The next two days were more than I could have hoped for. Korea's beauty surprised me with every step I took. I wasn't sure how I was going to stand living in America after this. 

We managed to visit the Bongeunsa Temple, the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the Bukchon Hanok Village and the Bukhansan National Park. At this rate, we were going to finish Kira's list within the first week.

Each and every one of the sights were beautiful, but my favorite by far was the temple. The flowers' colors were so vibrant and their fragrance was intoxicating. The building's structure was unique and intricate. Everything about that place intrigued me. I was astounded by the detail and history of the place. I love history. I love culture. I love art. And this place had all of them. If it weren't for Kira and Sydney, I would have spent the entire day there.  

There were many restaurants that fascinated me. Their cuisine made American food look extremely dull. I wondered what Korean tourists in America thought of our food. Was it dull to them as well? Or, since they hadn't grown up with it, did they think it was interesting in its own way? I had a feeling it wasn't the latter.

We took pictures beyond number and Sydney actually got a guy's number. His said his name was SungKi. Boy, was SungKi easy on the eyes. He called Sydney beautiful and said Korea needed more people like her. I wish I would have recorded it. She was blushing so hard and could barely speak. He winked at her before he left. As soon as he was out of sight, she squealed like a five-year-old. We forced her to text him that night and he responded much sooner than we thought he would have. Assuming they stay in touch, Sydney might have actually got herself a boyfriend.

We spent the rest of the night dancing, singing, eating and joking around. The concert was tomorrow and none of us were sure how we were ever going to sleep tonight, but we managed.

The next morning we got up early.

"I don't even know what I want to wear today," Sydney stretched out on the couch in the living room.

I turned on the tv and plopped next to Sydney's feet.

"Me either."

"I don't really care that much," Kira played with my hair from behind the couch.

"Since when do you ever really care about clothes?" I asked.

Kira shrugged, "True."

We chuckled and flipped through the channels. Kira walked around and sat on top of Sydney's stomach. 

"Oof, Kira what are you doing?" Sydney asked, struggling to shove Kira off.

Kira grabbed the remote from my hand and flipped through more of the channels.

"I'm trying to find the K-dramas. They've gotta be here somewhere." She slapped Sydney's hand away from the remote.

"Ow. You hit me."

"Then don't try to take my remote," Kira said.

I laughed. 

Well, Kira found the K-dramas for sure. Within the first 15 minutes of the episode we were already screaming at the main character to stop being such a jerk and like the main girl already. It was such hard work being a fangirl. Getting attached to characters too easily really messes with your emotions.

About 2 hours later, after the characters finally stopped being stupid and kissed, I decided it was time to go.

"Guys, we should leave. I want good seats."

Kira groaned and rolled off the couch dramatically. Sydney rubbed her face and lulled her head to the side so she could look at me.

"How about we go...an hour before the concert starts?"

I slowly turned my head to her, slightly offended that she would consider leaving early an inconvenience. 

"Sydney, I swear."

"I'm just so tiiiired." She whined. 

I held her face in my hands, "But is NCT worth it?"

She sighed, "Yes." 

Sydney reluctantly got off the couch. I got changed into boot cut jeans, blue converse, a white tank top and a blue and red plaid shirt. I straightened my hair since it was a little frizzy and put on some light make-up. I looked at myself in the mirror and frowned a bit. I wasn't much to look at. My nose reminded me of a witch's and I had a zit that refused to be covered by any amount of foundation right on top of my left eyebrow. The only thing I liked about my appearance was how bright blue my eyes were today. At least I had that going for me.

When we were done getting dressed, we packed lunches and anything we would need to keep ourselves entertained for the next 12 hours. 

As soon as we were finished, we went outside and walked to the nearest bus stop. It didn't take too long to get there and I was grateful for that because once we arrived at the concert hall there was a decent line pilled up already. The girls in front of us seemed like pretty cool people, so we struck up a conversation with them. Apparently, they had been there since three in the morning to make sure they got the closest to NCT Dream they possibly could. We were blown away. 

