I wake hunched over my desk, a piece of notebook paper stuck to my face with drool.

God, what time is it?

I groggily tap my cell phone, only to find that it’s dead. Of course. I never plugged it in last night. I fish out my charger from my carry-on bag and anxiously wait for my phone to reboot. I want to call Alex and tell him about yesterday. Besides talking business on launch day, we haven’t really connected in what feels like weeks. I just want to hear the sound of his voice. To see his smiling face, even if only through FaceTime. Finally, my phone springs to life. I’m about to dial Alex’s number when a notification pops up on my screen:

Today 9 a.m.—GF @ Youngeun’s café

For a moment I’m totally confused. Then it comes back to me.

Youngeun at the anniversary dinner, telling us all her mom wanted us to come to the café.

DB putting it on our schedule for this week.

Jongseok saying “See you tomorrow” as he dropped me off.

As my phone continues to wake up, a series of missed calls from my manager pop up on the screen, the time stamps at 8:45; 8:50; 8:55.

It’s currently 8:57.

“Shit. Shit. Shit,” I chant, racing through our apartment, shoving my feet into my Nikes while hastily running a brush through my tangled mess of bedhead. Or deskhead, as the case may be.

“Language, Daughter!” Umma calls as I run out the door.

Jongseok’s car is idling outside our building when I burst through the lobby doors. “Sorry! Sorry!” I say, slamming the car door behind me. Jongseok says nothing, but flashes me a look in the rearview mirror. I take a deep breath and sit back in my seat, and will Jongseok to break a few speeding laws.

When I finally arrive at Youngeun’s café, I race inside, bracing myself for the crap the girls will undoubtedly give me for my late arrival. But when I enter, all the girls seem happy to see me. Like, genuinely glad. It’s more than a little unnerving to see their big smiles and friendly waves as they beckon me over.

I slide into the large booth by the window, feeling like the girl in the horror movie who has no idea she’s about to get murdered by a chainsaw-wielding maniac.

“Hi, everyone. Youngeun, the place looks great,” I say, nodding to the little Mason jars of wildflowers that adorn each table.

“Thanks, my mom went all out after DB said they’d do the photo shoot here.”

Just then, I notice a couple of DB photographers flanking inconspicuously around us, snapping some supposedly candid photos of our hangout. Suddenly I realize that’s why the girls are in such a good mood.

They’re putting on smiles for the camera.