She frowns at the presence of a new girl.

          Tall, tan, and lean. Everything Sana is not.

          She sees the way the stylists fawn over her and she snorts derisively. The girl looks as helpless as a giraffe in a sea of tourists, and that’s saying something, considering the industry they are in.

          The others murmur and whisper and Sana hopes.

          She dares not voice it out loud.

          “Annyeonghosayo.”

          Tzuyu Zhou bows and speaks in accented Korean. Sana gets briefly reminded of how unsure she was when she first came here, and how she had to learn to speak and adapt and blend and fit in. She feels something when she sees the slight quirk of Tzuyu’s lips, and the crinkle of her eyes.

          Somehow, she knows that this girl will not blend and fit in. She will stand out.

          It takes a moment for Sana to decide that what she feels is hate.

          “She’s so pretty!”

          She hears Jihyo half-whisper to someone in awe, or perhaps she is talking to herself. Sana doesn’t need to turn around to know that her eyes are as wide as planets and as shiny as stars.

          Tzuyu goes around, bowing to her new sunbaes and Sana plasters a smile when she comes to grasp her hand. Tzuyu smiles back.

          Sana pulls on it firmly and thinks.

          She won’t be replaced. She’ll never be replaced.

--

It didn’t take long for Sana to realize that Tzuyu is a thief.

          She steals attention, friends, and hearts. Sana is sure that nearly the entire male population in the studio likes the girl. Her friends gravitate to her, and even if she knows it is curiosity, Sana cannot help but be miffed.

          Every pose she makes sinks people deeper and deeper into her. Every intense stare. Every smirk. Every pout. Everything she does is matched with a compliment. Her initial shyness slowly disappears, and Sana hopes that it won’t cause trouble for her (and the other girls, she thinks after a moment).

          Sana is a model and she should stick to herself, but she can’t help but feel scared.

          She wonders if the others feel it too.

          They eat out on a restaurant. A group of girls, with too long legs and loud laughter, that it attracts unwanted attention. Luckily, it seems that the owner does not mind so they continue and be their loud selves.

          Sana rolls her eyes as she observes the servers pass by their table and steal glances at them. They come over more than necessary and ask if they need anything else.

          It comes to the point that even lax and mellow Mina speaks up and says with an air of finality: “We don’t need anything else. Thank you.”

          The scent of meat wafts in the air, and talk is soon replaced by sounds of scrapping bowls, clinking utensils, and the sizzle of the pan. Sana forgets how uneasy she is with Tzuyu. And how Tzuyu is beside her and Sana gives in to hunger.

          Meat has never tasted more delicious after days of diet smoothies and leafy salads. Sana lets out a happy hum and eats with vigor.

          She doesn’t know when it happens, but perhaps it is when she reaches for the last piece at the same time as Momo does and a brief scuffle occurs.

          Momo wins, with her abs and muscled arms, and all Sana gets is an angry red spot where her hand hit the side of the pan.

          “Ow!” she yelps in pain and Momo profusely apologizes. Sana cradles her hand and she sees the worried glances of the girls. What is worse than a burn is the scar that comes with it, and the consequences that arise in the studio. Momo offers to help her clean up, but Sana shakes it off and goes to the comfort room by herself.

          She does her best to soothe the pain with the cool water and the hand soap on the sink, but it still hurts.

          The bathroom door creaks open, and footsteps sound.

          Sana feels someone behind her, and she looks up to see Tzuyu’s reflection in the mirror.

          She doesn’t know what to feel and what to say. She has never really talked to her much (not that she wants to). So she settles to turning her attention back to her palm under the cool, running water. Tzuyu steps behind her and Sana hears her rummaging in her bag.

          She hears a soft “unnie” and a tap, and before she is aware of what is going on, her burnt hand is held gently by Tzuyu’s. She watches soft fingers gently dry and rub on the now-angry red mark. She applies it in a repetitive, slow motion, that it mesmerizes Sana. It feels cool from the ointment Tzuyu applies.

          Sana realizes she was holding her breathe when Tzuyu steps back and drops her hand.

          Tzuyu is competition. Sana knows that. An obstacle she must overcome on her way to the top.

          Tzuyu presses the tube of cream into her hand, and then she is gone. Sana stares at it for a while and wonders about her. She squeezes it. Compulsively, she faces the sink again.

          Anger wells up within her.

          Frustration.

          And something else, she cannot pinpoint. But it confuses her, so she allows herself to get swept up in emotion.

          Sana scrubs and scrubs until the ointment washes off, until it burns again, until the mark appears dangerously bright. She chucks the tube at the bin, and she wipes her hands dry with the paper towels. Her cheeks are warm and Sana wonders what’s got her so riled up.

          She tries to think why, but nothing rational comes to mind.

          Sana pauses, but then leaves the room with her arms swinging slightly at the side. She doesn’t look at Tzuyu when she gets back, but from her silence, she knows the younger is looking at her.

          Sana clenches her jaw slightly when she finally realizes it. Why she feels so wronged.

          She remembers that she hates Tzuyu.

          That is what she told herself.

--

          Sana picks on the back of her hand while she waits for the bus.

          They say time heals wounds and she supposes it does, as she prods the sensitive pinkish-white skin. New tissue. She is relieved that it isn’t too serious and obvious. Something that can be hidden by gloves and a bit of makeup.

          But Sana suddenly thinks of Tzuyu and she resists the urge to scratch at it until it bleeds.

          She wonders why.

--

One of the higher-ups has been eyeing her for a while now, Sana notices. An executive.

          The stylists fuss around Tzuyu. Perfecting her make-up, making her presentable enough for the photoshoot. Sana yawns in a large-oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Her turn is over and she sits, waiting for the others to finish.

          Sana sees his pin-striped suit, and slick-backed hair.

          Tzuyu bends over to pick up a pin she dropped, and Sana sees him perk up. A hidden glint is in his eyes. Tzuyu’s shirt rides up, exposing more of her backside.

          She has seen it dozens of times on other people for it came with this particular line of work, but for some reason, this one particularly bothers her. He shuffles closer, and something gnaws on Sana’s chest.

Worry.

          Sana gets up and asks a passing staff member for a blanket.

 She gets it and she drapes it over Tzuyu’s chair in the dressing room.

Sana sits back down and tells herself that she wouldn’t want anything bad happening to anybody. Not if she can help it.

--

Everyone loves her.

          Sana cannot help but begrudgingly agree to that trait as the others flock around her. They are a giggling mess and Sana reluctantly joins in for the sake of not being left out. Dahyun and Chaeyoung are jumping up and down in excitement as Tzuyu hands out gifts from Taiwan.

          “And this is for Nayeon-unnie,” she presents a stuffed bunny plushy to the eldest among them, and momentarily she becomes the youngest as she gasps out in delight.

          She continues handing out souvenirs and just when Sana thinks she didn’t get her anything, Tzuyu holds out something small and brown.

          “For Sana-unnie.” Tzuyu smiles and says the words hesitantly, and softly. She blinks in shock but accepts the gift. Surprise runs through her and she wonders how Tzuyu can even think of her (of all the people) when she visited her family and friends back home.

          Everything suddenly erupts when Jihyo insists that they all go in for a group hug that Sana does not have time to properly look at th