Page 40 of Wish Upon a K-Star

“I s he going to be okay?” Elena murmurs beside me. I guess she noticed Minseok leave too.

“I don’t think he’s in the mood to talk right now.”

Even when we were young, Minseok rarely ever got angry. When he did, he usually needed time to cool off before he would listen to anyone.

“You should go talk to him,” Elena says.

“Me?” I blink at her. “Why?”

“I think he’d listen to you.”

I shake my head. It doesn’t make any sense. Minseok would be much more likely to listen to one of the guys. But I get up anyway. Everyone is still too focused on Jongdae right now. And whenever I’m upset and storm out of a room, there’s always a part of me hoping someone cares enough to come after me. Maybe Minseok feels that way too.

He’s standing in front of the elevator but has yet to press the call button.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“Nowhere,” he mutters, letting his head fall against the wall with a depressing thud.

“Come on.” I pull his arm, expecting resistance. But he follows me back like an obedient puppy.

Instead of going into his apartment, I open my own door.

He doesn’t protest as I pull him inside and deposit him on the couch. Now that I see him in real light, I can tell that the drunken flush on his cheeks is deeper than I thought. He must have had more than a few drinks. I go to the kitchen and fill a cup of water.

“Hydrate,” I tell him.

He obeys again.

I sit and wait for him to finish gulping it down.

“Are you done being mad?” I ask.

“No.” He pouts like a little kid.

“Fine, but are you really going to stay away when it’s Robbie’s birthday party?”

He falters at that. His frown melting away as he puts the empty cup on the coffee table. “No.”

“Let’s go then.” I start to stand, but he grabs my wrist.

“Not yet, okay? I’m still not completely cooled off. And if I see Jongdae right now, I might start swinging.”

I’m surprised enough by the claim that I let him pull me back onto the couch. His hand lingering on my wrist. We sit there a minute awkwardly.

Finally, I can’t take the silence. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly.”

“Fine.” I pick up the remote, planning to at least turn on the TV.

But he blurts out, “He just won’t admit that things are shit between us right now. He’s acting like he’s not the reason we’re in this mess.”

He jumps up to pace toward the kitchen before spinning around to pace back again.

It’s weird to see him so jittery. I can tell he’s hurting, but I suddenly realize I’ve never been the one to comfort Minseok. When we were younger, he was always the one pulling me out of a bad mood with a joke or a sweet gesture. He was always too go-with-the-flow to stress about anything, or at least that’s how it always seemed.

“Maybe he’s scared that acknowledging it will make it worse,” I try.

“No, that’s bull.” Minseok shakes his head. “He’s treating me like I can’t be trusted. I have always had his back since we were trainees. I’ve always kept his secrets. And he couldn’t trust me enough to tell me about Sooyeon.”

He falls back onto the couch, perching his elbows on his knees to bury his face in his hands.

I am the last person to give advice on how to keep the peace in a group. I was obviously horrible at it in Helloglow. But I have to say something. “Have you tried telling him all of this?”

“No.” He sighs. “First, I was too pissed and now there’s never a good time. He’s not really at the dorm these days; he’s staying at his parents’ house to recover from his accident.”

“But he’s here tonight,” I point out.

“I can’t have the talk now.” He pushes his hair out of his face in frustration.

“I’m sorry.” He looks so lonely. It’s unsettling. A lonely Minseok feels wrong to me. “You’ll figure this out. That’s what family does.”

He lets out a heavy sigh. Then, to my surprise, he turns to me. Leaning his face into my shoulder.

My arms hover in the air around him. Like they’re not sure if they should embrace or push away. But he lets out another sigh, and I hesitantly pat him on the back.

His arms come around me tightly, like he’s been waiting for me to do just this. And I give in to the moment. It can’t hurt, right? I’m just a friend comforting another friend. I rub his back in small circles. “You’re going to figure this out. You’re closer than brothers.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He mutters it into my shoulder.

I pull back to look him in the eye and say sternly, “Stop over-thinking it.”

He pinches my chin playfully. “You’re one to talk. You’re the queen of overthinking.”

I’m about to rebut; instead I shrug with a rueful smile. “Yeah, you’re right.”

