine leather.

Min Cheol's verse came up and he moved to the front rapping, casually resting his arm on Baek Hyunjin. He inched closer towards the audience and squatted down, interacting with the fans while still managing to spit out ten syllables per second.

Mae, flustered, tried to hide behind Liu Qiàn but Min Cheol caught her before she even got the chance to. Their eyes met mid-air.

Mae's pupils dilated and her muscles tensed up. She could feel an electric shock down her spine. Her heart was pounding loudly as if there were hundreds of rabbits jumping up and down on it. The soreness in her heart slowly corroded her nerve. She bit her lips yet did not dart away from his gaze. The first layer of the leather strap of her bag was finally ripped cut - the great work of her nails.

Unlike Mae, Min Cheol's expression didn't change at all. He only blinked a few times more than he usually would, but all those small gestures weren't as significant as Mae's. His eyes lingered around Mae for ten seconds before he smirked and stood up to move back. The fans screamed his name as soon as he did that. Mae couldn't hear all those. She slowly put her hand on her chest, taking deep breaths.

She still couldn't decipher what he meant when he looked at her like that, but one thing she was sure: he knew it was her.

In the whole sound check party, Mae was lost in her own world as the message and his smirk swirled through her mind, infecting her already addled brain to become even more confused.

Sikyeong came to the venue after the sound check was over. He had his baseball cap on along with a mask that covered half of his face.

"Missed me, sweetie?" Sikyeong leaned against a pillar and grinned when Mae came out.

"You are not even famous yet." Mae shook her head while commenting on his outfit.

"You never know, someone might still recognize me."

Mae decided not to reply and destroy his fantasy. She walked past him towards the hall to be seated as soon as possible, even if she had priority entry, the line was still long. Dang Sikyeong quickly caught up and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Want to go to the backstage?" He whispered in her ears.

Mae shook her head, she's not ready to face Min Cheol again just yet.

Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Min Cheol leaned on the chair while the make-up artist used an eyeshadow brush to blend different shades of brown carefully on his crease.

His head kept rewinding the scene where he saw Mae, even until now he couldn't help but think that he was hallucinating.

Baek Hyunjin came into the room and stood irresolute in front of Min Cheol for a while, before sitting down beside him, and then gently poked his arm, trying to see if he was still awake.

"Why?" Min Cheol groaned, clearly impatient.

"Jo Hee noona is here, she is waiting for you," Hyunjin informed worriedly. He tried to trace any slight change in his expression, even though he was well aware the latter always wore a blank face and rarely expressed his emotions.

There was a brief silence before Min Cheol finally answered without opening his eyes: "I will talk to her after the concert ends."    

Hyung: Korean word for big brother. When a male calls another male older than him, he calls him hyung.

Noona: "Bigger sister", a male call an older female noona.

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