By the time they were finishing the first series of interviews she had found her way back to the dressing room to drop off what she had bought and to take a break before the stage performance push was going to start. The dressing room was less full as many of the clothes and make-up people were off until they had to prepare the members for the stage performance later this afternoon. Everyone would have a wardrobe change and slightly more dramatic make-up put on before they stepped out on the stage.
There was a quick, confident string of knocks on the door of the dressing room. Jihoon, who was closest, opened the door to see who had come by.
“Hello, can I help you?” Jihoon asked whoever was in the hall.
“Is the English teacher here?” Yejun’s polite query drifted in through the open door.
“The English teacher? You mean Claire?” Jihoon’s tone held a little surprise at the question.
“Ah, I didn’t catch her name yesterday,” Yejun chuckled at the admission. “I just have something to drop off for her.”
“Hello,” Claire greeted them, coming over to poke her head out. Standing outside in the hall was Yejun, Junwoo, and the statuesque and elegant singer and dancer of the group Shiwoo. She was honestly a little surprised they had come by. If she had been a gambler, she might have put money on them not coming, either because they just forgot or that they couldn’t follow through on their offer.
“Ah, good, you are here,” Yejun flashed her a grin, switching to English. Behind him Junwoo gave her a bright grin along with a wave and Shiwoo greeted her with a reserved but friendly headbob. “Here, this is for you. A seat in the front row just off the center. It’s for the whole set of performances this afternoon but I hope you will at least be there for ours.”
“Of course, I can’t wait to see you guys perform,” Claire readily affirmed, taking the offered ticket. She paused and, biting her lip, gathered the courage to then ask, “Would you do just one more favor for me?”
“A favor?” Yejun returned playfully. “Would that mean you would owe us something for it?”
“Mmm, maybe,” She laughed. “Though I can’t say I can think of anything I have or could do for you that you would want in return.”
“I think I can think of something,” The young man gave a charismatic grin that exuded the confidence of someone who knew exactly how to bring anyone to their knees.
“It’s a small thing really, just one second.” Claire scurried back to the bag of trinkets she had bought and pulled out their most recent album which she had bought from the market area. “Would you mind signing this for me? I’d cherish it forever.”
“Yeah of course,” Yejun agreed happily, taking the small box from her. “Can I take it with me so everyone can sign it?”
“Please,” She said with joyful enthusiasm. “That would be fantastic.”
“I’ll bring this back later today,” Yejun assured her, tucking the box under his arm. “We have to go and prepare for the performance, but see you later.”
“Thank you,” Claire said with a wave, now hearing the familiar voices of the members of YTHTonic coming down the hall. Yejun and Junwoo flashed her smiles and finger hearts before they turned to walk away and Shiwoo gave her a perfect and reserved smile with a little wave before following his friends. They passed the members of the other group as they headed back to their own dressing room, everyone giving friendly waves as they passed each other. Claire’s cheery face greeted them from the door as they approached.
“Did you watch any of our interviews?” Seunghoon asked as he passed her in the doorway.
“I didn’t but I will later,” She responded, moving into the room to sit on one of the chairs located against the wall opposite the make-up counter. “I was having fun looking around.”
“How do you know TEENz?” Jihoon asked, looking up from his perusal of the day's schedule.
“I walked into the wrong room yesterday,” She cringed as the memory of it drifted back. “It was their room and they were nice enough to walk me back.”
“Oh dear,” Jihoon’s eyes widened fractionally. “That could have been bad.”
“Wasn’t good but it could have been much worse,” Claire admitted. “I’m embarrassed but I can be glad no one got angry at my mistake.”
“Mmm,” Jihoon made a noise of agreement before opening his phone to send messages to the hair and make-up crew to come back and start work now that all the members had returned. Claire curled her feet under her and tried to inconspicuously fade into the background. The room soon became a bustling center of activity again with everyone being prepared for the stage. Wardrobes were updated and secured to survive the stress of a performance, make-up was reapplied to show them at their best even in the bright stage lights, and everyone did their pre-show rituals.
Claire made her exit quietly when it was time for her to head to her seat, slipping out largely unnoticed in the chaos. She made her way through the venue to where the show was going to be starting. Finding the right entry door was the biggest challenge, with six different entrances for people to filter through to get to their seats. Her seat was indeed in a prime location, just to the left of center with a great view of the stage. It was, for all intents and purposes the front row, with only a bit of space for the professional photographers to move around and capture the performances between her and the stage. She wondered just how it was that they had secured the seat they had given her and why they had decided to give it to her. She might have been a fan, but they didn’t know her from Adam, and really had no reason to have gone out of their way. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, she chastised herself, just be grateful for their generosity.
The lights dimmed in the full arena and a tingle of anticipation shivered through the audience in the arena. Some of the best and brightest in K-Pop, both old and promising new talent were going to be appearing on the stage tonight. Star-like twinkles started appearing throughout the rows and rows of seats as people turned on their light sticks to represent their support for their favorite group. The swaying little glowing lights gave the audience the look of being a swarm of fireflies on a warm summer night, signaling to the performers and each other with happy sways and blinks.
