Chapter Eight

Dino was actually excited that he was invited to Hello Counselor as a guest this time. Last time, it was only Seungkwan and Jeonghan. He was glad that this time he was invited. As the nation's rising topic, he was getting busier, he noticed. 

He was alone with his manager hyung in the car. A small car, which created a way different atmosphere than when using the mini bus SEVENTEEN usually used when they were going around for schedules. 

But today, it was Dino's day. Only he had a schedule and that was him attending Hello Counselor as a guest. The other members are either having a relaxing and lazy day in the dorm—which would be majority of them, Dino guessed—or working on their next album. He could already guess that Woozi would be on it right at this very moment. 

They finally arrived at the building Hello Counselor would be filming at and got down from the car. Dino followed his manager into the building and he couldn't help but be fascinated with every single little thing around him. 

His manager guided him to the waiting room, where it was slightly filled with other people he recognized but didn't know too well. Some actors he's seen once or twice, a member from SF9—if he remembered correctly, they were probably named Inseong and Dawon—and a girl who—

Dino paused by the door, everything inside him slowing down with one look of the girl in the waiting room. He knew that if  he didn't move away right now, everyone would wonder what was wrong with him and get annoyed over the fact he was standing in front of the door, blocking everyone's way. 

But Dino couldn't help but act that way. It was that feeling of when you finally get to see someone you've always seen on the news and online. Sure, he saw her once in person but that was for a few, mere seconds that went by faster than anything else. 

Right now, at this very moment, it was a totally different feeling. This time, he wasn't hiding away behind a baseball cap and a hoodie. This time, they were in an open room with no hidden identities. 

"What are you doing, Chan? Move out of the way or people will get annoyed," his manager lightly whispered, the sternness was left to be seen in his eyes.

Dino finally snapped out of it and moved away. He was too afraid to approach the girl he considered his idol. So he stuck by the sides of the SF9 members and did some pep talk with them right before the show. 

But Dino was being too obvious by always sneaking glances towards her. Inseong noticed this and teased, "You're being such a fan, aren't you?"

Dawon had a smirk on his face as he joined in with his fellow member. "I heard from the news that you are a fan of hers."

"How can I not be?" Dino asked, sighing hopelessly with a smile as he stared at his thighs. 

Inseong nodded with a grin. "That's true. Her skills are of none other, coming from a girl her age, especially. SEVENTEEN must be really lucky, huh? You've got a beautiful fan girl writing an amazing book—fanfiction—for you."

Dino was flustered by the comment coming from his junior, though Inseong was older than him. "I'm sure there's a lot of fanfictions out there written by your fans, too, hyung."

Inseong smiled back. "There are, but it's not everyday you find out the fan girl that wrote a fanfiction of you turned famous, right?"

Dawon nodded his head to her direction and smirked. "You should talk to her. Be her friend instead of her fan. Or... you can be both? How does fanfriend sound?"

Inseong looked at his fellow member weirdly. 

Dawon didn't stop smirking even if Inseong was giving him looks of disapproval. 

Dino sighed and looked back at where she was sitting quietly, probably not minding her surroundings. She didn't make it obvious that she knew her idol was here, so Dino thought she still hadn't found out, though it's been fifteen minutes since he's been in the room. 

"Talk to her, talk to her," both Inseong and Dawon chanted together quietly, clapping their hands softly as well. 

"R-right now?" Dino stuttered, feeling his body start to freeze. 

The two nodded back in response—both wearing an excited smile on their face.

Dino was nervous but he knew that if he didn't do this, he wouldn't be able to meet her again. After all, it was him who wanted to talk, right? He even wrote it in that letter from a week ago. 

Oh no. Dino suddenly remembered the cheesy letter he wrote from a week ago. He even requested the host from the talk show to hand it to her because he would be seeing her the day after, anyways. How am I going to face her?

Dino shook his head and slowly took a step closer, every step shortening the distance between the two of them. A voice at the back of his head was begging him to chicken out and walk away; pretend he didn't notice her sitting there alone and hide in the men's toilet until the show started. But there was a strong encouragement coming from his heart, and Dino chose to listen to that instead. 

He finally stepped in front of her and Hyejin looked up, causing the two of them to make eye contact. In that short second of eye contact, two of them had different emotions. 

Anticipation. Expectation. Nervousness. 

Surprised. Confused. Unsure. 

Dino flashed a smile as he tried to play it cool. "Hi."

"Hi," Hyejin stuttered in response. She couldn't hold a gaze at him for too long. Her eyes traveled elsewhere but Dino could sense that she wanted to keep looking at him but she was too shy.

Dino casually took a seat next to her on the four-seats couch. "It's cool seeing you here. Are you a guest?"

