#sorry this ask took so long-- i like hoarding suggestions to let them marinate a while

[adeleine-everyday]

wave 2 bonding :D

day 116

i think they need to interact in canon more (PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE)

[mikauzoran]

Lukadrien: Your Hands Hold Home: Chapter Twenty-Three

@lukadrien-june

Read it on AO3: Your Hands Hold Home: Chapter Twenty-Three: Quiet Moments

Adrien was going to be the death of Luka. If he found the boy he loved lying on the floor one more time, he was going to have a heart attack.

Instead of panicking like he’d done the first time he’d found Adrien in such a position, Luka reasoned that maybe Adrien was just playing some game of pretend…. Though, Luka was hard pressed to say what had induced Adrien to lie on the cold, hard floor of his cabin, unmoving and in the dark.

He forced himself to take a deep breath and approach slowly.

“Adrien?” he called tentatively, his voice tense and higher in pitch than normal. “Are you okay?”

Adrien’s eyes fluttered open, and Luka breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he half-collapsed onto the floor.

“Thank God,” he chuckled giddily. “When I saw you lying there, I thought you were hurt. Are you okay?”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m fine,” Adrien assured, his tone a little distant, as if he were worlds away, lost in thought.

“I’m sorry for interrupting you, then,” Luka hummed, suddenly feeling tired as the spike of adrenaline ran its course. “Where were you? Imagining some delightful fantasy adventure?”

Adrien averted his eyes. “…I was pretending I was lying on the bottom of the ocean.”

Luka quirked an eyebrow at that. “Oh, yeah? What’s it like down there?”

“Quiet. Kind of peaceful besides the scuttling creatures crawling over me when I got in their way,” Adrien narrated.

A snort of laughter caught Luka off guard. “Ah, yes. The bottom feeders sifting through the sand and marine snow.”

“The crabs didn’t like me,” Adrien added huffily.

Luka reached out and tussled Adrien’s hair.

Adrien pressed into the touch needily, and Luka took that as an invitation to lightly massage Adrien’s scalp.

“Did you like it down there on the bottom of the ocean?” Luka inquired as he watched Adrien’s eyelids gradually drift close.

“A little,” Adrien replied dreamily. “I was out of everyone’s way, and I didn’t have to deal with any of my problems. Nothing could hurt me there. No one could hurt me…. I didn’t really want to come back here,” he confessed in a hush.

Luka’s hand slowed, and the indulgent smile drained from his face.

He did his best to keep his voice level as he asked, “Do you…Do you think you’d be better off on the bottom of the ocean?”

His tongue felt sluggish, and his mouth was as arid as it had ever been.

“I don’t know,” Adrien mumbled, pressing his head more insistently against Luka’s hand in protest at him stopping.

Luka gulped and resumed his ministrations. “…Adrien…do you…?”

He hesitated, afraid of putting ideas into Adrien’s head.

Adrien had a flair for the dramatic and was often a little hyperbolic when it came to his emotions. He sometimes resembled a character from a Romantic novel and didn’t always mean the things he said in the long run, even when he very much believed them in the short term.

So, Luka had a hard time determining whether Adrien seriously thought he’d be better off at the bottom of the ocean or whether Adrien was just indulging some depressing fantasy that would be forgotten in a few hours.

Adrien peeked his eyes open, peering curiously up at Luka. “Do I what?”

Luka swallowed. “Do you know that you have a lot of people who love you? I know it must be hard to trust anyone right now after your own family betrayed you, but you have to believe that there are people who love you. You have friends—a lot of friends—who would be devastated if anything happened to you.”

Adrien’s forehead creased, and he pushed himself up to sitting to gaze quizzically at Luka.

“You’re crying,” Adrien observed, reaching out and brushing away the tears with his thumb. “Luka, what’s wrong?”

Luka shook his head, confessing, “I’m scared of losing you.”

Adrien drew in a soft gasp.

