I press the button for the penthouse and fix my nametag as the elevator doors close. I use the mirror to put my hair into a nice high ponytail. No more bed hair, no more morning breath, I look clean and fresh.

There’s nothing better than a hot shower

I check my phone and see that I only have 25 minutes to hang out with everyone before I have to work at the Book Market.

The elevator doors ding but don't open as this is the only room on the whole floor and you need special entry.

I press the doorbell button and hear "Who is it?"

Looking up to where the camera is I wave, “It’s me! Kim Ari.” There's a beep then the elevator doors open, as soon as I walk inside I catch a whiff of pancakes.

Tae Hee welcomes me with a frown,  “Hey, where did you go? We were all worried.”

I bow in apology and follow her to where everyone is, the kitchen.

Suga pulls out a chair for me and I sit down greeting everyone, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you guys. I just wanted to get ready for work so I could have some extra time to hang out with you guys.”

Ha Sun places a plate of pancakes in front of me, “It’s alright. But next time maybe try leaving a note?”

I nod and dig into the golden pancakes that ooze with chocolate chips and syrup. In between bites of pancakes I manage to mumble out something that resembles “ This tastes so good!”

“See, we told you!” J-Hope says with syrup all over his face, which causes everyone to laughs at him. Mina hands him a napkin which J-Hope gratefully accepts.

“So where do you work?” Bora says taking some fruit from the platter.

“I work at that little bookstore, the Book Market? It’s only a block away from the studio.” I say pouring myself more juice.

“Really? Then why don’t we drop you off on our way to the studio? We need to start practicing for BOTY anyways. We all made it through the preliminary rounds, now all that’s left is the Final Battle on New Years.” Jungkook says from beside me. He picks several grapes off their stems and pops them into his mouth. He offers me some but I politely decline.

The rest of the group murmur and nods in agreement and soon everyone is talking about BOTY their excitement is so strong that it’s almost tangible. But I’m anything but excited, I push my plate away because I don’t have much of an appetite anymore. BOTY stands for Battle of the Year, an annual competition where all the best dance groups in Seoul battle for the title of Best Crew and a cash prize of $5,000. Maxstep, my old crew, won BOTY last year and thats what makes me uneasy. I don’t want to think about my old life, the life that caused my parent’s death. I don’t want any part of it. I’m never going to dance again. Ever.

“Let’s clean up then we can head out. We don’t want to make Troublemaker late right?” Rap Monster stands up and drops his plate into the sink. Taking the role of leader he starts rounding us up and assigning duties. Everyone helps clean, and with so many people we get it done under a reasonable amount of time. The kitchen, living room and everywhere else looks clean and in order. We leave the house with the topic of BOTY being the main thing to talk about.

I linger in the back