It was Monday morning, and what would anyone expect to see on everybody’s faces on a Monday morning? Exactly. Grumpy faces. The struggles of waking up early in the morning after a fun weekend and of course, that includes staying up late for parties. Well, maybe not everyone is grumpy. Solji looked quite cheerful today. Her wide smile and her confident walk gave it away. She marched down the boulevard like a soldier, swaying her arms back and forth. She was greeting everybody cheerfully and a grandmother literally thought something was wrong with this girl. Just then, her phone started vibrating, followed by the chorus of her favorite song. After staring at the caller’s name, Solji picked up the call.

“Hello?” Cheerfully she greeted the person on the line.

“…Hello? Solji?” 

“Yes? Hani?”  

“Um…are you okay?” Hani asked with a confused tone.

“Yeah I’m fine…Why? Should I not be okay?” 

“Well since you just got fired yesterday, I just called to check on how you’re doing.”

“Oh, I just had some chocolate ice cream and now I’m heading over to the café.” Solji answered cheerfully.

“Wait, am I missing something here? Why are you sounding so happy right now?” 

Solji just laughed at her best friend’s question. “Nah… I just had a chat with that person this morning.”

“That person? Which person are we talking about again?”

“You know… The person I always sing a duet with…” Before Solji could continue, she was interrupted by Hani.

“Wait a minute, you mean THAT person as in… That EllyGurl91?! OH MY GOD! What did the both of you talk about? Tell me everything!” 

Solji merely rolled her eyes. Her best friend, Hani was known to be a big fan of EllyGurl91 ever since Solji become a famous duet couple with her on a singing application called Smule. It is an application that allows people to perform karaoke sessions with another person through the internet. Solji’s account, PaperBagGirl was known in Smule to perform with a paper bag over her entire head but is gifted with the voice of the angel of music. Her duet with EllyGurl91 garnered attention from all around the world and allowed them to have up to tens of thousands of followers.

“Don’t be such a creep and come to Hot Pink Café now, Hani. You’re supposed to be here earlier than me.” Solji finally reached her destination.

“Uhh… I’m so sorry about that, Solji but I’ll be a little late for our breakfast. I’ve still got something important to do now. Just wait for me a while, okay?” Solji sighed.

“Oh, sure. Take your time, princess. You’re my best friend. Of course I will wait for you because I’m obviously STARVING LIKE A MAD WOMAN RIGHT NOW. Get your over here now!” Solji stepped inside the café.

“Yah! Didn’t you eat ice cream earlier!? Tch…fine! You can eat first, but just wait for me to arrive, okay? I’m on my way now.” As soon as Hani said that, she hung up.

Solji giggled as she took a seat beside the window. She called for the waiter and ordered something the coffee that she wanted. She was looking around the café until her eyes landed on a hooded person sitting at the opposite side of her table. Her eyes widened at the sight in front of the hooded lady that looked almost too familiar to her, sitting in front of her. A mixture of excitement and nervousness started spreading throughout her body but she tried her best to remain calm. Solji couldn’t believe this day would come so soon. The hooded girl sitting on the opposite table turned out to be none other than her singing partner on Smule, EllyGurl91 or LE for short.

Solji kept staring at the oblivious girl whom was busy sipping her cup of tea on one hand while playing with her phone with her other hand. It was minutes later when LE finally realized a pair of eyes were locked onto her. She looked up and caught Solji, who was sitting at the opposite table staring at her. Despite LE catching Solji staring at her, Solji did not stop looking. That was when LE started to feel uncomfortable and couldn’t take it anymore.

“What are you peeping at, woman?” LE asked with an annoyed tone.

Solji, who sat at the opposite side of her table blinked. “Peeping?? Since when did you see me hiding around a corner? I’m obviously staring at you.”

LE crossed her arms and laid them on the table with an unamused tone. “Right, staring. And what are you staring at me for, smarty pants?”

