Mina and I turn the corner, and I see Akari doing a wall sit outside one of the vocal lesson rooms, her trainer standing over her with her arms crossed. Akari starts the verse again, sweat beading on her forehead.

“From the diaphragm!” the trainer yells.

Akari’s legs are starting to tremble, but she keeps singing. Suddenly, her voice cracks on the high note and the trainer bends over, slapping her hard in the gut. Akari winces through the blow but doesn’t stop singing.

The wall sit is one of the roughest punishments the trainers dole out, forcing us to sing while we sit against a wall, our knees bent at a ninety-degree angle. The continual slaps to the stomach are supposed to strengthen our diaphragm, but mostly they just hurt.

My body aches as I watch Akari’s face turn redder by the second; she is clearly struggling to hold in her tears.

The trainer hits her again. Harder. “You’re weak. If you can’t even get through this, how will you get through anything else? Start again!”

Poor Akari. I sigh and glance over at Mina, but—wait? Where did she go? I look at my watch.

Shit. I’m late for dance practice.

I try to slip in as discreetly as possible, but as soon as Mina sees me, she stares pointedly at the clock on the wall. “Wow, Rachel. Three minutes late, I see.” She turns to the trainers, shaking her head. “She clearly doesn’t understand how important your time is.”

“That’s enough, Mina,” Yujin snaps at her. I almost smile, but Yujin quickly turns to me, eyes narrowed. “Now that you’re both here, let’s get started on the dance number, shall we?”

She shoots me another look, and I bow my head in apology to all the trainers. There are three execs sitting in the back room today, all with iPads glued to their hands.

Fuck, I need to get it together. And fast.

Mina and I take our spots in the middle of the room. The music starts just as Yujin flips on the video camera. Mina shoots me a smug smile, and suddenly the red light from the camera feels like a mosquito that’s been launched directly into my brain. But then something unexpected happens. Akari’s face—desperate and determined as she pushed out those high notes in the hallway—flashes in my mind. The buzzing doesn’t stop, but it gets quieter as I focus on her face and try to ignore the camera that’s five feet in front of me.

The song we’re singing with Jason is called “Summer Heat,” and it’s pure energy and fun. An upbeat, catchy pop song about being young, careless, and carefree in the summer.

Ha.

I make it through the first verse, nailing the complicated footwork as Mina and I slide into the chorus. But I start to tense up as we head into the second verse. Even though Leah’s been drilling me all week, I just can’t seem to get the dance moves down.

I keep my eyes fixed on the mirror. Come on, Rachel. You can do this.

I land the first step okay, but as we move into the second, my body is telling me to spin one way while my head insists on going the other way, and I end up missing the beat altogether. Mina, on the other hand, looks flawless. Even I have to admit she’s nailing every move. I’m watching her out of the corner of my eye, marveling at the way her legs seem to fly her around the room, when I realize I completely missed the next step.

Shit. I quickly find my rhythm again, but my body temperature is skyrocketing and my head is filled with the noise of a thousand mosquitoes all hungry for their first meal of the summer. I don’t know where to look. Yujin? The camera? The execs?

I struggle through the last verse, grateful when the music finally comes to an end.

A second later, the door to the practice room flies open and Jason saunters in, holding a Lotteria takeout bag in one hand and a half-eaten chicken burger in the other. He flashes a smile to the execs, and Ms. Shin’s eyes light up as she waves back, the other two execs jumping to their feet to shake his hand. Typical. Jason walks into practice late, eating a freaking chicken burger no less, and the execs are still drooling all over themselves.

“All right,” Yujin says. “Now let’s hear some singing. We need to decide which one of you girls will sing which parts, so let’s have each of you run through it once on your own. Mina, we’ll start with you.”

I slide my sweaty body into a chair as the instrumentals start up and Mina begins to sing. Even without a microphone I wouldn’t be surprised if they could hear her on the roof. Jason scoots into the chair next to me, holding out the Lotteria takeout bag.

“French fry?” he whispers.

I ignore him, trying to focus on Mina’s singing.

“More emotion, Mina,” Ms. Shim calls out. “You sound good, but I’m not feeling anything from you.”

Jason presses the bag closer to my face. “I promise there are no secret cheese sausages in it. Go ahead. Have one.”

I continue to ignore him, but I can’t help myself as the corners of my lips quirk up in a smile. I quickly drop it, but it’s too late. He grins.

Damn my own lips for betraying me.

“How cool is it that we can sing this song together?” he says.

“Uh, pretty cool, I guess.” I keep my eyes fixed on Mina’s performance.

“Mina, your face looks like someone killed your puppy! Is that what being a DB star means to you? Smile!” another exec shouts. I can see the tension in her neck at each of his comments.

“I know I’m excited. You know why, right?” Jason leans in so close I can smell the french fries on his breath. Mmmm… it’s not a bad smell, actually. I can’t even remember the last time I ate a french fry.

I don’t respond. He waits expectantly, his big puppy-dog brown eyes staring at me, and I sigh.

“Okay, I give in. Why are you s—”

“Rachel!” a sharp voice hisses. One of the trainers is glaring at me, putting a finger to her lips. “Pay attention. Do you have no manners?”

I flush. Across the room Yujin covers her forehead, looking absolutely mortified. I swivel away from Jason and focus on the song, but inside I’m seething. Why am I being called out when Jason was the one talking to me?

After a beat, he leans in to whisper again. “You didn’t get to hear my answer.”

I stare straight ahead, ignoring him. I’m in enough trouble today as it is.

“It’s a good one, I promise.”

He puts his head on my shoulder and I shrug my shoulders to shake him off.

“You really don’t want to know?”

Enough is enough. I whip my head around to face him, ready to tell him off, but his closeness catches me off guard. We’re nearly nose to nose, and his eyes are fixed on mine.

“Huh,” he says, his voice hushed low enough that only I can hear him. “I always thought your eyes were brown, but up close they’re really brown with gold flecks in them. I bet most people miss that about you.” He smiles. “Too bad. They’re beautiful. But then again, I kinda like being one of the few who know.”

I gape at him, completely speechless. Mina finally finishes the song, and Jason glances at the clock.

“Sorry, everybody,” he says, addressing the whole room now. He stands, balling up the Lotteria bag in his hands. “I have a meeting with Mr. Noh to discuss some ah… important business. I hate to duck out early, but when Mr. Noh calls…”