"Well. Crisis averted," I remarked to Jung Ah when she came into my dorm. When she entered, I was sprawled on the floor of my living room, my computer open in front of me as I scribbled in a notebook.

"Of course. Completely averted. Are you sure of that?" she asked, sitting down on the couch overlooking me as I worked.

"No. Actually I'm quite certain that public confidence in me has been permanently damaged. We're going to have to work extra hard for a little while in order to make up for it. Now shush."

She raised an eyebrow. "Did you just tell me to shush?"

"Yes. I shush my own mother when she's being distracting and I'm trying to focus."

"Ah. Songwriting again, are you?"

"Absolutely. It's the only way I'm allowed to say what I want without getting in trouble. After I gave the news that interview, you know what Snow Leopard Lady said to me?"

"Who's snow leopard lady?"

"She said, 'the last thing we need in our company is a feminist. Can you believe that?!"

"Why, are you a femininst?"

"Yes! You didn't figure that out already?"

"You seemed slightly too feminine to be a feminist."

"Just because I like to paint my nails and look pretty doesn't mean I want to be treated like an object. It doesn't mean that I want to be stereotyped against just because I'm a woman. It doesn't mean that I want to be told 'well, someone's on her period' as a trump card every time I use my brain to prove a man that he's wrong. Because we both know that if I actually were on my period at the time, I wouldn't have the energy to do anything but throw up. I don't see why I have to sacrifice being a woman just to be regarded as someone who can take care of herself."

Jung Ah rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Minsung. You're ranting again."

I exhaled, then took a deep breath. "You're right. Sorry. Anyway, so I'm writing a song about it. And this one's for me. I'm not giving it to anyone else. You can let the company know that."

"Of course. I'll be sure to let them know you're making a secret public declaration of your defiance, and no one can make that declaration but you."

"You're catching on, Eonni!"

She sighed. "Well, go on and write, but don't forget that you have to report at the theater for hair and makeup in an hour and a half. And this time, can we please not end the night with occasions that cause you to have any surprise sleepovers at your secret lover's house, that you somehow forgot to tell me about?"

I felt my face redden, over the guilt of having kept her in the dark about it. She was still upset with me about it. Because I hadn't trusted her enough to tell her.

"Nothing happened!" I argued, my face turning an even brighter red. "I mean... I couldn't go back home, because the reporters were there, and I just... I didn't want to be alone. And, you know, I go to that dorm all the time. It's not like I haven't been there before."

"Yes, but those times you were there to visit Henry. Which is a very different situation."

"Henry was there. I mean, he was passed out in his bed in his underwear, but he was there."

"So where'd you sleep?"

"You're awful curious about this, aren't you?"

"Where did you sleep?" Jung Ah repeated, not even blinking an eye. Point made.

"The floor."

She looked appalled. "He let you sleep on the floor?!"

"Well, I couldn't exactly sleep in Henry's bed. That would just be weird."

"You slept with him on the bus to Wisconsin..."

"Could we please word that differently?! He was awake at that point. Take it from me, it's extremely awkward to wake up next to someone, not knowing how they got there, no matter how close you are. It's completely different."

Jung Ah sighed and shook her head. "The kinds of things that happened between you and Super Junior while I was in manager training..." She chuckled a little, then came back to the original topic. "Still, he let you sleep on the floor?!"

"Well, it wasn't exactly an easy thing. Back and forth, back and forth. 'I'm not stealing anyone's bed.' and then 'You can't sleep on the floor!' which went to 'I really shouldn't stay here. I should go somewhere else.' and then 'no, you can't leave this late at night.' and then 'Fine then, I'm sleeping on the floor.' and then 'No, I'll sleep on the floor.' which of course was answered by 'I'm a Wisconsin Girl. I can sleep anywhere. Just ask my father. Or my sister.' And then 'I'll be fine. I was going to stay up for a little while uploading pictures'. And then 'No, you haven't slept well in days. You need to sleep.' and then 'you almost got ! You need to rest!' and then--"

"Okay, okay, I get it. Around and around and around. How exactly did it end?"

"Well, I grabbed the comforter off his bed, spread it on the ground, and then rolled up in it. Argument over."

She laughed, softly at first, then escalating into full-blown laughter. "Way to force a man into giving up."