“I’m terrified,” Luka laughed helplessly, shrugging and doing his best to smile through his distress. “You haven’t been yourself lately. You’ve been really depressed this past week, and I don’t know what to do to make it better. I’m powerless, and it scares me.”

“Luka, no,” Adrien cooed, scrambling to come up with some suitable response to soothe his beloved.

“I’m so sorry I scared you. I’m fine,” he insisted, pulling Luka close and stroking his hair.

“No, you’re not.” Luka called Adrien’s bluff even as he willingly sank into Adrien’s arms, consenting to be comforted. “You’re not fine. You’re not thinking people would be better off without you or anything like that, are you?”

“No,” Adrien stressed. “Luka, it’s nothing like that.”

“If you do start feeling that way, you’ll tell someone, won’t you? Please,” Luka begged, wrapping his arms around Adrien’s torso and holding him tight, ignoring the discomfort of their awkward, half-collapsed position.

“It doesn’t have to be me,” he quickly added. “Just, please, tell someone. Please ask for help if it gets that bad. I can’t lose you, Perfect Fifth.”

Adrien took a deep breath and gently tipped Luka’s chin up so that his eyes met Adrien’s.

“I promise you, I’m not going anywhere, Middle C,” he solemnly swore, “and if I ever do start feeling so bad that I start thinking people are better off without me, I’ll come straight to you so you can remind me how important and wonderful and special I am. Okay?”

Luka stared into Adrien’s eyes for a long stretch before finally allowing himself to be persuaded that his fears were unfounded.

“Okay,” he breathed, letting himself go almost limp in Adrien’s arms.

Adrien lightly petted his hair, cooing, “Shh. It’s all right. Please don’t cry. I’m never going to be able to forgive myself for making you cry.”

Luka quickly settled down and was just as quickly left exhausted due to the emotional toll the incident had taken on him.

“Come on,” Adrien directed, helping Luka to his feet and tugging him over to Adrien’s bed.

“Lie down,” Adrien instructed, and, when Luka had obeyed, Adrien curled up beside him, snuggling into Luka’s space.

Luka gladly rested his head on Adrien’s shoulder and breathed deeply of Adrien’s scent.

“Let’s pretend we’re mermaids,” Adrien suggested. “We have all kinds of crazy adventures. Sometimes we have picnics on the bottom of the ocean, and we lie in the sand and look up at the sun through the water and imagine what life on land is like. You are particularly interested in the kinds of musical instruments they have because you hoard that kind of thing. I’m more interested in their food.”

Luka chuckled, a tiny sapling of a smile sprouting on his lips.

[panevanbuckley]

You already know who I’m gonna ask for! BradRay for the domestic ship ask?!

ahh yes you know me too well!! sorry this took so long to answer, i am but a dumb, gay procrastinator fighting the feral urge to (yet again) become bradray trash 💜

who reaches out to new neighbors:

ray. but like, in an obnoxious way? he just talks shit to anybody okay. neither of them actually go out of their way to introduce themselves to their neighbours though (especially not anyone new). ray moved in with brad at the house he'd lived for ages and it's not until almost a year after THAT that they finally learn the names of the elderly couple living next door

who remembers to buy healthy food:

brad. ray is junk food all the way. brad tries to at least treat his body with some amount of respect (as he tells ray daily). although ray has a strange love for fruit and makes sure to buy a different one each time they do the groceries (one week he brings home tomatoes and brad bitches about then not being 'real fruit', leading to one of ray's infamous rants. brad wins, kinda, when he makes ray use the tomatoes in a fruit salad)

who remembers to buy junk food:

oh ray. no doubt about it! he has hoards of junk food stashed in all kinds of crazy places (cupboards, the bathroom cabinet, under the mattress...brad even found a snickers bar tucked by a damn plant pot). brad can't complain though because half of the treats are shit he loves - and, yes, ray bought it specifically for brad because he's, not-so-secretly, head-over-heels in love with him

who fixes the oven when it breaks:

ray! okay, this one was legitimately a toss up for a second there because i always imagine brad in his garage fixing his bike up so immediately went to say him but like...mechanics is a whole other playing field compared to kitchen appliances. which ray tells him. brad CAN fix the oven, he knows how to, but ray is just better at that shit and that's just the facts. besides, why would brad stress himself out fixing it when he could watch ray getting sweaty and dirty, shirtless with a tatty toolbelt clipped to his low-hanging jeans?!

