A pluck of your guitar string

Lost in your eyes

"Welcome to Anantrameka University's College of Music open house!"

Preeya carefully made her way through the crowd that was gathered in front of the stage. Today the university she hoped to go to was having an open day for prospective students and WIK was going to be performing. Once she found a spot close to the stage with a good view she stopped. She had never been able to see her Idol perform live before, so she planned to take full advantage of this opportunity.

"Today one of our very kind seniors has agreed to perform for you. He's very popular on social media, so you might know him. It's... WIK!"

As WIK walked onto the stage carrying his guitar, Preeya almost couldn't believe her eyes. For the first time, she was seeing her Idol in the flesh, the person who had helped her through the hard days and whose voice calmed her enough to fall asleep. He was even more handsome in person and his smile lit up the room.

The singer sat on the chair in front of the microphone which had been set up for him and after greeting the audience began to sing. Preeya had to stop herself from singing along, she just wanted to savour hearing WIK's voice live for the first time. He sang a few songs and all too soon his performance was over.

"I ask myself all the time, how much do I want my dream to happen? Is it worth it if I lose something along the way? But if we love something with all our hearts, don't you think it's worth it?"

It felt as though WIK was speaking directly to her. Preeya often worried about following her dream of becoming a singer. Her brother worked so hard to make sure she got a good education, sometimes she thought that she should study something that would lead to a more stable job. If she got a good job then she could support her brother for once, but when she mentioned the idea to her brother, he shut her down immediately. All he wanted was for her to be happy and if her dream was to do music then that was what she was going to do.

The crowd cheered and the other student who introduced WIK came back onto the stage.

"That's not all. Before we say goodbye, I've got some questions for you all. If you answer one of the three questions correctly, you will get a faculty t-shirt with WIK's autograph!"

Preeya stood up straight and noticed a few other students do the same.

"First question, what's the first song WIK covered?"

Her hand shot up, but she heard a loud student behind her call out to be chosen. When the host chose them to answer, Preeya frowned, but shook it off and got ready for the next question.

"Moving on to the second question, which of WIK's songs has the most views?"

Once again, she raised her hand, but another student caught the host's attention. Now Preeya was nervous, there was only one question left.

"And lastly, what song by WIK has a cat featured in the video?"

This question was a little harder than the rest, but Preeya still raised her hand as fast as she could. Once again, the host chose someone else and her heart sunk, but as she listened to the student's answer she disagreed.

"That's not right."

Everyone went quiet and turned to look at Preeya. She hadn't meant to say that so loud and she glanced around shyly as everyone waited for her to elaborate.

"There's more than one video with a cat in it. In Lost Star there's a cat's tail, Shape of You there's a paw, and I Secretly Like You has a cat doll. Does - Does that count?"

Preeya, along with everyone else, looked up to WIK to see if she was correct. As she did so, she found that he was looking directly at her and when their eyes met, she found that she couldn't look away. The spell was broken when WIK started clapping, and everyone joined in impressed at her knowledge. She vaguely heard another student complaining that they didn't know that much even though they were a fan, but she didn't take any notice of them as WIK had her full attention. Her Idol had noticed her making this the best day of her life.

Afterwards, she approached the side of the stage where the other three students who answered questions were taking a photo with WIK holding their t-shirts. They walked away as Preeya nervously stood in front of WIK and the student who had hosted the show. The singer smiled at her, but the student looked apologetic.

"I've run out of t-shirts. I only prepared three for the three questions."

Preeya tried not to be too disappointed, it was just a t-shirt after all, but she cursed herself for not bringing something else for WIK to sign.

"Oh. That's okay."

She smiled and bowed goodbye, but her Idol's voice stopped her.

"You got more than one answer."

"Huh?"

"Is there something else I can give you?"

That was a rather open question. There were lots of things that Preeya would like from WIK, but not many that she would actually be brave enough to ask him for.

"Really?

"What do you want?"

"I want... I want to get into this university. We have to write a song for the entrance exam, but I've never written a song before. Could you tutor me? Or - or give me some tips?"

Even as she spoke, Preeya couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. Where had this sudden confidence come from, asking WIK to tutor a nobody like her, as if he had the time? She could tell from the look on WIK's face that he was surprised by her request and that he was going to say no.

"Sorry, that's too much."

Preeya went to leave again, but WIK called out again.

"What's your name?"

"Preeya."

Her eyes widened as WIK stepped closer to her. She could feel her heart race as she wondered what he was going to do. Holding up a pen, the singer signed the shirt she was wearing. He was so close that Preeya could smell his cologne and feel the warmth of his hand as it brushed against her. As he stepped back, she was sure that the blush on her cheeks must be obvious. The Idol smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder.

"I hope you get in."