975Please respect copyright.PENANA7xLg2cRvpZ
After the little incident we had with Sam yesterday, it turned out that Collins knew from the very beginning that we were the cause of her not attending the meeting. Lee had told him the whole truth after all and he was just waiting to get back to the hotel to talk to us about it. Including G-Dragon. The blame was mostly on me because I thought of the idea in the first place. The others got away with it scott free, even G-Dragon. On my part it was completely unfair that I got blamed for everything alone.
975Please respect copyright.PENANA8EXL1TQ3N7
As for Sam, she was completely mad at us for what we did. As usual, she pointed her anger towards G-Dragon and I. As much as she was upset with us, I was just glad she was okay. And so were the others. Though I was a little worried about G-Dragon and Sam's relationship. It looks like I just made things a lot harder for G-Dragon this time around.
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Today, we had gone for dance practise early in the morning at YG. Soon afterwards, we were supposed to meet the organising team that were planning for the special event.
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We had a number of things to do today. As much as there were things to do during the event, we also had to perform and that meant more practice. Sounds tiring indeed.
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We the Toxins headed for one of the large scale rehearsal buildings outside the main YG building. There we found BlackPink waiting by the entrance. They all screamed with glee upon seeing us and ran towards us. Most of us knew why.
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"Sam, you're okay!" Lisa reached Sam first and hugged her. Sam hugged her back and the other three BlackPink members surrounded her into a hug too.
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"Good to see you," said Sam with a smile on her face. The four BlackPink members broke away from her. "I really missed you, girls. You've no idea."
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"We were so worried about you when we heard about your little accident," said Jisoo. "But you're fine, right?"
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"I'm okay as ever."
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"So, aren't you going to give any of us a hug too?" I asked.
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Jennie rolled her eyes at me. "After what you did, it's pretty hard to do so," she said as she twirled her hair.
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"Really? Just because of a simple lie?" I rolled my eyes. "We did all that so that none of you would get worried."
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"Well, you were still supposed to tell us. As serious as it was, we deserve to know because we're your friends," said Rosé.
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"You're right," said Christine. "And we will never stop apologising because it was wrong of us to lie to you."
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"True," said Mike. "I would also say the same. We're truly sorry."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAGbzq8S33MR
"Me too," said Daniel. "I wouldn't like what happened to my sister to ever happen again."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAQBlR5UqIH6
"Awww, so sweet," said Lisa as she looked at Daniel. "You deserve my hug."
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Lisa went over to hug Daniel and he was caught completely off guard. I could clearly see him blushing like the cute little boy that he is.
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"I think you, Mike, deserve mine," said Jennie, and she went to hug him. I noticed a tiny smile on his face.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAsvbczclSBR
"Christine deserves mine too," said Jisoo. And likewise, went to hug Christine.
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So that left me with Rosé.
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"Aren't I going to receive a hug?" I asked, looking at her.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAHz6tvCeTwk
Jennie folded her arms and looked the other way, completely ignoring me. Sam looked at me, wanting to laugh. She clearly saw all of this funny and I on the other hand, felt irritated. I threw Sam a look but she still wanted to laugh so bad that she turned the other way and covered her mouth.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAW1qErLu7vt
"Whatever," I said rolling my eyes like I didn't care. "I don't deserve one, anyway."
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"Look who just showed up alive and kicking," came Mino's voice behind me.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAA9jEsDmL5b
Sam and I turned around and there was Mino with the rest of WINNER coming towards us. Mino already had his arms outstretched and reached Sam first to hug her.
975Please respect copyright.PENANASXCxAFG3v4
"Hi, Mino," said Sam as he hugged him back. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the two of them as I twirled a strand of my hair.
975Please respect copyright.PENANANHn1kpCTl7
"How are you doing?" he asked as he looked at Sam. "You had us all worried."
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"As you can see, I'm fine," said Sam as she rubbed the right side of her forehead. Her bruise was barely even noticeable. It healed up pretty quickly from yesterday.
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Seunghoon came and quickly pushed Mino aside just to hug Sam.
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"Wow, chill out, hyung," Mino complained as he stared at Seunghoon. "You could've hurt me."
