Solar looked up from the shining piano keys. The stage lights were blinding as always, and she could barely make out the shadows of the overwhelming crowd made up of her fans. She smiled and the crowd went wild. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, embracing the same adrenaline rush feeling every time before she started a show. The music started, and Solar's hands automatically moved to their own accord, having done the same thing for the millionth time. Her body swayed to the rhythm and she was still smiling when she started the first words of the first song that night.

"That was perfect everyone, thank you for your hard work." The performance had just finished and Solar's manager, Hwasa, was making rounds backstage, giving everyone a pat on the back. Solar came off the stage and went straight for the lounge. She nodded at Hwasa and proceeded to grab a tequila for herself. Hwasa shook her head slightly but said nothing as she walked down to the producer's room to negotiate for a repeated show in the future.

Byulyi was sick and tired of her manager telling her she hadn't cleaned the floor thoroughly despite having mopped the same area of floor for the past hour. She glared at him before turning her head to her fellow worker and good friend Sandeul and mouthing "What an ", receiving a nod and a sympathetic look from him. The two of them badmouth the manager so much that if their phones ever landed in his hands, they would be fired immediately. "Don't do this work if you can't do it right," the manager huffed nastily before returning to his office. Sandeul made a neck-wiping motion behind the manager's back and Byulyi stifled a laugh.

"One of these days I might honestly just quit," Byulyi muttered after the manager was out of earshot, "Like right now, even."

"I'll leave with you if you do," Sandeul followed-up, not looking up from the stack of endless dishes piled up beside him, "Although you won't be able to sing here anymore if you quit."

Byulyi actually laughed this time. "We're in LA after all, I'll be sad to leave the girls but there's plenty of other places to sing at," she held out her pinky finger and motioned for Sandeul to shake on it, "Can I rain-check that quitting together thing?"

"My hand is full of soap, Byul." Sandeul rolled his eyes at Byulyi, "I air pinky-promise you, okay? And if you're serious about leaving, you better sing your heart out every Thursday 'till then or the audience will be thoroughly disappointed when you're gone."

Byulyi smiled gratefully before eyeing the clock on the wall. It was 5:45PM, meaning she still had 15 minutes before she can leave this cursed back kitchen and prepare for her stage tonight. She turned back to the floor and focused on the one grease stain that was being stubborn. She narrowed her eyes at it in frustration before aggressively dumping the remaining half of the cleaning solution bottle onto it.