Section 109, Row 24, Seat 2

11 pm

"The show's done! It was really cool!" Jongin texted her a mere five minutes after he'd gotten off the stage.

Aish, this guy. Always glued to his phone. Soojung laughed as she read his text. Of course, she knew the reason why he was glued to it all the time. She and her friends were sitting down, waiting for the crowds to leave before making their way out of the venue. Except for the toilet encounter, everything had played out incredibly well. She couldn't risk it.

"Really? Congratulations!" Soojung texted back. "Go get some food, rest and text me when you're in your hotel room, ne?".

"Ne", Jongin replied. "Aigoo, it really was so amazing tonight, Soojung-ah. I wish you could have been here."

Soojung bit her lip and resisted the urge to text him back immediately. She'd tell him later.

They eventually left the venue and made their way to the car without a problem, all the while talking, linking arms and laughing. In a way, Soojung felt like she was a teenager again. She was living the kind of life she never got to experience in America, because she moved to Korea when she was so young. This is what it could've been like: she and her friends going to concerts, helping each other out with their respective boyfriends, sharing secrets and adventures together. For the first time in a long time, she felt free.

The drive back to her parents' house took over an hour, but Soojung was still coming down from her adrenaline rush when she laid on her bed and Facetimed Jongin.

He picked up after three seconds.

"Nae Soojung-ie!" Jongin greeted her. He was in a really good mood, and Soojung wondered if that would change after she told him what had happened.

"Jongin-ah, annyeong" she waved back. "I'm at my place, we can talk now. How was the concert?"

"Nollal manhan, Soojung-ah. It was so amazing! I was so happy". He was squeaking like a kid and Soojung burst out into laughter.

"Jinjja?"

"Ne." Jongin nodded happily. "We should move to California, Soojung-ah. I wanna live here! I like it here. The weather is so nice! Will you move to California with me?"

"Kim Jongin! I thought you'd never ask".

They kept joking and laughing together, and after a while, their laughter slowly turned into a comfortable silence.

"You know", Jongin smiled with his head resting on the palm of his hand. "Tonight was a lot more special to me, because I knew this is your hometown. I imagined you could be there". Through the screen, Soojung saw his eyes wander around the room, imagining the possibilities. "I figured that, in an alternate universe, you could be attending the same concert. And we would be meeting each other for the first time in a completely different way". Jongin laughed and shook his head, amused at his own thoughts.

That was her cue.

"You weren't imagining it". Soojung said and bit her lip, waiting for his reaction. "I mean, yeah, you were, because you couldn't see me, but it wasn't all your imagination. I was there tonight."

Jongin stared at the screen with a blank expression for a few seconds.

"Mwo? I'm not following, Soojung-ah".

She giggled.

"I was there, Jongin-ah. It's not a joke". And yet there she was, laughing at how baffled he was.

"Mwo?!" Jongin's eyes were wide open and blinking rapidly. He truly wasn't following.

Soojung took a deep breath and started explaining.