Today turned out to be one of those days where things just refuse to go my way and everything that could go wrong, does in fact go wrong. 

It started with Binna and I missing our bus this morning. As we rushed to get a seat, the lid of my coffee flask slipped open, spilling coffee all over my white shirt. Yes, I just had to wear white today. 

We reached Firefly a quarter past eight and got scolded for arriving late to our dress fitting. The already grumpy stylist berated me for having muscular looking ankles - whatever that means - and then the dress they had me in ripped right at my hips, earning me dirty looks from the seamstress who had been pining it up. 

Our dresses for the show were tiny tube dresses that ended right below our butts, with a fully sequinned bodice that hugged our waists making it look like all of us had hour glass figures. Each of us got our own signature colour and mine was a beautiful sea green. 

"You should dye your hair light brown. It will go really well with the green," Binna says next to me. Her colour is light purple, like lavender and even without make up and styled hair she looks beautiful. 

"Really? That's actually not a bad idea. I've been wanting to do something before the showcase. You should keep yours dark by the way. You already look stunning." I gush like the proud friend I am. I've always admired Binna's towering height and sharp angular face. She could easily be a model with her looks. 

"Girl, you know it." She winks at me and twirls around. I notice her dress rides up when she does this, almost exposing her ass. She seems to notice too. "How the hell are we supposed to dance in this?" 

"We're making slits on the sides and you'll be wearing matching coloured mini shorts," Her stylist murmurs with a pin between her teeth. "Now stop moving." 

"Thank God. I don't want to flash everyone during our first appearance." I shake my hips to the side and sure enough my dress rises up as well. 

Binna laughs when the material by my side rips even further. "That would surely make some headlines." 

Once the fitting is over I rush up to Ms Noh's studio room.  My head is pounding from coffee withdrawal and I really wish I had time to buy an iced coffee but I haven't had a minute to myself all morning. 

The brown stain on my shirt has dried up. It looks like I fell into a puddle of mud prior to coming here. 

Ms Noh greets me when I walk in and her eyes immediately fall to my coffee stained chest. Her mouth purses in distaste but I barely notice her because sitting right next to her is none other than Jiho. 

His beautiful face breaks into a wide smile when he sees me and then his eyes fall to my chest as well. 

My body flushes and it feels like his gaze has lit me on fire. I gulp loudly and bow to them in greeting as I walk up to them. 

"What happened to you?" Ms Noh asks. 

"I spilled coffee on myself this morning," I say, before taking a seat across from them. I pull out my notes from my bag, ignoring the way my heart is racing under Jiho's undying attention. He hasn't looked anywhere else since I got here. 

Ms Noh is thankfully oblivious to this. "You should keep spare clothes with you at all times. Isn't that normal for celebrities?" She looks at Jiho for confirmation and he gives her a roguish grin. 

"If that happened to me. I'd just take off my shirt. It would certainly please the fans more."

I can't tell if he's being sarcastic but Ms Noh turns beet red and she laughs in a high pitch that grates my ears, making my headache worse. 

She smacks him lightly on the shoulder. "You naughty boy." 

I'm rolling my eyes internally when Mr. Wan suddenly speaks up from the corner of the room. I didn't even realise he was here. "Shall we get started?" 

We immediately obey and I run through my lines first. I've already perfected them by now, so it doesn't take long. Jiho then goes through his and we sing the entire sequence once he is ready. 

His voice sounds even better live and Jiho is such a natural, we don't have to practice much before he has all the lines down. He even changes a note or two here and there, making the song even catchier. 

Practice really picks up with his involvement and I can see the song really taking shape with both Mr. Wan's and Jiho's input. 

We're singing a new song called Chemistry which has equal parts Korean and English to appeal to a more international crowd. Jiho is amazing, he hits every note like a pro and I really hope I can match up to his level during our showcase. 

The thought of this makes me nervous and suddenly I'm fumbling through my verse. 

"Jina, what's up with you? Pull yourself together," Ms Noh snaps at me and Mr Wan is staring at me silently, making me even more self conscious. 

"Sorry," I mumble and take a deep breath ready to start over. Jiho shifts slightly in his seat and his knee brushes against mine subtly, I wonder if he did it on purpose as some form of reassurance. 

"Let's just take it from the top?" His innocent expression makes Ms Noh melt like a popsicle and she forgets all about my blunder.

She smiles at him making me feel like a third wheeler. "Yes, good idea." 

I try my best to concentrate, not letting my nervousness for our impending performance get to me and thankfully I don't receive any other scoldings for the next two hours. 

We wrap up the day with some feedback - mostly for me - and I take down notes on things I have to brush up on at home. Ms Noh says my pitch during the second line is off and Mr Wan wants me to harmonise more with Jiho during the chorus. 

I am busy writing down the changes when I feel his hand squeeze my shoulder, making me stiffen. 

"You need to practice more. Make sure to attend your session this time." Mr Wan releases me so fast that Ms Noh doesn't even notice but I see Jiho's eyes narrow on the spot where his fingers had touched. 

He leaves the room whilst Ms Noh is packing up her absurdly large bag and Jiho gets up. 

"Shall we?" He asks me but Ms Noh answers obliviously.

"You kids go ahead. I need to close up here." 

