PAPARAZZI

Nine

"Is that Mr. Park, Ms?" Jen asked as you walked towards her.

She was about to turn around to give Jay another look, but you grabbed her side face, preventing her from looking at him.

You're already embarrassed about what you said to Jay and it'll be even more embarrassing if Jay thinks you're still talking about him now.

"But, I just want to make sure that it's him because he looks like Mr. P-" she said again, but you grabbed her arms and forced her to leave.

You haven't known Jen for very long, but in that time want to cover her mouth so she doesn't speak.

"Let's go home, I'm hungry."

When you get home that day, you can't wait for the sun to rise again, and even though that beach club resort isn't far from your house, you feel like it'll take a long time if you don't start walking there.

You grabbed the pillow in your bed and hugged it.

The feeling of excitement is not new to you because you experience it almost every time you attend one of Jay's events, but there is something unique about it that makes you feel like a VIP.

As you stated, you visited the beach club resort the next day. You're not sure whether you're too late or Jay has forgotten what you said.

You glance at your phone to check the time. It was already 4:00PM.

"Is he still going?" you ask yourself as you look around.

You've been almost there for a few hours and there's no sign of Jay arriving. You start wondering if you're wasting your time by waiting for nothing.

You don't want to be a sad girl, but that's how you felt after waiting for him for so long and not seeing him.

You laugh with dismay, because who are you to waste time? He is famous, whereas you are not, and even if you go around in a circle, nothing changes because you are still a fan.

It's almost dark when you decide to walk home and pause when you feel a drop of water.

It is raining.

How unlucky your day was!

You were soaked from the rain when your grandmother noticed you enter the house.

She asks why you allowed yourself to bathe in the rain despite the risk of getting sick. And because you didn't tell her the true reason, you simply provided an alibi.

Days after the embarrassment, you did not leave your grandmother's house for a few days after Jay failed to arrive at the beach club resort.

It's 5:30AM and you're still yawning from a lack of sleep while checking your phone due to the nonstop vibration.

"Wait.." you say, realising it's Jay's birthday.

You hit your head and silently blame yourself for nearly forgetting it. If it hadn't been on your phone's planner calendar, you might have forgotten it.

Every year, you make an effort to buy him a small cake and wish him a happy birthday while he is doing a live video on his social media account, and that was your plan for today.

So, despite the fact that you still have plenty of sleep, you get out of bed and prepare to buy him a cake.

The staff looked at you several times before looking behind you because you had created a queue in the small coffee shop that also sells cakes, which you were unaware of because you were preoccupied with deciding which cake to get for Jay.

"Should I buy the small or the big one?" you ask yourself, resting your hands on your chin.

"Buy the two."

You looked to your side when you heard a voice, and despite the fact that he was wearing black sunglasses and a face mask, you knew it was Jay because of his hair colour and the trademark necklace he was wearing.

Your mouth dropped open in shock.

"I'll get my coffee." Jay said to the staff.

You remained glued to your spot as you watched him take his order.

And when you noticed he was about to leave, you immediately followed him, forgetting to buy a cake.

"Jay, wait!" you yell.

Jay stops walking and looks at you, at first, you wonder why his forehead is wrinkled, but when you hear people excitedly yelling Jay's name, you realize how foolish you were.

"I didn't mean to-" you were about to say, when Jay interrupted.

"But you did."

And before you two were mobbed in that location, Jay quickly grabbed your hand and run.