“Because…” Solji was about to explain about their collaboration on Smule when she had another fun thought. As of now, Solji knew about LE’s identity while she doesn’t know what Solji’s identity really is since she’s always having a paper bag on Smule. This could actually be fun, so she changed her explanation. “Well, because I have eyes. And what are eyes for? To stare.”

LE squinted back at her. “Well then stare at a tree or something.”

A grin then crept onto Solji’s face as she walked towards LE’s table and sat down. She leaned closer towards LE creepily. “Or I can just stare at you ALL.DAY.LONG.”

“…” LE, who seemed disturbed by Solji immediately stood up and walked away. 

“Hey hey, where are you going?” Solji hopped off her seat and followed LE.

LE turned around and pointed. “Look here, lady. I don’t know you so please stop following me around.”

“You don’t know me but I know you.” Solji then took a step closer to LE, but it was way too close. Solji was definitely invading LE’s personal space. Solji was also wearing the expression of a crazy stalker. “Do you wanna know how I know you? Hmm? Hmm? You wanna know?”

“I think… I’m just gonna go…” LE felt crept out and slowly backed off.

“PFFTTTHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Solji burst out into laughter. “Hey wait! I was just kidding! You’re obviously EllyGurl91 from Smule right? The one who sang ‘Some’ with PaperBagGirl? I’m a huge fan of your duet.”

LE sighed in relief. “For a moment I thought you’re an insane stalker.”

“Well, you’re close. I’m your biggest fan. Now that I’ve seen you out of the screen, let’s go hang out.”

LE pulled away. “I’m sorry but I have another singing session later on, so I can’t.”

Solji tugged on LE’s shirt. “Aww, come on… I’m sure your fans will understand. You need to meet your fans out of your computer sometimes, you know?”

“Uh, no. I’ll be doing a duet with PaperBagGirl again so this next session is very important to me.”

For some reason, LE’s statement put a smile on Solji’s face. She started squealing uncontrollably. “OH MY GOODNESS YOU BOTH ARE SO CUTE! JUST DATE ALREADY!”

LE clarified. “Alright, look. I know you’re a huge fan of both of us and I’ve been hearing from all my fans about us. But let’s be realistic. I can’t date a person whom I haven’t even seen before. All I know about her is her beautiful voice. That’s all.”

“I see… Does face even matter?” Solji questioned.

“I’m kind of a realistic person so yea, it does.”

“What if… PaperBagGirl look something like me?” Solji posed a little.

“Then forget it.” It didn’t even take LE one second to reply.

“What’s wrong with me!?” Solji definitely did not see that coming so she raised her voice.

“Uneven hair. Puffy face. Bad fashion sense. Wearing makeup like you’re about to do a catwalk show? Honestly, not my cup of tea.”

Solji placed both her hands on her waist. “How rude! Is that how you speak to one of your fans??”

LE then looked at her watch. “You know what, I’m gonna be late for the singing session if I were to speak with you any longer. If you’re really a huge fan of us, make sure you tune in at 4pm later. See ya.”

“She didn’t even bother to ask for my name…” Solji crossed her arms in a frustrated way as she watched LE walk away from the area. “Oh, I will tune in, alright. Just watch me…”

Solji then heard someone gasping behind her and when she turned around, it was Hani with her wide eyes and open mouth as she watched LE walking away from Solji. Hani was about to scream LE’s name when Solji stopped her from doing so by covering and dragging her away. “Do not blow my cover, Hani!”

“BUT THAT’S ELLYGURL91 ISN’T IT?!?!?!” Hani was one of LE’s biggest fan since she started listening to her when Solji and LE started their first duet in Smule. Hani has a huge crush on LE, that’s for sure.

“SHUSH, HANI!” Solji said as she dragged Hani back into the restaurant to get their breakfast.

“You better have a good explanation for dragging me away from my LE, Solji. What’s this cover thing about?” Hani sounded unsatisfied.

“He had a simple chat earlier and she doesn’t realize I’m the PaperBagGirl. And I’m planning to keep this up for as long as possible.” Solji explained to Hani of her plan.

Hani squinted. “And why are you planning to do that?”

