Whisper of the Silencee

6

~You're too too too perfect to be imperfect~

~Come to me me me and I'll be your friend~

~Don't be sad sad sad cause I'll be sad~

~Let me oh, let me oh~

~Let me light up the darkness in you ohh~

The outdoor site for the fan meeting event was crammed with the shadows of people. Paparazzi. Security guards. Fans. Crews. Along the walkaway, under the shades, behind the pillars. They were just..everywhere. A huge expensively looking banner, featuring Kyle grandly, was hung floating in the middle of the air, between two tall light poles. Followed by several other smaller pieces. Everyone present was gathering in the open, chit-chatting happily accompanied by the upbeat music being played in the background. Let me light up the darkness in you, both composed and sung by Kyle was being played as the BGM. The hit song that gave him the spotlight after debuting for six years. His first song that won several awards, domestically and internationally.

"Put this on," Brandon said, shoving Clover a black mask as the car was reaching the destination, "I don't want them to know that we have a new people on our team."

"They will have to know," Kyle argued, checking his looks through the reflected image of him in the rear mirror. "Sooner or later."

"Then let it be as later as possible."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "You're being really ridiculous, Brandon."

"Ha! Am I?" He said irritatingly, provoking him. "I'm pretty sure that it's you being ridiculous for the past few days."

"Brandon.. you--"

"I'll wear it!" Clover snatched away the dangling mask from Brandon's hand and interrupted, zipping the other two.

Pulling the strings and tucking them behind her ears, "It's okay," she said, adjusting the mask. "I don't really like showing my face to the public either."

And that stopped the quarrel that was about to repeat.

"Thank god you still have some senses with you," Brandon uttered, slowing down the car before taking a 9 o'clock turn at the roundabout.

Kyle smiled apologetically. "Don't put it on now, Clover," he paused her gesture and slid down the mask, stopping at her chin, "It's hard to breathe with that thing on your face."

The remaining journey to the spot wasn't very far away. Sights of colourful helium gases balloons hung in the air, was an indicator to tell them that they were near to the venue.

The moment Kyle's car appeared approaching the site, people around automatically went wild. They hopped out of their comfort zone and dashed outside, crowding the space that the car was trying to pass through. It wobbled at their multiple pushes. The windows knocked on too excitedly, making it felt like the knocks included bits of aggressiveness. Loud screamings penetrated. Hands running all over the car, leaving multiple stains of fingerprints.

Brandon's vision was hindered. He had to make discontinuous brakes, jerking each time, one after another to avoid turning the area into an incident or accident scene. It was as if they didn't treat the car as a car, but a small moving object that can be squashed under their feet. Which were Kyle's fans, or crews or whorever.. no longer could be differentiated. They looked just like a whole lot of people of the same category, trying to get in the view of somebody they admired.

"Don't be like this..." Brandon drew in his brows, hesitating to step on the oil pedal any deeper than just 1mm.

"Wow," Clover slacked her jaw, pressing her ten fingers on the windows, stunned by the chaotic situation outside. "You really are famous."

Kyle closed his eyes and smirked. "Nah."

"Oh my god!" Clover pulled her face away from the window. "You shocked me." She gasped under her breath, referring to the teenage girl pressing her lips on the glass, staining it with the mark.

"Bare with it, Clover," Kyle said, still closing his eyes. "This is just the beginning."

"It must be really tired, isn't it?"

Kyle curved up his lips a little, "Every success is bound to have sacrifices. I chose to be an idol. And that took away my freedom, my privacy, and.." His voice trailed off, looking away to hide the scars in his eyes - the ones that I love.

"And?"

He chuckled lightly, locking the pain in him. "Too many."

Rolling down the tinted windows, Brandon finally pushed out his head to seek for a wider space, "Hey sweeties! Watch out for the car!" He waved his hand, signaling them to move aside while the other remained on the steering, honking softly.

And it was only then the crowd began to retreat slowly.

The red carpet displayed in the middle of the entrance was ready to invite Kyle on. He just needed to get down from the car and walk on it, radiating his charms to the people around that came for him.

"Off you go, kiddo." Brandon held the brake pedal.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. You can do this, Clover. It's just a fan meeting.

