“Maeri!! You’re going to  be late for school! Hurry up!”

“Just a second mom!”

 I hurriedly combed my hair and applied BB cream and powder on my face. Running downstairs, I saw a freshly baked muffin on the table. I quickly grabbed it and bid goodbye to mom.

“I’m going to school now!”

“Bye! Don’t forget to buy onions and garlic on your way home!”

“Okay!”

As soon as I reached outside, the fresh cold air greeted me. I walked silently on the sidewalk and thought about all the forgotten assignments that I must work on to. I literally face-palmed myself for I still have to do it immediately before class starts.

*Beep beep

“Maeri!”

I turned around to see a lady driving a yellow sports car.

“Yoona-unnie!”

“Are you going to school? Hop on. I’ll give you a ride.”

“Thanks!”

I went inside the sports car and wow. She must have spent a lot on this baby because you could see that everything inside is luxurious.

“It’s unusual for you to be this early unnie.”

“It’s because I still have to prepare for a schedule at Sukira since SNSD is the special guest for this morning . Damn that manager for agreeing with it. I haven’t recovered yet from my hangover at last night’s party.”

Oh Yoona is a member of a popular girl group called SNSD. The group had its debut two years ago, and the CEO favors them a lot for he’s  given them lots of comebacks. Her family is close to mine since her father and I are both public defenders who share the same office.

“You had a party last night? You didn’t even call me!”

“It’s actually a colleague night out.” She apologetically smiled at me.

 

We arrived at my school and I noticed some people are already running towards the entrance.

“Crap. I’m late”

“Thanks for the ride unnie!”

“No problem! And please tell Sehun to come home early. Mom just got back home from Paris. We’re having dinner tonight.”

I forgot to mention. Yoona-unnie is Sehun’s older sister.

“Okay unnie. Bye!”

 

I ran towards the gate and stopped when I saw Sehun waiting at the corner. His brows furrowed when he saw me coming on his way.

“We’re late. Have you been fangirling last night?”

“Uh…no?”

He rolled his eyes.

“Come on. Let’s hurry up before the prick scolds us.”

I just laughed at his reaction. He’s always so cranky in the morning, so it’s better to just shrug it off and go along with him.

 

Class finished at late afternoon when Baekhyun called me.“Hey little missy! I’m about to go there.”

“Good timing! Our class just finished a while ago.”

“Great. So are you ready for tonight’s performance?”

“No.”

“Aww..don’t worry about it. You’re not the only one performing. My band mates and I are there to help you.” I hanged up first and noticed Sehun looking at me. He seems to be waiting for an explanation.

“Who’s that?” He asked.

“Baekhyun.”

“Bakehyun as in your childhood friend whom you haven’t seen for a long time?”

“Yes. That Baekhyun.”

“Oh. What did he say?”

“He wanted me to sing with him in a club.”

“And you said yes?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you hated singing in public.”

“I just want to try though. It’s for a change.”

“Okay. Can I come and see you perform?”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Just no. It’s embarrassing. And Yoona-unnie said that you should come home early. Your mom’s back from Paris.”

Sehun was about to complain but his phone suddenly rang. “Hello.”

“Yah Sehunnie come home right now! Mom’s about to get here.”

“But-“

“No buts. You don’t want me to drag you there.”

“Yeah yeah. I’ll go now.”

Before Yoona could further nag on him, he immediately end the phone call.

“I have to go now. Noona’s been very impatient lately. I wish I could come with you.”

I sighed in relief. Good thing he isn’t coming. I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of him. He might not stop teasing me after a bad performance.

Sehun waved and bid me  goodbye. I walked to a bench and sat on it. After a few minutes, Baekhyun arrived to pick me up.

“Maeri! Let’s go!”

We arrived at the Slow Rock and we were greeted by a man wearing specs. He seems young enough and I’m guessing he’s the manager?

“Hello. I’m Greg Hwang.” He held out a hand to me and I shook it. “So are you the new kid who is going to replace Taeyeon?”

I looked at Baekhyun. He’s wearing that stupid smug look on his face.

“Taeyeon works here? And I’m going to replace her? Why didn’t you tell me?” I hissed at him.

“You wouldn’t say yes if you knew that.” He winked at me.

I looked back at Mr Hwang. “I’m sorry sir but can you excuse us for a moment?”

I dragged baekhyun at the nearest table and gave him a straight face.

“Well?” I asked.

“Okay look. You know that Taeyeon’s been very busy since her comeback. She couldn’t afford to sing here anymore since her schedule is tight. Fans might even stalk and harass here. We need a female singer immediately, and I picked you since I personally know you.”

“But Taeyeon won’t get mad if I replace her?”

“Of course not. She’d be happy to know that you’re the one who’s going to replace her. She dearly loves this club since this where she started, and she wants the new singer to be as good as her.”

“But I’m not as good as her.”

“That’s what you thought. We’ve been friends since we’re little and we knew that you’ve got talent. It’s just a little hard to push you in getting into action.”

I was about to argue when tall man with a deeps voice interrupted our conversation.

“Hey Baekhyun. We need to go practice right now. We’re about to start in an hour.” He looks at my direction. “Is she the new one?”

“Yes she is. We’ll be there in a minute.”

“But I haven’t said-“

Before I could say no, Baekhyun dragged me towards the back of the club. We entered a mini studio wherein a full set of band instruments are placed in the center.

“Tonight we’re going to sing Way Back Into Love.” Baekhyun said.

We started practicing. At first, I was really nervous so there were times I couldn’t get the right note. Sometimes I can’t follow through the instruments played, but things went smoothly after a while.

“Good job Maeri! Now you just have to survive the live performance.” Baekhyun mockingly said it to my face.

I frowned at him.

 

A waiter called for us to get ready in five minutes. I want to run and get out of this place but there was no turning back.

I stepped on the stage and sat on a chair placed at the center. Beside it was an electric keyboard wherein Baekhyun perched on it. Scanning through the bar, I saw a familiar figure. The figure looks like Sehun, and he’s drinking with another man.

That’s impossible. Sehun should be home by now having dinner with his family. Didn’t Mrs. Oh come home?

My thoughts were interrupted when Baekhyun asked if I was ready. I just gulped and nod at him.

“Here goes nothing.”