Solji giggled. “Because it’s fun. I’d love to see the look on her face when she finds out that I’m the PaperBagGirl whom she just talked about earlier.”

“Oh, so you guys aren’t that close in real life yet, right?” Hani sighed a little in relief. She was actually jealous that Solji managed to interact with LE in real life.

“Nah… I will see just how long it will take for her to notice that Solji is actually the PaperBagGirl.” Solji giggled.

LE sat in front of her computer and kept staring at PaperBagGirl’s name, hoping that she would come online as soon as possible. LE actually has a thing for PaperBagGirl even though she had never seen her real face before. LE was in love with her angelic yet powerful voice. Right at that moment, Solji went online from her own home. Seeing PaperBagGirl online automatically put a smile on LE’s face. She immediately started a conversation with her. 

Hey, PaperBagGirl! =)

Hello, LE. X) 

Something funny happened this morning. XD

Really? Like what? XD

Solji had been waiting for this moment.

I bumped into this weird stalker fan lady earlier on and she claims to be as beautiful as you.

Solji started laughing out loud before replying. 

Haha… Really? What makes you think I look beautiful? =P

I bet your face matches how beautiful your voice is.

Aww… Thanks. You’re so sweet. =)

Solji was swayed for a moment as her heart skipped a beat reading LE’s message. 

But really… Why don’t you just remove your paper bag? Why hide your face from the whole world?

My username is PaperBagGirl. If I were to remove it, my username won’t be valid anymore, right?

Or maybe…just show it to me? 

LE tried to convince.

You know I’m never going to do that. =P There’s a reason why I wear a paper bag on my head. My face and singing voice doesn’t match.

Come on. Don’t say that.

Solji started sulking. 

Why not? I’m telling the truth. I have uneven hair. My face is puffy. My fashion sense is bad, and I wear thick makeup as if I’m about to do a catwalk show.

LE frowned at the message.

Wait what??

I’m feeling unwell today, Elly. Guess I won’t be singing today. So bye bye~!

Wait, what about the fans who are waiting for our duet?

Well, guess you’ll need to explain to them =P

Wait!

*PaperBagGirl went offline*

Right after that, Solji laughed till she fell on the ground after she got the revenge that she wanted so much. “That’s what you get for calling me puffy face, LE.”

LE has to spend at least few hours apologizing to their fans while Solji simply laughed it off. The next day, Solji and Hani were walking at the park, hoping that LE would be there. Solji speculated that LE was probably living somewhere in her neighborhood as well since she also knew about the hidden Hot Pink café which is only known by people in this neighborhood. Hani went somewhere else in search for food.

As Solji was waiting for Hani to return, she saw a familiar lady sitting on a bench. Solji smiled almost immediately after spotting the lady. There LE was, sitting on one of the bench and as usual her eyes were only focused on her phone. Solji crept up to her with a little smirk on her face. 

“What coincidence, LE.” She greeted the hooded girl and sat down beside her.

LE turned her eyes away from her phone to look at the person whom just greeted her. As soon as she saw Solji, she lets out an annoyed sigh. “You again!”

“What do you mean ‘you again’?? Aren’t you happy to see me?” Solji faked a pout. “We’re fated to meet!”

LE merely rolled her eyes and remained silent. “…”

“Hey wait, where is the duet you promised me yesterday?? I tuned into the channel but nothing was on.” Solji asked. She knew that she was the reason the duet was called off but she only wanted to tease LE about it.

LE was stunned for a while and apologized. “Sorry. It…It was cancelled.”

“What do you mean it was cancelled? You guys never delay a duet whenever you promised us! Oh, I see… You think you’re too good for PaperBagGirl now, don’t you? You refuse to sing a duet with her because she doesn’t want to show you her face?” Solji continued teasing.

“I never said that!” LE argued.

“Boo… You’re a bad person, LE.” Solji’s teases were never ending.

“Hey! Don’t scold her!” Hani suddenly appeared behind them. When LE looked at her, Hani immediately gave her the sweetest smile she had ever shown and introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Hani, Solji’s ten years best friend and counting!” 

