"MY stomach hurts."

Everyone turned to Seulgi after hearing her grumble. It's already 3PM and they are setting up the instruments by the cafeteria.

"What's wrong, Unnie?" Minjeong asked. "Did you eat a lot during lunch?"

"This is why I always tell you not to rush eating your food." Seungwan shook her head as she walked towards Seulgi. "Do you need some medicine?"

"She's just nervous. '' Yujin answered as she placed her bass drum in the centre of that little space allotted for them."

Minjeong, who was helping move the said part of the drum set, turned to Seulgi. "I know you're a shy person but you definitely change whenever you play the bass. It's like you're someone else."

"Well, there are cases in which Seulgi-unnie transforms into Super Seulgi." Yujin raised her index finger. "First, when she's drunk."

Minjeong raised two fingers. "Second, when she's mad about getting the standard five-star instead of the featured."

Seungwan straightened her back and raised three fingers. "Third, when she's playing in front of other people."

The three nodded in sync with their fingers still raised. Seulgi just looked at them before sighing. "What is even Super Seulgi? It's been years since I last performed in front of a crowd." She forced herself to stand up, hands were on her stomach. "I'll just go to the restroom. I'll be back quickly..."

"Be back soon! Don't escape!" Seungwan shouted. Seulgi only raised and waved one hand as an answer.

The three went back to setting up, they first set up Yujin's drum set before the other two went back to their own instruments. 

Minjeong bit her lower lip when she realised that they have one more problem. "We... need a sound checker..."

Seungwan froze while Yujin just kept on doing what she had to do. The guitarist and the keyboardist turned to Yujin and the latter was quick to notice them. 

"What?" The youngest asked. "Is there a problem?"

"W-Well, we don't have a mixer... We only have our amplifiers and the mic speaker. Your drums don't even have mics on them." Minjeong carefully laid out the problem. "We need to know how we should control the levels to get a better sound."

Seungwan gulped. They only knew one person who can give some good mixing without the help of an audio mixer. 

“Ah, Minjoo?” Yujin said so nonchalantly that made the two step back. “Call her. Do you need me to call for her?”

“I-It’s not like that.” Minjeong carefully moved forward. “I am just thinking about you. We can’t ruin your mood in a special event like this.”

Yujin just smiled as she shook her head. “We need Minjoo now. She’s the only one that can salvage our sound at the very least. Our performance today is much more important than whatever we had.”

The two other bobs looked at each other again. Was it the same Yujin who kept talking about hurtful things just days ago as part of her coping mechanism? 

“I don’t know if she grew up or she’s just afraid of Seulgi-unnie.” Minjeong murmured to herself. She also couldn’t get rid of the idea that Minjoo purposely didn’t buy an audio mixer so that she could still see Yujin by becoming a human audio mixer. That’s her special talent anyway. 

“I’ll go call Minjoo then. I hope she isn’t busy.” Seungwan excused herself a bit to give Minjoo a phone call. 

Minjeong just looked at Yujin for a while. The younger girl was making herself busy with all the setup but Minjeong could still see how much she was hurting inside. She was then reminded of what Seulgi told Yujin during their talk at the fire exit. The idea of Yujin only surviving this week suddenly made her worried. 

This could actually be their real final stage together.

SEULGI just flushed her deed and was about to go out of that cubicle when she heard angry sounds of stilettos clacking together with a voice of someone talking to her phone. Seulgi chose to stay at the cubicle for a while. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, it’s just troubling for her to share the same air with a random person. 

“Yeah, I am at my Dad’s company.” The girl chuckled. “I know, right? He still thinks he could convince me to work. As if I can work in his company when it’s against the law for company owners’ children to work in their parents’ business.”

Another set of laughter was heard and it gave Seulgi chills. 

“Huh? There’s none like that? Well now, I, Kim Yerim, passed that law! Effective from today~ There’s no way I will work if I can just inherit all of this in the future. He’s my Dad for a reason and that’s to provide for me.”

