I'll Be Good For You, Ch. 15
Previously:
Chapter 1: Here's to the Night
Chapter 2: Maneater
Chapter 3: Know Your Enemy
Chapter 4: I Just Wanna Live
Chapter 5: Shark in the Water
Chapter 6: Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
Chapter 7: Smooth Operator
Chapter 8: Gives You Hell
Chapter 9: Won't Get Fooled Again
Chapter 10: Science Fiction Double Feature
Chapter 11: Meeting
Chapter 12: Dizzy Boy
Chapter 13: Someone to Watch Over Me
Chapter 14: Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful.
Author's Notes: Thank you very much to akaironoyoru and min7girl for reviewing! :)
Please be informed that I won't be able to post updates to "I'll Be Good For You" for at least the next two (2) weeks. :( I'm very sorry about this - sharing the fic with all of you is a large part of why I'm enjoying writing it so much! - but it has finally happened: I've updated faster than I could write, and this is the last completed chapter I have to date. I hope that the downtime will enable me to build up a sufficient backlog so that I can resume updating after that period. Either way, I will let everyone know! Thank you very much for your patience.
Chapter Fifteen - Buses and Trains (Bachelor Girl)
"I don't believe it!" Ae-sook declared, flinging aside a much-abused copy of Inside Showbiz. She and her fellow officers of the A.N.JELL fan club were sitting in an ice cream parlor not far from AN Entertainment, trying and failing to drown their sorrows in triple-scoop strawberry sundaes. All around them, groups of fans were huddled over their own ice cream in various degrees of shock and sadness.
"I'm sorry, Ae-sook," Hyun-jae told her gently as she retrieved the magazine, "but it looks like it's true. Look, she's been seen at lots of events that A.N.JELL attended - the album launching last week... Sung Bo-dae's party... this charity event for some kids' foundation... even the launch of their first video last summer. Obviously, they've been dating for some time now."
Sayuri nodded sadly. She had spent the day poring over the photos in the article, hoping against hope that it was all just a terrible mistake, but her keen powers of observation told her the sad truth. "Her face is blurred out, but it looks like it's the same girl in all the pictures."
"Maybe she's just close to someone at AN Entertainment!" Ae-sook said. "Maybe her mom or-or her boyfriend works there and she's a big fan, so he gets her tickets to all the official events!"
The fan club president pointed to the picture that destroyed Ae-sook's theory, which showed Jeremy and the mystery woman walking hand-in-hand down a quiet city street. "That doesn't look like an official event."
The chubby girl buried her face in her hands with a dramatic sob. "I guess we should be happy that Jeremy oppa has found someone, but I wish they hadn't blurred out her face so I could tell if she's prettier than me."
Su-jin, on the other hand, was vastly relieved that her face wasn't seen in any of the pictures. She was also glad that there weren't any of her and Ha-neul together - she had always moved aside when someone asked to take pictures of her model friend, and Ha-neul had probably blocked the photographers' view of her in any candid shots. There were benefits to being shorter and less famous than Ha-neul, after all.
Nevertheless, she had to listen to her co-workers speculating on the secret girlfriend's identity. "It can't be a celebrity," one of the other analysts said at lunch that day, "because the magazine would have shown her face and it would be all over the news that Jeremy and So-and-So are dating, like Hwang Tae-kyung and Yoo Heyi last year."
"Yeah, it's got to be someone who's not in showbiz," the office receptionist agreed. "Which means there's hope for working stiffs like us. What do you think, Su-jin?"
She looked up, startled, from her lasagna. "What?"
"We were asking who you think Jeremy's secret girlfriend might be."
"Why would I care about something like that?" she asked, frowning and hoping that she didn't look guilty or otherwise give any hint that she had anything to do with the girl in the pictures. (In a stroke of luck, she was wearing her hair in a small bun that day. She prayed that they didn't remember that she had curly hair like quite a few of those pictures, and vowed to get a haircut as soon as possible.)
"Well, aren't you an A.N.JELL fan, too?" another analyst replied.
"Yes, but I just admire them for their music." Su-jin nodded decisively. "I know they're celebrities and everything, but they're people, too. Don't you think they're entitled to their personal privacy?" She certainly did.
"No," the first analyst laughed as she ate a French fry. "I just love gossip."