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"I missed you so much, Sam," said Seunghoon, still hugging Sam and not caring that he almost knocked Mino over.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAuYhvU907Ao
"Seunghoon, I'm fine," said Sam. "You can stop hugging me, you're squeezing me too tight."
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"Oh, sorry." He let go of Sam and smiled at her.
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"It's good to have you back, Sam," said Seungyoon.
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"Ya, it feels good to be back," said Sam.
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"So, are you excited about the news?" Jinwoo asked.
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"About BTW? Definitely. I think it will be so cool to have both BTW officially announced and the music video being released on the same day."
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"Hey, girls," greeted Mino as he waved towards BlackPink.
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BlackPink also waved at him and to the rest of WINNER too. WINNER also ended up greeting the other Toxins. I couldn't help but feel I was being totally ignored today and that was almost setting me up in flames.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAGfkIOINcp0
"Hello, people," I said waving my hand in the air to grab everyone's attention. "Are we all forgetting someone here?"
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Nobody said a word as they all looked at me.
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"Isn't anyone going to say anything?" I asked. "You've all been ignoring me like am a nobody when I'm definitely somebody."
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"We know, Zoey," said Sam. "We aren't ignoring you."
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"Oh, ya? Then tell me what everyone else is doing? BlackPink don't want to hug me at all and WINNER didn't even say hi to me!"
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Everyone else except Sam and the other Toxins, started muttering among themselves and they made their way into the studio building. The three other Toxins followed them, leaving Sam and I outside.
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"What's wrong with everyone today?" I asked as I watched them go. "It's not fair that people still blame me for what happened to you."
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"Well, you still can't deny that it was all your fault," said Sam as she looked at me.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAzxSxlU62pU
"Ya, I know. I regret ever doing that to you, better yet, lying to everyone else about your accident."
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"Maybe you should apologise."
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I closed my eyes in frustration and opened them again. "I did so yesterday."
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"Maybe you should continue doing so until they feel sorry for you. It's just like what the others did earlier."
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"You guys are so unfair. You're giving me a hard time just because of an 'accident.' Did you see the way Mino ignored me today? It's so unlike him."
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Sam gave me a sad smile. "I know it's hard. But just know they don't hate you. They are just upset. You will see that they will come around."
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"And do you hate G-Dragon for what he did?"
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I noticed her blush and was planning to divert her eyes the other way, but surprisingly, she still kept them fixed on me.
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"I don't hate G-Dragon," she answered. "What he did was totally weird and wrong, but I can't keep a grudge on him forever when I know all this was practically your fault."
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"Don't try to blame me for this all over again. Are you still upset because of what he did to us last time with BTW?"
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Sam looked towards the clear blue sky in thought. She looked back at me.
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"I don't know anymore," she said. "I want to say that I'm still mad at him for that, but now, I can't really tell what I'm mad at him for."
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"Huh?" That statement sent me spinning in circles. As much as Sam is one of the smartest people I know, sometimes she would talk jibberish that you tend to wonder if she's acting weird or you're just the dumb one. And I don't like being the dumb one.
975Please respect copyright.PENANA13pNNtXVPL
"You didn't get it, did you?" Sam asked, looked like she noticed the confusion all over my face.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAHe5EzZYwLr
"No, Professor Glasson, because that made no sense."
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She sighed. "You're right. You'll understand later on. Come on," she jerked her head to the side, pointing to the trailer. "Let's go."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAFeAYCJe31b
We started our way in through the huge metal door when I asked:
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"Does that mean you forgive him?"
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"Forgive him for what?" Sam asked as soon as we were inside.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAjHThIpeWwo
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. You said you do hate him but you don't know what for and then you say you can't hate him forever, so, it's so confusing."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAEX02mzVuC5
"Don't stress yourself on the subject. Even I don't know what I said."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAn2OsxI8xu1
I rolled my eyes at her. "You're so weird."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAgkt7FreZJc
"I know," she said with a smile as she looked at me.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAoIk8uvOr66
We approached the others standing in the massive studio space. There were people around the place setting up a construction set for the event. I couldn't wait to see how things will look on the final day.
975Please respect copyright.PENANANr6zJbuYNh
When we got to the others who were also looking around the construction set, we noticed that BigBang were among them too.
