The writer’s phone rang a while later and Eun Gi realized he’d just been staring blankly at his script.
“Finally.” He picked up the phone. “Hello?”
There was silence for a moment and then a woman snapped, “Where’s Tessa?”
“She’s asleep and safe.”
“Bullshit. Tell me where she is and who the hell you are.”
“My name is Baek Eun Gi. Tessa-ssi and I work together on the drama. Who are you?”
“B-Baek Eun Gi? The Baek Eun Gi from 24/7?”
“Yes.”
“Why is she with you?”
“Why don’t you tell me who you are so I’m not providing information to a stranger?”
“Right, sorry. I’m Kelly Walsh, Tessa’s best friend. She’s staying with me while she’s in Seoul.” Another pause. “Now, answer my question.”
Eun Gi explained the situation and the subsequent difficulty in finding any useful information to get Tessa home.
“Why did she collapse? Why didn’t you take her to the hospital?”
“She said she had a migraine, and she also had a fair amount to drink at dinner, but she said she’d be fine and just needed to sleep.”
“I want to see her. I’m going to call back on video and if you don’t answer… so help me God—”
“Okay.”
Kelly hung up, and the video call came through. Eun Gi saw her face shift as she realized he wasn’t lying about his identity, then he rotated the phone to where Tessa was curled up. He lifted the blanket for Kelly to see that her friend was untouched and clutching one of the pillows.
“Tess? Wake up so I know you’re safe.”
Tessa cracked an eye open, but closed it again and turned over. “Sleeping.”
“Shit. The subway is already down for the night. I’ll wake up my husband. We can take a taxi to come and get her.”
Eun Gi turned the screen to face himself. He wasn’t entirely certain he wanted this strange woman to have his address and come into his home. The clock on the microwave told him it was after one in the morning.
“She can stay until morning if it’s too much trouble. The others won’t be back tonight.”
“Who are the others involved here?”
“Hwan is the only one here with me. Sung Soo and Min Jae have a separate apartment, but either way, they’re all out for the night.”
Kelly scrutinized his face through the screen. “If anything happens to her, I will find a way to make you pay for it.”
“Noted.” It wouldn’t be difficult for her to do so. The fans could go either way, supporting or destroying him if someone put forward allegations. “You have nothing to worry about. I just want to sleep, but I was waiting for someone to wonder where she was.”
Kelly puffed up her cheeks. “Okay, fine. She can stay there, but let me know as soon as she wakes up.”
“Of course.”
Emotions flickered over Kelly’s face before she settled on acceptance. “Thank you.”
They parted ways after he provided his phone number to her so they could keep in contact. He could always get a new number if she leaked it. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to.
Eun Gi slipped into his room and tried his best to ignore the sleeping woman on his couch. He pulled the blankets up to his chin, hoping against hope that his nightmares would give him the night off with a stranger in his home.
“Hyung, wake up!”
Eun Gi ignored the familiar voice on the other side of the door. Maybe its owner would leave him in peace for a few more moments of sleep.
The sound of a body thumping against the door had Eun Gi rolling over to stare at the ceiling, but exhaustion kept him pinned.
“I’m awake,” he called out.
“Prove it!”
Eun Gi smiled. “Doesn’t speaking prove I’m awake?”
The door cracked open. “No! I need to see your face.”
A pink-haired bullet launched into the air and landed on the bed, flattening Eun Gi into the mattress. The air whooshed from his lungs. He struggled with the ball of energy that was Jeon Min Jae, the maknae of their group. Eun Gi nearly landed face-first as he scrambled off the bed.
Min Jae grinned. “Now you’re up.”
“I told you to wake him, not crush him.” Sung Soo, the eldest of their group, stood by the door with a bowl in hand. He shook his head, an indulgent smile on his face. Strands of blue-tinted hair escaped into his eyes, and he pushed them back with his arm. “You two are ridiculous.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t love us, Hyung!” Min Jae shouted to Sung Soo from the bed.
