#writer tee

Let me start of by saying that I had been extremely lucky. I had been a fan of these boys since boys planet, so it's a no-brainer that I purchased STANDING VIP tickets for their first Asian tour. Admittedly, I had been busy as of late – only keeping up with major song releases. I even set aside writing as a hobby. But still, I felt I owed it to them and to myself to watch them in concert.

The day comes, October 12, 2024 and the queueing number I'm assigned to is 164. This means that 163 people will enter the arena before me and take their desired spot. I was prepared to have a view with 4 rows of people ahead of me. But still, it was a great day and I had no reason to complain. I complimented people on their outfits, spoke to the staff, and traded cards with zerose.

The security team messed up, and called on the wrong section to start entering the arena. My line got separated from the rest, and I was left to the side of the entrance. I wasn't sure what time they were gonna let me in.

By some grace of the universe, they let my line in first. I became THE VERY FIRST to enter the arena. So that was when I secured my spot in front of the right side of the stage. The only thing that would separate me and the stage is the barricade. I was with my friend, and we were both so giddy.

SOUNDCHECK EXPERIENCE

They came outta nowhere, I wasn't even prepared. They started pouring in stage and greeting everyone and I was shaking so bad. It felt surreal to see them up on stage.

I had a lot of signages prepared. I wanted to ask Ricky and Hanbin what tattoo to get. To my surprise, they noticed me right away and gave their answer within 5 minutes of entering the stage. I was in SHOCK.

The soundcheck experience ended, and it was the shortest 10 minutes of my life.

CONCERT EXPERIENCE

I have a lot to say about the concert. And it's all good things. All their songs sound better in real life. Stage presence unmatched. I think I blacked out during the first song, I was extremely overwhelmed.

Ricky is even more ethereal in real life. I'm not even joking when I say that I was looking at him for 50% of the concert. That face card is crazy, and his confidence is overwhelming. His aura is calm, cool, and collected. What's crazy is that I would start filming Gunwook, but my camera would magically gravitate toward filming Ricky instead.

Hanbin is exactly like how you would imagine him to be. He was so sweet, and he was truly THE fanservice king. He reads signs a lot, and matches all the requests it reads out. I think I got noticed by him a total of 3 times at the concert.

Matthew is a sweetheart. My friend who watched with me is a big seokryudan, and her sign read "take our phone!". He mouthed "I'm sorry I can't, but I love you" to her and blew her a kiss. I wish I was making this shit up.

Gyuvin also is a fanservice king. Love him so much. He read all our signs, and even WITHOUT a sign, he still interacted with me. Jiwoong looks like a god that I can't touch. Hao is so fun to watch on stage because you can tell he loves music and dance so much. Yujin wants to be an adult so bad :( can you just be a baby for a moment please! and Taerae only exclusively notices fanboys. It's kinda funny.

And finally, Gunwook. As you may all know, I'm a Gunwook bias through and through. He didn't really notice me in the beginning, until I remembered he has bad eyesight so I have to try a little harder (lol). Before that, I want to praise him because his presence on stage is so mesmerizing. I keep looking for him because he is energetic, charismatic, and so so so alluring to watch. His movements seem even bigger and better on stage, and he just looks like he is having the best time in the world.

All my interactions with him happened during the last commentary segment of the concert. He saw my "wink if you see this" sign, and my "Gunwook I choose you" Pokemon sign.

Let me break down this interaction for you. When he read my sign, I was raising my banner SO HIGH. I am 5'7" and if I jump, with my arm outstretched, my sign would float above the rest of the crowd – so that's exactly what I did.

What I cannot get over is how he LAUGHED at me when I almost fell as I landed, and I started mouthing "thank you I love you" and he gave me a thumbs up. I do not think I will EVER get over this experience. EVER.