It was an early morning, and Zhen woke up with Leo snuggled beside her. His eyes were wide open, and he smiled the moment she looked at him. “Zhennie!” He said, snuggling up to her.

She smiled and wrapped an arm around him. “What’s up kiddo?”

“How come you haven’t been with mommy and daddy?” He was referring to their modeling sessions. They worked for the same company, and more often than not, they worked together for their shoots. She shrugged and closed her eyes. He poked her nose. “You don’t wanna get your picture taken no more.”

Zhen opened her eyes, and immediately knew how right this little boy was. He knew, and she didn’t know how, that she was tired of modeling. It was true. The only reason she remained in the company was for the sake of both Jun Hyun and Mallory, who she couldn’t leave behind.

She was beginning to feel differently now. “Do you want pancakes?” Immediately Leo leapt up, screaming and shouting and running towards the door, telling Zhen to hurry up.

She sat up and looked over at the television, which she’d still never used. She’d been far too busy with other things. One of those things was hanging off the corner of the television she was staring at.

The mask. Her mask. Midnight Captures and Shadow Penman’s trademark.

When she looked at the mask, it felt like a weight on her. She’d started the blog with Mallory for fun. When had it become something so big? So consuming? When did it turn into something that felt like a chore? And why in the world was it causing so many problems?

She felt like a liar. She hadn’t lied, but she could imagine the disappointed look on Jungkook’s face if he ever found out she was Midnight Captures. It seemed there was two things that were gnawing at Zhen, and she hadn’t even noticed until that morning.

She moved off the bed and shuffled towards the door, moving out into the hallway. Leo stood at the bottom of the stairs singing loudly for Zhen. Zhen could hear Cho Hee laughing as Zhen inched down the stairs. She peered around the corner just in time to see Cho Hee squat behind him and wrap her arms around him. He giggled and pointed up the stairs. “Call Zhennie with me.” He demanded.

Cho Hee smiled. “Alright,” She said, looking up the stairs and cupping her hands over . In unison they both called “Zhennie!” Zhen laughed. “Zhennie!” They continued. “Jungkook, come join us.”

Zhen’s smile dropped. Jungkook? What was he doing at her house? Not that she was mad, or inconvenienced by it but, it was really early. Surely enough, Jungkook walked over, squatted down beside Leo, and smiled. “Can I join you?”

Leo shrugged. “I don’t like you.” He said. “I like Zhennie, and Zhennie loves you, so I guess you’re okay. But I don’t like you.” He said, leaning back against Cho Hee.

Zhen laughed and moved down the stairs. “I said I was coming, Leo,” She said, leaning down in front of him. “Are you being impatient?”

“Yes,” He answered flatly. “I want pancakes Zhennie.”

Cho Hee let go of Leo, who was reaching towards Zhen, and she bent to pick him up. “Well, let’s go make some, huh?” She said, brushing his hair with her hand and then starting towards the kitchen. “What kind?”

“I want green pancakes with chips in them.”

Zhen laughed. “I’m going to assume you chocolate chips.” Leo nodded. “Do you want to hang out in here, with me, while I cook them?”

Leo shrugged. “I like your mom. She’s pretty, and sings a lot.” He said, wiggling at Zhen’s side.

“Okay, go hang out with Cho Hee until I’m done.” She placed Leo on the ground, and he scampered off, calling for the “Pretty Mommy Lady” while Zhen gathered the pancake ingredients. Jungkook moved into the kitchen just as Leo disappeared, his eyes immediately landing on Zhen, and he smiled. “What are you doing here so early?”

He shrugged. “I figured we could go out later, take Leo to see a movie or something.” Zhen raised an eyebrow. “We haven’t really been out in a while. Or by ourselves.” Zhen nodded in agreement as she began to make the pancakes. “And I figure this way we can talk.”

“Talk?”

He nodded. “When we you planning on telling me?”

Mallory sat on the couch of Jun Hyun and Ha-Neul’s apartment with her laptop on her lap and a mug in her hand. She was in the midst of writing the BTS blog post for the performance before when Ha-Neul moved out of the bedroom and into the living room. He’d ridiculously bruised looking bags under his eyes, and his skin looked positively pale, even lighter than his natural pale.

Mallory placed the computer and mug to the side and frowned. “Well, you look like hell.”

“I miss him,” He said, collapsing onto the couch and covering his face. “I don’t know what to do Mallory. I miss him so much, but I know if I call him now, we’ll be right back where we started.”

Mallory frowned. “Just tell him you don’t want to give up, but he needs to commit.”

Ha-Neul sighed. “It’s just not that easy-”

The door opened and closed. Both Mallory and Ha-Neul leapt up to see Jun Hyun moving into the apartment, an annoyed expression on his face as he shook off his jacket. An older man foll