I grinned, scribbling out an entire verse of my song, and setting the notebook down. "Well, you know. I just hate being a burden on people."

"That, actually, is a much cuter story than I was expecting." She sighed, though still smiling. "I'm glad he cares about you so much. But still..."

"I know, I know. Scandalous. You hear f(x)'s new song?"

" 'Secret Secret'? Of course. You wrote it, didn't y-- Oh."

I grinned. "You're a good manager, Eonni. I don't think I ever said that enough. If that's the case, then I'm starting right now."

She laughed, shaking her head and tapping the touch screen on her planning pad. "I'm flattered, Queen Be. Really. Now hurry up and finish your song. I'm actually surprised that nothing did happen..."

"I was restraining myself immensely, believe me. But, you know. Henry was there."

Another successful performance of Wicked. Incredibly, despite the concern that ticket sales would plunge after the scandal, the theater was even more packed than before, with not an empty seat in the house. How, I had no idea.

Admittedly, it was extremely awkward to act with Yoo Han after the incident. Though, on the bright side, he seemed to be extremely humbled by it. His company had not even dared press charges. With a combination of overwhelming evidence from my side and financial pressure from SM, there was no doubt who would have won, even if they had.

But I got over it quickly enough. Sure, I was slightly revolted every time he touched me, every time he spoke to me, but I always managed to convince myself that he was a different person. Not Yoo Han, but Fiyero. It was powerful enough to get me through it, and I was confident that I could do it again.

After greeting Jessica and Krystal backstage, I was exiting the theater's back door when I saw the lights. Carefully laid out on the ground in sapphire blue and honey gold lightsticks: "ELF Queen Be," and underneath it, written on a banner, "If you stay strong, then so do we."

I smiled, unable to hold it back, and pulled out my phone to take a picture. I uploaded it to my Instagram account immediately, then went to head on my way.

"Okay, I need to recover public popularity. I need to release a new album," I declared to my main team, consisting of my manager, Jung Ah, my coordinator, Lela, and my usual choreographer, Steven Oh.

"A lot of girls are completely crazy about you after that little speech you gave. All about being an example for female integrity..." my choreographer mentioned.

"And not just in Korea, either. We're talking international attention," pointed out Jung Ah.

I waved them away. "Yes, yes, I know. But I'm talking public image. I want to be connected to being a strong individual, but I don't like the negative perspectives connected to it. So I want to take a new approach." I handed out copies of the sheet music, lyrics, and a CD recording of the raw song, to each of the team members. "For this comeback, I want to give a whole new Queen Be."

"Your songs aren't exactly similar to each other..." Lela commented, "You've done pop, rock, ballads, techno... what could you want to change that you haven't already done?"

"All of my past songs I've been cute, or funny, or even sultry. Even with the rock songs, it was more emotional or angry than anything. But what I want from this comeback is power. And I'm asking for your help for that. Because I know you guys are the best."

Lela bit her lip. "Power? Like... girl power?"

"If you look at the lyrics, the song is about being tough and self-confident, while still being able to be feminine and beautiful. I want this comeback to reflect that. When people think 'Queen Be', they don't think powerful choreography and costuming. And that's what I'm asking for your help for," I added, waving to Lela and Steven. "Powerful, while still emphasizing femininity."

Lela seemed to be considering it. "I think I can think of something for that. But isn't the company the one that usually arranges this?"

I laughed. "Yes. But since I write my own songs, they don't mess with me too much. They let me organize my own album, now, after the first one. They've already given me the go for a new album. But they're leaving the arranging up to me, up until final review. Isn't that nice?"

Steven grinned. "Well, then, we're in Queen Be. I hope you know that I'm going to work you like crazy for this, though."

I made a face. "Not looking forward to it. But I know it'll turn out well in the end. I have confidence in everyone."

Jung Ah shrugged. "We'll do our best, Minsung. The rest is up to you."

"I'm sure the Chinese audience will love it. And the Japanese."

They all stopped, staring at me. "Chinese? Japanese?"

I grinned, already imagining it. "Of course. If I really want to achieve international star status, then I need to be popular in China and Japan, too."

Jung Ah shook her head. "Set your goals high. Well, good luck everyone. Meet you all in a week."

"Minsung! Minsung, wait a second!" Minho ran up to me from behind, with his normal big, goofy grin. "I heard Rstory is releasing a new song in Korean!"