who waters the plants/feeds their pet(s):

ray. ray has an obsession with house plants, particularly cacti - which he names. brad, on the other hand, is utterly hopeless when it comes to plants. before ray moved in, there was one flower pot on the kitchen windowsill and that was a gift from his sister. it was a fake plant. ray is also just more of an animal person than brad so he never forgets to feed their cat. brad is the one who sneaks her little bits of his own dinner

who wakes up earlier:

brad. he's a marine through and through, his body naturally wakes up at 6am on the dot, ready for his usual morning run. ray used to be like that but ever since he left the marines, he prefers to sleep in (unless he has class/work)

who makes the bed:

both of them. but only when they really have to. they're both messy okay, it's their house and their bedroom so why should they force themselves to keep it all tidy and neat?! that's their arguement when poke accidentally walks into their bedroom on his search for the bathroom

who makes the coffee:

they both do! they're coffee addicts and have long since memorised exactly how the other likes their coffee

who burns breakfast:

ray is surprisingly a great cook; he used to help his mom growing up, so it's rare he has any mishaps in the kitchen. brad however? yeah, brad can't cook anything but the basics. one time he tries to surprise ray by whipping up pancakes for breakfast and managed to stick the first one to the pan until it was nothing more than a crisp. ray found it hilarious, naturally

how do they let each other know they’re leaving the house:

ray shouts absurdly loud no matter where brad is in the house, shit-eating grin no doubt plastered to his face. brad prefers to find ray and loop his arms around his neck, kissing his cheek with a whispered "see you later"

how do they greet each other when one of them gets home:

ray 100% tackles brad no matter what he's doing. napping mapping the couch? he gets the wind knocked out of him when ray jumps on top of him. on a video call with family? think again; he has ray clinging to him like a sloth as he takes over the conversation. trying to work out? okay well obviously ray is gonna have to kiss him breathless. brad is more normal. he'll shout that he's back and then get on with his stuff, only wrapping ray up into a hug and planting a kiss to his hair when he finally comes across him

who brings home little gifts like flowers/chocolates more often:

neither of them are huge on this BUT, that being said, once brad finds out about ray's love of little plants he gets into the habit of buying cute cacti if he finds them in a shop

who picks the movie for movie night:

both of them! they have pretty similar taste in movies (unlike music) so there's not really any arguments on that matter

their favourite kind of movie to watch:

shitty or cliché action/comedy movies! collateral damage, top gun, fast and furious, pacific rim, the matrix...that sort of stuff. they're also both guilty of quoting these movies ridiculously well, to the point that their friends (if they're with them whilst watching) will start complaining about how they didn't come to hear their dumb fucking voices talk over the whole damn movie

who first suggests a pillow fort:

ray! he LOVES pillow forts and always wants brad to let him build one

who builds the pillow fort:

they do it together okay, two heads are better than one. brad is good with the structure side of the pillows, ray is great with the adding blankets into the mix

who tries to distract the other during the movie:

brad. because he's secretly a little shit. it'll start with making stupid comments, then he'll throw his arm casually around the back of the couch, sneaking closer to ray before finally peppering kisses up his neck. ray, depending on how into the movie he is, will either swat at him to get off or just give in completely

who falls asleep first:

ray. he sleeps everywhere. and if he's next to brad, snuggled up close to his own personal human radiator, then he has no chance of not drifting off to sleep. brad finds it endearing as fuck

who is big spoon/little spoon:

RAY IS THE LITTLE SPOON!!!

domestic ship headcanons

[yukwhore]

Bodily Harm (1)

Synopsis

The story starts out with two best friends, Sienna and Marin, who are on a summer break trip to Seoul after their first year of university. They're both huge fans of the group NCT and decide to go to one of their fan-signs while they're on vacation, but a horrible accident brings them even closer to the boys than they ever would have expected. 