975Please respect copyright.PENANA4uaFv9B3ZC
"Sam? You're here," said Daesung after he turned around and noticed the two of us approach.
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Sam waved at Daesung and soon the whole BigBang members looked our way.
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"Ah, my panda is okay," said Seungri with so much excitement as he came over and held Sam in his arms. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAdBS1wMsB0K
Sam laughed with joy, her laugh echoing around the place as Seungri continued to spin her around. She told him to put her down. Seungri did as he was told. Sam still couldn't stop laughing.
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"Don't you ever do that again," said Sam in between laughs.
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"I missed your laugh, that's why," said Seungri. "It's good to have you back, my panda."
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"I just missed everything about her," said TOP. "Her laugh, her smile, everything."
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I noticed Sam blush and said, "you really know just how to make me blush, Choi. It isn't fair."
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"Ha, but you're so cute when you blush," said Taeyang.
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"Too cute," said Seunghoon.
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I shook my head at what was happening in front of me but I couldn't help but smile when I saw Sam smiling. I realised that yesterday wasn't quite the same without her and I am glad that she was back.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAeEYBRkvPIj
I noticed G-Dragon standing alongside Mike looking towards the set construction. The two seemed to be talking about something and it felt strange that G-Dragon hadn't acknowledged Sam's presence like everybody else had. I walked over to him and held his shoulder to grab his attention.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAtVjTJ018zH
"Oh, hi, Zoey," he said as he turned around to look at me.
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"Finally!" I looked up to the wide dome shaped ceiling in relief. "Someone has finally said hi to me this morning."
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"What's wrong? No one has greeted you?" G-Dragon asked.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAKd3GzvZgVT
"Apart from my group members and you, everyone's completely ignoring me today."
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"They are just upset," said Mike. "I bet Sam has already told you that."
975Please respect copyright.PENANArABPkCaLW6
"Ya, she did. Trust me, this feels weird on so many levels. Are you experiencing the same thing, GD?"
975Please respect copyright.PENANAtei44dtHKA
"No," G-Dragon answered. "Apparently, everyone said hi to me."
975Please respect copyright.PENANA75x5RuBQEQ
I rolled my eyes. "Typical. So, what do you think the set is going to be like?"
975Please respect copyright.PENANASAMI7gPTa5
Mike and G-Dragon looked back at the set being worked upon.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAaQy1LbbQ6k
"No, idea," said Mike. "GD and I were trying to figure it out too."
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"It's going to be so awesome," I said as I saw the main stage with other structures being set on it. At the moment, you couldn't really tell what they were yet.
975Please respect copyright.PENANANLYsPymhXf
"Hey, I noticed that you haven't said hi to Sam," I said to G-Dragon. He turned to look at me.
975Please respect copyright.PENANADV9vLLuYOg
"Is that a problem?" he asked.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAZvhtsvymSk
"Well, you've always liked her and cared about her. Yesterday, you almost looked like you were about to kill yourself when she fell unconscious."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAExblOYQTTl
"True. But I bet she's still mad at me. So, I would rather stay out of her way for now."
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"Are you seriously going to do so?" Mike asked with an eyebrow raised. "The way you always look at my sister tells a different story. You won't be able to hold yourself away from her that long. Not when Seunghoon looks at her the same way you do."
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"Since when have you been a love expert?" I asked looking at Mike.
975Please respect copyright.PENANATOyJZQroaE
"I only observe," Mike answered. "I'm not a love expert."
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"But Mike is right though. Seunghoon is your competition, GD. And he isn't the only one."
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G-Dragon and Mike turned to look at me with questioning looks on their faces.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAUMXlZlU93m
"What do you mean he isn't the only one?" G-Dragon asked.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAyD6IF7FMfM
"Oh, I won't tell you," I said playfully as I laughed.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAPwLjPxGIrl
Mike nodded his head at me and had a smirk on his face. "I think I know who she's talking about," he said.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAALrdNsholL
I liked the fact that Mike also knew, since he was just an observer after all. And it's hilarious seeing that look on G-Dragon's face. Maybe then he would wake up and realise that Seunghoon wasn't his only threat. I also wasn't going to tell him that he was up against some of the BTS members who couldn't stop staring at Sam the whole time we were having fun at the arcade the other day. And since I was in contact with EXO, some of them couldn't stop pestering me when they were ever going to meet Sam in person.
