“Move that body, move with me. Move that body, do it to me. Come on, girl, desce, desce, desce, move that body. Move your body, do it for me.”

   Mexe That Body — NEIGTHZ

   The loud music blasting through my headphones made my body move on its own, while the dance cover of Mexe That Body playing on my laptop screen left me incredulous at the frightening synchronicity with which Raffy danced. It wasn't the first cover I'd watched from that Austrian dance group, and yet they still managed to surprise me every time they did a NEIGHTZ cover.

   Leaving all modesty aside, my movements were difficult to reproduce, as I'd always chosen to perform my parts of the choreography with a freer, more energetic style. In Mexe That Body, I pushed myself even further during the final chorus, making the movements even faster and more precise. Watching Raffy recreate it with such mastery and precision was remarkable, especially since it was my favourite song from the latest album.

   Even though the choreography and much of the songs' lyrics were Junseo, Minjae and Seojun's work, that responsibility had been shared among the members for the latest album. It was our way of paying tribute to the Brazilian audience, who had been our greatest supporters when we made our comeback four years ago, after all the NEIGHTZ members had completed their military service.

   The album was titled I Miss the Saudade, representing not only the longing each member felt for something important to them, but also for whatever still motivated us to carry on after three years away. Unlike many agencies, KL had chosen for all NEIGHTZ members to enlist before turning nineteen, so we'd have more strength and energy for our comeback — which, despite being a considerable risk, had worked remarkably well.

   It was incredible to see a fan reproducing so perfectly a dance that represented the overwhelming saudade I'd poured into it. As a collaboration with the greatest Drag Queen in the world, the dancer who starred in the choreography alongside Raffy was simply sensational.

   I opened the comments and read through a few of them, most of which highlighted exactly what had impressed me.

   "Flawless… Can't wait to see more from this duo!!!" I commented on the video through my phone.

   I copied the video's link and went to Instagram, where I took a photo of the laptop screen, pasted the link, and then added the caption: "One day we'll dance together! @raffydance." Then I posted it to my stories.

    “Shall we?” Aiko asked, appearing in the doorway.

   I'd been so absorbed in the video that I'd forgotten I was supposed to be waiting for her to have lunch. It was already past two, and my stomach was growling with hunger. It was still early afternoon, but we'd already been to three different places around the city for commitments I'd thought I was free from.

   We'd been up before eight in the morning, walking the streets during a photoshoot for British Magazine. At ten, I'd had to go to a studio to re-record one of the intros for the shows NEIGHTZ would be performing without me, which hadn't pleased some of the fans, while others were excited to see how I'd fare in my first acting role.

   At half past twelve, we went to the estate agent's to collect the keys to the house we'd be staying in for the next few weeks, which was a relief. Not only was it fairly close to most of the locations, but we'd be staying in a quiet neighbourhood. Thankfully, judging by the photos Aiko had shown me, the house was on a street surrounded by trees, reminding me of the neighbourhood where I lived in Seoul.

   I got up from the sofa and grabbed the leather jacket I'd just stolen from her suitcase.

   “Do you think this looks good?”

   Aiko looked me over, recognising the black jacket, loose trousers and white trainers that, ironically, were hers too. Even though I had slightly more muscle than Aiko, our height and taste in clothes were quite similar, which meant I could borrow her things without worrying about whether they'd fit.

   “Yeah, not bad,” she said without paying much attention, turning her gaze back to the phone in her hands with a miserable expression.

   I knew she wasn't going to comment much. As much as she secretly hated me taking her things, Aiko couldn't be bothered to insult me anymore. As long as I didn't destroy anything and returned it clean, I was practically free to take even the limited-edition jackets from the collection she'd received from Jonathan Anderson — although I wasn't quite brave enough to risk wearing one of those jackets.

   Even though she still hadn't had the chance to meet Jonathan Anderson in person, the four jackets had been a birthday present from Seojun for her twenty-ninth birthday. It was rather difficult to believe that a “friend” would give his “friend” a gift worth more than three hundred thousand dollars simply because, “Oh, I didn't know what to get you…”, as Seojun had said when handing Aiko that relic at her birthday party.

   Junseo and I had a bet going over how much longer Seojun and Aiko could “hide” their relationship. Jun thought Seojun would keep it up for at least another two years before finally admitting something to his friends, and probably three or four years before making it public. I, on the other hand, knew Aiko wouldn't wait that long. It was only a matter of time before she gave Seojun an ultimatum.

   I imagined myself wearing her green jacket when we arrived at the hotel restaurant, which was packed. Further inside, near the transparent panel overlooking the street, Aiko showed me our table — the only one available.

   “Did you see what Jun posted on his stories?” she asked, leaving her light-coloured bag hanging from the chair before sitting down. “That idiot is going to get a warning from KL.”

   “What did he do?”

   “See for yourself, I… I… Bloody hell.” She huffed, dropping her phone onto the table. “Is there any chance you could wear neon green in December?”