Hey guys~

 This is my first time trying to write a fanfic so go easy on me lmao. I really don't know if this will get any reads, it's more for me to just write down all of my ideas and storylines that I have stuck in my head.

If anyone does read this, feel free to leave me a comment and give me some feedback! I'd love to hear from someone who reads this. I'm starting this near the end of the quarter so depending on how well this goes I'll try and update as much as I can. 

WARNINGS: swearing, mention of gun violence

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sienna."

...

"Sienna."

A voice brought me out of my deep sleep, interrupting my dreams.

"Sienna, I swear to God, if you don't turn that fucking alarm off I'm gonna ship you back to Seattle." The voice said again, louder and more demanding. I blinked my eyes, still half asleep, and flung my arm out from beneath the blanket, scrambling for my phone that was on the bedside table. I grabbed it and smacked the "off" button, earning me a sigh of relief from my friend on the other side of the bed.

"Finally," Marin said, throwing the duvet off of her and swinging her feet to the floor. "I thought it'd take you another 2 years to turn that thing off."

"Sorry," I mumbled, my voice not yet ready for the day. "I'm guess I'm so knocked out from jet-lag that I slept right through it." I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed and watched as Marin made her way to the bathroom and began to brush her teeth.

"You should start getting ready, Sienna." She called from the bathroom. "We only have like 3 hours until the fan-sign and theres no way I'm missing out on seeing my boys because you couldn't wake up. We're in Seoul, wake up and experience the city you nerd."

"I know, I know. Let me known when it's my turn in the bathroom." I said, pulling the covers over me to catch a few more minutes of precious sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you almost done?" Marin asked, already waiting by the door with her shoes already on.

"Almost done," I said, swiping on my mascara and putting the finishing touches on my makeup. "I just have to throw on my clothes and then we're Gucci, I swear"

Marin rolled her eyes as I ran out of the bathroom and began digging through my suitcase. "See! Almost done." I said while pulling out my outfit.

I had been planning what I would wear to this fansign ever since we bought out tickets to Seoul. After all, this was an important event. We were finally meeting our idols and, after spending so long dreaming of this moment, it was finally here. I held up my black skinny jeans, low cut tie-die top, and my ripped jean jacket. I flashed a huge grin at Marin and she groaned.

"Cute, now hurry up." She glanced at the time on her phone. "I'm giving you 2 minutes and then I'm leaving without you."

"Okay, okay." I quickly changed out of my pajamas and threw on my clothes, making sure to check my look in the small mirror hanging on the bathroom door. Satisfied with how I looked, I ran back to my suitcase and grabbed my red nike running shoes.

"You're wearing those?" Marin scoffed. She herself was wearing a loose fitting floral top tucked into a white skirt, completed with her favorite Calvin Klein slip on sandals.

"Of course I am, we have a lot of walking to do." I said while slipping my shoes on. "Don't come running to me when you start complaining about blisters, bud." She scoffed and rolled her eyes again, choosing not to listen to me. I tied my laces and ran up to her, smiling and grabbing her arm. "Lets go!"

We locked the hotel room door behind us and skipped down the hallway arm in arm, brimming with excitement.

"Are you excited to see Mark?" I asked her, squeezing her arm even tighter.

"Of course," She laughed. "Are you excited to see Lucas?"

"Who do you think I am? Of course I'm excited to finally meet the love of my life." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. We made our way through the lobby of the dingy hotel we're staying at, waving and quickly bowing at the front desk receptionist before walking through the front doors and onto the city street. The sounds of the city filled our ears, cars honking, people talking, and the faraway bark of a dog. Marin immediately ran to the curb and waved her arm for a taxi. Almost as soon as she put up her hand, a taxi pulled into the stand and a man got out.