“Uhm… Hi. I’m LE.”

“Oh, pffttt… You don’t have to introduce yourself to me! I know you’re LE! I’m your biggest fan ever! You were so charismatic and awesome and cool and talented. Oh my god, I don’t even know where to start!”

“Oh, I’m flattered. Thanks.” LE rubbed her nose in a shy manner.

“So what happened to the last session?” Solji was still not letting LE off easily after what she said to her yesterday.

“Cut it off, Solji! There’s no need to force them. Maybe PaperBagGirl have something to do that time. Right?” Hani then turned her head to LE who was now sitting in between them.

“Y-yeah… we have to cancel it because she has something to do.” LE laughed nervously. Meanwhile Hani and Solji were holding in their laughter.

Hani suddenly had an awesome idea to friend for playing around with her crush LE. “Oh! I have an idea! Why don’t you go online now and ask that PaperBagGirl if she can have a session right now?” 

Hearing that coming from Hani suddenly made Solji nervous as she glared at Hani who replied with her tongue sticking out without LE noticing. “Come on. There’s no need to do that-“ 

LE merely ignored what Solji said. “Right now? Sure…let me ask her if she’s online.” LE started clicking on her phone and made Solji incredibly anxious.

“O-ouch! My stomach! It hurts! I have to go! See you later!” Solji pretended to have stomachache while holding her stomach and left immediately.

“What’s wrong with her?” LE asked as they watched Solji tottering away in a quick pace.

“Hmm? Nothing, just the usual Solji.” Hani giggled.

After Solji was out of their sight, she immediately opened her phone and just then, LE’s message popped up. Solji sighed in relief that her plans had not gone to waste just yet. “I’m going to kill Hani later for saying that!” 

Solji ignored the message and went to the toilet. While waiting for Solji, Hani and LE had a friendly chat and laughed a lot. Hani then requested LE to have a session with other Smule users instead. LE was a little reluctant to perform in public so the both of them went to a slightly secluded area and started the session. This was the first time Hani got to see LE’s rapping live. She was just right there, in front of her face and it was such a perfect view for her. Throughout her raps, LE did steal some glances at Hani and that made her heart skipped a few beats. Hani had never felt so crazily in love before.

Ever since that day, LE started to hang out a lot with Solji and Hani. It’s only been a month from their first meeting and they’ve already went out more than 10 times. LE isn’t annoyed at Solji anymore. Heck, they were even getting closer day by day. Since Hani was always busy with her job, Solji and LE would spend their time together at the park whenever LE was free. And of course, when she doesn’t have a session with PaperBagGirl. It’d be impossible for LE to have a session or chat with PaperBagGirl when Solji is beside her. To not make things so obvious, Solji will always ask LE to have a duet with the other Smule users instead.

“That was amazing!” Solji complimented her after she finished singing her part on the duet with another Smule user.

“Thanks.” LE replied shyly before continuing. “I thought you’re a fan of me and PaperBagGirl? Why are you always asking me to sing a duet with other people?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter for me actually. I get to hear your raps. That’s good enough for me. Haha… Your voice makes me feel more alive.” Solji giggled.

“Really? Thanks…”

“Well, I need to thank you too for willing to sing it live in public for me and Hani even though I know you’re not used to it.” 

“Of course, you and Hani are the first fans that I met in real life.” LE smiled.

“Really? We are lucky fans then!” Solji giggled.

“I guess.” LE too smiled at Solji’s direction. She stared at Solji for a while and suddenly let out a giggle.

“What?” Solji asked, being confused.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you singing before. Can you sing something for me?” LE said.

Solji started to feel nervous. For a second she thought maybe LE found out who she really was or maybe Hani told LE about her real identity. “I-I…umm…I’m not a good singer.” Solji laughed nervously while turning her eyes away from LE’s.

“Oh come on, Solji. I’m sure you can try…right? For me?” LE pleaded.

Solji sighed and nodded. She will try her best to sing the worst she could. “Oh well, since its EllyGurl91’s request~ I will try it…for you!” Solji literally tried to change her tone a little and not to sound so much like the PaperBagGirl.

