Haruki had once tackled a three-hundred pound man armed with an automatic. She'd infiltrated a drug gang as a rookie cop and leapt off a second-story fire escape in pursuit of a suspect. Danger was part of the job description and something she had never hidden from.

But this was undeniably the most dangerous thing she'd ever done.

Wobbling slightly, she walked in a straight line down the hall towards her bedroom. The view from atop the ridiculously elevated shoes was surprisingly different.

"Head up! Shoulders back!" snapped Jessica. "And quit stomping!"

The diminutive model sounded even more like a drill sergeant barking orders than usual. But Haruki supposed she should have known what she was in for when she asked the model to teach her to walk in these deathtraps.

"Okay, great! Now turn!"

Haruki shuffled around in a half-circle, using little baby steps. Even so, her right heel slipped forward and she flailed before Jessica lunged forward and managed to grab her by the arms, stopping her before she fell.

"You're getting better," Jessica admitted. "But you look ridiculous when you turn."

Haruki didn't respond. She had to agree.

"How do you feel?" asked the model.

"I feel like I need a break," Haruki sighed. She stumped over to the couch and sank down, momentarily forgetting about her sudden five-inch growth spurt so that the couch felt like it had dropped away beneath her for a second. She eased her feet out of the stilettos and resisted the urge to fling the shoes across the room. Rubbing the ball of her foot, she sighed. "If feet were meant to bend like this, they would have evolved that way."

"Oh, stop complaining," Jessica said. "I wear heels higher than those all the time at work."

"How do you not fall every time you walk?" Haruki asked.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "The same way you never miss a target at the shooting range, duh."

Haruki rose to her feet and headed towards the kitchen. "Want something to eat?"

"Do you have carrot sticks?" Jessica asked.

Haruki made a face as she crammed a cookie into . "Carrot sticks? Really?"

"I'm trying to cut all carbs out of my diet," the model explained.

"Diet at your own place," Haruki replied, pulling out a plate, which she piled high with cookies, crackers, and chips. Jessica looked at it for a minute, before shrugging and plucking the tiniest chip out of the mess.

"Hey Haruki, can I ask you something?"

The detective crammed another cookie into before nodding. "Sure. What's up?"

"Why are you doing this?" Jessica picked up the discarded heels and set them neatly on the ground.

Haruki smiled uneasily and shrugged. "Well, I mean, you're the one who always says every girl needs to wear heels at some point in their lives, right?"

"Yeah, and I never thought I'd see the day where you'd willingly put them on," Jessica retorted. "What's really going on?"

Haruki twisted her hands together and stared down at the plate of snacks. "It's nothing, it's just...I keep hearing from everyone that I'm nothing like Donghae's other girlfriends. I've seen the girls he goes for and they're usually....like..."

"Me?" Jessica raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"No!" Haruki protested. "Well, yes. Sort of. You know, extremely put-together, like they just stepped out of a catalogue. I have only three colors of pants and shirts and I still can't match them properly. I lounge around in sweats most weekends. Sometimes, if I don't have to leave the apartment, I don't even change out of my pajama pants."

Jessica grinned. "You're not the only one guilty of the last one."

Haruki laughed. "It's just that sometimes, I feel like he wants me to make an effort to look good for him."

Jessica held up a hand, shaking her head. "No. Wrong. I know you're new to this whole dating thing, but this is one of the basics: Never change yourself because someone else wants you to. You'd only end up miserable. Besides, if he wants you to change, he's not worth your attention. You deserve a guy who likes your flaws, not one who makes you fix them." She squeezed her friend's hand gently. "I know Donghae's never said anything like that, so you shouldn't feel pressured to change for him. Donghae likes you the way you are, awful taste in clothes and all."

Haruki smiled and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks, Jessica. So, does that mean we're done with high heel practice today?"

"Done? Oh, no. We're just starting. How often do I get the chance to force you to act girly?" Jessica stood up and brushed crumbs off her front. "Shoes back on." She waited, tapping her manicured nails impatiently as Haruki strapped her feet back into the stilettos. Jessica hauled her off the couch and gave a gentle push forward. "And make sure you put one foot in front of the other when you walk this time."