   I furrowed my brow.

   “Since when did we change the colour palette for the December show?”

   “Since those idiots in the costume department decided to use the entire stock of blue leather for the Twins' next comeback.”

   I picked up my phone, opening Instagram again and looking through the thousands of stories Junseo somehow managed to post every day.

   “It's still March. They've got plenty of time to replace the leather,” I said. “Besides, why are they already making the costumes? We haven't even started rehearsals yet.”

   On the screen, I finally found the story Aiko had been talking about. Junseo was in the dance studio, with Minjae and Hongjoong in the background, both singing part of the song we wouldn't be releasing until the special December show.

   “I can't believe he was stupid enough to do that,” I said aloud.

   “That's the third time he's leaked something like this.”

   “At least Min noticed he was being recorded this time,” I said with a brief laugh, watching Junseo run across the studio to escape Minjae.

   As the story ended, other accounts immediately appeared, none of which I was interested in looking at just then, so I returned to the home screen.

   Then I saw something that caught my attention.

   On the screen, Alexei was standing beside Haylly, the son of Grace Lewis, the interviewer Aiko and I had met earlier at British Magazine. They appeared to be standing outside a restaurant. Alexei was pulling an animated face, although not nearly as animated as Haylly's smile.

  I swiped to the next photo, frowning. Heat rose from my stomach, spreading through my chest.

   The new image was actually an enlarged crop of the phone in Alexei's hand. That's when I read the caption of the post:

   "Apparently, @Alexeicarter really is excited about filming alongside @IamSan. Look how cute this wallpaper is!!! Are you excited to see these two setting each other on fire too?"

   To make matters worse, the post had been made by Haylly himself eight hours earlier…

   I didn't know how, but there were already nearly forty thousand comments, which explained the dozens of tags that had been appearing since I'd woken up. Honestly, I'd thought they were because of the photo I'd posted the previous night, but apparently that wasn't the only reason.

   “What do you say we make the most of our afternoon off and go buy some new clothes? We need some new sheets and blankets. I don't want to sleep with the ones that came with the house.”

   I blinked, staring at Aiko, who tilted her head slightly.

   “What is that face? Did Junseo get kicked out?”

   I turned my phone screen towards her.

   “Is he actually deranged?”

   She looked at the screen for a second before looking back at me.

   “Do you want sheets too? Or are you just coming with me?”

   I raised an eyebrow.

   “You're not going to comment on this atrocity?”

   “Oh, come on,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “Do you really think he'd use a photo of the two of you as his wallpaper? It's obvious that phone isn't his. Maybe it belongs to some fan he was taking a photo with at the time.”

   I looked at the photo. There were indeed several people queuing behind Alexei, and the phone had a Stitch case. As much as Stitch was beloved by many, I seriously doubted Alexei would use a case like that.

   I took a deep breath. I knew it was stupid to let something like that put me in a bad mood, so I put my phone away and looked out at the street, imagining any one of those cars running Alexei over.

   However, it wasn't the cars that truly caught my attention.

   It was the golden fur.

   Blue was sitting outside a clothing shop, but his attention was fixed on me, as though he were waiting for me to notice him there.

   I stood up at once.

   “I'll be right back.”

   I hurried towards the restaurant's exit, bumping into Kang as I left. He said something, but I ignored him as I continued towards the vending machine, where my patience was tested once again while I waited for the packet of biscuits to drop.

   “What are you in such a hurry for?” Kang asked behind me. “If you're hungry, leaving the restaurant isn't exactly a brilliant idea, San.”

   “It's not for me,” I replied, tapping my finger against the machine. “Blue's outside.”

   “Blue?” he asked, and I saw his expression soften in the reflection of the glass. “The little dog?”

   The packet dropped, and I hurried to grab it. I headed towards the exit, ignoring Kang calling for me to wait. Outside the shop's display window, Blue remained sitting. He tilted his head when he noticed me approaching, making me smile.

   I crouched in front of him, watching his eyes light up as he sniffed my hand and the packet of biscuits.

   “Look how adorable he is, Kang,” I murmured with a soft laugh.

   I stroked his head, making him move closer. I opened the packet and offered him a biscuit.

   “How about it?”

   Blue sniffed the biscuit before snatching it in a quick movement. I gave him a few more biscuits until he seemed satisfied, rolling onto his back and exposing his belly, asking for more affection, which I was more than happy to give him.

   “He seems really clever,” Kang commented, moving closer to Blue. “Do you think he has an owner?”

   “I think he must. He's too clean to be a stray, and he's wearing a collar too.”

   Kang reached for the golden tag.

   “Oh, you're right… Maybe he—”

   “San!?”

   A girl behind me shouted, startling me.

   Blue immediately jumped to his feet, snatching the packet from my hand and sprinting down the pavement at a speed that shouldn't have been possible for his size.

   “Blue!”

   He didn't hear me, disappearing amongst the crowd like a ghost.