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A stagehand hurries over. “Hyeri-ssi, that’s you! You have to go onstage!”

She must be harried because she doesn’t even blink at Minseok and me standing here together, hands still clasped.

“Oh yes.” I pull away from him as I’m ushered to the stage. But I can’t help one last backward glance. Minseok is already walking away, though. And so I turn toward the bright lights of the stage to accept my award.

If anyone asked me, I could not tell them what I said in my acceptance speech. I’m not sure if I looked poised or harried or what. I just know that I blurted out some words and thanked my parents and my company. And then I numbly followed the presenters off the stage, gripping the little award shaped like a golden wave.

People are patting my back, congratulating me. I force a smile, though my brain isn’t processing any of their faces.

Once the crowd around me thins, an assistant PD asks me if I’d like to be escorted back to my seat. My seat? Next to Minseok. I shake my head quickly. “No, I need to…use the restroom.”

Before they can reply, I escape into the same corridor I went down with Minseok. Except it’s completely empty now.

I walk until I come to the exit for the back stairwell. There are crates of sound equipment stacked, and I just lean against one.

I need to let my heart settle. I need to make sure I won’t burst into tears.

They’ll understand. I’ll just say I was overwhelmed from winning the award.

I stare down at the shiny metal plaque. It says my name. It really does. But the joy I know I should feel in this moment doesn’t come. It’s buried under layers and layers of confusion.

The door to the stairwell opens, and I jump up to move out of the way.

It shouldn’t shock me at this point that the person who comes through is Kim Ana. She’s the last person I’d want to see right now, so of course it’s her. She is gorgeous in an asymmetrical black satin dress. But despite her perfect hair and outfit, she looks frazzled.

She stares at me in stunned silence. Her eyes are rimmed in red. I can see a smudge of her mascara across her temple. She was crying.

“Excuse me,” she says with a quick bow.

“Wait!” I call out.

She hesitates but doesn’t turn right away. Finally, with a sigh, she does. “What? Do you also have an unsolicited opinion about my apparent rampant drug use?”

“What?” I frown. “No, you just have a smudge right here.” I reach out and wipe at the mascara.

Ana gawks at me. “Are you serious? That’s it? You wanted to help fix my makeup?”

“There’s still an hour left of the show.” I state the obvious, not sure what else to say. “You probably didn’t want to go back out there with your makeup smudged.”

Ana shakes her head in bewilderment. “Of all people, don’t you want to throw my scandal in my face the most?”

I pause at the obvious implication. She thinks I’m some kind of petty witch. And maybe, some part of me did feel satisfaction at seeing the article at first. But now I shake my head slowly. “No, because of all people I know how much it sucks to have everyone gossip about you like they have a right to judge everything you do.”

Ana’s eyes widen before they fill with tears.

“Oh, um…” I’m not sure what to do. So, I pat her shoulder awkwardly in a not-quite-hug. “It’s going to be okay. You’ll overcome this.”

She sniffles and mutters, “This is so embarrassing.”

I almost laugh, because I truly understand the feeling. “I swear, it’s not as bad as it feels in this moment.”

She sighs. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. You shouldn’t have to be the one who comforts me.”

That takes me by surprise. Is she really acknowledging the messed-up relationship between us?

I’m about to ask when I hear someone approaching. I start to turn to block their view of Ana, knowing she wouldn’t want someone to see her with mascara running down her face.

“Kim Ana!” Kwak Dongha hurries forward, a wide smile spreading across his face. “I have a gift for you!”