“I don’t even know yooou,” Sung Soo sang as he made his way back into the kitchen.
Eun Gi groaned and wandered bleary-eyed into the living room. “What’re you all doing here?”
Usually they ate in Sung Soo’s suite since he had his own kitchen set up just so, and was the only one of them who actually enjoyed cooking.
“We were curious about your guest.” Sung Soo added the egg mixture to a pan.
Eun Gi froze when he saw the writer still nestled on his couch.
“Oh. Right.”
Tessa
Tessa woke to a blazing sunbeam piercing through the large window. She grumbled and tried to burrow under her blanket, away from the light. Her head ached like the devil, but at some point she’d have to open her eyes. Voices were nearby, and it took a few moments to process that they were male and speaking Korean.
She pulled the blanket down a little and was met with a sight she didn’t recognize at all.
Tessa sat up carefully, her weight sinking into the leather couch. Another equally sumptuous couch sat perpendicular to her, and a huge television was mounted on the wall. Her head swivelled toward the stainless-steel kitchen where the voices and the scent of omelets were coming from. Tessa froze.
Holy shit. It’s 24/7! Why are they here? Why am I here?
Hwan noticed she was awake and motioned to UpBeat. He approached, arms crossed over his chest, and Tessa fought the urge to hide under the blanket again.
“How do you feel?” UpBeat sighed when she didn’t immediately answer. “English?”
“Yes, please.” She was grateful to be able to use her native language while her head was throbbing. “Where am I?”
“Our apartment,” UpBeat said before explaining how she’d ended up there.
Tessa’s cheeks flamed. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. Do you need anything?”
“Painkillers?”
UpBeat made the request in Korean, and Hwan disappeared for a minute, returning with a small pill bottle and a glass of water. Tessa accepted them without a word.
She was in the home of her favourite performers in existence, and had to figure out how to avoid making a fool of herself. Easy, right? Her tongue was a lead block in her mouth. Hwan watched her intently. She needed to say words.
“Thank you.”
Hwan blinked at her before the English words registered. He grinned, his dimples fluttering to life.
Inside, Tessa was screaming, but outside she remained neutral, weighed down by exhaustion.
“Sorry, he doesn’t speak English,” UpBeat said.
“Just Korean and Mandarin.” Tessa’s eyes widened, and she slapped a hand over her mouth. “God, I’m sorry. That’s so creepy. I promise I haven’t memorized your blood types or the names of your childhood pets.”
UpBeat gave her a chagrined look. “That’s a relief.”
Jeon Min Jae, or Jaybird, as Tessa knew him, loped into the living room and jumped onto the couch opposite her. “Good morning!”
Tessa stared at him, agape. She reeled her shock in and pasted a smile onto her face.
“Jae, don’t bother her.” UpBeat shooed him away.
Tessa swallowed down the pills and the water, wishing desperately for a toothbrush. She tried not to think about how her hair and makeup must be faring after fainting and sleeping it off on a stra
nger’s couch.
“Thank you for keeping me safe last night.”
UpBeat nodded. “You should call Kelly. She was worried.”
Tessa cringed at the litany of missed texts displayed on her phone screen. She sent a quick reply to tell Kelly she was awake and safe and would be heading back at the earliest opportunity.
“Do you want breakfast before you go home?” Sung Soo asked from the kitchen.
Her stomach heaved at the mere suggestion of food.
“I don’t want to be a bother.” Tessa winced. “More than I already have been, I mean. I’ll eat when I get back to Kelly’s. It’s not far from here, or at least I don’t think. What district are we in?”
“Gangnam,” UpBeat answered. “I’ll call a car for you.”
If she’d been feeling well and meeting them under better circumstances, she might not have been so cripplingly awkward, but alas. The only thing she wanted right now was for the floor to open up and swallow her.
She crossed her legs, squirming in a vain attempt to thwart the desperate need to pee.
Hwan sat on the other couch and pointed toward the hall opposite the kitchen. “Toilet.”
