When the live show finished, everyone made their way backstage. Jisoo as usual cheerfully bowed to her Inkigayo family and thanked everyone for working so hard before making her way towards her dressing room. From the corner of her eye she spotted her manager on the phone, who gestured for Jisoo to go on ahead.

She felt a little lightheaded and dizzy, especially when she straightened up after bowing to the people she came across. It was if she was walking on jello instead of a solid floor. It’s been a tiring last couple of days and the fatigue was starting to kick in, but Jisoo took a couple of deep breaths, shook it off, and continued to greet the people she met along the way with her signature smile.

Upon arrival in her personal dressing room, the smile on her face faded into a firm line unfamiliar to most of the people around her, and Jisoo let out a sigh. She left the door slightly ajar since her manager should be following soon in the next few minutes anyway. She practically collapsed in the chair in front of her dressing table and rested her head on the surface with her eyes closed, getting lost in her thoughts.

The girls of Blackpink were in the middle of preparations for their comeback and Japan debut and had to rehearse more vigorously as the time for the comeback and the Japan debut draws nearer. If she was being honest, Jisoo didn’t feel like rehearsing today. She was exhausted from rehearsing until late evening the night before and waking up early for Inkigayo, but she had to make her way to the studio right after this to practice. There was practically no time to rest.

But Jisoo shouldn’t complain. She chose the idol life, and she enjoyed it regardless of how tiring it was. Besides, she couldn’t usually show outright that she was tired. Many people relied on her– especially the Blackpink members who are all younger than Jisoo and often looked to her for strength– so she couldn’t afford to crumble under the pressure in front of anyone else. This side of Jisoo was reserved only for herself, the only person who she could allow to see her so vulnerable.

Just when she was about to succumb to sleep she heard a soft knock on her door. It couldn’t have been anyone except Jisoo’s manager, so she just stayed in her position and pretended to be asleep. Her manager usually just came in whether she answered the door or not anyway, and pretending to be asleep will hopefully delay a little bit of her manager’s nagging.

Jisoo heard the door open with that signature squeak, but it wasn’t until she heard the footsteps coming towards her that it occurred to her that this is not her manager. The slow, almost unsure sounding steps she was hearing were not of her manager’s who was almost always in a rush, her heels click-clacking on the floor. In fact, even the knock itself should have made Jisoo think, because manager-unnie didn’t didn’t usually knock and just barged in