Am I prioritizing the right things? Am I giving all my commitments the attention they deserve? The only thing that’s given me an ounce or two of peace is the fact that the girls have been unusually quiet. Their nasty comments about my fashion line still sting, but I’ve tried to push them to the back of my mind. And thankfully, I’ve been too busy with RACHEL K. to let myself wallow. Even so, ever since overhearing them whisper behind my back about some mysterious “plan,” I’ve been feeling nervous, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But now I’m starting to wonder if it was just another instance of petty drama that has blown over while I’ve been focused on other things.

Even when they found out about my upcoming Discipline photo shoot, they were surprisingly chill.

“Discipline? That’s that sportswear line by Oliver Mattsson, right? Cool,” Jiyoon said, giving me a half smile I couldn’t quite read. The rest of the girls seemed to be consumed with staring at their own schedules and trying to reconcile how they were going to accomplish it all. For once, maybe they are just as busy as I am, and they don’t have the energy for drama.

Maybe I have been worrying for nothing.

Maybe they were just letting off steam that day in the café.

And yet, something squirms in my gut… the knowledge that it’s never, ever that simple, when it comes to Girls Forever.

“Hey, Jongseok,” I say to him as he drives me to DB for a vocal rehearsal.

“Yes, Rachel?”

“Have you noticed the girls acting a little… different lately?” Maybe if there really is some sort of sinister plan afoot, Jongseok would have heard of it.

“Different?”

“You know, like, they’ve been leaving me alone. Not as much drama as I’m used to,” I add with a knowing smile. I catch Jongseok’s eye in the rearview mirror. He smiles at me. Jongseok has probably borne witness to more of the house drama than any of the other managers, though you would never know it, because he’s also the least likely to snap at any of us. He keeps his cool in every situation, which is why over the years I’ve come to make sure he’s the one managing my personal schedule and travel rather than any of the other managers on the team.

“Well, of course, that would be because their parents are keeping them so busy recently. Hard to compete with what you’ve accomplished, though!”

“Their parents? What do you mean?”

Jongseok chuckles. “The girls—and all their parents—met with DB a couple of days after your launch. You could almost see the smoke coming out of their ears.”