Page 6 of ASAP

It’s still raining three days later when Joah sends a van to pick me up for a radio show appearance for The Woori and Woogi Show at EBC. Secretary Park is already seated when I climb inside, peering down at her tablet while speaking low into her Bluetooth. I nod at the driver through the rearview mirror, clipping on my seat belt as he slowly maneuvers the van down the narrow street from my house, located at the top of the hill.

After a few turns, the car passes the small corner convenience store where my mother used to take me to get ice cream after school, before the success of her company claimed more of her attention. A worker presses the door open with her back, emerging with a basket of ?7000 umbrellas. I move my face closer to the window. Overhead, gray clouds gather above the city.

The van travels south over the bridge into Gangnam, and we hit standstill traffic near the broadcasting center. I lean back in the seat, scrolling through SNS, as rain patters against the window.

Jenny posted a carousel to her feed an hour ago. The pictures are from last week, taken at a museum in New York City where she must have performed with some of her classmates. A few of the photos are of the art exhibits, but the last is a candid of Jenny. The person who took it captured her mid-laugh. She looks ebullient, happy. A thick, uncomfortable feeling lodges in my chest, and I turn my phone face down on my lap.

Secretary Park glances up from her tablet. “Is something the matter?”

I shake my head, peering back out the window at the blurry street signs.

I haven’t talked to Jenny in over a week. I know she’s busy. She has classes and Jaewoo and her New York friends, along with that audition. Gi Taek and Angela, our friends from high school, would say to just tell Jenny I miss her, but I don’t want to burden her when she’s already stressed. It’s better if I just deal with my feelings on my own.

The driver manages to escape traffic, pulling into the garage at EBC fifteen minutes early. The broadcasting center is a tall, multipurpose building with studios on the upper levels and a soundstage on the bottom floor where their weekly music shows are recorded.

“Welcome!” Woori, our host, greets us as Secretary Park and I enter the spacious waiting area off the fifth-floor elevator. She’s a head shorter than me with round cheeks and rosy pink hair.

The two other guests for the show have already arrived, seated on a plush leather sofa. They quickly stand as I introduce myself. “My name is Min Sori,” I say, after a short bow, “a model and trainee with Joah.”

A tall, slender girl with fashionably thin bangs returns my bow. “My name is Tsukumori Rina,” she says. “I’m a trainee with Neptune, though I debuted in Japan...” She trails off with a rueful smile, implying it’s complicated.

I smile back, wondering if she knows Angela and Gi Taek. They’re also trainees at Neptune. Before I can ask her, the second girl introduces herself.

“And I’m Lee Byeol, an actress with KS Entertainment. I already debuted. You might know my drama, Springtime Blossom.”

“Is that an adaptation from the web novel?” I ask. I haven’t heard of her drama, but I’ve read the web novel. Though admittedly it’s not one of my favorites. I’m not a big fan of the “love at first sight” trope. I prefer a second-chance romance.

I am curious to know more about web-novel-to-screen adaptations, however, as Sun will be starring in one fairly soon, an adaptation of a popular romantic fantasy web novel.

“It is,” Byeol says, wrinkling her nose. “Please tell your friends to watch it.”

We move into the recording studio where the brother half of The Woori and Woogi Show speaks with the producer. He’s the same height as his twin, wearing hexagonal wire-framed glasses, his hair dyed a light blue-grey. After introductions are repeated, he goes over the run of show. The setup is standard for celebrity-run radio shows—Woori and Woogi themselves are indie musicians. In between playing music, we’ll have short segments in which they will ask our opinions on questions that listeners will call in with, and then, at the end of the hour, we’ll play a short game.

Each of the guests takes one of the three seats across from the hosts. I let the other two decide where to sit before pulling out the last seat beside Rina. The hosts and the producer show us how to use the headsets and microphones and explain how once we’re on air, everything we say will be broadcasted live on the radio.

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. This is my first time as a guest on a live radio show, but I’ve listened to hundreds of shows just like this one, and I know what to expect.

The producer starts counting down aloud. “Five... four... three...” Then with just his fingers. Two... one...

“Welcome to The Woori and Woogi Show!” the siblings say together.

“The theme of today’s episode is Rising Stars,” Woori says, “and here in the studio we have three incredible new talents: rookie actress, Lee Byeol, idol trainee, Rina, and model, Min Sori!”

