Fangirl (On-Hold)

Chapter 1: Fangirl

A faint glow of red emanated from the stage a few meters away from me. I stared at the clusters of blue surrounding me.

“So this is the sapphire blue ocean,” I whispered, amazed.

Squeals, shouts and howls were heard everywhere as the audiences anticipated the appearance of their idols. Some were holding fan boards, some were snapping photographs, and some were waving their glow sticks, creating waves in the ocean. The whole dome was filled. The amount of people present in the concert overwhelmed me: to think that all of these fans idolize you just stunned me.

Just then, a song strangely familiar began playing simultaneously as everyone started screaming and squealing, louder than before. They threw their arms up in the air and flailed. A person beside me almost hit me in the face. I was about to say something foul at her when a group of 9 people emerged from below the stage, slowly being lifted up by the moving platform beneath. The crowds cheered and jeered at their loudest.

“Super Junior-neun wonrae maen jaman ppajin,” they sang in unison. The cacophony of shouts grew louder. “Ireum hamyeo himsen tori SuperMan.” The roar of shouts reverberated, so loud that it hurt my ears. I covered my ears but stopped; I wouldn’t be able to hear the song. But what the heck, I thought. They’re playing the song so loud that I can hear it even if I’m in the comfort room of this coliseum.

The group of 9 slowly lifted their arms as the song reached its chorus. At this point, the cacophony of shouts turned into cheers and name-yelling. Another person beside me shouted, “Donghae, look this way!” 

The group slowly drifted apart and took their positions from different parts of the stage. Someone poked me from behind and I turned, shocked that it was my best friend and room-mate, Jaya.

She inched closer towards me, each step a fight since the audiences around us were so densely packed. When she was beside me, she took a deep breath and said, “Hey! I was calling your name all the time! Didn’t you hear me?”

I put my hand in my ear, imitating the action when you couldn’t hear somebody. “What?” I yelled.

“I was behind you all the time! Didn’t you notice me?”

 I smiled. “I didn’t.”

 She let out an exasperated sigh. For a few minutes, we both stood there, in silence, amidst the discord of the noise, sound and music; amidst the people cheering and squealing and shouting; amidst the people jumping, having fun. We stood there, listening at the horrendous mixture of Super Junior’s voices, music and the audiences’ noise.

 “So,” she said, breaking the silence between us. It was kind of awkward, since we were the only ones who were quiet and discreet at the concert. “It seems you’re having fun.” She smiled at me, flashing her perfect row of teeth.

 I shrugged. “I’m not really enjoying this.”

 “What?”

 I leaned closer to her ear and said, “I’m not really having fun. The only thing that amazed me was that so-called sapphire blue ocean, and indeed, it amazed me.”

 Jaya nodded. “Well, not many people would like Super Junior at first. I mean, look at them”—she gestured with her right hand—“it takes a lot of time for someone to like them. For me, it took a week before I started Google-ing their names and buying their albums. Well, some people get struck by cupid’s arrow to early and fall in love with the members. Some fans even do the most unbelievable and most disgusting things just so they can notice them…”

 She continued to babble on about Super Junior but I wasn’t listening anymore, for a member whose slow dancing caught my attention. They were singing and dancing to a different song now, their steps light and graceful; their voices gentle and soothing.