MINJOO was currently waiting for the drinks she ordered when someone unexpected suddenly sat in front of her. Her eyes widened in fear when she recognised who it was. She immediately tried to stand up but Kim Chaewon was quick to grab her by the wrist. 

“Minjoo-ya…” Chaewon called in a pleading voice. “P-Please—”

“Unnie…!” Minjoo shook her off. “Please don’t make a scene here…”

The secretary looked around, hoping that Yujin just won’t spawn anywhere before looking back towards Chaewon. “Please… We’ve agreed not to meet anymore, haven't we? W-What are you even doing here?”

“I’m sorry, Minjoo…” Chaewon looked really helpless. She tried to reach Minjoo again but the girl was quick to move away. “Minjoo… I just really miss you—”

“Please, Chaewon-unnie… Please…” Minjoo kept her voice down even though she already wanted to shout. “I’m already back together with Yujin!”

“I know… I know…” Chaewon brushed her face with her palms. Of course, she would know. Yujin sent her a picture of Minjoo’s bed, asking her if it looks familiar to her. Minjoo didn’t know about it. “I know you’re back together… But listen, Minjoo… She might just be playing with you—”

“Unnie, please… Stop!” Minjoo bit her lower lip. “Yujin already gave me another chance. I don’t want to ruin it, please… Don’t come here again. She might see—”

“Our order is already out~” 

Minjoo froze when she heard that familiar voice. Who wouldn’t know that voice? That voice comes out in little advertisements of their company products. The ads she’s in always play at the lobby of the company. The voice came from none-other than the muse of their company—Yoo Jimin. 

Jimin walked past her, recognising her along the way. The girl gave her a smile before giving her a weak bow. Jimin also looked at Chaewon for a moment before her gentle smile changed into something else. Her friends from the International Sales Department, Aeri and Yi Zhuo, shortly followed her at the pick up area.

“So, how is it going with your crush?” Aeri casually asked while putting a straw to her drink. “She gave a really good performance last time. I hope they make it on TV for real!”

Yi Zhuo was already taking a sip when Jimin turned to them with a light blush on her cheeks. “Right? She was really cool on stage! I want to see more of her performance in the future!”

The Sales Representative for China lets go of the straw. “We’re asking for your progress with your crush~!” Yi Zhuo then gave her a meaningful smile before playfully bumping her shoulder. “Don’t tell me there’s still no progress? You’ve been crushing on her for the longest time!”

Jimin gave an awkward laugh before taking a quick look at Minjoo. “I-It’s finally progressing, I think? I finally find a way to talk with her~”

The two other girls giggled. “Good luck to you, girl!” Aeri smirked. “If you need any help then we can probably ask Manager Son for some backup~ They are on the band together anyway~” 

“No…” Jimin took another look at Minjoo and this time managed to keep eye contact with the latter. This action irked the secretary. Jimin just smiled before looking away. “I believe I have enough help already. Let’s go back. I still have a lot to finish~”

The three walked out of the said cafe while still talking about their crushes. Minjoo’s number was then called, pulling her up from her muddy thoughts. The secretary hurriedly took her order, which were drinks for the band members. 

Chaewon tried to call her again but Minjoo didn’t bother to look back at her. Looking really tired and miserable, Chaewon plopped to a seat and closed her eyes. Her fists clenched. 

“What have I even done?” She asked herself, anger towards herself was very clear. “Yujin doesn’t seem to be sincere about getting back with her but Minjoo believes they’re back together…” 

She covered her eyes with her palm before letting out a frustrated sigh. 

“I couldn’t even take her by force… And now I even ruined both their lives…”

THERE was loud laughter in the practice room when Joohyun entered the room. She found Yujin on the floor, laughing her out while Minjeong was leaning on the wall, trying her hardest to contain her laughter but resulted in her eyes tearing up.

Joohyun’s eyes squinted when she saw someone who seemed to be Seulgi with her hair tied in her usual fashion. The girl was facing Seungwan who was also holding her laughter.

“What is even funny?” Joohyun heard Seulgi whine. “Are you sure you’re doing this properly?”

“Of course, I am—“ Seungwan erupted into laughter and fell to her seat. “Sorry, Seulgi-ya! I am not really good at doing other people's makeup!”

Seulgi’s shoulders dropped. “What the hell…”

“Director Bae!” Minjeong called when she noticed Joohyun standing by the door. Seulgi twitched at that call. She clearly stiffened. “Come look at Seulgi-unnie’s—“

“Minjeong-ah!” Seulgi jumped towards the other girl and covered .

Joohyun's eyes widened the very moment Seulgi’s face came into sight. And faster than intended, she quickly located a pack of wet wipes, pulled two sheets with each hand and tackled Seulgi with it.

“What is this abomination!?” Joohyun gritted her teeth while she removed Seulgi’s makeup. The other three’s laughter got even stronger. Minjeong couldn’t suppress it anymore and let her laughter join Yujin and Seungwan. The girl even fell to the ground laughing.

“D-Director B-Bae!” Seulgi tried to hold Joohyun by the wrists to stop the aggressive rubbing of her face. “D-Director, i-it hurts!”