The conversation was interrupted by the ringing of Su-jin's cell phone. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was Jeremy calling. "Um, excuse me," she said, clutching the phone to her chest and getting to her feet. "I really have to take this call."
"Who the hell dares to call during lunch break?" one of the girls from Human Resources said with a disapproving frown.
"I-it's my mom!" she improvised hastily. "This might be an emergency. I'll be right back!"
Since it was cold outside and there hadn't been any time to grab her coat, Su-jin hid in the women's bathroom to answer Jeremy's call.
He was beside himself when she finally picked up. "Are you OK?! Why did you take so long to answer?"
"I'm in the middle of having lunch with my officemates," she answered in a low voice as she locked herself inside a stall. "I had to make up an excuse to get away!"
"Oh. That's all right, then," he said, mollified. "Well, are you OK? Is anyone chasing you or anything?"
"No," she assured him. "No one I know has recognized me... so far."
"Good."
"I'm a little scared, though," Su-jin admitted in a small voice.
"Me, too," he said. "But don't worry, we're all in this together - you, me and the guys. We're having a meeting at the house later to talk about things. You should come right after your finish work."
She had been planning to get that haircut after work, but this was more important. Besides, she could always hide her hair in a braid tomorrow. "I'll be there," she promised.
Su-jin left the office at five-thirty on the dot, pleading a headache that, to be fair, truly existed and had been building all afternoon. Maybe, she thought as she drove to the A.N.JELL mansion just south of Seoul, instead of wearing her hair in a braid, she could just call in sick tomorrow.
Even though she didn't want to face Jeremy or his bandmates, she had no choice but to enter the house. Not only was it cold, but there was also the danger that the place was being watched and she had no way to hide her identity. She found herself wishing that she had one of Jeremy's disguises, even the stupid-looking ones, on hand, but had to settle for drawing up the hood of her coat to hide her face.
Shin-woo answered the door just moments after she rang the doorbell. "Hi, Su-jin," he greeted her, but instead of his usual calm, friendly smile, he wore a troubled expression. "Come in."
All the members of the band were in the living room when she entered the house. Mi-nam waved at her from the couch, where he and his sister sat with Tae-kyung, who was scowling over a magazine. Shin-woo walked towards the kitchen, passing Jeremy, who was pacing around with his cell phone pressed to his ear and Jolie at his heels.
Su-jin could tell from the formal tone in his voice and the fact that he was speaking in English that the redheaded boy was speaking with his father. Although he sounded calm, his free hand was clenched and his hair stood up in uneven clumps, not because it was styled that way but because he seemed to have run his fingers through it repeatedly.
He caught sight of Su-jin then and reached out to take her hand, drawing her to his side and pressing a kiss to her forehead. She blushed but didn't argue, supposing that having her near made him feel better. To her relief, Jeremy relaxed soon after and started speaking in Korean, which meant that his mother had come on the line.
"We're OK, Mum," he assured her. "We're still trying to figure out how this happened before we do anything. I'm positive no one who knows has spoken to the press."
Su-jin patted Jolie and pointed to the phone. "If that's your mother, could I speak with her?" she asked.
Jeremy looked surprised at that, but he nodded. "Mum, Su-jin just got here and she says she wants to talk to you," he said into the phone, then listened for a few moments. "OK... hang on a minute-here she is."
She managed to smile at him before lifting the phone to her ear. "Hello, Mrs.-I mean, Lady Maitland?"
"Su-jin, my dear, how are you?" the older woman asked, sounding quite calm considering that her son had just found himself embroiled in a scandal. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "I, um, just wanted to let you know that it wasn't me who said anything. Even my own parents don't know that I'm seeing Jeremy."
"Of course it wasn't you, dear," Lady Maitland said. "No one thinks that you did it. If it had been you, you would have told the press everything, wouldn't you?"
"I suppose, if I wanted that kind of attention," Su-jin agreed, "but I don't. If I want people to know who I am, it won't be because I'm dating someone."
"That's the right attitude to have. But, Su-jin, I imagine things are going to become rather difficult for you and Jeremy. Do you still remember the promise you made to me when we had tea together at the hotel?"
Blushing, she glanced up at Jeremy and squeezed his hand. "Yes."
"Do you plan to keep it?"
