Korea – 8 PM KST

Eunbi and her team were the first to arrive at the barbeque place. Chaewon had texted Eunbi that they might be arrive a bit late because of the traffic, so Eunbi took the initiative to order food for all of them. Yujin and Wonyoung were fighting over who gets to grill on their side, while Chaeyeon and Eunbi were taking turns with checking the grill as they chatted.

“OMG!”

Yujin’s loud gasp startled the three, and they went to look at the direction where Yujin was staring.

Chaewon was there, in a cap and face mask for disguise, but right next to her was someone who looked like an angel. Behind them was someone who really resembled a duck. Eunbi waved at Chaewon to signal where their table was, and the odd trio made their way to where Eunbi was. Eunbi and her gang stood up to meet their guests.

“Eunbi and Chaeyeon unnie! Long time no see~” Chaewon said, greeting Eunbi with a hug. She then turned to Chaeyeon and hugged her as well.

“This is my angel, Kim Minju,” gesturing to the shy angel beside her, “and this is her manager in the freelance model business, Choi Yena.”

The two just bowed at them awkwardly, both seemingly nervous.

“Hello, I’m Kwon Eunbi,” Eunbi said to the them, hoping to ease their nervousness. “This is my best friend and manager, Lee Chaeyeon.”

“Hello, you can just call me Chaeyeon~” Chaeyeon said while shaking the hands of Minju and Yena.

Wonyoung politely bowed in front of them and smiled. “Hello, I’m Jang Wonyoung, Eunbi unnie’s make-up artist and stylist.”

Yujin, on the other hand, bowed and quickly took out her camera. “Hello, I’m Ahn Yujin, Eunbi unnie’s official photographer.” She stared and smiled at Minju excitedly.

“Minju unnie, you’re so pretty, can I take a picture? Just one shot, I promise!”

“Yah,” Yena said, “You’re supposed to ask me! I’m her manager!”

“Yena, it’s okay, it’s just one picture. I’m not wearing anything that could be considered a brand promotion, so just give this kid a chance.”

Yena pouted in response but gave in to Yujin’s request.

“Fine, kid, but you better send me the pic you’re going to take!”

Yujin nodded at Yena in response, and Yena and Chaewon sat in front of Chaeyeon and Eunbi.

Minju and Yujin went someplace else to take a picture, leaving a pouting Wonyoung. Chaeyeon took notice of this and just poked Wonyoung’s cheeks.

“Wonyoungie, don’t worry, Minju’s taken. Yujin isn’t going anywhere.”

Wonyoung stayed silent and kept pouting, taking a piece of burnt meat and serving it on Yujin’s plate.

Chaeyeon just smiled at Wonyoung’s little tantrum, knowing full well that the two best friends will resolve their problems at the end of the night.

Chaewon and Eunbi were having an animated conversation, so Chaeyeon decided to take charge of the grilling while getting to know Yena.

“So, Eunbi unnie, how’s the preparation for your drama debut going?”

“Ah, it’s going well, this month I’ll be busy with photoshoots, and I’ll be spending the last week shooting the first episode in Busan.”

“Ohhhhh, who’s the director?”

“Mhmmmm, Soyou-nim.”

Chaewon blinked in shock for a moment, then quickly covered Eunbi’s hands with hers.

“Eunbi unnie, I’m praying for you.”

“Chaewon, wh -”

“Soyou-nim may seem kind, but she is very nitpicky with how the scene should go. She directed the music video for ‘Prettier When I’m Not Smiling’. The longest scene that I had to film in my music video - that scene where I had to smile and suddenly not smile?”

Eunbi nodded slowly, not liking where the conversation was going.

“That scene alone took almost half a day unnie. Half. A. Day.  Don’t get me wrong, Soyou-nim never shouted at me for not getting what she wanted right, but the exhaustion of getting what she exactly wants to see in that particular scene will get to you and the staff working around you.”

Eunbi gulped, thinking that she already has enough on her plate as it stands, but apparently a nitpicky director is added onto the plate.

“Chaewon, what do I do?”

“Unnie, just be yourself and be patient. Soyou-nim may not be a good director to work with time-wise, but her guidance and advice on acting will be helpful in the future. You should calm your nerves before starting the shoot, or else Soyou-nim will see that behind the camera.”

