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Tae Hyun closed his eyes and settled back onto Jason’s arm as he listened to Jason’s slow, even breathing over the dull roar of the bubbling water. “And then you came for me.” He opened his eyes to see the first stars dimly sparkling in the darkening sky. “I thought about what you would do in my place a lot. And I wondered if I was ever going to see you again.”
Jason gently flexed his arm to pull Tae Hyun a little closer. “There was never a chance of that. I would’ve mobilized the army if I had to. I–” He stopped as his voice cracked, and Tae Hyun turned to see a tear running down his cheek. “I’ve marched to the gates of hell with you twice now. And I’ll do it a hundred more times if I need to. There’s nothing–absolutely nothing–I wouldn’t do for you.”
Tae Hyun’s own tears began to fall as his heart filled with the pained anguish of a deep, profound love. Sure, there were probably many people in the world who’d say that to their lover. But Tae Hyun had repeatedly seen Jason acting on those words and absolutely knew they were true. This was a man that Tae Hyun had thrown his life away for. A man he’d written songs for. A man he’d also do anything for. “You’re the love of my life, hyung. And I’ll be by your side forever.”
26
I’m the boy with no shame, a phoenix aflame, rising from the ashes–
Jason watched with unabashed joy as Tae Hyun sensually prowled around the stage surrounded by his six smoking-hot dancers. The Incheon Songdo Entertainment Center’s luxury suite gave Jason a decent view of the central stage. But it also kept him comfortably away from the ten thousand singing, screaming, and dancing fans that had packed the venue for the opening night of Tae Hyun’sBoy With No Shameconcert tour. And the Bubble engineers had lived up to their promise of blowing everyone’s minds by projecting a fancam view of Tae Hyun onto the overhead domed screens. Seeing that was absolutely mind-blowing.
Seong Woo, Yoo Mi, and Yun Seo surrounded Jason on the VIP suite’s open balcony to watch Tae Hyun perform. The Song brothers were working, of course, coordinating with the venue’s security and leading the recently expanded Big Hammer security team. But Jason definitely pretended not to notice earlier as Seong Min briefly stole Yun Seo away when he thought no one was looking. Kim Jeong Woo had visited them for a few minutes before the show but quickly stepped away to get back to work. Tae Hyun’s show was the first large-scale event the venue had hosted and marked their official grand opening after they’d done a shakedown series of smaller soft opening events.
Jason couldn’t have been happier. After a series of significant setbacks leading to a narrowly avoided disaster, things had absolutely turned around for Jason and Tae Hyun. Tae Hyun’s tour had already sold out for most of the upcoming dates, and those venues scrambled to add more shows. His album had gone global platinum within a week of its release, peaking in the Top Ten on the American and European charts and even cracking the Top Forty on the Korean charts. And he and Tae Hyun had agreed that it would be okay for Jason to start official talks with Tony Ruiz about producing and starring in his movie,The Devil’s Detail.
At the end of the song, Yun Seo, who stood beside Jason, suddenly slipped her arm around his waist and tugged Jason closer. Her open affection and affinity for casual touch was a fascinating insight into how her brother might’ve turned out had he not been run through the idol machine. Then again, that had made him the man he’d become–the man Jason loved.
Jason smiled at Yun Seo and reciprocated, putting his arm around her shoulders. “Enjoying yourself?”
Yun Seo enthusiastically nodded. “Are you kidding? I can’t believe I almost quit!” She squeezed Jason. “Thanks again for making me think twice about that.”
Jason half-shrugged. “I knew you really didn’t mean it.” Then he grinned. “Besides, how else would you get in your important tree climbing?”
Yun Seo snorted and playfully smacked Jason’s arm. “I still can’t believe he told you that.”
Jason chuckled. “It’s not like I didn’t see it happening either.”
