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The comment only has ten likes. Still, it’s on the front page of comments, for everyone to read.
Beneath it someone’s replied,Don’t spread rumors without proof. That would mean they’re flaunting their relationship. That would be too brazen of them both.This comment has twenty-eight likes.
And now the anxiety is back but tenfold. I have to talk to someone about this. I could text Gi Taek and Angela, but there’s only one person I need right now. I open up my chat with Nathaniel, reading back our messages from last night.Jaewoo and I just got to the apartment. Try not to wake up Hyemi with your snoring.
I don’t snore!
How do you know?I didn’t warrant this with a response.
I type in the chat box, then press Send.Have you seen the articles?I wait for him to read my message, but when the “1” remains beside his name, indicating he hasn’t read it, I text him again.Can you call me when you see this?
I hurriedly open my chat with Jaewoo.Nathaniel isn’t answering his texts.
Jaewoo’s response is immediate.He went to KS.
Of course. He’s been going there every day to work with one of their artists. I remember he’d told me they confiscate visitors’ phones, which explains why he isn’t messaging me back.
I sit back in my chair. I could wait for him to come home later tonight—I glance at the clock on the wall—six hours from now. Or I could... go to him.
My heart starts to race at the reckless thought. And yet waiting until tonight, stewing alone while my thoughts spiral out of control, feels unbearable.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I request a taxi through the app on my phone.
Even if this plan is impulsive, at least I’mdoingsomething. I quickly change out of my pajamas, checking the app to see the driver is five minutes away. I’ve enough time to put on sunscreen and light makeup before rushing outside the gate.
I greet the driver and settle into the back seat of the taxi, having already input the address in the app. I resist the urge to scroll through more articles, as that’ll only make my anxiety worse.
The taxi drops me off outside KS Entertainment. As I stare at the company’s intimidating edifice—the building is huge, twice the size of Joah, all clean, dark glass—I realize I have no way of getting inside. A few fans linger outside the building, posing cutely and taking selcas.
An unassuming man approaches the front entrance, waving his keycard over the scanner, which lights up green, granting him access.
I could throw my weight around and say that I’m the daughter of Seo Min Hee, but that information might get back to my mother, who would not be pleased that I’m at KS, practically in enemy territory.
A black car pulls up to the curb, and the back seat window shifts downward.
“Sori?” My father looks out at me from the window.
I’m so shocked to see him that I don’t immediately respond. His offices aren’t near this part of the city. “Abeoji?” I say finally. “What are you doing here?”
“I have a meeting with CEO Cha.” He doesn’t elaborate, likely because thereasonsfor meeting KS Entertainment’s CEO might not be entirely ethical. “What are you...?”
“I...” I struggle for a lie, my eyes landing on the Starbucks down the street. “I met a friend for coffee, but she left already.”
“I see,” he says, rubbing his clean-shaven chin. “Actually, I’m glad that I’ve run into you. CEO Cha’s nephew is the man I wish for you to meet. It might also benefit you to know CEO Cha, as well. Why don’t you get in the car, and we’ll go through together?”
This seems like both the answer to my problem and a terrible idea. Still, I walk around to the other side, slipping into the back seat.
Secretary Lee maneuvers the car to the back of the building, where a security guard lets us through into an underground garage. He drops my father and I off outside the indoor entrance before parking the car on a lower level.
CEO Cha’s secretary is there to greet us, bowing and opening the door to the front lobby. She leads us to the security desk where a guard offers us a tray in which to place our phones. “My apologies, but it’s company policy for all visitors,” she explains.
“Of course,” my father says, relinquishing his phone easily.
As the guard opens a drawer to secure our phones, I catch a glimpse of Nathaniel’s tucked among the rest.
“CEO Cha is finishing up another meeting at the moment,” the KS secretary says politely. “Would you like a tour of the building meanwhile?”
“That’s not necessary—” my father begins.
