Sehun crossed his arms and reflected. Somehow he'd managed to get himself into a tricky situation. Everything would be simpler if he'd had a place to go to, yet after he'd left Eunhwa with her rampaging monster of a manager, he had wandered quite cluelessly.

For the first time since he'd awoken, he realised he had nowhere to go. He was free. He could have done whatever he'd wished, visited whoever he wanted and just lived an ordinary person's life. An ordinary life, that's what Sebyuk had promised him. That pathetic fellow was too optimistic for his own good. He saw the light in everything, even in Sehun. Now Sehun wasn't a particularly dark soul. The fact was that even murderers helped old ladies cross the street. Everything was entirely dependant on the situation and Sehun had no bone to pick with strangers. This was why he had left Eunhwa alive.

He'd told her he'd something to do and that he would be back for this managerial role she had planned for him. It was supposed to be a complete lie on his part but he'd come back after figuring out that he had no living friends or family. Everyone had died. His mother had died from a gunshot wound meant for Sebyuk. Sehun shuddered at the memory. That one would haunt him forever. His only companion had tried to sell him out. Sehun hadn't allowed that. He shot the criminal dead. The people he'd previously worked for had scraped him down to the bone. They would have harvested his organs had they been worth anything. Sehun bunched his fists at the recollection. Their supercilious leader had started to bug him with whiney requests. He'd killed the guy. That man would have died anyway without Sehun's help. He was a cancer patient. Sehun had only just offered a clean and less painful solution. In a way, he'd done the man favour. Was anyone grateful for his charity? Of course not. He grinned malevolently.

Would anyone believe that he was the same man as now? Here he was, trying to feign sleep in order to keep annoying pests away. He'd thought Eunhwa was bad. She was nothing compared to the rest of Black Cherry for whom he was now a manager. The other lump of a manager (Mr. Kim was his name) had done all that he could to prevent Sehun from adopting this role, for which he had no interest. Eunhwa had persisted for her brother's sake, stressing that the job market was too competitive and her brother needed work. Sehun had wanted to laugh at that one. He didn't need any work. He could have easily become a hitman somewhere. Yet somehow he got the manager job under the condition that he made sure Eunhwa stuck to her diet and ran every morning. His meager job was to stick with his sister. The pay wasn't as lavish as he was used to. Nothing was remotely appealing about this mess.

They were sitting inside a cramped car. Since the addition of Sehun, a seat had been stolen from the leader of Black Cherry. Soobin had complained highly about the new seating arrangement, in which she would be squished with the other three girls in the back seat. They simply didn't have space for a new person. She made a ruckus as soon as she'd heard about it and was determined to harass Sehun until he quit. The leader of Black Cherry had been fuming; that is, raging until she'd met this new manager in person. The handsome manager was on a completely different level from Mr. Kim whose first name the girls had never bothered to learn. As soon as he'd laid eyes on them Sehun knew he would hate them.

Squished in the back three seats, four girls were chattering far too loudly about Hyerin's new jaw. The compliments were unending. "Unni, you look so pretty! Oh, now I wish I'd got my jaw done," Soobin's raspy voice clouded over the others.

"I told you to but you wanted to do your eyes instead," Hyerin interjected.

"Soobin's eyes are so big now. She doesn't look like she's sleeping when she's spaced out," Jina chuckled.

"Just like how your dragon nostrils don't flare when you laugh," Soobin countered.

"Girls, girls," Mr. Kim boomed. "You're all beautiful. Hyerin, your v-line is very elegant. Soobin, your eyes are sparkling. Jina, your nose is tall and beautiful. Eunhwa, your- erm- your face will become beautiful I'm sure."

Eunhwa nodded. "I'm saving up for it. Once I fix my face I won't have to diet so hard."

"Omg that's the best part," Hyerin gushed. "My face is so small now I can eat as I like and it won't look like a humongous potato."

