𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙮.

Chan grabbed me as soon as I walked into the radio station.

"Hana, Good Morning! I apologize for not having time to chat, we're quite a mess here," He chuckled nervously. I glanced around and saw what he was talking about. 

Minho was back at work, feeling better and back to helping Chan run the whole show. He was standing near the green room, talking to Felix with a laptop in his hands. Chan turned away from me for a second to intercept a piece of equipment from Hyunjin, who passed behind him on his way to the storage room to retrieve an extra mic setup. 

Chan pushed a clipboard into my hands. "Please look over this, I have to go—" in a second he was gone, disappearing into the green room to do a sound check. 

It was 6:00 AM sharp, and I was 𝘯𝘰𝘵 ready for what this day was bringing. 

The radio station was a buzz of excitement and chaos as everyone anticipated the arrival of the rising idol star we were to interview. 

I read over the clipboard Chan had given me: it was an interview outline and some basic questions, as well as a schedule for the day. The interview with the idol star took up most of it, so I had already prerecorded some commentary to run for the breaks in the broadcast. After the interview finished, it was set to air while Felix recorded an ad for an AE product. 

It was about to be one hell of a day. 

The door opened behind me, and the gust of air reminded me to step out of the pathway. I stepped aside and looked back to see Mya and Jay walk through, one of my best friends and her brother. 

Mya and Jay had started work at the station a few months ago, but last week Chan had let them off for a much needed vacation. Now that they were coming back at the most opportune time, I heaved a sigh of relief that we would have the extra help. 

Mya rushed forward to hug me, wrapping her arms around my neck and squealing with joy. 

"Hana, I haven't seen you for so long!!"

I almost choked to death from her hug, but smiled at the gesture. "How was the vacation?"

She held up an 'okay' sign with a wide smile and a wink. "Perfect. But it's so good to be back at the station!"

"We sure needed you back at the station," I breathed, taking the interview outline from the clipboard and handing her the schedule. "I think it'll be our busiest day yet."

She looked over it with a gasp. "That's right, the idol is coming today!" Squealing again, she gave a small jump. "Isn't he, like, really cute?"

I shrugged indifferently, going through the interview outline more thoroughly. "I haven't met him yet, I wouldn't know."

Mya squinted, staring at the section of the schedule that listed the idol interview. "Isn't his name—"

"Mya!" Chan jogged over with a bright smile, reaching a hand out to Mya. "I'm so glad you're back, I heard your vacation was very refreshing! Would you mind helping me over here—"

Chan's voice drowned under the background noises of transporting equipment and chatter as he herded Mya away to the storage room to help Hyunjin. 

I should probably help out, too, instead of standing here by the door. 

I began to take a step forward to jump into the middle of the chaos ensuing around me, but someone behind me placed a firm hand on my shoulder, startling me and making me flinch. 

"WHAT THE—" 

I whipped around to come face to face with Jay, standing directly behind me, his hand gripping between my shoulder blades. 

He had come in with Mya, hadn't he? Was he just standing behind me the entire time?? 

"Hey, Hana. I haven't seen you in a while."

His shrill voice sent shivers up my spine.

 Mya may be one of my best friends, but her brother always gave me a bad feeling. The week that they went on vacation was simultaneously a good and bad time for me — I had to lose Mya to get rid of Jay, but it might have been worth it. I had forgotten that having Mya back would mean Jay would be back to staring at me through the studio window, boring holes through my soul with his odd gaze and initiating unnecessary and uncomfortable physical contact, such as his hand currently gripping my shoulder like he was holding on for his life.

I took his hand off my shoulder, and not bothering to disguise my passive-aggressive tone, I greeted him back. "It hasn't been that long. Possibly not long enough," I added the last part under my breath. 

Thankfully, he didn't hear me, but if he had, I wouldn't care. 

"Don't be like that, Hana," He hissed, his voice almost dropped to a whisper, and he reached up to place a hand on my shoulder again. But his hand stopped mid-air, and he broke eye contact with me to glance over my shoulder at the person approaching behind us. 

"Hana, Chan needs your help setting up for the interview," Felix chimed softly to me before throwing a look at Jay. Turning his body to face Jay, Felix bowed slightly and introduced himself. 

Jay looked Felix over with a scowl that he didn't hide well, introducing himself in return before reluctantly wandering off to find something to help with, leaving Felix and I alone at the door. 

I breathed a sigh of relief as he left, looking up at Felix. "Thanks."

He gave me a reassuring smile. "No problem. Let me know if you feel uncomfortable around him again."

I nodded. 

Chan came back around again, singing my name with a hint of stress in his strained voice. "Hana, I need you!"

"O-Okay, I'm coming right now!" I quickly went to follow Chan back to the green room, but the front door opened again, bringing a refreshing breeze into the station. 

Along with the breeze came a collective gasp from the staff as everyone dropped what they were doing, except Hyunjin and Mya, who were careful not to drop the equipment they held, but their jaws dropped to the floor in awe. 

I slowly turned to face the door once again, and my eyes widened as I saw what everyone was so shocked by.

I immediately recognized the man standing in the doorway who had everyone's attention and admiration the second he walked in. 

He ran a hand through his honey colored hair, whipping off his dark sunglasses to survey his surroundings as he cooly dusted off his suit. 

No way... 

𝘏𝘦 was the idol star we were interviewing??