Zhen trudged up the hill towards the school. Cho Hee was late for work that morning, Dae Hyun was on call that night so he was already at the hospital, and Mallory had already left for France that morning, so she was forced to walk to school. It wasn’t too far, but already a few students had tried to make conversation with her.

And she really didn’t want to converse with anyone.

She made it to the doors of the school, and just as she moved to open the doors to the shoe locker room, Jae-Sun appeared. “Jin Ae! Let me get that for you,” He said, shooting forward and pulling open the door. “How did the project go this weekend? Looking good so far?” He asked, smiling brightly.

Zhen nodded. “Oh yeah, it’s coming along greatly.” She said, pulling her bag from her shoulder.

Jae-Sun nodded, his eyes landing on the other side of the room. “Listen, we should talk later. I’ve got to go now though. Hey guys!” He shouted, walking away from Zhen, who was all too happy to see him leave.

She sat down and traded her shoes for her slippers, when her phone buzzed. She pulled her phone from her pocket and opened the message. Yoongi has Kirby. You don’t have to get him to bring home tonight, I think he has it under control. Yoongi? She rolled her eyes and replied with a simple okay before continuing to put on her shoes.

Jungkook plopped down beside her and sighed, looking still half asleep. “The dog is a menace.”

“Kirby?” Zhen asked, laughing.

He nodded, kicking his shoes off. “He’s so loud, and he kept barking after Mallory and her manager left. Suga wasn’t up yet, so I took him inside, and he bit me.” He showed her his hand, which looked surprisingly red. “And then he peed all over the living room.”

“Oh wow. He’s never done that before.” Zhen said, reaching for her bag.

Jungkook frowned. “He stopped freaking out once Suga got up and took him for a walk, but still, it was too much effort this early in the morning.”

Zhen laughed and stood. “I’m sorry. He’s never acted like that before.”

Jungkook shook his head. “It’s fine. It’s not like we can do anything about it.” He stood. “By the way, are you free this Saturday?” Zhen felt herself start, a little surprised, but shook her head, knowing he meant the question in the sense of working on the project. “Awesome. Maybe I could come by and get you around noon?”

She nodded. “Where are we going?”

“Lunch. And maybe to get some bubble tea.” He smiled. “I mean, if that’s okay.” Zhen was slowly beginning to feel light headed, but she nodded. “Awesome. We should get to class, then.” He said, moving out of the way and gesturing for her to walk ahead of him.

Mallory stood in front of the white back drop, wearing a pre-appointed outfit. Her hands were in her pockets, her hair was blowing over her shoulders, and her lips were pouted when the photographer declared that they were finished. “That’s a wrap! Everything looks great.” He declared.

Mallory smiled. “Thank you.” She said, turning towards the staff, who were bustling around. She made her way across the room and said thank you to each one by one. She then made her way towards the snack table and grabbed a water bottle, which she uncapped and began to drink.

“Mallory dear, don’t drink too much, we don’t need you having water weight.” Her manager declared, moving towards her. Jeong was a short, stout man, who smiled at all the wrong times and looked like a leather bag. “Now, it’s important that you understand-”

At this, Mallory turned and dumped her water bottle on her manager’s head. He gaped at her as the water ran over him, and she smirked. “I suggest you have me pulled from that stupid high school, and release me from my Caleb contract, before I walk.” Jeong looked amazed by this, and for effect, Mallory crossed her arms and inched closer to the short man, towering over him. “So?”

“I can’t make any changes, Ms. LeBlanc, and I’m not entirely sorry for it.” He said, brushing off his suit and shaking his head. “If you tried being more civil, maybe things would go your way.”

Mallory’s hand came down on his cheek, and the connection made a loud, echoing smack. “Figure it out. After tomorrow’s shoot, if things haven’t changed, I walk.” With that, she turned and started away, trying to contain herself. Jeong couldn’t see her shaking, he couldn’t see her on the verge of tears. She needed to come off as strong, demanding, not scared and meak.

She moved into the dressing room, and when two of the handlers tried to help her out of her outfit, she shooed them. “I need to make a call.” She said, as strongly as she could muster. The handlers nodded simply and moved out of the space, closing the door and leaving her by herself.

Mallory immediately reached for her purse, fumbling around for her phone. As she pulled out her phone, she popped off the case and pulled the piece of paper from the back, reading the number and typing it into the phone. Without a moment’s hesitation, she pressed call and held the phone to her ear.

Why she was calling him, she couldn’t explain. In truth, she felt that it was because he himself was so calming. When he talked, she felt at ease. When he spoke to her in particular, she felt mystified, so maybe she was hoping he would pull her mind from Jeong. The phone rang twice before she received a “Hello?”

She bit her lip for a moment, trying to compose her voice. “Suga?” She asked, and received a hummed reply. “Sorry to bother you. It’s Mallory-”

“I know,” He said easily. “Your voice kind of gives