Izzy groaned and turned her face further into the hard pillow. Since when did her pillow smell this good? She ignored her thoughts and just stretched her legs out across the couch, trying to fall back to sleep.

"Well isn't that just adorable," a quiet voice teased just as Izzy was about to drift off again.
"Oh shut up, she needed to sleep." The pillow underneath her cheek shifted on its own, making her face scrunch up in confusion. Why was this nice-smelling pillow moving?
"Shut it, guys. Let her sleep," another voice joined the conversation as Izzy eavesdropped, not feeling very sleepy anymore.

Izzy huffed out a breath and tried to punch the pillow to make it softer.

"Ow! Damnit Izz!" Her eyes shot open and took in the sight of a now wrinkled white shirt.
"What the—"
"Next time you punch a guy at least give me some warning," Jungkook rubbed the spot on his ribcage that Izzy had just assaulted.
"Oh crap," her hand smacked itself onto her face and dragged down it slowly. "Sorry, Kookie. I thought you were a pillow," she chuckled sheepishly, making him laugh as well.
"It's okay, just try not hit me anymore, please? For a small girl you hit hard." He still rubbed at the sore spot on his ribs.

Izzy smiled awkwardly at him and pushed herself up into a sitting position. The other boys were back, bags of food now littered the kitchen counters and they chattered happily amongst themselves while sorting through a massive supply of takeout containers. Izzy smiled at the sight of them. This felt like home. As Izzy pushed herself off the couch and stretched her sleepy limbs, Jungkook took the opportunity to stretch his feet out on the space that she had previously occupied and shut his eyes, settling in for his own nap. She walked slowly over to the kitchen and creeped up behind Jimin. Izzy leaned her head down so her forehead touched his back and she felt him stiffen.

"Hi," she greeted in a tired voice.
"Hey." Jimin pulled away from the contact, moving to the other side of the counter without sparing her even a glance. Izzy didn't know why her heart clenched a little at the way he ignored her.
"Okay..." she let her voice trail off, hoping no one heard the twinge of pain behind it.

"Hey Izzy, we got food, help yourself." Namjoon shot her a dimpled smile as he was loading up a plate for himself. She shook away the tense moment and began to gather her own plate, as well as one for Kookie, who was pretending to be asleep on the couch.

The TV channels flipped at lightning speed when Taehyung got a hold of the remote, he sat on the wooden floors with his plate untouched in front of him, he couldn't start eating until there was something good to watch. He finally settled on a channel as Izzy sank onto the floor beside him. Leaning back on the bottom of the couch she turned and placed a full plate on Jungkook's chest. His eyelids peeled back lazily and he cast a sleepy smile at Izzy, mumbling a quiet "thanks" before digging in. Izzy ate slowly, watching the boys around her as they ate and chattered happily. She saw Jimin's hard expression as he flopped down on one of the stools at the counter, the furthest spot from everyone else. Izzy pushed her plate away; she wasn't very hungry anymore, but she was worried about Jimin. Had something happened to put him in a mood? Had she done something?

***

When Izzy's eyes peeled open that Friday morning she realized three things: she had to be at the café for work in thirty minutes, she had been sober for a full 48 hours now, and she would have to see her parents tonight. She turned over onto her stomach, shoved her face into the pillow, and screamed until her vocal chords were numb. Hopefully none of the boys had woken up. Letting out a very ladylike groan, Izzy flopped off of the couch and dragged herself to the bathroom for the quickest shower of her life, then proceeded to dress at the speed of light before she dashed out the door. The boys were still sleeping, thankfully, so she was able to get out the door without Jin nagging her to eat breakfast, Jungkook poking at her sides to tickle her, Taehyung begging to braid her hair, or worst of all, Jimin ignoring her. She didn't know what she'd done to make him suddenly decide to hate her, but she hoped that she could figure out how to fix whatever it was, and soon. Izzy was going crazy not talking to him.

Izzy pushed open the glass door of the café. She was greeted with the familiar sight of Mrs. Lee rushing around, plates of food stacked high in her arms, and Izzy smiled. No matter what crazy thing was happening that week or the next, she knew that this tiny café and that tiny woman would always be able to provide some semblance of stability. Izzy greeted the older woman, tied an apron around her waist, and got to work. She didn't want to think about the meeting she would have to attend in just a few hours.

She went normally through her work shift, running orders back and forth to the kitchen and occasionally swerving in her path to avoid colliding with any caffeine-deprived, beanie-wearing, college students, who never seemed to be in short supply at the café. It was an honest to goodness mystery to Izzy as to why all these students gathered here. Sure, the café was clean and had good food, but it was in the middle of some grubby alley that you had to seriously work to find. But she didn't complain out loud about it, because the more un-showered college hipsters that ran through the café, the more tips ended up in Izzy's pocket.