"Yes," she repeated, nodding even though Jeremy's mother couldn't see it.
"I'm glad. Then I'm sure everything will turn out just fine in the end."
"I hope so. Anyway, um, that's it. I just wanted to tell you that."
"Well, I really appreciate that you did. Jeremy's father and I will be back soon and we'll see what we can do to help. May I speak with my son again, please?"
Shin-woo threw together some tea and snacks, and everyone was sitting around in the kitchen eating when the doorbell rang. At first, Su-jin thought the newcomer was a strange boy, but when he kicked off a familiar pair of sneakers, she realized that it was Ha-neul, her slender figure hidden in baggy clothing.
"I'm sorry I'm late," she called out as she yanked off her knit hat, revealing a sloppy bun barely held up by a clip, and stuffed it in the pocket of her bulky parka. "I had to go home and change after my photo shoot. Have I missed anything important?"
"Just some pretty awful cookies," Shin-woo answered, helping his girlfriend with her coat.
"If they were so awful, why did you eat them?"
"We were hungry."
Laughing, Ha-neul gave him a hug and then peered over his shoulder at Su-jin. "Are you OK?" she asked her friend.
"OK so far," Su-jin replied, "even though I think I'm going to have to get a haircut." She would have gone to hug her best friend, but Jeremy hadn't relinquished her hand since she arrived and neither of them seemed inclined to let go. "I can't believe I'm glad to see you wearing those things out of the house."
"You'll probably have to start wearing clothes like this, too," the other girl joked, walking into the kitchen and taking a place at the table after saying hello to everyone else who was there.
"Now that Ha-neul is here," Tae-kyung said, "let's start the meeting."
"I actually thought of something that might help on the way here," Ha-neul announced. "Maybe we could say that Su-jin is my girlfriend!"
"Excuse me?" Shin-woo asked mildly.
"No one knows about the two of us, anyway," she told him, shrugging. "And it would also explain any pictures that might come up of me and Su-jin together. We can say that the only reason she's at all those events is because my dad and I have contacts with Uncle Sung-chan."
"But there's that picture of her and Jeremy holding hands," Mi-nyeo pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out an explanation for that," Ha-neul admitted sheepishly.
The mention of that picture made Tae-kyung scowl. "Why didn't you wear a disguise that day, Jeremy?" he scolded.
The drummer blushed. "Sorry, hyung. We hadn't really planned to go there - it was right after we dropped my parents off at their hotel, the night we had dinner here. You know I was feeling really bad that day and I guess I wasn't thinking."
"Never mind that," Shin-woo interjected. "What's done is done."
Tae-kyung grunted, but got back to business. "Anyway, what we have to do now is think of what to do about the scandal and maybe figure out how the news got leaked, to see if there's any danger of more information coming out."
"I think it's obvious what we should do," Su-jin told them quietly. "Jeremy and I have to stop seeing each other-"
"No!" he shouted.
She gave him a sad look, but went on as though he hadn't said anything. "Maybe we can say it was just a casual thing that just happened to have ended. If I'm not around, there won't be a scandal anymore, right?"
"I said no!" Jeremy repeated vehemently, tugging on the hand that he was still holding for emphasis. "I'm not letting you go that easily! You got me in trouble, and you're going to have to take responsibility for me!"
Mi-nam had to laugh at that. "If Jeremy was pregnant, then that would totally overshadow this secret girlfriend scandal thing," he said, but his grin quickly faded when he caught severe looks from quite a few directions. "Sorry."
"You know what I mean," the drummer grumbled.
"Well, I can't think of anything else to do," Su-jin told him. "If I went to the press and told them it wasn't true, would they believe me?"
"Su-jin can't go public," Ha-neul declared. "If your fans or anti-fans or whoever find out who she is, it could be dangerous, even if she tells everyone that she and Jeremy aren't really dating."
Tae-kyung shook his head. "Yes, as much as possible, it shouldn't have to come to that. Personally, I think the two of them breaking up sounds like the best option-but I know Jeremy doesn't agree to that," he added quickly, before the redheaded boy could say anything.
"Let's just keep these ideas in mind for now," Shin-woo suggested. "We'll definitely have to talk to President Ahn and the PR people at the agency because A.N.JELL might have to come out with an official statement or something. If not, then at least they'll have more ideas on what to do."