Seulgi finally managed to remove Joohyun’s hands from her face and the director couldn’t be any more relieved when she saw Seulgi’s clean face. “Thank goodness. Human Kang-daeri is still there.” 

She sat to the ground with both legs bent to her right. Seulgi immediately looked away after her eyes automatically dropped down to those legs.

“W-What did you guys even do to me?” Seulgi shouted at the others.

“You don’t have to know.” Joohyun answered. Seungwan actually turned Seulgi into a human panda. Joohyun then reached her hand to Seulgi. “Help me stand up.”

Seulgi quickly stood up and helped Joohyun just as she was instructed. Seungwan quickly noticed how her bestfriend’s ears turned red. Her laughing stopped.

“What did you even do to me, Seungwan-ah!” Seulgi whined after letting go of Joohyun’s hand. She threw the used wet wipes to the girls. “Do I look like I am joking here? I am serious!”

The other girls just chuckled as if they were preschoolers. The young director was surprised. She thought she would arrive at nervous little lambs without a shepherd since the shoot for the prelims is already tomorrow but she arrived at preschoolers playing with their gullible teacher.

“What’s going on here anyway?” Joohyun asked.

“Seulgi actually asked us to help her with makeup. She said she wants to be as presentable as possible for tomorrow.” Seungwan answered while dusting her slacks.

“And you played with her face like that?” Joohyun asked in disbelief. Joohyun made Seulgi face her again and the latter stiffened in contact. She freely touched Seulgi’s face looking for remnants of abomination but thankfully she succeeded in removing all of it.

Seungwan’s eyebrow rose. “You two…” Her voice trailed off after realising that she might say something uncalled. “…Nothing.”

“Psh.” Joohyun shook her head again before freeing Seulgi’s face. “Don’t worry about tomorrow, Kang-daeri. Since it’s just the prelims, you guys don’t need heavy stage makeup. I think wearing your office attire will also be nice since it’s a competition for workers as well.”

The young director gave the assistant manager a smile. “If you’re still worried then I will help you with the makeup.”

“Y-You’re not going to turn me into another animal, r-right?” Seulgi jokes which took the others aback. Kang Seulgi is now actually in joking terms with her department head!

That joke actually earned her a playful smack on the shoulder. “Of course not! Trust me!” Joohyun put her arms in akimbo before looking at the others. “Why are you not practising anyway? Are you guys going to be okay?”

“We’re just fooling around to get rid of our nerves.” Yujin answered. “Also, if we practise more Seungwan-unnie might lose her voice. It would be better for her to rest for now.”

“It’ll if she loses her voice!” Minjeong seconded. “Because I am so ready to take the mic from her.”

Seungwan threw Minjeong the wet wipes that were used on Seulgi. “You have your own mic, backup vocalist!”

“Whatever.” Minjeong smiled. She stood up and went to her guitar which she gave the name Roberto. “I’ll make sure to make everyone know you, Roberto-ssi.”

“Where did she pick that name up?” Joohyun asked, which was answered by Yujin with a shoulder shrug. Yujin’s phone vibrated, it was a call and it seemed important as the drummer excused herself just to pick it up.

Joohyun then turned to Seulgi and held the other girl’s hands without permission at all. As usual, Seulgi’s freeze button was pressed.

“Your fingers won’t be bleeding this time, right?” Joohyun asked as she examined Seulgi’s fingers. The tip of her fingers started to form calluses but still not that thick.

“Y-Yes…” Seulgi answered, looking away. “We’re just going to perform two songs. It will be fine.”

“That’s good to know then.” Joohyun answered with a relieved smile. Seungwan couldn’t take it anymore.

“Director Bae.” Seungwan called, making Seulgi pull her hands from Joohyun. “I need to discuss something with you. Is it fine if I talk to you in private for a moment?”

Joohyun’s eyebrows twitched. She’s not dumb. She knew that the manager was hiding something behind that cheerful smile.

“Sure.” Joohyun answered with an equally wide smile. 

The two stepped outside, leaving Seulgi and Minjeong with their guitars. The two then decided to just jam into random chords. Minjeong felt really happy to be able to play with her Seulgi-unnie again. She never thought that it would be possible to have them all play together after all that happened but thanks to Joohyun that they’re even going to join a TV competition.

“Unnie?” Minjeong called after suddenly stopping playing. 

“Yes?” Seulgi answered, a little confused. The younger girl smiled at the cuteness of her unnie. 

“Let’s do our best tomorrow!” 

Seulgi just smiled before giving Minjeong a head pat. “We should do our best. Director Bae is really rooting for us.”

“Director Bae is really amazing, right?” Minjeong said with a grin. Seulgi’s smile widened. Her eyes turned into little crescent moons.

“She really is.”

Minjeong started strumming her muted guitar. “Anyway, Unnie? Did you manage to get Kafka?”

Seulgi’s eyes glittered at the mention of the said character. “Of course! With the lightcone too!” She answered with smug before pulling for her phone to run the game. “Are you sure you won’t be pulling for her?”

