If anyone told Hana that the first time in her life she cut classes would be spent in a mansion, she would never have believed it. She kept craning her neck as she stared in wonder at the interior of Kyungmi’s house, wondering exactly how rich her parents really were. She knew about their family owning a chain of department stores, which should have been impressive, but Kyungmi was too down-to-earth that she often forgot that she was, in fact, an heiress.

But being in her home now reminded Hana of her family’s wealth, and it was no joke. She had to stop herself from muttering ‘daebak’ over and over at every expensive thing she saw. It looked more like a hotel than a house, really. There was a grand wooden staircase in the middle of the living room, and if you followed it with your eyes, you’ll see an elegant chandelier that hung above, adding even more affluence to the place.

“Miss, do you want anything to drink?” The butler asked her. Hana hasn’t wrapped her head around the concept of a butler, much less having him fetch her anything so she just shook her head and bowed politely at the man.

Seconds later, Kyungmi came back into the living room just as she was lowering her phone. “That was my Dad,” she told Hana. “He’s in Japan right now, but he said his secretary will handle things at YG High.”

Hana nodded blankly, unsure of how to act around Kyungmi now. She didn’t really care for superficial things like social status or wealth, but seeing Kyungmi in her natural environment made Hana feel a tad out of place. Kyungmi must have noticed because she smiled brightly and slid her arm around Hana’s like she normally would, in an effort to make her more comfortable.

“So, what do you want to do? Are you hungry? Do you want to take a trip anywhere?”

Hana returned the smile, glad that Kyungmi was back to her usual cheerful self. “Are you okay now?”

“I am,” she replied confidently as though nothing happened. “Let’s just forget about all the school drama and enjoy this day, eo? I have an idea!” Kyungmi hurried to the sofa where she set her bag down. Hana saw her get something from inside her bag and come back with what looked like a black card. Her friend’s face was positively glowing with excitement.

“What’s that?” Hana asked with a laugh, although she can see clearly it was a fancy-looking credit card.

“Let’s go shopping!” She wriggled her eyebrows, her voice going up a few decibels. “I get a special discount when I shop at YK.”

“That’s because you own the place, Kyungmi,” Hana added with a playful scoff.

“That doesn’t make shopping any less exciting, Hana,” she chirped. “But before we go, we have to change our clothes or we’ll get stares from people. It’s a school day after all.”

Hana looked down at her uniform. “I guess. Good thing I bring work clothes with me all the—“

Before Hana could finish, Kyungmi had pulled her up the staircase. She wheezed slightly at her friend’s eagerness, but just let Kyungmi lead her all the way to the second floor and through a white door. A huge photo of Kyungmi on the wall indicated it was her friend’s bedroom, and it was absolutely beautiful. Compared to the elegant living room, her room was bathed in beautiful simplicity. Everything was mostly white, with colorful accents here and there. Hana noticed the upright piano opposite her bed, and smiled, imagining Kyungmi spending most of her time there.

When she turned to look at her friend, Kyungmi was already at the other side of the room, opening what looked like another door. “Come here,” her friend looked over her shoulder and motioned for her to stand beside her.

They both entered a large walk-in closet with racks and racks of clothes lining every corner. Hana’s jaws dropped at the sight, her inner princess-girly-girl heart overwhelmed with so much pretty. Her hand, which took on a life of its own, automatically brushed over the fabrics that she could reach. Unbeknownst to her, Kyungmi had been closely watching her reaction, smiling widely that there was finally a friend she could show all these to. And as though Kyungmi wanted to induce a mini-heart attack, she flicked a nearby switch, causing what Hana assumed was just a wall to open up and reveal lines of shoes in every color and design.

“Oh my God,” she muttered as her eyes grew the size of saucers. “Kyungmi, is this heaven?”

At that question, Kyungmi started laughing. “This is the first time I’ve seen you with so much emotion, Hana,” her friend stated, pinching her cheek. “It’s not heaven, but it’s close. Come on, take your pick!”

Hana jerked her head to the side. “What?”

“You can’t wear your work clothes to the mall, are you crazy?” Kyungmi nudged her forward, as if telling her to go ahead and start choosing. “Since I’m in my uniform all the time, I barely have any chance to wear these clothes. We have to take advantage of this situation, don’t you think?” Kyungmi added with a wink as she proceeded to look through a rack for her own outfit.

“I can’t… these are yours… I don’t—” Hana stammered, although her eyes were already scanning the racks for anything that would catch her fancy. She couldn’t help it. She was still a girl.

“Don’t make me force you,” Kyungmi shot her a teasing glare. “I know you want to. Come on, just choose! We’re already playing hooky, we might as well play dress up, too! With different clothes, you can be anyone you want,” she bit her lower lip and removed a dress from the rack. She put it against her body. “See? I’m a literature student from New York University here in Seoul for a vacation.” Kyungmi took another dress and held it up. “Or I’m a lonely housewife whose husband is too busy running the company so I’m just trying to fill the void by spending his money shopping for more clothes.”

Hana laughed at her friend’s enthusiasm. There was really no downside to having a little bit of fun. Especially after what happened this morning, she’d really like Kyungmi to enjoy herself. And it wouldn’t hurt for Hana to enjoy herself, too. If I’m getting punished later on for skipping school, I might as well make good memories, she convinced herself.“Okay, okay. Let’s make it more interesting! Thirty minutes – full ensemble complete with back story, how does that sound?”

Kyungmi’s face brightened. “You’re on, Baek Hana!”

“Oppa! How come you didn’t tell me that girl goes to this school?!”

Seungyoon automatically frowned as Jennie’s shrill voice filled the music room. He was fiddling with a chord progression on his guitar, and he didn’t appreciate the interruption. The other four boys also looked up from what they were doing. Before Jennie had come uninvited, Taehyun was busying himself with arranging another song on his laptop while Mino sat across from him on the table, attempting to perfect sketching Taehyun’s blank expression. Jinwoo was on his phone, and Seunghoon had been napping on a makeshift bed on the floor. The leader noticed the irritation in all of the boys’ faces and knew that he wasn’t alone in wanting to usher Jennie Kim out the door.

The music majors had free time since President Yang had gathered the staff to meet the new vocal teacher, so all of them were just lounging around. Although Seungyoon fervently wished Jennie had better things to do than make a scene, which he was starting to believe was more her specialty than singing or dancing.

Before Seungyoon could say anything, Mino stood up from his seat and glared at Jennie. “YA, you can’t be here. This is our private music room.”

“Save it. I don’t plan on staying,” she replied bluntly, not even taking a glance at Mino. She took another step towards Seungyoon on the couch. “It’s been nagging at me. Why that girl looked so familiar, and now I remember. She was the one from last week, wasn’t she? The one you said was just a waitress!” She crossed her arms and impatiently tapped her foot.

Seungyoon didn’t like the accusation in her tone, nor did he understand why this was any of his business. He didn’t have anything to do with that girl, so he had absolutely no obligation to explain who she was. “Jennie, I don’t even know her.”

“Oh yeah? Then why was she in your hospital room, huh?”

“I already told you, my Uncle sent her,” Seungyoon replied through gritted teeth, sounding more aggravated by the second.

Mino walked to where Jennie stood, looking like he couldn’t wait to push her out the door. There was a special place in Mino’s People I Hate list for Jennie Kim. “Who is she even talking about?”

“That at the auditorium who humiliated me!”

“Who? Hana?” Mino’s brows furrowed. “Wait,” he paused, looking at Seungyoon in curiosity. “Hana was in your hospital room?”

“What, you know her, too?” Jennie glared at the r