[A/N: I'm not dead guys, I'm in grad school now so real life has become busier and stressful. I don't know how many of you have stuck around for this long, but thank you for not giving up on BWB even when I have been wanting to. You guys know the drill, right? TW: Mental illness, drinking, car accidents.]

Su Jong and Eun Mi sat on the floor, sharing a bag of veggie chips and a Coke. Su Jong’s hair had been styled up, held in place with clips, the different shades of blue making for an astonishing visual. Eun Mi, on the other hand, still wore the large name tag vest from rehearsal. A staff member rushed by, sending them a curious glance before disappearing around the corner. Somewhere in the distance, BTS’ Dope could be heard.

“That’s a really good song,” Su Jong said, his fingers.

“They have been doing very well this year.”

“I talked to Seok Jin earlier. He’s gotten even more handsome.”

Eun Mi smiled at how offended Su Jong looked. She took the Coke from him, sipping it slowly. “Good looking men always offend you.”

“Good looking men. Good looking women. How am I supposed to survive when everyone is so good looking?”

“By going blind?”

“That’s morbid!” He paused, thoughtful. “Although it might not be a bad idea. Let me gouge my eyes out.”

“That’s morbid.”

Su Jong grinned throwing his arm around her shoulder. “I’ve missed you.”

Eun Mi elbowed him in response. Su Jong laughed and hugged her tighter, rubbing his cheek against hers.

Contact between the two groups had been minimal since Ryouta and DAEE’s scandal. When the groups did encounter one another in the company building or public events, the atmosphere was always loaded with tension. The only one that didn’t give a rat’s about the situation was Su Jong, of course. He still talked and interacted with the girls as if nothing had happened.

If they thought about it for a while, nothing bad had truly happened to L6. They were already well into their career, an established group. CELESTIAL, however, was still considerably new. And very fragile. Eun Mi could not believe they were only just starting their third year. That first glorious year as rookies felt like it happened a lifetime ago.

A door opened at the end of the hallway. They looked up. Zico stood a ways off, eyes darting from Eun Mi to Su Jong and back again.

Su Jong raised a hand. “Sup, bro.”

Zico’s eyebrows drew together slightly. He buried his hands in his pockets, leaning back on his heels, hunching his shoulders. “Hey.”

“Want some chips?”

He stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do until Su Jong gave him a wolfish grin. “I won’t pick a fight, I promise. That’s all in the past.”

Eun Mi elbowed him. Su Jong laughed. Zico eventually went to sit with them, keeping Eun Mi between them as a sort of shield. They ate in silence for a while, Su Jong analyzing Zico with piercing eyes. Zico tried not to squirm, but Su Jong’s gaze was a little too heavy.

“So,” Su Jong said as he threw a chip into his mouth, “what happens after tonight?”

Zico stared at him blankly. Eun Mi shrugged, offering Zico more chips. “We all go back to our normal schedules, I guess. No more HQ, no more cameras, no more missions.”

Zico had a hard time swallowing. Eun Mi handed him the drink.

Everything really would be over after the concert. Zico found it hard to believe that so many months had already flown by. He had only just recently started to enjoy himself. If Zico felt cheated, he only had himself to blame.

“Are you going to miss it?” Su Jong asked.

“No,” said Eun Mi. “I am really not.”

Something in her voice told Zico that there was another layer to her that he had not yet come across. Su Jong seemed to understand her meaning perfectly, however, in the way that only best friends can. He nodded slowly, as if Eun Mi had continued to speak and he was listening to her words very carefully. It reminded Zico of the way Park Kyung listened to him.

“How about you, Jiho-ah?”

“H-huh?”

Su Jong said his name the same way Taewoon did, which probably meant that he had picked up the intonation from Eun Mi.

“Are you going to miss HQ?”

For a while, they thought he wouldn’t answer. Zico himself didn’t know what to say.

Would he miss it? The tension between him and Eun Mi, the months he spent avoiding her like the plague only to realize that he had been wrong this whole time, would he miss that? Maybe he could miss the early morning breakfast with Tae Jun, or the late night conversations with Hyorin. Maybe he would miss the artistic atmosphere, the like-mindedness of those surrounding him.

“Yeah,” he whispered, “I think I’ll miss it.”

Eun Mi didn’t look at him. She hadn’t really looked at him since that day they went to church.

“Alright,” said Su Jong, procuring his cell phone from within his pocket. “Since this is the end of something, let’s mark it with a new beginning.”

He raised it over their head, angling the camera with ease. “Say cheese!”

The concert was a blur.

There were lights, explosions, fireworks, fan chants, and then the eerie silence that followed DAEE’s performances with CELESTIAL.

Zico watched it all from backstage, a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Su Jong found him, somehow, and threw an arm around his shoulder. They both watched as CELESTIAL performed as best they could, the four girls trying to make up for the one.

It didn’t look right. It didn’t feel right. It simply wasn’t right.

L6 was to perform after CELESTIAL, and Zico couldn’t help thinking that was a bad strategy. Eun Mi still had to perform alongside Jong Hoon later. Their companies had done a great job of hyping up their collaboration; the two had even filmed an MV for it that was set to be released at midnight after the concert.

“Hey.”

Su Jong leaned his ear closer, tucking Zico in under his arm. “Sup?”

“Isn’t Eun Mi being overworked?”

The bark of laughter Su Jong gave was almost enough to deafen Zico. He gave him a rough pat on the back, fixing his hair and clothes as he readied himself to go on stage. A staff handed him a mic.

“Figured that all out by yourself, did ya?”