Despite trying her best to sing in the worst possible way, Solji still sounded not bad. After she finished singing a verse, she asked for LE’s opinion.

“Hmm…not bad, but I still prefer PaperBagGirl’s voice, she’s my favorite.”

A smile crept up Solji’s face and she tucked her hair behind her ear shyly. “Really?”

“Yeah… She has the most beautiful and angelic voice I have ever heard… I don’t know who else in the world can capture my heart with only singing… I think I’m in love with her already.”

Solji almost choked on her own saliva. “Excuse me?”

“What’s wrong with you?” LE patted Solji’s back to ease her choke.

“Did you just say that you’re in love with PaperBagGirl?” Solji’s heart started beating so quickly.

“Well, isn’t everybody in love with her voice?” LE laughed.

“Yeah I get that, but you just said that you love her.” Solji wanted to make sure that she didn’t hear LE wrongly.

“Did I say that now?” LE started teasing Solji.

“Hey you just say that you loved PaperBagGirl. I heard that.” Solji kept on insisting.

“What’s wrong?” LE placed her face close to Solji’s “Jealous of us?”

Solji’s heart was literally going crazy right now. “W-Who’s jealous!?” She pushed LE and turned her entire body away. Her face was as red as a tomato and she didn’t want to show that to LE.

“Why is your face red?” Perhaps Solji hid her face a little too late. LE saw right through it.

“Because I’m so happy that you actually like PaperBagGirl and it’s making me all shy as a fan!” Solji continued making excuses.

“I see… Sure it’s not because you have feelings for me?” LE continued teasing.

“No! I-I’m just a shy person! Now stop that!”

“You can just tell me if you do like me, though. I won’t bite.” LE teased yet again.

“UGH!” Solji got so frustrated that she stood up and started walking away. 

LE immediately grabbed Solji’s hand, not allowing her to leave just yet. “Where are you going?”

“…” Solji’s heart seemed to be beating faster than before now that LE was holding her hand. “Let go.”

“I will let go if you stay.”

“Just let go.” Solji’s mind was getting crazier the longer LE held her hand.

“I was kidding. Just come back.” LE pulled Solji back. Perhaps LE pulled a little too hard because Solji accidentally stumbled backwards and landed into LE’s embrace.

“…” LE’s heartbeat began raising as well when Solji fell into her arms.

“…” Solji merely blinked her eyes in the awkward situation she was in. She doesn’t even know if her heart is still beating or not.

Just then, Hani stood at a distance and watched the whole thing went down. She felt a flame burning within her when she saw her best friend Solji in the arms of her crush, LE. She cannot allow this to continue so she immediately called out to interrupt them. “Hey!” 

Upon hearing Hani’s call, both Solji and LE released themselves from the awkward position as Hani made her way towards them with a fake pout on her face. 

“What’s with that face, Hani? Did you get scolded by your boss again?” Solji asked.

“No. I’m just jealous.” Hani crossed her arms while taking a seat next to LE.

“What are you jealous of?” Asked LE.

“You two are always having time to hangout while I’m here busy with my work.” Hani whined.

There had been so many times where Hani had been feeling jealous over Solji for being so close to LE when she was busy working. Hani had been developing some feelings towards LE and when she reaches a certain stage of jealousy, she can be really possessive. Of course she acted normally and be cool about it since Solji and LE were just friends. But from what Hani noticed earlier, it doesn’t seem that they were mere friends. That was what made Hani mad inside. Solji is her best friend. She should know just how much Hani adores LE. Little did she know that LE and Solji had actually started to develop feelings for each other. Hani just remained calm for now.

Solji chuckled. “Yah! Don’t you worry, next week your schedule will be less hectic, right? Besides, next week I’m going somewhere for a week, so your EllyGurl91 here is all yours.” 

This seemed to grab LE’s attention in an instant. “Where are you going?” 

“Just visiting my grandparents at their village.” Replied Solji.

