Extraordinary Love

The first moment I saw you appear, my heart immediately longed for you.

The first time he met her was when her group entered his group's waiting room as rookies in the industry. It had been a long-time tradition where a junior just greeted a senior group, introduced themselves and exchanged albums. However, when a newcomer from one of the big three labels introduced themselves to a group from a smaller label, it spoke volumes about that group. Of course his group greeted the new group as a polite and responsible senior group. One nasty rumour and his group could be banned from the music show. When he saw the new group at the door, he intended to scan the members quickly, but his eyes had other ideas. His gaze landed on her again after he scanned the group members. His heart started racing uncontrollably. Usually, he felt it when they finished a practice or a performance. He caught a glimpse of her and swiftly looked away. He stole a glance again at her, but this time she focused on his leader.

My heart found peace hearing your beautiful voice greet me.

“Be my ae! Hi, we are æspa!”

That was the first time he heard the voice, although it overlapped with other groupmates. Her voice was surprisingly deep, raspy, and incredibly cute. Yet he felt serene when she spoke sometimes as a representative of her members. Even after Aespa left the room, his bandmates started talking about the new group.

They agreed that the group’s visuals were classic SM style. As expected, SM knew what they had done. They kept talking about Karina, the leader of the group, radiating a girl-crush vibe. Winter looked like someone's first love, whereas Ningning looked particularly charismatic yet edgy. Giselle gave the same aura as one member of the senior group at SM, yet a modern, effortless ‘it-girl’ energy radiated.

Men with their gossip, but he agreed with the comment about her. Maybe that's what he felt when he saw her earlier.

The feelings stirring inside me were beyond anything I expected.

Days passed, and Aespa made an impact in South Korea. He wasn't surprised, as Aespa was an SM group. They lived up to the usual Big Three standard, after all, commanding the stage with polished perfection only a massive agency could produce. He tracked her closely on YouTube as the group performed "Black Mamba" across various music shows. He started as a casual fan of her group and became one of the stans when they released the song Forever. From that moment, she became his bias. He even made a secret account and followed all the fan accounts related to her. It was a reckless idea, yet he created the profile while keeping its existence a secret from his bandmates and manager

As the days passed by, love quietly found its way into my heart.

As time went by, Aespa had grown to be a 'monster rookie' group. Their popularity exploded when Next Level was released. He was able to meet her at a music show as his group promotion overlapped with her. To him, it was serendipitous to be able to meet her face-to-face when her groupmates greeted his bandmates and exchanged albums. Although he only caught a brief glimpse of her, it had already made his day. He started to follow the content related to aespa just to see her. His group members began to notice his behaviour when Aespa appeared and started teasing him. Although they didn't know who his bias was yet. When Aespa appeared on variety shows like Knowing Brothers through the tabloid news, he would just set an alarm notification so he would not miss it live. He was already subscribed to their official YouTube channel, always liked the video and kept the notification bell on so it would pop up whenever aespa uploaded new content. The feeling started as a silly crush and evolved into something more, and he knew about it. He thought that this silly crush would end soon, as he was one of her fans.

Whenever I see you, I behold someone like an angel.

Aespa's popularity had changed from monster rookie to one of the leaders of the 4th generation of K-pop groups. The success of Next Level propelled Aespa to international stardom. Aespa did not stop at Next Level, as Savage was also an instant hit, solidifying Aespa's place as one of the top girl groups. That means he was able to keep watch over her at the broadcast station. Their schedules crossed paths, unyielding and unavoidable. One of her groupmates was the same age as him, so he was able to become an acquaintance due to a common friend, and she added to the group with the same-age idol. Every time they crossed paths, he chatted with her groupmates just as an excuse to see her, soaking in those few short moments to satisfy his crush.

The graceful curve of your eyes, the sweetness of your smile, your long black hair, elegantly tied back.

He still remembered the date when the two of them exchanged numbers. She followed her unnies, as she didn't have a schedule and wanted to spend time. The group started to plan a short getaway. When her unnies asked if she could follow, it was instantly okay from others. They knew of his crush on her. Oh, and her unnies also knew about it, as they kept teasing him in the group. He also didn't know how others were able to find out but should hide it better next time.

