Finally! Boo Seungkwan thinks to himself, as he stands at the bottom of the backstage staircase. He can hear the powerful vocals coming from the stage and can see the lights dancing brilliantly off the curtains.

One glance around him shows that he is the only one ready. He touches his microphone. His group is performing next and he's not sure how they'll follow up with something that is at the same level as The Boyz.

Seungkwan sighs as Sangyeon's belted note hits his eardrums. Such a talented man, I should get to know him more. Thankfully, with this awards show there is plenty of time in between performances and awards. It's enough space for him to be able to finally mingle and say hi to his fellow Jeju-native, Ju Haknyeon.

As the note signals the countdown to the end of The Boyz' performance of Maverick, he doesn't hear footsteps approaching him from the side.

"Wow. Can he hit that high note or what?" a familiar voice snarkily remarks. "He hits it better than Wooza does in Rock With You."

Seungkwan rolls his eyes at the familiar voice and the teasing comment to his bandmate. Then he slowly turns to see a tall man, standing to his side in a similar red and black leather outfit with a humongous grin on his face.

"Dokyeom-hyung, you shouldn't be making comments about tiny Woozi-hyung like that. It can be very rude. Especially when he isn't around."

"Are you going to say hi to Juyeon?!" DK asks, changing the subject.

Nice change of subject, DK. Very nice.

"I never got the chance to at Gayo. I wanted to mingle with my good friends from IST. I also wanted to let them know that their performance is another powerful stage."

"So...you're going to try and speak with Juyeon, Haknyeon, Kevin, Q..." DK says, staring up the stairs as the music ends and there's applause from the small cluster of fans -- a massive cheer from Deobis in the building.

"I'm going to speak to ALL of them, yes. You're welcome to say hi too!" Seungkwan puts a hand on DK's arm.

The first of the members, a man with wavy brown hair and blond highlights walks into view. He spots Seungkwan and DK standing at the bottom and gasps slightly, bowing in respect. "Annyeong haseyo, Sunbaenims."

"Annyeong, Sunwoo-nim," DK respectfully greets back. "Amazing performance."

Seungkwan nods and dips his head as well at him.

Kim Sunwoo smiles and races off. He is followed quickly by Kevin Moon, Jacob Bae, Choi Chanhee and Kim Younghoon. They quickly greet the two Seventeen members, not entirely paying attention to WHO they just greeted.

Lee Hyunjae and Ji Changmin come down next with Eric Sohn.

"Annyeong, DK and Seungkwan-hyung-nim!" Eric cheerfully greets. "Did you enjoy our performance?"

Seungkwan chuckles at the group's excited maknae. "It was amazing as always. You guys always kill it!"

"Congrats on the Donsang too!" DK adds on.

"Thank you and best of luck to you guys," Q remarks. "Fighting!"

They vanish and Seungkwan looks up to see the remaining three members (Lee Juyeon, Lee Sangyeon and Ju Haknyeon) coming down. They are locked in conversation, but one of them, an average height man with dark hair, looks down the staircase, as he nods in understanding to his hyung's words.

"Seungkwan-ssi!" Haknyeon gasps, his eyes locking on Seungkwan's.

Seungkwan smiles sweetly at him. "Haknyeon-ah, it's good to see you and to FINALLY mingle."

Haknyeon stops, along with the other dark haired man he was speaking with. The third, with lighter brunette hair dips his head, mutters a friendly greeting to them and then walks off, heading for the dressing room.

"Juyeon-ssi," Seungkwan then greets. "I never got to tell you how amazing your performance was at Gayo."

"Thank you," Juyeon says, beaming. "That means a lot coming from you."

"You too, Hak. Your vocals are getting better each day," Seungkwan says. "Obviously, you can't belt high notes like your hyung or me, but your range is rounding out and you killed your part in Russian Roulette!"

"You heard us?" Haknyeon gasps, glancing at Juyeon, who grins smugly and proudly.

"The whole thing! I couldn't miss it! I'm always secretly rooting you on."

"Thank you. And as a proud Boosadan, I root for you too," Haknyeon remarks with a smile. "It's always nice to catch up and chat. By the way, next time you call, please stop making a running joke of forgetting Kevin. He's not quite grasped the whole funniness behind it." He gives a curt chuckle at the thought.

Seungkwan bites his lip. "I don't mean it! Honestly! I felt so awful the first time. Vernon told me it'd be funny to keep leaving him out, but I had no idea it was actually hurting his feelings. Never listen to Vernon."

"Nope," DK says, shaking his head. "Never ever."

Haknyeon rubs his hands together and takes in the outfits of the Seventeen members. "So, you guys are performing next?"

Seungkwan and DK nod.

"Fighting!" Juyeon blurts out, lifting his fists up. "We'll try to quickly make it so that we can listen to your performance. I'm sure it will be another showstopper. You always deliver live, Seungkwannie."

Seungkwan nods at him. "Good chatting, I'll let you two go then."

Haknyeon and Juyeon bow in respect to Seungkwan and DK, who return the favor. Then they part ways.

Seungkwan watches his Jeju-native friend walk off with Juyeon. He sighs. He's such a talented, good kid. May IST treat him well.