1 Week after your comeback: Friday 3^rd July

You flop down on the seat in the waiting room completely exhausted. You just finished your last live stage for promotions for the week and would be wrapping up for now before filming for other schedules. Your sweat drips from your face as your manager help you cool down by holding a small fan for you and handing you tissues.

You felt extremely sore and tired, but you couldn’t let it get to you because your members would be just as exhausted. Adjusting your facial expressions, you thank your manager for his help and gesture for him to help the other members instead.

Not yet able to muster up the strength to talk anymore yet you peel the soaked tissues away from your face and throw them into the trash cans and head over to the monitor which shows what is currently streaming online. It was still at the MC introducing your group before it panned out into your performance.

Glancing around you call your members over to come monitor their stage as well. They crowd around as you watch silently watching out for any moments of imbalance or mistakes. Thankfully you don’t make any that were caught on camera except…. Your facial expression. You frown at the screen, eyes narrowing as you scrutinize yourself and your face. The song was a melodic one which would require a slightly sombre face, but you can see yourself sweating and with a slightly contorted face when you are at the back of the formations. A bad mistake. One that would need fixing immediately. Making a mental note to yourself to practice it you step away as the song closes and the camera zooms out to the MC again.

Removing the accessories from your body you hand them over to your stylist who gratefully puts them away neatly in a bag. You grab your bag and head to the change rooms to change and head back to the dorms.

In the van as your members get some rest your manager briefs you on the schedules that you would have the next day and what time you needed to be ready. You were the only one who had schedules that day as you needed to get to the studio and record demos for hopefully the next album or single. Noting down it all you also close your eyes for some rest as you’re driven to the dorms.

Dropping you off at the dorm you enter alone and continue sleeping on the couch.

You wake up briefly at around 7pm bleary eyed to shower before heading back to sleep again.

Waking up the next morning you force yourself out of the bed to the lounge room and spread out a large mat on the floor. Grabbing a foam roller, you prop up your legs and roll out the stiffness in your muscles. It was slightly painful but that was what you deserved after not stretching after getting home last night and simply sleeping.

Yawning you check the time on your phone, 6:37 am. The sun was just starting to rise, and you could see it rise slightly above the city skyline.

[Phone buzzes]

You check your phone to see a text from Hoongjoong.

“Good morning! Are you coming to the studio to record today?”

-Hoongjoong

“Yes, I’ll be over by 7:30. See you there? ^^”

Jess-

“Nice to see that you’re awake already, I thought I would have to call you to wake you up. > < Don’t forget to warmup on the way here. We are starting the moment you get here. See you!”

-Hoongjoong

You stretch one last time before putting the phone away and packing the mat and roller to the side. Humming and doing vocal warmups as you change and head downstairs to the parking lot to find your manager just pulling in. Waving hello, you jog over and hop into the front seat. Pulling the seatbelt over your head you head off to the company.

Entering the company, you bow hello to some staff and briefly drop by the lockers to stow your bag away before hurrying to the studio. You weren’t far from the door before you heard people speaking loudly from it.

“Stop doing THAT.” 

“yah! put that down now.” 

“what? I’m not doing anything?” 

“…” 

“yah yah yah! I’m older than you… I’m your hyung….” 

You hear a relieved sigh and a grumble coming from someone in the studio. You were just about to knock and pull open the door when you hear them say this in a more hushed voice.

“Do you think Jess minds us knowing this though?” 

You freeze.

“Well, just don’t mention it in front of her and let her deal with it alone. She will know in time.” 

“You two should stop discussing this, it’s her business leave it alone. Now stop talking-” 

You heard enough of this conversation. What happened and why were they talking behind your back? Without bothering to knock you barge in on three very surprised people.

“Jess!” three voices called out simultaneously.