“Roz,” Claire picked up the call on the first ring. “You there?”
“Yeah, is everything okay?” Roz sounded slightly worried on the other end of the line. “You don’t usually call me this late your time.”
“Sort of, yes,” She answered, sounding as sure of the answer as a blind man confirming a color. “I’ve just done something stupid, or I think I have.”
“Uh-oh,” Roz huffed, obviously taking a seat, anticipating a long talk already. “See, that has me worried now because that is my job in our relationship. I’m the stupid one, remember?”
“Sure, yeah, but maybe I am going to be making up for it all in one fell swoop,” Claire pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Oh no, that is a lot to make up for,” She confirmed. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
“First you have to promise me you aren’t going to freak out on me for not telling you the first part already,” She began, trying to prepare her friend before she got into any of it.
“I will try but I make no promises,” Roz replied, now sitting on the edge of her seat to hear just what her historically level headed friend had done.
“So I never told you who I was working with, did I,” She started, knowing her friend, a huge fan of the boys, was going to freak out a little over the fact she knew them at all.
“No…..why?” Roz said slowly and suspiciously.
“I’ve ended up at KXO and I’ve been working with YTHTonic for a couple of months now,” Claire blurted out. “And you can never breathe a word about that to anyone EVER.”
“Oh my god,” Roz practically shouted from the other end of the phone. “You are lying! You could not have kept that from me for this long! You cannot know FX personally, the world is too unfair if you do!”
“Remember when I told you not to freak out over the first part?” She reminded her friend.
“And I made no promises about that,” Roz quipped back. “I won’t tell a soul but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this before now.”
“Okay well are you ready for me to tell you the rest?” Claire questioned with a sigh, bracing herself for the next part of her confession.
“I don’t know,” Her friend said honestly. “I feel slightly betrayed and all but I think I can understand and get over it. So, yes, okay I am ready for the next part...as long as you aren’t like sleeping with FX or something...that I am not ready for.
“I can at least say who I am sleeping with is not FX, for your peace of mind,” Claire managed to get out, ready for just about any reaction.
“Well of course you aren’t,” Her friend responded, half hearing what her friend said and responding before she fully processed everything her friend had said, or rather skillfully, had not said. “Wait did you just imply that you are sleeping with someone.”
“Yes…” Claire drew out her answer into what should have been several syllables.
“Did...did you also imply you are sleeping with someone else…in the group,” Roz asked and was met with a pregnant silence on the other end of the conversation. “Oh…my...god, tell me I am getting this wrong.”
“N...no, not really,” Claire finally responded timidly. “In my defence...he kissed me first.”
“Oh I hate you just a little,” Roz groaned. “Whoever it is, of course they kissed you first, because even your mistakes are way cooler and more fun than mine have ever been.”
“Cool, sure,” She shrugged. “Achingly sexy and confusing, really but whatever.”
“Okay, okay, who is it? I am dying to know at this point.” Her friend prompted, on the edge of her seat all over again.
“Cheol Min,” She admitted carefully.
“Noooo,” Roz groaned. “No way you are that lucky that he, what, just threw himself at you!?”
“Not as such,” Claire squirmed.
“Okay, just go back to where everything started,” Roz demanded. “And don’t leave anything out.”
“Well, do you remember when you called a while back when you got really shit faced?” Claire began. From there she filled her friend in on that afternoon, the rain, the first kiss, all the way up to him coming back from the short overseas trip with a few gifts and a surprise night of passion. Her friend listened mostly, occasionally asking for explanations or additional information here and there.
“I don’t know how you managed to keep this to yourself,” Roz admitted. “I would have called you the first day I met them...then when Cheol gave me a second look...and definitely when I had sex with him on every surface of my house with him. But I guess that's why they trust you to have a job working with them. You know when to keep your lips sealed, even from your best friend.”
“I mean it’s in my contract that I can’t talk about my work or what I know about the members of the band,” She justified. “Imagine what their lives would be like if they had to worry about anyone with the company saying something about seeing them and what they are up to all the time. They already have oddly limited lives outside of work and the dorms, if during the time they were practicing or learning something or just eating at the cafe, they had to be on guard because someone could be filming or something… It is hard enough as it is for them.”
“Sure, fine, I understand,” Roz allowed. “But I would bet that most people still know that their friends or family work for KXO.”
“Most yes,” Claire agreed. “But then again, most of them work with the trainees who are nowhere near famous yet and if they work with some of the bigger names, they would never disclose it. Sasaeng fans are really not a joke here. YTHTonic so far hasn’t had anything major here, but if people know that you are their manager, camera person, or something innocuous, they try to learn about you so they can find some way to get in with the members. I’ve been hearing some stories from other people around work and...yeah I don’t want to get mixed up in that.”
“Which is why you started sleeping with one of them,” Roz said pointedly.
“Admittedly, this was not what I intended to do,” Claire responded. “And I already said I did something stupid.”
