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“I knew you were in New York City,” Ji Seok says from where he walks beside me, “but I didn’t think we’d see you.”
Though the XOXO members and I are contracted to the same company, there’s no reason for our schedules to overlap. Our lives are entirely separate. I wonder, briefly, if he’ll tell my mother about this meeting but quickly dismiss the thought—Ji Seok might be employed by Joah, but his loyalty is to the members.
Through a side door, we enter a long hallway lined on either side with private rooms. As we approach the largest one at the end, my palms start to sweat. I bury them deep into the pockets of my coat.
Because of the tour, and the time I spent in Singapore, it’s been the longest I’ve gone without seeing Nathaniel since we graduated from the academy. The months immediately following the breakup had been... difficult. We’d started dating in secret when we were both sixteen, before Nathaniel had debuted. But soon after, a photo of us was leaked to the public, leading to a scandal that almost ruined the boys’ careers. With the insistence of the higher ups, my mother included, we mutually decided to break it off.
It was clearly the right decision. XOXO went on to become one of the biggest idol groups in the world, and even if I’m not quite at that level, I have a future in the industry, should I choose to pursue one, which wouldn’t have been the case had Nathaniel and I stayed together.
As we approach the door to the room, I take a deep breath. Though those first few months after the breakup were hard, we did manage to graduate high school as friends. After all, we were friendsbeforewe got together.
There’s no reason to be nervous now. Nerves suggest there are still feelings there andthatcan’t be possible. Because if I’m still in love with Nathaniel Lee of XOXO, then breaking up with him might possibly have been the worst decision of my life.
Jaewoo slides the door open. I register a room with a wooden dining table inset with charcoal grills. It’s bordered by upholstered chairs on one side and a booth on the other.
“Min Sori?” The deep voice draws my attention to the corner of the booth where Sun, XOXO’s leader, leans casually against the wall. “This is unexpected.”
He’s dressed in a loose shirt, his long hair pulled back from his striking face. Jenny says Sun looks like a supervillain in a video game, but I always thought he looked more like someone who should have been a prince during the Joseon dynasty.
“Sun-oppa,” I say. While Jaewoo, Nathaniel, and I trained together at Joah, I’ve known Sun the longest. As the grandson of the president of TK Group, we’ve been thrown together at enough banquets to last a lifetime. “I was having dinner with Jenny when Jaewoo called.”
“I see,” he says. I feel more at ease after this short interaction with Sun. I’ve known all of the members since we were in middle school. Yes, we’re all oldernow, but there’s no reason to treat any of them differently.
Sun’s gaze shifts to someone behind me, and the back of my neck prickles, like a spark of electricity against my skin.
“Sori.”His voice.“Why does it take crossing the whole world to see you?”
I school my features before turning around.
When I lift my eyes to meet Nathaniel’s dark-eyed gaze, my stomach flutters.
I know that it’s close to midnight and he’s coming off two nights of concerts in New York City, but he looksindecent, as if he’d just stumbled out of bed. His hair is dyed a dark blue for this cycle of promotions, and strands of it fall across his brow.
“You can see me any time,” I say, tucking my hair behind one ear. It’s a nervous tic of mine, but I need to do something with my hands. “We live in the same city.”
His eyes move from my ear—where he’d followed the movement—before returning to my face, an odd expression flitting over his features.
It’s gone in a flash as his attention shifts to Jenny, who’s finished greeting Sun. “Yo, Jenny Go.” His whole demeanor changes, that famous dimple of his deepening. “Have you no shame? Crashing our dinner outing.”
“Of all the cuisines to choose from in New York City, you go to a Korean restaurant.” She matches his teasing tone. “Aren’t you flying back to Seoul in a few days?”
“What can I say?” He lifts his hands in a helpless gesture. “Koreans will always find a Korean restaurant, no matter what country we’re in.”
“I like the hair.”
“The concept was classy gangster. An oxymoron, don’t you think?”
“Not if you’re Won Bin,” she says, referencingAjeossi,her favorite film of all time.
“His character wasn’t a gangster, Jenny,” Nathaniel drawls. “He was ex–special forces.”
“Same thing.” Jenny shrugs.
“No, it’s not!”
My head has been whipping back and forth between them as they’ve been speaking in rapid-fire English, my chest tightening with every second that goes by.
Jaewoo inserts his body between them, grabbing Jenny’s hand. “Let’s not remind Jenny of her celebrity crushes.”
