“Great.” She glances back toward the rest of the girls, now fully on board their SUVs and waiting for her to join them. “Can’t wait.”

A few hours later, I let myself in through the front door, carrying doughnut twists that Umma sent with me. I told her there’d be plenty to eat with Youngeun making tteokbokki, but moms—or at least mine, anyway—can never send you out the door empty-handed. “Girls, I’m here!” I call.

It’s dead silent inside. Weird. Did they go out? I texted Sunhee from the car to give her my ETA…

I walk into the living room and nearly jump out of my skin in surprise. The girls are all standing in the middle of the room, waiting for me with their arms crossed, like they’re about to stage an intervention. I feel like I’ve walked onto the set of some strange dystopian movie. Or maybe horror. Their eyes lock on mine, but when I glance at Sunhee, she looks away guiltily.

This isn’t a hangout. It’s an ambush.

“Rachel, take a seat,” Mina says briskly. “We need to talk.”

She gestures to the couch. I slowly sit down, lowering my box of doughnut twists.

“What’s going on?” I say, looking up at the girls. My heart is thumping in my chest. Standing together like that, they look like an impenetrable wall. I’ve never felt so alienated from the group.

“We’ve been discussing it,” Lizzie says. “And all of us feel like you’re no longer committed to the group.”

“That’s not true,” I say. “I mean, I know I’ve been busy these days, but Girls Forever is my number-one priority. It always has been and always will be.”

“Well, it sure hasn’t felt that way. So maybe you need to prove it,” Mina says. She glances at the other girls and then looks back at me. “We’re going to need you to put your brand on hold.”

I must have heard her wrong.

“Put it on hold?” I echo.

“Yes,” Mina says firmly. “At least until the end of our contract with DB.”

My stomach recoils. That’s four years away. My brand is just starting out. I can’t afford to put it on hold now, while it’s still so new. If I did, it would basically mean ending RACHEL K. altogether. Are they seriously giving me an ultimatum? Asking me to choose between fashion and Girls Forever?

“I—you—this is a little dramatic, isn’t it?” I say.

“We’re thinking about what’s best for the group while all you’ve been thinking about is what’s best for you,” Lizzie accuses.