975Please respect copyright.PENANA6aISKx9X2W
Speaking of EXO, I received a message from Suho last night, saying that they were going to have a concert today and they invited The Toxins. I hadn't told the others yet because I wanted it to be a surprise. The only people I told about this was Collins and Lee. Collins agreed that we can go after we were done here at YG since the concert was taking place this evening.
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"I don't like it that you two are acting suspicious," said G-Dragon.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAksYtpTwXVF
"Oh, never mind us," said Mike with a smirk on his face. "All we were trying to do is warn you that you shouldn't be surprised when another person apart from Seunghoon asks her out one of these fine days."
975Please respect copyright.PENANALYMzALukJt
"True," I said. "So, you better pull up your socks if you want to be the only guy Sam will ever remember when we leave this place."
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G-Dragon gave me a weird look and I so much as wanted to laugh out loud, but Sam approached us and none of us hadn't noticed until she was close.
975Please respect copyright.PENANA2Ec8iLBRCT
"Hey, the organisers are here," she said. I noticed her look at G-Dragon. "Hi, GD," she greeted him.
975Please respect copyright.PENANA14uSucmHRq
Mike and I had both of our mouths open in shock. Sam actually said "hi" to G-Dragon. Well, that was the talk of the day.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAv4d6ZR1NsN
I noticed G-Dragon blush for a minute and for a moment, he seem to hesitate until he finally spoke up, "hi, Sam. How are you doing today?"
975Please respect copyright.PENANA6TLep3tJnG
"Never better," she replied. "We better get going."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAWIlhq2cKq2
She didn't smile at him but at least that was a sure start that she might not be mad at G-Dragon like she said is. She didn't look upset either. Looks like someone was playing stoic today. I had to admit, I didn't expect her to greet GD at all.
975Please respect copyright.PENANA634YApkJme
She quickly made her way to join the others who were gathered around in a circle with the organisers. At the moment, they were going through what we discussed yesterday so that Sam wouldn't feel left behind. The three of us who stood away from the others, slowly made our approach.
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"Let me just say, I didn't expect Sam to even say a word to you, GD," said Mike.
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"Tell me about it," I said as I gave G-Dragon a wink. "Looks like she's one step closer to to forgiving you."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAZOjlOXvXsI
"Well, I feel she's a million miles away from doing so," said G-Dragon.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAu91P3svwtA
"Oh, please! You might have messed up that time with BTW and with the awful surprise yesterday, but it's clear to see that she can't stay mad at you forever."
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"Mike, Zoey, GD," came the voice of one of the female organisers, Ji Yeon. A pretty slim bodied woman with an attitude. She's one person I wouldn't like to be on her wrong side yet it looks like I'm starting to do so already. "Pay attention. We wouldn't be repeating this all the time, you know."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAEywc5LH8rg
"Sorry," the three of us muttered at the same time like naughty kids caught doing something wrong in class.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAZIVDzR3RIo
There were four organisers spearheading this event. Ji Yeon being the only lady. The other organisers were okay and didn't seem so strict. Ji Yeon on the other hand, seem like a handful. To top it all off, she was our dance instructor for the event alongside a young man Ji Nun. Bummer. Ji Nun I can handle. But Ji Yeon, I might as well fear for my life.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAAc9YMa81OZ
We went over the routine they had planned out for us and that took almost an hour. What I wasn't really looking forward to, was the dance routine because of Miss Sharky. Ya, I nicknamed Ji Yeon Miss Sharky. She seemed that way to me anyway.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAmaZMP8myt4
When it came to the dance routine, each group first had to perform their own song, that meant we each had our own dance routine. Then in the end, we would all come together as one big group and dance together.
975Please respect copyright.PENANA9ELcCHrvxa
One by one, we each had to pick a song of a group's choice. Then the two choreographers will take us through with the routine. BlackPink went first and I had to admit, the girls really knew how to make it work, though Ji Yeon wasn't really impressed and suggested some changes. She was a perfectionist, no doubt about that.
