A knock sounds on the door and resonates through the half-darkness of Isabella's living room. She stops in her pacing and turns abruptly, making a move to go open a door. But a thought stops her and she freezes up, her eyes widening. A chill seeps into her veins and spreads throughout her body, stilling her nerves and stiffening her muscles. The shadow of doubt enters her mind - what if something has gone wrong; if the police have somehow found out about Hanyeon's plan and aborted it before she could go through with it? What if they connected the pieces and followed the trail to Isabella? She isn't sure about the charges for planning to kidnap an idol, but she's sure the stakes are high. Staring at the closed door, Isabella feels a shiver wracking her body. She should never have gone through with the plan. If anything, she should have done it herself.

The sound repeats, louder and more urgent this time. Isabella shakes her head insistently, ridding her brain of the panic that threatened to take over. She organised this, and if there are repercussions she’ll deal with them. Besides, it could just be Hanyeon. If it were someone else, they would have shouted and threatened to break down the door by now. Taking a deep breath, Isabella forces herself to step over to the door and wrench it open. What she sees shocks her to the bone.
 

Jin walks over and taps on Miyu's shoulder, dragging her slightly apart from the crowd with shining eyes. "How in the world did you get Key over here?"

Miyu grins back at him. "That's thanks to my friend Kwon-ah. She knows people, and one of them is Key. So I asked her to rope him over. Once he heard you're a huge fan and it's your birthday, he agreed. Plus, he's cooking up a plan and he wants Kwonnie to be in his debt."

He raises a skeptical eyebrow. "A plan? Including Kwon-ah?"

"Yeah. He's trying to play the matchmaker."

"So he likes her?"

"I never said that," Miyu remarks mysteriously, smiling and slipping back into the crowd of people she was talking to so that Jin can't pursue the subject. Sighing, he follows her and starts mingling with the rest.

A few locks of blue hair whack him in the face and he turns to glare at Arie, who looks back apologetically. "Sorry about my hair," she says. "But it's reportedly good luck when blue hair smacks your face."

Jin rolls his eyes. "In which world?"

"Just kidding - happy birthday!" she says with a huge smile. Jin thanks her before he's bombarded with birthday wishes from the rest of the gang.

San Shi comes up to him and gives him a shy smile. "Although I don't know you all that well, I know you well enough to get that we're going to be awesome friends with time. Happy Birthday!"

He grins at her and pulls her into a comfortable hug. "Sure, no problem. And thanks."

The next few minutes pass by in a flash, and pretty soon it's time to cut his birthday cake. It's in a box on the wooden picnic table a little distance away from the house. The box is still smoking from emerging from the freezer mere minutes before. The wisps of condensation spiral elegantly up into the night air - darkness fell during the time he and Key were up on stage performing. Jin feels a thrill of excitement to see the cake - he knows that Miyu likes baking, but he's not sure what her decorating skills are like. He's looking forward to seeing what it looks like anyway - the plan San Shi had come up with seemed interesting. 

Eun Kyo smiles at him from her position in front of the cake at the table. Her deft fingers are undoing the light blue ribbon to open the box. Arie sprints over with candles - also blue - and a lighter. Sofia, seeing Jin's curious eyes on the cake, gathers a few people to stand in front of it and block his view. He shoots her a glare, but she shrugs, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. 

When they finally part, and Eun Kyo drags him to the spot she previously occupied, Jin finally sets eyes on the cake and gasps. It looks like it's been bought from a shop, that's how professional it looks - although he sees that there are slight smudges in the icing for the "Happy Birthday Aleric! <3" that tell him it's really been done by Miyu and San Shi. Everything is as San Shi had described the first time he saw her. The guitar is made out of some jam with food colouring, and looks delicious. The outlines are dark, and he knows Miyu well enough to know that they're probably dark chocolate. She loves chocolate too much for her own good. But the cake looks stellar.

San Shi appears beside him, and she studies his face. "Do you like it?" her tone is anxious - eager to please the birthday boy.

"Like it? I love it," Jin assures her, a grin settling on his face when he sees the look of happiness on hers. "Did you do this all on your own?"