“Thank you.” Tessa nodded, regretting the movement as a fresh wave of throbbing hit her. She slipped away, hiding out in the bathroom, washing up as best she could without any supplies. It wasn’t as bad as she feared. The makeup Kelly had put on her had mostly held in place instead of turning her into a raccoon.
Witchcraft.
Water tamed some of the frizz, but overall her hair was a bit of a lost cause. She emerged tentatively after wasting as much time as she could.
UpBeat was fussing in the kitchen, likely eager to have her out of the way. His phone rang before she could sit back down.
“The car is here. I’ll take you down.”
Tessa thanked them for the hospitality and grabbed her purse, pulling on her shoes at the door. “My coat?”
“You weren’t wearing one when you collapsed. I may have left it at the restaurant.” He fished one out of the closet and handed it to her. “We start filming soon. You can bring it back to me then.”
Tessa nodded slowly, dying inside over the concept of wearing her idol’s clothes. She was being ridiculous, because it was just a coat… but, it was his coat.
She slipped her arms into the blue garment and buttoned it up.
Do not, and I repeat, do not sniff. She could smell his shampoo, or something equally fragrant lingering on the fabric. Coconut? Oh my God. Stop it. You’re a grown-ass adult.
The trip down to the front doors was silent and awkward. Tessa wanted so badly to be charming, but she felt like trash. She was in too much pain to be witty, to put on a bright smile and give him some reason to think of her past this moment.
“Have a safe trip back,” he said, pausing at the exit doors of the apartment building.
“Thank you, again.” She forced her lips into an upwards curve, but she wasn’t certain whether it came across as a smile or a grimace. The doorman cast her a speculative look as she slipped past him and settled into the black sedan waiting out front.
The Han River glittered in the morning sun as they crossed it, traveling from Gangnam to Itaewon. Tessa thanked the driver upon arrival and was declined when she tried to pay. UpBeat had already covered it.
Kelly was at the doors when Tessa got out. “You’re here! How are you feeling?”
“Like a pile of ass. I’m sorry I worried you. I should have come home before dinner, but I wasn’t sure how to excuse myself when it was the first time meeting everyone.”
“It’s okay. Let’s get you upstairs. I know your migraines knock you on your ass, so you can have some food and then you’re going back to bed.”
“Okay.”
“Be prepared to love me because I made you canjica. I ordered in the maize so I’d have it when you were here. I figured it would be easy on your stomach and at least get some food into you.”
“You’re a goddess.”
Inside, Tessa changed into pajamas while Kelly ladled out a bowl of the sweet maize porridge. With a satisfied stomach, Tessa climbed into Kelly and Min Joo’s bed with the curtains drawn.
“I’ll check on you later,” Kelly said. “I’m going to film some videos while you rest. Just some vlogs so you don’t have to listen to me clanging around for a cooking one. Sweet dreams, Tess.”
Tessa nodded, waiting to succumb to sleep. Maybe when she woke she’d find all this humiliation had been a dream.
Chapter 4
Eun Gi
“Well, that was certainly interesting.” Sung Soo portioned their breakfast onto plates and passed one to Eun Gi.
“Hyung, I’m starving!” Min Jae sat on the couch with Tessa’s blanket draped over his shoulders like a cloak. “I’m tired from the club, and I’ve only had soju and peanuts.”
“That’s what we’ve all had. Set the table please.”
Min Jae flopped over in protest. “She has nice perfume.”
“Don’t be weird,” Eun Gi snapped at the maknae.
“I’m just saying!”
Sung Soo rolled his eyes. “Jae, this will go faster if you help instead of watch.”
The maknae huffed and stood, still wearing his blanket cloak as he fished out bowls and chopsticks.
The four of them sat together at the coffee table, the remaining active members of the wildly popular idol group, 24/7. They were in a strange sort of limbo with three of the seven members fulfilling their military service, which left the rest to navigate the challenges of keeping the group going. Sung Soo would be next in two years, then Eun Gi and Hwan in four, and lastly Min Jae in five years. One by one their careers would be put on hold under the mandatory draft just before they reached the age cap of thirty.