The short 2-day, 1-night getaway made it memorable to him as he was able to talk to her even just about daily life. The highlight was during the night when they did the BBQ party. He was able to hold conversation with her. Only Heaven knew how he felt inside. Regardless, the two of them became friends, as the birthday gap was not too far. He had an idea to shake off his crush by simply becoming friends with her. So when they became friends, he would know that he better stay friends with her. Silly him, fate refused to let him off that easily.

These feelings are impossible to hold back.

Whenever Aespa won an award or celebrated a new milestone, he always used it as an excuse to message her. Their conversations always drifted off with his final message left hanging as she was simply too busy. Yet, he was content with it. Gradually, those chaotic emotions began to mellow out. That is what he thought, but when she initiated the text to him, asking about any random topic, he folded. Pulling himself out of another mental spiral always took time to settle. He just came to terms with his feelings. Much like a sneeze, it was an involuntary force that he simply couldn't stop, no matter what. He decided to let a little bit of it out, but subtly, making sure never to give his secret away to her.

My heart has always belonged to you.

The more they talked, the more common points they found that they shared. For him, it's a pleasant thing to know. Due to their friendship, he was able to ask questions that he couldn't ask before under the pretext that 'his friend asked him, What should he give advice/opinion?'. The more he got to know her, the more she became his sun, exerting an involuntary gravitational pull that he couldn't escape. Meeting her felt just like reading that poem from years ago.

Mass is not proportional to volume.
A girl as small as a violet.
A girl who moves like a flower petal is pulling me toward her with more force than her mass.
Just then, like Newton’s apple, I rolled toward her without stopping until I fell on her, with a thump. With a thump.
My heart keeps bouncing between the sky and the ground.
It was my first love.

Please accept this song from an ordinary person,

He wrote a song about her for the first time. More accurately, the song is about his feelings towards her. He has been writing songs for his group and composing for his group's songs. Whenever he tried to compose a song about love, his muse was her. His fellow bandmate and the label's senior composer have a vague feeling that the song is about her. When the agency and senior composer called for new song submissions, the group jumped at the chance to pitch the track for their next album. His personal drive is crowded with unreleased song demos. Only a fraction of his drafts were selected for the group's last tracklist. His member and producer were able to sing their love song. His member is only able to speculate and tease him, but he never says anything about it, as the song is indirectly about her and everyone is able to relate. This time, he wasn't writing to please the masses. He was creating something raw, meant only for her. Thus, he started writing earnestly. He just wants to pour all of his feelings into the song. His bandmates and manager would definitely decode the lyrics later, but he decided to cross that bridge when he came to it.

Even so, my love for you is extraordinary.

The next album was released at the same time. Aespa were promoting their next album. As always, both group songs and the album were climbing the chart. Aespa just kept winning show awards and charting in real time, but the boy group could only sustain its chart positions for two weeks. But the real shock came when a solo artist completely blindsided the industry by dominating the music charts. The song, Extraordinary Love, climbed the chart and, out of nowhere, topped at number one in real time. The public loved it, but when they heard the singer, the question arose. Why did the label grant him a solo release instead of including it in the album near the group's comeback? Maybe the album would do better in sales. The song was doing well, and the rumour grew as well. The company released a statement saying the song was too strong to be released on the album, so they tried to let the member go solo to see how the public would react to it. But the people in the company knew the truth. Only this way could they release a good song while making another income.

For him, he didn't really care. At least it was out there. Releasing the song brought him a deep sense of internal relief. He no longer had to bury those intense feelings in his heart. Unless outsiders worked directly with his group, the public would never decipher the truth. This was his way to confess his feelings without having to say anything to her. It was cowardly, yes, but it was one-sided love, his admiration for her. And he was content with it.

I have no flowers to give, and I possess no wealth.

Their friendship was still going strong; they texted constantly, talking about much more than just Aespa's recent award wins. He was becoming one of her close friends. He did not dare to cross the line into romance. So when he heard some boy from another boy group confessed to her, his heart just dropped, but he still asked if she accepted the confession.