Somehow LE felt heavy inside now that she knew she will not be hanging out with Solji for a week. “…”

“Thanks, Solji. It’s great that you’re finally going to leave my LE alone.” Hani joked which LE only giggled at.

“Yah! Just you wait later. I’m gonna spank you hard on the !” Solji was going to have a sleepover at Hani’s house because they have something to discuss about.

“So, Solji…it’s just for a week, right?” LE asked trying not to sound sad.

“Yep, don’t worry, I’ll be back! And I will call you once in a while.” Solji smiled sweetly at her. 

Hani who just looked at them started to feel like a third wheel and jealousy invaded her mind once again. She felt so angry on the inside but she didn’t want to show that on the outside. “…”

Later at Hani’s house

“Yah! Hani ah… What am I gonna do??” They were discussing about the PaperBagGirl’s schedule since Solji will be away for a week, and the internet connection at the village is as good as dead. It will be hard for her to be online and it will be harder to explain to the fans. Hani was the only person who knows that Solji was the PaperBagGirl.

“I don’t know… What do you have in mind?” Hani shrugged.

“…” Solji kept on staring at Hani’s face silently.

“What?”

“Hey, now that I think about it, you can sing very well too, Hani. In fact, you can adjust your singing tone to be similar as mine. Nobody should be able to tell, even LE.” Solji grabbed both Hani’s hands. “You can do it, right?”

“Wha-? You want me to take on the PaperBagGirl persona for a week??” Hani definitely didn’t see that coming.

“Yes!” Solji grabbed her paper bag and placed it over Hani’s head. “Sing something.”

“Are you serious about this?”

“Sing something, Hani!” Solji got excited.

Hani sang a verse from one of Solji’s favorite songs and tried adjusting her tone to be similar with Solji’s. “So how’s that sound?”

“Oh my god, you sound so much like me! I knew it! This was a genius plan!” Solji clapped her hands and cheered.

Hani had not much confidence at first but deep inside, she actually wants to know how it felt like being Solji and PaperBagGirl whom LE admires a lot. So she accepted it. “Alright. I’ll help you be PaperBagGirl for a week.”

“YES!!!” Solji cheered. 

Hani was just putting up a fake smile. It was irritating to her every time she hangs out with LE, all she heard was how great the PaperBagGirl’s voice is. It’s not that she is mad that Solji is great at singing. In fact, Hani is happy that her best friend had something she’s great at. It is the fact that LE didn’t know that Solji is the PaperBagGirl. From what Hani knows, LE has a fondness towards both Solji and PaperBagGirl. If she ever found out the truth that Solji and PaperBagGirl is actually the same person, Solji will have her full attention and Hani will never want that to happen.

“I will give you my legendary paper bag tomorrow. Take care of it okay. I will give you my Smule account info too. I trust you, Hani.” Solji was kind of nervous to pass the PaperBagGirl persona to Hani because she will be chatting and singing duet with LE a lot for a week. Plus, they will also hang out a lot later. Solji felt slight jealousy within her but of course she trusted Hani like her own family.

“Don’t worry, Solji. You can trust me. Besides it will be just for a week, so no big deal.” Hani shrugged.

And so the deal was made. Hani will replace Solji as the PaperBagGirl for the entire week. Hani’s first singing session turned out to be a shaky start since she was still nervous and anxious about her voice not turning out to be like Solji’s. But she did warn the fans that her voice is a little off nowadays. As the session goes on and on, Hani started sounding more confident in her voice. Her singing slowly turned out to be very close to Solji’s singing style. People start to not notice the difference between Hani’s voice and Solji’s voice. Not even LE whom she always sings with.

In that same week, Solji had been thinking a lot about her and LE. She can’t just hide the fact that she’s PaperBagGirl from LE forever just because she thinks it’s fun. She has to reveal herself soon so Solji decided that she will tell LE and reveal that she is the PaperBagGirl when she comes back.

Meanwhile, Hani and LE had been spending a lot of alone time together and it must have been like heaven for Hani. But there was one thing that Hani still hates while hanging out with LE.

