Sei and Do-Hyun sat at a counter in the kitchen of the restaurant where he worked, snacking on soybean sprouts.

"Are you sure chef won't mind me being back here?" Sei asked.

Do-Hyun nodded. "So long as I have you out of here by the start of dinner service, he said he's cool with it. Besides, he likes you: He says he gets so many customers from the times you've instagrammed his food that he ought to put you on the payroll."

Sei laughed at this. "Then I'll have to be sure to instagram some more of his food." She chewed on a couple of soybean sprouts, a pensive look on her face. "So. . . has Hyun-Woo said anything about his date with Suyeon?"

Do-Hyun shrugged. "I haven't talked with him this week. But I'm guessing their date went well - if it was a disaster, he would have called to complain."

"That makes sense," Sei said with a nod. "It must have gone well, because Suyeon agreed to go out with him again next weekend. . . That reminds me: Do you know a friend of his named Min-Kyu?"

"Park Min-Kyu?"

Sei shrugged. "I didn't know his family name."

Do-Hyun nodded. "It's got to be Park Min-Kyu. He and Hyun-Woo have been friends since forever. They share an apartment now. Why do you ask?"

"Hyun-Woo and Suyeon have fixed up Min-Kyu for a date with Lucy - you know, our maknae? - and I'm just worried about her."

"She'll be fine," Do-Hyun said. "I've known Min-Kyu all my life, and he's a totally decent guy." Seeing that Sei still looked worried, he went on. "Tell you what: Hyun-Woo and Min-Kyu should be waking up right about now. I'll call Min-Kyu and stress how important it is that he treat Lucy right. I'll threaten to tell my mom if he steps out of line - he's terrified of my mom!"

"I don't blame him. I'm terrified of your mom!" Sei laughed.

"And she likes you!" Do-Hyun joined in with her laughter. "If she didn't like you, then you'd have something to be worried about. Anyway, give me a minute and I'll make this call."

Sei leaned over and kissed him. "Thanks. You're the best!"

*ping*

Suyeon picked up her phone to see who had texted her. She read the message and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Lucy asked.

"That was Hyun-Woo," Suyeon said. "He told me that Do-Hyun called Min-Kyu to tell him he'd better be nice to you! Apparently Sei is still worried about you, and now she's enlisting her boyfriend to help ensure your safety."

Lucy laughed at this. "Imagine if she knew the truth!" 

"I don't think she'd ever forgive me if she knew the truth," Suyeon said. "She'd probably think that I'm taking advantage of you and that you're too young to know what you want."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I think Sei will always think I'm too young to know what I want."

"She takes being an unnie so seriously," Suyeon said. "She always wants to guide and protect you."

Lucy reached out and Suyeon's hair. "And you always had to try to protect yourself, because you didn't have any unnies."

Suyeon shrugged. "I could always talk to my seniors in Hello Venus. They were like unnies to me."

Lucy shook her head. "It's not the same as having unnies in your group to look out for you."

"Well, someone had to be the oldest one in the group," Suyeon said. "And I think I've done okay at it."

"You've done better than just okay," Lucy said with a big smile. "I mean, we're still together after three years. We haven't lost any members. We haven't had any major scandals. I think you're a great leader!" She leaned in to kiss Suyeon, then quickly pulled back and looked around to  be sure no one had seen her.

"Well, thank you," Suyeon said, blushing, "but I think you might be just a little bit biased in my favor."

Lucy shrugged. "Someone's gotta be!"

Just then Elly stuck her head into the room. "Suyeon can I talk to you for a second?" She looked apologetically at Lucy. "Alone?"

Lucy excused herself to go make a snack while Suyeon gestured to Elly to come sit next to her on the bed. Once Elly had gotten comfortable, Suyeon asked "So. . . what seems to be the problem?"

"It's Rina," Elly said with a sigh. "She's obsessed with the idea of trying to prove that Doyeon is gay, and it's getting really annoying."

Suyeon nodded. "And you want me to try to get her to stop."

"It's really the least you can do," Elly said. "After all, it's you and Lucy who put the idea in her head in the first place. Why'd you do that, Suyeon?"

Suyeon shrugged. "We were just trying to get her to be more open-minded about gay people. I mean, what if Rina says something homophobic in an interview? That would upset a lot of Ki-Lings - especially the international Ki-Lings. I was just saying that with the percentage of people who are gay, it was