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Tae Hyun was surprised to hear that. He’d done enough presenting work to know that there were always a lot of last-minute schedule tweaks and assumed it would be something simple like a time change. To completely pull someone from the lineup during rehearsal wasn’t unheard of. But it felt off.
Raven scoffed. “That’s fucked up.” She obviously agreed.
“What do you mean you no longer need us?” Jason’s frown had become a scowl. “What kind of bullshit is that?”
Alicia visibly flinched. “I’m sorry, Mr. Park. I’m only telling you what they told me.”
Jason’s jaw muscles flared as he gritted his teeth. “Whatwhotold you?”
“The producers.” Alicia’s voice had gone so quiet Tae Hyun could hardly hear her.
Jason shook his head. “Well, if they want to fire us, they should have the fucking decency to tell us themselves.”
“Yeah,” Raven agreed. “Why don’t you tell ‘em to get they asses out here and do their own dirty work?”
Tae Hyun sensed everyone’s attention turning their way, triggering years of public conflict avoidance instincts he couldn’t ignore. The last thing he wanted was to end up on the front page of an entertainment blog under a snarky headline about poorly behaved idols. And, justified or not, Jason’s anger wasn’t helping anything. He put his hand on Jason’s arm. “It’s fine, Jason.”
But Jason wasn’t ready to let it go. Where Tae Hyun’s instinct was to always smooth over public conflict, Jason automatically went to confrontation. “No, it’s not fine. It’s rude and disrespectful.”
Tae Hyun was torn. The show’s producers were disrespecting them and their time, and Jason was right to feel how he did about it. And Tae Hyun had already been anxious about his first public appearance before things started getting out of hand. And, as much as he hated to admit it, there was only one likely reason it was happening. His anger, carefully buried under his long-practiced mask of patient acceptance, threatened to burst out. He didn’t want to be there anymore. Not if things were gonna be like that. “No, Jason. Let’s just go.”
“What?” Jason angrily huffed. “But you know why, right? You know why they’re doing this.”
“Of course, I know why!” Tae Hyun’s volume shot up as his control finally slipped, and his anger rushed to the surface and poured out. “It’s the same reason why we can’t get a venue in Seoul. It’s the same reason why I haven’t spoken with any of my friends at KBR in months. It’s the same reason why I’m living here with you instead of back home!” Jason physically recoiled as if Tae Hyun had hit him. That was why he wanted to leave before he lost control. He’d said too much. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that like it sounded.”
Jason huffed. “It’s okay. I know what you meant. And you’re right, we should go.” He turned to Alicia, still frowning, but the threat was gone from his stance. “I’m sorry I yelled. I know it’s not your fault. But you can still tell your bosses I said to fuck off.”
Tae Hyun took Jason by the hand as they walked away from Raven and Alicia. He mentally berated himself for daring to be excited about being a part of the industry again. He’d let his guard down and enjoyed meeting and talking with everyone at the rehearsal. And then his old label reached their clawed hands clear across the Pacific and snatched that from him, too. He imagined his former manager, Choo Ji Hoon, gleefully cackling behind the curtain as he sent out Alicia from production to dash Tae Hyun’s hopes again. There was a point in the not-too-distant past when Tae Hyun had struggled to stand up to Ji Hoon. But that point had long since passed. If Director Choo ever showed his face to Tae Hyun again, he’d see a whole new side of his formerly favorite idol.
“Hyung, wait!” Tae Hyun automatically stopped at the sound of that voice. He hadn’t heard it in months. But they’d spent years living and touring together, so he knew it as well as his own. He turned around as Xiang rushed toward him. “Please, don’t leave yet.”
“Xiang? What’s going on?”
Tae Hyun’s former group member ran up and put his hand on Tae Hyun’s shoulder. “I just found out what happened.” He huffed, sounding out of breath. “And I’m fucking sick of this shit. So I told Oh Min Su I wouldn’t perform tomorrow if they didn’t let you present the award.”
