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Nothing had gone to plan.
Of course, it hadn't. As if concerts weren't stressful enough with getting tickets, queuing to get a good spot, and then not passing out before the act came on stage. No, getting to the venue had to be difficult as well.
The group chat for the festival was bombarded with pictures of the queues ever since 7 am. Originally, she had thought it lucky that she lived close enough to London to not need to stay in a hotel. However, that did mean there was no way she could start queuing that early.
She couldn't queue anyway. Because she had bought an upgrade for her ticket, she had to collect it from the box office which didn't even open until noon.
She had to accept her fate. There was no hope of her getting close to the stage.
When she arrived at Hyde Park there were people everywhere. She headed to the box office and there were multiple windows each with their own queue. They weren't too long, or so she thought. An hour later she finally collected her ticket. Luckily, she headed straight to her entrance which was next to the box office. There wasn't much of a queue there because everyone had already gone in.
Walking straight through to the main stage, she entered the golden circle and tried to judge where the best spot to stand would be. She was surprised by how close she was to the extended stage and felt good about her view until the performances started.
As soon as those in front of her raised their hands or held their phones up, she could barely see the stage. And she knew it would be so much worse for Stray Kids.
Having already had a long morning walking and standing for almost five hours already. After the first two acts and another two hours had passed, her back was killing her, and she wasn't sure how she was going to survive another four hours standing until Stray Kids came on.
Her spot wasn't worth it. If she was further forward, she would've battled it out, but as she turned around, she realised that she was at the back of the crowd anyway. Behind her fans were spaced out with room to sit down. So, she figured that even if she left for a bit she would be able to get a similar spot later on.
When she finally sat down, being off her feet was a relief, but her back was still killing her, and she wondered why. She had been working out religiously the past week and had tried to keep good posture while standing earlier, but it didn't seem to have helped.
Checking her phone, she was shocked by an email and re-read it multiple times. She had won. She had won the competition to get a backstage tour, and she had 15 minutes to turn up.
Quickly making her way to the meeting point, she didn't have time to process what this meant. She met with the staff and followed them as they started showing her around backstage and explaining what happens. It was really interesting and cool to get an insight into how things worked behind the scenes.
It wasn't supposed to happen, but apparently, her luck had seriously changed because as she was being shown around they ran into a member of Stray Kids.
She could've sworn he was glowing as he smiled at her.
"STAY?"
Although her brain couldn't work enough to produce words, she managed to nod. Hyunjin chuckled and held out his hand.
"It's nice to meet you."
As their hands touched, she finally managed to spit out something in reply.
"You too."
They both stared at each other for a moment before dropping their hands.
"Have you eaten?"
"Huh? No?"
"I go eat."
Hyunjin turned to the staff member.
"It's okay. She can stay."
She didn't know what to do as she was suddenly alone with Hyunjin.
He gave her a small smile, before gesturing.
"Okay."
It didn't feel real as she followed him to a food truck, or as he ordered her food, or as they sat down together to eat.
"Do you live in London?"
"No, but not far. Just a short train ride away."
"Really? So, it easy to come here?"
"Yes. I'm lucky to live so close."
"Have you been to Korea?"
"Yes, last summer. I was there when you had your fan meeting in July, -"
"Fan meeting?"
"- but I couldn't get a ticket. Sold out."
"Ah, sorry. So, today is first Stray Kids concert?"
"Yes."
"I'll make it extra special then."
She stared at him, and he ducked his head, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.
After they finished eating, they continued to talk about anything and everything. She wasn't sure why Hyunjin was spending time with her, but she wasn't going to question it.
"Jinnie! Hyunjin, where are you?! Oh, hello."
They were interrupted by another Stray Kids member, and she tried her best not to obviously stare as Felix stood next to her.
"Hi."
Felix tilted his head at Hyunjin, obviously questioning who she was and why Hyunjin was with her.
"Is it time already?"
"Yes, Chan-Hyung's rounding us up."
"Okay. I'll be there in a minute."
"Right... Enjoy the show! Bye!"
"Bye!"
She watched Felix walk away for a moment before turning back to Hyunjin wondering what was going to happen now.
"I have to go..."
"Okay."
Hyunjin got out his phone and passed it to her.
"Your number? I have, please?"
"Oh! Sure!"
After she gave his phone back to him, he stood up.
"Come."
She followed him as he spoke to someone in Korean and they walked off.
Hyunjin turned back to her.
"I want to see you again. Later. After concert. Okay?"
"Yes?"
"I message you where."
He reached up and tucked a strand of hair that gotten blown about in the wind behind her ear.
"Okay."
The staff member he had spoken to before came back with someone and said something to Hyunjin.
"I see you soon. Enjoy the show."
She watched him walk away until the staff member spoke to her.
"If you follow me, I'll take you to the guest viewing platform."
Once she was standing on top of one of the little platforms in the gold circle, she could finally start processing the past few hours and imagining what Hyunjin had planned for later.
Stray Kid's performance was amazing, and she had a clear view. Although, if she hadn't spent the afternoon sat beside Hyunjin she might have complained about being too far away.
At one point, Hyunjin looked straight at her and smiled brightly before laughing and continuing to walk around the extended stage.
She tried her best to pay equal attention to all the members, but her gaze kept being drawn back to Hyunjin. Her heart raced at thoughts of later.
All too soon it was over. The strict finishing time preventing them from individually saying goodbye - a staple of every K-pop concert. She stared at the empty stage as the crowd began to disperse, unbelieving that it was over.
