Superstar (R) - Kang Daniel

5 - Fan Meeting

I was so pumped to see the boys performing later that night. Before noon my tour friends and I went straight to the venue to collect some freebies. There were a lot of good quality freebies. People were so kind and generous. Thank you people.

About two hours before the show started, we gathered in front of a hall gate based on our queue number. Staffs were really helpful and informative in handling the queue. They checked the queue number before someone got in.

Before I passed the hall gate, securities checked our bag one more time for forbidden stuffs. Continued with a hug from a very nice lady. Of course I knew it was actually a body search, but she made it really fun, it didn't feel like one.

Finally I got into the venue. People were already packed. I stood at around the 15th row from the stage. I considered that as pretty lucky judging from my queue number. I was pretty happy with where I was.

Not long after that, suddenly a wave pushed me to the front. I was standing around the 13th row from the stage. Then when the show started, a stronger wave pushed me to the front. I was glad that I didn't trip, because suddenly I stood at around the 9th row from the stage. That's how far I got pushed.

Then when the boys came out another strong wave pushed. But this time, it didn't stop. I started to struggle to stand on my feet as people kept pushing. There's no more space for us to move, everyone was squeezed like a fish in a can. I stood at about the 7th row from the stage. So close, yet I couldn't focus on anything other than people crying out for help. I didn't know if I should be mad or thankful for the one who pushed.

Some people from the front started to bail out and move to the back. I saw someone actually crawled up from the ground. I didn't know what happened to her, but I hope she didn't get stomped. Kuddos girl for standing back up by yourself.

I was really mad so I turned my head to the back, prepared to launch an attack to whoever it was behind me who pushed. But when I turned my head, I saw people behind me were also struggling, they're squinting their eyes and swayed so much, they could fall anytime soon.

Then I saw the next line behind them, and the next line, and the next line, and as far as my eyes could see, there's no one pushing. Everyone was swaying because the strong wave was kept pushing but there's no more space to move.

Then I saw the front row, everyone was waving their hands for help and also struggling to stand. Then I realized that my own stance was no better. Everyone was suffering because it was really packed.

Finally the boys realized the condition and asked the mc to stop. I wasn't sure who's saying what because I was struggling to keep my stance. All I knew was every member looking at us, worried and ... disappointed. I was really embarrassed. But for what? For trying to stay alive in this situation? Because that's basically what everyone was doing. We're just keeping ourselves alive.

Then I saw Daehwi stood up and kept asking someone to save someone at the front. Then the mc asked us to calm down and stop pushing, and the securities started to jump into the crowd to rescue the ones who needed help.

I didn't know how and from where, but the wave was still pretty much there. It felt like someone packed our bodies, so tight and so cramped, in a box together, with our heads hung out in the open. Then put that box in a sea with strong waves. All we could do was keep standing, stay alert, and keep breathing. It was horrible.

"Are you okay? Do you need water?" Suddenly a girl in front of me asked when I started to feel dizzy. Then she gave me water.

"That's right. We gotta help each other," I said.

So we started to do the same thing to people around us, then they did the same thing to their surroundings. We were just a bunch of strangers, but we became solid like soldiers in a battlefield. We're sharing water, fanning each other, keeping each other safe. The difference was, we didn't know who we were fighting with.

Then the mc said that the boys would go to the backstage until we all calmed down. After the boys went in, the mc told us to sit down, but nobody did. Why? Because we couldn't even stand properly, how in the world did he expect us to be able to fucking sit down?

Then suddenly the stage lighting was directed towards us as a police officer came to the stage. I felt like a criminal who got caught and interrogated after doing a crime. But what crime exactly that we did?

If I could only testify for one thing, I would say this, "None of us, at least the ones around me, as far as my eyes could see, pushed anyone. None!". All we did was standing up to ourselves to stay alive and help each other. All we ever wanted was just to watch the guys performing and had a great time. So why did they have to make us look like a fucking criminal?

Then somehow the crowd started to unravel. Apparently they started with the ones at the far end of the crowd to gave the ones in the middle some space to sit. Some securities kept yelling at us, one by one, to sit down.

Okay, I think that was smart, but I don't think the yelling was necessary. What did we do to deserve to get yelled at? We looked like a bunch of criminals who got caught in action.

At that point I was so sad beyond belief. I decided to move to the far end of the side, because I didn't want to get yelled at. I was told to sit at the far left of the stage, the second row from the stage. From my seat I could see the stage clearly, but not the screen. I was already pretty happy with where I was and still considered myself pretty lucky.

We had to wait about an hour before the show resume. It felt like a detention for what crime exactly I don't know. But at that point, I was no longer care about how people looked at me and thought of me. All I care was to have a great time and watch the guys perform.

When the boys came out I could still see the worried and disappointment in their eyes. Some people from the front row starting to stand up, and the staffs quickly asked them to sit back down. The people who stood up were blocking my view, but I also felt bad for them  because they couldn't see the stage as it was blocked by railings. Some of them were fighting back with the staffs so they had to be ushered out, but they eventually came back. The staffs were having a hard time too.

Then we started to get smarter, when people at the front slightly stood up, we kneeled so we could still see the stage without blocking the view of the people behind us. That was the first time I ever watched a show while kneeling down.

Then just after a few songs, the guys said bye to us. It was fucking fast, so we started to yell, "Encore Encore!". Fortunately they came back to sing some more songs. At that point none of us care about sitting down anymore. We stood up and gathered near the stage and hugged each other as we sang along. We had a great time. The boys performed so well. It was amazing. I got a lot of friends from that event.

There were some things that made me sad, but overall I had a great time, and it was such a meaningful experience for me. I didn't regret choosing to watch the fan meeting there instead of my home country. Big thanks to my friends who helped me and the one who offered me the tour.