|who i am|

|thirteen|

|ChanHyuck's POV|

"Now that the girls have opened all their gifts, we're going to move onto the final event. Our girls have gone through a lot of difficult times. They've slept in the cold and practiced in the dark. A lot of you guys have gone through a lot, too. I talked to a handful of you about some of the struggles you faced and how the girls helped you through it. I'd love to have each one of you up here, but we don't have enough time for it. For each member, I found one fan who they helped through something. They'll introduce themselves and tell you their stories. I hope this will help the rest of you in one way or another as well. We're going to go in age order, so we'll start with YeSeul's fan story." I motion toward Seola and encourage her to join me on stage.

I place my hand on her shoulder and hand her the microphone. She glances up at me and takes a shaky breath. NaHee immediately jumps up and hurries toward her. She sits crisscross on the ground in front of her and patiently waits for her to start her story.

"Hello, I'm—I'm Park Seola. I'm fifteen years old and live here in Seoul on my own. For as long as I can remember, I've been overweight. I've struggled with it and have never been able to accept myself. When I was six, I'd look in the mirror and poke at my stomach. I'd ask my mom why God made me like this. She'd insist that he made me perfect. I wanted to believe her, but it was hard. I was bullied from my very first day of kindergarten until my last day in public school. During my last year in public school, my guidance counselor pulled me into her office and held my hand while she tried to explain something to me. She told me that in order to love myself, I had to find something I could do well. If I knew that I was good at something, it would help me see how special I was, but I wasn't good at anything. I got average grades and couldn't draw. I obviously couldn't play sports, either. One day, when the bullying was really bad, she asked me to eat lunch with her in her office. I didn't have anywhere else to eat, so I agreed. She brought a pizza in and we sat on the ground together to eat. She took my hand in hers again, but this time she told me that she wanted me to meet someone. She grabbed her laptop and set it on the floor in front of us before hitting play on a video." Seola stops for a second as she struggles to keep her composure. NaHee reaches up to take her hand and encourages her to continue.

"It was a video of YeSeul sitting on the floor in the exact same spot I was. She had a guitar in her lap and she was strumming away as if her life depended on it. The look on her face was—it was so peaceful. She seemed so happy in her own little world. She closed her eyes and I couldn't help but do the same. The sweet melody was mesmerizing. When she stopped playing, I opened my eyes and saw her smiling brightly at the camera. It was like she knew I was on the other side—like she knew I was watching. The person behind the camera asked her what she was doing. YeSeul said she was appeasing the sad people of the world with her love. Those words stuck with me. I spent the next week playing the song in my head over and over until one day I just couldn't take it anymore." Seola turns away from the crowd as tears fall down her face.

NaHee stands up and wraps her arms around her. She holds her for a moment before pulling back and wiping away Seola's tears.

"Are you okay?" NaHee asks softly and Seola nods in response.

"I was standing on the edge of the roof looking down at the sidewalk four stories down. My toes were dangling over the edge. I was ready to jump. I was so tired and in so much pain that I thought it was the only option, but then I heard YeSeul's voice. Appeasing the sad people of the world with her love. She played music because it made people happy. It made her happy. I stepped off the ledge and sat on the ground crying. I wanted to be happy, too. If I played music like she does, would I be able to be happy like her? I convinced myself to try. I left the roof and went directly to the music room. I picked up the nearest instrument I could find and began playing. I wasn't good at it. I sounded terrible, but it helped. It didn't hurt as much. I was able to cry and play at the same time. It helped wash all my problems away. I spent the whole year in that music room. When it came to an end, I was scared. I didn't have my own violin to play at home. How was I going to get by without it?" Seola takes a deep breath and forces a smile.