“Oppa! Oppa!” The girl screamed desperately, shoving her gift into Wonpil’s hand.

Hiding behind his shades, he could barely see who the giver was but he still muttered a quick “thank you”. The manager was trying hard to lightly push away fans that were blocking the way to the departure gates. It has always been chaotic ever since Day6 climbed to their career peak. Even overseas, their popularity had never failed to surprise even Day6 themselves. Then, Sungjin felt someone touch him from the back and he cringed in discomfort. Walking faster with a stern face on, he sucked his cheeks in and rolled his eyes. He adjusted his beanie and looked up. Then, he spotted a familiar figure from afar.

She was holding onto a huge DSLR camera, pressing onto the shutter non-stop. He forced a smile on his face in her direction despite all the crazy happenings around him. She smiled faintly and after a few satisfactory shots, she climbed down the stool. Grabbing her hand-carry bag, she followed behind the crowd to the departure gates. Then more fans joined from the back and the fansite masters found themselves being sandwiched between fans. The crowd was pushing each other in order to get closer to the boys. The manager’s voice could be heard screaming for fans to stop. IT never did.

Hiding behind her camera, she snapped yet another picture of him. The non stop shutter sound from her DSLR blended into the surrounding hysterical screams. Nothing new, nothing different. Just the usual craziness whenever Day6 showed up in public. Her face cringed when a camera was shoved in the idol’s face. The crowd was overwhelming and the situation was almost out of control. She tried hard to stay balanced despite the pushing. Then, she was pushed, a little too hard. She fell to the ground but her hands were too busy protecting her camera instead of breaking the fall.

It hurts. And she heard a laugh as she looked up.

“I am sorry, I hope that did not hurt too much,” The fan said with a smirk.
Her supposed friends laughed along with her, looking down at Ara. Some of the mydays stopped to watch but none dared to help her up. Ara saw Sungjin and the other boys walking ahead with the fans trailing behind them. Nope, it had never crossed her mind that he would see her tripping and walk back to help her up. She had never harbored hope for Sungjin to appear like a knight in shining armor to rescue a damsel in distress. After all, this was no fan fiction or SBS drama.

“What the fuck” She cursed under her breath, rubbing her hurting knees.

“What’s wrong, Ara?” Familiar voices chorused as they ran back for her.

Standing up with the help of other fansite masters, she stared at the girl.

“So… You want to play?” she taunted, limping forward.

“I’m afraid you can’t afford to play though” She continued and the other fansites stared fiercely too.

The culprit bit her lips in fear before scrambling off with her friends.

“You okay?” Jongmin, who was holding onto her left arm, asked gently.

“Yes, I am fine. Thanks, you can focus your attention on Dowoon now?” She joked.

Flashbacks screened in her mind as the soreness spread at her joint. Ara could still recall how she used to coward away in fear when such things happened. She would smile and wave things off in the past. Such incidents were bound to happen with the irrational jealousy of other fans. However, she was no longer the same Ara. The other fansite master had taught her the true way to protect herself. They had to be cold to prevent people from taking advantage of them and pushing their limits. They must portray themselves to be an untouchable class of fans.

Since then, she had hidden behind her cold demeanor. She had only allowed her walls to crumble before certain people.

While other fans stood outside the departure gates in disappointment, the fansite followed the boys in. Ara caught the fangirl and her friends scoffing at her. She stared back at them and not forgetting, shot them a victorious smirk. Past the departure gates, the fansites followed the boys from a distance and zoomed with their professional DSLR cameras to take pictures of them. The boys turned occasionally and waved at them.

Ara spotted Sungjin’s gaze looking down from her camera screen. She put her camera down and traced his gaze.

He appeared to be looking at her bruised knees and when he looked up she caught his eyes.

“Gwenchana?” she figured out from his mouthing.

She melted.

Ara nodded with a thankful smile and he nodded back in acknowledgment.

The boys waved to the fansites before entering a restaurant.

“I thought you wouldn’t know…” she mumbled with her tears welling up in her eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” ShinYe, a fellow Sungjin fansite asked.

She shook her head and replied “Nothing”

If you are going to be like this, I will never be able to stop.