She nods. "I made it, because Miyu and Sofia insisted that my vanilla cream cake recipe is the best. And Sofia told me that if Miyu ended up baking it, it'd be a brownie cake, which you've tried before. Miyu agreed because we wanted it to be special. But she designed the top of the cake because she's wicked with mixing colours and applying them. Sofia helped with the guitar though."

"You put so much effort into the cake that I almost don't feel like eating it!" Jin protests weakly, chuckling.

San Shi grins too. "We made it for you to eat, you know. So you'd better enjoy it!"

"Of course I will!"

"Are we all here?" Eun Kyo asks, her soft but clear voice somehow getting across to the crowd. There is a general murmur of agreement. "Awesome. Let's start, shall we?"

Jin ducks his head to hide his wide smile as they start with the opening lines of the birthday song. As the last notes fade away, he neatly slices the knife into the cake and blows out the nine candles - one large and eight small. One candleflame flickers and doesn't go out on first try, and Jin remembers to make a wish before blowing the last one out with his eyes closed. A cheer goes up as the last flame dies.



Hanyeon groans and lifts her hand to knock on the door again, before it opens under her hand. Isabella stands there, the light from the ceiling lamp in her room casting a dramatic light on her from behind and throwing her features into shadow. Her hair is slightly frizzy, and her lips are bleeding in some places. It looks like she's been worrying quite a bit while Hanyeon was gone. Stumbling, she drags the deadweight on her shoulders into the room and collapses on the sofa in front of a speechless Isabella. 

"Your boyfriend is heavy, I swear," she exclaims, wincing as she stretches her aching muscles. The car had dropped them off where it was supposed to, alright, but dragging an unconscious Joon across the driveway and up to Isabella's apartment nearly killed her. The guy probably weighs so much because of his muscles.

Isabella gasps and sits herself down on the couch next to her sleeping idol, reverently his face and settling it comfortably on her lap. Her smile is soft and wavering, as if she's about to cry. Hanyeon stands slightly apart from the couple on the couch, feeling ever so slightly out of place in the atmosphere tinged with romance. Just then, the other girl looks up at her with overbright eyes.

"I can't thank you enough..." she trails off, gasping.

Hanyeon gives her a lopsided smile, her fingers reaching for the hem of her blouse to twist and tug at the material again. "No problem. I guess I'll just change and head out?"

Isabella nods, and the younger girl immediately dashes into the room where she'd left her clothes, stripping off the blouse and skirt that belongs to Crimson. She throws it into a plastic bag under the dressing table, and pulls on her clothes - all with a ferocious quickness. Hanyeon, eager to escape from the house and go straight home and plop into bed, hurriedly dons her shoes, picks up the plastic bag with the clothes, and walks out. She wants nothing more than to de-stress with a good few, long hours of well-deserved rest. 

"Isa-unnie?" she calls out, walking outside. 

The older girl stares at her from across the room, trying to maneuver Joon's head so that the bright red lipstick mark planted on his cheek isn't that obvious. Hanyeon awkwardly averts her gaze and clears as Isabella's cold eyes try to burn holes in her own. 

"I'm going."

Isabella cracks a relieved smile. "Bye! And Crimson said she'll give you the money tomorrow, don't worry."

Hanyeon smiles and leaves, only letting out a breath of relief when she's free of the house and the door is safely closed behind her. The only good thing about the whole crazy plan is that it's over - and she's scot free. Plus, she's gotten some money for the deed, which is more than helpful. Free of the burden of the job, finally, Hanyeon feels as if a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. Maybe she'd go out with a couple of friends the next day. Just hang out and de-stress. 

She walks away from the apartment with a bounce in her steps.



Sofia yawns and stretches, the fabric of her work blouse straining at the elbows. Memories of the night before flit through her mind, and she smiles widely, feeling her spirits lift. It had ended happily, with an eager Jin opening all his presents and exclaiming excitedly over each of them. But now, after a day had passed, it's time for her to go to work. Rolling her eyes, she sighs with resentment and slides on her heels. The short break from her work had made her lazy to go back to her busy routine. Hopefully a certain someone shows up later - he promised her and she's tired of waiting for him to fulfill that promise.

