AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’d love that!” I interrupt. Once I’m ensconced with my father and CEO Cha, I probably won’t have a chance to look for Nathaniel.
“You go on ahead,” my father says. “Is there a place where I can wait?”
“Yes, follow me.” She leads my father past security. When she returns, I walk behind her to the nearest elevator bank, watching with frustration as she presses the button for the basement floor.
Nathaniel won’t be there. He’ll be in one of the recording studios on an upper level.
The layout of KS is similar to Joah, with music, vocal practice, and dance practice rooms on the lower levels, and the recording studios, meeting rooms, and offices on the upper levels.
Like Joah, KS has photographs of their talent decorating the walls. Along with recording artists, they also represent actors and actresses. The last photograph at the end of a particularly long hall is the promotional poster forSpringtime Blossom, with the lead actress, Lee Byeol, gazing up lovingly into the eyes of her costar, who plays a man who was once an alien cat from another planet. Also, he’s a time traveler.
As we step off the elevator on the third floor, the secretary’s ringtone goes off. She glances down at the screen with a frown. “I need to take this. Will you be all right by yourself? Feel free to look around.”
“Yes.” I nod, but she’s already walking away, her phone to her ear.
I step back onto the elevator and press the button for the eighth floor. After peeking into a few of the empty rooms, I quickly realizethis isn’t the floor I’m searching for. Heading back toward the elevator, I catch sight of my father down the hall. He’s walking toward me, deep in conversation with another man, presumably CEO Cha. Darting forward, I push open a door that leads into a stairwell and hurry down to the floor below.
This time it’s CEO Cha’s secretary approaching from down the hall, peering into rooms as if in search of me. I feel like I’m on another episode ofCatch Me If You Can. Grabbing the nearest doorknob, I slip through into a room, closing the door quietly behind me. I let out a sigh in relief.
“Sori?”
I whip around. Nathaniel’s seated behind a large mixing console, his eyes wide in shock. “What are you doing here?”
“Are you alone?” I ask, hurrying over to him. A window separates the control from the recording studio, but the lights are shut off.
He eyes my approach. “Yeah...”
“I needed to talk to you. I tried texting you, but then I remembered you were at KS.” I take a deep breath. “I don’t know if you saw this morning, but our names are trending together after last night’s episode. A lot of the articles are harmless, but some of them are about us...” I blush. “Dating.”
“Did you see anything we need to let Joah know about?” I know why he’s asking. If the articles are vitriolic... or defamatory, then Joah would have to take legal action.
“No. They’re mostly just clickbait, but... I’m worried. What if it escalates?”
Nathaniel seems to consider my question, his brow furrowed. “There’s no reason to worry,” he says slowly, “as long as there’s no truth to the rumors.”
He’s right. Lots of celebrities are paired together, but nothing comes of it because it’s not true.
“Even if they find out that we dated in the past,” Nathaniel says, “that was a while ago. It’s only a scandal if we’re dating now.”
His words sink into me, and I can feel the tension from this morning leave my shoulders.
Maybe I didn’t have to come all the way here to see him—I could have waited until he came home—but I also feel so much better now than I had before.
“What are you doing?” I ask. Now that I can concentrate on more than just the articles, I realize I’ve practically barged into Nathaniel’s workplace.
“I just finished arranging the music for the track,” he says. “We’re going to bring in the artist soon to record the vocals. Do you want to... listen?”
“Yes!”
Nathaniel laughs, standing. I take his seat, sinking down into the cushioned chair. Picking up the large headphones, he places them over my ears.
After a few seconds, music floods through the speakers—the track that the vocalist will sing over, carrying the melody.
“You composed this?” I say, then blush, remembering how I was shocked when I discovered he was taking a class, but I’m not shocked now. I’m just so... impressed. And proud.
He nods, his smile shy but confident.
“It’s incredible!” I shout over the speakers. I listen to the entirety of the track, then ask him to start it over for me again.
