Kat and I somehow managed to get ourselves looking halfway decent.  We were only five minute late meeting Jin in the lobby.  He greeted our enormous cups of coffee and sunglasses-clad faces with a “Tsk.”

“Yeah, yeah. Good morning to you, too.” Kat muttered.

“I don’t even understand why we’re going in on a Sunday…” I grumbled, following Kat to the car.

We climbed in and got on our way.  After a few moments, Jin broke the silence.  “Were there any other partakers in your… festivities last night?” He eyed us through the mirror.

I was grateful for the sunglasses that surely hid the fear in my eyes.  “What do you mean?” 

“I am referring to the seven hung-over children I watched drag themselves through the lobby this morning.”

“Is that where you live?”  Kat asked him, seriously.

I couldn’t help it, I snorted.  For some reason, Kat’s question had been interpreted in my mind as her inferring that Jin was taking up residence in the lobby of our apartment building.  The prospect seemed especially hilarious that morning.  I laughed, wiping tears from my eyes.

“Miss Allie, are you still drunk?”  Jin inquired.

That brought about a fresh round of giggles.  Kat just stared at me, obviously not amused. 

“I’m sorry!  I’m sorry…  I’m sober, I swear!  I just… the thought of you living in the lobby was super funny to me…” I chuckled.

“I live down the hall.” 

There was a sharp intake of breath from both Kat and myself.

“You didn’t, by chance… hear us last night did you?”  Kat asked.”

“No, I did not, Miss Samuelson.”

“Well that’s a relief.”

I decided a subject change was in order.  “So, why exactly are we expected in on a Sunday?”

He paused before continuing.  “I’m sorry if it wasn’t communicated when you signed your contracts, that’s probably mine or Henry’s fault.  This job you’ve signed up for is really more of what you’d call a ‘24/7 gig’.” 

“I’ve begun to realize that.”  I said, sourly.  “And I will come to terms with that eventually, but that doesn’t answer my question.”  Apparently hangovers made me snarky.

“Right you are, Miss Allie.  Today we will be briefed about the upcoming tour schedule.”

“But touring wasn’t in the schedule that Eunbi had given us.”  I sulked.

“Right.  That schedule didn’t include any activities out of the country.”  Jin clarified.

“So, the touring we’re talking about it not even in Korea?”  I asked, in slight disbelief.

“Right, again.”

Kat, Jin, and myself had been sitting in what looked like a boardroom for what felt like hours.  In reality, the meeting only lasted around forty-five minutes.  Kat and I felt awful.  (We probably looked it, too.)  What helped was that all eleven members of Exo were also in attendance, (plus a smattering of managers, stylist, etc.)  That meant the six hung-over members were there, suffering through each and every minute, right along with us.

The meeting, what little I got out of it while half-listening to Jin’s translations, seemed to detail the touring schedule for the next two months.  There were four trips to China with six “Lost Planet” concerts in store for July.  June had only three of the headlining concerts, two in China and one in Singapore. 

Well, I guess this means Kat and I get to do some traveling…

As soon as we were given the signal, via Jin’s translations, Kat and I immediately retreated to our office.  We deliberately left the lights switched off, sitting with our heads on our desks, trying to relieve the aching. 

We had been resting for all of five minutes when Henry walked in.  Or, I should say, stormed in.  He took one look at the both of us, heads on our desks and flipped on the lights.  That action earned hisses from the pair of us.

“Seriously, Hank?  RUDE!”  Kat squinted at him, using her hands to shield the light from her eyes. 

“Did you girls do this?”  He his phone out.

I looked at him quizzically, not understanding what he was getting at.  “Do what?”

“Call my phone.  Right now!”  He demanded.

I sighed, and pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed him.

“It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls blasted from Henry’s phone. 

He the phone once more in my direction.  “Did you do this?!”  He looked seriously offended.

“Um… Technically, no…” I didn’t really want to take credit for it, but I didn’t really want to throw Kat under the bus, either.

“Technically?”  He screeched.  “I’ve had my phone on vibrate for the past three days and as soon as I turned the ringer on my mom calls me and it’s playing this!  In front of all of my members!  And they know enough English to humiliate me for it!

“Hen, maybe you need to have a talk with your members.  If you just come out and talk to them about it, I know they’d support you.  After all, you guys are like brothers, right?”  Kat smiled sweetly at him, egging him on.

He gave her a harsh glare.  I swear I could see stream coming from his nostrils.  He cast me a less harsh glance, one with more frustration and furrowed brows and  stormed out.