I bit my lip. "I know. Why do you care?"

"I don't know. I was just curious."

"Yeah... they're coming in the winter. Since they were already here in summer."

"So they're all white, right?"

"Yeah... full white people. Conglomeration of a large portion of Europe, like most Americans are. As am I. Are you going somewhere with this?"

"What are they like?" he asked, seeming a bit shy all of a sudden. It was adorable.

"Didn't you meet them in the hospital?"

He shrugged. "Emily was still a little bit woozy from the incident, and everyone else was worried about her."

I bit my lip. "Well, they're my friends, so that should be a pretty good indicator of what they're like. Really open-minded, loud, smart, outspoken..."

"Wait, they're all smart?!" He sounded frightened when he asked this.

"Oh, sure. We were all in the top fifteen percent of our class. Which isn't much to say, considering the state of education in the United States, but still."

He paused, looking at me wide-eyed. "You all got good grades in high school?!"

I grinned. "What, is the great visual of SHINee, Choi Minho, scared of smart girls?"

"Yes! It's intimidating!"

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Why are you curious about them, anyway?"

He frowned. "I don't... I don't really know."

I gaped at him. "What?! Choi Minho, the noona-killer, is interested in a younger girl?! I must tell everyone!" I pulled out my phone, ready to dial Eliz's number, but he snatched the phone out of my hands before I could actually do anything.

"No! Don't tell people that kind of thing!"

"Why, are you scared? It's okay, Sunbae, really. I'm sure they're interested in you, too. Now give me my phone back!" I tried to grab my phone, but he raised it over his head, out of my reach.

"Promise you're not going to tell anyone!"

"I promise nothing! Damn you, tall people! Give me my phone back!"

Minho held his phone higher, and I jabbed my finger in the soft flesh of his side, causing him to jerk forward, going down just enough for me to grab my phone...

And then it was gone out of his hand, taken by Kyuhyun, who was now holding it away from me. "What are you not promising, Jageun?"

I glared at him. "I'm not promising him that I won't tell anyone how curious he is about my friends in Rstory."

He raised the phone over his head defiantly. "Well, we can't have that, can we? Promise. Or I'll tell management about your little scandal."

I blanched, dropping to my knees in front of Minho and Kyuhyun. "I won't tell anyone, I promise! I swear on my status as an ELF, I swear on the stage in which I am Queen Be, I'll swear on anything! Just don't tell anyone about it, please!"

Kyuhyun laughed, and then leaned over and set the phone on top of my head. "See, Minho, she's not that hard to deal with. But you have to be smart about it."

I glared up at him, getting to my feet. "Oppa, I'm not your pet anymore! I'm an artist, too! Stop threatening my relationships!"

"I'm not. Were you?"

I glared at him, flicking my hair over my shoulder. "Well, I'm glad I didn't fall in love with you. I would be miserable. In fact, any girl who dates either of you is going to be miserable, you evil bastards!"

"Minho, I think you definitely need to steal one of her friends. Maybe the oldest one." Kyuhyun smiled coldly. "And who's saying you didn't? Maybe you did, you just don't know it."

I froze, staring at him Was he joking? He was joking, right? Kyuhyun didn't actually think that. He didn't... he wasn't...

Admittedly, I hadn't had the chance to really test and see if my fangirl feelings for him had worn off yet, like I had with everyone else. And he was much closer to me in age. Agh, no, Mel. Don't be thinking stuff like that. "In your dreams, Cho Kyuhyun. This piece of fabulousness is a one-time only deal. Snooze you lose."

They both laughed, and I trotted down the hallway towards the recording studio, pretending I wasn't bright red.

"All I'm saying is that it would be really cool to sing a Kalafina song, but it is seriously impossible to sing any of the songs unless you have all three parts," I declared to Liyin in the café. "so if I do any covers, I can't use any Kalafina songs..."

I looked up when I heard a chair being pulled out from the table. It was BoA, looking like she'd just come from dance practice, wearing a tank top over a sports bra and a pair of sweatpants, with her hair in a ponytail. And, of course, despite all of that, she looked absolutely beautiful, as usual. "You know, you could do it as a collaboration. You know, with the SMTown concerts next year."

"A collaboration? Like, with other SM artists?"