‘Wow… Is this really the youth of today?’ Seulgi thought to herself. She knew that crossing paths with the said Kim Yerim might not bring her any luck. Heck, it might even bring her bad luck like all the animes and webtoons that she had seen. So, when she heard that the door of another cubicle opened and closed, she took the chance to storm out of her cubicle only to see someone smirking at her the moment she opened the door.

Seulgi’s jaw dropped. She was fooled. 

“What do we have here?” The girl, decorated in different luxury brands, looked at her from head to toe then back to her face. “An eavesdropping corporate slave.”

“Hey, are you bullying someone again?” Seulgi heard someone talking from the girl’s phone. 

“Yeah. A woman close to her thirties, I think. You know, the messy top bun, thick glasses, unmarried low lives. The typical ugly ones.” 

Seulgi’s jaw dropped even lower. What kind of person talks like this right in front of the person she is pertaining to? How does she even know she’s not married?

“Let me call you later.” The spoiled brat in wavy long, brown hair, crossed her arms in slow motion as she took another scan of Seulgi. “You know, I get really recharged when I see people like you. This is the reason why I don’t say no whenever Dad asks me to visit. Makes me realise again and again that not giving working a shot is definitely worth it.”

Despite the shock in the girl’s attitude, Seulgi didn’t look away. She was more startled than disgusted. She couldn’t believe that people like this actually exist in real life… or maybe outside her home.

“What?” The girl tilted her head to the side, an eyebrow raised in the most intimidating way. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

Seulgi just pressed her lips together for a smile before shaking her head. She gave the girl a bow before washing her hands in the sink. That action caused the other girl to frown. 

“Hey! Don’t just turn your back on me! Don’t you know who—”

Yerim was silenced when the girl in front of her started doing sign language. Seulgi actually signed, “I am sorry, I am deaf. I can’t hear you.” She learned some sign language from their interpreter at church before. She’s well-aware of the 90% chance that the walking luxury brand girl won’t completely understand her but hey, she’d still have some common sense even if her personality is twisted, right? Even if she signed so randomly the other girl should get what that means, right?

Seulgi just wants to get away ASAP and she had no choice but to use her hidden weapon.

After signing, Seulgi bowed again and hurriedly left. She didn’t even wait for the said girl to give her a reaction. When Seulgi was finally away from the restroom, her attention was caught by her reflection on that huge mirror displayed in a random wall of their building. 

She examined herself in the mirror and just nodded to herself. “Nothing’s wrong with this fit though.” She told herself while fixing her bun. “I am just going to work. There’s no need to wake up extra early to prepare as if I am going on a date or something.”

The assistant manager could only let out a sigh. “It’s really stupid to judge people with just their physical appearance.” She went silent for a while before snorting out in laughter. She started walking back to the cafeteria while giving herself some soft slaps.

“I can’t be the one talking like that when I look at people’s legs before anything else.” Seulgi took a stretch. “Well, that somehow shook me up.”

THE music stopped the moment Minjoo raised an ok sign. The said girl was standing in the farthest part of the cafeteria. She went running towards the band who were taking pictures of their instrument and amplifiers' settings.

"It's not the best sound but it's the best that we can do for now." Minjoo said when she reached them. "I'm sorry I forgot to buy an audio mixer. I will–"

"It's fine." Everyone turned to Yujin who was setting up all her extra drumsticks. "The band won't be performing a lot here in the company. The sound is controllable in the practice room and there are audio technicians in the competition. Buying an audio mixer would be a waste of money."

"Y-You're right." Minjoo smiled faintly. Normally, Yujin would just say, "We have Minjoo anyway." at times like this but the secretary knew that she wasn't in any position to be greedy. She should at least be thankful that Yujin is actually talking to her now. 

"But..." Minjeong sighed. "Is Seulgi-unnie okay though?"

Everyone turned to Seulgi and shook their heads. The said assistant manager was lying on her stomach in front of her bass guitar. 

"D-Did she dissolve or something?" Minjoo asked. 

"You mean like Bocchi?" Minjeong chuckled. 

"Bocchi live action?" Yujin scoffed before sitting beside Seulgi and poking her. "Unnie, are you still alive?"

"Yuzzin..." Seulgi turned to the younger girl. "Do you think I am ugly?"