“Kat.  That was a little harsh, don’t you think?”

She waved her hand, dismissively.  “Whatever.  He’s tough, he’ll be fine.”

I sighed.  “I’m gonna go find him and apologize.”

“Whatever, just be back before the next round of torture- I mean meeting - starts.”

It didn’t take long to find him.  He was back in the cloudy practice room where he’d danced a few days before.  His face was screwed up in concentration as he practiced the same dance move, over and over.

I cleared my throat, announcing my presence.  He stopped his movements and frowned in my direction. 

“I’m kind of busy.”  He said, curtly.

“I know you are.  I just wanted to come say that I’m sorry.”  I tried to catch his eyes through the mirror, but they were on his shoes. 

When he didn’t respond, I hesitantly moved towards him, reaching to hug his waist from behind.  I pressed my cheek to his back, not being tall enough to rest my chin on his shoulder.  He stood, motionless.

“Seriously, I’m sorry.  It was my idea.  Kat picked the song, but I okayed it, so it’s really my fault.  Don’t be angry with her, she’s still hung-over and pissy.  Until about an hour ago, I was being pretty rude to Jin.  So, I probably owe him and apology, too…” I trailed off.

He put both hands on top of mine and removed them from his waist.  The move would have made me think he was still angry, but then he turned to face me and engulfed me in a hug. 

“I’m sorry, too.”  He mumbled into the top of my head.  “I’m being sensitive and I hate it.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yeah, I am.  This solo stuff is nerve-wracking.  Last time I had Taemin and Kyuhyun to lean on.  And I had Amber for ‘1,4,3’.  This is the first time I’m really alone in this.  It’s effing scary.”  He mumbled.

I pulled away from him finally so I could see his eyes.  “You’re gonna do great.  People like you and they’re going to like your music.  Don’t worry.”

He sighed and looked towards the ceiling.  He had both of my hands in his.  “I was SM’s first male solo artist in thirteen years.”  He looked at me again.  “Thirteen years!  If I don’t deliver on this, make them their money back…” He sighed and looked away from me again.

“Hey, your job is to dance and sing your heart out.  What happens from there… happens.  Don’t waste your time being stressed out about things you have no control over.”

“You’re right, and I know that… It’s just in the SM way of thinking, if this doesn’t go well, I’m to blame.  I didn’t sing well enough, I didn’t dance hard enough, my performance wasn’t strong enough…”

Hearing that made me angry.  “That is bull.”  He looked surprised at me.  “I’m serious, Hank.  You grew up in the western world.  How you and I were raised, doing your best is what counts.  Don’t let that bog you down.”

He nodded with a sigh.  “It’s just a bit easier to stomach when there’s seven other guys to take the fall with you.”

I sighed, not knowing exactly how to comfort him.  His phone interrupted before I could respond.  He dropped one of my hands to dig it from his pocket.  This time he actually chuckled at the song.

“Hyung.”  Was his gruff answer.  He listened to whatever the caller had to tell him for a few moments before responding.  “Wae?  Chincha?  Arasso, arasso.”  He hung up the call, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

“Come along.”  He proceeded to drag me toward the door by one of my hands that he was still holding.

“Where are we going?”

“We have a meeting to attend.”

“We?”

“We.  The SM Town concert in Seoul is coming up.  They’re starting to get everything worked out.  What everybody is performing, a practice schedule...”

When I just stared at him, he continued.  “SM Town concerts are everybody from SM.  So, it’ll be Exo, Super Junior, Shinee, F(X), SNSD…  basically all SM’s artists.  They do some special numbers with mixed members.  Usually some dudes dress up like girls and do a girl group dance and then at the end we all get on stage and do a song together.  It’s actually pretty fun.  A lot less pressure than a headlining concert, so it’s cool.”

This was all explained to me as we walked down the hall and down a flight of stairs towards the cafeteria.  As we neared the room, I realized that all of SM’s artists were probably in attendance, which made me nervous.  It also made me wonder what business I had being there.  Before I could get the question out, we’d made it to our destination; just at Eunbi was calling the meeting to order.

We slipped in the back, standing next to Jin and Kat.  Jin nodded politely to me before looking down to see my hand still clasped in Henry’s.  He gave Henry a look that could only be described as venomous.  Henry gulped.  He pushed me to stand between Jin and himself, promptly making himself look engrossed in whatever Eunbi was saying.

“Jin!”  Kat hissed, prompting him. 

He cleared his throat and began.