“I wonder what Solji is doing right now.” LE asked.

Hearing that from LE suddenly makes Hani jealous and angry but she remained calm. “She’s probably helping her grandpa at their garden. Why?”

“I don’t know. I sometimes just feel empty without her around.” LE said.

Hani looked down. “What about me then? Have you ever felt empty without me around?”

“Truthfully yeah, I have.”

Hearing that from LE made Hani smile a little. “Well I’m here with you today so please don’t feel empty.”

“Yeah… I should probably remove that negative thought out of my mind. Let’s go get some coffee.”

“Sure!” Hani smiled cheerfully.

Time really does fly. In the blink of an eye, one week had already passed. Solji is coming back today. Hani started to get anxious about this fact. She had already fallen in love with the PaperBagGirl persona and the amount of fans she got. She even got to spend time with LE without Solji being around. Solji coming back only meant one thing. She will have to return Solji’s Smule persona, PaperBagGirl back to her. And that means Solji will get LE’s full attention again. She can’t let that happen. She wanted LE to look only at her.

Solji had suffered from a severe sore throat while she was visiting her grandparents. Probably the air over there wasn’t that good. She couldn’t stop coughing and she has yet to find the time to go see a doctor. When Solji reached home, she immediately went to search for her paper bag but she couldn’t find it. Hani was supposed to have slid the paper bag back into her home this morning but it was nowhere to be seen.

Solji decided to call Hani and asked her. “*cough cough* Hani, where are you? Is my paper bag still with you? I can’t find it.” 

“Uhm… Yea, I took it with me.”

“Hey, how am I supposed to go on Smule without my paper bag? You have to bring it back to me. *cough cough*”

“Well I mean, you’re having a sore throat right? How are you supposed to sing on Smule then? Let me just hang on to this paper bag for now.”

Solji sighed. “Alright, but you need to return it to me later. I’ll just make a new one for now.”

Too bad right now Solji is having a very bad sore throat but at the same time, she’s very excited to have a duet with LE again. Besides, she was quite tired so she allowed Hani to hand on to her PaperBagGirl persona for a little while longer. She already prepared to reveal herself to LE soon anyway. So she decided to call it a day and went to bed early.

The next day, Hani and LE were spending time together as usual. There’s about half an hour more till LE’s duet session with PaperBagGirl. Hani then suggested to go to a shopping mall. “Let’s go hang out in the shopping mall.”

“Wait, I can’t. I have a session with PaperBagGirl in half an hour time.” LE stated.

“Is PaperBagGirl more important than I am?” Hani asked in a soft tone.

“…” After a few moments of silence, LE voiced out. “I’m sorry, Hani. PaperBagGirl is important to me.”

“…” Hani nodded silently. She knew that she wasn’t the PaperBagGirl that LE was referring to. She was obviously referring to the real PaperBagGirl which is Solji. Hani is just a stand in and she hated that fact.

LE explained. “It was supposed to be a-” 

Before LE could continue, Hani intercepted. “Surprise duet performance for the fans with the song ‘Some’?”

LE’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait, how did you know this?”

Hani seemed a little odd, LE thought. It seems like Hani was hiding something behind her back. “…”

LE grabbed Hani’s shoulders tightly. “Hani, how did you know this? Do you know PaperBagGirl’s real identity?”

“I know this because…” Hani was hesitant to do what she was about to do. She knew it was wrong and Solji would probably hate her for doing it but she couldn’t help herself. But she wanted LE all to herself. “Because I was the one who planned the surprise duet performance with you, LE.”

“Excuse me?” LE was so stunned with the revelation that she thought she heard Hani wrongly. “You planned it with…me?”

Hani nodded silently and took out a familiar paper bag that she had been hiding in her bag. LE instantly got up from her seat as soon as she saw the paper bag, shocked by it. “This…paper bag… You…” LE then looked up to Hani seeking for the truth.

Hani took a deep breath and confessed. “LE, I’ve been wanting to tell you this… I’m actually the PaperBagGirl.”

Chapter 1

END