Time passed slowly. Sydney and I had brought our ukuleles, so we played songs to entertain ourselves. We got a lot of compliments about our playing and singing. I was beginning to really feel proud of myself. I hadn't ever thought of myself as that good of a singer or that experienced in playing an instrument, but, according to one girl, I should be up on stage with the boys. I wished it could be true, but that would never happen. I'd be too scared to perform to so many people, surrounded by celebrities I have admired for years and would hate to embarrass myself in front of.

We mostly got attention because we were American. One of the most frequent topics of conversation were that Sydney and I had naturally blue eyes and Kira and I had naturally lighter hair. There were many compliments on our Korean. One girl told me straight up that she thought I was too American to be able to speak Korean as well as I did. It made me laugh.

For a good two hours, we played Korean games with the girls around us. We had to be taught a few and frankly I was terrible at most of them, but I was forgiven since they failed quite a lot of the games we taught them. We exchanged numbers and promised to stay in touch so we could practice our Korean and they could practice their English. 

Finally, it was an hour before the concert. The security guards opened the doors to let in the first 100 girls so we could watch the guys practice. It was why I had wanted to get there so early. I wanted to watch them for as long as I possibly could. This trip had cost so much money and would definitely never happen again anytime soon. I had to make the most of what I got. 

The girls pushed through the doors like water from a dam. Kira, Sydney and I grabbed onto each other's hands and ran with the group, making sure no one cut in front of us to take our place in the concert hall. Luckily, we made it through without any body parts or articles of clothing missing. The anticipation for the performance was palpable in the air. I felt like I could have run 500 miles if I needed to. 

We followed the groups of girls into the hall, showing security our wristbands and going into the hall. No one was on stage yet, but it would only be a few minutes before they would come out to practice. 

A few minutes and I'd finally see Jeno in person. No six-inch screen in the way. I'd be able to see him for myself. To see how perfectly his hair fell in his face, how his eyes squint into crescents when he smiles, how he dances with such precision. I could hardly contain myself. It was as if the invisible leash I used to bridle my emotions had disappeared and was nowhere to be found. I was beginning to worry if Kira and Sydney would have to restrain me from jumping over the fence, running onto the stage, and tackling Jeno in the biggest hug he'd ever experience.

The girls ran over to the fence and pushed themselves against it as hard as they could, trying to see backstage at the boys. When we reached everyone else, I had Sydney on my left and Kira on my right. We forced ourselves against the fence, pushing some other girls out of the way on accident and cheered along with the rest of them.

My heart leaped out of my chest as Mark entered on stage, followed by Chenle, Renjun, Jisung, Jaemin, Jeno, and Haechan. They seemed so relaxed as we screamed at the top of our lungs. They didn't seem phased by the fact that around 100 girls were screaming their names. I wondered how long it took for that shock to go away for an idol. They waved, smiled, and posed for us before starting their practice.

I couldn't take my eyes off of Jeno. He was gorgeous. More than I could have hoped for. He was tall and slightly on the skinny side. Of course, he couldn't be too skinny since there's quite a bit of muscle required to dance the way he does. The contour of his collarbone and angle of his jawline was flawless. His hair was black, just the way I liked it. I didn't mind when he dyed his hair, but I liked him best when he was just himself. No contacts, no colored hair, no make-up. 

His moves were graceful as he practiced. I was in awe every time I watched him dance. I tried dancing. It was kind of our iconic thing as friends that we would learn the dances to our favorite songs, but it was so hard to be as good as they were. I began to appreciate even more just how hard they must have worked to give us such high-quality performances. I couldn't remember what song they were practicing or what dance move Jeno was doing, but at one point he got close to my end of the stage and looked directly at me. 

Time slowed as we made eye-contact. I felt my jaw drop just a bit and my eyes most likely widened too large for it to look cute in any possible way. He stopped for a quick second, probably registering the three Americans amongst the large amounts of Koreans. Then he focused back on me and irresistibly smiled the way he always does, making me blush and causing my brain to reboot so much that I forgot to smile back before he moved on to the next dance move. I cursed myself for not being able to get a hold of myself.

Kira shook my arm.