“I can’t believe I am going to say this,” Roz felt her heart sink at the advice she was about to give. “But maybe you need to just break it off and leave...and just suggesting that made me feel nauseous because I would 100% kill for the chance you have right now, just getting to meet them.”
“I know, but I think I’ve stupidly fallen really hard for him,” Claire admitted, biting her lip as she did so.
“You’re sure you didn’t just fall in lust?” Roz asked. “I mean I have been known to confuse the two before.”
“There is lust there,” She readily conceded. “But I think if that is all it was, then I would have let him come and stay tonight too.”
“He tried to follow you home again, huh? And you said no?” Roz couldn’t help but laugh a bit at her friend. “I’m proud of you for saying no, since I know you have a tendency to take in strays whenever you meet them.”
“I don’t know that I think he’s a stray exactly,” Claire shifted uncomfortably.
“Okay, maybe not in the traditional sense,” Roz allowed. “He’s not a scrub, that is for sure. But he certainly seems to have gotten stuck on you.”
“Yes, I guess, though it isn’t like he is alone on that part,” Claire flopped back on the couch. “He is really easy to love.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say something like that before,” The tone of her friend was a mix of surprise and giddiness.
“You aren’t supposed to be excited about that,” Claire whined.
“Why not?” Roz giggled. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you really in love. Oh! Have you already told him you love him?”
“No! I’ve known him for a couple of months!” She sounded slightly taken aback by the suggestion. “It isn’t something you just say to someone.”
“Fine, fine,” Her friend waved away her objections.
“What am I supposed to do?” She
asked after a pause.
“You mean other than enjoy playing around with that stellar bod?” Roz joked.
“You aren’t helping me here,” Claire groaned.
“Sorry,” She cleared her throat. “Honestly, what you are doing is reckless and you will be lucky if you keep it secret even these last few months before you think your job is going to be ending. The dispassionately smart thing to do is get out. Leave the job, leave him for the time he has left under his no dating contract and see where you are in a year. If he is all0wed to date, then maybe go for it with the blessing of his management if you both still feel the same.”
“Right, yes, can you tell him that for me?” Claire laughed ruefully, having presented this option to Cheol before. “I can’t really say no to him when I see him face to face.”
“You seem to have already made the decision to be with him, if the sexy time is any indication so…” Her friend pointed out. “Not that you can’t change your mind whenever.”
“Yeah...” She felt a heaviness in her chest when she thought of trying to put some distance between herself and Cheol. “You’ll still love me even if I come home a complete disgrace, right?”
“Pfft, of course.” Roz scoffed at the stupid question. “Can I live vicariously through you now?”
“You want more details?” Claire asked.
“Desperately,” Her friend confirmed in an eager tone.
***
Cheol tried to do something productive with his evening, meeting with Changho and Jaejin to work on a little producing. They got a little done with the stuff they had recorded before leaving, feeling pretty good about the bit that they got done. They called it a night earlier than they usually did, especially when they had a free day to sleep in as much as they pleased the next day. Everyone else busied themselves with little things as they puttered around the dorms, returning to some sense of normalcy after their whirlwind trip.
Cheol ran into Wonjung in the kitchen as they both went for a late night snack around 2:30 in the morning.
“Oh, Claire wants to know what you want as a reward,” He finally remembered to pass along the message.
“Ah, yeah,” Wonjung nodded with a confident smile. “I decided on a trip to the arcade if she can figure out how to do that.”
“Could be a little hard to convince KXO to let us just go out and play around for half a day,” He responded, mostly thinking out loud.
“I know,” Wonjung admitted. “Arcades are one of my favorite things and I thought maybe she could get the company to let us go if we are doing well enough.”
“If anyone can get us a day to play, it’s probably Claire,” Cheol chuckled, a warm feeling rising in his chest at the thought of a sort of arcade date with her.
“Yeah,” Wonjung agreed. “It has been good to have her around to help out and to get us some free time to do fun things together.”
“Also…” Cheol cleared his throat as he looked around to make sure other members weren’t around to hear him. “Sorry about the noise earlier, yeah?”
“You mean from the bathroom,” Wonjung gave him a knowing smile.
“Yeah,” Cheol averted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to dispel his embarrassment a little.
“It’s ok,” Wonjung patted his shoulder reassuringly. “I get it; you can’t get enough of her right now. You just need to remember to be careful. As happy as KXO and Mr. Lee is with her work with us, if anyone finds out about the two of you, she is going to be gone before she can even say a word.”
“I know we can’t just be open about it,” He sighed. “But I hate having to hide it so much. I want to be able to go out on dates and have a romantic dinner at a restaurant and make out at the movies.”
“Give it a year,” Wonjung shrugged. “You can test the waters with the company then. Maybe you still can’t go public then, but not having to worry about her job or have to sneak around all the time would be a little better, right?”