Zico glared. Su Jong punched his shoulder lightly, dashing up on stage in a very dramatic entrance. It took Zico a few seconds to realize that Su Jong wasn’t rapping. He was singing. Kim Su Jong was singing Aoi Ryouta’s parts, filling in the gap their missing member left behind almost seamlessly.

It was rather frightening.

Eun Mi sat between Chorong and Jong Hoon, raising her glass alongside the rest of the remaining leaders and the production crew as Heo PD made his closing speech. With this final dinner, everyone celebrated a successful ending to Follow the Leader.

The cameras had finally been put away and the leaders that did not have prior engagements met the production crew for one last dinner the day after the concert for the show’s last hurrah. Most had managed to stay, but Sunggyu had left them the night before—Infinite had to fly out of the country soon to continue their world tour. N, Gyuri, Jimin, and Hyorin had joined them for a couple of hours before their schedules caught up with them.

Jong Hoon cheered loudly, tapping his glass on Eun Mi’s. Chorong smiled, sipping her drink.

“We did good, maknae!” He ruffled Eun Mi’s hair before downing his beer in one gulp.

Eun Mi tried to smile, tried to celebrate the seeming success of their song, but it felt empty somehow. She was conflicted. CELESTIAL had struggled through their performance. ReNA’s mic had failed. Chae had almost fallen off the stage. DAEE had been received with silence once again.

And yet AMORES had cheered loudly for L6. Sure, it may have been because Ryouta was missing, but it didn’t sting any less.

Ienna had been furious.

“DAEE is facing A.Borealis while Ryouta hides! How is it that L6 is forgiven so easily while we struggle? It’s only because they’re men!”

Eun Mi had tried to calm her down, tried to reassure her that this was only temporary. She had gotten nowhere before she’d been ushered away to change for her performance with Jong Hoon.

She had performed well, but the monitoring video had revealed how badly she’d actually sung. She simply hadn’t been feeling the song. She simply wasn’t feeling anything lately.

“Are you alright?”

Eun Mi looked up for the swirling liquid in her glass. Zico was staring at her from across the table. She gave a faint smile. “Never better.”

He frowned. “How are you getting home tonight?”

“L6’s manager is giving me a ride back.”

Zico’s frowned deepened. Eun Mi shrugged.

“They got a new manager recently. A couple of them quit.”

“Where’s Manager Jo?”

Eun Mi shrugged again. Something inside her felt heavy and empty all at once. It wasn’t like the incapacitating fear that usually gripped her; it was something colder, denser. She looked down at her drink again, sighing.

“I miss Taewoon.”

Zico’s eyes widened. Chorong looked at her in alarm. Jong Hoon didn’t seem to notice. And Tae Jun slammed his glass on the table, startling everyone.

“We’re leaving.”

Eun Mi set her drink down. They said their goodbyes, bowed and thanked everyone for their hard work, and followed the new manager out the front door.

Zico stared after them. Jong Hoon took another drink.

“He’s drunk,” he said. Zico looked at him. Jong Hoon pointed at Tae Jun. “He’s drunk as heck. He’s a mean drunk, that Choi Tae Jun.”

“He doesn’t seem drunk,” whispered Chorong.

Jong Hoon shook his head. “That’s what makes it scarier.”

He looked pointedly at Zico.

The valet had quit. Just like that, he had gotten fed up with the way the owners ran the place and he had walked off. Tae Jun and Eun Mi were left outside, standing on the edge of the building while the cold October rain fell on them. The new manager, a young man whose last name might have been Yoo, had raced out into the cold night to look for their car.

Eun Mi reached out her hand, letting the cold rain splash on her palm. She shivered.

“Song Ma Ri.”

“Hm?”

“Can you please shut up?”

“I wasn’t saying anything.”

Tae Jun leaned against the building’s wall. Eun Mi kept her hand out.

“When will you realize how much of a problem you really are?” Tae Jun sighed. “Can’t you see that you were never meant to debut in the first place? Everyone knows that you’re the CEO’s charity project. And you’re only that because he wanted to marry your aunt. He knew she wouldn’t leave you behind, her crazy niece, so he made a spot for you in the company.”

Eun Mi stretched out her other hand, watching the rain soak her skin. The cold water climbed up her sleeves.

“You had talent, much to everyone’s surprise. But you were broken.” Tae Jun tapped his temple. “And you aren’t Korean. The public has liked you well enough until now, amazingly. You should really consider quitting the group though. You and DAEE.”

He sighed again, as if he had been holding in the poison for way too long. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m tired of looking out for you. Quite frankly, I hate it. I’m tired of cleaning up your messes.”

Eun Mi pushed her arms further into the rain.

“Would you stop that? If you get sick, they’ll blame me.”

The rain was too cold. It was cold and horrible. It wasn’t like the desert storms of her childhood. It wasn’t like the water that soaked her beautiful adobe house and fed the dry earth beneath her sandaled feet.

“I’m going home,” she whispered in her native tongue.

“You’re in Korea. Speak Korean.”

Eun Mi gave Tae Jun a sidelong glance before she stepped out into the rain.

The funny thing was, Zico didn’t hear it happen. The rain was too loud, the thunder too fierce.

Zico saw it happen.

He saw how Eun Mi left Tae Jun’s side and stepped into the downpour. He saw how she walked out into the parking lot before them.

He saw the black shape rushing towards her. He saw her being hit, saw her roll onto the hood of the car and remain there. He saw how the car pulled back, saw how she rolled off. He saw her hit the ground.

And he saw how the car seemed to lurch forward again.