"Izzy?" The woman's voice called to Izzy just as she finished placing down a massive grilled cheese sandwich in front of a girl who definitely looked high right now. "What are you still doing here? Your shift ended twenty minutes ago."
"Oh! I hadn't realized," she glanced up at the massive clock that hung above the counter and sure enough it read 4:20, and her shift was well past over.
"Well go ahead and head out, I'm sure you have much better things to do that run around this place all day," Mrs. Lee released a throaty chuckle but she didn't know just how untrue her statement was. Izzy would much rather deal with coffee spills than the mental destruction that would come from seeing her parents.

As Mrs. Lee disappeared inside the kitchen, Izzy took her sweet time to untie the apron from her waist and hang it up before dragging herself slowly down the sidewalk, scraping her boots on the pavement and tugging her jacket tighter around herself. It was getting darker and colder as the sun worked its way across the sky, the clouds looked ready to unleash a snowstorm at any minute now.

Sooner than she realized, Izzy was back at the boys' apartment. Flicking on the living room light, she was met with an empty room. It seemed that the boys had gone out somewhere. Maybe they went to work, whatever their work may be. She didn't dwell on it for very long and instead pulled her duffel bag out from under the couch. The boys said they were working on rearranging the bedrooms so that she wouldn't have to sleep on the couch anymore, but she honestly didn't mind; their couch was far better than the shag carpeting of Cassie's apartment.

Izzy rummaged through the meager contents of her duffel, not seeing any jeans 'fancy enough' for Dongdae Central Hotel. That place would never let anyone in unless they looked like they owned at least three sports cars and a yacht over fifty feet. There was no chance they would let her in if she was wearing her coffee-stained jeans and an old gray sweater with holes in the sleeves, and she somehow doubted that any of the guys would have a ball gown stashed in the closet. She couldn't go out and buy a dress either, there wasn't enough time and her credit cards would just flop over and die if she tried to swipe them for any purchase over twenty dollars. Izzy sighed and hung her head over the nearly empty duffel, seeing as she had thrown most of her clothes onto the floor surrounding her.

After a minute of silently sulking over her lack of proper formal attire—not a concern she had ever faced before—Izzy's eyes peeled open and she realized something: she might have one thing that could work. Izzy dug to the depths of her bag until her fingers came into contact with the silk black fabric. She sighed in defeat and pulled the dress out of the duffel, fingering the designer tags that were still firmly attached to it. Izzy had only grabbed the stupid thing in her fit of anger as she was rampaging through Youngkyun's closet. It was the dress she had planned to wear for their two year anniversary. She'd bought it months ago, and when she stormed through his apartment she couldn't help but grab the outfit she had planned to wear that day, because there was no way in hell she would let him give the dress to the girl that had been laying in his bed, or any other girl that he had cheated on her with.

Izzy dragged herself into the bathroom for a shower so she could scrub the stench of coffee and fries off her skin. She showered quickly and dried off, eager to get this night over with, then she ripped the tags off the dress with a wince. All hopes of selling the outfit for extra cash were out the window now. Pulling on the black dress felt like slipping back into a horribly familiar life and the black heeled shoes felt like hell on her toes, but she bit back her pain and moved out of the bathroom, catching a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. For once her hair was falling softly down her shoulders instead of blowing around wildly. The makeup she rarely used was applied neatly to her face, a skill she had to pick up from the years spent under her mother's eagle eyes which could spot an imperfection from a mile away. The black dress fit her like a glove, it looked perfect, all except for the long slit that reached halfway up her thigh. It wasn't exactly appropriate for a meeting with her parents but it would have to do. Scribbling a quick note to the boys and pinning it to the fridge with a magnet that doubled as a bottle opener, Izzy left the apartment.

Perhaps leaving without a coat wasn't her brightest idea, as it now occurred to Izzy that there were a couple of major issues that now threatened her. And those major issues were currently wolf whistling as Izzy practically sprinted by them. As the burning in her feet grew to a raging flame, Izzy walked faster. Thankfully these 'problems' were too drunk to see straight, let alone chase anyone through the South side. Izzy released a breath of relief as their shouts faded away and shiny buildings free of any graffiti surrounded her.

But even though the Central city provided a certain level of safety that the other areas of the city didn't, it was one of the places that Izzy felt the least comfort in. The sight of men in sophisticated suits and women in strings of pearls suffocated her until the air supply coming into her lungs was almost nonexistent. The cool blue lights of the Dongdae Central Hotel sign shone down on her, much like a UFO full of alien creatures that wanted to beam her up and slice her brain open. Stepping one high-heeled foot onto the steps of the hotel, Izzy thought that she would much rather be abducted by aliens than go into that building.