"Madison!!! Did he just look at you??"

I blushed some more, "Yeah."

"What did you do?" Sydney shouted over the noise of the girls screaming beside us.

"Nothing, I totally froze. I wasted my moment!"

They patted me on the back as best they could while being squished by human bodies on either side of them.

"It's fine, he's bound to look over here again sometime," Kira said.

"Hopefully," I sighed as I watched Jeno cross to the opposite side of the stage.

Sydney got really lucky. Chenle had come over to our area during the next song and she reached out to him. He quickly grabbed her hand and winked at her with a wide smile before having to dart back to his next spot. She freaked out, and so did we. She had gotten to touch her bias. He had winked at her. Life was complete. 

After a few more minutes the boys went backstage and the rest of the girls were let in. It became even more compact than I had expected. I had never been to a concert like this before. The last one I had been to was a Taylor Swift concert when I was 12 and we had seats near the top of a stadium. I was not aware I'd be pushed against a fence, barely able to breathe or use my arms for a few hours. I began sweating within the first 3 minutes and we hadn't even started cheering or dancing. I was wondering if I would get claustrophobia after this. Or cracked ribs depending on how vicious the girls decided to get.

Backstage

"Mark hyung!" Chenle shouted for me.

I looked up from my phone, "What is it?"

"Did you see the American girls out there?" He was smiling from ear to ear. I wanted to laugh at him for how dopey he looked.

"No, where were they?"

"About middle left. They were pretty good looking. I winked at one of them and it sent her up the wall." Chenle laughed.

I shook my head and sighed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jeno walked over and leaned against the wall next to me.

"Chenle is fangirling over some Americans in the audience."

Jeno smiled a bit, "Yeah, I saw them too. I wasn't expecting to see that tonight. They seemed really nice."

"I hope they're going to the fan signing afterward. I want to take a picture with the dark-haired one. She was pretty." Chenle fixed his hair in the mirror and made a face at himself.

"Yeah, I guess," Jeno shrugged.

Chenle turned to him, "You guess? Well, then which one was your favorite?"

"I don't know. I barely looked at them."

"Don't lie, Jeno. It was the short one," Jaemin walked up and was soon followed by the rest of the crew. "I saw him staring at her quite a few times, and then he smiled at her when he danced over there. You should have seen her face."

Jeno started blushing and I laughed.

"You guys are crazy. They're just fans from America. There's probably even more of those farther in the crowd. Stop freaking out."

Chenle smiled at me mischievously, "Alright, Mark. You can say that, but once you start falling for one of them I get free reign to make fun of you, okay?"

I rolled my eyes, "In your dreams. Come on guys, it's about time to go back out."

Audience

I felt myself starting to get tired. I wanted the concert to start already. The sweat rings around my armpits must have been huge by now and that is not how I wanted this night to go. I didn't want to smell like a gallon of human perspiration when I went up to Jeno during the fan signing. It would be absolutely humiliating.

Suddenly, the stage lights turned on and a voice over the speakers introduced NCT Dream as they entered on stage. I smiled as Jeno walked on stage and I cheered with the rest of the crowd.

The performance was amazing. Jisung walked along all the fans on our side at one point during the beginning. I had both of my hands out waving at him and he held onto both of them and gave me the sweetest smile. It made me so happy. I had always thought of Jisung as my little brother since my Korean name was so close to his. It was an inside joke among me and my friends, so naturally, we all freaked out when he did that.

Chenle came back over near Sydney. She squealed and shouted something at him, but I couldn't quite understand what she said. Chenle's head snapped quickly towards her with his eyes super wide. He leaned forward to hear her better. She yelled at him again and he smiled and laughed. 

It took me a while to realize they were speaking in Chinese. I had forgotten Sydney knew how to do that. He said something back to her and she nodded enthusiastically. He reached out for her hand and shook it before walking back to the group.

Sydney turned to us and did as much of a happy dance as she could. 

"What did you say to him???" I yelled.

"I told him I had ramen!"

Kira and I laughed. It made sense now why she had grasped his attention so easily.

"What did he say back?" Kira asked.

