Jongin woke up to the blaring sound of his phone alarm, it was 5-am and he felt as if he had just recently closed his eyes. 

Groaning, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was true, he had just recently closed his eyes, because he fell asleep at 3 am in the seat of his van and had woken up two hours after. He had to  make it to another fansigning event, and then right after was a slew of other appointments that he had to be on time to. His manager was knocked out in the drivers seat, snoring away and oblivious to Jongin's alarm sounds. 

Rolling his eyes, Jongin sat up and rubbed his eyes, sighing as he looked out the window to see that it was still dark out and the streets of Seoul in front of the hair salon he frequented coated in layers of endless, white snow. He reached foward and shook his manager's arm.

"Hyung, it's 5. We need to go to the salon and get to the fansign by 7." 

"Ughhhh...." Soobum rubbed his eyes and sat up too, "Where's my coffee?" 

"Let's go get some hyung, I'm exhausted." The duo walked out of the car into the chilly air and made their way over to the cafe adjacent to the hair salon. Thankfully, it was open as early and as late as the salon was open, and was good at concealing the identity and keeping the privacy of their celebrity guests. Out of the four years he'd been coming to this salon, he'd seen boy and girl groups, veteran and rookie actors and actresses, comedians, anchorwomen, businessmen, political figures, and even the President of Korea come to get their hair or their makeup done for a big event. And, when he came to the salon this early, like a few other people chose to, he was able to avoid being chased down and screamed at by the fangirls who usually tended to get to the salon around 7. 

They made their way into the dimly lit cafe, sitting down in a secluded area with no windows, and waved over the waitress. She was the owner of the place, and knowingly she kept her professionalism and did not treat the two any differently than she would treat any other guests. The lady took their orders, and quietly reminded them to exit through the secret door that led straight to the salon. 

After chugging some strongly caffeinated coffee, the two made their way over to the salon silently, being careful not to speak too loudly in fear of drawing needless attention from any fangirls who may have attempted to get into the cafe. He sat down in his chair and waited as the makeup artists and hair artists began to gather their tools and prepare to work on him in time. 

"So, I'm gonna start reading you the schedule: So as you know, the fansign is for an hour from 7 to 8 because right after you're gonna go into the actual mall and make sure to take pictures with a few important figures: the owner of Janggeum Enterprises, the CFO of Samsung who's helping hosting the event, and also a few daughters of some politicians. I'll send you a text of their faces and information so you can memorize them on the car ride on the way to the mall. Right after that we have to go to a photoshoot for Ceci Magazine and then one for Vogue right after. They're in the same building so no need to run around, we just need to be quick and efficient. That'll last for about 4 hours... And then...." 

Jongin closed his eyes and tuned out Soobum. He had no hard feelings against the poor fellow, he was just doing his job so he could bring back the paycheck for his own family and children. But for Jongin himself, he felt so tired and so done with everything that had been going on. 

Soobum noticed that Jongin was beginning to frown and drift off. He closed his book and sighed, nudging the to-go cup of coffee closer to the idol. "Hey bud, I know you're tired, but let's just do this for one more day, ok? It'll be over tomorrow, you only have one appointment for tomorrow so you can get all the rest you want. Me too, included. So let's just champ our way through this alright?" 

Jongin nodded, "Hyung I know, it's not your fault. Thanks, I really wouldn't have done it without your help." He smiled to his mana