Yujin immediately jumped away from Seulgi after that one question. Her face was pale. "U-Unnie, are you hitting on me?"

Seulgi's eyes narrowed. "Idiot." She sat and re-tied her messy bun.

"What's wrong, Seulgi?" Seungwan worriedly asked. She's well-aware that negative comments about her looks have a big effect on Seulgi. It's a long-standing, never-healing wound.

"Did someone tell you—"

"Who told you that?" Everyone turned to Joohyun who just suddenly appeared. Seungwan felt deja vu with that appearance out of nowhere. 'She isn't that small to be unnoticed... What a talent!'

"D-D-D-Director Bae!" Seulgi heavily stammered as she rose up to her feet. "I-I-I thought you'd be coming here with the Chairman later?"

Joohyun went up the stage and gave Seulgi a smack on the stomach. The others were dumbfounded. 

"D-Director—"

"You're beautiful."

Now, that's another wave of shock. Director Bae Joohyun just told Assistant Manager Kang Seulgi that she's beautiful.

"I don't know why you're suddenly feeling down about your looks but you're beautiful. You just don't have any confidence at all." Joohyun proceeded to correct Seulgi's posture as if she didn't give her a body blow just a while ago. "How many times should I tell you to stop slouching?"

"D-Director..." Seulgi sobbed. Why is her director this touchy?

"Are you seriously worried about your looks now?" Joohyun then cupped her face and squished her cheeks. She made Seulgi look at her but the other girl couldn't even keep an eye contact. Her iris was doing some pinball moves.

"I'm expecting a lot from you all." Joohyun looked at the other members while still cupping Seulgi's face. "We have to impress the Chairman today. He even invited his daughter to give some feedback. We have to receive support from our fellow co-workers, too!" 

The young director looked back at Seulgi. "This isn't the time to be worried about looks. There isn't even anything to be worried about in that department."

Joohyun finally released Seulgi and Yujin had to catch her unnie so that she would remain standing. Seulgi was never good with very close interaction like that.

“There’s only 30 minutes left before the people start gathering. I and Secretary Kim will the Chairman and her daughter. Son-gwajang, make sure that you do well in the band introduction later, got it?”

“Y-Yes, Director Bae!” The keyboardist answered.

“Ahn-jooim, Kim-jooim, make sure that everything is set. Don’t let anyone go near the instruments.” 

The two youngest gave the director a salute.

“And you, Kang-daeri.” Joohyun turned sharply at Seulgi.

“Y-Y-Yes?” The junior gulped.

“Untie your hair.”

“Hm?”

Joohyun didn’t even repeat herself and went out with Minjoo.

Seulgi turned to the three like a robot. "What does 'untie your hair' mean?" she asked them. "A-Am I that useless that she only told me to untie my hair?"

Seungwan slapped her forehead so hard that it made a sound. Yujin and Minjeong just went back to their instruments while shaking their heads.

"Director Bae just told you you're beautiful and you're dwelling with what 'untie your hair' means?" Seungwan sighed. ”When will even the word beautiful be able to register in your brain?”

“WHAT’S the meaning of this?”

Yerim asked herself as she recognised that one person on the mini stage. She and her father just arrived at the cafeteria together with Joohyun and Minjoo.

“Isn’t that person deaf? Why is she up there holding a guitar? Can she even hear that?” Yerim continued to murmur to herself. She intently watched Seulgi and crossed her arms. The other three members were talking amongst themselves while Seulgi was the only one frozen in her place.

“Is she some sort of decoration?” Yerim turned to her Dad, the Chairman.

“What do you mean, dear?” The man asked.

“That girl.” Yerim pointed at Seulgi. Joohyun’s brows twitched. “Are you trying to win the hearts of the viewers by putting someone like her in the band? She definitely destroys the visual.”

“I’m sorry?” Joohyun entered the conversation as the band’s manager.

Yerim scoffed and just continued pointing at Seulgi. “I mean, she’s the only one ugly among the group. It’s hard to look at her.”

Joohyun’s ears started ringing. “U-Ugly?”