7 – Barely Breathing

“It’s a boom, boom, boomerang thing~”

Stephanie pushed the air out of her lungs as she shuffled across the stage, repeating the steps that she had practiced millions of times before. The lights shining in her face were some of the brightest she’d ever seen. This was her first performance in front of this many people. She had done ballet when she was younger, but this was the first time she had done any kind of contemporary dancing and singing. The fans were outrageously loud. She was lucky that she could hear the music playing in her earpiece. Her feet glided across the stage as she set her mic down for her dance solo. The large metal object slid from her hand as she leaned down to set it aside. Stephanie jumped back up and did a sexy walk back to her position, where she showed off her choreographing abilities. When she finished, all the fans started screaming. Her hand grasped the mic again as she retrieved it and finished up the song with her friends. They were the final act, so they stayed on stage as the rest of the artists came back. Sunday grabbed Stephanie’s hand and squeezed it tight. In all the excitement, Stephanie had forgotten that they were performing for an award. Her stomach started to knot a little as she said a little prayer while the announcer was talking.

“God, it would be amazing if you let us win this. It’s our first performance ever…” she prayed.

Stephanie didn’t think she could shut her eyes any tighter as she and her 3 other band mates just prayed for the win.

“Alright, I know everyone is anxious to know the results…” The announcer said. An assistant brought him an envelope and he opened it. “Just as I thought…This week’s winner…some very talented young women…Cheon Sang Ji Hee!”

Stephanie’s heart sank when he announced their names. She had never felt this happy in her life. All the training and practicing that they had put forth finally reaped rewards. Tears of happiness flowed from her eyes, along with Sunday and Dana. Lina seemed to be the only one that wasn’t fazed by their winning. That or she was just really good at controlling her emotions. The four of them hugged before they walked over to receive their award and some flowers. Sunday wanted to talk, but she couldn’t control herself, so Dana comforted her. Lina spoke first, thanking some people, and then Stephanie took the mic. She wiped her eyes and laughed a little.

“I’d like to thank God…my family…my friends…” She started to cry again. “And that special person…” She said, tearing up more.

She handed Dana the mic and exchanged positions. Once the acceptance speech was over, their track started playing again. The girls lined up again with their mics and began performing again. Sunday could hardly sing her parts, but they pushed out the words until the light went off for the end of the show. Once they had their cue to stop, they embraced again. The girls were ecstatic. The show ended and the girls followed the stage assistants off stage. Excited victory shouts echoed through the hallways as the four of them made their way to the dressing room. They filed into their room one by one and took seats at each of the dressing mirrors. Stephanie sighed with happiness. She was completely amazed at how they had performed. She truly knew now why she felt so strongly in her heart to join SM. With slightly shaking hands, she reached up to her ear and removed the earrings used for her costume. Stephanie tilted her head to the side, pulling the back out of her earring. Her eyes glanced up to the mirror in front of her and her heart began pounding. Micky was standing behind her. She jumped up from her chair and wrapped her arms around him. He kissed and hugged her back, holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand. When they released, he held them to Stephanie.

“Aww…thank you.” She said, almost tearing up again. Tonight was definitely one of the best nights of her life.

Stephanie looked over Micky’s shoulder and saw that KangIn had come to see Lina. KangIn saw Micky and gave him a dirty look. Lina knew the story so she pulled his chin towards her, trying to distract his attention. She grabbed his hand and dragged him outside. Stephanie’s mind searched for an answer.

“What was that for?” She questioned.

“What? What was what for?” Micky tried to play it off.

“That look…” She said.

“…I didn’t see anything.” He lied.

Stephanie just kept her mouth shut. Micky’s hand trailed down to her and he tugged her hand.

“Let’s go outside. I need to talk to you about something…” He said calmly.

Stephanie was a bit worried, just because she knew that the phrase he said was never good for a relationship, but she kept her hopes up. She didn’t want anything to ruin this night. Micky sat down on some stairs outside and dusted off the place next to him for Stephanie to sit. She lowered herself and looked at him, flipping her hair to one side and using one of her hands to fluff it a little.

“I feel really bad…” Micky said.

Stephanie’s heart began to hurt. She wasn’t ready for this to happen, especially tonight. She could feel a lump forming in her throat.

“I know you’re birthday is next week, but I’m not gonna be here. The boys and I have to go to Japan to promote another single…” He explained.

Stephanie immediately raised her hand and smacked his shoulder.

“Don’t do that! You scared me!!” She said forcefully. “I thought you were going to break up with me!”

“What!? Why would I do that?” Micky replied. “I love you…”

Stephanie smiled and kissed him.

“Me too…” She assured him. “Well…that’s kind of sad though, that you’re not going to be here. When are you leaving?” She asked.

“Tonight…in like…an hour.” He told her

A feeling of slight disappointment came over her.

“I’ll be okay…if you promise me something.” She said with a sly tone to her voice.

“What?” Micky laughed.

“When you get back…take me out to dinner. Some fancy restaurant.” She said, expressing the size of the restaurant with her hands.

Micky grabbed her hand and stood up from the stairs.

“Alright! I promise!” He said, laughing.

Stephanie started giggling as they walked back to the dressing room. Micky said his goodbyes to everyone and left, allowing the girls to change and get back into comfortable clothes. Just as Stephanie was about to change shirts, Sunday ran over.