The first few groups were some she had never particularly listened to before, but they weren’t bad and their performances were flawless. They weren’t going to rival her love for either of the groups she was really here to see, but she could definitely listen to more by all of them in the future and not regret it. A couple of solo performances followed that from more established artists, then it was finally time for TEENz to perform.
Claire couldn’t help but be swept up in the air of anticipation that swept over the audience as the lights dimmed and the screens they would enter through flashed their logo just before the first notes of their performance rumbled through the auditorium. She cheered along with everyone else as they stepped out onto the stage in their perfectly coordinated outfits which came right out of their latest music video. They looked fantastic and their choreography was as flawless and intense as she had expected. From where she was sitting, she could actually see every expression and grimace the members made as they danced to the two songs that would comprise their performance. She could imagine that the photographers were extraordinarily pleased with the material they were getting from them. They made the dances look fluid and perfectly synchronized, even if they still didn’t look easy. Somehow they managed to look sexy and enticing, keeping their expressions in the practiced smolders that hit the heart of every fan in the audience. They ended their performance, sweaty and breathing harder, but still looking too flawless to be real, taking a moment to make a circuit of the edge of the stage to wave to the audience and make sure that everyone felt like they had gotten to see them up close. As they passed her section Yejun and Junwoo made eye contact with her, both winking and making hearts at her briefly before continuing on. She smiled back at them, but didn’t really have time for more than that before they moved o
n.
There was one performance between them and YTHTonic, giving Claire the chance to catch her breath. A screen covered box descended onto the stage from somewhere overhead, leaving Claire to wonder how she hadn’t noticed it before that moment. Lights flashed and the hard beat of the song intro ricocheted around the room from every speaker, raising goosebumps on Claire’s skin. The screens flashed images and YTHTonic’s logo in time with the beat for a moment before it began to ascend, revealing band members beneath, posed in perfect formation. The first song started properly and, without missing a beat, they leapt into the first steps of the hard hitting choreography of their latest release. The audience cheered and Claire could see the enthusiastic waving of lightsticks matching the beat as the members danced and sang on the stage. It was exciting and engaging to see them live in a way that just seeing the videos and the streams could never capture.
Pride bloomed in her chest as she watched, trying to pay attention to the performance of each member as much as possible. It was impossible, of course, to keep track of all nine of them at the same time, but she could see a little bit of each of them in the sections of the performance where they were front and center. This was a part of them that she knew existed but didn’t ever really get to see. Dance practice, singing, choreography, they were all things that she couldn’t help with or even really watch even though it made up such a big part of their lives.
When their performance was done, they too, made their rounds along the end of the stage to greet the fans before exiting the stage. Each of the members gave her a brief greeting as they passed and she waved, just like the hundreds of other fans they passed. She decided to slip out before the next performance and head back to the dressing room to see everybody when they got back. It would take them a bit of time to get back but if she left now she wouldn’t be bothering anyone since it was between performances. The facility looked emptier, since most people who could be there for the evening’s performances were happily seated in the arena she just left. She practically skipped as she made her way back past security and along the short hallway that dead ended into the long hallway of dressing rooms.
“Back already?” Jihoon greeted her as she came in the door. The room was back to being nearly empty since the preparations for the day really were finally done. Someone would come back in a few hours to collect the wardrobe for cleaning and storage, but there was no need for them to hang around in between.
“Yeah I got to see what I wanted,” Claire gave a happy shrug. “They really are amazing performers, aren’t they?”
“They are,” He agreed readily. “It’s never boring or a let down when I get to see them on stage. Last time they were on one of the performance shows I let my daughter come along to watch from the audience. You know Eunji, she is 10 and she absolutely loves them, asks every day I come home how they are and what they are doing. I can’t really say much about what they do since she doesn’t really understand how to keep things quiet, but I am proud that she likes them. She has good taste like her dad.”
“Indeed,” She snickered. “So is she old enough to have a bias yet?”
“Or course,” Jihoon gave her a thoughtful look. “Minjun is her bias. I can’t say I fault her choice looks wise, but he is far too old for her. Not that she seems to like him like that yet. She mostly seems to think they would be best friends if I ever let her hang out with him for more than 30 seconds. I don’t have the heart to tell her that most 20 year old guys cannot be paid enough money to spend time with a ten year old.”
“Mmm, true, though I am sure she is right and he would absolutely see her as the mature and amazing woman that she is,” Claire nodded with an exaggerated seriousness. They both laughed and shook their heads at the idea. She could remember being that age, feeling like everyone just didn’t get how mature you really were. “I hope she isn’t trying to grow up too fast. Being a kid is a precious time, really.”
“They always are,” Jihoon sounded amused but tired. “No kid values being a kid when they are one.”
“Ah well, you never know how good you have it until you don’t,” She said in a wistful tone.
