DAY 9

A never ending dream of pure bliss as every second goes by with Kim Jongin. You told him that you still need to spend time with your friends since it seems as if you haven't even been outside of the hotel with them in the past week. He agrees and chuckles, then says that he also needs to rehearse too. You smile, say goodbye and good luck, then hang up the phone. 

"Are you ready to go?" Your roommate asks you. You grin and nod at her and she responds with, "Alright, let's go!" Then you two head out the door. 

Suddenly it's the five of you again laughing and talking whilst shopping around the streets. You all step into a small boutique first. One of your friends takes your hand, stops in front of a really pretty summer dress, grabs it, and pushes you to try it on. You grin and say "We all have to try something!"

So you do the girly thing. Grab everything you like, wait for your friends to do the same, then head to the dressing room and try everything on. Each of your friends, after trying something on, comes out of the dressing room to show off to the others. You do the same. But whenever one tries to take a photo, you shield your face from the camera. "Oh come on!" Your friends whine jokingly. But they know that taking photos has always been a weak side of you. Looking back on younger photos of yourself that were at least 2 years old, you always thought, "Oh, I was pretty cute back then." But looking at photos that were current, you hated the sight of yourself. It wasn't extreme, not the kind of I-hate-myself-and-I'm-gonna-change-so-I-can-look-pretty kind of thing, no. It's just that you don't like having your picture taken. 

You do buy a light blue, medium length, flowy, summer dress at this boutique. With the loads of money you brought, you had barely spent any in the past week. You smile happily at your purchase; it's cute and looks good on you. You're pretty unconfident in yourself, but lately, you've been feeling pretty good. And your theory is an obvious one. It's because Kai loves you. An idol loves you. A sexy, gorgeous, famous, perfect, no-one's-good-enough-for-him type of idol. And yet, he wants you. And that made walking around this world a million times better. Cheesy, but it's the power of love, as one might call it.

"Alright, time for the next shop! Kamsahamnida!" One of your Korean friends say, then thanks the person at the cash register, the only employee in the store at the moment. You all walk out cheerily; your friends had bought more than you since you only had one garment in your bag. In essence, all you are doing is going down the street one shop at a time. Probably a shopper's dream. Everything is fairly cheap and yet different from what you normally see back at home. 

The next shop is large and roomy, and has an expensive feel to it. You start to wonder if you can even afford anything here. You grab the price tag of a random dress near the spot where you're standing and take a nervous glance. After thinking about how much you have with you, you sigh in relief. It's cheaper than expected. You grin at your friends and begin your search.

It's mid-summer, which means burning weather, but you grab dresses, jeans, t-shirts, tank tops, jackets. Anything you like, of all different colors and styles. It's fascinating to you how people can stick to one style when there's so many. You're a little punk, but sometimes cute and girly too. Gothic lolita maybe? You laugh at your own reference. You're also a manga and anime fan.

You do end up buying a top, a pair of jeans, and a cute sweater there. The shopping continues. Eventually, you feel like one of those girls from the movies, walking around with the bags all up her arms full of merchandise. You are laughing and talking with your friends when suddenly one of them pops the question you've mentally been preparing for.

"So how's it going with Kai?" She stretches the name and raises her eyebrow, grinning at you. Your reaction is a mini-blush, which the friend standing closest to you laughs at.

"I, uh, we're fine. He's.. yeah. We're great. Yeah." You answer nervously. Clearly not the smooth reply you had been planning to say earlier.

"Hahaha!" The curious friend laughs. "How far have you two gone?" She's also a little scandalous.

"What? No! We haven't done anything like tha--" You remember the sweet kiss from the other day and your blush deepens. Your friend laughs harder. "No! I swear, we haven't done--! Ugh, you know what I mean!"

All of them laugh now, and you lightly punch one of them on the arm. "Okay, okay we get it!" One says.

You're not quite sure how many outfits you have by the end of the day, but you're really happy to have gotten so much. Now I can show Kai... you think. Then give yourself a little smile as you look at all your new garments back at the hotel. After going to small shops to buy souvenirs, and eating dinner at a nice restaurant, the five of you had returned to the hotel to rest. You look at the clock. 9:45 PM flashes back at you. You usually sleep later than this, so you open up the small laptop you had brought with you. 

You have a few emails. Two or three from friends back at home, asking you about Korea and idols and souvenirs. You chuckle at their comments. Your roommate asks you what's so funny and you tell her, "Our friends at home want to see idols too, duh." There's also an email from your parents. A typical parent-email, asking about safety and monuments you've seen, etc, etc, etc. You reply to that one first and when you finally click send, you move on to replying to other emails. 

After shutting down your laptop, you feel refreshed and more connected to your friends back at home. And optimistic too, which is a new feeling for you. You'll find a way to be with Kai, even if you're not here. No matter what it takes, you'll find a way.