" Just a sec."

Kyle was buttoning up his shirt that he left open a while ago. He then pushed his body close enough to Clover's seat, extending his hand to the back of the car to get his fashionista-leather jacket. Though the car was big enough to avoid any skinship generated between both of them, his motion was too sudden that made Clover's heart skipped a beat. The strong familiar mint smell of him doubled the reaction. She could feel his heat, his breaths on her face, which further worsens the situation. Clover immediately looked away from him when he settled back down, topping his attire with the jacket. Turning his head to stare at the number of people outside, he didn't seem to be much affected by them.

He must be really used to situations like these.

Clover gasped as she saw Kyle reaching for the door, "Wait, Kyle!" She pulled the tip of his leather jacket. "..Do..Do I follow you down..like...now?"

"Of course, you're my personal assistant," he winked, "You gotta follow me everywhere I go."

"What do I.. have to do?" she asked, eyes terrified by the craziness going on outside.

"You'll know right after," he said, putting on his sunglasses. "Let's go."

A gust of wind jolted into the car as the door was being pushed open. Clover's nose twitched at the smells of varieties of food from food trucks that entered along. She turned and the distinct voices of the hawkers promoting their products came through. Some were still setting up the place, while others were busy preparing the foods. Dim sum, pancakes, steamed pau of different flavours like red bean and matcha were all available, inviting her tastebuds to savour them.

Yummy. Drooling. Come to think of it, she hadn't gotten anything to eat since early in the morning.

Clover's thoughts on filling her stomach snapped back to Kyle, stepping out his first leg into the attention of the public. The puff of wind blew on him and messed up the perfect style of Kyle's hair a lil'. But that didn't really make much of a difference since the hairspray that his stylist used on him is a trustable one. Waving to his fans, putting on his best smile, interacting with them, he made his way on the red-carpet.

"KYLEEE!!! OH MY GOD!!" And just like a swarm of bees chasing after their favourite honey, the crowd stuck right behind.

The red carpet no longer acted as a red carpet. Just a carpet that was used to reach their idol that was walking towards his resting area.

"You're the BEST! KYLE LEEE!!!"

"AHHHHH!!! I LOVE YOU, Kyle!!"

"Kyle, can we take a selfie together?"

"Kyle, can I have an autograph of yours?"

"Me too, me too!!"

Kylee..

Kyle...

K--Kylee.....

Kyle this, Kyle that. Before she could even step outside, his fans were already gluing to him, giving no chance for her to come in between. She could barely see Kyle's head in the middle of the crowd. Hopelessly, Clover dropped her butt back in the car that was slowly driving away to look for a space to park.

"This is Kyle Lee." Brandon said, scrolling his NewsFeed. "He belongs to the world."

"Don't destroy the purpose of his life, Clover Hon."

"I'll prove to you that I won't," she said.

"I really hope you won't." He said as he got off the car after circling the area for a few times. "For now, go help out at the backstage."

***

*COUNTDOWN*

Five, four, three, two, one!!

And a figure stepped up the cemented stage enclosed underneath a thick red mat."Hello everyone! I'm Teddy, the host for the fan-meeting today. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude towards Wonderful Shopping Mall for helping us in making this event into a reality. Wow! What a beautiful weather today! Windy and cooling. It must be fate that today's event is determined to be successful! I think it's because of him that the weather is beautiful. Do you guys know who's here today??"

"YESSSS!!" The crowd responded.

"Who?" Teddy asked purposely, drawing in his tattoed eyebrows.

"Kyle Lee."

He put his palm by his ear. "Who? Louder! I can't hear you!"

"KYLE LEE!!!!!"

He chuckled. "Alright! Welcome on stage, Kyle Lee! Everyone, please show off your thunderclaps!!"

*cheers*

There he was, smiling happily, walking on the stage like a bright shooting star, "Hello everyone. It's me, Kyle Lee." He bowed.

*cheers*

"Come on guys! LOUDER!!!!!"