"It looks so natural, Unni you're so pretty," Eunhwa gushed.

Jina poked Eunhwa and pointed to Sehun. "Is that really your brother? You guys look nothing alike."

"Yeah, I know."

"Is he rich?" Jina wanted to know. "How come he got all the work done himself when you're the idol? He should have at least gifted you a voucher! Oh, gosh, brothers. I hate them." Jina was very particular about looks. She had a reason to be. She was the visual of the group. Unlike most visuals who constantly primed themselves up in order to maintain their prestigious role, Jina would have preferred that the other three girls in her group got their act together. She couldn't compete with average looking people. That would lower her. She was tall, slim, with long, silky, dark locks and her porcelain face had always been beautiful even before her nose implant. As far as she was concerned the only one in this car with a decent face was Eunhwa's brother.

Had she opted to get more work done, like tweaking the inner corners of her eyes or injecting fat under her eyes to create the illusion of aegyo sal, she would completely outshine her members. She didn't want to stand out among them like a sore thumb. That would be like advertising, 'look at those three girls with talent and that other mediocre fourth one who can't do anything.'

"I hope we get some really nice clothes today. I want to show off," Soobin gushed.

"The stylists are always doing their best. We can trust them," Eunhwa said.

"Oh, please, no. We're not going to get any nice clothes until we get noticed by lots of people," Jina complained.

"We need better songs," Hyerin stated. "We can't expect anything if we sing about fruit."

"I don't see why not, Red Velvet did it," Eunhwa chimed innocently.

"We're not on the same level as Red Velvet," Jina stated the obvious. "Our company can't even afford to keep us in a dorm. We pay our own rent and we do part-time jobs. Mr. Kim, when will we get to live like real idols?"

Mr. Kim had no answer for that. He wasn't sure either. Their company wasn't exactly secure. Banana Entertainment was relatively new. Black Cherry was the first and only group under the label. They were slow starting up. Perhaps when the girls saw success things would become different. He didn't want to share that view before a performance. It would stress them out too much. Instead, Mr. Kim answered, "Congratulations on your comeback."

"Don't! Can't you get us onto some popular variety shows?" Hyerin demanded.

"We've had this conversation before Hyerin. Those shows want super popular groups to boost their ratings."

"Maybe we can do some street performances for this comeback?" Eunhwa offered.

"But we won't have nice clothes to wear. I don't want to perform in my sweats," Soobin moaned.

"We won't have anyone filming us either. I don't want to go busking when we've already debuted. We should do what other groups do for their comebacks," Jina explained.

Eunhwa thought about it. What would get them positive attention? "Maybe we can do a good deed? We could distribute coal to those in need."

"In the cold!" Soobin exclaimed.

"Wait, who's buying the coal?" Hyerin pondered.

"We have to buy the coal," Jina grumbled.

"I mean, it doesn't have to be a lot. We can afford a little coal. It will be more meaningful if it comes out of our pocket," Eunhwa encouraged.

"Other companies pay for their idols coal. They help publicise them! Why should we have to spend our own money? It's not like we're rich. We barely scrape by. Like, we are those people who get the coal donations! That's how dirt poor we are. How many part-times do you guys do? I do three. It's still not enough. I don't turn on my heating because I need to make ends meet. What? Coal? Are you in your right mind?" Jina was shouting now.

Sehun had had just about enough of the coal. "If I can get the coal, will you guys shut up talking about it?" He barked. Igniting his temper had done the trick. They all quietened down. Mr. Kim was eyeing him with mistrust. Sehun shut his eyes, pretending to sleep. These irritating girls created such a fuss over nothing. He could tell everyone in the car was wondering the same thing. How would he get this coal? Mentally, he rolled his eyes. How hard was it to obtain coal? It was hardly gold. Even if he stole it no one would be the wiser. Coal wasn't that precious.

Black Cherry were mediocre performers. That is where the trouble lay. Sehun could h