But first, she has to go and pick up her uniform from Hanyeon. Brisk-walking down a few streets, she arrives at the pre-arranged rendezvous point reasonably quickly and pulls out her phone to contact the younger girl. 

"That's okay, I'm here already," Hanyeon says from behind her, shocking Sofia for an instant before she recovers herself. "Here you are," she continues, cheerfully handing over the bag of neatly-folded clothes.

"Thank you so much for doing that yesterday. I trust it went without a hitch?"

The younger girl grins, remembering the previous night's events. In the light of a new day, everything seemed like a playful, adventure-filled dream. "Yes, it was perfect."

Sofia lets quirk up at the edges. "Thank you so much, again. And here's the money you're due," she says, handing Hanyeon and few crisp bills.

Chuckling, she takes the money and bows, before lifting her arm in a wave and walking away. "Maybe I'll see you around."

Sofia nods and waves in return, before turning on her heels to make her way to her workplace. The Velvet Room seems considerably more crowded today, she notes. Disregarding the crowd, she slips into the kitchen and greets a few of her co-workers. 

"Sofia," a young woman with long, wavy dark brown hair pipes up, strolling over to Sofia and giving her a puzzled look. "Didn't you hear the news?"

Confused, Sofia just stares back at her with an equally clueless expression. "Euanne, what's up?"

A young woman of twenty-two, Euanne has been working in the Velvet Room about as long as Sofia has. Her parents' company had run into a few tough spots and they soon faced constraints with money. Euanne was forced to find herself a job, and she left the Phillipines where she grew up to come to Korea and earn a higher pay. She and Sofia were interviewed for the positions in the Velvet Room together, and when they both made it through, they became friends. Both of them were quick to help each other out in the new job, and both swiftly adapted to the busy schedule of work under each other's guidance. Right now, Euanne's doing her friend yet another favour.

"The boss is looking for you. It's something to do with the fiasco yesterday."

Sofia feels a chill race down her spine. Fiasco? What in the world had Hanyeon done?

At that moment, the boss strolls in and notices her. Dread settles in the pit of her stomach as she faces him. His eyes rove over her uniform, doing the routine check to ensure that not a thing is out of place - her sleeves are properly folded, there are no creases anywhere, and her skirt is of reasonable length. Also, her nametag has to be perfectly straight, two finger-spacings above her heart. Running her mind through her short mental checklist, she realises that she's missed out on her nametag. Blanching, she has no choice but to wait for the boss to mention it himself. Hopefully, he doesn't notice it. Fingers crossed, tongue crossed, toes crossed, hopefully.

"Your nametag," he mutters, dashing all her hopes.

Sofia widens her eyes and starts digging around in the plastic bag she carries in her right hand, acting as if she just realised that she'd forgotten it. Her hands move the blouse and check that the badge isn't attached to it, before she lifts the skirt as well. But with a dreadful lurch of her guts, she realises that the nametag isn't there. It's nowhere to be found. That Hanyeon... she's going to kill her. If she ever sees her again, that is.

"Crimson," her boss enunciates, grinding his teeth - a sure sign of fury. Sofia inwardly flinches, but her features remain in her cold mask which she uses when she works. "You dropped your badge yesterday."

She gently lets out a breath of relief, but then pauses to wonder why her boss would be so angry about that. He glares at her, and she just stares silently back, trying to read the answer to her unspoken question in his eyes. But she can't find the reason for his anger. With a jolt of his head, he motions for her to follow him, before he turns and walks through the doors into the special room where the special guests had held their party the night before. Sofia notices as she does so that a young man slightly older than her is seated there, with another mask of fury on his face. But his impatient fingers and constant shifting of weight also suggest that he's worried about something. A strong gut instinct tells her that whatever he's anxious about has a link to why she's in trouble, but she can't pinpoint the reason. Sighing, she resigns herself to be patient and wait for the reason to reveal itself.

The handsome guy looks up at her and his eyes lose focus slightly. Then his gaze switches to her boss, and he snaps to attention again. On the table, she can see her nametag sitting and staring innocently back at her. 