"Annyeonghaseyo!" He said while opening the back door for us. We smiled back, bowed slightly, and climbed into the taxi. "Foreigners?" He asked while getting into the front seat.

"Yes, uh, SMTOWN?" I asked, telling him our destination.

"Ah! Yes, SMTOWN!" He said while smiling and nodding. "NCT Fans?" Marin and nodded in response as he pulled away from the curb. We were giddy with excitement, and my stomach churned from nerves. Marin noticed the look on my face and grabbed my hand, squeezing it to calm me down.

"Don't worry, they're just regular people." She assured me. "Theres nothing to be nervous about." I was so lucky to have such a good friend.

Me and Marin had known each other since 3rd grade, and she was my closest and oldest friend. We were joined at the hip and did everything together, up until she moved out of state for college this last year. Thankfully, she was home for the summer, and we were able to convince our parents to let us go on this vacation together. Personally, I was surprised my parents even agreed to let me travel to a foreign country with my friend. They were ridiculously overprotective. Even if I am a legal adult, in college, making my own money, they still want me within arms reach. Despite this, through months of begging and an entire speech about our "independence", we were able to make this trip happen. Even if my parents were calling to check on me every half hour, I had still enjoyed these past two days in Korea.

"So, whats our plan for tomorrow?" I asked Marin. She opened her purse and dug around, bringing out her meticulously organized planner and flipping through the pages.

"Well, since today is kind of a big day," She stated, giving me a wink. "Tomorrow we'll have some down time before we leave for Busan the day after. Maybe we can spend the day shopping and check out the fish markets we've heard so much about."

"Or we can sleep in and get rid of some of this jet-lag." I suggested, only half joking. Marin pinched my arm just as the car came to a stop outside of crowded auditorium-looking building.

"Ladies," The taxi driver said. "Here is SMTOWN!"

We climbed out of the side door and said our thanks to the driver, stepping to the curb as he sped away. Marin shoved her phone in my face, pointing at the time.

3:50

"We'd better start running, the fan sign starts in 10 minutes and I think they're closing the entrance soon." She said, tugging me towards the front doors. We pushed our way through the hoards of fangirls waving signs outside and jogged through the doors. Immediately, a hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, bringing me face to face with a tall security guard. He said something to me, which neither Marin or I understood. We looked at each other in confusion.

"Ah," He said after realizing we couldn't understand him. "NCT?" He asked. We nodded in agreement.

"Ne, NCT." Marin said. He pointed to a desk across the room with other security guards behind it. We said thank you and quickly walked to the desk, pulling out our IDs and tickets once we approached it.

"Right through here." A woman said to us in English, leading us through a set of doors.

"Thank you so much!" I said bowing to her as we walked by. I turned to Marin and grabbed her arm.

"Bitch I'm gonna fucking cry, I'm gonna do it." She said dramatically, wiping away fake tears. I laughed and squeezed her arm tighter.

"As the great Troy Bolton once said, we're all in this together." I said, laughing again as we walked down the hallway and into the large open auditorium. We entered the room and were immediately blown away by how many people were there. There had to be at least 100 people crammed into the room, and the sound of all of them talking at once was ear splitting.

Me and Marin began to look for our seats and were surprised to see we were in the front row. Stepping down the stairs, we made our way through the crowd down to our designated row.

"How that for good luck!" Marin said as we squeezed past the people in our row. I noticed some dirty looks thrown our way and whispers being exchanged as we walked by. I didn't understand most of what the were saying, but the words "foreigner" and "bitch" stood out to me along with the phrase "why are they in this row?". I brushed the comments off, ultimately deciding to focus on the fact that NCT would be only a few feet away from me in just a few minutes.

We sat down and looked around us. While we waited, I took out my phone and texted my mom

Just got to the fan sign, momma! I'll call you as soon as we're done! Love you!

She responded immediately, despite it being almost midnight back home.

I love you too sweetie! Have fun, tell Lucas I said hi.

