Arena drove in her dark grey Kia Optima for about 20 minutes before she arrived at her house. She loved the neighbourhood. Houses next to each other, yards full of flowers and trees. The typical neighbourhood. Leaves from trees were almost gone with the chilly November climate but everything still looked beautiful. Imagine the kind of neighbourhood The Simpsons lived in. Yeah. Arena's house was located in one of those.

Snow hadn't started falling yet. It was only the start of November. Which also meant that Halloween was over. Arena's favorite holiday.

Some of the decorations were still up, which made Arena very, very happy.

She got out of her car the second her phone beeped. She saw Naha's message and chatted with her a minute.

She shook her head holding back her laugh and turned back to lock her car. Twinkly lights were still up on her porch and looking at them made Arena smile. Anyone who didn't like Halloween, couldn't be trusted.

"I'M HOME!" yelled Arena as she stepped through the front door and kicked off her combat boots. She went straight to the kitchen and found her mom standing by the stove cooking. "Hi, sweetie" said Arena's mom and Arena kissed her on the cheek.

"What are you making?" Asked Arena and sat halfway down at the kitchen table.

"Lasagna"

"Vegetarian?" Arena had been a vegetarian now for 3 years.

Her mom nodded and Arena smiled, "Naha is going to be here in a few minutes". She rose from the table and ran up the stairs to her room.

Entering Arena's room you would never guess that she was a 17 (soon to be 18) year old. The walls were light purple and her curtains were floral. But she liked her room and that's what mattered the most.

Throwing her handbag onto her bed, Arena opened her closet. The tickets and VIP Fan Meeting passes were lying on her desk, in an envelope.

She stood thinking with her closet doors open for about 5 minutes and then decided for black skinny ripped jeans, a burgundy red top, leather jacket and some red converse. Arena got dressed and to be honest, looked quite decent.

Soon enough she could hear her mom opening the front door and a cheerful voice downstairs. Arena smiled and climbed down the stairs to greet her best friend.

Naha and Arena first met in the first year of middle school. Both of them had come from foreign countries and could barely even speak English. But somehow they bonded and now they were basically inseparable.

Naha was originally from Japan, Tokyo. Her parents had gotten a job offer in Colorado when she was a youngster and had moved here. Naha's hair was a cool blue color, her eyes a deep black and she overall was the most awesome person Arena knew.

If you're wondering what the hell is going on and what do you mean Arena is a foreigner, then let me tell you that Arena moved to Colorado with her family (mom, dad and her) from Estonia when she was 6.

[The language they speak at home is obviously Estonian, but I'm going to write conversations with her family in English so everyone would understand. Yes, when she came home she talked to her mom in Estonian]

"Hey you!" Naha spotted Arena coming down the stairs. "Are you ready?"

Arena looked at her nervously, bit her lip and jerked her head towards the stairs. Naha understood her cue and hurried Arena upstairs with her at once.

"MY HAIR! WHAT DO I DO WITH MY HAIR" Arena was growing more nervous by the second. "We have to get going soon or we won't get a good spot" The nerves picked a wrong time to show themselves.

Thank god Naha was the calming spirit. She placed her hands on Arena's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Calm down, okay? We have VIP tickets so we'll have a spot no matter what", Arena nodded and Naha continued, "and why don't we just.."

Naha grabbed Arena's dark brown curls, left out a few pieces and tied it to a half-updo.

Arena looked at Naha and smiled. "I love you!"

Naha hugged her.

Arena grinned and took out her small black handbag and stuffed necessities inside. Naha took the tickets and they left the room.

Arena hugged her mom and said goodbye in Estonian. Naha said goodbye in English and they were off.

"Oh, I didn't have time to eat mom's lasagna" said Arena once they were seated in the car. Naha shrugged and told her that it'll still be there when they got back.

Arena ignited her Kia Optima.

Driving to the huge concert hall in the middle of town took approximately 15 minutes and finding a parking space about just as much. They decided to park a block down and walk the rest of the way. It was 8.30 p.m when they finally got inside.

Their tickets were checked at the entrance and the VIP ones at the entrance to the VIP section.

There was going to be no warm up band. Straight to Monsta X.

Arena's incident with the sandwich guy at the gas station was already forgotten. Soon she would see the guy she had been dreaming of for so long.

The main vocalist Kihyun.

Pure. PERFECTION.

"I can't wait to see him" said Naha and looked at her feet.

Arena grinned. "You mean Wonho?"

Needless to say, who Naha's favorite was.

Naha nodded without raising her head.

"Aww, come here" said Arena and hugged Naha.

They stood in a hug for about 5 minutes and then let go.

Arena looked at her wristwatch which read "8.56".

The last 4 minutes were agony. AGONYYYYYYYYY.

The slowest 4 minutes of their lives. People around them were already chanting "Monsta X. Monsta X. Monsta X"

When the lights went out, and Arena's watch read exactly "9 p.m", she looked at Naha and nodded. "Ready for all of our dreams to come true?".

Naha nodded so hard, Arena was sure her head would fall off.

And then it started.

People screaming.

Lights flickering.

Monsta X coming on stage with their intro "Rush".

Arena could barely keep it together, she thought she would cry.

"NAEGEWA SINSOKHI!" sang Arena on the top of her lungs. She was happy to see Naha besides her dancing and singing along too.

When the intro was over, the crowd ecstatic and Monsta X themselves on stage beaming, Arena finally looked at Kihyun.

And then she realized.

OH NO WAY.

Arena's mouth fell open, but not from Kihyun's looks, his voice and his dance moves, but from the knowledge that the sandwich guy had been him.

THE SAME FREAKING GUY WHO HAD BEEN PICKING SANDWICHES FOR 30 MINUTES AT THE GAS STATION.