Hyejin nodded, looking uncomfortable in a way. Or nervous. "Yeah, I'm a guest. You too? Only you?"

Dino nodded with a smile. Then he finally found out the reason why she looked so uncomfortable. Dino sat so close next to her there was barely an ample amount of space between them. As a gentleman—as taught by his fellow member, Joshua—he moved a little to the left, giving them a gap large enough so they could still have a friendly talk and for Hyejin to be comfortable. 

"Are you nervous? For the show?" Dino started off with a friendly question, hoping that the conversation would last longer. He didn't want them to have to sit in awkward silence whilst waiting around for the cue that they could enter the set.

Hyejin nodded and inhaled a deep breath. "I'm very nervous. At least, today, I have idols with me so the attention wouldn't solely focus on me. I'm thankful you guys came on the show."

Dino smiled, nodding his head as he listened to her. He somehow found her voice very distinctive—like he would be able to recognize her voice among a crowd cheering for his name. "Ah, before I forget, I wanted to thank you."

Hyejin looked confused. "For..."

Dino smiled as he replied, "For helping me win a bet. You see, the members and I made this bet on which member you'll write about next. I won. So, uh, thank you. I got free lunch because of you."

Hyejin lightly giggled as she fixed her hair in place. "Is that so? That must have been nice. How did you guess that right?"

Dino was just about to say that he read it on her Wattpad but he better keep himself anonymous so he could act like he was a normal person behind his account, @dinorawr17. 

He smiled back at her and shrugged. "Lucky guess? Why'd you decided to write a Hoshi fanfiction?"

"Isn't it obvious enough? I'm also a Hoshi-biased," she said in response, smiling. "I have more than one bias in SEVENTEEN, heads up. This is what happens when there are so many members. Biases and bias wreckers. I'm sure you're familiar with the term?"

Dino was confused with what she was saying. "What? Bias wreckers? What are those?"

"Wow, this is such a funny situation." Hyejin laughed, covering her entire face when she did. That was something Dino took note of. "Okay, so there are biases and bias wreckers. Biases are the ones you like, you see? As for bias wreckers, they're the ones you don't pay attention to the most, but they somehow find a way to steal your attention and draw you away from your bias wrecker. That's how I explain it, at least. You might hear a different answer from a different fan."

Dino smiled and thought of how cute she looked when she was explaining to him. "Is that so? In that case, which member do you concentrate on the most? I'm sure there's this term they say when you look at one person only, the most..."

"Ultimate bias," replied Hyejin with a shy smile. "And as for the first question... it's you."

Dino felt like he was in a drama all of a sudden. Those type of words usually came out from a main character in the drama's mouth. Right? 

Dino felt his lips curl into a smile as he did his best to hide his happiness. "Me? Why's that?"

"Must we discuss that too?" Hyejin was at shock, her mouth hanging open. Dino wouldn't have imagined she had this type of personality. 

"I want to know everything. You know, to be friendly," Dino said in response, hoping that would convince her in some way. 

Hyejin shook her head, looking shy all of a sudden. "It's too weird! Me discussing why you're my bias with you just... Wow, I must be living off some fanfiction right now."

"I can only feel the same way," Dino agreed, letting out a laugh shortly. "Shouldn't we be friends? Want me to give you my number? We can get closer when we keep in contact."

"Are you serious?" Hyejin asked, her eyes widening. She looked like she doubted his words, but Dino was, in fact, being very serious about what he was saying. 

"Yes," he confirmed with a firm nod. "Give me your phone. I'll type in my number."

Hyejin was reluctant but the fact that she had pulled out her phone was already a good sign to Dino. She finally handed the phone to him after thinking it over. Then, once the phone was in Dino's hands, she muttered in a high pitched voice, "I can't believe this is happening!"

"All guests on standby!" Dino heard the staff called.

At the sound of that, Dino worked his fingers and made sure he typed each number correctly. Before he'd handed her back her phone, he made sure to tap on the call button so Dino would instantly get her number. 

People started to move and guests were already waiting in line right in front of a closed door. Dino handed her back her phone and instead of rushing to get to where all the guests already were, he waited for her. 

Hyejin noticed his kind gesture and gave him a smile before they'd walk ahead to regroup with the others. 

The guests entered the set and, for the first time, the live audience in front of them seemed different. Everything felt different, in that matter. Dino wasn't sure why, but he was satisfied with the way it felt. 

It was those type of feelings where when you look at something familiar and have a sure feeling of it but once you look at it again after a while, it somehow feels... different. Dino wasn't sure why it was happening, but he decided to just go with the flow. 

