6:00 A.M.

The four girls woke up early and officially started their work. Manager Seunghwan requested Heerin to prepare the dance studio after helping JaeEun and RaSeul organize the members’ schedules with their other managers. HeeYeon and Manager Seunghwan dealt with coordinating with the moderators of the shows, where SJ will serve as guests.

*  *  *

Heerin kept yawning as she made her way to the dance studio.

"Ah~ I have to get used to waking up this early," she mumbled, slapping her cheeks to keep herself awake.

"Do you have to do that?" asked a voice.

"I have to...I need to be awake." As she turned around, she came to realize a familiar face. "Good morning, Kibum-sunbaenim.”

"Hi! We meet again," the latter responded, smiling.

"Eh, why are you here? Don’t you have any shooting?" Heerin asked, tilting her head slightly on the side as he looked at his face.

"No, I don’t have for today. You’re so used to me filming outside.”

"Well, you have been away from the other members for a long time. I'm sure they missed you. Your fans missed seeing you…I missed you," Heerin blurted out the last three words, accidentally.

"W-What did you say?" Kibum asked, flustered.

Waving a hand in front of her, Heerin mustered another awkward laugh. "Errr— I said ‘ELFs miss you’,” she said, stuttering.

“Ah, alright,” Kibum conceded, but not without grinning. “Are you heading to the dance studio?"

Nibbling on her lip, Heerin paced back and forth in front of him, uneasily. “What was I doing? I should go.”

With a hand on her arm, Kibum stopped her. “I’ll go with you.”

*  *  *

Arriving at the first dance studio, Heerin was taken aback when she saw some left-over junk food wrappers on the corner with some chips scattered on the floor.

"It looks like you have to do this all," Kibum said flatly, making Heerin glare at him, irritated. “A small party could’ve taken place in here last night.”

"What else can I do?" she sighed, frowning. She went to the storage room, got a vacuum cleaner and cleaned.

Kibum, who was standing by the doorstep, looked at her. "Why are you cleaning now? That's not your work."

Facing him, Heerin sighed. "It doesn’t matter…I was asked to prepare a practice room, unfortunately, it’s the only unoccupied one and it’s quite a mess. I can't let you guys rehearse in a dirty place. Besides, I don’t need to bother those janitors.”

"She's so kind," he thought, smiling admirably.

Going to the storage, Kibum got some mop and started mopping

"What are you doing?" Heerin asked, staring at the latter cleaning.

Looking up for a second, he gave her a smile, “Helping you.”

Walking towards him, Heerin tried to get the mop off his grip. "No need. Your clothes will get dirty.”

Shaking his head, Kibum held the rod of the mop tighter. "Clothes are just clothes. I can't let you clean up all alone."

He began taking off his black hoodie leaving behind his white undershirt.

"Oh my god,” Heerin gulped, swooning at his toned arms. When she cleared and shook her head, Kibum chuckled.

After a short while, the cleaning was over.

"Thank you, Kim Kibum-sshi."

"You’re welcome and please, don't be so formal. Call me oppa."

"Alright, sunbae…I mean oppa," She replied nervously, while looking at him."Oppa, you're drenched in sweat."

Wiping his forehead and neck with his hand, Kibum smiled. "I didn't notice.”

"Wait, take this." Getting her handkerchief from her pocket, she offered it to him.

"…Thank you.”

“No, I should thank you,” Heerin said with a smile. "Oh, there is some dirt in your face."

"Really? Will you please wipe it off for me?" Kibum asked, leaning closer to her.

"S-Sure.” Using her handkerchief, Heerin wiped the dirt off his cheek and secretly stared at his face, when suddenly some of the members came in.

"I didn't know the two of you are close," Kangin blurted, leaving the two surprised.

Kibum put on his jacket while Heerin moved immediately to the side. Ryeowook, Kyuhyun and Sungmin followed inside. "It's a long story," he responded.

"Then, make it short," Kyuhyun retorted.

Smiling, Kibum said lastly. "We met in a special encounter.”