"Why would I? I already had someone I liked," she replied with a smile emoticon. The only word that truly described his emotional state was heartbroken. He almost dropped the phone. Unlike his heart, he was still able to catch the phone. His stupid mind was able to ask several questions about her secret crush. Is he an idol or actor? When did she start liking him? Why had she kept this hidden from him for so long? What did she like about him? She answered every single question he asked. The last question he asked was, 'Is he a good guy?' as he was ready to give up on her. He didn't think he could compete anymore.

“Yes, he is a good guy, I think. Unnies also think he is a good guy. I started to like him just not long ago.”

All I have is a faithful heart.

Hearing about her secret crush weighed heavily on his mind, reminding him painfully of his place. He chose to remain her friend instead of being selfish and confessing to her. He was curious to find out exactly what kind of man managed to catch her eye. She never tried to give any clue about her crush. So, he started to ask around the industry and follow some fan accounts or find any dating rumours about her. When he opened TikTok, one of her most popular romantic pairings was with a fellow member of her group. Aside from that, he saw a limitless number of edits pairing her with another guy. He tried to find edits shipping himself and her together, but to his disappointment, the algorithm only generated content showcasing their platonic friendship. The fans also saw them as friends only.

Please accept my extraordinary love, offered to you with all my sincerity.

After the New Year event at the beginning of the new year, most idol groups get a break for Seollal. But a close group of friends plan to have a vacation among them. Aligning schedules for a mixed-gender trip is no easy feat. They decide to have a short vacation before Seollal, so Muuido Island is the destination.

The highlight of a short vacation is BBQ, so they really go all out with ingredients. When evening begins to gloaming, they start the BBQ party. He sees her quite close with one of their friends all the evening, so his brain starts to think. Is their friend the one she likes? It's not like he can ask her about it. Why would he ask in the first place without raising a suspicion? So he just minds himself grilling the meat.

A short vacation with friends won't be complete without games at night. Yutnori becomes highly competitive because everyone wants to play by their hometown rules. Don't even start with a mafia game; it almost breaks their friendship. But the highlight of it would be to sit beside a campfire and play the ultimate game, the truth game. The conversation starts with a light question that borders on TMI. However, because they are in a close circle of friends, no one minds the oversharing. As they spin the bottle, he keeps thinking about what question he should ask if it stops at her.

Yet, the bottle points at him. Their friend celebrates, as not even once has the bottle even pointed at him yet. They keep planning what questions to ask him, but someone beats them.

“Is there anyone in this circle that you have stayed up late thinking about?”

His brain freezes. Why do they ask this kind of question? In front of everyone?! He chooses between drinking or telling the truth. She looks at him.

“Maybe, but I'm not saying.” The group boos him, giving a subpar answer. And they move on, spinning the bottle again, and this time, it stops, pointing at her. He was ready to ask the question, but someone faster than him asks,

“Is there anyone on this trip you'd actually date?”

His heart aches again, but not the same way as before; he already knows and has come to terms with it, but when he hears it again, the pain is still there. Earlier today, he sees her laughing and talking closely with one of their friends. He immediately assumes that the other friend is the one she talks about.

Before his brain and heart calm down, the bottle stops once again at her. The group cheers while she moue as she has to answer again, yet she does it anyway. She starts listing the things unique about him when he is already annoyed but still listens. Like really? That guy really likes that?

“Someone who complains about the rules of Yutnori but still tries his hardest to win.”

Yeah, everyone is competitive when it comes to games. He sighs and just looks at the campfire. His head is no longer in the game and just plays for the sake of the game. Then they decide to end the game but with one last spin. They spin it, but he just wants to get some fresh air, feeling stuffy inside. Whoever is pointed at is no longer his concern. Then he hears the question.

“If you had to leave the circle right now and spend the rest of the night with that person, would you do it?”

Oh, he just filters the answer out of his mind, but their friend's reaction already gives everything away. Well, maybe their friend is just surprised by the answer. It is none of his concern anymore.

Soon the game ends, and he just walks away from the campfire, needing some fresh air and to clear his mind. He is aware someone just followed him; he glances back to see who and is surprised that she is following him.

“What's wrong? You've been weird since this evening?” She walks by his side, playfully nudging his shoulder. He just shakes his head, signalling nothing happened. Then he says, “Just thinking of your answer in the last game. Hope things go well for you and him.” She stops where she stands and watches his back as he walks away from her.

He is absolutely dense.