Watching the performances by Hyoyeon's friends and hoobaes were really entertaining. After dropping our girlfriends at the mall, we headed straight to Hyoyeon's dancing school and reached there at about 4.30pm. Since we were earlier than expected, we mingled around and got to know each other. I was quite impressed with their dancing skills and they also took the time to teach us some dance steps.

"So, where should we head down after this?" Hyoyeon asked after she finished saying goodbye to her friends as we waited for her at the main door.

"We've got about 3hrs more before we need to fetch our girlfriends. Hyo, any nearby cafe or pub around here?" Taeyeon asked as Hyoyeon frowned for a while.

"I think the nearest pub is the one where Ailee is working part-time there." Hyoyeon said as everyone then decided to just head over to save us travelling time.

Arriving at the pub 15mins later, we were ushered to a table near the stage. The waitress must have recognised us as she immediately informed that Ailee was not there yet. Yuri politely told her that we had came for dinner and was not waiting for Ailee as the waitress took our orders and walked away.

We were having our dinner and were chatting away when the conversation at the table beside us caught our attention. A group of 4 men were conversing with the waitress that they were not happy about the delay in the performance for the night. They complained that the pub cheated them by posting outside their door that there will be live performances from 8pm onwards. I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 8.15pm. They asked the waitress to bring the manager out to their table to ask for a refund on their drinks. Just when the waitress was about to walk away, I called her to our table.

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you but is there some problem going on with the next table? I overheard your conversation with them earlier." I asked politely and smiled at her.

"Ailee is held up in a traffic jam at the moment but she said that she'll arrive in 5mins time. I need to call my manager out. Mianhae." She apologised as she walked away to the kitchen.

"Looks like Ailee might get into trouble for it." Hyoyeon said as we saw the waitress came back with the manager.

There was a lot of grumbles and unhappiness as the customers kept complaining to the manager. Just about the same time, I saw Ailee rushing in. The customers saw her and demanded that she start performing straight away. A dumbfounded Ailee looked stunned since she's obviously not prepared for it. I can see that she's still out of breathe while talking to her manager.

"How inconsiderate can these people be? Can't they see that Ailee had rushed in and is not prepared to perform?" Taeyeon said as she stared at the group of people from the next table.

"They must have come here to only listen to her singing. Can't really blame them if they had waited long. Furthermore, the signage outside clearly stated that there will be a live performance from 8pm - 11pm. It's almost 8.30pm now." Sooyoung said while she continued eating.

While the manager was trying to persuade the unhappy customers, I waved at Ailee to grab her attention. She walked up to us and bowed slightly. She apologised and said that she needed to rush backstage to prepare for her performance as soon as possible. Seeing her rushing and being flustered, I frowned.

I stood up and walked towards the manager. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt your conversation. I was just wondering if I could borrow your stage for a while to perform while we wait for your singer to get ready. If that is fine with you though."

The manager quickly nodded his head and thanked me for my help. I walked back to my table and stood between Taeyeon and Yuri, tapping them on their shoulders.

"Let's go. Help me out with the performance so that Ailee can have more time to get ready." I said to Yuri and Taeyeon who nodded their heads and stood up.

The 3 of us then walked to the stage. I took the acoustic guitar while Yuri took the electric one as Taeyeon grabbed a stool and sat in front of the mic.

"Annyeonghaseyo. I believe that some of you here might have been agitated since the live performance have been delayed for almost 30mins. Don't have to worry. The singer will be coming out soon. In the meantime, me and my friends would like to entertain all of you first while you wait. Hope you'll enjoy it." I smiled before giving the signal to Taeyeon to start singing.

********************************

Ailee's POV:

Running into the pub, I was mentally cursing myself. I was too caught up with my revision to prepare for school tomorrow that I had missed the timing to get ready for work. Getting caught in the traffic jam just made it worse. As I walked in, I saw my manager talking to a group of men at the table. I noticed that one of them had been a regular customer who had came a few times before to watch my performance. He saw me walking in and gestured me to come nearer. The moment I reached their table, I was shocked when he told me to go up the stage and perform.

I was still trying to catch my breathe as I looked to my manager who had an apologetic look. With a confused look, I just stand there as my manager continued to try to negotiate with the customers. At the same time, he gestured me to go to the backstage to get ready quickly. It was then I noticed someone waving at me. 'Jae?' I was about to smile when I saw the other girls with her. I walked up to them and bowed slightly as a greeting. I wished I could stay for a while and talked to them but I was in a rush as I apologised and headed to a room backstage.

My colleague Gina, who was the waitress there, was waiting for me as she smiled and followed me into the room.

"Did you saw the group of men making a big scene outside?" Gina asked me as I nodded my head and placed my bag on the floor.

