My Summer in Seoul

“Say yes.” He laughed, his eyes glinting with humor. “And I’ll go.”

“Oh, my gosh, you’re insane.” My laughter bubbled out despite my attempt to suppress it.

“I wonder how they’ll perform without the main rapper?” He examined his perfect nails and flashed me a grin.

“Oh, my gosh, yes, just go!” I shoved him again. This time he moved, jogging to the opposite side of the stage where Kai was already set up.

I checked my phone again, and when I looked up, Rae was staring at me, his face impassive, like he was trying to read me while hiding his own emotions at the same time.

He was seriously so nice it hurt.

I gave him a thumbs up and winked.

Instantly, he smiled, winked right back, and got into position with the rest of the guys. Phew! I released a sigh of relief. He was probably just thinking about the performance and hoping not to mess it up.

The choreography was hard, and this would be their one and only live performance before the comeback stage the next afternoon. Typically, that would be their first, but the label had wanted to do a surprise mini concert for the fans.

Three songs only.

And only to the dedicated online SWEET fan groups who had been with them since the very beginning.

There were so many people that they were showing the concert on big screens outside the actual park as well.

Madness.

But it was an electric sort of madness that went through the park like a live current, one I’m pretty sure the guys used as a way to fuel their adrenaline for their performance as the first beats of Move started to hit the stage.

Kai and Jay started the first transition, followed by Sookie and Rae, and finally, Lucas walked up the middle.

Girls screamed like he could hear them.

I’d be lying if I didn’t have this sudden urge to throw my bra on stage, so I couldn’t really blame anyone.

He was the heart of the group—him and Rae. I knew from their profiles that despite Rae being lead vocals and Lucas the main rapper, they had their own little fandoms because of their visuals or how beautiful they were to look at. But I never really considered it until now—until both of them were doing this sexy model walk thing down the middle of the stage, leaning on each other, dancing extremely suggestively.

I gulped.

Don’t think dirty thoughts.

Don’t think dirty thoughts.

Lucas grinding against me, Lucas’s tongue in my mouth, his six-pack pressed against my nearly naked stomach. His smile against my kiss, the graze of his fingertips.

“Are you okay, Grace?” Uncle Siu interrupted. “You look flushed. Are you too hot? Do you need water?”

Ha, I needed something.

And his name was Lucas.

Just all of Lucas.

“Ha, um…” I laughed lamely. “Yeah, just got a bit overheated. The performance is fire and…” I gulped. “All that.”

“Yeah.” His face briefly fell. “How’s Lucas fairing?”

I frowned at the question. Did he know? Could he tell? “He’s actually doing a lot better.”

He nodded, his eyes narrowing. “I see that. He’s always been so talented—sensitive but talented. I guess all musicians tend to be that way, though.” His phone went off again. “I gotta take this. And Grace, Solia tells me you’ve been doing an excellent job. I know typically the manager takes the talent to their schedules and does a lot of grunt work, but after the scandal and signing two new groups, it’s been a lot. I guess I just don’t want to let them go even though I know I need to assign them someone new.”

“Well…” I noticed his eyes get misty. “Solia and I can handle it for the next few months. That’s why I’m here, and now that we’ve figured some things out, the guys are doing great. As long as I can keep you on speed dial, I think we’ll be okay. Wait until the summer’s through, then start interviewing for a full-time manager for the group and maybe for them individually—I read that as they get older and start doing more projects they may need their own managers from the label. It’s not a bad idea to at least start thinking about it before you plan their enlistment.”

I had no idea where that entire lecture came from other than the loads of research I’d been doing about different generation idols and how they had to strategically make sure when they did their two-year enlistment in the military, the group didn’t disband or that they worked on solo projects. I knew Solia alone couldn’t handle all five of them. It was taking two of us plus a CEO, and we were still struggling.

Uncle Siu stared at me for a solid minute, ignoring his phone call, before a smile passed over his face. “And here, I didn’t even think you knew Korea had an army.”