"He asked if he could have some and I told him that he would get it at the fan signing."

My ribs started hurting from laughing against the metal fence.

"That's amazing Sydney! I'm so proud of you!" I shouted.

"Thanks!" 

After the boys sung "Walk You Home", Mark made his way over to where we were. He shook our hands and told us he loved us all. Then when he came to Kira, he noticed she had her phone in her hand. So without warning, he took it and starting videoing himself and the other boys joined in once they noticed what he was doing. They were all goofing around and making faces when all of a sudden the phone started buzzing and Mark smiled a little too wide for comfort. He took one look at Kira and then swiped the phone's screen and put it to his ear.

Kira covered her face with her hands in embarrassment and started laughing super hard.

"Annyeonghaseyo?" Mark said into the phone.

The mic wasn't able to pick up the response of the person on the other end.

"Sorry, this is Mark Lee... Yeah, from NCT. I took your daughter's phone from the audience. She's fine."

There was a pause and then he laughed.

"Thank you, ma'am...huh?"

Another pause.

"Ah, yes. You have a great day too, bye."

He hung up and took a quick picture before handing it back to Kira.

"Your mother seems like a very nice woman," He said.

Kira nodded her head, "Yeah, she's pretty great. Thank you."

Mark smiled at her for a while and then headed back to the boys. Kira held her phone to her heart.

"My phone has been blessed. I'm never cleaning it. Ever."

Sydney and I laughed at her and she hit us a little to get us to stop making fun of her.

I watched Jeno again and wished for him to come over. He hadn't done anything to any of the fans on this side since the practice. He may have glanced over here a few times, but I wasn't able to focus enough to tell. I wanted him to come over so badly. Instead, I got Jaemin, but I'm not complaining. I definitely freaked out when he held onto my hand and shouted "Salanghae!" to everyone in our section.

I was so tired, yet I had so much adrenaline pumping through me at the same time. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take a nap or hop the fence and start dancing with them on stage. Both were very tempting.

Then, they sang the last song of the night. It was "GO", possibly my favorite NCT Dream song. Everyone was singing along with the boys. Just when I thought we couldn't have gotten any louder, we did. The dance was flawless and the boys were smiling like crazy from the energy of the crowd. 

When the song ended, they walked up to the edge of the stage to shake hands with the fans. My heart stopped when I saw Jeno make his way over to our side. I watched as he got closer and closer to me with every step. I held my hand out along with the other girls, trying to reach out to him. He started a few girls down from me and went down the line. 

As soon as he got to me I reached out as far as I could and touched his hand. His hands were so much bigger than mine. I looked at him and smiled. It was a small moment, maybe half a second, but I swear that he held my hand a little tighter and lingered a little longer than he had for the other girls before moving on to Kira. 

I felt my cheeks flush and my hand sent tingles all over my body. His hands had been a little rough, but not enough to be uncomfortable. In fact, I kind of liked it. My inner five-year-old girl started to rise up out of me and I squealed. I peeked around the crowd of girls and watched him finish having fun with the crowd. He turned to the boys and they all waved goodbye as they walked offstage.  

Kira, Sydney and I turned to each other and hugged each other tightly. This had been a dream come true. I would never forget today and the way Jeno looked at me. I'm sure it was how looked at all the other fans, but at least he had acknowledged me. He knew I existed. Although how long that would last, I'd never know. He had probably already forgotten, but I never would. Funny how that works.

The main lights turned on all of a sudden and it blinded my eyes. I had to blink a few times before I could see normally again. A staff member walked on stage and addressed us all in Korean. I understood some of it. They were basically telling us where to go next depending on our wristband color. People with pink wristbands had to leave, blue had to get in line on the left side of the hall for the high touch, then they would have to leave for the purple bands to take pictures with the boys, and green had to stay on the right for the fan signing after everything else was done.

I played with my green wristband and prayed that the other activities wouldn't take too long. Once the pink wristband fans were gone and everyone was in their sections, the boys came back out and everyone cheered for them. I couldn't stop smiling as I held onto Kira and Sydney. Today was a perfect day.