I let out a breath, the terror lifting from my chest. I bow my head. “Thank you so much.”

“In fact, we could even make this a DB official company if you’d like,” he says eagerly. “Keep it all in-house.”

I hesitate. I think back to how insecure I felt when Alex was looking through my notebook. I sold Mr. Noh on the idea just now because if it worked, we would all benefit… but what if it doesn’t? What if I fail spectacularly? I still want fashion and design to be my safe space to play, like I told Alex. The pressure of doing it for DB would mean having to do it perfectly right out the gate. I try not to falter as I answer him.

“I’m so grateful for your offer, Mr. Noh,” I say, keeping my voice level, “but I’d like to see what I’m capable of on my own. I’m really still in the, ah, exploratory stage.” More like no idea what I’m doing stage, but he doesn’t need to know that! Not to mention, I don’t know if I feel right about putting my fresh new idea under DB’s control. I was happy to offer them royalties as a goodwill gesture, but I still want this to feel like my thing, not DB’s thing. “Would it be all right if I did this outside the company?”

He looks skeptical—and we both know why. How the hell would I actually pull something like this off? Most likely, it’s going to be a fun little side project that never sees the light of day. But he blinks, betraying no emotion, and says, “I suppose I don’t see why not. I’ll reach out to Mr. Han to sort out the details. But I want to see you do your best. Your line may not be under DB, but you’re still a star within the label, and whatever you do reflects on us. Understood?” Aka: don’t embarrass yourself—or us.

“Of course,” I say, brimming with equal parts excitement and terror. He said yes. He said yes! “You know that I always give my best and I promise, this will be no different.”

That night, the girls and I are settled in the living room eating Choco Pies and watching a singing competition show. During a commercial break, I tell them all about my meeting with Mr. Noh. They gasp, Youngeun grabbing the remote to turn the TV on mute. For a moment, everyone sits in silence.

“Your own fashion line,” Youngeun says finally. “That’s… wow.”

I flush. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it since it’s still so early in the process, but the girls know how much it means to get Mr. Noh’s approval for something like this.