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There’s a familiar glint in his eye, and I know what his answer will be even before I ask, “What did you have in mind?”
“Noraebang!” Angela and Gi Taek shout together.
Eight
We take the subway to the next station over to find a karaoke room, choosing one at random near Exit 4. It’s on the third floor of a building that contains multiple businesses, including a seafood restaurant on the second floor and a billiard hall on the fifth. Gi Taek pays for two hours’ use of the room, while Angela and I inspect the small selection of snacks and sodas. We connect eyes briefly over the counter before grabbing as many items as we can, then fighting over who gets to pay.
We pile into the small room. Gi Taek immediately goes for the remote control, his fingers flying over the keys as he queues up the first few songs. Angela heads straight for the tambourine, twirling it expertly in her hand. The loud opening chord of Big Bang’s “Fantastic Baby”plays, and I realize it’s going to bethatkind of night.
What is it about singing at the top of your lungs in a small room with the people you love best that makes all your worries disappear? Sometimes we sing together, other times as duos—Gi Taek and I perform a ballad that has Angela in literal tears—or as solos, because everyone enjoys a good spotlight moment when singing their favorite songs.
While Gi Taek and Angela channel Chanyeol and Punch, a glow of light catches my attention, and I turn to see Gi Taek’s phone is lit up. I reach for it.
“Hong Gi Taek!” I shout, and hold the phone up so that thescreen’s facing him. He steps around the table and takes it. Glancing at the screen, he brings it to his ear.
“Yah, saekki,” he says, playfully. “Took you long enough to call me back.”
Angela begins to rap Chanyeol’s part of the song and I lose my mind, screaming like I’m being murdered.
Gi Taek presses his hand to his ear to better hear his friend. “I can’t play right now, I’m out with friends. We’re at a noraebang near Exit 4. Come join us.”
I scowl at Gi Taek. Is he really inviting one of his gamer friends to crash our night?
But Gi Taek’s already rolling his eyes. Apparently, his friend rejected the offer. “Heol,” Gi Taek drawls. “I see how it is.” He finally notices me watching him. “Your loss.”
At that moment, Angela’s song ends and the opening notes to Girl’s Day’s “Something” begins. I squeal and rush to my feet as Angela hands over the mic. Immediately, I get on my hands and knees, as the choreography for the song begins with a sexy floor dance.
Angela screams, pretending to faint onto the vinyl seats, and Gi Taek hollers, even though he’s still on the phone.
Normally, I would never attempt to be this type of sexy, stretching my arms above my head across the floor and gyrating my hips, but I feel confident and safe with Angela and Gi Taek, also it’s fun.
“Min Sori! Min Sori!” Angela starts chanting my name.
“I’m hanging up,” I hear Gi Taek say, throwing his phone onto the seat. It immediately lights up again—his friend calling himback—but Gi Taek ignores it, taking up the tambourine to cheer me on.
Time passes quickly and soon our two hours in the room are almost over. The countdown clock on the screen warns that we only have another fifteen minutes until we either have to vacate the room or pay for more time.
“Should we add another hour?” Gi Taek asks.
“Yes!” Angela and I shout together.
“How about we play a game?” Gi Taek suggests. “Whoever has the lower score at the end has to pay.”
Jenny had played a similar game with Jaewoo the first time they’d met, before she knew who he was. I was surprised when she’d told me, only because it seemed out of character for him. He wasn’t the adventurous type, not like Nathaniel, who always managed to surprise me, catching me off guard in moments when I’d least expect it.
“Do you have any idea how many noraebang there are near Exit 4?” a low, breathless voice says from behind me.
“Nathaniel!” Angela shouts.
I twist around in my seat. He stands in the doorway, wearing a padded jacket over black jeans. His hair—still dyed that distinct midnight blue—curls slightly around ears that glint with piercings. Sauntering into the room, he flops onto the worn seat beside me, and his wood-scented cologne sets my head to spinning.
“I thought you were at your apartment playing video games,” Gi Taek drawls.
I gape at Gi Taek.Nathanielwas the friend he was speaking to?
Nathaniel shrugs, his hands still in the pockets of his jacket.“My sister wanted me to bring her something at her dorm. It’s around here.”
Nadine.I’m struck with a pang of guilt. She’d texted me when she arrived in Seoul for her study abroad program, but I never responded, too embarrassed at how I left her house after my father’s scandal.