I laughed and showed it to Marin, letting her take my phone and type her own text to my mom.

I'll make sure she tells him, its always good to greet your future son in law. Love you auntie!  - Marin

"Oh my God, Marin." I took my phone from her and rolled my eyes.

"What?" She teased. "If your mom likes him its a good sign." I was about to respond when I heard another harsh whisper from behind me. Unlike before, this whisper wasn't about me and Marin. As I listened, I noticed the word "Sasaeng".

Oh shit, I thought. Is there a sasaeng here? At the fan sign?

"Dude, Marin." I tapped her on the shoulder. "Those girls behind us said something about a sasaeng." I whispered.

"Really? Here? At the fan sign?" She asked, her eyes wide open in shock.

"I mean I think so, I just heard it mentioned real quick." I explained. "Should we ask them about it?" Marin quickly shook her head, shrinking back in embarrassment.

"Us? No. You? Sure." She said, crossing her arms in front of her. Although Marin acted like the mom between us, I was the confident one. Marin wasn't afraid to do dumb things in front of me or call me on my bullshit, but got embarrassed quickly in front of other people.

I turned around and looked up at the girls behind us.

"Uh... Sasaeng?" I asked, my eyes wide with curiosity. The girls looked at each other for a moment before one of them responded.

"Ahh, ne..." She said slowly.

"Yeogi?  Here?"  I said in disbelief. The girls nodded in response. "Eodie? Where at?"

"Naneun moleunda." The other girl said, shrugging.

"What did they say?" Marin asked me.

"They said they don't know where, but there is one here." I told her. She shivered as if a cold breeze had swept by her.

"Freaky, I've heard so much about sasaengs on twitter but I've never actually been around one." She said, looking around at the people surrounding us as if she'd be able to spot the lunatic.

Just then, a familiar beat began playing throughout the auditorium, drowning out the screams of the fans.

Black, Black, Black, Black on...

"OH FUCK." I blurted out, whipping around and facing the stage. The crowd around us began to grow louder and buzz with excitement.

"Sienna, shut up oh my GOD." Marin scolded, equally excited but maintaining her composure.

"MARIN." I said, grabbing her arm. "NCT IS COMING." I shook her out of excitement and a huge smile began to form on her face. She grabbed my arm and shook me back.

"SHIT, YOU'RE RIGHT." She yelled, her composure breaking.

The MC walked out on stage and gave a short ramble, which was hard to understand since I was more focused on something else. I began looking to the sides of the stage to try and catch a glimpse of one of the boys. Just when I was beginning to think my search was pointless, I was shocked to see a face peeking out from behind the curtains, out of view from the other rows of seats behind us. I leaned forward in my chair, squinting, trying harder to make out the face.

"Wait..." I whispered to myself. "Is that... Yukhei?" The face turned towards the mass of people in the auditorium and I finally got to see it clearly.

"Oh my God." I said loudly. I could feel Marin giving me a judging look but I was too focused to bother. The familiar face slowly turned and stopped with his eyes on me.

It really is him.

We held eye contact for a few moments before I gasped in shock. My hand flew to my mouth and my eyes widened. I watched as Yukhei laughed and winked before disappearing back behind the curtain.

"Marin." I said, still starting intently at the spot Yukhei had disappeared from. "Marin, holy shit."  

"What?" She asked, giving me a weird look again.

"I think I just saw Lucas and I think he just winked at me." I said, falling back into my seat with my mouth hanging open in shock.

"You what?" She said in disbelief, twisting around to stare at me. "You're kidding. You're full of shit. Are you sick or something?" She put her hand on my forehead as if checking for a fever. "You don't seem sick, but then again, you're talking some crazy shit."

"Seriously! It just happened!" I said sincerely, receiving only a doubtful look in response.

"NCT!" We were interrupted by the MC, and both of us completely forgot what we were talking about. Me and Marin grabbed each other's hands and screamed along with the rest of the fans in the auditorium as the boys began to walk out on stage. The screams from the crowd intensified as all 18 members filed out of stage, forming a line right in front of where me and Marin were seated.

