Seulgi let out a loud groan as she sat down on the floor, feeling exhausted as the sweat kept on dripping down her face. She reached for the water bottle beside her and almost gulped the whole thing down. A tired sigh escaped as she got up and went to turn off the music that was blasting from the speakers. She grabbed a small towel and wiped off the sweat from her forehead and neck as she grabbed her phone and unlocked the lock screen, opening the message she had gotten from Joohyun.

“You’ve been in the practice room for four hours now, come home and get some rest.”

Seulgi tightened her lips as she had a hard time choosing between staying to practice and going home to rest. Their comeback was only one week away and she knew that she needed all the rest she could get for the comeback, but all the extra practice was just as important.

As soon as she felt herself yawn she knew that she needed to rest and quickly put her hair up in a ponytail as she got annoyed by the hair touching sticking to her sweaty face. She unplugged her phone from the speakers and went to put on her coat and grabbed her bag before walking out of the practice room. Almost walking faster as she went past the certain practice room where the voices of about eighteen people were heard.

She wasn’t scared of facing them or anything like that, but she really didn’t want the possibility of them walking out of the practice room and staying to chit chat with her happen. She was already too tired and even though she enjoyed their company, most of them, she just didn’t feel like meeting anyone. The comeback was the only thing on her mind at the moment and she didn’t want anyone to disturb her practice or rest.

Even when she finished all of her group schedules, she still decided to stay in the building and just practice alone. Her will to impress the public with her talents was still as strong as ever, and even if her coaches told her she was already good with the choreography or the song she knew she could improve even just a tad bit more.

Reaching the entrance, she immediately inhaled the cool air as she opened the door got out, feeling the cold air cool her down a little from the intense training. She decided to walk back to her dorm instead of calling her manager to come and pick her up since her dorm was only a few blocks away anyway. She looked up and noticed that the sky had turned pitch black already. Had she really been practicing for that long?

As she took one step she instantly felt her stomach growling, begging her for food. She tilted her head back as she cursed mentally, realising that she hadn’t eaten anything for the past ten hours.

“I want to eat,” she mumbled to herself as she turned to the convenience store that was just across the road. “But I also want to sleep…”

She groaned stubbornly as she took quick steps towards the convenience, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep if her stomach kept on growling like it did. She walked into the store and greeted the cashier before making her way to the section with food. She picked a few things from the shelf and a bottle with strawberry milk and carried them to the cashier, placing all the things in front of him.

“Do you want anything else?” he asked her as he finished scanning all the products.

“N-... Actually, could I get one, please?” she asked as she pointed at the cigarette packets behind him. He nodded and picked one packet and scanned it before putting it in the bag with the food.

“That would be twenty two won, please,” he told her and as she took out her card to pay, she immediately got startled by seeing someone’s hand reaching into the plastic bag and taking out the packet with cigarettes.

“She won’t buy these.”

Seulgi looked up and instantly frowned when she recognized the young man. “Yes, I wi-”

“No, you won’t.” He interrupted her sternly and gave the packet back to the cashier.

Seulgi rolled her eyes and just payed for the food since she didn’t want to spare any time arguing with him. She grabbed the bag and bowed slightly to the cashier before walking out of the store, ignoring the guy that was now hurrying to catch up with her.

“What were you thinking?!”

“I thought we had a deal,” she replied as she turned around to face him, but backed a bit as she felt his hands on top of her head.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” she snarled at him and immediately grabbed the scarf that was covering her head and face and tossed it back to him.

“What do you think you’re doing? You do know that you just tried to buy cigarettes without having your face covered, right? Someone could’ve seen you and post a picture on the internet or something!” he whisper shouted at her.

“Why do you care?” she hissed.

“If you have already forgotten, we’re actually fake dating and your actions will affect me as well,” he told her which caused her to snort.

“I knew you caring about me was too good to be true,” she muttered while narrowing her eyes at him.

“Oh so now you suddenly want me to care about you,” he scoffed.

“Don’t worry, I won’t ruin your perfect reputation.” She quickly assured him as she didn’t want to continue the conversation they were having.

“Seulgi!”

Both of them turned to the way were the voice was coming from and saw Youngho running towards them. When he reached them he bent down and placed his hands on his thighs while panting heavily.

“Here,” he breathed out while handing his phone to her.<