He gives everyone a knowing glance, and all the trainers and execs chuckle. With one last toothy grin at me, he walks out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

Ten

I’m back in the practice room with Jason, but this time it’s only the two of us. He has this huge bag of greasy, delicious-smelling french fries, and we sit against the mirrored wall, eating them and laughing. All of a sudden he turns to me and stares deep into my eyes. “I always thought your eyes were brown, but up close I can see gold flecks in them. I kinda like being one of the f—”

“EARTH TO RACHEL! WAKE UP, RACHEL!”

Huh?

My eyes fly open, and I see Juhyun’s and Hyeri’s matching dark-brown ones staring down at me from above.

“Oh my god, are you okay, Rachel?” Kyungmi says, her face popping into view between the twins’. “You totally got clobbered by that tennis ball!”

Am I in gym class?

When I put my palms down on the clay court and gingerly sit up, I hear a weird click, click sound that seems like it’s coming from inside my head.

Oh my god, do I have permanent brain damage?

I turn around to see Coach Sloat grabbing Kyungmi’s phone out of her hands. “Get out of here, Kyungmi. Five laps around the court!” She leans down to inspect the bump on my forehead and clucks her tongue. “You need to pay more attention on the courts, Rachel. You should go see the nurse.”

“I can take her!” Kyungmi says, still hovering in the distance.

“Kyungmi! Laps! Now!” the coach yells over to her.

“No, it’s okay.” Juhyun stands protectively by my side. “We can take her.”

Hyeri puts an arm around my shoulders and I follow the twins off the courts.

“Thanks, guys,” I say as they lead me through the locker room. I catch a glimpse of myself in one of the mirrors. Oof. My eyes look glassy and unfocused and my forehead is a deep, bright-red color. This better not leave a bruise. I can only imagine Mina’s delight when I show up at training with a purple forehead.

“Can you guys believe I just wiped out in gym class?” I say, shaking my head slowly.

Juhyun and Hyeri exchange glances. “Actually… we can,” Hyeri says. “You’ve been out of it all week.”

“Like in botany on Monday when you were singing while trimming your bonsai tree, but then you got so distracted trying to remember the lyrics that there was nothing left to trim,” Juhyun says.

“Or remember in the cafeteria when you were practicing dance moves in line and knocked Daeho’s mandu ramyun right out of his hands? He smelled like pork dumplings all day.” Hyeri smiles but quickly wipes it off her face and looks at me, concerned.

“Or in drama class when—”

“All right, all right,” I say. “I get it. There’s just been a lot on my mind these days. You know, training stuff.”

And Jason stuff, I think, my mind flashing back to the tennis-ball-to-the-forehead-induced dream I was just having. But I don’t mention that part.

“Well, lucky for you we have that school break coming up. You can recharge, relax, refine your bonsai trimming techniques.” Hyeri is teasing me, but I barely hear her.

A break. Umma won’t let me train on a weekday, even if there is no school, but I don’t care this time. This is exactly what I need. No school, no training, no commitments. I can’t wait to spend an entire day at home doing absolutely nothing.

* * *

“Unni, wake up!” I feel a finger poke against my cheek.

It’s a week later and school is officially on break at last. I had big plans to sleep in, eat some fried chicken with Juhyun and Hyeri, then maybe binge My Only Love Song on Netflix for the rest of the day.

Another poke.

I groan and open my eyes just a crack. Leah’s standing there in a plaid skirt and an oversize cream-colored sweater that looks suspiciously like the one I bought last month. She climbs into my bed and sits on top of me.

“Leah, oh my god, no talking, okay? Just sleeping. Shhh,” I say as I close my eyes again.

“Unni, wake up please—it’s important!”

“Leah, nothing is more important than sleeping in on your day off. Except maybe your little sister bringing you breakfast in bed in exactly three hours.” I smile without opening my eyes and roll over, already dozing off again.

“Okay, Unni, I’ll see you later.” I can feel Leah moving off the bed, but something in her voice niggles at my heart.

I open my eyes and prop myself up onto my elbows. “All right, what’s so important?”

Please say it’s a Her Private Life marathon.…

“Welllll…” Leah bites her lip. “I won a contest. To go somewhere. With you.”

“You did? But you never said anything—”

“I meant to tell you earlier, but you’ve just been so busy with training and school and…” She trails off, and I sigh as the guilt winds its way around my heart. I open my eyes wide and put on my silliest smile. “Well, that’s why this is officially Kim Sister Day! We can do anything you want!” Leah grins, and I grab her feet, tickling her as she tries to squirm away. “Well, don’t leave me in suspense! Where are you taking me?!”

“I entered the lottery for the exclusive NEXT BOYZ fan signing and WON!” She gasps as I continue to tickle her. “Can you believe it? We’re going to the fan signing! Today!”

My hands (and my whole body, really) are frozen, and I stare at her, waiting for her to say she’s joking. Instead, she jumps off the bed squealing and dancing around my room. Oh god. She’s serious. Of course she’s serious. This is Leah we’re talking about. The future Mrs. Jason Lee.

“No,” I say. “No way. Nope. We are not doing that.”

Leah stops twirling. “Why not? You said we can do anything I wanted!”

I shake my head. “Anything except that. Come on, Leah. I can’t go to a NEXT BOYZ fan signing!”

“Why not?”

I can think of a million reasons why not, reason number one being that I’m not so sure I want to see Jason any more than I have to. I get a weird swoopy feeling in my stomach every time he’s around, and the more I see him, the more that feeling might come back. Or even worse, the more it might grow. I don’t want to risk it. Not now—not when I’m so close to debuting. Jason already takes up way more of my brain space than I care to admit. If anything, I need to go on a Jason cleanse. But there’s no way I can admit any of this to Leah. I’m already feeling guilty enough. I can’t add “crush stealer” to the list of ways I’ve disappointed her recently.

“It’s embarrassing,” I say finally. “I’m supposed to be Jason’s singing partner, not his fangirl.”

“Yes, I thought you might say that,” Leah says solemnly. The corners of her lips rise in a mischievous smile. “But did I mention that the fan signing is at Style Dome?”

Holy shit.

Style Dome is Seoul’s newest by-invitation-only clothing store. It only opened last year and there’s already a yearlong wait list to shop there. I heard even Kang Jina had to wait two weeks just to get an appointment. The clothes are supposedly a mix of haute couture, high fashion, and vintage, with stuff at every price range and fashions for every style. Even the thought of stepping foot inside the store makes my fingers itch for a doodling napkin.