There were nods all around. Everyone seemed relieved that they didn't have to decide on what to do just yet. Jeremy glared at Su-jin, probably because she had brought up breaking up with him, and she glared back because she hadn't heard any of his ideas, but their hands remained joined.
"Then I suppose we can move on to the next thing on our agenda," Tae-kyung said then. "Who do you think leaked this information?"
Shin-woo looked at the people gathered around the table. "I think it's safe to say that none of us would ever betray Jeremy and Su-jin. We don't benefit from it."
"In fact, it would make things more dangerous for everyone else," Ha-neul added, looking down at her empty teacup.
"And I guess we can be sure that President Ahn, Manager Ma and anyone at AN Entertainment who might know won't tell, either," Mi-nyeo chimed in.
Tae-kyung nodded his agreement. "No one at the company would ever want A.N.JELL to lose fans again, like they did last year." A sneer of distaste crossed his face. "You know, with the whole pretend-girlfriend thing."
Suddenly, Mi-nam sat bolt upright in his chair. As far as he knew, none of the regular employees at AN Entertainment knew about Jeremy and Su-jin's relationship, except perhaps Manager Ma, and his twin was right, Manager Ma would die to protect A.N.JELL. However, there was one person in the building who was definitely in on the secret.
"I think I know who did this," he said tightly.
Mi-nam stormed into Oh-lan's office at AN Entertainment the very next day. He hadn't seen her since the launch, and his heart wrenched when she looked up from packing some things in a box and smiled shyly at the sight of him, but he told himself that he had to be strong. He wasn't going to fall for that again.
"It was you, wasn't it?" he demanded. "You told your friends at the magazine about Jeremy and Su-jin."
Oh-lan's jaw dropped, along with the pencil holder in her hand. The cup tipped on its side, scattering pens and pencils across the surface of her desk. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Don't act like you don't know. It was on the cover of Inside Showbiz yesterday. Jeremy and his secret girlfriend."
He folded his arms and watched as she opened her laptop and quickly went to the Inside Showbiz website. She paled, looking horrified, when she saw what was splashed across the homepage. "I would never-how could I-"
"Why didn't you tell them everything?" Mi-nam snapped. He remembered her covering for the girls and telling her co-worker that they were her friends, and felt a fresh wave of anger. Mi-nyeo, Ha-neul and Su-jin all insisted that Oh-lan would never betray them, but he knew better. "You know the public is just dying to know. Or are you publishing the information little by little to sell more magazines?"
She flushed angrily. "I didn't tell anyone anything," she replied. "You trusted me-"
"That's exactly the problem," he cut her off, drawing a shaky breath as his hurt and outrage threatened to choke him. "We trusted you, and you stabbed all of us in the back. I guess it would have been OK if you had just said Jeremy was dating someone, because we're celebrities and we're used to it; but to involve a private citizen, well, that's just low."
"I told you it wasn't me!" Oh-lan cried, stamping her foot. "I wish I knew how they found out about Jeremy and Su-jin so we can put a stop to it, but I don't! But I swear to you," she went on, "I'll ask them, I'll find out who's behind the story."
"Thanks, but no thanks," he spat. "The damage has been done. Su-jin's scared to go out of her house, and she and Jeremy are probably going to break up. I hope you're proud of yourself."
"I said I didn't do it!" she screamed, pounding her fist on the table and sending a few pencils flying. An angry tear slid down her cheek. "Why won't you listen to me?"
"You should have been an actress," Mi-nam told her dispassionately. "You're much better at pretending than I ever was. Tell me, did you want to get revenge on me so badly that you decided to take all my friends down with me?"
Oh-lan gasped, going from weepy to outraged in moments. "I can't believe you think that this is somehow all about you! If I had wanted to get revenge on you for lying to me, then I would have just kicked you in the groin or something like that; but I didn't, did I?
"Petty things like that aren't worth my time," she told him, her voice trembling just the slightest bit. "And the same goes for petty people like you."
For some reason, her dismissal of him hurt more than the initial betrayal, but Mi-nam raised his chin and fought to keep any emotion from showing on his face. "Well, I guess we're even now," he said flatly. "And that means we don't have to have anything to do with each other."
