#rkpjs

truthfully, she doesn’t know what to expect. while she had prepared a few things to make the event more interactive, she still couldn’t possibly gauge how they will respond to it. joy can only hope that they would enjoy the things she had arranged and that it wouldn’t be subpar to their expectations. she wants more than anything for them to have fun and to really celebrate such a special occasion with her. after all, this might be the only time within the year where she can intimately gather with them like this.

when the event starts, she walks up to the stage with the happiest smile, a hand above her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. the cheers from their fans were loud, it didn’t even feel like there were only fifty of them there. just seeing them in front of her, their faces as clear as day makes her heart full already. this was the best birthday gift she could have ever hoped for.

“hello everyone! i’m k.arma’s kil, thank you so much for being here today.” was her introduction, the microphone clutched tightly in her hands. “how are you? did you miss me?” she asks with a teasing smile, a laugh escaping from her lips as a booming chorus of “yes!” was heard from the audience. “ah, i missed you all too. i can’t wait to meet everyone on stage again but this is really fun too, right? i’m so happy that i’m given the chance to spend my birthday with everyone. i’m very grateful that you’re here with me today.” she says with utmost sincerity, a sparkle of fondness shining within her brown eyes.

the first few minutes of the hour begins with more chatter from her end. she shares little anecdotes about how she spent the morning of her birthday; the presents she’s received from the members, the breakfast she shared with doyeon, and the subsequent excitement as she prepares for the event. it felt like talking to an old friend but even better because their animated reactions kept on making her laugh throughout. 

suddenly, the staff brought out a two-tiered fondant cake with lit candles carefully adorned on top of it. “wow, it’s time to blow the candles now?” she says in surprise, walking closer towards the cake. as soon as she finished speaking, the crowd erupted into a birthday song. as they sing for her, she sways and claps along, eyes on them the entire time. as soon as they were done, she thanks them with a polite bow and moves to blow the cake but not before closing her eyes to make a wish. 

i hope we always get to build happy memories.

finally, she blows the candles as the fans cheered once again. “thank you, thank you.” she says with a smile. “i will tell you guys what i wished for but i don’t want to jinx it so i’ll just keep it to myself for now.” she laughs despite their whines. afterward, she took pictures with the cake and chattered some more. at one point, she gave in to a request to dance a portion of their latest release as she danced the killing part.

for the next portion, the staff pulled out a large resume card which she hoped they can utilise for the fans to get to know her better. joy feels that there’s still so much of her that they don’t know, even though it’s already been more than a year since she debuted. the segment took a few minutes to finish. in it, she talked about her favourite nickname “joy is my english name and pretty much everyone i know call me as that!”; a special talent, “i can memorise a choreography just by watching it.”; and other smaller information such as where she was born, what languages she knows how to speak, and what are her hobbies.  

the childhood section may seem like it would be more revealing but it’s honestly facets of her life which she doesn’t mind sharing. in there, she talks about her strengths and weaknesses. what she loved to do as a child where she talked about how much performing means to her even at a young age. she also mentioned her first memory of seoul, which was a childhood vacation where all she did was eat hotteok and mandu as how she felt an instant connection for the city even though it was her first time ever being there.

the last few moments of the fan meeting would be where she gets to interact with all of the attendees one-by-one for a short period of time. as they all file a line to approach her, she’s surprised at the many different faces she’s greeted by. they were all so courteous and wonderful. one of the more memorable people, a young man who introduced himself as pj, told her quite nicely how she’s even more breathtaking in real life to which she can only laugh. he looked very excited to meet her and this energy was rubbing off on her, as evidenced by her grin and the adoring look she’s giving him. before he’s asked to move, what made their interaction even more significant to her memory was the note he slid towards her. “my friend told me to give this to you, and he'd kill me if you didn't read it. 99% sure you know him!” he says, and with a look of surprise she quickly masks, she thanks him generously before waving goodbye.

another significant interaction was when she was offered a large ring. as soon as she sees it, she laughs boisterously. “oh my gosh!” was her reaction, eyes wide as she accepts the large ring. “thank you! this is so pretty. i’ll put it through my arm to keep it safe.” she gushes, smiling at the man whose name she gathered was dowhan. the big ring rests comfortably on her wrist, acting as a bracelet. she kept it on there until the entire event was over.

soon enough, it was time to say goodbye. “thank you so much again for coming to my birthday party. i hope that we’ll always get to spend such wonderful time together like this. i had the best birthday ever!” she speaks with utmost happiness. “thank you for all your support. please look forward to seeing k.arma in the future, we love you all dearly!” with that final message, she goes around the entirety of the stage waving at every corner she can reach.