Tae Hyun’s mouth fell open. So much was happening he could hardly get his head around it. Xiang had confirmed Tae Hyun’s suspicion that KBR was behind everything. But he’d also refused to perform? No. That wasn’t okay. “You can’t do that, Xiang. It’s just an awards show. What if they fire you?”
Xiang huffed. “It’s not just this awards show, and you know it. Besides, let them fire me. I’ve got competing offers from a half-dozen Chinese labels right now. I’ll be fine.”
Tae Hyun hesitated. So, it wasn’t entirely altruistic. Xiang was manipulating Tae Hyun’s situation just like KBR and–No. It was Xiang. He wasn’t using Tae Hyun. He was just flexing his power as the biggest name in KBR’s lineup. “It’s so good to see you.” Tae Hyun pulled Xiang into a firm embrace. “I missed you.”
Xiang held Tae Hyun for several moments before letting go. “I missed you, too, hyung.” Then he smiled at Jason. “It’s nice to see you, too, Jason.” He gave both of them a blatant once-over. “You’re both looking good. I see Hollywood life suits you.”
Tae Hyun chuckled, knowing thatHollywood lifewas definitely a euphemism. “It’s all the sunshine. But you look good, too.” Even dressed down for the rehearsal, Xiang was still incredibly well put together in a shiny black tracksuit with white piping and the hanja spelling of his name embroidered in white on his chest. He was still blond–or had gone back to blond–but his hair was so ash-toned it was nearly lavender. “I’d say solo life suits you.”
Xiang chuckled. “It keeps me busy, that’s for sure. As a matter of fact, I–”
“There you are, Xiang.” A familiar Korean man walked up behind Xiang, wearing a KBR hoodie and light blue jeans. Despite it having been close to three years since Tae Hyun had last seen him, he still recognized Oh Min Su right away. He looked older than Tae Hyun remembered–and definitely older than his thirty years. His recently trimmed hair was thinner and his face a little softer, too. But he was still handsome, if a bit rough. “We need to–Ah.” Min Su’s face fell as soon as he noticed who else was standing there. “It’s you.”
Min Su was one ofXTC’s former road managers, a highly-coveted position for many die-hard K-pop fans, given the amount of time they spent with the idols in their care. Of course, the position was hardly as glamorous as fans imagined it to be. Road managers often worked harder and for longer hours than even the idols. And Min Su had been no exception. A former KBR trainee, he’d moved into management after making several failed attempts to debut as an idol. Tae Hyun had hoped that his trainee experience would give him an understanding that other road managers didn’t have. But the opposite turned out to be true. Tae Hyun didn’t know if Min Su harbored a grudge about failing to debut or just didn’t know how to deal with a road manager’s stress. But he was often gruff and short-tempered with his idols, especially when they were on tour. Tae Hyun always tried to be understanding, knowing it wasn’t an easy job. But Min Su was hard to like. At least Tae Hyun felt less guilty about sneaking around with Chang Min behind his back.
Since Min Su was in Los Angeles, he must’ve been given the job as Xiang’s road manager afterXTCwent on hiatus. And the little empathy and understanding he’d shown Tae Hyun in the past was clearly gone. Tae Hyun could’ve hardly imagined a more awkward meeting, so he fell back on habitual politeness and bowed. “Hello, Oh Min Su. It’s good to see you.”
Min Su sighed and shook his head. “No. I could lose my job just for talking to you.” He returned his attention to Xiang. “And you need to seriously think about what you’re doing here.”
Xiang loudly snorted. “You don’t think I have, Min Su?” Tae Hyun was surprised at Xiang’s defiant tone. Maybe Tae Hyun wasn’t the only one dealing with Min Su’s lack of understanding. “You know Tae Hyun and I have been friends since we were teenagers. We fucking grew up together.” He shook his head. “Hell, just look at you acting like even standing next to him for too long will make you explode.” He scoffed. “If you think I’m about to let CEO Pak tell me I can’t even talk with my friend just because he–”
Min Su loudly grunted, cutting Xiang off. “That’s enough. You’ve already caused me enough trouble here. We’ll be lucky if CEO Pak doesn’t have both our heads.” He grunted again, roughly taking Xiang by the arm.