“I tried but Grandpa came out instead.” Minjeong’s shoulders dropped.

“Then how about using the hidden technique?” Seulgi gestured about money and Minjeong just snickered.

“You know I don’t have that much greed with characters.” The younger girl sighed. “I am all about the story. Anyway, what happened to the game you’ve been playing for years now? You invested quite a lot in that game too but I haven’t seen you online on it lately.”

“I still do my dailies and resin burn but I am taking a rest from all the events.” Seulgi explained. “This new game is just a breath of fresh wind. I am liking it so far.”

“I know~” the guitarist answered with a meaningful smile. “It shows~!”

“THIS is for me?” 

Yujin couldn’t help but to be confused when Jimin gave her a drink. She got a call from the said girl, thinking that what she would give her was something related to work but it turned out to be a drink.

“Yes.” Jimin answered with a smile. “I hope you guys do well tomorrow. This is just to show some support.”

The other girl smiled, revealing her cute dimples. “Thank you, Jimin. I appreciate it. Sorry I can’t help much at work lately.”

“What are you even saying? If you guys do well then it will be a good thing for our company as well!” Jimin took a sip of her own drink before continuing. “If you feel guilty for passing a bit of your work to me then you can treat me to lunch sometime.”

Yujin laughed while scratching the back of her head. “Sure. What would you like to eat?”

While the two were talking, Minjoo emerged from the elevator and immediately heard Yujin’s voice by the stairs. And with her sharp ears, she also identified that the other voice together with Yujin’s is of the same voice from the woman she met earlier at the cafe.

She slowly turned her head and confirmed her hypothesis. Yujin is indeed with Yoo Jimin and the two are even talking too friendly with each other. Jimin would even playfully touch Yujin’s arms.

Feeling that someone was looking at them, Jimin turned to Minjoo’s way but the former didn’t seem to mind her at all. She just smiled at her and gave her another bow. Yujin then turned, curious on who Jimin saw. She smiled wider when she saw that it was Minjoo.

“I’ll be going now, Yujin. Good luck for tomorrow! Let me know the results right away, okay?” Jimin gave her a light tap by the cheek.

“Okay! I’ll text you. Thanks for the treat, Jimin.” 

Jimin then excused herself and took the stairs. Yujin waved at her until she couldn’t see her anymore.

When Yujin turned to Minjoo, the latter immediately noticed the drink the former was holding. 

“Hey, Minjoo.” Yujin greeted her before taking a sip of the said drink. That’s when Yujin noticed the drinks the girl was holding. “Oh, you bought drinks for us too?”

“W-What was that?” Minjoo asked, making Yujin’s brows twitch. “S-She was being too close to you.”

Yujin was dumbfounded for a moment. She arched her arm around Minjoo and slowly led her to walk towards the practice room. “Don’t tell me you’re getting jealous now?”

“How will I not if she’s being too touchy?” Minjoo asked. This confirmation left Yujin startled, she had to stop in her tracks.

Yujin laughed, surprising Minjoo. The latter was then surprised when Yujin gave her sarcastic smirk. “Come on, Minjoo.” Yujin leaned forward a bit to level her face with Minjoo’s face so she can have a better view of her. “It’s not that you caught me in bed with someone else, right? Do you really have the right to be jealous now?”

Minjoo’s eyes widened, the Yujin in front of her right now… is a complete stranger. Yujin then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before removing her arm over her.

“Let’s go. The others are waiting.” Yujin went in first, leaving Minjoo in complete confusion.

Yujin was right. It’s not like she caught her in bed with Yoo Jimin. She was the one caught in bed with Chaewon yet Yujin still took her back. Whatever Yujin felt during that time was a million times more miserable than what she felt.

What Chaewon said earlier started to bother her again. What if Yujin is just really toying with her now? What if she isn’t sincere in starting again with her? What if she’s only doing this to hurt her back?

Minjoo bit her lower lip. Taking a deep breath, she opened the practice room’s door and saw Yujin enjoying her drink while fooling around with Seulgi and Minjeong as if nothing happened.

The secretary forced a smile. ‘This is better.’ She thought. She sincerely thought that it would be much better that way than completely losing Yujin. She chose to understand her, knowing well that forgiving her after what she saw would really take a long while.

Even if Yujin hurts her in the process, she’ll take whatever pain it’ll take to rebuild her trust in her. She’ll do whatever it takes to bring everything back to how they used to be even though she knew that it would be very much impossible.

Even if other people think it is stupid, she’d rather be called stupid for pursuing the person that she truly loves than giving her up because of one night that she couldn’t even remember at all.

ON the other hand, Seungwan brought Joohyun by the fire exit, to the exact place where Seulgi and Yujin talked last time.

“I am going to be really frank with you.” Seungwan started as she turned towards Joohyun. “I am also going to talk to you disregarding the fact that you’re the Design Department’s director since this is all about my best friend.”

“Go ahead.” Joohyun crossed her arms. 

Seungwan took a deep breath and then looked straight into her eyes. “Please, don’t even try to make a