“You start filming next week, right?” Sung Soo asked.
“Yeah.” Eun Gi blinked, having lost focus staring at his food.
“Don’t sound too excited,” Sung Soo teased.
“I can’t tell if I am excited.” Eun Gi sighed and chewed his rice. “It doesn’t feel the same without the others, and I guess acting is as good a distraction as anything. I don’t have the motivation for music that I used to.”
“It’s weird for everyone,” Hwan pointed out. “We can’t let our careers go though. Yoon will be back this summer, and we have to keep up the hype for the comeback.”
“What if there isn’t one?” Eun Gi whispered.
Sung Soo laid a hand on his shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a lot of pressure. We’re losing so many years and we won’t be a full group until Min Jae is done with his service. There’s so much up in the air.”
Stop it.
The slope down a wicked spiral of anxiety was crumbling under his feet.
“There’s not going to be military reform before we have to deal with it ourselves. We just have to adapt,” said Sung Soo pragmatically. “There’s no way for any of us to get out of it.”
Eun Gi squeezed his chopsticks, knuckles white. “I know that.”
Their inevitable separation was a brick wall, and he was careening towards a collision that he feared would destroy him.
“Hey.” Sung Soo scooted closer and looped an arm around Eun Gi. “We still have each other even if we’re not all together.”
Appetite gone, he pushed away his bowl. “I’m going for a run before I have to head out.”
They knew enough to keep any protests about meal-skipping to themselves. After he burned off some of his energy he would try eating again.
The treadmill in the building’s gym whirred under his feet. He ran until his lungs burned, and slid off the slowing belt, panting. He tried not to let his anxiety get the better of him, but success was sporadic at best. Forcing himself into physical exhaustion was the most effective method he’d found so far. Fortunate, considering the commonality of that state in the industry he’d chosen.
When he re-entered the apartment, Min Jae smacked a
kiss onto each of Eun Gi’s cheeks. “Feel better?”
“I guess,” Eun Gi murmured. His food was still there waiting for him, and he dug in after popping it into the microwave. They rejoined him around the coffee table.
Hwan settled next to him. “I know you theoretically already know, but I’m reminding you anyway. There’s a lot of good to focus on. You’re the lead in a drama, Sung Soo is working on a solo album, I’m working on the Mandarin translations of our last album. Min Jae is existing.”
“Hey!” Min Jae shoved a socked foot into Hwan’s ribs, toppling both men against Sung Soo.
Hwan walloped Min Jae in the head with a couch pillow. Sung Soo crawled to safety and pulled the table and food out of the way as the maknae line descended into chaos. He fetched a spray bottle from under the sink and proceeded to take aim, nailing them in the face. Yelps and flails broke out as they scrambled away from the onslaught.
“Can we have one meal together without you three rolling around on each other?”
“Hyung,” Min Jae whined, “you’re just jealous because you’re too old.”
“I am not old.” Sung Soo hurled himself into the pile. They flattened, the couch sliding back from the impact, sending them sprawling.
Min Jae dissolved into laughter. “You’re so easy, Hyung.”
Sung Soo draped his dead weight across them.
“Hyung, I can’t breathe.” Hwan shoved at Sung Soo.
“You should have thought about that before you allowed Min Jae to call me old. My bones are too brittle to get up. You all must suffer.”
“Jae, apologize,” Hwan squeaked out.
Min Jae sighed and rolled his eyes. “Hyung, I’m sorry. You’re the most youthful and vigorous, the most loved and respected hyung in history.”
Sung Soo rolled off them, and Hwan sucked in a grateful breath.
“I’m the one who’s getting too old,” Hwan complained. “I can’t handle being crushed by your giant butt, Hyung.”
“Excuse you, everyone loves my butt. All the fans say so.”
Heart and Seoul (The Seoul Series Book 1) Page 3