Call Me Noona

Chapter 4 - Playtime with Monsta X (Edited)

Somewhere around 3 in the morning, I must have finally fallen asleep. When I was rudely woken up by screeching whale sounds, I did not even want to move to turn it off. Finally, I gathered enough energy to grab my phone and silence the intrusion. I was just about to doze off again when I remembered that in just a few hours I was meeting Minhyuk face-to-face, and that it would be for more than 2 minutes. My heart started racing and my eyes flew open. I was suddenly awake and full of energy. I had a little time before Jun would be along to collect me, so I went down to the hotel pool and swam a few laps. The cool water felt refreshing and got my blood flowing. Today's agenda included visiting a folk village and a few other quick stops before the meetup.

The day flew by and now it was almost time. I was more nervous than I had been before my wedding years ago. The butterflies in my stomach were going crazy and I suddenly could not catch my breath. Jun put his hand on my arm and asked if I was okay. I shook my head yes, but I could hear the concern in his voice. He led me to a bench to sit for a moment. He produced a bottle of water from his bag and handed it to me with the top off. I took a couple of large gulps, and my breathing began to steady. I put my hand on his and told him I was fine. I just got a little too excited. His brow was still furrowed, and I don't think I was very convincing.

After a couple of minutes, I was back to normal, and we continued to the car. He walked close to me with his hand on my elbow for support. I was a bit confused myself. I had gotten a handle on my anxiety a while back, or so I thought. It had been almost a year since I had experienced a full-blown panic attack and I did not want to start that again. I had my meds with me just in case, but I held off taking any. I told myself it was just the excitement. I smiled up at Jun and assured him that I was perfectly fine and that it happens sometimes. I was a bit surprised by his reaction to the whole thing. No man had shown that level of concern for me in quite some time. Korean men really are much different than what I was used to.

We went back to the hotel so that I could freshen up and change. I showered quickly and sprayed a light mist of body spray onto my skin. A little touch of makeup and fluffing of the hair did wonders. I had brought a floral sundress with a flouncy skirt that hit just above the knee. I paired it with a ¾ sleeve faded denim jacket. Tiny flower earrings and a pair of strappy sandals finished off the outfit.

The car ride to the location seemed to take longer than the flight to get here. I tried to calm my thoughts, but I kept thinking about how I hoped I would not embarrass myself... or the guys. I was confident in my language skills and Jun had helped me with my greetings and manners. Although I was older, I still felt they were the seniors in this situation, so that part would be a little awkward. I also was worried that they would be disappointed that I was older... much older. People often tell me I look about 10 years younger than my actual age, so at least I had that going for me.

I spotted the SSE building in the distance and watched as it grew larger with every mile. This is where I would meet my 7 heroes. Once again, I felt dizzy and out of breath. Calm down, just breathe, I told myself. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. "Okay, I am ready", I said to Jun. He helped me out of the car and led me through security and up to the 4th floor.

I realized that I was fidgeting and wringing my hands the whole way up. Jun put his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. He was quite handsome and incredibly sweet to me. I know he was on the clock, but he did not make it seem like a job. A few times I even thought he may have been enjoying himself.

The ding of the elevator snapped me back to reality and as the doors opened, my knees nearly buckled. "Hoo! Monsta X! Hello, we are Monsta X!" the guys all greeted me with a bow and huge smiles. Jun was quick to catch me, and the guys giggled at me. They knew they had surprised me, and I think they did it on purpose! I returned the bow and introduced myself in Korean. Their smiles were bright and welcoming. I smiled back at them, and they reached out to pull me into a group hug. I think my soul left my body for a moment and time seemed to stop. I could not see or hear anything else but the 7 glorious bodies squeezing mine. Somehow, I managed not to faint and was able to stay standing when the hug broke apart. Minhyuk was closest to me, and our cheeks had been pressed together. I could still feel him there.