"To the world! We are NCT! Hello, we are NCT!" The boys greeted in perfect unison. I swear I almost fainted right at that moment. My eyes scanned the row of boys and landed on Yukhei off to my right. I was surprised to see he was looking at me.

"Annyeonghaseyo! We are NCT 2018." Taeyong said with a microphone in his hand. The rest of his words blurred together as I stared at Yukhei.

Was I crazy?

Maybe I was lucid dreaming.

Maybe he wasn't really looking at me.

I raised my hand slightly and gave a small wave to test. I watched him as he chuckled slightly and gave a small wave back, flashing that goofy grin I've always seen in their interviews and VLives. I closed my eyes and blinked once, twice, trying to tell if this was real life, but when I opened my eyes he was still looking at me.

"MARIN." I whispered harshly and tugged on her shirt. "He's doing it again, I swear. I'm not crazy!" She brushed my hand off and shushed me, her eyes trained on Mark as he nodded along with Taeyong's speech. I looked back at Yukhei to see him slightly laugh at me and Marin's exchange. It was weird, the way he looked at me. Being foreigners, me and Marin had gotten our fair share of looks from strangers on the streets these past few days. This, however, wasn't like that. The way he watched my every moved seemed as if he was examining me, as if he was interested in the way I was moving. It almost made me uncomfortable knowing he was looking at me.

The MC took the microphone back from Taeyong and the boys, including Yukhei, turned away to take their seats. While the boys got settled, talking to each other and playing around, a security guard walked down from the stage and stood at the right side of our row. I recognized him as the same security guard who had grabbed my shoulder earlier in the foyer of the building. He listened into his headset and said something in response, then motioned for our row to stand up. Me and Marin followed the people in front of us as we shuffled along towards the stairs at the end of the stage, my heart pounding faster with each step. We were about 7th in line and waited patiently as the first few fans stepped up to the stage.

"Marin, can you hand me my thingy." I said, too excited to focus on my words. Thankfully, Marin understood. She reached into her purse and pulled out my Empathy album I had brought to get signed.

The person in front of me moved forward and I took a step up onto the stairs where I stood bouncing with excitement. Now I was only one turn away from meeting the first member, Johnny, who was seated on the end of the table. I watched as he flashed the girl a smile and waved goodbye to her, then turned to me. I stood where I was, paralyzed, before Marin gave me a small push towards the table. I stumbled slightly and gave her a 'I'm gonna fight you' look while Johnny laughed at our little fight.

"Annyeonghaseyo" He said, smiling up at me as I stood opposite the table from him.

"Hey," I said, my voice slightly shaky. "Its really really nice to meet you."

"Oh, you sound American!" He said, his eyes opening in interest.

"Yeah, haha, me and my friend are from Seattle and we're on vacation here." I explained, brushing my hair away from my face.

"Thats so cool, I've always wanted to go to Seattle! I hear its pretty wet though." He said, already jumping into the conversation. I suppressed my natural instinct to make a bad joke over him saying 'wet' and just nodded instead.

"Yeah, its pretty rainy, you sorta get used to it after a while." I said.

"Whats your name?" He asked me, his tone feigning interest.

"Oh, its Sienna."

"Well its really really nice to meet you, Sienna." He said, making me laugh.

"Oh, I almost forgot." I placed my album on the table and opened it, flipping through the photo book until I landed on a picture of him from the "Touch" promotions. This, hands down, was my absolute favorite picture of him and I had been planning for months to get it signed. I slid it towards him and flashed a wide grin. He looked down at the book and smiled.

"I'm guessing this is where you want me to sign?" He asked, pen already in hand. I nodded enthusiastically in response, nudging the book closer to him. As he began to sign, I looked to my right to see Marin, tapping her foot, waiting impatiently for her turn. Hurry it up, she mouthed to me, tapping at an imaginary watch on her wrist. I mouthed back chill out  and turned back to Johnny who was finishing up.