“As you all know, our SM Town concert will be happening on August 15^th.  We have three more scheduled for October, two nights in Tokyo and one in Shanghai.  Fly to The Sky will be joining us as special guests.  We will also be showcasing some of our soloists.”

I could see Henry visible stiffen next to me.  I squeezed his hand in what I hoped was a reassuring way.

“Also, there will be the usual group numbers, as well as mixed group numbers like we’ve done in the past.”  She went on to talk about the practice schedule and who would be doing what.  My thoughts began to trail and Baekhyun stole my attention. 

I realized it had been days since I’d seen him.  The last time being when he’d showed up on my doorstep in tears.  I was looking at him when he turned and caught my eye.  I figured he might feel awkward towards me after our last encounter.  If he did, he sure didn’t show it.

He was sitting two tables away from where I was standing.  When he turned and caught my eye, he grinned. He waved enthusiastically.  Well, as enthusiastically as one can wave below a table so as not to get caught.  I chuckled and gave a small wave in return, my own mouth turned up into a grin.  He cast a glance at the petite girl sitting next to him, her back turned.  She had light brown hair that had been swept up into a casual ponytail.  He looked backed at me again, grinning even wider and pointed at her.  My eyebrows shot up in surprised.  So that’s the girl?  He nodded, ginning, as if answering my thoughts and turned back to face Eunbi once again.

I scanned the room.  I couldn’t concentrate on the information being presented, wondering why Kat’s and my attendance was necessary.  Most of the Exo boys were sitting together.  I noticed Kai sitting at a different table nearby. He was sitting next to a lean looking kid with a really pretty face.  They looked like they could be brothers.  The kid leaned over to whisper something and Kai chuckled quietly. 

Obviously these guys are pals… I wonder who that kid is…

Luhan and Xiumin were texting, their phones beneath the table.  Suho was listening dutifully, a notepad and pen in his hands.  D.O looked bored as hell.  Tao was sitting next to Sehun; he was stealing glances at my blonde friend.  I smiled at that.  My eyes moved to Chanyeol.  Gah!  I think I may have gasped in surprise seeing him stare back, a smile on his face.  He chuckled at my obvious surprise.  I blushed and promptly averted my eyes; I had been found out.

When I felt ample time had passed, I once again stole a glance at Chanyeol.  He was no longer staring at me.  I sighed, happy to be out of danger.  I felt a little silly, creeping on these boys, but after our night in together, they felt like friends.  I would creep on my friends like this, right?  I was trying to convince myself I wasn’t being weird. 

Lay was sitting examining his hands on the table in front of him.  That kid is too serious for his own good…  Chen was seated next to him looking equally bored as D.O, except his leg was bouncing up and down and his fingers were drumming a rhythm on the tops of his thighs.  So much energy…

Before I realized what was happening, people were getting up from their chairs or seats on the floor and exiting, while some hung around, chatting with others nearby.  The meeting had ended. 

Chanyeol strode over to where we stood, beaming as he did so. 

“Hi Kat and Allie!”  He waved, cheerfully at us.  “Annyeonghaseyo hyungs!”  He bowed twice, once towards Jin, then to Henry.  They both dipped their heads in acknowledgement.  He then began conversing with Jin.  I wanted desperately to keep up on the conversation, but the only thing I could understand was the word “roommate”.  That was, until I heard my own name. 

As soon as I caught my name I turned to Henry, expecting him to fill me in on why I’d been included in this conversation.  Instead, Henry just looked pissed. 

I touched his arm gingerly.  “Hen?  What are they saying?”

He heaved a sigh and tore his eyes away from the conversation.  When he looked at me, disappointment was evident; it was all over his face. 

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No Al, it’s not you.  It’s just your job.”

As if that explains things…

“I… I don’t understand.”

He sighed and forced a smile to his face.  “I gotta go meet up with my members.  We’re going to run through some stuff.”

“Henry?”  His name came out of my mouth like a question.  I still wanted him to explain. 

“I’ll call you later.”  He smiled a sad smile and disappeared into the mass of people moving towards the door.

I turned back to Jin and Chanyeol who were still engrossed in conversation.  Kat came to stand beside me.

“Are you following any of this?”  I asked, gesturing to the pair in front of us.

“Yeah.  You aren’t?” 

“No, I’m really not.”  I said, feeling perplexed.

“I’m definitely not getting all of it, but ‘Roommate’ is the show Chanyeol is doing.  He’s been filming for that recently.  He wants you and Jin to go with him.” 

I frowned.  “I thought that filmed overnight.”

“Yup…” 

Is that why Henry was acting all pissy?  It’s not like we’re dating…