Page 50 of Wish Upon a K-Star

I ’m sitting on the couch, hands folded, head lowered.

Before we could come up with a convincing lie, Hongjoo calmly asked Minseok if he could leave.

Now, I feel a little abandoned. He could have tried to stay and explain things with me. But, then again, as I watch Hongjoo pace angrily across the living room floor, I don’t blame him. My manager can be fierce when she’s truly pissed. And she definitely is now.

“So, you lied to me. No, you hid this from me. How am I supposed to help you, to protect you, when you hide things this huge from me?” I know she’s not expecting a response. She’s been pacing and muttering like this for five minutes.

But I finally can’t handle the guilt or tension anymore. “I didn’t mean to make things hard for you.”

She finally stops pacing and turns slowly to glare at me. I immediately regret saying anything.

Then she lifts her eyes to the ceiling and sighs. “I just don’t even know where to begin with this, Shin Hyeri. This is not something I have the bandwidth to deal with right now.”

“Then maybe let’s pretend you didn’t see anything?”

“Yeah, sure.” Hongjoo barks out a laugh. “And who do you think the company will blame first when your little secret comes out?”

“It won’t,” I insist. “We’re being careful.”

Hongjoo lifts a disbelieving brow. “Hyeri, this is too risky for both of you right now. The company won’t be happy.”

“Please don’t tell them, Eonni.” I lift my folded hands. I’m ready to get down on my knees if I have to. I can’t give up Minseok, not yet.

She shakes her head sadly as she comes over to sit next to me. “You have to stop this, whatever it is.”

“No!” I’d been expecting the demand, but still my stomach drops hearing the words. “It’s not going to affect the show, I swear.”

“It’s not just about the show.”

Her voice scares me. “Eonni, what’s going on? Is something wrong?”

Hongjoo picks up the bouquet of flowers she brought along with the crushed cake. She stares at them in a daze. “I was coming over here to celebrate.”

I feel the squeeze of guilt. I hate that I’ve put that worried look on her face. The person who’s always been by my side through everything good or bad has been Hongjoo. “You mean the nominations?”

“Yeah, and to tell you that you got the offer. Musical Dreams wants you to be a recurring guest star next season.”

“Wh-what?” I stutter out. That’s not what I was expecting to hear. “How? I mean, when? I mean…how?”

“I know, it’s huge. They want you in LA in two weeks for a table read.”

“Two weeks?” I am shocked. “But what about OCM ? The Hallyu Wave Awards?” What about Minseok?

“You’d fly out right after the awards. You’ll come back to finish up your commitment to OCM . But the producers are already aware and even though they’re disappointed, your contract with the show is over in a few weeks.”

I nod. I knew that. But I’ve heard rumblings of extending our run on the show. I thought that maybe, hopefully, we could keep going. Because a part of me connected the longevity of my time with Minseok to our time on the show. But now, this opportunity feels like one I can’t give up.

“If you say yes to the show, you’ll have to move to LA. It’s good timing since Bright Star is opening an LA branch this fall. They say you could be based out of there.”

“They want me to leave?”

Leave Seoul? Leave Minseok and everything that I’ve been building here?

Hongjoo takes my hand in hers. “They think it would be a fresh start. You’ve done well to fix things here. But there are still antis who could be a threat to your safety. We haven’t figured out who leaked the midsummer backstage video, yet. And we’re continuing to investigate the death threat and the most heinous online comments. It might be bad enough that we’ll have to take legal action. LA might be a safer place for you right now.”

“I need time to think about it,” I whisper.

“They want an answer this week,” Hongjoo says gently, almost apologetically. “You worked so hard for this, Hyeri. It means that people are recognizing your talent.”

“Yeah,” I agree, but why doesn’t hearing this make me happy? Isn’t this what I’ve always wanted? “It’s just a lot to take in.”

“I know it’s scary. But you need to figure out what your priorities are right now. And if you choose this, you have to commit.”

She doesn’t say it out loud, but I know what she’s implying. If I choose this opportunity, I can’t have Minseok too.