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Each of the groups went through their dance routine and each had a recommendation from Ji Yeon that changes had to be made here and there. I had to admit, it was so not cool, especially when it came to us The Toxins because I thought the routine to our song was perfect. I mean, the song we danced to was a major hit and people loved the video mostly because of the dance moves.
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We were soon had a lunch break and the four groups were all hurdled up in a circle. Luckily, the organisers had also left for their own lunch break.
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"This is so unfair," I complained as I sat on the floor after taking a sip of water. "Did you see how that lady said she wasn't impressed with our dance moves? I was totally hurt."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAL4H8y7AwVx
"We all were," said Lisa. "Trust me, learning those moves killed me the first time and they still do till now."
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"I've to admit though," said Seungyoon as he rubbed his neck. "She is pretty tough."
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"At least someone has finally said it," I said. "I felt if I spoke out first, people would hate me for it."
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"Seriously, Zoey?" Sam asked as she sat right beside me with an eyebrow raised. She knew why I said that and I pretended to ignore her.
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Soon after lunch we went straight back to practising. This time, the two choreographers took us in with what they had planned for us to do that day. I had to admit, the whole thing felt like a process and we had to go through it a number of times. We weren't even done with the whole routine and it was already time up for the day. There would be more of it tomorrow and to be honest, I wasn't looking forward to it just like I never used to look forward to the next day of school.
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After hitting the showers, I found Sam and Christine in the changing room, already dressed up and waiting for for me. I had decided to take forever in the showers because I wanted us to be alone without BlackPink around.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAw5eD01UXnT
"Gosh, you take forever, Zoey," said Christine as she sat on one of the benches in between the lockers placed on either side. "The other girls even left and I bet Mike and Daniel are waiting too."
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"That's the thing," I said as I dried my hair with a towel. "I wanted it to be just us Toxins."
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"What? You're planning to raid YG?" Sam asked.
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I smiled at Sam. Sometimes her sarcasm always cracked me up.
975Please respect copyright.PENANADVn05vtvfZ
"No, silly," I answered. "Though that does sound like the perfect plan. But apparently, Yang Hyun-suk scares me to death it's impossible to raid over his empire."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAcCU8I9YayI
"True," Sam and Christine responded at the same time.
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"Then why did you make us wait this long?" Christine asked. "It's close to evening now and I bet everyone else has already left."
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"Oh, I won't tell you just yet," I said with a grin. "You just wait and see."
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"I hope it's worth it," said Sam.
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After I quickly dressed up and was ready to go, we walked out of the girl's changing room and found Daniel and Mike waiting for us in the hall.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAIzOtimZYlC
"Hey, hope you guys didn't wait that long," said Sam and then she turned to look at me. "Zoey took forever to get ready."
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"Next time, we should leave her all alone," said Mike. "Waiting for her has proven to be a burden sometimes."
975Please respect copyright.PENANAnwO5gLQjtx
"Thank you for that theory of nonsense, Mike," I said. "But, there is a reason why I wanted you all to remain here a little late."
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"What now?" Daniel asked. "I hope you're not planning on some prank."
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"Pranks are only for April Fool's Day. Let's go downstairs and you'll see."
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We left the corridors to the changing rooms and we found ourselves down at the lobby. The place was almost deserted except for the receptionist by her desk and Lee who was waiting for us at the door.
975Please respect copyright.PENANAM9nQC9Co8B
"Hey, Lee," I said to her when we got close. "Did you get what I asked you?"
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"Yep," said Lee and behind her laid a medium sized card box. She lifted it up from the floor and she looked at us with a smile on her face.
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"What's in there?" Sam asked. "I just hope it's not another Pikachu costume. This time, I'm not the one wearing it."
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"It's not another costume," I said. "Just open it and see for yourself."
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Sam gave me a questioning look and went on ahead to open the box. She gasped when she saw what was inside.
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"No, freaking way!" she said not believing her eyes as she pulled out a flashlight. It wasn't just any other ordinary flashlight.
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It was an EXO lightstick with the EXO logo on it.
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Christine also gasped and she soon reached inside the box and pulled out another EXO lightstick. The two girls looked at each other with bewilderment.