Chapter 1: Here's to the Night
Chapter 2: Maneater
Chapter 3: Know Your Enemy
Chapter 4: I Just Wanna Live
Chapter 5: Shark in the Water
Chapter 6: Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
Chapter 7: Smooth Operator
Chapter 8: Gives You Hell
Chapter 9: Won't Get Fooled Again
Chapter 10: Science Fiction Double Feature
Chapter 11: Meeting
Chapter 12: Dizzy Boy
Chapter 13: Someone to Watch Over Me
Chapter 14: Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Disclaimer: The A.N.JELL-verse belongs to the Hong sisters, creators of You're Beautiful.
Author's Notes: Thank you very much to akaironoyoru and min7girl for reviewing! :)
Please be informed that I won't be able to post updates to "I'll Be Good For You" for at least the next two (2) weeks. :( I'm very sorry about this - sharing the fic with all of you is a large part of why I'm enjoying writing it so much! - but it has finally happened: I've updated faster than I could write, and this is the last completed chapter I have to date. I hope that the downtime will enable me to build up a sufficient backlog so that I can resume updating after that period. Either way, I will let everyone know! Thank you very much for your patience.
Chapter Fifteen - Buses and Trains (Bachelor Girl)
"I don't believe it!" Ae-sook declared, flinging aside a much-abused copy of Inside Showbiz. She and her fellow officers of the A.N.JELL fan club were sitting in an ice cream parlor not far from AN Entertainment, trying and failing to drown their sorrows in triple-scoop strawberry sundaes. All around them, groups of fans were huddled over their own ice cream in various degrees of shock and sadness.
"I'm sorry, Ae-sook," Hyun-jae told her gently as she retrieved the magazine, "but it looks like it's true. Look, she's been seen at lots of events that A.N.JELL attended - the album launching last week... Sung Bo-dae's party... this charity event for some kids' foundation... even the launch of their first video last summer. Obviously, they've been dating for some time now."
Sayuri nodded sadly. She had spent the day poring over the photos in the article, hoping against hope that it was all just a terrible mistake, but her keen powers of observation told her the sad truth. "Her face is blurred out, but it looks like it's the same girl in all the pictures."
"Maybe she's just close to someone at AN Entertainment!" Ae-sook said. "Maybe her mom or-or her boyfriend works there and she's a big fan, so he gets her tickets to all the official events!"
The fan club president pointed to the picture that destroyed Ae-sook's theory, which showed Jeremy and the mystery woman walking hand-in-hand down a quiet city street. "That doesn't look like an official event."
The chubby girl buried her face in her hands with a dramatic sob. "I guess we should be happy that Jeremy oppa has found someone, but I wish they hadn't blurred out her face so I could tell if she's prettier than me."
Su-jin, on the other hand, was vastly relieved that her face wasn't seen in any of the pictures. She was also glad that there weren't any of her and Ha-neul together - she had always moved aside when someone asked to take pictures of her model friend, and Ha-neul had probably blocked the photographers' view of her in any candid shots. There were benefits to being shorter and less famous than Ha-neul, after all.
Nevertheless, she had to listen to her co-workers speculating on the secret girlfriend's identity. "It can't be a celebrity," one of the other analysts said at lunch that day, "because the magazine would have shown her face and it would be all over the news that Jeremy and So-and-So are dating, like Hwang Tae-kyung and Yoo Heyi last year."
"Yeah, it's got to be someone who's not in showbiz," the office receptionist agreed. "Which means there's hope for working stiffs like us. What do you think, Su-jin?"
She looked up, startled, from her lasagna. "What?"
"We were asking who you think Jeremy's secret girlfriend might be."
"Why would I care about something like that?" she asked, frowning and hoping that she didn't look guilty or otherwise give any hint that she had anything to do with the girl in the pictures. (In a stroke of luck, she was wearing her hair in a small bun that day. She prayed that they didn't remember that she had curly hair like quite a few of those pictures, and vowed to get a haircut as soon as possible.)
"Well, aren't you an A.N.JELL fan, too?" another analyst replied.
"Yes, but I just admire them for their music." Su-jin nodded decisively. "I know they're celebrities and everything, but they're people, too. Don't you think they're entitled to their personal privacy?" She certainly did.
"No," the first analyst laughed as she ate a French fry. "I just love gossip."
