2. "Bye for now Elle."

                                    

                                          
I stare, my smile frozen and my body tense. He held my stare as he clapped his hands at us. He wasn't one of our fans but more apart of the dwellers. He wore a cap so you wouldn't easily recognize him and was far enough away to not be seen by everyone, but somehow I saw him. And I am still staring, so I blinked a few times before looking away. I quickly put a smile back on and looked at our Blooms. We posed for a few pictures, alone or together. And I couldn't help myself but steal another glance. My eyes met his again, and I blushed. He was still looking at me.
"Elle?" Vic called, and I turned to her. My face red and blank. I hadn't heard what they said. 
"They want us to do a tiktok challenge." She laughed with everyone at my confusion. I laughed, nodding. It was a random song that was trending, and we did it. We even pulled up a few fans to take pictures with us. And in between it all, I felt his eyes on me. Maybe I was delusional and he was watching us all, but I could've sworn he stared right back at me.
When we were done, I decide to stand slightly away. Close enough to not be noticeable but far enough to see if his eyes were on me or on us. Peeking up proved to me he was still there, a bit more forward, as if he want to hear better. As we were about to do our goodbye bow, someone screamed encore. I look at Vic, then Madi, and then Ross, who shrugged and gave a thumbs up. The girls nodded at my silent question, and I nodded to Ross.
"I mean, we have time for one more. Even though we've been here for two and a half hours." I check my imaginary watch on my arm. They laughed and cheered. So Madi decided to do a song we planned to cover next month. 'S&M'. And of course, we did sexy little dances during our parts that brought screams and claps. On one of my parts, I got down to my knees and did a hot body roll, and as I got up, I locked eyes with Chan. My stomach dropped as I got up, and we continued. I tried my best not to look, but I kept stealing glances on turns or when I'd do a sexy move.
They loved it, and even the other random people cheered. We did our final bow, and as we walked back to the tent, I looked back at him, smiled, and gave him a small wave, which he returned.
***

"So I saw someone." I say. We were in the car at the restaurant we were eating at that night. Our meet ended at 4pm so we had two hours to get ready. Ross had gone home, and we took Madi's car. It was one of the most expensive restaurants here, and Ross and our parents got it for us as a "enjoy your vacation; you did well, and I'm so proud of you" gift. We were renting out a house for a month or maybe more since we don't know how long we'd be here, but Madi had her car brought with us so we wouldn't spend extra on more rentals.
"Who? And who do you know from here?" Madi asked when we reached a red light. I smiled and spoke softly, as if he were outside and could hear me. 
"Christopher Bahng." Vic's head jerked towards me from the front seat as Madi jerked, carefully driving as the light turned green. 
"No fucking way." "You're lying. You're lying." They said it at the same time. I just hummed to the song playing on the radio.
"I'll tell you in the restaurant because I don't want to get in an accident with Madi's shit driving." I laughed as she gave me the finger.
Walking in had people turning their heads to look at us. I wore a sparkly red dress that reached my knee and had a slit that reached my hip with a silver heel on. My hair is in a high bun with hoops in it. Madi wore a fitting black ankle-length dress with side and back cutouts that showed her cleavage and a navy blue heel. Vik had on a tight mini skirt with a silvery glitter halter top and also silver heels. Both their hairs were hanging loose.
We got there an hour before our reservation since we didn't take long to get ready, so we waited at the bar. With a beautiful pink cocktail in hand, we sat and talked about our day, and I spoke about the man I saw.
"He was standing on the other side of the road. With a few other guys, I didn't recognize them, so it wasn't the members." I say it in between sips. Madi stared, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly ajar, as Vic shook her head. Vic whispered, 
"Thee Bang Chan saw us perform? How long was he watching? Did he see us dance to his song?" My stomach dropped just thinking about it.
"I'm not sure. I saw him near the end. So he could've joined during Easy or before. I'm surprised I didn't see anyone posting that they saw him." I say. And yes, I checked Twitter and Instagram for anything.
"So he was just there, watching us?" Madi whispered, not quite believing me by the look on her face. I took another long sip, nearly emptying it as I nodded. 
"Yip. I mean, he was impressed by the looks of it." I played with my silver necklace, with the B initial in diamonds. A set I gifted them with for our third year of BLOSSOM.
Vic closed her eyes, opened them, and looked around. Madi still stared at me, and I stared back. 
"I mean, I hope he heard us singing because we sounded amazing today." Vic mumbled, and I nodded. 
"We did. And our high notes were one of the best."
I didn't tell them of my suspicions that he looked at me, because, if I really think about it, I was just being delusional. The waiter came to show us our table, and I excused myself to the bathroom.
When I was done, I stared in the mirror. My hazel eyes are bright and my cheeks are red, probably due to the alcohol I inhaled. I applied another layer of lip gloss and left.
"Elle?" A deep voice asked behind me as I passed the bar. Thinking it was a fan, I put a smile on and turned. I froze once again. My stomach dropped, and I suddenly felt dizzy. Because Chan was in front of me.
"I'm sorry I heard your name on stage. I'm Chris." He said, cheeks red. I looked at him, a blush growing and moving down to my neck. 
"Yes. Yes, I know I saw you. It's really nice to meet you." I say, giving my hand awkwardly. He took my hand, and an electric jolt went through our touch. My eyes shot to him to find he was still staring at me.
"You were great, by the way. Your group, I mean." I pulled my hand away and reached for my necklace. His eyes followed before meeting mine again. 
"Thank you. So much. It means a lot." I nod, feeling skittish and awkward. He must've felt the same as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Your group is BLOSSOM, right?" He asked, and I silently nodded. 
"Yes. We do covers. Song or dance." I replied. Someone walked past me, not moving fast enough, and knocked into me. Chan's hand gripped my elbows as my hand went to his chest. That jolt once again going through us. I looked up and into his brown eyes. His hair was in curls, hanging just above his eyes.
"Is it weird that I want to ask for your number?" He whispered, his ears red. I bit my lip and shook my head. 
"No, not at all." I whispered back. Not thinking of our surroundings. He nodded and slowly moved back, releasing his hands. I then remembered my friends waiting for me and cleared my throat. 
"We have a private booth. My friends and I. Would you like to join?"
He looked around and inhaled deeply. "I can't. I have a friend waiting as well. But next time? Hopefully?" He handed me his phone, and I took it. Adding my number and name with a flower emoji, I smiled up at him. 
"I'd like that. I really would."
We stared at each other for a bit before I took a step back. 
"I'll see you later, Chan." He smiled and nodded. 
"Bye for now, Elle."