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"Oh, cool, an EXO lightstick," said Daniel as he also came round to get one for himself. "Where did you get this, Lee?"
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"I believe Zoey has something to tell you," said Lee as she looked at me.
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I rolled my eyes playfully. "I don't know how I'm going to tell you this," I started, "but EXO invited us to their concert."
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"Tonight?" Christine asked.
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"Yep."
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The both of us screamed with delight as we jumped up and down.
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"This is so cool!" Christine said out loud. "We're going to an EXO concert."
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"Seriously, this feels like a dream come true that it's actually happening," said Sam as she continued looking at the lightstick.
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"I wanted this to be a surprise," I said. "They really can't wait to see you all in person and they thought inviting you to their concert was a perfect start."
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"I'm going to meet EXO," said Christine as though she was going to run crazy. "This can't be real."
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"Well, what are we waiting for?" Mike asked as he came over to Lee and got a lightstick from the box. "Let's go!"
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We all quickly walked out of the building and entered the SUV waiting for us in the parking lot. I had to admit, I was so excited like everyone else that we couldn't help but light up out lightsticks in the car. I bet those you drove past us would think there was a disco party going in the car. It didn't matter though. We were going to an EXO concert!
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We arrived at the mass media centre where the concert was to take place. We found long queues outside and many EXO-Ls (fans of EXO) all looking excited and vibrant. Almost every EXO-L had a EXO lightsticks. And some had banners and t-shirts with either pictures of EXO on them or words written 사랑해 엑소 (Saranghae, EXO) (We Love you, EXO).
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We went through the back of the building. Luckily, the fans hadn't noticed that The Toxins were around or else that would have caused a hell of a frenzy.
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When we got round back and entered the building with security, we were taken to the one of the dressing rooms and we were told to wait there for EXO.
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"Oh gosh, oh gosh," muttered Christine who hadn't sat down the entire time we came in the dressing room and was pacing up and down. "I finally get to meet EXO in real life."
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"Can you please sit down?" Sam suggested. "You're going to get a whole lot of us nauseous.
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"Sorry," said Christine as she stopped pacing. "I just can't help myself."
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Lee who sat next to Sam near a dressing mirror rolled her eyes. "If only Collins could see you now."
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"Well, he really shouldn't have let all of us go," said Mike. "I mean, those who could maintain their composure should have come and the others that can't, to remain behind."
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"So that you can get to enjoy the concert yourself?" I asked. I shook my index finger at him. "No way. It's because of me that they invited us."
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"No, I bet the reason why they did this is because they wanted to meet all of us in person," said Daniel who sat beside his brother. "You already met them at the mall and kept in contact with them since."
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I rolled my eyes at him and looked at Sam. "He is becoming like you each and every day, you know. A know it all."
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"Runs in the family," said Sam with a shrug.
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"When is the concert going to start anyway?" Christine asked as she started pacing again.
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"Goodness, Christine," said Lee. "Be patient. I bet they want to see you guys first, so chill."
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As soon as Lee said that, the door to the room flew open. I gasped when I saw who walked in and at the same time, Christine and I screamed so loud with so much excitement.
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Suho first walked in the room and the rest of EXO came in. They were all dressed in white. White slacks, white jumpers and stunning white sneakers. They looked like adorable angels. No, let me rephrase that. Adorable and hot angels.
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Christine who was closet to them hugged Suho first. She was so excited and so was I. I went over to hug Chen who came in next.
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"Hey," said Suho after Christine stopped hugging him. "I'm glad you all came."
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Then all of the sudden, there was a loud shout out. And this time, it came from EXO. The next thing I knew, I saw Chanyeol, Sehun, Kai, Xiumin, Lay, D.O and Baekhyun dash past me heading for Sam. They were all happy and excited to see her for sure. They all surrounded her in a hug and I could see Sam almost on the verge of fainting from all the hugging.
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"Okay, enough, guys," said Suho after he saw how Sam was struggling with most of the EXO members all surrounding her.
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But the boys didn't seem to listen to their leader though. They were still so excited as they laughed still not believing that Sam was actually in front of them. Looked like most of them liked her just like I had anticipated.