“Of course,” Cheol agreed. “I hate keeping it a secret and having to come up with excuses for being around her. She chewed me out a couple of weeks ago for sneaking by her training room to sneak a kiss. Of course she was right, it was stupid. I just wanted to see her, though.”
“You think it’s hard now,” Cautioned his friend. “It will be impossible when she is fired. Her phone, her apartment, her reason to be in South Korea at all; it’s all down to her job right now, remember?”
“Yeah, but I mean she could find something else here,” He reasoned. “All the schools and hagwon want skilled English teachers. She’d find something.”
“Probably, if there isn’t too much scandal to her name,” Wonjung shrugged. “Reputation is everything.”
“And dating me would ruin her reputation?” Cheol questioned, not really fond of the implication.
“It isn’t about dating you, or your reputation,” Scoffed Wonjung. “The company will do anything to save your face if there is a scandal. She came into the company under false pretenses and seduced one of the biggest assets. Disgraceful person that she is, she targeted you, the kind and vulnerable leader of YTHTonic. Who is going to hire some woman who goes around seducing younger men to teach at a hagwon?”
“But that’s not true at all,” He protested. “I wouldn’t just let them say that about her.”
“You know it won’t really matter what you say at that point,” His friend shook his head. “You’re the poor victim of her, of course you’ll defend her as the naive good guy that you are. It will make you look even better and not help her at all. There is no winning for her at that point. Honestly, I don’t know if I think she’s brave or a little stupid for taking the risk for you.”
“You don’t mean that,” Cheol was slightly affronted by his friend’s assessment.
“I do and I know it won’t change your mind,” Wonjung shrugged again. “I get it, I like her too. She is kind and funny and actually good at teaching us. She has a way of making all of us want to do well on the things she asks of us even when it feels like we don’t have enough time to do everything we are supposed to do in a day. I guess that’s why I wish you’d be more careful of her. Even if this blows up, you’ll probably be fine. The fans would come around. The company has too much invested in all of us to just drop you. If it crumbles...it is all falling on her. Your heart might break if they separate you, but she might be ruined.”
“I wouldn’t let that happen,” Cheol stated firmly. “I wouldn’t let that happen to her.”
“Not like it’s all up to you,” He pointed out. “What the company and the papers say about all of this is out of your hands. And if you decide to make this a battle of wills between you and Mr. Lee on the subject, we are all going to suffer for it. You are one of his favorites, like a son to him, and I don’t know if that makes it better or worse when it comes to you dating without permission.”
“He knows what it’s like to fall in love,” Cheol’s voice was less certain as he made that statement. “He’d come around once he understood.”
“Hopefully,” Wonjung nodded. “But before that are we going to be sidelined? Taken off the circuit? We are riding a wave of popularity we can’t take for granted. If we are lucky we’ll at least have the years before most of us have to do our service. If we are really lucky, we can all come back after that and start up where we left off. I’m behind you on this because I trust you not to do anything that will hurt the group even if things go wrong. We worked too hard, you worked too hard, to let something ruin it for all of us.”
“I would never…I wouldn’t do something to hurt all of you,” He felt heartsick at the thought. “You guys are my family, my best friends.”
“We know that and every one of us feels the same way,” He held his friend’s shoulders and looked into his eyes. “Just start thinking more about the consequences and less about what you think you want right now. For all our sake. Oh, and if you need some time…alone with her, maybe just ask for it, next time.”
> “You think Changho and Jaejin will be happy to just get out of the room for an hour, huh?” Cheol blushed as he laughed at the idea of just coming out and asking.
“I think they would prefer it to the alternative of accidentally walking in on you,” Wonjung waggled his eyebrows and gave his friend a playful shove. Cheol found himself laughing at the expression on his friend’s face as FX and Kitae came into the kitchen, feeling peckish themselves at this late hour.
“What’s so funny,” FX asked as he approached.
“Nothing,” Cheol insisted, trying to subdue his laughter, unsuccessfully.
“Just giving him some dating tips,” Wonjung grinned, unable to pass up the chance to tease Cheol.
“Oh, like what, best romantic songs to serenade her with?” FX joked, reaching into the cupboard where he kept his personal snacks.
“Nah, recommendations for a good lock and a nice sign for his door,” Wonjung said as he headed out of the kitchen. “Maybe a little soundproofing.”
“Soundproofing,” Kitae repeated, not quite sure he was following.
“Ahh, well,” FX coughed to cover his own laugh. “I think he means they need to talk in private now and again.”
“Ohhhh, talking is good,” Kitae gave an accepting nod as he grabbed a packet of seaweed snacks for himself.
“Yeah, yeah,” Cheol agreed, trying not to break into laughter along with FX.
“Of course s.e.x. with the pretty noona seems like a much better use of a few hours alone with her,” Kitae said over his shoulder, giving the two older members a slight glare as he started walking out. “But we can keep calling it ‘talking’ if you want.”
They both watched him walk out before groaning and cringing that the youngest has gotten involved in that conversation.
The Tutor Page 17
