“I’d like that.” I’m curious to talk to Kit and Daehyun now that I know who they are. I can tell how important they are to Jihoon. Plus, they might dish some dirt on his early years. “What about Alex?”
“He says he’s busy.” He grimaces. “Cleaning up the mess I made.”
I’m dressed before Jihoon and go out to the kitchen to fetch some coffee. The fridge incorporates NASA-level technology, and I poke buttons until it disgorges some spherical ice from a slot for Jihoon’s cup.
Kit comes in while I’m struggling, and we look at each other. I now know he’s StarLune’s leader as well as Jihoon’s best friend. With everything out in the open, he looks more tired but less tense.
“Coffee?” I say to open conversation.
He passes me a cup that I tuck under the machine. “I heard your flight is booked for tonight,” I say.
“It is.” Kit’s eyes are trained on the slowly filling cup.
I get enough terse answers from my job, where I actually get paid to put up with that shit. I don’t need it from him, so I nod and start to leave. Hopefully he’ll be in a more talkative mood at lunch, but I can’t worry about it now. I’ve got enough on my plate.
“Ariadne.” Kit holds up a hand to stop me. “Can we talk?”
“About what?” I put Jihoon’s cup on the counter and take a sip of my own coffee.
An unhappy smile tugs at his mouth. “Jihoon told me you were smart, so you must know.”
I automatically go on the offensive. “I assume you want to ask me personal questions about your friend instead of asking him directly.”
Under his breath, he mutters, “First Sangjun, now Jihoon.” He raises his voice. “We all want to quit sometimes. It can be a hard life, but it’s what we chose because the rewards outweigh the sacrifices.”
I look at him curiously. He sounds bitter. “Do they?” I ask. “For you as well? All of you?”
The machine beeps but he ignores it. “You have no idea the damage you’ll do to him if you don’t let this go,” he says.
I glare at him, then glance toward the bedrooms and lower my voice. “Don’t you mean damage to StarLune?”
“That, too,” he says. “Although Jihoon will bear the most pressure. He has no time for a relationship. He’s about to start working eighteen-hour days. How do you see yourself fitting in? What will you take from him so he can make space for you?”
Kit has some nerve. I put my coffee on the counter next to Jihoon’s because I can feel the tension flowing down my arms, an indicator my hands are about to start shaking. I tamp down my instinctive response, which is to tell Kit to take a long jump off a short pier. He’s trying to protect his friend, I tell myself. He’s also protecting his precious StarLune and the many millions it makes him, but that perspective is less kind.
“You should ask Jihoon that,” I say.
“Jihoon tries to do his best for everyone around him, which means he gets stuck,” Kit says slowly.
“Stuck.”
“If I want to go left, you wish to go right, and he’s in the middle, how can he make everyone happy?”
I decide to be difficult. “I don’t want to go right.”
“I know you don’t want to go right,” Kit says through gritted teeth. “I’m using direction as a metaphor for the many priorities competing for his very limited time.”
“Yeah, I get that, thanks. I also know he’s an adult who came to Toronto by himself, stayed because he wanted to, and is leaving because you’re making him. None of it has to do with me, so don’t try to paint me as some Yoko Ono stealing your man because that’s bullshit, and you know it.”
“You’ve barely known each other a month,” Kit says with disgust. “You think it’s worth Jihoon risking his career for that? The dream he’s worked for since he was a teenager?”
Like I’ve worked for mine. I don’t reply.
“Do you know what the fans will do if they find out about you? You can kiss your privacy goodbye.” He eyes me. “Unless that’s what you want.”
I pick up both coffees and put Hana’s advice for dealing with asshole comments into play. “Wow,” I say, holding his gaze. For good measure, I shake my head sadly, as if thinking about what a pitiful human he is to say such a disgusting thing. “Wow.”
Then I leave.
