When I reached the hotel lobby, I noticed that there were only a few fans waiting, which was a relief because I knew then that no one would be mobbed. I took the elevator down, and the minute I reached the ground level, I noticed the hordes of people waiting outside the hotel for their favourite stars to show up. The amount of people there was crazy, but it had been worse the day before.
I casually strolled into Starbucks, ordered a croissant and a tall dirty chai latte with soy milk, and took a window spot facing Broadway. I was almost finished with my croissant when I noticed the SM Town bus pull up a few meters away from the hotel. I quickly finished up the croissant, took my coffee to go, and headed back to the hotel. I was afraid I was going to be stopped in front of the hotel by SM’s security team because I was wearing quite a bit of pink and my backpack read “소녀시대,” but nothing happened. I went upstairs, sat in the lobby, and quietly sipped my coffee. Before I knew it, Onew came out, dragging his luggage behind him. Moments later, it was Jonghyun and Minho. They stood right in front of me for a good minute or two, and by right in front of me, I mean if I stood up and took one step forward, I would be intruding upon their private space. They moved only when they were being called. Minutes later, Taemin came down to the lobby, looking like a lost kid. Key showed up a little while later, but left just as quickly as he arrived.
By that time, I had already finished my coffee, and something told me to go upstairs. I took the elevator up to my room on the 46th floor and tossed out the empty coffee cup. As much as I wanted to stay in the room to rest a bit more, something told me to go back downstairs, so I exited the room and boarded the elevator once again. I was in such a hurry, thinking that I would miss something, that I was mildly upset that the elevator stopped on the 41st floor. The elevator doors opened to reveal a short person who looked an awful lot like Taeyeon. She was wearing a cute scarf and was looking at something on her phone. I studied her face for a second and realized that it was, indeed, Taeyeon who had just boarded the elevator. Instead of spazzing, I kept going through what I should say to her. Being the shy person that I am, I only managed out a meek “hi,” to which she replied just as softly with a “hi” and a shy smile. I couldn’t look at her because I was just so embarrassed, and when I managed to tell her “good show last night,” my voice cracked. She seemed surprised by that, and it took her a few seconds to process what I said, before she replied, “oh! Thank you!” At this point, she was also staring at the ground. It couldn’t have been more awkward, but I guess that’s what happens when you put two Pisceans together. I half-bowed to her after she said “thank you,” and just like that, the miracle elevator ride was over as the elevator reached the lobby floor. She headed towards the other set of elevators that go up to the lower floors and looked back at me when she saw that I didn’t follow her (I had stopped to tweet about the incident). For all I know, she was probably expecting me to stalk her or something.
I returned to the lobby, where I met a Cassie who was waiting for HoMin and Super Junior. She seemed like the type who would ambush her favourite idol, so I was glad to see that she remained calm and composed when Yunho and Changmin came down. Kaney (kaneyrocks/@jellojuseyo) appeared shortly afterward. After a while, Kaney needed to borrow my room key, and we switched keys. She forgot which floor I told her my room was on, so she came back to confirm. I decided to go with her since I had to get my bags, but when we got into the elevator, my room key wouldn’t work (thus, the elevator wouldn’t move). We were about to leave in defeat when we bumped into a few other SONE headed upstairs. I returned to my room on the 46th floor and told my aunt about how my room key wasn’t working. We switched keys and I picked up my bags. She asked me to wait for her, but I didn’t (once again, I had a feeling that I shouldn’t), and I headed back downstairs.
The elevator stopped on the 41st floor again, and I was aggravated once again. That aggravation quickly disappeared when the elevator doors open up, and Sunny stood before me. She and the manager looked at me, and I just stood there, mentally “wtf’ing” at my luck. I, of course, had to make a poker face, or they probably would have gone down in another elevator. The manager tells Sunny it’s okay to get on, so she boards the elevator, followed by Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, and Yoona. The manager and two other people who had been bringing the artists up and down the elevator also got on. The elevator started moving, and Hyoyeon seemed to be engaged in a story. The only thing I remember her saying is “시간에서 시간으로“ before I tuned her out because I was just so taken aback at how much more beautiful they are in person.
(A visual, if you will.)
Once again, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened to reveal Kaney and her friends waiting to get on. Because the elevator was already cramped, they had to skip it. Kaney tweeted about what she saw, but it seems she only noticed Sooyoung and Hyoyeon.
The elevator continued down to the lobby floor, and everyone got off in a hurry. I managed to pass a few of the girls as I headed to my seat in the lobby, but I forgot to take note of how much walking space I took up (my backpack was completely full and bulged out as if I had another person attached to me.) As I cut Sunny off, she walked right into my gigantic backpack. She made a noise like “oot,” and I apologized. She then continued her conversation with Hyoyeon and walked off towards the next set of elevators.
Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun had already left the hotel by that time, so the only person missing was Jessica. I swear she ninja’ed downstairs. If I hadn’t been standing about fifteen feet in front of the elevator, I would have never seen her.
Unfortunately, it was time to check out, so I knew my luck had run out then. I was and still am okay with it. I mean, if you think about it, if I had taken the time to do anything else or even wait for my aunt, I wouldn’t have been on the same elevator as the girls. It was definitely worth the $500 spent for one night at the W Hotel, and you know what? If given the chance, I would do it again.