She shrugged, looking at the coffee in Liyin's cup. "Sure. It happens all the time. You were still promoting during the summer SMTown, so you didn't participate, but I think they'll feature you in this one. Since you're quite popular these days. Especially after you release your next song."

I bowed my head. "Thank you, Sunbae."

Liyin smiled. "The three of us are SM's three female solo artists."

I thought about it, then realized she was right. "Wow, we are! Sunbae!"

BoA laughed, leaning back in her chair. "I think a collaboration would be nice. What do you think, Liyin?"

She smiled softly, actually seeming a bit sad. I felt really bad for Zhang Liyin, actually. She was an incredible ballad singer, but SM seemed to have practically forgotten about her. While Girls' Generation and SHINee had, like, three comebacks in one year, she hadn't had one in two years. And that one was one single, on a mini-album, released in China. Meanwhile, I was working on my third music video since debut.

"I think it'll be a good chance to boost our popularity. Show those boys that we female soloists still got it," I supplied, trying to boost Liyin's self-confidence. It was hard to believe she was the same age as Kyuhyun. Only a few years older than my sister.

"Any ideas?" BoA asked. "Or are we going to sing a Kalafina song, like Minsung suggested?"

"Alright, follow my movements," Steven ordered, counting out his steps as he moved. "Step-two-turn-four, then chest pump, getting lower to the ground, two-three-four, good, you got it! Oh, keep that, where you stretch your leg out. That's good. Then maybe sweep it forward, and kind of roll upwards..."

I was already fairly sweaty, and we'd only covered the first verse of the song. It was very demanding. And it was the first time I had a hand in my own choreography-making since I had debuted. It was ten times easier this way, I thought. I was going step-by-step, and could tweak it according to what was more comfortable or made more sense to me.

"Then when you get to the top between counts one and three, have your hands behind your head and POP. And then we're done with the first verse!" He clapped, laughing, as I huffed, stretching my arms, then starting right from the beginning to try and move smoothly from step to step, like he had done.

Steven was an amazing dancer, really. And most of the time it took me several tries just to get right something he had done off of the top of his head. It was a wonder he wasn't an idol himself. But when I'd asked him, he said he didn't like being in front of big crowds. He gets major stage fright. Besides, it's more fun to try to teach untalented people like me.

"I'm going to get some drinks for us," he declared, starting towards the door. "You want anything?"

"Just water, please," I answered, trying the leg stretch I'd done earlier, only to tip over and fall. He laughed. "Keep practicing what we've done already while I'm gone. I'll be back soon."

I blew away from my face a stray lock of hair that had fallen out of its ponytail, and stood back up to start the dance from the beginning. Once again. I would have to practice this dance hundreds of times before I got the whole thing right.

"Tell me, Niuwang, why my schedule says that I have to meet you in the recording studio in an hour?"

I spun around, nearly falling on my face from the "roll forward" I'd practiced with Steven. "Because you're supposed to meet me in the recording studio in an hour. Note the 'in an hour' part. The part that gave me time to change clothes and put on deodorant so I didn't smell like garlic paste."

"You do not smell like garlic paste."

"Oh really? Then why are you staying on the opposite side of the room?" I chided, raising an eyebrow.

Zhou Mi stayed where he was, crossing his arms. "You still haven't answered my question. And besides, I did most of the work to walk all the way here, the least you could do is walk across the room to me!"

I stood up straight, then walked across the room so I was standing only a foot in front of him. "There. Better now? I'd hug you, but I don't want to cover you in my sweaty nastiness."

"I don't know what you're embarrassed about. Everyone gets sweaty during dance practice. I do, too."

"Yeah, but you're Asian. You don't smell like garlic paste nearly as badly."

"Not Eunhyuk," he pointed out, and I had to give him that one. Eunhyuk's sweat smelled pretty bad.

"But, um, well, so for the, um, 'in an hour' thing, I wrote this song, and I, um, wanted to put it on the Chinese version of my new album, and, um, it's a duet, and, um, I thought Manager Kim gave it to you already, and, um..." I trailed off, my cheeks getting hot.

He pulled a wad of folded papers from his pants pocket and held it up. "Oh, you mean this..."

"You... you'll do it, right? I mean... I could sing it with one of the EXO members or something, too, but it just won't be... you know..."

