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“Youngmin is a beast,” Sun says, as an explanation.

Youngmin does a victory dance, cartwheeling onto his knees and throwing a finger heart at the camera.

And with that, the episode reaches its conclusion.

It’s one a.m., the filming having gone well into the night. While Ji Seok waited, Secretary Park went home hours ago. A replacement driver stands by the van to take Hyemi and me home. We start to walk over.

“I’ll take Youngmin to his parents’ home and then drop you off at the apartment,” I overhear Ji Seok saying to Nathaniel, Jaewoo’s mother and younger sister having come by to pick him up and Sun having absconded in a car service sent by his grandfather.

From what I recall, Youngmin’s home is in the opposite direction of the apartment shared by the XOXO members.

“You can ride with us,” I offer. “Hyemi’s house is on the way to your apartment.” I blush at my impulsive offer, but it’s also the most convenient for everyone. I’m thinking of Ji Seok, who can go home earlier after dropping off Youngmin.

Nathaniel glances in my direction. “I’ll go with them,” he says, and Ji Seok nods.

Hyemi and I take the two middle seats, while Nathaniel climbs into the back. It’s quiet for most of the drive, all of us exhausted after the long shoot.

As the driver pulls into Hyemi’s neighborhood, she releases a heavy sigh.

“Hyemi, is something the matter?” I ask.

“Do you think I made a good impression?”

“Of course,” I say, though I’m pricked with guilt for having spent more time playing the game with Nathaniel than actively helping Hyemi. I do mean it, though. Hyemiwasshy in front of the camera, but that’s to be expected. “They’ll love you,” I say, truthfully. “How could they not?”

We pull up in front of her Hannam apartment building, located in one of the most expensive complexes in Seoul. “Thank you,” she says, then adds shyly, “Eonni.” She’s out the door faster than I can blink. As I move to sit back in my seat, feeling a little dazed, I meet Nathaniel’s gaze through the rearview mirror. He turns his face so that he’s looking out the window, but not before I see the small smile playing along his mouth.

Fifteen

“You can drop me off here,” Nathaniel tells the driver once we’ve pulled up to the corner of his street. Even after their music careers took off and they started signing endorsement deals, the members of XOXO chose to remain living together. Youngmin is still in high school, and as Sun put it, they “want to watch him grow up well.” But also, they genuinely enjoy each other’s company.

Except none of the other members are at the apartment right now. Instead, a dark line of cars waits for Nathaniel, idling by the curb with their lights dimmed.

I lean forward in my seat. “Are those tabloid reporters?” Cigarette smoke drifts from the open windows, visible beneath the lampposts. “They wait for you like that?”

“It’s gotten worse,” Nathaniel says from the back seat. There’s a rustling sound as he gathers his belongings.

“Doesn’t your building have security?” My unease intensifies at the thought of him walking past all those cars.

“It does, but since they park across the street and not on the property, the security guards can’t do anything about it. Honestly, it’s fine.”

My stomach tenses as I catch sight of a long-barreled camera jutting out from a cranked open window.

Nathaniel climbs from the back, sliding onto Hyemi’s vacated seat as he reaches for the door.

“Wait.” I catch the back of his shirt.

He stops, one hand on the door handle. His gaze flits to my fingers holding on to the sliver of fabric. Memories of my childhood steal through me, of the same dark line of cars waiting for my mother and me, outside the company, outside my school, the sudden flash as the world seemed to erupt around us in lights and shouts.What is your statement on Assemblyman Min’s affair? Did you know the other woman? Is the rumor true, that you’ve filed for a divorce?

“Sori?” Nathaniel draws me back to the present. He hasn’t moved. His gaze isn’t on my hand that still grips the back of his shirt, but steadied on my face. I know it’s unreasonable, that the paparazzi won’t actually hurt him, but I have an unshakeable feeling that by letting him go outside, I’m sending him into danger.

I make a decision, then and there. “Come home with me.”

His eyes widen slightly, then his gaze flicks to the driver. I’m not worried he’ll say anything. He’s a Joah employee, which means he’s contractually obligated to keep the privacy of its artists.

I release Nathaniel and sit back in my seat. “Can you please take us to my house?”

It’s close to two a.m. when Nathaniel and I exit the van. My street is quiet. My closest neighbors are halfway down the hill and around a corner. The automatic outdoor lights flicker on as I key in the code to the front gate.