“True,” He wearily agreed.
A knock sounded on the door and Claire hopped up to open it so Jihoon could continue with whatever it was he was doing. She peeked through the gap as she opened the door to find every member of TEENz standing in the hallway outside of the door, still dressed in their performance clothes. Yejun stood at the front with bright eyes and a happy quirk to the corner of his mouth. He held out the small box he had taken from her earlier.
“It was good to see your smiling face in the audience,” His tone dripped an easy charm that never failed to make someone feel like he thought you were the only one in the room. “I wanted to get this back to you tonight in case we didn’t get to see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you for this,” She told him gratefully. “You have gone above and beyond for me.”
“It was nothing,” He waved away her thanks. “I thought you might like to meet everyone else, officially.”
“Absolutely,” She gave them all a radiant expression. “Hello, my name is Claire Faroe and of course I know all of you. Junwoo, it is good to see you again,” She extended a hand to him which he took, giving her a firmer handshake than she had expected. “And the ever elegant Shiwoo,” her eyes met his and she gave him a wave, as he was too far for her to reach and shake hands with. He returned the wave as a gratified smile spread over his pink lips. “The maknae Jongsu, so known for his remarkable strength.” The youngest positively beamed as he reached out to take both of her hands in his, giving her a careful but warm shake. “Then we have the lovely Yunseo with the honey voice.” He gave her a shy nod, both nervous and happy to have been picked out individually. “Sanghoon who dances with enough passion for fifty people and a smolder that charm anyone.” Sanghoon stepped forward to give her an energetic hug that made her let out a small oof before she laughed as he let her go again. “That leaves the talented rapper Daejeong,” The tall young man looked at her with a happy expression that reminded her of an over excited puppy meeting a stranger he was sure was going to be his new best friend. “And finally Taehyun who never fails to make me smile.” He grinned proudly at the description, elbowing Daejeong as if to make sure his friend took note of the compliment.
“Wow,” Sanghoon breathed in amazement. “You really do know us.”
“At least, I know the you who you are to all of your many fans,” She tempered the compliment, not wanting to give the impression she believed she somehow knew the real them.
“Who we are to the fans is the real us,” Yejun chuckled. “At least it’s a big part of us that we get to share with everybody.”
“I’m glad to hear that you feel like you get to be yourself for us,” She was genuinely glad to hear that from him. A clamor of familiar voices came rolling down the hall, preceding the arrival of the boys coming back from their performance. “Excuse me for just a moment,” She said before she slipped out, squeezing out in the gap between the group and the wall to jog to meet the other group as they were returning. She met up with them a few meters from the T in the hall, giving an excited squeal as she jumped into Cheol’s open arms for a hug that lifted her off her feet which quickly became a group hug, with Hyunwoo, Wonjung, Changho and FX piling on, all making excited noises with her.
“I take it you liked it, then,” Cheol smiled into her neck, giving it a hidden kiss while he had the cover of the group hug.
“I’m so proud of all of you,” She said both as an answer to his question and for the rest of the group to hear. The hug ended and they all started walking back to the dressing room. Claire spoke briefly to each of the members as they all made their way back, mentioning the best thing about each of their performances that she had noticed. They made their way back into their dressing room, passing the members of TEENz as they did with small greetings and acknowledgements.
“Sorry, just had to say hello,” Clai
re apologized as she returned to speaking with the other group.
“It’s fine,” Sanghoon assured her. “You seem to be close with them.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” She admitted. “They’re family and friends to me. I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know them over the past however many months it’s been. I’m lucky I got to know them.”
They made small talk for a few more minutes before they excused themselves to change and finally get to the end of their evening. Claire knocked on the closed door, not wanting to walk in if anyone was in the middle of changing. Hyunwoo greeted her at the door, greeting her with a long arm around her shoulders. Most everyone was comfortably back in their street clothes, relaxing against chairs or on the floor, wherever they could find the space to relax. The energy and excitement of the performance, the sense of victory at a job well done, was fading but still hung in the air. Claire felt incredibly lucky as she looked around the room. They were really a remarkable group of people.
Changho caught the wistful look on her face as she looked around the room, giving him a small wave as she caught his gaze. Her look reminded him of the one he saw on his mother’s face the first time she watched him on a stage. Long before he became famous, his parents had had faith in him, always giving him bottomless love and support. Claire seemed to give off that same selfless encouragement and affection. She deserves better, he thought to himself.
Pulling himself up off the floor where he had been seated, he slipped out of the room and down the hall to the TEENz dressing room. He gave the door three hard knocks before stepping back to wait for someone to answer. A man in his thirties opened the door and Changho asked for Junwoo, seeing his friend seated in front of the make-up counter over the man’s shoulder. His friend caught sight of him in the mirror and hopped up eagerly to chat with his friend. Changho silently invited him to come talk with him in the hall...alone. Junwoo gave him a slightly surprised look, but followed, curious what it was his old friend wanted to chat about.
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