We’re both laughing at ourselves when it strikes me that we’re holding on to each other, sitting awfully close together. I have a flash of that moment by the pool, when we sat just this close. How I wanted so badly for him to kiss me. I push away from him defensively.

Jumping off the couch in a rush, I say, “We should get back to the party, right?”

“Hyeri,” Minseok says, grabbing my hand so I can’t escape.

“Yeah? What’s up?” I try my best to pretend like I am not internally freaking out.

“Will you sit?”

I do, but my leg won’t stop shaking. I press my hand against it to hold it still, but it continues to vibrate.

“I don’t want things to be awkward between us,” Minseok says.

“Awkward? What’s awkward?” I want to die inside as it’s very clear I am the awkward.

He gives me a pointed look, and I finally give up the attempt to ignore the topic.

“What do you think about erasing the last three days?” I suggest hopefully.

Minseok looks even more unhappy at that. “You think we can just ignore it?”

“Why not?” I’m confused. Minseok is the king of avoiding bad feelings. Didn’t he just admit that he’s evading a needed conversation with Jongdae?

“I think the show is just confusing us,” I hedge. “It’s no one’s fault, right? When you have to pretend to like each other, it blurs the lines of reality.”

“Is that what you really think is going on here?” A crease digs in between his brows, a small and perfect line.

This is annoying. What does he want from me? I have the urge to shake him. But an equal urge to lean forward and just kiss him so he can’t say anything else that will confuse me.

“Hyeri?”

Great, I zoned out again instead of answering. “I’m just worried,” I admit. “That I can’t tell the difference between what’s for the show and what’s real.” I wince on the last word. I might as well be confessing my resurrected crush. And desperation makes me quickly add, “I don’t know, I’m probably just being stupid.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Minseok murmurs.

“What?” I scowl, not expecting him to agree.

“I mean, no, you’re not stupid. Yes, you’re right. Shows can feel real sometimes.”

“Right!” I cling to his agreement. These feelings are just because of the show.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone so happy to hear that things aren’t real.” Minseok laughs. The good-natured kind that makes me grin too.

I shrug. “I guess I’m just special.”

“Yes, sure,” he says in a sarcastic voice.

“Ya!” I punch his shoulder and he falls back, grabbing his arm like I stabbed him.

“Stop it,” I command. “You’re such a drama queen.”

He doesn’t stop wincing. “I’m not joking, I pulled my arm working out earlier.”

“Wait, really?” Did I actually hurt him? I scoot closer to see, and that’s when his expression changes from pained to mischievous.

“No, not really.”

He leans forward, poking at my ribs.

“Stop!” I squeal, but I can’t escape him. I get an arm free and grab his knee, where I know he’s extra sensitive.

“Ya!” he yelps, and falls over, rolling off the couch.

My triumph is short-lived as he pulls me down with him. But he immediately meets the consequences of his actions as I land heavily on his chest and he lets out a grunt of pain.

“Low blow going for the knee,” Minseok complains with a wheeze.

“That’s what you get for starting a fight,” I say, unrepentant.

He shakes his head, laughing along with me.

A lot has changed about Minseok since he debuted. Polished and shined to create the perfect image of a celebrity. But this close, looking at his laughing face, I see the old Minseok, who joked around with me. Who learned my favorite drink and picked it out of the cooler before I could. Who always invited me along even when my own brother didn’t.

He really is so handsome. It makes my heart do little pirouettes. This is dangerous, letting myself feel close to him again. Letting myself like him again. I need to do something to fix this, but it’s like a speeding train that’s picked up too much momentum at this point. I have to just hold on or I’ll fall.

He finally notices I’m no longer laughing. “You okay?” he asks, a smile still lingering.

“So, we agree.” My voice is too shaky but I can’t do anything to calm it. “This is all just pretend, right?”

He looks confused. “You mean the show?”

“I mean, everything between us.”

“Everything?”

I feel like my heart is going to burst free and flop across the floor. I grip his shirt desperately. “Just tell me it’s pretend.”

“Yeah, sure, Hyeri.” He nods reassuringly. “It’s just pretend.”

I let out a relieved sigh, letting my grip relax just a fraction. “Good. Then this doesn’t count.”

I lean forward and kiss him.