“Jihoon?” My eyes follow them up the street, where they join the throng of people.
“Try not to say my name. Our fans found out I was staying in your building. My team is working on it.”
“Don’t say your name? Your team? What the hell do you have a team for?” My phone beeps, and this time I check. It’s from Hana.IM SO SORRY.“Whose fans?”
I tap my reply as Jihoon mutters something in Korean.
Me:About what
Hana:That I didn’t tell you about Jihoon. Listen to him.
I don’t like this and go back to the call. “What is going on?”
Jihoon clears his throat. “There are a few things I meant to tell you.”
“A few things?” I put him on speakerphone to scroll my social media. “Hold on.” #JihoonFound, #StarLune, and #MinToronto are trending. Worldwide. I click on one and check the posts.
Min in Toronto?
Not helpful. I go to the next.
Jihoon in my own backyard @_starlune_ what you playing? #Mincognito
StarLune, that K-pop band? The one with thevideo we watched together? I promptly take him off speaker.
“Ari, you can’t go home. I need you to go and get in the car.” His raspy voice is low and coaxing, and I head back, too stunned to argue.
“You’re in a boy band and didn’t think this was something to mention?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ll take that as a yes. Wait.” I lower my voice, suddenly conscious of why he told me not to say his name. “Kit? Daehyun?”
“They’re members of StarLune.”
“Okay.” I watch another group of people—not only women and not only young—rush by me. “This is cool. I am good with this.” I can’t believe Hana. What the hell was she thinking, hiding this from me? Not only that, but keeping me in the dark when she knew I was into him? The anger is a white flash that bursts through to encompass not only Hana but Jihoon, the instigator of all this.
I speed walk through the alley, bag bouncing against my leg with the same rhythm as my heart banging in my chest. My hands are so weak, I keep losing my grip on the phone.
I turn the corner, and as promised, there’s the silver car. The tinted window lowers to reveal Alex Williams waving at me. “Hello, Ms. I Hate Rock Stars. Look at us now.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I get in.
He sobers up quickly when he sees my face. “Sorry, Ariadne.”
I put Jihoon on speaker and turn back to Alex. “Why are you here?”
“As you know, I’m the head of PR for Hyphen.”
I wait for more information as Jihoon conducts a mysterious whispered conversation on his end of the line.
Alex finally obliges. “As StarLune’s North American distribution arm, this makes me the man on the scene and this beautiful mess my problem for the time being. We’re controlling the situation.”
The car slams to a stop as the driver tries to avoid a clutch of people running down the sidewalk. “Looks like you’re doing a bang-up job,” I say.
Alex looks up from his phone. “Be thankful your name didn’t leak,” he says. “This is nothing compared to what it could have been.”
“Ari.” Jihoon’s voice comes through the phone, nearly making me drop it. “Alex is going to bring you to a safe place. I’m here waiting.”