"Thank you so much!" I said as he handed back my photo book.

"No problem," He said. "I guess your friend is getting impatient." He pointed over to Marin who still seemed annoyed I was taking so long talking to Johnny.

"Ah its fine, she's just like that." I explained, waving my hand towards her. The security guard that stood behind Johnny leaned down and whispered in his ear, pointing at me and then moving his hand towards the next member, which was Lucas (Just my luck), who was just finishing up signing a fan's poster.

"Sure," He said back to the guard then turning back to face me. "I think our times up, Sienna. It was nice talking to you." He said with a wave.

"You too, Johnny. Tell my friend Marin I say hi." I added, pointing over at Marin.

"Will do." He laughed again as I turned away and stepped towards Lucas who was seated next to him. As soon as I turned, he looked up at me, a smile forming on his face. I took another step towards him, staying back from the table, too nervous to get any closer. He leaned forward in his chair, looking at me with his bright eyes.

"Annyeonghaseyo," He said,  giving me a small wave just like the one he had earlier.

"Oh, hey." I stammered, quickly becoming a nervous wreck in his presence. "I'm Sienna."

"Ah," He said, a look of realization flashing on his face. "Nice to meet you, Sienna. You are American, right? You know, Johnnys from America."

I nodded, smiling back at him.

"Yeah, we were talking about it just a minute ago." I explained, a small bit of my anxiety leaving. I looked over at Marin who was already deep in conversation with Johnny.

"He's from Chicago, where are you from?" He asked me.

"Oh, me and my friend are from Seattle. Its farther northwest and has a lot more rain than where Johnny is from."

"Ah! Seattle Starbucks, yeah?" He asked, making me giggle.

"Yeah, Seattle Starbucks." I said, a huge smile forming on my face. Actually, Marin was right. Talking to these guys was so much easier than I thought. I almost hadn't noticed that I had edged right up to the table while we were talking.

"Thats cool," He said. "My English is still bad, I hope you can understand me well."

"That's okay, you're doing amazing so far." I gave him a thumbs up and he laughed, suddenly dissolving any uneasiness I had left. Talking with him just seemed so natural and came so easy to me, it was like talking to a long time friend. I was trying to keep my words pretty basic, hoping to avoid any issues that the language barrier could cause.

"Oh," I said suddenly. "I almost forgot." I reached behind me and pulled out my empathy album, setting it on the table between us.

"Dream version!" He said, picking up the album and flipping through the photo book.

"Yeah, its my favorite one. I even got your photo card." I blushed slightly, feeling slightly awkward from admitting it.

"Cool! Where is that handsome face at?" He asked jokingly, slightly biting his lip and simultaneously killing me.

"Its at home, up on my wall." I laughed and covered my face with my hands in embarrassment.

"That is good!" He declared, raising his hands dramatically. "That is where it belongs." The corner of his mouth pulled back and he flashed that signature Yukhei smile I had only dreamed of seeing in my lifetime.

Wow, I thought to myself. I don't think it get any better than this.

However, in an instant, the mood had changed.

Yukhei began to say something but froze, his mouth stuck open. His eyes darted behind me frantically. I looked at him confused, unsure of what was happening.

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion.

The loud cheers from the crowd had turned, becoming more panicked, and I heard screams of terror from behind me. A voice was shouting something I couldn't make out above the screams of the crowd. I watched as the security guards jumped from behind the tables and moved towards the crowd, frantically pushing past me.

Then, I heard the blood chilling crack of a gunshot.

My ears buzzed as the sound of the shot rang in my ear, deafening me. Yukhei jumped up from his chair and over the table, grabbing me and pulling me behind the partial wall that was on the stage. I looked up at him as he held me in his arms, his eyes wide with fear and concern, yelling something over his shoulder that I could'nt hear. He grabbed my shoulder and I cried out in pain, my vision becoming blurry. Then I looked down at his hands to see them stained with blood.

My blood.