The conversation was interrupted by the ringing of Su-jin's cell phone. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was Jeremy calling. "Um, excuse me," she said, clutching the phone to her chest and getting to her feet. "I really have to take this call."
"Who the hell dares to call during lunch break?" one of the girls from Human Resources said with a disapproving frown.
"I-it's my mom!" she improvised hastily. "This might be an emergency. I'll be right back!"
Since it was cold outside and there hadn't been any time to grab her coat, Su-jin hid in the women's bathroom to answer Jeremy's call.
He was beside himself when she finally picked up. "Are you OK?! Why did you take so long to answer?"
"I'm in the middle of having lunch with my officemates," she answered in a low voice as she locked herself inside a stall. "I had to make up an excuse to get away!"
"Oh. That's all right, then," he said, mollified. "Well, are you OK? Is anyone chasing you or anything?"
"No," she assured him. "No one I know has recognized me... so far."
"Good."
"I'm a little scared, though," Su-jin admitted in a small voice.
"Me, too," he said. "But don't worry, we're all in this together - you, me and the guys. We're having a meeting at the house later to talk about things. You should come right after your finish work."
She had been planning to get that haircut after work, but this was more important. Besides, she could always hide her hair in a braid tomorrow. "I'll be there," she promised.
Su-jin left the office at five-thirty on the dot, pleading a headache that, to be fair, truly existed and had been building all afternoon. Maybe, she thought as she drove to the A.N.JELL mansion just south of Seoul, instead of wearing her hair in a braid, she could just call in sick tomorrow.
Even though she didn't want to face Jeremy or his bandmates, she had no choice but to enter the house. Not only was it cold, but there was also the danger that the place was being watched and she had no way to hide her identity. She found herself wishing that she had one of Jeremy's disguises, even the stupid-looking ones, on hand, but had to settle for drawing up the hood of her coat to hide her face.
Shin-woo answered the door just moments after she rang the doorbell. "Hi, Su-jin," he greeted her, but instead of his usual calm, friendly smile, he wore a troubled expression. "Come in."
All the members of the band were in the living room when she entered the house. Mi-nam waved at her from the couch, where he and his sister sat with Tae-kyung, who was scowling over a magazine. Shin-woo walked towards the kitchen, passing Jeremy, who was pacing around with his cell phone pressed to his ear and Jolie at his heels.
Su-jin could tell from the formal tone in his voice and the fact that he was speaking in English that the redheaded boy was speaking with his father. Although he sounded calm, his free hand was clenched and his hair stood up in uneven clumps, not because it was styled that way but because he seemed to have run his fingers through it repeatedly.
He caught sight of Su-jin then and reached out to take her hand, drawing her to his side and pressing a kiss to her forehead. She blushed but didn't argue, supposing that having her near made him feel better. To her relief, Jeremy relaxed soon after and started speaking in Korean, which meant that his mother had come on the line.
"We're OK, Mum," he assured her. "We're still trying to figure out how this happened before we do anything. I'm positive no one who knows has spoken to the press."
Su-jin patted Jolie and pointed to the phone. "If that's your mother, could I speak with her?" she asked.
Jeremy looked surprised at that, but he nodded. "Mum, Su-jin just got here and she says she wants to talk to you," he said into the phone, then listened for a few moments. "OK... hang on a minute-here she is."
She managed to smile at him before lifting the phone to her ear. "Hello, Mrs.-I mean, Lady Maitland?"
"Su-jin, my dear, how are you?" the older woman asked, sounding quite calm considering that her son had just found himself embroiled in a scandal. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "I, um, just wanted to let you know that it wasn't me who said anything. Even my own parents don't know that I'm seeing Jeremy."
"Of course it wasn't you, dear," Lady Maitland said. "No one thinks that you did it. If it had been you, you would have told the press everything, wouldn't you?"
"I suppose, if I wanted that kind of attention," Su-jin agreed, "but I don't. If I want people to know who I am, it won't be because I'm dating someone."
"That's the right attitude to have. But, Su-jin, I imagine things are going to become rather difficult for you and Jeremy. Do you still remember the promise you made to me when we had tea together at the hotel?"
Blushing, she glanced up at Jeremy and squeezed his hand. "Yes."