Eunbi nodded and was about to say something to Chaewon when Yujin and Minju came back to the table. Yujin excitedly went to Eunbi to show the photo that she was able to take.

“Eunbi unnie! Minju-ssi is so pretty! Look at this photo! Oh, Yena unnie! Give me your email so that I could send it to you after I edit!”

After showing the photograph to Eunbi, Chaeyeon, Yena and Chaewon, Yujin excitedly sat back down next to Wonyoung. A few minutes later, Eunbi noticed a pouting Wonyoung shoving burnt meat in Yujin’s mouth to shut Yujin up from gawking at Minju’s instagram.

Eunbi tried to keep her focus with her conversation with Chaewon and Minju at hand, pushing those worrisome thoughts at the back of her head. She decided that she’ll deal with that later, but for now, she decided to enjoy this dinner with everyone around her.

2 hours later, Chaewon and Eunbi’s get together dinner came to an end. Yena and Chaeyeon seemed to be on friendly terms now, with Yena loudly asking for Chaeyeon’s number so that she could message her. Chaewon gave Eunbi Minju’s contact details, just in case she might need a back model for her promotions. Yujin was able to get Minju’s contact details as well, and Wonyoung, despite her tantrum, was able to talk to Chaewon about how make-up artists usually work under pressure.

On the cab going home, Eunbi’s mind tried to distract her from her nervousness. She briefly thought about Chaewon and Minju’s relationship, and how the two really complimented each other’s personalities. As much as Chaewon wanted to reveal to the public that she had a girlfriend, her friends in the company all advised her to keep it a secret as her career was just beginning to flourish. Minju seemed to understand why they had to keep their relationship a secret, and she seemed fine with it as long as Chaewon is happy with her and career and being Minju’s girlfriend at the same time.

Eunbi couldn’t imagine being in love. Sure, she’s had crushes here and there - one of them being Chaeyeon because of her dancing skills -  but those crushes were just a passing phase. It never went past the happy or admiring kind of crush, she never really felt like dating them exclusively. Eunbi doesn’t really think that’s much of a problem, as her life right now is okay as it is.

The only thing left is to ace her debut drama performance.

She let out a deep sigh.

She’s not going to screw it up that much, is she?

“Hey, Eunbi, you alright?”

She looked over at the back seat, where Wonyoung, Yujin, and Chaeyeon were looking at her worriedly.

“Yeah?”

“Eunbi, is there something on your mind? Yujin has been calling your name for the nth time now, but you’ve just been staring out the window…”

“Ah, sorry I was just -”

“We’re here now, ma’am.” The taxi driver interrupted what Eunbi was about to say because they arrived at their destination, but Eunbi knew that her team wouldn’t let her off the hook easily. Sure enough, once they entered Eunbi’s apartment, Yujin and Wonyoung immediately went in front of Eunbi’s room to block her from going in it. The two youngsters knew from experience that whenever something was bothering Eunbi, she’d just lock herself up in her room instead of talking about it.

Chaeyeon hugged Eunbi from behind, locking her in place. Eunbi was trapped, leaving her no choice but to confide her feelings to her team.

“Yah, guys, I got it… Let’s all sit in the couch so that we could talk about this. Chaeyeon, you can let go of me now.”

“No, I’m carrying you to the couch. Yujin, you stay there at Eunbi’s door. Wonyoung, to the couch, now.”

“Yes, unnie!” the two youngsters said in unison.

“Is this really necessary? Are you really going to - OHMYGOD CHAEYEON PUT ME DOWN”

“I’m your manager, do as I say, and I say that you’re going to tell us what’s on your mind miss Kwon.”

“CHAEYEON PLEASE, THIS IS REALLY UNNECESSARY I SWEAR TO - OOF”

Eunbi was unceremoniously dropped on her own couch, with Chaeyeon smiling up at her triumphantly. Wonyoung was patting her head in comfort, giving Eunbi a sign that Wonyoung was genuinely worried for her.

Eunbi sighed for the nth time that night. She really couldn’t hide anything from her team since they know her so well.

“Okay, you got me. I was just nervous that I might screw up the drama because of my performance. I had this irrational fear that the director might want to