“It’s already in the middle of April,” I groan about the time but I am still smiling, my hands feeling the fabric of the sheer and gauzy mauve maxi dress I am wearing. “The month of blossoming,” Sung Hyo points out, helping me with my necklaces. “I want that one,” I say and reach out for a long necklace. She shakes her head. “It’s too long,” she answers. We have come back to Korea after the promotion tour abroad and while today we have been filming Good Sister once again, I am spending the evening preparing to perform [Breakaway] for Korea’s Live Concert that is maybe once a month for the currently promoting idols or other artists. I am without my members and here it is just Manager Lee and my stylists, talking about this and that and for me, I admire the dress I wear. It is in a light fabric with off-the-shoulder style and pintuck pleating, net straps and inserts, dotted mesh detailing – all details are very dreamy yet it is an effortless look. I fill up the dress with a set of necklaces going around my neck into four different lengths, none as long as the necklace I wanted to add but it still looks good, simple and stylish, and I keep it simple with one ring on my left hand and two bracelets on my right. “Now it would be gorgeous if you would hold up it here once in a while, at least once during a full-shot because it is … gorgeous,” Sung Hyo tells me. “Show them some legs,” Manager Lee chuckles from his corner. I notice Sung Hyo gives him a glare at the same time as I do and Manager Lee looks at us with surprise for a second before looking back at his phone. A smile is in my face when I turn to look at Chae Hwan. I have gotten close to my two new stylists, Chae Hwan and I get along very well and for Sung Hyo she is strict but very nice. Manager Lee has his place too but he has been with me for quite some time now, and then there is no one else here. That’s nice, quiet and nice. A knock on the door changes that and my smile gets a bit forced as a junior group is waiting outside to greet me. As soon as they have left I grimace at my crew. “This reminds me why I don’t like working without my ladies.” Chae Hwan giggles at my words and Manager Lee smirks, knowing I mean it too. “Yet when you are with your ladies, you get annoyed at them,” Sung Hyo points out. “Just a little,” I giggle with Chae Hwan. “Haven’t you learned yet, Sung Hyo; that’s the magical charm called 5 Pieces,” Manager Lee opens his mouth to say, “Annoy each other a bit, talk about friendship and then annoy each other a bit more…” “Ha-ha-ha, very funny,” I scoff at him. ”You’re just jealous, Oppa, that I have four amazing friends who love to tease and ignore you.” I reach my tongue out at him and he just smiles, not talking back. We all annoy each other, I think friendship does that. Being back in Korea, we are not preparing for a comeback here. For the rest of the year, Korea will be our home while other countries will contain our work. In a few days we are going to Japan to prepare for our second Japanese album and summer tour, coming and going like this and that, and I’m actually looking forward to be promoting in Japan again while at the same time I am a bit tired. “Are you ready?” Manager Lee asks. Nodding, I follow him out the dressing-room. “Kyungho texted me,” I tell my manager while sending a response text message to my little brother. “Does Maria make him eat ice-cream again?” “No… And I think she wouldn’t make him eat ice-cream; he would love that. No, he said Emelia is letting him stay up so we can watch a movie when I come home.” “Do you ever do something else than watching movies at night?” Manager Lee chuckles with a question, lowering his head briefly to another manager who we walk by, looking pleased when I bow politely. I grimace at his joke. “We watch series at times,” I point out and though I say it in a straight tone I smile when Manager Lee looks strangely at me. “You scared me with that answer,” he breathes out. “I thought you were serious.” We go to the stage to wait for my performance to begin. I am quite alright though it is my self-written song and I am performing just that song tonight. I expected myself to be nervous and be pacing with worry for all the wrong that could happen, but I have only felt bit nervousness, not anything I have taken notice of or something. I feel alright. Even my manager has noticed that, mentioning it again by the stage – which, like always, makes me more nervous. I whine when I am told to prepare to go up on the stage, my eyes on Manager Lee. “Why did you tell me that?” He just smiles and puts his hand on my shoulder, patting it lightly, and then shoves me away. “Good luck, Hannah,” he tells me. On the stage, the duo hosts are introducing me from the side platform while I take my place on the dark stage. My microphone stand is in front of me, microphone already on, and I take a deep breath hearing them say such well-spoken words about me. With the stage being dark I can see the audience before me. The indoor arena is large and formal, the audience is sitting down mostly everywhere yet I can see my own fan-club being present with purple colours in their segment among the crowd. I like that colour; it looks very magical from where I stand. I look down at my dress, knowing I am suddenly nervous because Manager Lee mentioned I am calm today, I make sure my dress looks alright before they call out my name and I get ready for my performance to sing. The stage is still pretty dark when my performance begins. Some effects around the stage lightens up, matching the colour of my dress, I know I am not directly in a strong spotlight and it feels great to be visible but not having strong light on me. When the chorus begins, it is like my concert performance with a video shown behind me: pictures of my family. I like this song, and the audience is quiet. I can see the lights they hold up, and I feel strengthened that I am doing a good job thinking the audience is enjoying my performance that is different from a usual