"Do you plan to keep it?"
"Yes," she repeated, nodding even though Jeremy's mother couldn't see it.
"I'm glad. Then I'm sure everything will turn out just fine in the end."
"I hope so. Anyway, um, that's it. I just wanted to tell you that."
"Well, I really appreciate that you did. Jeremy's father and I will be back soon and we'll see what we can do to help. May I speak with my son again, please?"
Shin-woo threw together some tea and snacks, and everyone was sitting around in the kitchen eating when the doorbell rang. At first, Su-jin thought the newcomer was a strange boy, but when he kicked off a familiar pair of sneakers, she realized that it was Ha-neul, her slender figure hidden in baggy clothing.
"I'm sorry I'm late," she called out as she yanked off her knit hat, revealing a sloppy bun barely held up by a clip, and stuffed it in the pocket of her bulky parka. "I had to go home and change after my photo shoot. Have I missed anything important?"
"Just some pretty awful cookies," Shin-woo answered, helping his girlfriend with her coat.
"If they were so awful, why did you eat them?"
"We were hungry."
Laughing, Ha-neul gave him a hug and then peered over his shoulder at Su-jin. "Are you OK?" she asked her friend.
"OK so far," Su-jin replied, "even though I think I'm going to have to get a haircut." She would have gone to hug her best friend, but Jeremy hadn't relinquished her hand since she arrived and neither of them seemed inclined to let go. "I can't believe I'm glad to see you wearing those things out of the house."
"You'll probably have to start wearing clothes like this, too," the other girl joked, walking into the kitchen and taking a place at the table after saying hello to everyone else who was there.
"Now that Ha-neul is here," Tae-kyung said, "let's start the meeting."
"I actually thought of something that might help on the way here," Ha-neul announced. "Maybe we could say that Su-jin is my girlfriend!"
"Excuse me?" Shin-woo asked mildly.
"No one knows about the two of us, anyway," she told him, shrugging. "And it would also explain any pictures that might come up of me and Su-jin together. We can say that the only reason she's at all those events is because my dad and I have contacts with Uncle Sung-chan."
"But there's that picture of her and Jeremy holding hands," Mi-nyeo pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out an explanation for that," Ha-neul admitted sheepishly.
The mention of that picture made Tae-kyung scowl. "Why didn't you wear a disguise that day, Jeremy?" he scolded.
The drummer blushed. "Sorry, hyung. We hadn't really planned to go there - it was right after we dropped my parents off at their hotel, the night we had dinner here. You know I was feeling really bad that day and I guess I wasn't thinking."
"Never mind that," Shin-woo interjected. "What's done is done."
Tae-kyung grunted, but got back to business. "Anyway, what we have to do now is think of what to do about the scandal and maybe figure out how the news got leaked, to see if there's any danger of more information coming out."
"I think it's obvious what we should do," Su-jin told them quietly. "Jeremy and I have to stop seeing each other-"
"No!" he shouted.
She gave him a sad look, but went on as though he hadn't said anything. "Maybe we can say it was just a casual thing that just happened to have ended. If I'm not around, there won't be a scandal anymore, right?"
"I said no!" Jeremy repeated vehemently, tugging on the hand that he was still holding for emphasis. "I'm not letting you go that easily! You got me in trouble, and you're going to have to take responsibility for me!"
Mi-nam had to laugh at that. "If Jeremy was pregnant, then that would totally overshadow this secret girlfriend scandal thing," he said, but his grin quickly faded when he caught severe looks from quite a few directions. "Sorry."
"You know what I mean," the drummer grumbled.
"Well, I can't think of anything else to do," Su-jin told him. "If I went to the press and told them it wasn't true, would they believe me?"
"Su-jin can't go public," Ha-neul declared. "If your fans or anti-fans or whoever find out who she is, it could be dangerous, even if she tells everyone that she and Jeremy aren't really dating."
Tae-kyung shook his head. "Yes, as much as possible, it shouldn't have to come to that. Personally, I think the two of them breaking up sounds like the best option-but I know Jeremy doesn't agree to that," he added quickly, before the redheaded boy could say anything.
"Let's just keep these ideas in mind for now," Shin-woo suggested. "We'll definitely have to talk to President Ahn and the PR people at the agency because A.N.JELL might have to come out with an official statement or something. If not, then at least they'll have more ideas on what to do."
