Page 45

Get over it, Shin Hyeri, this is your job. Just do it and do it right.

“Okay, kids, we’re going to start filming soon,” Han-PD announces, pushing his square glasses up his nose. He’s in a good mood today. Probably because of the positive reception of the first episode.

Minseok has already settled at the table and is laughing at something one of the assistant PDs said. He looks so casually handsome and I’m suddenly reminded of all the viewer comments saying that we make a good visual pair.

Just thinking about it makes me blush just as Han-PD tells us to take our places.

I’m supposed to sit next to Minseok, but I feel self-conscious all of a sudden and I keep a foot of space between us.

“Okay, Hyeri-ssi, can you do the clapper?” the PD asks.

“What? Oh yeah, sure.” I hurry to clap my hands together, much smoother this time than last.

When I settle into my place again, Minseok pats my shoulder and I freeze. “Are you nervous?”

“Nervous?” I repeat, wondering if he’s picking up on my awkwardness.

“To meet my family?” he clarifies with a laugh. “Guess you are.”

My instinct is to lie. To pretend I’m fine. But I know the point of these shows is to give people a look at the “real” you. So, I nod. “Yeah, I guess a little. I want it to go well.”

I don’t add that it’s not about meeting family but about doing it on camera. I wonder if they brought Minseok’s actual parents over.

Instead, the door opens and two familiar faces walk in.

“Noona!” Robbie gives me a quick half-hug before I can fully react.

“Hyeri-noona.” Jaehyung, who has always been far more reserved, sends me a friendly smile and bow.

I’ve known them since we were kids, trainees together at Bright Star. But it’s been months since I’ve seen them. And I’m struck by how much they’ve grown since we were starting out.

Robbie used to be shorter and now he towers over me. It’s weird to think that he’s still in high school. He’s been in the industry longer than I have, growing up in the public eye.

They settle on the other side of the table and I send them a relieved grin. I’m glad it’s them. It should make it just a little easier to get through.

“How are you dealing with Hyeong so far?” Robbie asks with a teasing smile for Minseok.

“I’m not that bad,” Minseok insists.

“Sunbae is fine,” I say with a shrug.

“Sunbae?” Robbie looks between the two of us. “Oh.”

It’s just a single word, but it holds a ton of questions in it.

Minseok laughs. “She refuses to call me Oppa.”

“There are other things. Oppa isn’t the only option,” I insist.

“Then why did you choose Sunbae?” Minseok asks.

I can’t help it, my eyes slide to the cameras. I can’t say the real reason. That his warning all those years ago still echoes in my head. That he rejected me. And calling him Oppa represents a time when I was too naive to realize his platonic kindness wasn’t any more than that.

“What do you call Hyeri-noona?” Jaehyung asks.

“What I’ve always called her, Hyeri-ya.”

“That’s not very romantic either,” Robbie points out.