“Let’s call it a day,” Mr. Han sighs finally. “But you all better be practicing in your sleep for the next two nights. Sweet dreams and I’ll see you on the flight.”

That night, I lie in bed, scrolling through my phone. Usually Alex and I FaceTime before I go to sleep, but he’s out having drinks with another potential Hong Kong buyer for RACHEL K. I shoot him a quick text.

Me: Hope you’re having fun! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! xoxo

I sigh as I climb under the covers. With the stress of the day, and knowing I’m going to be in the States on a totally different time zone for the next week, missing him feels like a physical ache in my chest that just won’t go away.

But there are little things that help. I pull up the Snap Map on my phone. I know it’s kind of silly, but sometimes zooming out and seeing our location icons on my screen makes it feel like we’re not so far apart. As soon as I open the app, though, it’s not Alex’s avatar that catches my eye. It’s the girls’. All eight of them, clustered together in one location.

I sit up in bed, frowning. I thought everyone went home after rehearsal. Only a handful of them still live in the villa, so it wouldn’t make sense that they’d all be there—unless they decided to keep hanging out without me.

I zoom in closer and see that they’re not at the villa at all. They’re at DB headquarters.

My mind immediately flashes over our rehearsal schedule. Mr. Han clearly said we were dismissed. Everyone got ready to leave together, and that was a couple hours ago. Did everyone stay late except me?

I quickly dial up Jongseok, already climbing out of bed and trying to find my socks in case there is a surprise add-on to today’s rehearsal that I need to rush back for.

“Jongseok, hi, it’s Rachel. Does Girls Forever have a rehearsal space reserved for tonight?”

“Tonight? No, we’re totally empty except for the trainees and a couple of first-year debuts—Crown Jewel, and F/MK.”