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“No, I’m not going to make you say it,” he says.

“It’s really okay,” I assure him. “I’m a professional; I can do it for the show. It won’t mean anything.”

For some reason he looks angry. “No, Hyeri. I said I’ll come up with something else.”

Minseok turns to go, and I grab his arm to stop him. “Are you mad at me?”

He sighs and shakes his head. “No. I’m fine. I just don’t want it to be like this.”

I laugh, confused. “For what to be like this?”

He’s staring at me now, his face too blank for me to read, and my smile drops a bit. Why does he look like he wants to devour me?

Despite the sun still blazing overhead, goose bumps rise along my arms.

When Minseok replies, he sounds more serious than the conversation should warrant. “If you’re going to call me Oppa again, I want you to mean it.”

He continues toward the hotel, but I stay where I am, because for some reason my legs feel too weak to walk right now.

He wants me to mean it? Is he saying he thinks of me like a younger sister?

The thought makes me cringe.

Maybe I should stop being so pathetic and just ask him. But I can’t bring myself to do it. He’ll know I’m overthinking it. He’ll assume I’m reading into it. Thinking he means something he doesn’t, or worse, that I like him again.

Which would just seal my complete and utter embarrassment in front of him.

No, I’ll just let it go. It probably didn’t even mean anything.

“Dammit,” I mutter, running my hands through my hair in frustration. It gets stuck in the tangle left by salt and dried seawater. “Ouch.”

“Need help?” David asks, walking across the sand toward me. He’s already tanning from the sun.

“What are you doing here?” I ask as he hugs me.

“Are you kidding, who would pass up a free trip to the beach?”

Jeongho trails behind David, sweating and huffing as he lugs the stylist’s bag.

“Can we go inside?” he whines. “My shoes are filled with sand.”

He looks like he’s literally melting from the heat. Sweat makes his hair stick to his forehead and the bag slung over his shoulder must weigh a ton. It’s safe to assume he’s one person who might reject a free beach vacation.

“Should you be carrying all of that?” I ask, worried he might just pass out at our feet.

“Are you saying I can’t do my job?” He glowers at me.

“No, I didn’t mean it that way,” I say urgently at the misunderstanding.

David pats Jeongho on the back. “Go to the hotel and check into our room.”

Jeongho looks relieved, lowering in a bow before taking off.

I stare after the assistant. “Do you think I upset him?”

“Jeongho is just a nervous guy. Don’t worry about him,” David says, looping his arm through mine. “Come, I shall fix this tangle on your head.”

I let David bring me inside to the hotel suite the production reserved for me. Hongjoo is already in there, hanging outfit options for tonight’s dinner shoot.