Yun Seo excused herself to visit the suite’s bar and craft table. So, Jason glanced at Seong Woo, who’d also embraced Yoo Mi from behind as they gazed out at the audience and stage. Then he found Naomi, who’d already been obsessively checking her phone, camped in the suite’s far corner as she furiously typed a message to someone. He shook his head but didn’t call out for her. If that’s what she wanted to do at the concert, it was up to her. She’d more than earned her seat in the VIP suite with everything she’d done to support the tour–especially how she and Seong Woo had teamed up to put the screws to KBR and kick them while they were down.
It wasn’t long after the kidnapping incident that things really began to fall apart for the evil music empire. Losing two of their key managers in Ji Hoon and Min Su meant KBR was forced to delayCherry Squad’s upcoming album release and Xiang’s North American tour, which caused a flood of complaints and forced KBR to start issuing refunds. But that was inevitable.
True to her word, Mama Bear Naomi had taken a big swing at KBR, coordinating with Seong Woo and Vital to tip off the Korean Fair Trade Commission about how they’d been using their market position to unfairly restrict competition among Seoul Capital Area performance venues. They routed the tip through one of Seong Woo’s analysts, whom he’d poached from the Korean FTC the year before. Of course, the press had a field day with everything, forcing a rapid series of no-comment replies from KBR’s press relations team amid speculation that Pak Jun Ho had fled the country. Even then, months later, most of KBR’s promotional activities had ground to a halt as Pak defended his company against an increasingly hostile Korean government agency.
And, finally sensing his moment, Xiang announced a lawsuit against KBR seeking to terminate his contract with them, claiming they mishandled his business and illegally withheld his duly earned compensation.
Naomi eventually huffed, shaking her head, and stepped out into the corridor. Tae Hyun finished his costume change and returned to the stage, bantering with the excited crowd just before the intro forFrefall Into Youbegan to play. Jason had been looking forward to seeing that song the most. He smiled as he remembered Tae Hyun serenading him in the hot tub at the Songdo Grand Hotel next door, then felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see an almost stricken expression on Naomi’s face.
“What’s up?”
“Come with me. You need to hear this.”
Jason shook his head. It was bad enough that Naomi had interrupted the song, but there was no way he was walking out on it. “Later. I want to–”
“Now, Jason.” Naomi’s stern expression left him no room for argument. “I’m serious.”
That look meant it had to be important, but Jason couldn’t think of any reason why Naomi would pull him away from Tae Hyun’s performance to talk business. “Alright, fine.”
Jason followed Naomi as she returned to the corridor, which was only marginally quieter than the luxury suite. But they could at least talk at a reasonable volume.
“I just talked to your lawyer.”
Jason wasn’t sure he’d correctly understood her at first. “What? What did–”
“Stop and listen to me.” Naomi paused, waiting until Jason nodded his compliance. He knew that tone well. She only used it when his bullshit was the absolute last thing she wanted. Then she took a deep breath. “Your parents died.”
“What?” Jason heard and understood her words, but his mind refused to process them. His parents died? They were dead? He hadn’t thought about them in more than a passing way since he’d last spoken with his mother the night he’d seen Joo Won. Truthfully, he sometimes wondered if he’d ever speak to them again. But it looked like he wouldn’t. “Died? What happened?”
“They were killed in a car accident. Your father was driving, and they think he had another stroke.” Naomi was clearly working hard to keep her tone even despite her obvious urgency. “But that’s not important. What’s–”
Jason scoffed. “What do you mean that’s not important? My parents are–”
“Jason, listen to me.” Naomi paused again until Jason nodded. “I just talked to your lawyer,” she reminded him.
His lawyer? Why would his lawyer be the one to– “Wait. No.” Jason shook his head. While he still hadn’t quite wrapped his mind around the idea that his asshole parents were actually dead, he definitely knew why his lawyer would be the one to share the news. “No fucking way. Please don’t say what I think you’re about to say.”
Naomi sighed. “I know you don’t want to hear this. But you need to hear this, Jason.” She paused again. Jason begrudgingly nodded. “Your father never changed his will. He left you everything.”
