It wasn't often that Naty got all five of her friends on the phone at once. Eunj and Soojin, though both in South Korea, lived very different lives with very different schedules. The same went for Axel—a nonbinary person that used he/him pronouns in London—and Pearl—a woman in Wales. Noor—a woman in Malaysia—seemed to have the most time to actually talk on the phone but that wasn't always a given. Even Naty herself was known to have random bouts of activity that kept her from her friends.

Somehow though, all the stars aligned and they were all able to video chat at the same time. Naty waited, biting her lip, as she watched the beautiful faces of her friends conversing in Korean. She felt proud to have this language unite them and proud to see the progress she and her friends had made.

"What about you? Why are you so quiet over there?" Noor asked with curiosity. She was very good at zeroing on someone when they had something to say but had yet to say it.

"Well…" the conversation with Chan had been just the night before and Naty was still in a whirlwind of emotions about it. She had shared the story of Chan under the guise of a stranger in Greece but wasn't positive how to spin that around to meeting him again.

"Come on! Spit it out!" Axel shouted.

"Remember that guy I told you about in Greece?"

Silent nods became their answer.

"Well…he called me last night."

"Last night!" Pearl screamed in English, "And you're only telling us now!"

"I know! I know!" Naty returned to Korean, "Well…it was so sudden. He called me last night and said he was would be in the US and invited me to see him."

Sounds of excitement met her.

"Yes! The thing is, he will be in a different state. But he offered to pay for my ticket and hotel where he is," she spat out the rest, knowing it was information that was necessary to share with the people she spoke with the most.

"That's sus," Eunji grinned, happy for a chance to use the western slang Axel had been teaching her.

"It is," Noor agreed, "Is there any way for him to go to you?"

"He's here on business so he doesn't have that much wiggle room. It will only be for a few days and I don't have to spend it all with him. He just wants one dinner to catch up," Naty tried to explain as much as she could without giving too many details.

"That still concerns me. What if that's not all he wants?" Soojin wondered out loud.

Naty blushed brightly as she bit her lip. Though it seemed completely impossible, the thought had crossed her mind, "Well…to be honest….?"

There were more sounds of excitement that Axel took over, "But what if he murders you and chops you into pieces!"

"That's definitely a concern," though she doubted Bang Chan would do that she still could not be 100% positive that she would be safe.

"Did you already agree?" Eunji asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

Naty nodded.

"Then you have already thought about this. What is this man's name?"

"I can't tell you," Naty sighed, "Because of what he does for work his identity is top secret and I can't share it."

"Are you sure it's because of what he does for work or what he does to support his wife and family?" Pearl snapped.

"No, he's definitely not married. I looked him up!" Naty didn't feel as confident as she sounded to her friends.

"I don't think you should go," Soojin frowned, "It's too dangerous."

"She's going to go no matter what. Look at that face," Axel teased.

"You have to make sure to be careful. Here is what we'll do," Eunji immediately got to work breaking down tips that would keep Naty safe. Naty wrote everything down and promised she would do them all, which included sending a picture of herself every hour and half in the group chat and telling them the name of the hotel she was staying in and where she would be.

"We should also help her pack some clothing and take pictures of it all so we know exactly what she'll be wearing," Noor added. These were all tips they had utilized when Noor when on her first solo trip just four months before.

"I don't even know what I'm going to wear!" Naty nearly cried.

"We'll help you! Go grab your clothes!"

Naty ran to her closet and began piling her clothes onto her bed as her friends spoke to each other. Eunji let out a deep sigh, "I have news to share too."

"What is it?" everyone began shouting.

"I got the promotion!"

Naty ran back to scream with the others in celebration. They all shouted praise to Eunji about how hard she has been working and how much she deserved it. Every person took turns to talk about how great she was. Soon after the praise it became clear that each person had good news to share including: Pearl's breakup with a toxic partner, Axel's getting a nationwide modeling gig, Noor getting proposed to, and Soojin finally finding a book publisher. Naty was amazed and impressed with the group she found herself with. She certainly knew she was in fantastic company.

Guilt twinged her joy though.

She took her time gathering her clothes as she let the feelings pass through her. Naty could not shake the truth. She was lying to her friends. Chan was no mystery individual from Greece. He was someone they all spoke about and adored. He was Axel's bias! It felt like a huge betrayal to keep this information from her friends but she could not risk telling them. Though Chan had not explicitly said to not tell anyone…she felt the secrecy was implied and she needed to honor that.

"Ohh, she's back!"

With a sigh, Naty pointed to all the clothes that sat on her bed, "So…I know it's a lot of weird pieces but hear me out. I think I have some solid fits here!"

"Fashion show time!" Eunji shouted in English.

"Yes! Fashion show, fashion show, fashion show at lunch!" Pearl chanted.

"But it's not lunch for me," Noor frowned.

"It's an Office reference," Pearl explained.

"You have a weird office," Soojin shook her head.

"Just start the fashion show already!" Axel shouted.

"Fine! Fine! Fine!"