"Gina, mianhae. I really need to get ready soon. Will you be able to help me out? The performance is already delayed for 30mins. I don't want to put manager in more trouble." I said as I quickly took the clothes that I intended to wear and walked to the changing room. "If only I have 15mins to spare."

It seemed like my prayers were answered when I heard someone talking through the speaker system. 'Someone is using the stage to perform? But why does the voice sound so familiar?' I came out from the changing room and walked towards the dressing table where Gina was helping to set up the make-up tools for me.

"Ailee, I think you can relax for a while now. Your friends are performing at the moment. I guessed they're trying to gain you more time to get ready." Gina said as I took a seat and she quickly did some light touch-up to my face.

"My friends? You mean the ones that performed here the last time is it?" I asked as Gina shook her head.

"Only two of them from the previous performance are on stage. There's one more of them that had joined in. She's the cutest one among them. The one with the most charming smile." Gina smiled at me.

'Cutest one with the most charming smile?' The first person that came to my mind was Jae as I felt my heart beat faster with excitement while I listened to the song that could be heard through the audio system.

I was so engrossed listening that when the performance ended, I panicked since I wasn't fully prepared yet. Thinking that I needed to go out to perform anyway, I quickly stood up and was about to walk to the door when I heard the same voice through the audio system.

As I stood near the door, Gina handed a bottle of plain water for me to drink and helped me to fix everything to ensure that it's all in order. Gina told me to just proceed to the stage right now so that my friends would not have to perform again but the sound of the guitar strumming, stopped me in my tracks. I walked nearer to the stage and saw Jae singing while playing the drum set at the same time. Taeyeon and Yuri were strumming the electric guitars.

Once again, I felt my heart beat faster but this time round, I felt butterflies in my stomach as I stared at Jae who was singing. 'Oh my god. Her voice is so soothing. She really looked very charismatic right now. And why do I have this feeling in my stomach? It's weird but nice. Just like the song she's performing right now, have I really fallen for her? But I'm not suppose to. Otteoke?'

********************************

(5mins ago)

Just when I ended the song, I glanced at the backstage and couldn't see Ailee anywhere near the stage. 'Does she need some more time?' I thought as I looked at Taeyeon and Yuri, gesturing to them if it was okay for us to perform one more song. Once the two of them nodded their heads, I grabbed the mic and spoke.

"Thank you for listening to our performance. I've got a feeling that we should give our performer a few more minutes to get ready so shall I perform one more song while we wait for her?" I could hear the crowd cheering as I smiled. "Since everyone is agreeing, I will sing one more song to get all of you pumped up for the night. But first, let me get over to the drum set and I think my friend needs to get her guitar too."

I stood up and dragged the mic stand along, placing it near the drum set while Taeyeon went to grab an electric guitar. After giving Yuri the signal, she started to strum the guitar.

During the interval in the song, I glanced to the side of the stage and saw Ailee standing at the sides, watching the whole performance. Once the song ended, the 3 of us bowed to the crowd while Ailee walked up to the stage. Thanking us for the performance, Ailee then apologised to the crowd for the delay in tonight's performance. It was already 9pm when Ailee took centre stage and performed.

By then, the 3 of us were already back at the table and had continued with our conversation. The manager came out to serve us some cakes for dessert, saying that he was really greatful for the help rendered and that the cakes was on the house. I saw Sooyoung smirking but as she was about to open , I cut her off by thanking the manager who then walked away.

"Yah!! Why did you let him walk away? I wanted to ask for more cakes since it's free." Sooyoung pouted as Hyoyeon knocked her on the head.

"The reason why Jae send him away was because she didn't want you to embarass us. Just because it's free, are you planning to finish up all their cakes?" Hyoyeon said as Sooyoung just grinned dorkily. "Aishhh, this shikshin. You can have mine, if it's not enough for you. I'm already full actually."

In the end, Sooyoung had 3 slices of cakes in front of her as Yuri also didn't want to eat so much and shared Taeyeon's cake. Just as I was about to speak, my phone beeped and soon after, the rest of the girl's phones started beeping too.

To Jaegi,

We're almost done with the shopping. Don't forget to pick us up at 10pm later, okay. We'll wait for all of you at the mall's entrance. Gomawo. <3

I looked at the message and smiled. 'Kyeopta. Since when did my Sicababy learn how to send me a heartshape?' I chuckled as I felt someone kicking my ankle.

"Wae?" I asked Yuri who was the one who kicked me but the moment I looked up, I saw Ailee standing beside our table. "Hey, how's everything?'

"Thank you once again for helping me out earlier. If you didn't do so, I would have been frantically rushing everywhere to get ready as soon as possible for my performance." Ailee said as she bowed down to thank us.

"No worries, Ailee. We just wanted to help you in any way possible. Don't want to see you getting in more trouble with the manager." Yuri answered as all of us nodded our heads.