"Have a seat," her boss says with malicious intent, motioning towards the seat. Sofia does as she's told. "What happened to Lee Joon yesterday night?"

"Uhm sir?" the boy Sofia recognises to be MBLAQ's leader Yang Seungho, asks. "This isn't the same waitress from last night, I don't think."

Sofia is torn - on one hand she can get out of all the trouble she's in right now. But on the other, she has to reveal that she got a substitute for her job on an important day - one substitution that obviously cost alot. Both situations land her in the same amount of trouble... so she has no idea what to think.

The boss turns and levels the leader with another glare, before he seems to realise that he's glaring at a top-priority customer (Seungho being an idol and dissatisfied and all), so he turns back to glare at Sofia again. "With all due respect, you left the Velvet Room teetering on your drunken feet, so I assume you're just imagining that you forgot the face of your waitress."

Seungho nods reluctantly, looking embarrassed. "Sure, sir, I'm guessing that's what happened."

"What happned to Lee Joon last night?" he repeats to Sofia, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets as he stared daggers at her.

If looks could kill, Sofia'd be dead by now. As it is, she's deeply intimidated already. "I have no idea what you mean." she states honestly. 

"My darn bandmate is gone!" Seungho explodes, his fury forming a black aura around him that makes even his black eyebags seem deeper and more pronounced. "He's just gone, without a trace, and it's so unlike him!"

Sofia tries hard not to let her emotions - mainly fear - show on her face. Hanyeon's gotten her into far deeper trouble than she could ever have expected. This'll teach her to trust people she barely knows to do a job for her. No matter what happens in the future, she makes a promise to herself never to make the same mistake again. When it comes to things important to her like her job, she'll trust nobody but herself to take care of it. To hell with people like Chae Ni and Hanyeon - they were probably up to something. Maybe the whole thing was a scam, and Hanyeon made off with her money and a chance to meet idols while destroying Sofia's career. She badly wants to bury her face in her arms and cry her heart out, but she forces herself to keep the mask of indifference on her face.

Life isn't fair - but when it gives you lemons, you just have to deal with the sourness of it all.

"What did you do to him?" her boss demands in a low voice, every bit as deadly as Seungho's outburst.

She tries giving him a pleading look. "I swear, I didn't touch him!"

"You could be lying."

"What happened to the benefit of doubt? Innocent until proven guilty?" her training for a lawyer is pulling through, she realises as she argues back.

Her boss makes a sound like "pft" and turns away. The idol's eyes cut into hers as he says, "This is serious."

"I'm every bit as serious as you are," Sofia rebutts firmly, matching him stare for stare.

The middle-aged man sighs and mops his forehead with a handkerchief. "Look, I think we need time to sort this out -"

"Sir!" a voice shouts from the doorway, cutting him off halfway. The three of them turn in unison to see Euanne standing in the doorway with a broken bottle of wine and a drunken customer mauling her. 

Seungho and the manager leap out of their seats and hurry out the room to help get him off her. Euanne directs a pointed look at Sofia, and flicks her eyes to the exit. Sofia gets the point, and feels infinitely thankful to her friend. Without hesitation, she calmly heads around the chaos until she gets through to the main lounge. Still acting calm so as not to attract attention, she hides her panic within herself and makes swiftly for the kitchen, where she picks up her plastic bag and walks out the door. Once her heels make contact with the rough cement forming the steps outside the back door, she takes off running. Sofia doesn't look back.

A/n: New characters: 
invisible029 - Euanne Iglesia

I know I told many of you I wouldn't update today, but I swear I had no intention of doing so until Lolly unnie pestered me. So you know who to thank. Actually, this chapter was supposed to be alot longer and include a whole bunch of new characters, but then I realised if I did that, it would end up alot longer than it has to be. So all that will be in the next chapter. Look out for it, okay? A whole batch of new characters are going to be introduced. Plus, please check the list in chapter 1 (for those who haven't) and tell me if you don't see your name there! By the way, this update is about 3350 words. Haha. So this might (just might, mind you XD) be the norm if i can keep it up. I seriously hope you like it and leave a comment! :D