Page 69 of Wish Upon a K-Star

M inseok is in a horrible mood. He hates having his arm in a sling, but Hanbin-hyeong insists after he pulled his stitches this morning.

As Minseok passes Hyeri’s door he pauses to knock. But just like last night, she doesn’t answer. She’s either not home or not answering. And he doesn’t know which explanation frustrates him more.

He automatically reaches for his phone and then remembers it got crushed in the fight with Jeongho. Hanbin promised he’d get a replacement but has yet to do so. Another reason to be frustrated.

When Minseok steps into his room, Jongdae is waiting for him.

Yet one more thing testing his patience.

“What are you doing in here?” He doesn’t even try to hide his annoyance.

“I want to check on you.”

Minseok lets out a bitter laugh. “Oh really? Why? You feel bad that I got stabbed?”

Jongdae flinches a bit at that, but he doesn’t leave. “Yes, I do actually.”

Minseok rolls his eyes. He used to like how blunt Jongdae was, but today, like most things, it’s just getting on his nerves. “I’m tired from all the pain meds, I can’t talk.”

He flops onto his bed, then curses as his shoulder lands a bit too hard.

“You okay?” Jongdae starts forward.

“I said get out!”

Jongdae freezes and so does his expression. Then it drops into a scowl. He’s finally had enough. He’s been trying to talk to Minseok for months, but his friend has brushed him off. So, he accepted it, stayed out of Minseok’s way. Partly because of his guilt. But partly because he took the excuse not to confront the broken parts of their friendship. Now it’s getting ridiculous. Screw being careful. They’ll have it out now and if the rift between them can’t be fixed, he’ll deal with it.

“You’re using being hurt as an excuse to be an asshole,” Jongdae says.

Minseok looks astonished. “Are you serious right now?”

“Not just your injury, but whatever happened between you and Hyeri.”

Minseok clams up at the mention of her name. He doesn’t want to hear it, especially not coming from Jongdae. “I’m tired.” He turns on his good side, facing the wall.

“She came to see you.”

It’s the only thing that could get his attention. Minseok turns slightly, eyeing JD to see if he’s making it up to get under his skin. But Jongdae just stands there expectantly.

“Did she really?” Minseok asks, finally sitting up. “When? Where is she now?”

“She wanted to say goodbye before she left for LA.”

“What? But she’s hurt. She can’t travel.” Minseok is on his feet now.

“It’s just for the table read, she says she’ll be back,” Jongdae reminds him. But it doesn’t calm Minseok.

Instead, he storms out of the room with purpose, intent on leaving to go after Hyeri. “How long ago was she here?”

“Minseok-ah.” Jongdae captures his friend’s arm to stop him. “She’s probably halfway to the airport by now.”

Minseok shakes his head, his shoulders deflating with the realization of defeat. “I didn’t get a chance to tell her that I regret—” His voice cracks.

Jongdae isn’t sure what to do. It’s a complicated thing, wanting to console his friend but unsure if his comfort will be accepted. So, Jongdae merely lays a hand on Minseok’s good shoulder.

“I shouldn’t have told you that you were being selfish with her,” he says softly, the fight gone from him. He no longer wants to lash out with his anger. His friend is hurting.

“I was being selfish.” Minseok sighs. “I pretended like I was okay with keeping things casual. And then the offer came up and I kept pretending like I was okay until I ended up pushing her away.”

“Is that what you want to tell her now?” Jongdae asks. “That you want her to stay?”

Minseok shakes his head. “No, I can’t do that. I can’t make her give up something this big for me.”

“You didn’t want to be the reason she’d have regrets.” Jongdae nods. “I get it. I feel that way with Sooyeon sometimes. She lost her contract because of me. Some days I’m scared she’ll look at me and realize that it wasn’t worth it.”

“Yeah, well, it’s because of that ugly face of yours. Of course, she’s going to regret it.”

Jongdae cracks a smile at the familiar ribbing he’s more used to from his friend.

“I should have told you about Sooyeon to begin with. And I should have apologized better when it came out.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Did you really think I couldn’t be trusted?”

“No.” Jongdae looks genuinely shocked, and it goes a long way to soothe the festering wound that Minseok has been nursing. “I was just scared because I wasn’t sure how to protect Sooyeon. I guess I didn’t end up doing a good job of it.”

Minseok nods. In a strange way, he can understand that fear so much better now than he would have a few months ago. With everything that happened with Hyeri, he’s well aware how complicated these things can get. “I shouldn’t have let my anger at you sit so long. I’m too used to being the easygoing one. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone by taking things too seriously.”

“I know you better than that, though. You should have been able to tell me.”

Minseok grins. “Are we going to kiss and make up now?”

“You wish.” Jongdae recoils slightly.

And just for that, Minseok leans in and smacks his lips hard against his friend’s.

“Oh wow, what did we miss?” Jaehyung asks, walking into the apartment with Jun and Robbie. They’re carrying takeout bags.

“Our love-line has been restored,” Minseok says, throwing his good arm around his friend’s stiff shoulders. JD tries to push away, but it only makes Minseok hold on tighter. The more Jongdae resists, the more fun he is having.

“Ya, stop that!” Jongdae shoves him and accidentally smacks Minseok’s bad shoulder.

He winces at the stab of pain that radiates down his arm. Everyone immediately crowds around him.

“Hey, Seok-ah, you okay?” Jongdae asks as Minseok clings to him for support. “You need to go back to the hospital?”

Minseok gasps out. “I think…”

“Yeah?” Jongdae asks, leaning closer to hear his friend’s request.

“I think that if you kiss it, it’ll feel better.”

“Ya!” Jongdae drops Minseok, who stumbles back, doubled over with laughter.

“Do you guys want to eat?” Jun asks, pulling out fried chicken from one of the bags.

“Yes!” Jaehyung says immediately, eyes widening with delight.

Minseok smiles, knowing that things are already feeling lighter in the apartment. But he hesitates, glancing at the door again. Because as much as he knows he should let her go, he can’t stop wondering if he can catch up with Hyeri before she takes off.

“Call her,” Jongdae says, holding out his phone.

Minseok takes it, dialing Hyeri’s number. But just as his phone rings, so does another in the room. The others all check their pockets, but none of them are the culprit. Robbie, who’s leaning against the back of the couch, reaches between the cushions and pulls out Hyeri’s phone.

“She must have accidentally left it,” Jongdae says as Minseok takes it, the screen now declaring a missed call.

He looks back and forth between the phone and his friends.

“Go after her,” Jaehyung says.

“What?” Minseok frowns.

“You’ll regret it if you don’t,” Robbie says with a knowing grin.

Minseok looks at Jongdae, who nods encouragingly. “Take my phone, call a taxi.”

“Thanks,” Minseok says, racing out of the apartment.