Eventually, she joined the mass of people leaving the park, but she was in no rush. She didn't know where she was going, waiting for the promised message from Hyunjin.
She was starting to panic whether she should just head home when it came. A message containing the name and address of a hotel.
Putting it into google maps, she started walking in that direction. She entered the lobby of the hotel wondering what she should do next when someone approached her. They took her up to Hyunjin's room and left her at the door. She knocked and waited.
The door opened and at the sight of Hyunjin any worries she had disappeared.
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room, pressing her up against the closed door. His other hand rested against the door beside her head. He let go of her wrist and brought his hand up to caress her cheek.
"Can I kiss you?"
"Yes."
Hyunjin's eyes widened at her responding in Korean. Although she knew very little of the language, she knew enough to know what he was asking.
Suddenly his lips were on hers and her mind went blank of everything but the feel of him.
The hand on the door moved and landed to rest on her waist. She could feel the heat of his hand through the thin material of her dress.
She didn't register they were moving until she felt herself falling and her back landed on something soft.
His hands took her wrists and pinned them to the bed above her head.
As much as she was enjoying herself, reality started to set in, and her nerves crept in.
Hyunjin must have felt her tense as he pulled back.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?"
She hesitated long enough that he frowned. He rolled them so that they were lying on their sides facing each other. He kept hold of her wrists, but brought the down between them, his thumbs rubbing the backs of her hands.
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
She didn't answer, but instead looked down, her cheeks turning red.
Hyunjin speaking again caused her to look back up.
"No... It okay. I happy to spend time with you."
"Really?"
Hyunjin smiled.
"You know Korean."
"No. Just a few words."
"Cute."
She felt her cheeks heat up again.
Hyunjin leaned forwards and rubbed their noses together making her smile.
Although she didn't want to move, she was starting to get uncomfortable in her dress and Hyunjin noticed.
"You want to change clothes?"
"Can I?"
She felt the loss as Hyunjin let go of her hands and got off the bed. He rummaged through his suitcase and held up a T-shirt and some shorts.
"Umm... this okay?"
"Yes, thank you."
After getting changed in the bathroom, she came out to find Hyunjin lying on the bed. He patted the space beside him, and she shyly laid down next to him in the same position they were before.
"Comfy?"
"Yes."
"Good. Uh, is it okay if you stay? Tonight?"
"I can stay?"
He frowned at her surprised tone. She had been a little worried about how she would get home if he kicked her out. It was Sunday and the trains stopped running earlier than usual.
"Of course. Are you tired?"
"No."
She was, a little, but she wasn't going to waste this time with Hyunjin.
Hyunjin held up his hand as if asking for a high-five. She did the same, pressing her hand to his, and he bent his fingers, locking their hands together. He swayed them from side to side making her smile.
"I like your nails."
She had done them especially for the concert.
"Thank you! They're based on ATE."
"ATE?"
"From your teaser photos."
"Really? It's so good!"
Hyunjin moved her hands around to get a better look at her nails.
"I'm still a beginner so I kept them simple.
His eyes met hers.
"You paint this?"
She nodded.
"Do you like to draw?"
He mimed drawing.
"A bit, yes."
He gave her a shy smile.
"Can I... draw you? And you me?"
She felt her heart skip a beat.
"I'd love that."
He got up and retrieved two sketchpads and some pencils from his bag. They settled back onto the bed. The room was filled with a comfortable silence, only interrupted by the soft scratching of pencil on paper.
After a while, they stopped drawing.
"Ready?"
Hyunjin turned the sketchpad around to show her. It was a beautiful, delicate drawing that captured her likeness perfectly. She was amazed by his talent.
"Wow, Hyunjin, it's amazing!"
He smiled shyly.
"Thank you. Now I see."
She shook her head. Her's was nowhere as good and she felt embarrassed to show him, but she couldn't resist his pleading.
"Please."
When she showed it to him his eyes lit up with appreciation.
"It's beautiful. You are very talented."
They continued to draw together, exchanging sketches and laughing as their drawings became sillier and sillier. It was a moment of shared creativity that brought them even closer.
As the night wore on, their conversation slowed, and the comfortable silence returned. She felt her eyelids growing heavy, and she noticed Hyunjin was also fighting to stay awake.
"Sleep time."
She nodded, unable to fight the exhaustion any longer.
"Good night, Hyunjin."
"Good night."
They fell asleep, still facing each other, their hands loosely intertwined between them.
The next morning, she woke up to the sound of gentle knocking. She blinked her eyes open and found Hyunjin already awake, smiling at her.
"Good morning."
"Morning."
Hyunjin got up to open the door.
"I order us breakfast."
A hotel staff member brought in a tray laden with various breakfast items and set it on the small table in the room.
They ate together, enjoying the quiet morning and the delicious food. It was a simple but intimate moment, one that she knew she would cherish forever.
Eventually, it was time for her to leave. Hyunjin walked her to the door, a sad but understanding look in his eyes.
He held her hands in his.
"I had wonderful time with you."
She felt a lump in her throat. She didn't want this to end, but she knew it had to.
"Me too."
Hyunjin leaned in and kissed her forehead gently.
"I never forget this. Thank you for spending time with me."
"Thank you, Hyunjin. For everything."
He smiled and gave her one last hug before she turned and left, her heart heavy but full of wonderful memories. As she walked out of the hotel and headed back to her everyday life, she knew that this experience was something she would carry with her forever.