It all made sense now.

Him wearing a cap and a hood over his head, speaking with an accent and EVEN SAYING HE WAS FROM ASIA.

Arena had never felt like an idiot so bad in her entire life.

The realization haunted her for about 20 minutes but then the concert seeped her in and all she could focus on was her favorite K-Pop band performing so close to her.

When "Hero" came on, Arena screamed so loud.

***

At the same time Kihyun enjoyed the view. So many people had come tonight and that made him extremely happy.

Arena was looking at Kihyun intensely and for a moment he made eye contact with her. If he recognized her, he didn't show it. Arena thought he probably didn't.

***

But he did. When Kihyun saw her he was surprised. But he didn't have much time to keep thinking about that. He was still on stage and had songs to sing, dances to dance and lines to deliver.

***

Arena's muscles hurt so much from dancing and jumping. She had caught Kihyun looking at her for a couple of times but that probably meant nothing since he was looking at everyone. All of the members were. Naha had gone absolutely crazy when Wonho had looked in her direction.

The concert was now over and everyone not coming to the fan meeting was getting ready to leave. Naha and Arena only started moving towards the Fan Meeting room. They were told that Monsta X is going to need about 20 minutes to get ready so in the meantime Arena and Naha bought their albums for signing.

"Do u have a pen?"

"Don't they have their own?" Arena asked.

Naha shrugged.

"I have a sharpie though" replied Arena and smiled.

Her voice was cracking and almost gone from all of the screaming so she sounded like an old man. Naha was no better.

"I'm going to go get some water, wait here" said Arena and disappeared from sight. Naha was left standing in the line forming behind the closed Fan Meeting room.

Arena squeezed herself through people and soon reached the vending machine. Which had a line. Excellent. So Arena stood there for 5 minutes, bought two sparkling water bottles and hurried back to Naha.

She handed one bottle to Naha and they both drank for a good minute or two. "So, is my voice better now?" asked Arena, no longer sounding like an old man. Naha nodded and smiled

Arena's throat was still sore though, tomorrow her voice would be gone completely, good luck to her at school.

"They're opening the doors" said Naha in a minute, nudging Arena. Naha's eyes were sparkling. And Arena's were too probably. Her nerves were once again killing her.

Everyone started filing into the room and since there had been a limited number of Fan Meeting passes, there was only a two hundred people or so. That was still much though. Arena and Naha heard some girls giggling in the corner.

The meeting went slowly. The members sat at a long table against the wall and looked exhausted, but were still beaming. They were seated in the order : Shownu, Jooheon, Hyungwon, Minhyuk, Wonho, Kihyun and I.M. How they managed to still even move after something this tiring like a whole showcase was a mystery to Arena.

They had changed clothes and Kihyun was now wearing a T-Shirt with a flannel and ripped jeans unlike their costume on the stage which was much more...extreme.

Arena and Naha waited about an hour before it was their turn. Arena went first, her nerves so high that they could see Pluto. She sat down opposite Shownu and greeted him while smiling.

Shownu, the leader and the oldest member of Monsta X signed Arena's album and made small talk with her about how she liked the concert etc. He was as charming in real life as he seemed in videos.

Jooheon was cracking jokes with Arena and being overall a cutie.

Hyungwon was smiling brightly, his hair sticking to his forehead. They talked about how awesome the light show had been.

Next was Minhyuk. Arena saw that after Minhyuk came Wonho and then Kihyun which made her heart speed up. She asked Minhyuk about his hair and what he thought about other members saying he's a dog. Minhyuk told Arena that he didn't mind. He signed her album and before she rose, Arena said that she loves his hair which made Minhyuk blush.

When Arena sat down to speak with Wonho, Kihyun finally noticed her. Like really noticed. He of course had seen her when she had sat down opposite Minhyuk, but now she was getting closer to him.

Something Wonho said had made Arena laugh. Which had earned glances from the other members. Arena smiled and took her signed album from Wonho. "Nice meeting you!" said Arena and stood up, which earned her a wink.

Arena realized that Kihyun was next. What was she supposed to say? 'Hi, remember me from the gas station?' That would've sounded stupid. She didn't notice that she was just standing in one spot and quickly sat down to face Kihyun. The guy who made her heart race by just smiling in a music video.

She looked at him and grinned. "I thought you looked familiar"

"Ooh, you remember me?" smiled Kihyun and that made Arena's heart jump.

She bit her lip and took out her album, "Can you please sign this?"

Kihyun looked at her curiously and took the album. "Anything for you". And if that hadn't been enough to cause Arena to have a heart attack then she was already dead.

"So where are you from?" asked Kihyun, signing her album.

"Um, excuse me?"

Kihyun looked up, "You told me earlier that you aren't from here either. Am I wrong?"

"Oh right, didn't I tell you that I was from Northern Europe?" asked Arena, barely keeping her voice stable.

Kihyun thought for a while then nodded. He handed back her album. "So did you like the concert?"

Arena took the album and nodded, "It was amazing." That made Kihyun smile.

"Oy, Kihyun" said Wonho from next to him. "Is this the cashier who recognized you?" asked Wonho quietly so Arena wouldn't hear. Kihyun nodded slightly and turned back to Arena.

Wonho mouthed "WOW" and grinned.

"Um, I should probably move, I'm holding up the line a little" said Arena awkwardly and started to rise.

"Thank you for coming" said Kihyun and smiled a sweet smile.

"Well, bye" replied Arena and sat down in the chair next to her, facing I.M.

"Hi" said Arena and looked at I.M. "Hi hi" replied I.M looking tired but smiling.

"You were really on fire today, by the way" said Arena and handed I.M her album. I.M took it and looked at her while grinning.