idol’s performance. I perform a ballad, I show my vocals, I sing of my story, and my voice handles it quite alright. When the song ends I hear the applauses, screams even. “Thank you,” I say and take a step back to bow behind the microphone stand. It continues when I get off the stage and the smile I give my manager is genuine, to which he responds to with a smirk. “Going home for a movie now?” he asks as we head back to the dressing-room. I just smile, bowing to the people we pass by and I wonder what movie we’re going to see. Maria has probably chosen it. My manager sends me home, and it is no surprise at all hearing a lot of noise in the house. As soon as I step through I am frowning, confused with the noise and knowing cameras are on me. Who is here? Music is playing, not too loud though, and I hear dancing, reflections shown in the living-room windows across the hall but I can’t make out who is here. There is no point in calling out either so I get my shoes off and throw in my bag on me bed before walking inside to see what’s going on. The sight in front of me is hilarious. Kyungho is randomly dancing to the music with Maria and actor Kwon Hyunsuk, all showing their unique sides. The TV is on, connected to Maria’s laptop to play music from her playlist. I wonder where Emelia is, and our dog Milo isn’t here either. Maybe they are in the other house, and just as I think that, Kyungho spots me and starts screaming, jumping his way to me. “Nuna, we’re dancing!” he calls out, grabs my hand to bring me in to their dance-floor. Hyunsuk laughs when spotting me and he falls down in the sofa, embarrassed for what Maria has made him done while Maria is cheering at me joining in their dance club; her arms are waving and hair flying by the movement. I try to avoid the dancing to instead sit down next to Hyunsuk and ask what Maria has dragged him in to. “I was invited over for dinner and a movie,” Hyunsuk tells me and starts waving his finger at Maria and Kyungho. “We somehow started to talk about dancing and Maria began a dance club.” Shaking my head I am smiling at Kyungho trying to dance like Maria. He is laughing and having fun, like always with Maria. “I got dinner,” Hyunsuk tells me, “But about that movie…” Kwon Hyunsuk was in Midnight Dream with me, but then he joined We Got Married with Maria and the two of them have been talking every week ever since, some times every day for some time too. They are good friends, I’m not sure what kind of friends they are but they have never done anything ual, I think. Now what I remember anyway… I pat Hyunsuk on the leg before I stand up. “Nuna, dance with us!” Kyungho calls out as soon as I stand up. “Yeah, dance with us~” Maria cheers, dancing until she is out of breath. I shake my head. “I’m going-” Maria shakes a finger for me and takes my hands to start shake my arms and I start laughing as it is a move to loosen up. Kyungho starts shaking his body too, really having fun. He will be exhausted soon. Maybe there actually won’t be a movie tonight then, if they are dancing themselves tired here. The song eventually comes to an end and I sneak away to go to the bathroom. “At a club in Sweden, the DJ played [New Me],” Maria is saying to Hyunsuk when I come out of the bathroom, I hear her when I walk through the kitchen. “I heard!” Hyunsuk says and cheers when seeing me. “How did that feel, Han?” “Weird,” I grimace quickly, smiling when Kyungho laughs. It seems the dance club has taken a break for tonight, and we do actually decide to watch a movie. Maria prepares popcorn and takes out drinks for all of us while Kyungho decides on the movie and I start play it. Hyunsuk is pretty much just sitting in the sofa. I go change clothes into pyjamas when the movie begins (I have seen it before) but they still pause it until I come back and we pause it again for Maria to bring in some quilts and blankets to make it cosy. Maria sits in the middle (she is lying down) with Hyunsuk sitting by her feet, Kyungho on her other side and me at the end next to Kyungho. I want to say we watch the movie, but I was pretty right with them being exhausted. Maria falls asleep first, making the rest of us look at her and giggle, and a few minutes later I hear Kyungho sleeping too. Hyunsuk and I try to watch the movie for a little longer before we decide to give up. The other two are sleeping so Hyunsuk and I chat briefly before he decides to go home. When he has left I do the dishes and lie back in the sofa to watch what’s left on the movie we have left playing. Next thing I know, I wake up when Kyungho puts his head on my legs, sleeping. I glance around to see Maria is also still sleeping and I lie my head down again. It doesn’t take many minutes before I wake up again, this time it is Tiger who is on the sofa, maybe trying to find a good place to join our sofa sleeping. I still haven’t talked to Honggi, he wouldn’t contact me during my promotion tour and I haven’t called or texted him to let him know I am back in Seoul. I don’t fall asleep this time, but I keep my eyes closed as I wonder what to do about my friend. Movement in the sofa, someone getting up, makes me blink my eyes open. “Are you awake?” Maria whispers. She sounds like she is still sleeping, squatting down in front of me to whisper. “We need to take him to bed,” she tells me and nods over at Kyungho. With a sigh I get out of the sofa, looking at my little brother sleeping. I consider carrying Kyungho to his room but with a glance I see the stairs and decide too many things could go wrong doing that, but I can’t really let him sleep in the sofa. “Wake him up,” Maria says before she leaves the living-room. I hear her yawn loudly in the kitchen. “Mm…” I mumble and sit down next to Kyungho. He looks peaceful sleeping. We have talked a lot during the promotion tour, after Sweden he went back to Korea but we kept talking online; he worries a lot about his parents, scared for what will happen and mostly because his parents are too busy to barely see him h