My Summer in Seoul

I saw a few couples holding hands, some in matching outfits, which was just freaking adorable. Only one person really looked in our direction when we got out of the van, and then he was back to probably telling his girlfriend how gorgeous she was.

A stab of envy hit me in the chest.

I’d dated in college, but none of the guys had looked at me the way that guy was looking at that girl.

Maybe I’d just been dating in the wrong country?

I smiled at that and looked away, giving them their privacy and nearly bumping directly into Kai’s back.

“Sorry.” I yawned behind my hand then peered around him at what appeared to be two hundred wooden stairs leading up to heaven. “That looks like a workout I want no part of.”

Kai just grunted and started to walk up the stairs.

Yeah, I was afraid of that.

“Wait, why do we need to take stairs to drink soju?” I may as well have been invisible as each guy started going up the stairs, leaving me pouting at the bottom until, with a little nudge on my lower back, I was getting propelled forward.

“Hey!” I turned around in irritation.

Lucas, with his bright red hair and gorgeous eyes, jerked his head toward the stairway and gave me an evil smile.

My shoulders slumped. “Fine… but only because we won against that crazy guy, and when I say we, I mean you since I just stood there having a heart attack for about three minutes straight. You guys really are bad for my health.”

Lucas stared at me for a few seconds, then smiled and looked away. He needed to be careful handing out so many smiles like that; it really wasn’t good for my heart.

Rae was the last to join us. The rest of the group was already a third of the way up while we hung back. Blond hair peeked out around Rae’s black beanie as he held out a bag for Lucas to carry.

“So, I want to hear the rest of the story—not the we won part, but who the guy Lucas nearly killed really was.”

Rae seemed to think about it for a minute then said. “His nemesis, Byung-Ho.”

Lucas muttered something under his breath as we all started to slowly take the stairs.

More cursing, maybe?

Rae continued. “Byung-Ho was a trainee at our label, but when it was time to form SWT, he didn’t make it—Lucas had only been training maybe a year and wasn’t expected to debut yet, so when he got the spot over Byung-Ho, well it caused issues.”

I frowned. “When you say debut, does that mean your first time on stage? In front of people?”

I focused on the blond pieces of Rae’s hair rather than the heat of Lucas’s glare at my question as if he couldn’t actually understand how dumb I was for not knowing what a debut was.

Clearly, I was focusing too hard on Lucas’s irritation because when I took another step, I somehow got my other foot caught and went flying toward the ground—Lucas’s hand shot out, gripping my arm tightly before pulling me to my feet.

“Okay?” was all he said.

I frowned; it was the most he’d really ever spoken to me.

“Yeah.” I quickly pulled away like he’d just burned me. “I’m okay.”

And that was it.

He nodded and kept walking like his touch hadn’t just branded me somehow, and Rae watched, his brown eyes narrowing in what appeared to be confusion before speaking. “A debut is your first time on stage, your first time showing the world and your fans who you are. Some trainees never make it to their debut; others work years for it. Imagine going to school on top of dance training, voice lessons, choreography—and never seeing your dream realized.”

“Does it cost money to be a trainee?” I asked, earning a snort from Lucas, who said nothing but looked like he wanted to; he shook his head again.

What? Like it was a secret I was clueless? Part of me wondered if my uncle kept me in the dark on purpose since so many interns had already quit and that he trusted nobody else. Why else would he call my dad out of the blue? The more I really thought about it, the more it made sense. I would die before failure, and I had Solia helping me along with the entire record label. The guys had a chef, camera crews, makeup teams, managers—but at the end of the day, I was the closest to them.

And at the end of the day, I would die before exposing any one of them. It wasn’t just a job to me; it was my future too.

I frowned. Maybe that was why I was here.

Because it wasn’t just their future on the line, but mine too. So what better person to drive them, to make sure they follow the schedule, and since I was close in age…