"I'll be going up to sing again at 9.45pm. Will you be staying long here?" Ailee asked as she looked at me.

"Anni. Mianhae. We need to fetch our girlfriends by 10pm at the mall. So we need to make a move soon since it's almost 9.30pm." I said as I smiled apologetically at her. Once again, I saw the same sad eyes that I had seen in the car before but it was momentarily as she quickly smiled and nodded her head.

"Gwenchana. I understand. Thanks again for the help. Since school will begin soon, I guess everyone will start to be busy again. But let's keep in touch, okay." Ailee smiled again as all of us nodded our heads in agreement.

Yuri went off to make payment for the dinner as the 4 of us stood up. Ailee had walked together with us to the main door and after Yuri joined us, she gave each one of us a hug. As usual, I was the last one to receive it. We waved goodbye to her and walked to the carpark. I was walking beside Taeyeon when she suddenly asked me a question.

"Do you think Ailee has a crush on you?" She whispered softly so that the others won't hear it.

"You're not the first person to notice it." I said as Taeyeon gave me a shocked expression. "Sunny and Sica had said it to me before."

"You mean Sica knew that Ailee has a crush on you?" Taeyeon asked as we were almost reaching the carpark.

"She just said that she had a feeling that Ailee has a crush on me but she's not 100% sure about it. Sunny also felt the same thing. Anyway, it doesn't really matter to me since I only treat her like a friend." I said.

"History seems to be repeating itself. Don't you think so?" Taeyeon's words stopped me in my tracks as she patted my back. "Don't make Ailee become another Uee."

Taeyeon walked away to her car as the rest of the girls entered theirs. I took a deep breathe before pressing the button on my car keys to open my car door. 'Was it really my fault with whatever that had happened to Uee?' I sighed as I started the engine to drive off.

********************************

(A cafe at the shopping mall)

No one's POV:

The girls were done with everything by 9.15pm as they each left a message to their girlfriends to pick them up later. They decided to rest for a while at a cafe which was near to the shopping mall main entrance.

"Where do you think the 5 of them went after watching the performance at Hyo's dancing school?" Yoona asked as she scooped up a spoonful of the patbingsu that she had ordered.

"I thought Yeonnie said that they're going to a cafe or a pub to chill out after the trip to her dancing school?" Seohyun said as the others nodded her head.

"Seohyun, you've been to Hyo's dancing school before right?" Tiffany asked as Seohyun nodded her head. "Where's the nearest cafe or pub around there? I've got a feeling that my Taetae will surely suggest to go to the nearest one they can find to save time."

Seohyun tilted her head and frowned a little as she tried to think about the question. "If I'm not wrong, the nearest pub is the one where Ailee is working at."

Jessica choked on her drink when she heard Seohyun mentioning Ailee's name. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed from the other girls as Sunny remembered about what Jae had told her before.

"Sica, I heard from Jae that you've told her before about the possibility of Ailee having a crush on Jae. Am I right?" Sunny asked as Jessica was stunned with the question.

"Jae told you that? When? What else did she say?" Jessica asked as she was surprised that Jae was sharing their conversation with other girls.

"I told Jae the same thing during one of the days that you went for a trip with your family. I suspected that Ailee had some feelings for her and Jae told me that you had said the same thing. But we ended the conversation with Jae firmly stating that she's got her eyes only on you." Sunny replied as Tiffany, Yoona and Seohyun just listened intently.

"I know that I can trust Jae's words but sometimes, I can't help being all possesive about Jae. There's been a lot of instances that I think made Jae felt frustrated with me." Jessica started to tell the other girls about the incidents where she showed her jealousy.

"At least Jae won't entertain unfamiliar girls like Yul. Jae is not as friendly as Yul towards new people." Yoona said as the girls nodded their heads in agreement. "But luckily, Yul has really improved a lot ever since that incident."

"Are you afraid that Jae will find someone better and leave you, Sica?" Seohyun asked directly as Jessica slowly acknowledged it. "Then I guess it's not really fair for Jae. I mean she's been assuring you a lot of times about how much you meant to her. I'm afraid with your insecurities, it might even cause Jae to be more upset with you." Jessica pouted as she pondered about what Seohyun said.

"If I was Jessi, I would feel insecure easily too. I mean look at Jae. She's got a great personality, multi-talented and has a great family background. She's even prepared for her future plans and is very matured in her thinking. She's like an almost perfect girlfriend." Tiffany said. "But please don't tell my Taetae about what I said. I can't handle Taetae's jealousy issue. She will be all depressed and upset."

"Do you think Jae will tell you if they really went to Ailee's workplace, Sica? Especially when she knows that you're jealous of Ailee." Sunny asked as Jessica shrugged her shoulders. 