There were about four or five hosts on Hello Counselor. Dino was familiar with Cultwo—Jung Chanwoo and Kim Taegyun—since SEVENTEEN were on the Cultwo Show once. He also knew Shin Dongyup and Lee Youngja but the new host—Choi Taejoon—he wasn't too familiar with him. 

The show started shortly with brief introductions of the guests. It was the two actors first before it would be Dino then Hyejin. 

"...Gong Yoo!" Dongyup said enthusiastically as he clapped his hands. The audience and other hosts did the same. "I watched your drama, Goblin, and I have to say, you look really young for your age."

Gong Yoo showed a shy response by laughing as he looked over to the host. "Is that so? Well, I hope I can get married soon. My age won't change even if I have a young-looking face. If I can't get married, oh well."

The reaction from the audience was great. They laughed along and were probably drooling over the fact Gong Yoo was so handsome. Dino had to agree with them, too. Gong Yoo was good-looking and he couldn't deny the fact. 

"Next, we have Gong Yoo's co-star in the drama, Lee Dongwook!" Dongyup enthusiastically introduced once again. More claps and a positive respond from the audience. 

"I'm happy to be here!" Dongwook said in response, smiling from ear to ear. 

"We have two of Goblin's best actors out here. There's news about you two having a good bromance. Do you agree with that?" Dongyup asked, looking over to Dongwook. 

"Me and Gong Yoo hyung do share a great bromance together. Hyung always take care of me and encourages me on set," Dongwook replied with a smile, making Gong Yoo look touched and flattered at the same time. 

"Gong Yoo is a really handsome guy," Youngja commented, beaming at the actor. 

"Thank you," Gong Yoo replied, bowing. 

"We also have the members of SF9—Dawon and Inseong!" Dongyup introduced with much enthusiasm. 

The two SF9 members bowed, saying their hellos to the live audience. 

"Next, we have SEVENTEEN's rising star, Dino!" Dongyup introduced once again. 

Dino took his cue and bowed, waving at the audience with a happy smile. "Hi, everyone! I'm glad to be here with amazing people as guests and amazing hosts."

"Aigoo, that's kind of you to say," Dongyup said, feeling touched. 

"Next, we have the nation's rising author, Hwan Hyejin!" Dongyup finally introduced the last guest. The reaction for Hyejin was even wilder than Gong Yoo, who won most of the hearts of the women here in the set. "It's a very amazing coincidence that we have both Dino and Hwan Hyejin here."

Hyejin looked nervous, so she mostly laughed at the comments made. Then, jokingly, she asked, "Did you guys planned this?"

The hosts laughed. 

"She has a nice sense there," Youngja commented with a proud, motherly smile. "We have new concerns today..."

Dino wasn't sure what happened during the show. He was mostly attentive, but the fact that Hyejin was sitting right next to him somehow made him aware of his very few actions. He worried he would make himself look like a fool if he moved around too much, but if he didn't move around too much, Hyejin might not have noticed him. Dino found himself worrying about every little detail when it came to her. 

The show slowly ended before they knew it and the guests were allowed to take pictures with those normal people of South Korea who came today with their concerns. 

Dino noticed that most of the male guests—that were around university ages—lined up to take a selfie with Hyejin, which surprised Hyejin greatly. Dino was standing nearby, watching them and feeling jealous, for some odd reason. 

I guess this is how it feels like when Hyejin or just any Carat in general sees us with girls, Dino thought as he smiled at the camera of a fellow Carat. 

Once the photo taking was done, the guests went back to the waiting room and picked up their things before they left. 

Right before Dino would leave, he approached Hyejin with a smile and said, "Hey, I'll text you later, okay?"

Hyejin was just about to walk to her manager but paused right in front of Dino. With a smile, she nodded and said, "Okay. I'll be waiting then?"

Dino smiled back. "Yeah. Okay."

For the first time, Dino got to experience what it was like to feel like you're in a room with just one person, when, in reality, it was packed with bustling people attending to their work and doing their best to get everything cleaned and ready for something. 

It was something unexplainable. He thought he already knew the situation—it was a simple meet-your-idol-in-person kind of feeling, but that wasn't the case. Right when he was caught off guard, it happened. For the first time ever, he felt the familiar heartbeat with a rhythm that lost control and it started finding its own beat—a unique one. 

Dino was back in the car with his manager before he knew it and yet, the memory from a few moments ago seemed to be replaying repeatedly in his mind like a broken cassette. Dino found himself smiling. 

Remembering that Hyejin might be waiting for his text, he immediately pulled out his phone to compose it. 

Putting his phone back into his pockets, Dino switched to stare out of the window, not giving a care to his manager's questioning look about Dino smiling to himself. Just like that, Dino felt happier than when SEVENTEEN first won an award on a music show.