Cora woke to the slight shift in the bed as Mark moved from behind her. His voice was muffled, and Cora could tell he was on the phone. She opened her eyes and watched as he pulled on his sweatshirt and opened the door to the hospital room she’d been moved to for observations. She just barely caught “Yeah, she’s fine now,” And her chest ached. Was it MinHee? Was he really not going to let her talk to MinHee? He had to know she wasn’t asleep.

She waited patiently, until the door slowly creaked open, and she quickly closed her eyes. Light flooded over her, and she could hear him moving inside the room and closing the door behind him. “Cora,” He said lightly, but she didn’t dare open her eyes. The bed dipped beside her, and his fingers brushed the side of her face as he tucked her hair behind her ear. “That was MinHee.”

She opened her eyes and he offered a light smile. “Why didn’t you let me talk to her?”

“Why, you were asleep up until just now.” He said, chuckling. She sat up and he pulled her towards him, cradling her. “I don’t think her stress would be a good thing for you to hear right now. She didn’t sound very good.”

Cora gave him a worried look. “You really should have let me speak with her.”

He shook his head. “Not tonight. Tomorrow morning, I promised her I’d have you call. But right now, you really need to sleep.” She sighed, but he didn’t budge. She sighed louder. “Not happening.”

The knock on MinHee’s hotel room door early the following morning startled her more than she would have expected. She’d been waiting for Cora’s call, since Mark had promised he would have her call, but hadn’t heard from her just yet.

What was even more startling was when she opened the door, and Cho Hee stood on the other side with the director and producers. “Good morning,” The producer said, smiling. “May we please have a word with you?”

She bit her lip and nodded, moving away from the door and gesturing them to come in, fear creeping through her. “What is this about?”

Cho Hee opened to speak, but the director cut her off. “We have decided to make a few changes to the drama.” Her heart plummeted. “A few things just weren’t working, and we’ve decided to make some serious-”

“Stop it,” Cho Hee hissed, watching MinHee’s changing expressions. “You’re making her uncomfortable.” She turned to MinHee and sighed. “They want you to cut your hair. Since you’ve made it past the part where the characters are in college, they want to make appearance changes. It has to be short. Really short.”

MinHee’s eyes widened. She was incredibly relieved. The way he’d started the sentence made her feel as if they were cutting her from the cast, and going with a new actress for the later parts of the drama. Short hair was nothing. A little scary, but not too… ground breaking, she guessed. “Oh, uhm… okay. So why are you here then, Cho Hee?”

She sighed. “They needed the okay from the label to change your appearance, in case it messed with our plans for the new album.”

MinHee looked to the producer and director, who both smiled. “When am I getting it done?”

“Right now.” They both answered. “We need it done for their first meeting after losing contact.” MinHee nodded. “So Malai is going to cut your hair for you. We were thinking something along the lines of…” The producer shrugged. “Sort of like what your brother’s hair was like during his debut, but with more texture and layers.”

MinHee’s jaw dropped. “You’re styling my hair after my brother?”

The director nodded. “I think it would suit your face incredibly well. We won’t, of course, dye your hair. It will stay the color it is.” Another nod before the director stood, followed by the producer. “We will see on set afterwards.”

MinHee sighed and nodded as the director and producer moved towards the door. Cho Hee stood next. “I’m sorry about all this, Minnie.” She said lightly, following the two out of the room.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter