"You're not meeting him alone," I say to Binna sternly, while we head for the lifts. 

Mr. Wan had been enraptured by my beautiful best friend. He'd completely forgotten that I had promised to train with him privately, which is technically good for me but one look at Binna has me feeling heavy with guilt. 

"You saw what happened. He keyed our session into the system," She replies. 

The soft chime of an approaching lift interrupts our conversation and we head inside hurriedly. The doors slide shut with a click and I see my tired reflection staring back at me. 

"He's a pervert," I say, louder now that we are alone. 

Binna leans against the wall and tucks a dark lock of hair behind her ear. "He seemed pretty harmless today. Don't worry Jina, I can handle a middle aged perv. Trust me I've met worse." 

"Tell me when you're going. I'll come with." 

My skin prickles when she laughs, clearly down playing this turn of events. "You're overreacting again but yes, if it makes you happy you may join." 

I can hear the chatter coming from our dance studio, some of the girls already inside and waiting. A quick look at my phone tells me it's ten minutes till Mr Lee shows up to grill us through our routine. 

It is only then that I notice my phone has been flooded with messages. Almost all of them from Jeju. There's one singular one from Hyeon. I open that immediately. 

Found some stuff on J and L. Meet soon to consolidate. 

My heart rate spikes like it usually does whenever Hyeon is involved. A nervous, prickling sensation in the back of my neck that crawls down my spine in trickles. I quickly type out a response, starting with a thumbs up emoji. 

Got the pic. Sending it now. 

I send him the pictures I took in Mr Wan's room and he instructs me to get rid of this SIM card right after. This is the third burner phone he's given me and it's almost comical how the two of us have been acting like a pair of secret agents. 

Sneaking around on people, infiltrating spas, disposing burner phones like toilet paper. When I think about what we've been up to, it feels like another Jina in another life. An escape that might lead to the truth or not, but an escape nonetheless. 

And I wonder who needs this escape more, me or Hyeon. 

Once I'm done with him, I begrudgingly stare at the fifteen messages from Jeju. My cheeks burn, remembering the words I'd last said to him about Rachel. Embarrassment settles on my body like second skin and I skim through his messages as we enter the training room. 

What's this about Rachel?

Is it because of our duet? I thought it would be a good idea that we aren't partners. 

Are you jealous? Jina, there's nothing to be jealous about. 'inserts heart eyes emoji'.

Talk to me. You seemed so off today, I'm worried.

So many messages, all along the same lines. I feel like an idiot for mouthing off so quickly. Maybe nothing's happening between them. Maybe it's all in my head but I hate the feeling all these doubts cause. 

Like there's something roiling about in my veins, growing and festering, feeding me poisonous thoughts and making me imagine unwanted things. It's highly distracting. 

At least solving the Dalia mystery has been helping me focus and prepare for my debut. But this thing with Jiho is throwing me off base and the fact that he can affect me this much is downright scary. 

Another message comes in but I put my phone back into my bag and place it on the rack. JinJin, Rachel and Grace are huddled together in a corner, most probably reading some gossip site judging by their gleeful expressions. 

I overhear Rachel saying something about Summer of Sweet Poison and instinctively move closer. 

"If you're going to eavesdrop, at least try not to be so obvious about it," JinJin's voice makes me look up from the leg I'd been stretching.

The terrible trio are all looking at me, an amused expression on their faces. If this was a few weeks ago, they might have cursed at me and walked away but they've been so much nicer since I got back our phone privileges. 

And I have to admit, nicer JinJin equals nicer life in the trainee house. I don't have to worry about anyone trying to sabotage me at any given moment. 

"You mentioned Summer?" I dare to ask. 

"She's decided to leave PT Entertainment. The news sites are blowing up because of it." Grace leans forward eager to share the news. "There is talk of mistreatment. People saying the three have been disbanded not of their own will but because of Dalia's death."

I shake my head. People always talk about mistreatment when they don't get the outcome they want from their favourite idol. But then again, they're not entirely wrong. I remember the contracts the girls had been given prior to Dalia's death.

PT did intend to disband them but no one knows what would have happened. Sweet Poison is still the most popular group in the country and the world. The public backlash would have been enormous. 

I lean back, letting my palms support my weight with my legs stretched out before me. Binna and a few others join in, curious to hear the news as well. 

"Anything about Loona?" Liza asks. It's no secret her bias has always been Loona but the mention of her immediately reminds me of Jungseok and the ledger. We really need to find that ledger Dalia had been hiding. 

"Radio silence from the other two," Rachel replies, her eyes downcast and focused on the phone in her lap. 

"This is so sad. Imagine peaking as world number one, performing together for seven years and then boom, nothing." Kim exclaims and the room turns solemn for a moment, all of us most likely thinking about our future as a group. 

I feel a rush of anger directed at Dalia for instigating the break up in the first place. But then there is that ledger Loona's so worried about and it makes me wonder if Dalia wanted the split for other reasons. 

My spine straightens as I sit up, the urge to talk to Hyeon about this growing more and more urgent.

Just then Mr Lee walks in and my eyebrows nearly shoot to my forehead when I see Jiho and Chan saunter in after him. 

"Girls, you're in luck. Your sunbaes have volunteered to help me this evening. Let's finish up quickly, shall we?" Mr Lee pushes his glasses up his nose and places his folder on a speaker. He looks even more tired than we do. "Get into positions." 

I try not to look at Jiho but fail miserably when he heads to the front of the room and sits down on the floor. He leans against the mirrors and Chan follows suit. Our eyes meet and there is a determination in his that makes me wonder if he's here for other reasons. 

We go through our routine and my skin feels hot because every time I look to the front, Jiho is focused on me. I hope the other girls don't notice. The last thing I need is a jealous Rachel but then it dawns on me that he hasn't looked at her even once since he entered the room. 

Is he trying to prove a point? 

Once the song has ended I lean over and clutch my thighs, exhaustion from rehearsals, my worries and performing finally kicking in. From the corner of my eye I see Jiho look me up and down worriedly. 

"Okay, girls," Mr Lee taps a pen to his clipboard looking all business like. "That was much better than what I saw downstairs but still lacking in the faces. You look like expressionless dolls."

I wince at the comment and notice Binna's shoulders slouch further. Even Rachel doesn't wear that usual smug look on her face. In fact she looks rather preoccupied. She keeps sneaking a look at Jiho, the frustration on her face evident. 

"I think we should divide into groups and go through the expressions and eye contact individually. I noticed everyone was kind of thrown off by the cameras today," Jiho suggests and quickly adds. "Don't worry it's just the first day. This is completely normal." 

Mr Lee turns to him, his thick eyebrows bunched together as he thinks. "Let's do that." 

Chan shoots up first, not even allowing a second to pass before he says," I'll take JinJin, Grace, Rachel and Liza." 

Jiho's lips purse and it looks like he's trying hard not to smile. I look at Chan and notice he's fighting back a grin himself. I wonder if they planned this prior to coming in.

My thoughts are cut off when I hear Jiho mention my name along with Binna's, Kim's and Winnie's.

I'm surprised they took over just like that but Mr Lee only sighs tiredly, gesturing for the remaining girls to join him by the speakers. 

I catch Rachel's wistful look, her eyes fixed on Jiho as he walks up to Binna and I. She joins her group at the back of the room while Binna and I follow him to the mirrored wall. 

"It'll be easier if we go through the routine individually before doing it together," Jiho tucks his hands in his pocket, taking the role of mentor casually. 

I smoothen my sweater and nod along with the rest of the girls, pretending that I'm not at all flustered by the way he is standing so close to us. He starts of with Binna - who doesn't need much instruction-, then Kim, followed by Winnie before finally moving on to me. 

I don't know why but my body is jittery by the time I walk over to the middle of the room with him. 

"So the camera's will be positioned here." He points in three different directions before settling on the front and we pretend that those are the imaginary camera's to focus on.

My guilt multiplies with each step we make together. I've been ignoring him the entire day and when he asked me about it - like a normal person does - I burst and said the most stupidest things. 

"I'm sorry," I murmur softly just as he turns to guide me through a step. 

He stills before replying. "For?"

"For being so weird today. For my outburst just now." I sneak a look at our surroundings and thankfully everyone is too busy practicing to notice us. 

Jiho continues our dance, making me follow suit. "It's fine. It's the stress of rehearsals and debuting." 

We twirl together and I notice him grinning to himself. 

"What's so funny?" I ask self consciously. 

"It's just. It's nice to know you were jealous that's all." 

My skin feels like he'd just lit me on fire and I want to burn to the floor in embarrassment. "I was not." I quickly say but he only smiles knowingly before the rest joins us in the middle of the dance floor. 

Practice goes on for another thirty minutes before we're done and rushing to our dorms. Jiho and Chan left earlier but when I reach home, I see another text from him. 

My jealous Jina. I have something I want to give you. It's for tomorrow.

I type back furiously. Give me what?

Come downstairs and you'll see. Don't worry it'll only take five minutes.

I bite my lip in contemplation, wondering if I should risk it. The thought of seeing him is just too tempting. Five minutes would hardly be enough.

"Are you sure you're texting the right person? Sure you want to see me or some else...." I tease, not willing to admit just how jealous I was this morning.

If you're not down here in fifteen minutes I'll come up there and announce you as my girlfriend to all the girls.

His text sends a sharp thrill down my spine. Binna's in the shower humming to herself so I write her a quick note and grab my coat. I'm not waiting fifteen minutes to see if he makes good on his promise.