Soo Ri’s POV

Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot.

I slowly chanted to myself as I walked down the catwalk, trying to relax, but also trying to look glamorous at the same time.

C’mon, Soo Ri. You can do this, don’t freak out.

And then I was at the end. I posed, turning to the side as the designer had asked me to- to show off the form-fitting curve of the tan trench coat and my long, glistening black ponytail held together by a golden star hair band.

Click, click, click. Flash, flash, flash.

Hundreds of cameras went off and then I turned to stride back down the catwalk. 

I tripped slightly at the very end of the catwalk, just as I was disappearing backstage.

But someone caught me as I fell.

“Soo Ri? Is that you?”

I peered into the darkness.

“Jinwoon oppa?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

 “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see Jessica really fast. She left her jacket in my car…”

“O-oh. Um… I don’t think you’ll be able to see her. She’s probably in the line-up.”

Oh, shoot. I have to be in the next line-up as well!

“Jinwoon oppa, look, I have to go, sorry!”

“Okay”, he said, and grabbed my arm as I pushed past him, “I’ll text you later, okay? Maybe we can all hang out.”

I nodded and furiously dashed past him to change into my next outfit.

Kyuhyun’s POV

“Have you seen Soo Ri?”, one of the dressing ladies asked me nervously.

“Shouldn’t she be here? She opened the show, so she should be back here already…”, I pointed out calmly.

The lady anxiously glanced around us, “Well, yes, but-“

“I’M- huff*-HERE!”

I whirled around to see Soo Ri, completely out of breath, with her fist in the air like she’d just ran a marathon.

“What are you doing?”, I hissed at her, “Get dressed for the next segment before you ruin the whole show!”

She just nodded in my direction before sprinting to her clothing rack, the nervous dressing lady following her.

I shook my head. What is she thinking!

Wait… I paused as I buttoned up my next outfit… What the heck was she doing?

I was directly behind her in the lineup for the next segment, so I whispered in her ear, “Where were you?”

Her shoulders shrugged in front of me.

“Don’t tell me you got lost”, I remarked sarcastically, though her response confused me.  

Her shoulders shrugged again.

Frustrated, I poked her in the back of the head, “Just don’t do something stupid, okay?”

She nodded her head in front of me.

I sighed.

The last thing we needed was a scandal.

JiHyun’s POV

I’d just finished my audition for “Under the Rose Tree” and had eaten dinner with some of my closest friends whom I’d dearly missed since I left the acting world two years ago.

I’d been extremely pleased to see Jang Geun Suk, Jung Il Woo, Yoo Ah In, and Song Joong Ki there. They’d been my most supportive friends since I was very young. But at the same time, I must admit that seeing them there made me incredibly nervous. They had practiced acting for the two years I was gone, and were big-name actors now, and I was up against all of them… competing for the same role…

Well, what’s done is done. You’ve finished the audition… now let it go…

I let out a big breath before I entered the boy’s dorm.

-To be whisked out by Jaesun a millisecond later.

“Jaesun…?”, I asked, confused as he yanked me away from the dorm.

“Kyuhyun’s not back yet, is he?”, Jaesun asked me.

“I don’t think so…”, I answered, unsure. I only got to see inside the dorm for 0.0001 seconds, Jaesun…

“I need help”, Jaesun told me, his face unusually solemn.

“With…?”, I probed.

 “My two older sisters are being incredibly stupid and our members are getting involved”, Jaesun replied flatly.

“Soori’s okay, right?”, I asked him quickly.

Can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her… She’s so gentle with everyone…

“Yeah… this concerns… other members…”

Other members? Who…? Not me… I think…

“Jaesun”, I said bluntly, “Just be straightforward with me. I’m not in the music industry for being Sherlock Holmes here.”

Jaesun blew out a big breath and said, “Krystal’s jealous about the amount of attention Kyuhyun’s getting from girl idols, and she was totally pushed over a cliff when Jessica said she was going to go for Kyuhyun. Plus, Kyuhyun’s been spending a lot of time with Taeyeon sunbae from SNSD… and, well, you see the issue.”

I sighed. Kyuhyun is pretty popular right now… “Why didn’t Krystal just snatch him from the beginning? Haven’t they been talking for a while?”

“Krystal wanted Kyuhyun to ask her.”

 Kyuhyun’s not the type to make the first move. Ever.

“She’s going to lose her chance if she keeps quiet… you know Kyuhyun. He’ll quietly move on and think she doesn’t like him if she doesn’t say anything”, I told Jaesun honestly.

Jaesun groaned and said, “These idiots!”

“Wait”, I said suddenly, “You said other members. Who’s the other member involved?”

“Oh, that. Sky. Krystal’s trying to make Kyuhyun jealous by saying she likes Sky… He’s completely confused and frustrated right now…”, Jaesun glanced back at our dorm.

“Have you told him the truth?”, I asked Jaesun, hoping he had. This poor guy just got into the middle of a catfight… Tell me he knows the truth…

“No, I was trying to save Krystal’s pride…”, Jaesun mumbled.

“Jaesun…”, I said firmly, “Sky’s the type to take this seriously… we need to tell him what’s going on…”

I admire you for wanting to protect your siblings but I also need to protect my family.

Jaesun was silent for a few seconds before he said, “Agreed. We can’t let Sky lose his head… I’ll tell him.”

I patted Jaesun’s back and said, “It’s all right. We’ve got five female members to help us out with this too, right?”