“Let’s welcome our guests!” Woogi claps.

Each of us introduces ourselves before moving on to the first caller, an older woman who asks how she can get her daughter to concentrate on her schoolwork and stop chasing idols.

Lee Byeol says that her daughter should watch dramas instead, like Springtime Blossom. From behind the window of the control room, Lee Byeol’s manager gives her two thumbs up.

Then it’s Rina’s turn, and she timidly suggests that the woman take the girl to see her favorite idols at fansigning events. “As an incentive for d-doing her schoolwork.”

“You want me to bribe my daughter?” the woman responds, which causes Rina to flush like a peach.

“What about you, Sori-ssi?” Woogi asks. “What advice would you give this caller’s daughter?”

“Can I address the daughter directly?” I ask.

Woogi’s eyes widen behind his glasses, but he nods. “Yes, of course.”

“Student,” I say, since I don’t know her name. “I understand that you want to be close to your favorite idols because they make you happy, but there are ways to support them without following them around. Ways like Rina-ssi suggested,” I add, and Rina smiles at me appreciatively. “But—and this is only my opinion—the best way to show love to others is to show love to yourself.” It’s something Jenny had said to me, back when we were students at SAA. You need to be strong for yourself first... before you can be strong and give happiness to others. “I think your favorite idols would be happiest knowing that it was through watching them go after their dreams that you went after your own.”

Woori nods with approval. “That was lovely, Sori-ssi.”

I feel a little silly giving advice to someone who isn’t that much younger than me, but also I’m not going to tell them to do their schoolwork. That would feel disingenuous.

After that, there’s a short music break, during which an assistant brings us each a glass of water.

“Am I doing all right?” I turn to Rina who asked the question. “I’ve never been on a radio program before,” she says, fidgeting with her bangs.

I consider her question, or at least the reason why she might have asked it. It would be easy to say yes and leave it at that, and yet...

“It’s natural to be nervous,” I say gently, “but you don’t have to rush to answer the questions. You can take your time and answer them with confidence.”

She blinks at me a few times, then a wobbly smile spreads across her face. “Yes, I’ll do that. Thank you!”

As my eyes leave her, I notice Secretary Park watching me through the window. I raise a brow, but she shakes her head—it’s nothing.

An hour isn’t very long, and soon we’re moving on to the last segment of the show.

“Today we’ll be playing...” Woori pauses for dramatic effect. “Drumroll, please.”

Woogi patters his fingers against his mic. “The Call the Most Famous Person in your Phone Game!”

“No!” Rina and Byeol squeal in mock-protest. I sigh inwardly. I’m not surprised the hosts—or the producer, for that matter—chose this game. It’s a way for the show to feature more celebrities than those invited and therefore gain more listeners. For the guests, it’s a chance to show off their celebrity friends. The more famous the friend, the more clout they’ll have, and if they have a close relationship, that’s even more impressive.

“We’ll have Rina-ssi go first,” Woogi says. “Rina-ssi, who’s the most famous person in your phone?”

“Maybe, Nini-san?” she says, referring to one of the Japanese members of a rookie idol group.

Nini answers on the second ring. “Rina-chan!” she shouts, earning laughter from the hosts.

Lee Byeol then calls the costar from her drama, who also happens to be an idol. Their conversation is polite and brief—clearly, they’re not close. But as he’s currently a trending actor, the number of online listeners increases, with the live chat—visible on a wall-mounted monitor—picking up with comments. I watch as Woori and Woogi exchange glances with their producer.

“Now it’s your turn, Sori-ssi,” Woogi says.

“As you know,” I begin, speaking slowly for dramatic effect, “I’m from Joah Entertainment...” I might not aspire to be an actress, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate drama.

“The home of XOXO!” Woori exclaims. “Do you happen to have Bae Jaewoo’s number?”

Woori’s playing right into my hands.

“I do,” I say, then clarify so as not to spread any false rumors. “He’s a reliable seonbae to everyone in the company.”

At this information, everyone in the studio sighs, and I smile, pleased with my choice. I’d known from the start that I would call Jaewoo. Not just because he’s popular, but because he’ll know all the right things to say. He’s my safest option.

“Should I call him?” I tease. I hand over my phone with Jaewoo’s contact pulled up. His number is plugged in, and it starts to ring.

It rings.

And rings and rings. Then cuts off with, “This person is unable to accept the call...”

