Page 70 of Wish Upon a K-Star

“H yeri!” Mom calls after me, slamming out of the car. “Get back here right now. We’re going to miss our flight.”

“I can’t,” I gasp out, starting to hyperventilate.

“Okay, just breathe.” Mom leads me to the curb and sits me down, pushing my head between my knees.

I take in deep gulps of air until I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out anymore.

“Better?” Mom is rubbing circles on my back. It feels good and I don’t want her to stop. It reminds me of when I was seven and I’d stay home sick. Mom would lie next to me in bed and rub circles on my back until I fell asleep.

“I can’t,” I say again.

“Yes, you can, just breathe in slow and then out slow.”

I lift my head to look at her now. “No, I can’t go to LA.”

She blinks at me like she doesn’t understand what I’m saying. “Of course you can go. We’re not even late; we’ll still make the flight.”

“No, Eomma, please listen to me,” I say. “I don’t want to go to LA.”

“That’s ridiculous. This is what you’ve dreamed of. It’s what you’ve been working toward.”

I hear Minseok’s voice in my head, telling me to stop making decisions just to please everyone around me, and I find the courage to shake my head. “No, it’s what you’ve dreamed of. What you’ve wanted me to work toward. I’m only nineteen. I want to have a life, not a career.”

Mom laughs and shakes her head. “Don’t be silly. Anyone would kill for the life you have. You’re a celebrity, Hyeri. The world is obsessed with you.”

“Yeah, and they’re obsessed with catching every single mistake I make. It’s too much. I feel like I’m suffocating.” I pound my fist against my still-tight chest. “Please, don’t make me go.”

Mom looks horrified. Then she shakes her head, her face becoming stern. “Shin Hyeri, you will listen to your mother. I know what’s best for you. Hyejun-ah, start the car, we have a flight to catch.”

“No.”

We both look up in shock at Hyejun’s reply.

“What did you just say to me?” Mom says slowly.

“You heard Hyeri, she doesn’t want to go. Can’t you just listen to her for once?” He doesn’t sound angry, but he sounds firm.

“Oppa,” I rasp out before my throat tightens and I can’t get more words free.

“Fine, I’ll just call a taxi. I will not let you make the biggest mistake of your career,” Mom says pulling out her phone. “You are going to LA with me.”