Will you still remember me like before?
In my heart that misses you
Turning red in the evening glow
Only following your appearance from behind
The shadows will become distant

The air was stagnant and the sun was oppressive. Stepping out of the cool van felt like being slammed into a sauna, and just because it had felt like this for the past month did not mean that Minji was any more accustomed to the sensation than if it had only been a week. She looked up and squinted at the bright reflections in the windows. Dark interiors gave nothing away.

“See you after the meeting, honey!” She turned around to see her parents waving at her from the front seats.

“See you soon,” she waved back. 

“Do you want us to come pick you up after?”

“Mom, the dorm is only three blocks away, I’m sure I can manage.” Minji gave a sarcastic sigh.

“Whatever you want, sweetie.” Her mom rolled the window up and the van pulled away.

Alone at last, a wave of nausea suddenly washed over her. It settled in the pit of her stomach and churned; was she legitimately sick, or was it just nerves? She took a deep breath and waited for a few moments. She took another gulp of air and held it in. 

This wasn’t helping at all, she decided. With more difficulty than she ever anticipated having, she pushed open the door and quietly walked past the tiny lobby desk. The receptionist didn’t even look up. She made her way to the elevators and pressed the call button. Every move was robotic. This was to be expected, she’d been doing this exact routine for three years after all. A soft ding signaled the arrival of one of the cramped metal boxes that would take her to floor six; Happy Face Entertainment.

She looked at the clock on her phone. Jesus Christ, she was twenty minutes early. Out of habit Minji opened her email again to confirm the meeting time. Damnit. Well, she guessed this was the price she had to pay for not going straight to the dorms to help her parents unpack her things. Some of the girls had already moved in and -- perhaps Minji wasn’t ready quite yet to see them yet. Even if it was only twenty extra minutes she’d take it. 

Everything was just as she remembered, even the slight smell of the cleaning solution the janitors used was the same. She navigated narrow hallways until she came upon the dance room. It was the largest room on the floor, and so, when they needed to have company meetings, plastic folding tables and chairs were brought out of the closet and voilà, they had a conference room. Sure it was a little… shabby, but the company was small, and every room that wasn’t the administration’s office was a practice room or a place to record. 

As expected, the meeting room was empty, so Minji took advantage of being the first to arrive. She stood and considered every seat. The ones facing the mirror were out of the question. She was not going to sit there and look at herself being a nervous mess for the whole meeting. That left the opposite side, since the only other side with a chair was on the short end and definitely meant for the CEO. Sitting at the far end wouldn’t work either, she didn’t want to give the impression that she didn’t want to sit next to him, even though she was definitely not going to sit right next to him. In the end she chose a position that left her a comfortable, one seat buffer zone. Safe.

As she sat she nervously opened and closed apps on her phone, trying not to pay too much attention to the time. Sitting in silence, she could hear the air conditioner rumbling and the sound of her own breathing. Unconsciously she strained to perceive the sound of footsteps or the elevator, -- anything that would signal her members’ presence. 

It was only a few moments later that Minji heard loud voices approaching. She ran her fingers through her hair, turning around to look at herself in the mirror to appraise her makeup. During the break she guessed she'd become more self conscious. When the door handle rattled, she spun back to see who was there. Four girls walked through. 

“Minji!” Siyeon, ever outgoing, nearly ran over to the now standing Minji and threw her arms around the taller girl. “I missed you, and I'm so glad we’re all back.”

“Me too.” Minji said softly. 

“Aren't you forgetting someone?” yelled Bora as she ran to join the hug. 

Minji gave a slight grunt at the impact but otherwise was glad to feel that nothing had changed in terms of how close they were. 

“Uh, not to interrupt…” a nervous voice floated over to them. 

“Oh my god! I'm an idiot. Minji,” Siyeon motioned to the two girls standing just inside the door. “This is Handong and Gahyeon, our two new members!” 

They all bowed and said their pleasantries; the girls both seemed nice and sincere in her opinion, but something else was more pressing at the moment. 

“So, where are,” Minji started. 

“Oh, Yubin and Yoohyeon were in the middle of trying to assemble a shelf. They had to get another screw in it or something so it won't collapse when they leave it, honestly they're so bad at following directions.” Bora began to rattle off every issue they'd run into from using the wrong length brackets, to putting boards in upside down, to nearly dropping the whole thing on the floor while trying to rotate it. “So we just left them,” she summed up matter-of-factly. 

“Honestly the dorm already looks like hell swept through it, we couldn't even keep up a normal facade for a day, and I think it's traumatized the new additions.” Siyeon pointed a thumb behind her to the two, slightly bewildered looking girls. 

Minji looked over at Handong and Gahyeon. “I'm so sorry for them, but we're all actually pretty weird, so don't feel like you need to be super proper.” She walked closer and gave them each a hug. “We also hug a lot, and while I'm sure we'll all grow close in time, it never hurts to break the ice a little.” The five of them took their seats and Minji looked at her phone and found that there were only about five minutes left. That was cutting it pretty close, especially for such an important meeting. Just as she was beginning to wonder what was taking the other members so long