i swear it won't always be this repetitive LOL it's just the slowburn. i promise things are gonna get crazy!
 

 

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Yoohyeon woke up with a gasp.

 

She blindly patted around her bed and found her phone, checking the time before letting out a huge sigh of relief. She still had some time to sleep before getting ready for the day. 

 

Laying back down, Yoohyeon thought back to the dream she just woke up from. 

 

Minji hovered over her, eyes a dark red, contrast to her soft smile. Yoohyeon felt her own heart pumping at the sight. She could see the other girl mouthing something but all she heard was silence. 

 

Yoohyeon blinked and when her eyes opened, Minji was gone. 

 

Replaced by a dark shadow coming towards her. 

 

Yoohyeon shuddered, trying to rid the scary image from her mind. 

 

It wasn’t the first time she’s dreamt of the celebrity, but this was the first to turn so… intimate. Yoohyeon rubbed at her neck, feeling her body heat up. The image of Minji hovering over her made her feel—

 

“Kim Yoohyeon, are you in here?!”

 

The pounding on her bedroom door made her sit up abruptly. “What do you want Yubin?” She groaned, holding her head with both hands. “I was trying to go back to sleep!”

 

“Bora is here, she said she needs to talk to you.” 

 

Yoohyeon dove face first into her pillow. “Tell her we can talk later at work!” Yubin’s knocking was relentless. She sighed, giving up on the chance of getting a little more sleep. She swung the door open to reveal Bora instead of Yubin. 

 

“I needed to talk now.”

 

~

 

Minji blinked at her friend. “So the two of you are heading out of town together? That’s suspicious.” She had a stupid smile on her face that Siyeon instantly wanted to wipe off. 

 

“Shut up.” 

 

“How do you think she’ll get of out of work for that long?” 

 

Siyeon zipped up her third suitcase, tossing it onto the couch behind them where the others were stacked haphazardly. “Oh, she’s quitting.” Minji’s eyes widened. 

 

“What?! How is she going to leave Yoohyeon hanging like that?” She whispered the last part more to herself, but of course Siyeon caught it. 

 

“She’s gone to talk to her now, actually. Apparently, they’ve already hired another person since Yubin got promoted to manager.” 

 

“I see.” Minji has a feeling Yoohyeon won’t like this. She wonders who the new employee would be and if they would be briefed on why Minji comes to the hotel so often. No, this . She only really trusted Yoohyeon and Bora. For different reasons… 

 

~

 

“Nice to meet you Handong. We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other, considering we’re the only staff members now who are in charge of guarding the front desk.” 

 

The Chinese girl nodded her head, picking up on the sarcastic tone of Yoohyeon’s voice. She kept quiet, letting the experienced employee guide her through the process of their job. 

 

The two sat in silence watching people walk through the lobby and into the bar. Yoohyeon checked her watch; it was only nine o’clock on a Friday night. They had about seven hours left of their shift. 

 

“I’m sorry, this job if I’m being honest.” Yoohyeon all but mumbled to herself. She should’ve jumped the second Bora told her she was quitting, but there was an itching feeling telling her to stick around. 

 

As the last of the hotel guests filed out of the bar, Yoohyeon glanced over at Handong while she yawned. “You get used to graveyard shifts after a few weeks. Coffee keeps me going, want some?” Her new coworker nodded sleepily.

 

Yoohyeon walked back into the staff room, busying herself with the Keurig, humming an old favorite song of hers. Today was one of those days where she happened to forget her airpods at home. The worst days. Ugh.

 

“Almost thought you quit on me.”

 

Yoohyeon swiveled around at the sudden voice coming from behind her, dropping the hot coffee. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable shatter of her favorite mug, but it never came. She opened her eyes.

 

“What are you doing in here?! Employees only!” 

 

“Handong let me in.” 

 

She refrained from groaning out of distress. Yoohyeon’s going to have to tell her not to do that again. She opened her eyes to Minji happily holding up her mug. All in one piece. With the liquid all still inside. Yoohyeon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but she didn’t have time to linger on it. 

 

“I heard about Bora.”

 

“How?”

 

“I have my sources.”

 

“Why do you care about what goes on around here? Don’t you have better things to do?” 

Minji’s smile turned into a frown. “I despise when you say that.” Yoohyeon pursed her lips. Well, wasn’t it true? She decided to let it go once again. 

 

She poured another cup for Handong and sauntered out of the room, leaving Minji to scramble after her. “Handong, just to let you know, we don’t allow guests into the staff room.” 

 

Yoohyeon was greeted with a blank stare. “She told me she was your friend.” Yoohyeon turned to face Minji, narrowing her eyes. The celebrity could only giggle. 

 

“She’s not— oh, forget it.”

 

~

 

The illusion of freedom.

 

That is what has been given to Minji ever since the start of her career. Her managers say she’s free to do whatever she pleases, as long as she doesn’t get into trouble. But that’s all her life has been. Trouble. 

 

Becoming a star was unintentional. Getting approached by an agent on the street enticed her curious mind, so she auditioned at a company she had never heard of and figured that would be the end of it. 

 

Few years later and look where that has gotten her. Stuck in a limbo. Wondering where the hell she’s going to run and hide when people start to question her non aging visuals. She couldn’t be twenty seven forever. Unless… 

 

“Don’t you have songs to work on? Or a script to practice?”

 

“Why are you so desperate to get rid of me? It’s not like you’re busy.” Yoohyeon shut . “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that.” 

 

Yoohyeon scoffed. “Who said I wasn’t busy? I have… a lot of things to do.” 

 

“We don’t, though.” Handong piped in from behind them. 

 

Minji grinned while Yoohyeon buried her face in her hands. She figured it was time to just let things be, no matter how much her brain was screaming at her. Why was her heart racing as if she had just run a million miles? She glanced over to her side, watching Minji talk to Handong animatedly about something she couldn’t quite understand. It was like her ears were tuned out but her vision was crystal clear. 

 

Oh, that’s right. 

 

Because of Kim Minji.