|sixteen|

|Aera's POV|

"Are you girls ready?" ChanHyuck questions as he peeks his head in the door.

"Yes!" JuHee chirps joyously as she organizes the three gifts on her table for what feels like the millionth time.

I quickly slip the gift from Mark into my bag and slip it under the table. ChanHyuck said we're opening the gifts all at once on stage. I don't want to open Mark's gift in front of everyone. I don't know what he got me—more importantly—I don't want anyone to know what he got me. It could be a candy bar and I still wouldn't want them to know. It's between us and only us.

I place my hands on top of the table and take a deep breath before smiling widely. Our fans begin to make their way into the restaurant. I tap my foot anxiously as I watch them approach NaHee.

I'm supposed to be outgoing and cheerful, but right now it's kind of hard. I know I have fans, but I haven't met them in person before. What if they don't like me after seeing me? What if I'm not who they thought I was? What if none of my fans are even here?

"Cherry—this is for you." A small girl with dark hair smiles joyously as she holds out a small box for me.

"Thank you so much! What's your name?" I take the box from her and set it down next to the others.

"Seulgi." She mumbles shyly as I hold my hands out for hers.

"That's such a pretty name. How's your day going? You didn't wait out there too long, did you?" I ask as she finally meets my gaze.

"It's really good. I was super excited to come see you today. After I saw you dance, I begged my mom to let me start dancing, too. I'm not as good as you are, but I'm learning. I didn't wait too long either." Seulgi glances down at our hands.

"Where do you dance at?" I question, interested in how her practice is coming along.

"It's just a small dance academy where I live. I live out in the country with my mom and brother." She explains as she turns to see how far behind her the next person is.

"Let me give you some advice before you have to go—listen to your heart. When it comes to dancing the most important thing is how you feel. You have to listen to your body and not overwork yourself. Promise me I'll get to see you again and next time you'll have to dance for me, okay?" I let go of her hand to reach out and brush her hair out of her face.

"I promise." Seulgi smiles brightly as she waves at me before hurrying to JuHee's table.

The next couple dozen people go by quickly. Most of them are here for one of the other members, but a lot of them are kind and loving. They tell me how much they love me and how talented I am, but none of them even compare to the first one. Seulgi reminded me of myself in a way. I think that's why she made such an impact on me.

I take a deep breath and relax in my chair as a small gap gives me a moment to collect myself. I take the opportunity to glance at the other girls' tables. My face falls as I notice the number of gifts on their tables. SunMi has more presents than her table can hold while NaHee has only a few. JiSu and JuHee both have a few less than me.

I know SunMi has a huge fan base because of her gaming, but is it really fair for her gaming to give her an upper hand in the music world? Shouldn't they be content playing a game with her online? Why are they so infatuated with her? Can't they see that she's not all that special?

"Cherry, here." A tall, slender boy with red hair smiles as he hands me a huge stuffed unicorn.

"Thank you so much!" I immediately get to my feet to take it from him. I squeeze it tightly before setting it down on the ground behind me.

"I've been dying to meet you since before Sixteen. You're amazing." He chirps as I take his hands in mine.

"Thank you. What's your name?" I question softly as his cheeks grow red.

"I—I'm SeungMin." He stumbles over his words innocently.

"It's really nice to meet you, SeungMin. I hope I get to see you again!" I squeeze his hands tightly and let him go.

These few minutes per fan just isn't enough. I want to hug each and every one of them. I want to know everything there is to know about them, too.

"How's it going?" ChanHyuck asks as he comes up behind me and places his hand on my shoulder.

"Good. I met a lot of fans—a lot of them said I was the one who made them want to dance. I got tons of gifts, too." I smile as I try to keep my upbeat attitude. I don't want my bitterness to cause problems.

"I'm going to start moving the gifts onto the stage. If you need anything just ask." ChanHyuck explains as he slowly begins picking up some of my gifts.

"Aera! I couldn't make it earlier, so I snuck in with everyone else." JiHyo leans over the table to hug me tightly.

"Thank you so much for coming! It means a lot. I haven't seen you in forever. How are the others? I saw Mina and Momo, but I haven't seen or heard from the others in a long time." I frown as I pull away from her.

"Everyone's doing good. Here, take this. I'll call you later. I don't want to hold everyone else up. I have to get this to MinHee, too." JiHyo holds up a small white bag covered in sparkles. It sounds just like her to bring everyone a gift. She probably spent a lot of money on them all, too.

"Thanks again, JiHyo." I motion her to lean back over for a final hug.

"Our little Aera is a star now." JiHyo squeezes me tightly before waving and quickly moving on to JuHee.

I watch her joyful movements as JuHee's face lights up. It's always nice to see someone you trained with for years, but it can hurt, too. I trained with her and look where she is. She's on top of the world. She's openly dating a big star and has everything she could ever want. Then there's me. I'm just making my mark on the world. It's not even a big mark yet—I don't know if it will even last.

"Hey, me and the guys got you a gift." JongHo taps my shoulder from behind.

"Oh—thanks." I take the small red bag from him and set it down on the table.

"It's rough, isn't it?" JongHo asks as he glances over at SunMi.

"Yeah, not in a bad way though. I just hate not being able to talk to them very long." I frown as I prepare for the next fan.

"They cherish a glance from you—trust me, they are more than happy with the little bit of time they have with you." JongHo reassures me before moving toward JuHee.

The fans continue to file through. Their faces and gifts begin to blur as we slowly reach the end of them. I look out at all of them gathered in the center of the restaurant waiting for us to open our gifts.

I take in all of their faces. Their may only be about two hundred of them, but each one of them is going to follow us to our debut stage. They're going to be the same faces looking back at us until we disband. I will never forget them—even if I'm not their favorite member. The fact they came here today is more than enough for me to love them.