He gives me a cheeky smile and we almost run out of the room. I'm all too eager to have some alone time with him after so long. 

We catch an empty lift and I lean against the wall. I turn to Jiho, the excitement I feel right now is clashing with how uncomfortable Mr Wan made me feel previously but when he smiles at me, I feel my worries slowly melting away. 

"Rough day?" He nods at me shirt. 

"You have no idea." 

"Can I smoothen it with some iced coffee and fried tofu?" He suggests and the mention of coffee makes my head throb less. Coffee coupled with tofu never sounded so tempting. 

I look at my watch. "I have dance practice in about half an hour and what would people think if they saw us?" 

"There's no law against being friends is there? Come on, it'll only take fifteen minutes and I know just the place. No one will find us there." 

I guess he has a point. No dating has been highlighted clearly in my contract but no one said anything about being friends with idols in the same company. So I guess there's nothing wrong with us having coffee together, right?

I remain silent and he takes it as a yes. To my surprise, he presses the button to the basement car park. 

"Where are we goi-." 

I swallow my question when I feel his hand wrap around my wrist, causing millions of tingles to spread throughout my arm. 

He releases me and I have the distinct urge to hold his hand again but I stop myself and follow his lead. 

"It's just around here," He murmurs as we walk past a row of car lots, most of them vacant at this time of day. 

We reach a small door that is painted the same colour as the wall, it camouflages so well that I didn't realise it was there until he turns the knob. 

My mouth drops open in shock when we walk into what looks like a dimly lit cafe with soft lounge music playing in the background. 

"Welcome to the coolest place in the building," Jiho says, gesturing at the small assortment of cakes by the counter and the menu that serves all kinds of coffee and matcha drinks. 

"What is this place?" I take in my surroundings in awe. The walls are all chalkboard and there are notes and drawings scattered all over in glow in the dark crayons. Vintage lights adorn the ceiling, giving the cafe a soft glow. 

I see our senior idol Hyerin sitting by the corner with another sunbae and they're so deep in conversation, they don't even notice us here.

"Do you know Yuho?" Jiho asks me after he orders a coffee for each of us. 

I try to rack my brain but that name draws a blank. "No, don't think so."

"He was one of the first ever idols who debuted here. Their group didn't do so well but Yuho became a coffee aficionado and opened up a highly successful chain of cafes called The Joint." 

My eyes grow wide. You can find The Joint in almost every suburb in the country. 

"As a thanks to our company, he opened a very exclusive cafe here in this building which he visits pretty often when he catches up with Mr. Yang and some of the execs. This cafe is invite only, no one knows about it unless they're brought here." 

"That's so cool. Like a speak easy bar," I reply excitedly. I've read about the Kpop concept hidden bars that have been popping up all over the city recently. I wish I could go to one just to experience what it would feel like. 

Jiho looks at me in surprise. "You go clubbing?" 

"I've never been but I'm not going to lie, I'd really like to try one day." 

He stares at me looking deep in thought when our coffee arrives at our table. I gulp it down so fast, the ice cold drink almost freezes my brain. 

"Slow down. We still have nineteen minutes." Jiho gestures to the clock making me laugh. 

"Which means I have four," I say. "This is really good by the way. First class." 

Jiho leans back and punches the air with a fist. "Yes, she likes the place! Why do I feel like I just aced an exam?"

His words make me smile like an idiot. In fact I think that's all I've been doing ever since we left practice together. 

"What's not to like? The coffee, the place, the privacy. Everything's great," I say, taking another sip. Not to mention the company. 

We fall into a breezy conversation as Jiho recounts how busy he has been with his hosting gig at Radio Starz show and the guest appearances he's been making on the new drama starring popular actor Sun Gee. 

I then tell him about how busy I've been with practice and he nods in understanding. 

"You must be really tired," He says. "What was that about anyway? With Mr Wan?" His eyes flicker with annoyance when he says this. 

"He wants us to have a one on one session with each other and I honestly don't know how to get out of it. You know how important he is here." I lean in to whisper. 

Jiho's face turns grim. "That doesn't sound good. You need to get out of it, Jina. I've heard rumours about him and none of them are good." 

I shrug my shoulders in disdain. "But what can I do?" 

He leans back, looking deep in thought. "Don't worry. I'll think of something."

He walks me back to the lifts once we are done and I turn to him before he leaves. "You lied to me."

Hie eyebrows raise when I say this. "What?"

"You said there would be tofu and coffee. We only had coffee." My heart skips when I see a dimple form in his left cheek. 

"I actually did that on purpose. Fifteen minutes is hardly anything. Give me an hour and I will get you your tofu. Let's say tonight, once you're done? Meet you at the market?" He looks so hopeful it makes me feel all soft and gooey inside. 

How do I say no to that? And didn't the girls say it was okay to go out after our schedule's were over? 

I did my heels into the ground, feeling shy for some reason. "I guess we could make that work. I should be done by ten."

"So it's a date then. See you at ten thirty," Jiho says and then backtracks when I look up at him. "I mean a date between two purely platonic friends. Not even friends. Just acquaintances from the same company." 

My lips curl up at the sides. "Sounds good."

Jiho bows and steps back when I get into the lift. "See you then, fellow stranger." 

The lift door closes and I find myself already looking forward to tonight.