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"Okay, so not fair," said Chen. "We want to hug Sam too."
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"I thought you would next say that," said Sam. Somehow, she managed to wiggle her away from the other seven EXO members. They were shocked when they found her outside the circle they had made around her.
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"How did you do that?" Chanyeol asked with a shocked look on his face.
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"That's a black kitty secret," said Sam as she smiled at them.
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"Now, it's our turn to hug you," said Chen as he happily ran over to Sam and they both hugged each other.
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Suho went over to hug Sam next. The rest of the other EXO members went on to greet the rest of us Toxins and Lee after realising that the rest of us were in the room.
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"I'm so glad you're all here," said Suho. "The managers will be so excited to see that you're finally here."
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"Trust me, it's such an honour that we're even here," said Daniel.
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"This night is going to be awesome," said Kai.
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"It already is," said Christine as she stared at Kai all dreamy eyed.
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"I did just as I promised you," I said addressing EXO. "I brought The Toxins to you."
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"Especially Sam," said Sehun as he hugged Sam from behind and he didn't look he planned on letting go for a long time. Sam rolled her eyes in irritation but at the same time, she couldn't help but smile.
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"It's not fair that you get to hug Sam twice," said Lay with an annoyed look on his face.
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"I am the maknae after all," Sehun pointed out.
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"Maknae or not, Lay is right," said Baekhyun. "I also want to hug her too."
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"Whoa!" Sam protested raising her hand to cool everyone down after breaking away from Sehun. "We can do all of that after the concert, don't you think? Right now, I think you better go on stage."
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"Really?" Xiumin asked with a funny look on his face.
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A knock came at the door and when Suho told the person to come in, it was one of the organising crew telling them that it was time to go.
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"Told you," said Sam with a smirk.
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"Wow! Are you sidekick or something?" D.O asked as he looked at her with bewilderment.
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"Well, almost," said Mike. "Sam's full of surprises sometimes."
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"Can't wait to see what other surprises are there in store for us," said Chanyeol who stood beside me with a huge a smile on his face.
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"Okay, we better go," said Suho. "You guys will be taken in the front row."
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Christine couldn't help but yelp. "I can't believe I get the front row seat at an EXO concert," she said.
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I rolled my eyes. "It won't be the first time you're ever in the front row, now, would it?"
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"Okay, let's go," said Chanyeol as he clapped his hands together. "Wish us luck."
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Sam rolled her eyes. "You don't need it. Trust me."
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"I'll trust her on that one," said D.O, giving her a smile.
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"Make sure you raise those lightsticks high for us," said Suho.
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"Oh, don't worry, we will," said Lee, waving her own in the air.
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All the EXO members quickly ran out of the room. I had to admit, they looked really excited. Not only were they performing tonight, but we The Toxins had found the time to attend their concert.
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Soon after they left, two security guards came to escort us backstage. We found the concert hall full of EXO fans all screaming with excitement. I couldn't help but feel excited with them as they waved their EXO flashlights in the air.
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We were taken to the front roll right in front of stage. There were six seats reserved just for us. This was the kind of special treatment I liked. We had a clear view of the stage in front of us. And luckily, the hall was dark, except from the stage lights, so the time we got to our seats, not one EXO-L noticed that the Toxins were even around. I bet it was better this way. Though it wasn't going to last, that's for sure.
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The concert soon went underway and there was aloud outburst from the fans when EXO appeared on stage. Including us Toxins. We waved our life EXO lightsticks, giving those boys in white our full support.
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They opened the concert with the song "Monster" which was my personal favourite. They killed it on stage and some of us even danced to the song even Lee who stood right beside me. We Toxins danced anyway, since that's what we just love to do.
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The next song they performed was "Lotto" and I couldn't help but sing the song out loud. My Korean is horrible that's for sure, but I sang my heart out anyway as I waved the flashlight in the air. I bet every EXO-L sang along too because the concert hall was filled with raised voices as EXO sang the song.
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At the end of it all, the six of us had our shoulders around each other swaying side to side as we sang to the last part of the song. I had to admit, it felt great.