There’s a short beat of silence in which Rina offers me a pitying glance. I’m the only guest whose celebrity friend didn’t pick up their call.

“Oh, well, it is later in the day,” Woori says, consolingly, “and didn’t they just return from Paris?”

The world tour that had begun so many months ago finally ended in Paris late last night, local time. The members must have flown back to Seoul immediately following the last concert.

“We still have a couple of minutes, so let’s try someone else,” Woogi says. He reaches for my phone, which is still on the table, and starts scrolling through my contacts. I wince at the breach of privacy; he must be desperate to retain listeners. The numbers had quickly risen at the prospect of Jaewoo, but just as quickly dropped when it became clear he wouldn’t make an appearance.

Woogi continues to scroll, the number of listeners decreasing with every second that passes. I have an idea to call my dance instructor, who isn’t exactly a celebrity but has worked as a choreographer and backup dancer to some of the biggest stars. “What about—?”

“‘Boyfriend’?” Woogi reads. A hush falls over the studio. Woogi’s eyes widen, realizing he spoke aloud. An ice-cold feeling sweeps through me as I realize what’s happened.

“That’s an old number,” I say quickly.

There’s a moment when our eyes meet, before Woogi cuts his gaze to the producer. On the screen, the live chat explodes with comments. He puts the call through. It rings.

And rings and rings. I sigh with relief.

The ringing cuts off with a click.

“Someone picked up,” Rina whispers into the short silence. Then...

“Sori?” Nathaniel’s voice comes through the speaker, thickened with sleep.

Both Woori and Woogi perk up.

“Hello,” Woogi says, “may we ask whom we’re speaking to?”

I dart my gaze to Secretary Park, willing her to stop this. If Nathaniel gives his name, it’ll be a disaster. It’ll be a scandal that XOXO will never recover from.

“Who’s this?” Nathaniel asks instead of answering the question.

“He’s smart,” Woori mutters beneath her breath.

“Do you recognize that voice?” Byeol says to Rina. “Why does it sound so familiar?”

“This is Woogi from The Woori and Woogi Show. We’re here with Min Sori. But please, tell us who we’re speaking to.”

“Why don’t you guess?” Nathaniel drawls. He sounds more awake now. There’s a creaking sound, as if he’s sat up in bed.

“You were saved under ‘Boyfriend’ in Min Sori’s contacts,” Woori says.

My eyes dart to her. If I wasn’t so anxious, I’d be mortified.

There’s a long pause. “I see.”

“Why do you think that is?” Woogi asks, clearly fishing for information.

“Why don’t you ask her?” Nathaniel responds. Even in my current state, I can admit that the way Nathaniel dodges each question is impressive.

“You sound tired,” Woori muses. “Were you sleeping? It’s not even dinnertime.”

“I’m about to eat dinner,” Nathaniel lies. It’s clear he was asleep before the call woke him up. Because, as a member of XOXO, he was also just in Paris.

“We have to go to commercial,” the producer whispers off-mic.

“Well, it looks like our time is up,” Woori says, and the regret in her voice is palpable. “You’ll have to remain a mystery, ‘Boyfriend.’”

Nathaniel responds with a light laugh, then the line clicks.

As an ad for a delivery app begins to play, the producer lowers the volume, approaching me with his head bowed. He glances at Secretary Park through the window who’s shooting daggers out of her eyes. “I hope you’ll forgive our... enthusiasm. We had double the number of listeners at the end compared to the beginning, and that was just online listeners. We’ll have to wait to get our full numbers, but thanks to you, they should be very satisfactory.”

“Of course,” I say, pasting on a smile. It’s already done—no harm came of it, besides my wounded pride.

Lee Byeol and Rina join me as I walk out of the studio. “Who was that, Sori-ssi?” Byeol asks. “The boy on the radio.”

“He was my first boyfriend,” I say, keeping my voice casual. “Back when I was in school. He’s not a celebrity.” It’s best to include some truths when telling a lie.

“Oh,” Rina says dreamily. “It must have surprised him to get a call from you. Maybe he’ll reach out to you after this.”

“We’ve both moved on. It’s best to leave first loves where they belong.” I wave my hand in the air. “In the past.”

Rina nods eagerly. “You’re so wise, Sori-ssi.”

Lee Byeol studies me, wearing a thoughtful expression. “Not a celebrity, huh? Strange, but his voice seemed very familiar.”