There were nods all around. Everyone seemed relieved that they didn't have to decide on what to do just yet. Jeremy glared at Su-jin, probably because she had brought up breaking up with him, and she glared back because she hadn't heard any of his ideas, but their hands remained joined.
"Then I suppose we can move on to the next thing on our agenda," Tae-kyung said then. "Who do you think leaked this information?"
Shin-woo looked at the people gathered around the table. "I think it's safe to say that none of us would ever betray Jeremy and Su-jin. We don't benefit from it."
"In fact, it would make things more dangerous for everyone else," Ha-neul added, looking down at her empty teacup.
"And I guess we can be sure that President Ahn, Manager Ma and anyone at AN Entertainment who might know won't tell, either," Mi-nyeo chimed in.
Tae-kyung nodded his agreement. "No one at the company would ever want A.N.JELL to lose fans again, like they did last year." A sneer of distaste crossed his face. "You know, with the whole pretend-girlfriend thing."
Suddenly, Mi-nam sat bolt upright in his chair. As far as he knew, none of the regular employees at AN Entertainment knew about Jeremy and Su-jin's relationship, except perhaps Manager Ma, and his twin was right, Manager Ma would die to protect A.N.JELL. However, there was one person in the building who was definitely in on the secret.
"I think I know who did this," he said tightly.
Mi-nam stormed into Oh-lan's office at AN Entertainment the very next day. He hadn't seen her since the launch, and his heart wrenched when she looked up from packing some things in a box and smiled shyly at the sight of him, but he told himself that he had to be strong. He wasn't going to fall for that again.
"It was you, wasn't it?" he demanded. "You told your friends at the magazine about Jeremy and Su-jin."
Oh-lan's jaw dropped, along with the pencil holder in her hand. The cup tipped on its side, scattering pens and pencils across the surface of her desk. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Don't act like you don't know. It was on the cover of Inside Showbiz yesterday. Jeremy and his secret girlfriend."
He folded his arms and watched as she opened her laptop and quickly went to the Inside Showbiz website. She paled, looking horrified, when she saw what was splashed across the homepage. "I would never-how could I-"
"Why didn't you tell them everything?" Mi-nam snapped. He remembered her covering for the girls and telling her co-worker that they were her friends, and felt a fresh wave of anger. Mi-nyeo, Ha-neul and Su-jin all insisted that Oh-lan would never betray them, but he knew better. "You know the public is just dying to know. Or are you publishing the information little by little to sell more magazines?"
She flushed angrily. "I didn't tell anyone anything," she replied. "You trusted me-"
"That's exactly the problem," he cut her off, drawing a shaky breath as his hurt and outrage threatened to choke him. "We trusted you, and you stabbed all of us in the back. I guess it would have been OK if you had just said Jeremy was dating someone, because we're celebrities and we're used to it; but to involve a private citizen, well, that's just low."
"I told you it wasn't me!" Oh-lan cried, stamping her foot. "I wish I knew how they found out about Jeremy and Su-jin so we can put a stop to it, but I don't! But I swear to you," she went on, "I'll ask them, I'll find out who's behind the story."
"Thanks, but no thanks," he spat. "The damage has been done. Su-jin's scared to go out of her house, and she and Jeremy are probably going to break up. I hope you're proud of yourself."
"I said I didn't do it!" she screamed, pounding her fist on the table and sending a few pencils flying. An angry tear slid down her cheek. "Why won't you listen to me?"
"You should have been an actress," Mi-nam told her dispassionately. "You're much better at pretending than I ever was. Tell me, did you want to get revenge on me so badly that you decided to take all my friends down with me?"
Oh-lan gasped, going from weepy to outraged in moments. "I can't believe you think that this is somehow all about you! If I had wanted to get revenge on you for lying to me, then I would have just kicked you in the groin or something like that; but I didn't, did I?
"Petty things like that aren't worth my time," she told him, her voice trembling just the slightest bit. "And the same goes for petty people like you."
For some reason, her dismissal of him hurt more than the initial betrayal, but Mi-nam raised his chin and fought to keep any emotion from showing on his face. "Well, I guess we're even now," he said flatly. "And that means we don't have to have anything to do with each other."