AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The world tour that had begun so many months ago finally ended in Paris late last night, local time. The members must have flown back to Seoul immediately following the last concert.
“We still have a couple of minutes, so let’s try someone else,” Woogi says. He reaches for my phone, which is still on the table,and starts scrolling through my contacts. I wince at the breach of privacy; he must be desperate to retain listeners. The numbers had quickly risen at the prospect of Jaewoo, but just as quickly dropped when it became clear he wouldn’t make an appearance.
Woogi continues to scroll, the number of listeners decreasing with every second that passes. I have an idea to call my dance instructor, who isn’t exactly a celebrity but has worked as a choreographer and backup dancer to some of the biggest stars. “What about—?”
“‘Boyfriend’?” Woogi reads. A hush falls over the studio. Woogi’s eyes widen, realizing he spoke aloud. An ice-cold feeling sweeps through me as I realize what’s happened.
“That’s an old number,” I say quickly.
There’s a moment when our eyes meet, before Woogi cuts his gaze to the producer. On the screen, the live chat explodes with comments. He puts the call through. It rings.
And rings and rings. I sigh with relief.
The ringing cuts off with a click.
“Someone picked up,” Rina whispers into the short silence. Then...
“Sori?” Nathaniel’s voice comes through the speaker, thickened with sleep.
Both Woori and Woogi perk up.
“Hello,” Woogi says, “may we ask whom we’re speaking to?”
I dart my gaze to Secretary Park, willing her to stop this. If Nathaniel gives his name, it’ll be a disaster. It’ll be a scandal that XOXO will never recover from.
“Who’s this?” Nathaniel asks instead of answering the question.
“He’s smart,” Woori mutters beneath her breath.
“Do you recognize that voice?” Byeol says to Rina. “Why does it sound so familiar?”
“This is Woogi fromThe Woori and Woogi Show. We’re here with Min Sori. But please, tell us who we’re speaking to.”
“Why don’t you guess?” Nathaniel drawls. He sounds more awake now. There’s a creaking sound, as if he’s sat up in bed.
“You were saved under ‘Boyfriend’ in Min Sori’s contacts,” Woori says.
My eyes dart to her. If I wasn’t so anxious, I’d be mortified.
There’s a long pause. “I see.”
“Why do you think that is?” Woogi asks, clearly fishing for information.
“Why don’t you ask her?” Nathaniel responds. Even in my current state, I can admit that the way Nathaniel dodges each question is impressive.
“You sound tired,” Woori muses. “Were you sleeping? It’s not even dinnertime.”
“I’m about to eat dinner,” Nathaniel lies. It’s clear he was asleep before the call woke him up. Because, as a member of XOXO, he wasalsojust in Paris.
“We have to go to commercial,” the producer whispers off-mic.
“Well, it looks like our time is up,” Woori says, and the regret in her voice is palpable. “You’ll have to remain a mystery, ‘Boyfriend.’”
Nathaniel responds with a light laugh, then the line clicks.
As an ad for a delivery app begins to play, the producer lowers the volume, approaching me with his head bowed. He glances at Secretary Park through the window who’s shooting daggers out of her eyes. “I hope you’ll forgive our... enthusiasm. We had double the number of listeners at the end compared to the beginning, and that was just online listeners. We’ll have to wait to get our full numbers, but thanks to you, they should beverysatisfactory.”
“Of course,” I say, pasting on a smile. It’s already done—no harm came of it, besides my wounded pride.
