The next two week passed in a blur - Suyeon couldn't remember ever working this hard, even when she was a trainee. Every day was media appearances, dance practice, singing practice, sessions with the stylists, and so forth. Finally, the day came for their comeback. The timing wasn't perfect - Twice had had a comeback three days earlier and Red Velvet was going to have a comeback two days after - but it never was. As they rode in the van to the studio, they were each unusually quiet, each engrossed in her own thoughts about how important this comeback was. Plus, on top of that stress, there was also stress from the uncertainty of not knowing how Manager-nim was going to react to the surprise they had prepared for her.

As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long to find that out. They were just getting settled in their changing room at the student when one of the production assistants came in and started talking to Manager-nim.

"We had to cut a couple of the skits short, but we were able to find enough time to schedule you for a double A-side performance. We were even able to schedule the time you requested for a costume change between songs. Which song did you want to perform first?"

"There must be some mistake," Manager-nim was saying. "We're not having a double A-side comeback-"

At this point, Suyeon stepped up next to Manager-nim, saying. "Actually, we are." As Manager-nim stared at her in shock, Suyeon explained "It was Composer-nim's idea, he got the rest of the staff on board, and we've been working double hard to get both songs ready in time." She turned to the PA. "We'd like to perform 'I Like the Way You Move' first, and 'Fantastic Circus' second."

After the PA had left the room, Manager-nim turned to Suyeon and asked "Are you sure about this? Have you really prepared two songs this quickly? Should I go catch the PA and have them cut it down to one song?"

Suyeon shook her head. "We're ready. More ready than we've been for any comeback before."

Manager-nim shook her head in amazement. "And you did all of this, on top of all the media appearances I had you doing, and moving into your new dorm, and everything else?"

Suyeon nodded vigorously. "Coming as close as we did to losing everything, it made us appreciate it all that much more, so we've been trying extra hard."

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Manager-nim said, "but is there anything else you've been doing that I should be aware of?"

"Well," Suyeon said, counting off on her fingers. "Sei has started doing VLIVEs of her cooking. Elly helps out with it sometimes. Lua has been on 'Street Toast with Big Jae and Little Jae' every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Doyeon and Yoojung both have auditions for dramas next week. Rina's going to be in a Seoul E-land commercial. Oh, and Lucy and I wrote a song and performed it on VLIVE."

Manager-nim pulled out her phone, opened VLIVE, and her eyes got wide. "You've got over 100 thousand hits on a song called 'Smooth Unnie'?"

Suyeon nodded. "Composer-nim helped out a little with the bridge, but otherwise we wrote it all by ourselves."

Just then one of the makeup artists came up and grabbed Suyeon by the arm. "Come on, sweetie. We've got to get you dressed."

Suyeon waved good-bye to Manager-nim as she was dragged across the dressing area.

"Great job, Suyeon," Manager-nim called out to her, "but from now on try to keep me in the loop, okay?"

Suyeon tried to nod, only to have the makeup-artist grab her by the chin and hold her head still, so she settled for giving Manager-nim a thumbs-up.

Back at the dorm after the show, they all collapsed in the common area, big smiles on their faces.

"It was all worth it," Suyeon said. "All the extra hours, all the added stress, everything. It was all worth it to hear the Ki-lings in the audience cheering for us."

"Not to mention seeing Manager-nim's face when we came backstage after 'Fantastic Circus,'" Sei said. "I don't think I've ever seen her so happy!"

"She should be happy," Lua said, looking up from her phone. "We're in the top 50 on all the charts!"

Suyeon started clapping her hands. "It's not an All-Kill, but considering we were facing disbandment two weeks ago, I think it's just as good."

Just then Doyeon's phone rang. "It's Min-soo!" she squealed. She headed for her room, answering the phone as she went.

"That reminds me," Lucy said, turning to Yoojung. "What's going on with Jun-seo? Shouldn't he be calling to congratulate you?"

"He should be," Yoojung said with a sigh, "but he's on a business trip to his company's offices in England, so he didn't even get to see us." She checked the time on her phone, then did the math in her head to adjust for the time difference. "His business day is just about to end, which means his 'going out to drink with Section Leader Min and the business colleagues day' is about to begin. By the time he'll be able to get back to his hotel room, we'll be eating lunch tomorrow and he'll be too drunk and tired to call. I probably won't get to talk to him until he gets back this weekend."

Elly shook her head. "Either you need to find a new guy or Jun-seo needs to find a new job."

Yoojung shook her head. "Not gonna happen. I love Jun-seo. And his job will get better soon, hopefully - rumors are that Section Leader Min is going to be promoted to division leader by the end of the year, which will mean he'll