“That seems to be the implication, but it was never explicitly stated,” I answer. Everyone is looking at me now, so I may as well explain it all. “Kwon Chaeji sent that and a few other photos to me. It’s just from last night, well, early this morning. I woke up to a text telling me to meet her tonight, so I went, and she laid out her terms. She wants me to pretend to publicly date her for a while in exchange for her deleting the pictures.”
“Fake dating?” Sun yells. “What is this, fanfic?”
“What’s in this for her?” Tang questions. “She’s smoking hot. Why does she need someone to act like her boyfriend? Wouldn’t a lot of guys want to date her?”
“She says she likes me, but she also admits she needs someone low-key and respectable for her image. She wants to be taken seriously as an actress, and apparently the way to make that happen is to date a non-celebrity with an office job,” I say, giving Sun’s arm a squeeze as he curses under his breath.
“So this benefits her. And she’s blackmailing you to make it happen,” Lalo summarizes.
I nod. “You’re not wrong. But she claims this is also helping us, because if I’m supposedly dating her, no one will suspect I’m with Sun.”
Chita looks concerned. “Do people think that?”
“I don’t know why they would, but you know Ship*Post has put pieces together out of less,” Jase interjects. “Or someone had some idea to be out following you.”
“So you’re willing to go along with this—to essentially hide your relationship in plain sight—and help her out.” Ryo shakes his head. “I can’t decide if it’s making the best of a shitty situation or just stupid to even consider.”
I appreciate his bluntness. “Don’t get me wrong, Ihateeverything about this,” I say. “My only concern here is making sure that this doesn’t do anything to fuck with Sun’s life or career or with RYSING. Whatever might happen to me is not that big of a deal. And if that means I have to be seen in public with her a few times, so be it.”
I’m surprised by the silence that follows what I’ve said until Nikko goes, “Damn, you got a good one, Sun.”
“And this is why we didn’t try harder to talk him out of dating you.” Chita is smiling, too. “I don’t support what she’s doing or how she’s going about it, but I appreciate the way you’re looking out for him and us.”
“Just don’t be a martyr,” Jase adds. “You’re a great guy and we all know it. She’s taking advantage of that. Don’t let her get away with too much. We’ll find some other way to deal with it if we have to.”
“I’m never watching anything she’s in again,” Tang declares. “Why does she have to be hotandcrazy?”
“How do you feel about this, Lux-ah?” Lalo asks him quietly as the others join in on Tang’s boycott.
“I hate it. I hate her,” he snarls. “But I don’t know what else to do either. I think if we tried to do something to stop her, it would turn into a much bigger problem for all of us.”
“She probably knows that,” I comment, the thought just now occurring to me. I wonder if that was her actual intention all along. “She may have figured out she doesn’t really have todoanything like release the photos, because there’s nothing we can do to stop her without causing a messier situation for ourselves. Damn. She might be more clever than I originally gave her credit for.”
“Keep us in the loop, please,” Chita requests. “I don’t know how we’d help, but, like Jase said, we’ll try to figure something out.”
“I appreciate all of you,” I say honestly.
Sun elbows me. “Weappreciate all of you.”
??? ???
“Notaga-aa-in!” Nikko whines as he and Jase lose another round of the game we’re playing..
Sun practically collapses in a heap, laughing at Nikko’s distress and Jase’s complete cluelessness at what went wrong. “How are youso badat everything?”
Jase looks offended for about three seconds before he seems to realize he can’t make any sort of argument against the accusation. The evidence is heavily stacked against him after a couple tense matches of yutnori and a decisive loss at cards earlier. “I’m American. That’s my excuse.”
Everyone cracks up, including Taeha and Mihyun, who have loosened up significantly over the course of the evening. While they had been warned they’d need to keep the details of game night to themselves, they were still more than a little surprised to show up at Jase’s place and be greeted by two members of RYSING.
Mihyun had been especially stunned, as it turns out he is a Chita-biased fan of the group. It had taken him more than a few moments to recover and speak freely, but then Sun had informed him that Chita was his roommate and was definitely at home, one floor up, and he would be happy to invite himdown. Mihyun had refused, saying that was not necessary and blushing an intense shade of red while Taeha begged him to please, please call him. Sun had eventually taken mercy on Mihyun, but promised to arrange a casual run-in sometime in the future.
It was enough to break the ice, though, and make everybody pretty comfortable, even more so once the beer and soju came out. Nikko in particular seemed to be living his best life, getting to play host to new friends in the home he shares with his boyfriend. He barely sits down before popping up again to refill drinks or snacks.
Noticing Jase’s besotted smile as he watches Nikko enjoying himself makes me wonder how I look when I’ve got my eyes on Sun. Probably like someone stumbling out of the dark and seeing daylight for the first time in weeks. He’s got me so whipped and he knows it—everyone knows it. Jase took one look at me and Sun when we showed up and bit his lip to keep from laughing as he said, “Nice outfits,” referring to the matching denim and designer t-shirts Sun had talked me into. Despite my protest against couples clothes with Chaeji, I am very much powerless when it comes to saying ‘no’ to Sun.
“I know you’re trying your best,” Nikko says soothingly, patting at Jase’s cheek. “I just wish your best was a little bit better.”
“Oh my god, that was savage!” Sun loses it again, almost throwing himself off the couch as he cackles. Seeing him as happy as he has been all night is a welcome respite from the stress and anxiety of the last couple weeks of living with the Chaeji Situation.