*CHEERSSSSSSS*

Watching Kyle through the red curtain that separated the main stage and the backstage, Clover was stunned. At that instance, she almost couldn't believe that the guy on the stage right now, was the one that she has been spending her time with. But the him on the stage, seemed to be so distant, so...different. He was interacting so well with the host, answering whatever questions that were being thrown at him, not showing any hints of nervousness. Each time he spoke, the crowd screamed excitedly, without judging the answers that he gave. Clover focused her sight wholly on him, blurring the unrelated people and the surroundings. His laughter, gestures, she observed them with her mini heart thumping faster as time ticked off.

"Clover, right?" A tall guy in black tapped on her shoulder, moving her attention to the backstage once again. Crew was written on the front of his shirt. "Your name?"

"Yes. Yes. Clover." She said, pulling the mask down her chin.

"Alright, the event is going on right now. I need you to prepare the drinks and get it on the stage in another five minutes time." He pointed to the bottles of orange juice on the table, "okay?"

"Sure."

"Good." And he went on dividing the chores to the other people.

Just like how she was told, Clover poured out the orange juice into two cups and added a few ice cubes in each. She glanced at her watch- 10:25 a.m. Waiting for the minute hand to touch the '6' seemed like forever. Everyone else in the backstage except her was busy with their own tasks. The crews were taking out the stacks of signed-CDs from the boxes, while some were preparing the props for the mini-games that will be played later between the idol and his fans. And here she was, leaning against the table, doing nothing but staring and drinking the juice that she poured for herself. She could feel her stomach growling. Orange juice wasn't helping out as much as she thought it would be. Of course, there were the hawker stalls. However, to come back in ten minutes was definitely not enough. Moreover, though it was within her walking distance, it was still considered far.

"I'll go get it after sending the drinks on stage, " She murmured to herself.

"Clover! Get them on now." The same boy called her.

"Alright."

Out of a sudden, the calmness in her disappeared as she put on the mask. Cold sweats flowing from her temple and her hands were shivering as she put the cups on the tray. The liquids moved vigorously in them, spilled little by little as she carried them. She thought she would be alright because she just needed to go up the stage for a mere few seconds. But, her gesture was doing the complete opposite.

Clover! Focus!

"Get it done fast and you will get back here fast," she told herself, hiding behind the red curtain.

The audience's eyes shifted to the curtain for a short while as it was being pushed open slightly. Clover's hands tensed at their sudden attention. Her legs swayed to step out. She was unable to return their glances and chose to fix her eyes on the tray in her hands. It was dirty. The cups that were originally full ended up only half-filled. But obviously she couldn't return to the table now just to make them filled up again.

Suddenly, she heard running footsteps approaching from the back. Before she could even turn to look at who it was, she was pushed forward, out of the curtain, forcefully and aggressively.

Yes- just like what you have in your mind.

A disaster happened.

She tripped. Tumbling everything down on the stage. Spilling the juice all over Kyle, drenching his hair and his clothes.

"Oh MY GODD!!" Clover knew she just doomed herself. "I'm sorry Kyle! Really sorry!!" She said, wiping off the liquids off his clothes hurriedly.

"It's okay.. It's okay.." He said, taking the tissues from her. "Let me wipe."

Noises arouse among the crowd. His fans were angry. The security guards that were guarding the distance between the main stage and the fan site were struggling to remain still.Teddy standing beside was totally blank, having no idea how to handle situation like this. It was just a spilled drink incident. However, in the eyes of Kyle's fans, the girl (a.k.a Clover) just committed a deadly sin.

"Who's that girl?! How dare she messed up MY KYLE?!!"

"Exactly! Useless!"

"She must be fired!"

Just then, he made his appearance on stage and the noise decreased within the crowd. Voices of curiosity took over. Kyle stopped his gesture and looked beyond when he sensed the changes in the atmosphere. He tried to signal him to stay where he was by furrowing his brows. However, he totally ignored Kyle and had his eyes fixed on that girl that told him a few moments that she will not ruin Kyle's life. Clover was still standing there dumbly, watching Kyle when he pulled her out of a sudden and..

*slaps*

Her face stung with pain, and emerging tears came right after.

"B-brandon?"

"Get lost now, Clover Hon." He gritted his teeth furiously.