"Why don't we make a bet? Just for the fun of it. Who thinks Jae will not inform Sica about it, raise your hand." Yoona suggested as she raisd up her hand along with Tiffany. "So it's 3 vs 2 then. Sica, you will need to be honest about the whole situation. Jae has to voluntarily inform you about it. To ensure that no prompting is done, you will have to record everything from the time you step into her car later by using your phone. If by the time we reached the dorm and Jae didn't tell you anything, it means you, Sunny and Seohyun has lost the bet. Now let's discuss about the prize." Yoona grinned as the other girls shook their heads.

They had just finished their discussion when Sunny's phone rang as Sooyoung informed her that their girlfriends had already arrived and waiting for them at the mall entrance. The 5 girls then quickly gathered their shopping bags and walked to the main door. Seeing their girlfriends with the bags, the other 5 girls who were standing beside their car doors, quickly rushed to help them out.

"Fany-ah, did you buy the whole shop earlier?" Taeyeon asked as Tiffany handed her 10 paperbags.

"There was a sale, Taetae and I bought you a nail dryer. I know you like to do your own nail designs." Tiffany said as Taeyeon grinned like a happy kid.

"You're so whipped." Sooyoung exclaimed before Sunny handed her the same amount of paperbags. "Aigoo, don't tell me you went crazy too?"

"Did you just called me crazy, Choi Sooyoung?" Sunny glared at her. "Half of those bags actually belongs to you as I bought tidbits and some foodstuffs for you. Since you're not being appreciative, I'm not going to give it to you." Sooyoung's widened eyes made everyone laughed as they watched the tall shikshin begged her shorter girlfriend for forgiveness.

"You're whipped too, Soo." Yuri said as she and Yoona walked to their car while Hyoyeon and Seohyun walked to theirs.

I held out my hands to ask for the paperbags from Jessica who looked at me with a guilty expression. She had the most number of paperbags, 14 of them as she slowly handed it over to me but only 10 of it. 

"I'll carry some of it. It's going to be very heavy for you." She said as I took the remaining paperbags from her.

"It's okay. I can manage." I smiled as Jessica nodded her head.

"Aren't you going to nag at me for shopping too much like Tiff and Sunny?" Jessica asked as I chuckled at her question.

"As long as you're happy doing it, I've got no problems with it." I said as I heard sounds of complains from behind. Turning around, I saw Sooyoung and Taeyeon giving me the disgusted look.

"Yah, Master of Cheesines. Get your into your car and let's drive back home." I heard Hyoyeon's voice who had her head popping out from her car's window. Her car was behind mine so I need to drove off first before she could moved. 

I meronged at Hyoyeon before placing the paperbags at the front of the car. While I was doing so, I saw Jessica walked to Yuri's car which was in front of mine and whispered to Yoona. Closing the car's boot, I walked to the passenger's side and waited for Jessica to enter the car. After putting the safety belt for her, I walked over to my seat and started the engine.

I noticed Jessica shifting in her place as she held her handphone in her hand. "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"Anni.. I'm just trying to find the best angle to sleep." She smiled at me as I giggled at her.

Seeing Yuri's car moving off, I gave the signal to inform Hyoyeon that I'll be making a move soon. As I followed Yuri's car from the back, I switched on the radio system as the music engulfed my car. 

10mins into the journey, I noticed that Jessica was just staring at me. "I thought you said that you wanted to sleep." I asked as the car came to a stop due to the red light.  Turning my body sideways, I looked at her and smiled. "Something on your mind?" Jessica shook her head.

I got ready to drove on when the light turned green when I noticed Jessica shifting her position again and looking at the side windows. "How was the movie that you girls watched earlier? Was it nice?" I asked, trying to start a conversation with her. Jessica briefly gave me a review of the movie before she asked about the performances at the dancing school.

"The performances were great. The dancers were really talented and energetic. We even learnt some dance steps from them." I said as Jessica nodded her head. 

We were almost reaching our school gates as I stopped talking to focus on my driving since I needed to make a sharp turn soon.

********************************

After Jae left the paperbags in her room, Jessica walked out from her room and send Jae to the door. Saying their goodbyes, Jessica then closed the door and walked towards the other 4 girls who were waiting for her at the living room 

Seeing a lifeless Jessica, Yoona started to grin as she kept nudging Tiffany who was sitting beside her. "I think we're going to need to prepare ourselves for the upcoming buffet sponsored by them." Tiffany gave Yoona a high-five before both of them giggled as Jessica sat down on the floor next to them.

The losers of the bet will have to treat the winners to an all-you-can-eat buffet as Yoona was the one who suggested the prize earlier.

"I think the two of you will have to prepare yourselves soon." Jessica said as Yoona punched her fist into the air as a sign of excitement.