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The concert had gone on for an hour. As much as I felt tired from all the dancing and since we were standing almost the entire time, I couldn't figure out why I was still energised to cheer for EXO on stage. I bet the others were trying to figure that out too because we had a pretty busy day with practice but we were still going on like the party was just getting started.
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A good thirty minutes later, EXO started to be interactive to their fans and started to joke around on stage. I had to admit, it was kind of cute the way they did it and the fans, most especially the girls couldn't help but scream. I also couldn't help but scream too. Luckily we had Lee who understood Korean was able to translate for us what they were telling their fans. I got a few Korean words at some point so it wasn't really that hard afterwards.
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Then, something happened. Suho on stage had announced that The Toxins were in the building and that kind of set an exciting uproar among the EXO-L. And that apparently made a few fans behind notice us in front of them that they screamed so loud. They pointed out that we were here and to make things even more dramatic, the stage light shone on us. The whole place was in an uproar when our faces were shown on the jumbo screen on stage.
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Suho and the rest of EXO came down the stage and came to where we sat and escorted to us on stage. Lee decided to remain behind but the other EXO members weren't going to take no for an answer. Suho led Christine up on stage, Chanyeol with me while Mike and Daniel didn't need any leading to because they followed us. As for Sam and Lee, the rest of EXO escorted them up on stage.
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As much as I wasn't afraid of being on stage, today felt different. I couldn't tell why. Maybe it's because I was here only as a fan of EXO and not Zoey, a member of The Toxins. I bet the others also felt the same though they all looked really excited.
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Sam got the mic from Suho and greeted all the fans, first in English then in Korean. That sent the fans in another exciting uproar. If it came to EXO, they all looked at Sam with surprising looks on their faces.
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"Wow, is it me or did you really just speak in Korean?" Chanyeol asked, with an unbelievable look on his face.
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"네 (Ne) (Yes)," Sam replied with a smile on her face. She looked adorable with that smile of hers.
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We all had a formal chat with EXO on stage that the fans enjoyed it and couldn't help but scream in delight, especially since most EXO members were acting all clingy on Sam and randomly asking her questions. Even the personal ones. And since she doesn't have a boyfriend, I'll be expecting a long line of gifts from her would be suitors tomorrow.
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The fun part of being on stage was singing out EXO's song. They had made a little game for us to see if we really knew most of their songs. Which we did. Since those me to go first, I refused to sing "Lotto."
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"But why not?" Sehun asked as he laughed.
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"My Korean is horrible," I said as I shook my head. "I'm Zoey and I'm not going to embarrass myself. I know the song, but I would rather sing it with no one around."
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"But you were singing the song with us in the crowd," said Mike.
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I threw Mike a look. "You're so annoying."
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"Just sing the song, Zoey," said Christine. "Just sing the part you know really well."
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"No way."
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"Zoey, please," Sam pleased, giving me the puppy dog look.
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Everyone else on stage started to plead along with her. Including the fans. Arrrgh! I always hated it when the fans urged me to do something I didn't want to do.
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I finally gave in and sang. It wasn't the best of singing since I could sing out a few Korean words right, but anyway, I ended up laughing at myself in the end and so did everyone else. It didn't feel embarrassing. It was actually hilarious.
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The rest of us Toxins soon started to sing out other EXO songs they admitted they didn't know the words to and I had to admit, it was so funny. There was so much drama and laughter on stage, even coming from the fans.
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Sam and Lee were the only ones who really aced it when it came to singing. Since Lee already knew Korean, it was already out of the question. It was surprising that she could sing quite well and a lot of us were really impressed.
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After the little game, EXO decided to go back to singing with the remaining time and us Toxins and Lee went back to our seats. Now that the fans knew where we were, some came over to take pics with us. It was so much fun and we even got to interact with them.
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When the concert was finally over, some of us couldn't help but groan. I personally, didn't want the fun to stop but anyway, it was fun while it lasted. I'll never forget this experience of waving the EXO lightsticks while I sang along with the rest of the EXO-Ls. While we headed back stage with the security guards, I couldn't help but feel a certain detachment from the fans.
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I was going to miss this, no doubt about it. It felt so good to support EXO with the EXO-Ls that I felt I was one myself.
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I smiled. Maybe I am.
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