“Wait, wait!” she yelled.

“What?” Stephanie said, surprised by the random shouting.

“I want a picture with you! A memory of our first award!” She smiled, wrapping her arm around Stephanie’s shoulder.

Stephanie smiled and made a peace sign, puffing out her cheeks a little. Sunday smiled really big and dorky and then snapped the picture.

Immediately, she flipped the camera around to see it. Stephanie looked over Sunday’s shoulder.

“Oooh! It’s so cute! Thanks!” Sunday said, rushing off to get changed.

Stephanie laughed and then finished changing. Their manager came into the room after knocking and informed them it was time to leave. Stephanie grabbed her back and began walking out when she heard a soft melody. She reached down into a side pocket of her bag and removed her cell phone. Someone had sent her a text message. She flipped it open and read the message.

Sender: Kibum

Hey! Congrats! Nice performance. We were watching on the TV back home. Have a safe trip! You guys were awesome!

Stephanie hit some buttons and began typing her reply as she walked out to the van.

———————————————————–

Kibum watched in anticipation, just waiting for the girls to appear on the TV. He and the other SM members were sitting in the commons area, crowding around the TV. It was always fun to see one of their friends do their first live performance. BoA and Donghae sat in the back, laughing while they watched the other guys fight to get a spot close to the TV. Heechul had snagged a spot on the corner of the couch, so Kibum just scooted beneath him and sat on the floor. Quickly, the other members rushed to get a comfortable spot before the performance started. The beginning synthesizer note played and everyone got quite, intensely watching the screen.

“Boom,boom…”

Kibum’s heart began racing. He was so excited to see them perform. When Stephanie came up to do her dance solo everyone paid close attention. They’d seen her dance before, but they weren’t sure if she would mess up in front of an audience. When she nailed every part of it, the entire room broke into applause. Kibum had the biggest smile on his face. After their performance, everyone kept watching intently, praying that they would win the award. Kibum thought his heart was going to explode out of his chest. He sat up straight, scooting closer to the TV, chanting the same thing in his head.

“Let them win, Let them win, Let them win!” was all he could think.

Before the announcer even finished their name, the entire room erupted into shouts, hollers, and clapping. Everyone was so excited to hear that they won. Kibum felt a great relief and happiness surge through his body. The only time he’d ever felt this good before was when he was in the same position as Stephanie and the other girls. Everybody in the room was jumping around and giving each other hugs as if it was a victory for them as well. Jang Ri In stood on a table and HanKyung whistled to get everyone’s attention.

“Everyone…Let’s have a party!” She suggested.

Her suggestion was met with more cheering and yelling, so HanKyung helped her off the table and they left to go get a cake and some party stuff at the super market. BoA and DongHae followed them to get out of all the excitement in the room. While all the others were still cheering, Kibum stepped off to the side. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and let his fingers run all over the keys, typing out a quick message. What seemed like a long while passed before he got a reply. As he was flipping open his phone, Heechul snatched it from him.

“Who are you texting!?” He teased

“Hyung! Give it back!” Kibum reached for it.

Heechul laughed maniacally as he found the new message and read it. He smiled and gave it back.

“You just can’t stop, can you?” he asked in a gentle but serious way.

“…” Kibum knew what he was talking about, but he didn’t give him a direct answer. He just looked at the glowing screen and read the reply.

Sender: Stephanie

Aww! Really!? I love you guys. Thank you so much!

Kibum smiled as he put his phone back. He couldn’t wait until they got back.

————————————————————————-

The van ride back seemed like it was forever. Maybe it was because of her excitement to see everyone, but she was getting antsy. Her mind was giving her some negative feelings though.

“Is anyone even going to be awake? It’s pretty late..” She thought.

“Well…SOMEONE has to be up…” She tried to reassure herself in the excitement she felt.

When the van stopped, the four of them grabbed their things and got out. They walked up to the front door and Dana reached to open it when it opened by itself. Sounds of loud cracking and cheering greeted them from inside. The four of them smiled as they realized what was going on. Everyone was congratulating them on winning. Shindong rolled a cake out from the back of the room and everyone gave them three cheers. The girls were so happy. Kibum came up and patted Stephanie on the back.

“Awesome Job!” He said with a huge smile.

“Thanks!” She replied. She was so happy.

For about the next hour, everyone just laughed and talked and had fun. Some of the Super Junior guys were imitating the dance Cheon Sang Ji Hee performed on stage. Everyone was having a great time. The only way it could be better for Stephanie was if Micky could be there with her.

After the party ended, Stephanie went back to her room. Almost immediately, Dana and Sunday fell asleep from the exhaustion of everything that happened that day. Lina was laying on her bed, reading a book and Stephanie was on the computer. She opened up her email and clicked the fast send button for her mother. Quickly, she typed “Best day ever…” on the title line and then wrote a long email explaining the day to her family. As she relived the night in her head, she kept smiling really big. Stephanie finished up the email about 10 minutes later and then yawned. It was getting pretty late. She turned the monitor off and walked over to her bed.

“Goodnight Unnie.” She said to Lina.

“’Night” Lina replied.

Stephanie slipped her headphones in and turned on some soft songs on her iPod as she climbed under the blanket. She cuddled her teddy bear and closed her eyes, imagining all the places Micky could take her when he got back.