It was lunchtime on the Millenasia "Be the Future" video shoot. Dami took her box lunch from the food service worker and looked around to see where she wanted to sit. She saw that the other members of Dreamcatcher were sitting around one of the tables that was part of the set, while the members of In2It were sitting on the floor in the "backstage" area. Then she spotted Alexa, sitting by herself on one of the benches that was part of the set. "That will never do," thought Dami, and went to sit by her.

"Isn't it odd," Dami said as she sat down, "that we're singing a song all about wearing masks, but none of us are wearing masks?"

Alexa laughed. "I was just thinking the same thing!"

"We were never properly introduced," Dami said. "I'm Dami."

"I knew that," Alexa said with another laugh. "I love your videos!"

Dami blushed. "Thank you," she said. "I love your videos!"

They ate in silence for a time, but Dami kept finding her eyes drawn to Alexa's ears and the numerous piercings there. Eventually Alexa noticed and self-consciously raised her hand to her ear. "Is something wrong with my ear?" she asked.

Dami shook her head. "Oh, no. It's just - how many piercings do you have?"

"Fourteen," Dami said, "Nine in this ear and five on the other."

Dami shivered.

"Why?" Alexa asked. "How many piercings do you have?" She made a show of craning her head around to try to see Dami's ears. "Do you even have ears?"

Dami brushed her hair back behind her ears. Alexa took a look and her jaw dropped in astonishment. "You never got your ears pierced?" she asked in amazement.

Dami shook her head.

"But why not?" Alexa asked.

"It hurts, right?" Dami asked. When Alexa nodded, Dami elaborated: "I have a phobia of pain."

"But it only hurts for a second, and they use a gun so it's over with quickly, and. . ." Alexa noticed that Dami was cringing in her seat, raising her hands to cover her ears. "And we can talk about something else."

Dami brought her hands down and sat up straight again. "Thank you," she said with a sigh of relief. "What's it like being a solo artist?" she asked "Don't you get lonely?"

Alexa shook her head. "I'm friends with all my backup dancers, so it's like having over a dozen little sisters!"

"Your dancers must be really young," Dami said. "You're what - an 01 liner?"

Alexa laughed as if this was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "No! I'm a 96 liner!"

Dami's jaw dropped. "No way - you're older than me?"

"But you're still my sunbae," Alexa said with a nod. "You debuted long before I did."