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Thinking I know what I’m doing, when really, I’m just moving forward through the darkness.
“As soon as I go out there,” I say, “You make a run for the parking garage. It has two exits, so make sure you take the one to the highway.”
“Got it.”
I take off my broken glasses and put them in my shirt pocket, hating that I won’t be able to see, but also knowing how suspicious it would look for me to be wearing them.
“Here goes nothing,” I say aloud, facing forward.
It’s a good thing I know the basic outline of the hotel’s front lawn, because I can’t see the reporters from this distance.
I pause at one of the bushes out front and pretend to pick something off it. I have the advantage of wearing a hotel uniform, so maybe they’ll think I came from the back because I work here.
After messing with that for a minute, I casually stroll across the lawn. At least I hope it looks casual, because the urge to put my hands forward and feel my way across the lawn is strong, but I refrain.
As I get closer, I can make out the outline of the reporters. Thank goodness I went the right direction.
“Excuse me,” I say, approaching them. “What are you all here for?”
I have no idea if I’m talking to the right kind of person or not—this is a disaster.
“We’re here for X-O,” someone to my right says. “The Korean boy band.”
“Oh!” I say, nodding. “I saw those guys earlier.”
A bunch of blurry people crowd around me, all of them with thick Asian accents. At least they’re speaking English, so I don’t have to reveal my Korean. It’s amazing that reporters would follow these guys to the other side of the globe. “Did you see the tallest one?” someone asks. “Does he really have a girlfriend?” another says.
Crap. Are they here because they heard Chansol has a girlfriend? If he does, that would make me the sucker of the century. Not that I really thought he was single. I’m sure I imagined that spark between us. He’s too handsome to be available, anyway.
“Does he have red hair?” I ask the reporters. I can’t really tell, but I think I have their attention now. I hope Chansol is making his escape while they’re focused on me. “I think I saw him in the back when I was getting into the garden shed. I can show you.”
“Please do,” someone says, but as soon as I turn, someone else latches onto my shoulder, stopping me. “No, we need her as a witness. Send someone else to check out her story.”
Crap. I guess I won’t be meeting Chansol at the highway. I hope he makes his escape and doesn’t wait around. I should’ve told him to just go. I can find another way home.
“Did you see a girl with him?” one reporter asks me. I turn to her. “How did he look?”
I keep my mouth shut.
“I’m Nana, by the way,” she says, reaching out a hand. I don’t take it. “Strange he wasn’t in the ballroom with everyone else, isn’t it?”
Who does this girl think she is? I hate that they’re using him this way. Why can’t they let him live?
“He looked like a person,” I respond. “And he was alone.”
Nana doesn’t quit her gossip. “He must’ve been back there to meet someone. I heard Tina is in the country, I wonder if it’s her.”
Tina of Generation Girl? The most popular girl group in Korea? That would totally make sense. She would be someone worthy of Chansol. More worthy than me, a humble fan.
I’m not sure if it’s the bright lights, all the people crowding around me, or the fact that I can’t see, but my breath is hitching in my chest, palms sweaty.
My knees get weak, and I start to crumble. This was a bad idea. I’m not cut out for this. Shouts snap my attention back to the present moment, the roar of an engine scattering people.
“Is that Chansol?” I hear someone say.
I whip out my glasses, rushing to put them on. Chansol has the passage door open, a mask over the lower half of his face and a cap low over his eyes. There’s no way they could prove it’s him with picture proof, not with his entire face covered.
“Get in!” Chansol screams. He didn’t follow the plan. Instead of heading for the highway and escaping, he came back for me, almost plowing straight through the reporters to get here. But they’re recovering as fast as I am. If I don’t run now, they’ll catch Chansol.
#fangirlproblem8