He leaned over so he was looking me in the eye. "You were planning on singing a love song with someone besides me?"

I blushed even deeper, trying to shrink into my nonexistent shell. "No, no I wasn't," I squeaked, any sense of calm completely destroyed while my heart was beating so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and run a lap around the room.

He reached forward and gently traced the line of my chin with his fingertips, and then let his hand slide behind my neck so he could pull me up to him, just grazing my lips with his own.

And, like every time, I got dizzy, and my head started whirling, and I basically forgot about everything for a second, including how I smelled, or what I looked like, or whether I was wearing makeup or not, or what clothes I was wearing.

"Would the two of you care to explain what you're doing?"

I was away from Zhou Mi faster than you could say "oh crap". Standing in the doorway next to a very self-conscious Steven was Snow Leopard Lady herself, giving me a cold, calm smile that would have frozen a working furnace.

"Shiljjang-nim, I wasn't expecting to see you!" I blurted, for lack of a better thing to say.

"Clearly not." The words oozed out of , sending a chill down my spine. "I was merely coming to check on the progression of your album. And what a surprise I find! It's no wonder Queen Be has been acting superiorly lately."

Oh my god, what am I going to do?! Everything was fine as long as management didn't find out. Just... play it cool. Use your brain, Melissa. you got this. They can't force you to do anything.

"Is there a problem, Shiljjang-nim?"

Her cold smile spread even further across her face. "Of course not, Queen Be. But, you know, I'm always trying to help you out. You're my favorite, you know. And just because of that, I've always been right there to handle all of the trouble you cause. There never seems to be a shortage of it."

I knew what she was saying without having to directly say it. Just one scandal after another. I won't tolerate many more slip-ups.

"Well, you know. Us foreigners. Always causing problems." I nudged Zhou Mi, who seemed too terrified to even say anything. He forced a smile, trying to make it look lighthearted.

Her eyes narrowed, but otherwise, her expression didn't change. "Well, I'm sure everyone at the company would be delighted to hear that two of its artists are intimate. Don't worry, we'll keep this a secret from the public for as long as it lasts. Because, you know, idol relationships never seem to last long." She smiled again. "Friendly advice."

She nodded to Steven. "I think I've seen enough. Please continue your practice." And she turned and left, leaving the three of us behind.

When she finally turned the corner, out of sight, I swallowed the bile that had been rising in my throat. I knew what she was saying then, too. End it, before it becomes a problem for us.

"What do you think she's going to do?!" Zhou Mi asked, his eyes wide, panicking.

"We'll be fine. We always are." I replied, forcing a smile on my face. "SM can't do much to me. Not now, now that I've made a name for myself." But I didn't say the next thing I thought. But I don't know what that could mean for you. Despite everything, his position in the company was still fragile. "Don't worry. I'm way too stubborn for them to win."

He nodded, then wrapped his arms around me, despite as gross as I still was. "Stubborn. Stubborn is a good word for you."

Steven cleared his throat. "As much as I hate to crash the, uh, comforting going on here... Queen Be... dance practice? Then you two can go sing your duet." He shook his head, muttering something under his breath.

 "CHILE?!" I exclaimed, staring at Jung Ah. "They want me to go all the way to South America?!"

Jung Ah looked exhausted. "You got an offer from a television drama. They were impressed with your Spanish when you were on a TV show in Chicago. So they gave SM an offer. The company accepted."

"And no one decided to ask me about this?!" I shrieked, grabbing a pillow and flinging it across the room.

"Of course they didn't, Minsung," Jung Ah answered, and I knew she was right. The company was sending me to the other side of the world in order to separate me from the man I was dating. Time and distance.

"Any chance I could refuse? I mean, with the album coming out, and the musical..."

"With its current rate of production, your comeback is scheduled in less than a month. Meanwhile, your musical ends, a smash hit. You promote for another month, and then you're off to Chile. With the company already having said yes, the Chilean news is already starting to report your participation. So yes, refusing would embarrass the company, but it would also lose you a lot of your South American fans..."

I frowned. Kpop had been making a really good foothold in South America over the past few years, too...

"Fine. I guess I have no choice. But that doesn't mean they win. Just wait, SM. I'll show you that I'm not an immature kid, like you think. I'm serious about this. Six months in another country isn't going to change my mind. Mark my words."