With hearts pounding hard, Amu and Rio forced both their feet toward the entrance of Mayu’s agency building. They tried so hard to act casual, but despite the façade, their nerves did not settle regardless of the effort they exerted to stay calm. “Are you sure about this?”, Rio asked the younger one in a whisper. She gulped upon seeing the security guard standing at the building entrance. Amu turned to her friend with an attempt to give off a reassuring smile but soon, nervousness won over. Without saying anything else, she led Rio towards the building’s reception area.

“Hi”, Amu felt her heart pounding but tried to maintain her smile. The intimidating stance of the security guard exaggerated the way the two girls perceived him. Both looked up and saw a man almost double their size, glaring. “I-uhm… I have an appointment with Matsuoka-san. I’m her Maid-of-honour”, Amu explained. Both girls held their breaths from the tense silence that soon filled when his gaze landed on Rio, “Ah, she’s here to help me out with the wedding”, Amu nervously chuckled, hoping that he won’t interrogate them further.

“Go on ahead”, the man voiced out and soon swiped his badge to open the automatic door, “I’ll let Matsuoka-san know that you’re here”.

“NO!”, both Amu and Rio said in perfect sync.

“I mean, you don’t have to. We want to surprise her. We’re planning her bachelorette party”, Amu excused. The man raised one of his brows in suspicion, but soon shook it off. Amu visited Mayu almost every day to plan for the wedding so the guard naturally assumed that she is close friends with the actress. Hoping to get away quickly, both girls went on inside and prayed to get evidence against Mayu.

--

“This is why I didn’t become an actress! I couldn’t act even if it is to save my life”, Rio gave off the biggest sigh after stepping into the elevator. She looked to her left and saw her best friend already sharing the same emotion.

“Tell me about it”, Amu seconded while feeling her pulse. She curled her fist, knowing that this is only the start of a nerve wrecking mission to get Mayu’s laptop in her dressing room. She quickly pressed the elevator button to reach the 6th floor and used the few seconds given to contemplate on their plan.

1st floor…

2nd…

3rd…

4th…

5th…

The digital screen inside the confined box showed the floors passing by. Amu cursed the cold sweat running down her body, aware that for every floor they go up to, the nearer she is to her rival.

“This way”, Amu led Rio towards Mayu’s dressing room and tried her best to act casual. She’s been here 7 times to see Mayu but this is the first time she felt this nervous. Mayu casually mentioned last week that she will have back to back photoshoots in the next upcoming days so she’s praying that her former best friend did not have a change of schedule. After a few turns while trying to avoid direct gazes from people passing by, the two girls finally arrived in front of a wooden door with Mayu’s name plated on it. “She often leaves her laptop here”, she reminisced the couple of times she visited and found Mayu’s laptop on one of the desks.

Amu slowly bent the doorknob while holding her breath at the creaking sound. The two girls turned their heads from side to side to confirm that there is indeed no one inside the room. They silently closed the door behind and soon rampaged the whole of the dressing room for Mayu’s laptop. Yet, despite turning every corner, the two girls were left disappointed. The only thing they found were mountains of outfits piled on the sofa and a glass of water standing still on Mayu’s desk where her laptop usually sits.

Rio scuffed her head in frustration, thinking that all of the sneaking around they’ve done has gone futile, “What now?”, she whispered out of thin air before collapsing on the sofa.

“Ah, she might’ve left it in her locker!”, Amu recollected, “it’s in her manager’s room”, she then prompted the older girl to stand and led her to the said place.

Amu once again grabbed the doorknob but was surprised at the door opening itself, revealing the last person she wanted to see – Matsuoka Mayu.

Both Amu and Rio froze, completely taken aback by the sudden appearance of the girl. Not only that, Mayu came into her dressing room with three familiar people trailing behind her back.

“Amu?”, Mayu spoke first. She folded her arms and scoffed when her gaze landed on Rio. She gave off a sly smile and turned to the two boys standing not so far away. She noticed how Ryosuke and Daiki turn pale - almost bleak, upon seeing the two girls.

“What are you two doing here?”, Daiki spoke, his gaze never left Amu. His head pounded like crazy, knowing well that his sole intention of not involving Amu in this mess had already failed.

“I think you have vermins sneaking around your dressing room, Mayu”, Satoko exclaimed, obviously amused to see the drama that is about to unfold. Mayu sniggered in response before closing the door behind her.

“So, are you here to make a scene?”, Mayu spoke first and enjoyed the tense atmosphere. She knew that seeing Ryosuke and Daiki on her side mentally tortured the two girls, “Or are you here to seduce my fiancé again?”.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Mayu”, Amu replied. Her voice was firm and for the first time in her life, she felt the urge to fight back. She’s been under Mayu’s shadow all these years and she clearly had enough, “I want you to tell them what you planned 2 years ago, and that you leaked those photos to the public”.

“Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Mayu replied to shake off the girl’s accusations. As far as she knows, Daiki is still unaware of her plans even from two years ago, “It hurts that you even accuse me of such. I thought you were my friend”. Acting comes naturally to Mayu and it went perfectly with her lies, “But now, you seduce my fiancé and sneak around my dressing room like a rat, accusing me of something I didn’t do. I didn’t know you were such a ”.

Unable to take her insults any longer, Rio took the glass of water from Mayu’s desk and threw it at her face, “That’s the last time you insult my best friend”, she grinded her teeth in annoyance. Not only Satoko, but also Ryosuke and Daiki were surprised by Rio’s abrupt actions.

“AHH!”, Mayu squirmed while minding her new dress and damp make up, “YOU !”, she raised her hand and was ready to hit Rio when she felt a strong pull from the boy behind her.

“That’s enough, Mayu!”, Daiki shouted, hindering his fiancé from hurting the two girls. While the girl is busy crying over her new dress, Rio's eyes landed on Mayu’s mobile phone sticking out from her bag. She made eye contact with Amu and turned towards Mayu’s phone nearly falling out from all the ruckus she caused just now. Without hesitating, Amu used this opportunity to sneakily pull it and place it inside her pocket.

“That just ruined my outfit”, Mayu cried out. The idea of not being able to fight back irritated her to her core.

“I’ll them out”, Ryosuke suggested, hoping not to anger the actress even more. However, before the two girls could step out of Mayu’s dressing room, Daiki stopped them.

“Amu”, he called out and was successful in turning all heads to his direction, “I think you have something that belongs to Mayu”, Daiki looked at her intently before looking at her skirt pocket. He noticed how the girl snatched this from Mayu’s bag just a few minutes ago, leaving the poor girl with not much choice but to fish out the mobile phone and accept defeat. Rio glared at Daiki for ruining their plans while completely questioning his way of thinking. This is a chance to get evidence against Mayu, why is he trying to sabotage this?

“Don’t get involved with me and Mayu again”, the boy’s voice pierced through Amu’s heart like a dart. All at once, the heavy emotions she experienced two years ago floode