Page 54 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)

‘ARE BAEK JIHOON AND LEE HYEJIN DATING?’

The headline was as subtle as a brick to the face, so I had to hand it to the author for grabbing a reader’s attention.

Rumours are once again flying around the internet after eagle-eyed fans attending this weekend’s Incheon KPOP music festival spotted none-other than Lee Hyejin of PrettyYOUngThings in the crowd.

Her disguise was not enough to hide her beauty, and even less so her obvious enthusiasm at Baek Jihoon’s solos during GVibes’ performance.

No official statement has been released by either group, or their shared management company, ENT.

Let’s not forget though, fellow netizens, this is not the first time this pair have faced speculation over their romantic relationship!

Both GVibes and PYT were trainees at ENT before their debuts and have been spotted in the crowds for each other’s performances.

Given this most recent spotting, Vibers and Beautys are left to wonder: is this more than the simple friendship between two company members ?

I couldn’t stop reading the article, although I wanted to. It was like prodding a cold-sore with your tongue; you knew it would heal faster if you just left it the hell alone. I just couldn’t seem to.

“Girl, just call him,” Becka waved her hand at me dismissively.

“I can’t,” I whined. “It’s mid-morning on a Monday, he’ll be doing stuff.”

Becka rolled her eyes at me. “Call him. If he doesn’t pick up, he doesn’t, but give the guy a chance.”

“Wow, you’ve come a long way from being suspicious of everything about him.” I observed.

“Yeah, well, that wasn’t getting me anywhere, and he seemed like a decent enough guy, so I changed my mind.” She shrugged. “Which is why I’m telling you to call him now, instead of stewing in the gossip of people who don’t know him.”

I nodded. She had a fair point. I got up from the sofa and walked towards my room, pulling up Jihoon’s number on Kakaotalk and then anxiously listening as the call went through.

“Kaiya.” The sound of his voice made my knees weak, and I shakily sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Is everything alright?” he asked when I didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, um. Are you busy?” I immediately felt stupid for calling over a rumour.

“No, just surprised. Are you sure you’re okay? You sound different.”

I tried to pep myself up, but the more I thought about asking him about a dating rumour, the sillier I felt.

“Yeah, you know what? I just called to tell you I watched the Incheon festival just now.”

“Oh, you did? How did you like it?”

“You guys did a great job. I’m just sorry I had to watch it on a TV screen and not in real life.” I could see Becka through my open door, miming, ‘ask him,’ with big, expansive hand gestures. I kicked the door shut and flopped back down on the bed.

Jihoon chuckled, “Next year we tour North America, you’ll see us then.”

We’d spoken about this just after he was back in Seoul after Chuseok; the group was going on a world tour next year, kicking off in April in Korea and then other countries in Asia, before heading to Europe, South and Central America and lastly, North America.

There were currently 67 dates booked over nine months.

I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next year. My contract with Pisces was up in April. I’d either have to fly home to the UK, or try to find a job in LA and get a work permit. I already knew Pisces wasn’t going to renew my contract.

While there was a lot of online speculation about GVibes going on tour, they weren’t going to officially announce it until November, after they released the next single off the new album; a collaboration they were going to be doing with American singer, Kylie Morrison.

“I hope I get to see you before then,” I said quietly.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Just then, I heard someone in the background calling his name, and the person sounded impatient.

Jihoon sighed, “I’m sorry Ky, but I have to go. Speak to you later?”

“Sure.”

“Okay,” he hesitated. “Jagiya?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you called. Bye.” As the line went dead, I had to decide if I wanted to think about these mixed emotions, or put them back in the box I’d created for them, and kick the can down the road.

I chose the can.