I loved him.
I loved them all.
I loved Lucas differently.
And he had just… sent me away.
Like it was that easy.
Sorry for sleeping with you, sorry for loving you, sorry for begging you to love me back and never forget me—also, here’s your plane ticket home.
I refreshed my feed on my phone.
Nothing about SWT appeared, but I was sure it was only a matter of time before the news broke that some slutty intern tried to get into both the half-brothers’ pants.
I squeezed my eyes shut then lay my head down on Sookie’s shoulder.
“It will be fine,” he said in that soft, wonderful voice he had as he squeezed my hand harder.
“No.” I sniffled. “It won’t.”
He sighed and held me tighter.
Jay turned and stared at me, then at Sookie. “He’s protecting you, even if you don’t see it that way.”
“He slept with me,” I said through gritted teeth, “hours before sending me home, on purpose, so forgive me for being sad and pissed and sad and—” I looked away.
I could almost hear Jay and Kai wince at the same time.
“Just give it a few weeks to die down. If nobody sees you here in Seoul, they won’t put two and two together,” Kai said, pulling into the airport. “Like Jay said, he’s protecting you the way you protected him.”
“By breaking my heart?” I asked.
Sookie tensed and muttered, “Fuck,” under his breath.
I did a double take.
He winced, then said, “Sorry.”
I squeezed his hand.
“Do you trust us?” Jay asked. “Truly?”
I found myself frowning. “Yes, I do. You’re family now, even if I want to run each of you over with this stupid van.”
Kai laughed at that. “Then trust us, Grace.”
“But—”
“The group always comes first,” Jay interrupted. “So, if news like this breaks without us planning for it, it’s bad. He’s trying to protect you and us. Just try to see it the way he sees it, and don’t lose hope.”
I nodded and unbuckled my seatbelt, feeling sick to my stomach, as I got out of the van and grabbed my bags.
Naturally, the guys had to stay inside.
I stared the three of them down and smiled sadly. “I’ll miss you guys.”
Sookie blew me a kiss and added a wink.
Kai and Jay shot me the heart motion with their fingers, making me even more emotional as I turned and walked toward the terminal.
Not how I saw my summer in Seoul ending.
Lonely.
Heartbroken.
Imagining what it would be like to have my guys come rushing after me like every K-drama ever.
It wouldn’t happen.
Not to me.
Because this was reality.
And in this reality, the girl went home missing pieces of her heart.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lonely hearts and Kevin…
Grace
Four weeks later
“You haven’t left your house in weeks,” Kevin said via FaceTime. “Should I send the police in?” He squinted at the camera. “Have you even showered?”
I glanced at my greasy hair and shrugged. “Dunno.”
“Grace.” He leaned in. “You need to take care of yourself. Do I need to come rescue you?
“No,” I whispered. “I’m fine.”
I wasn’t fine.
Not by a long shot.
I was devastated.
I missed Lucas.
I texted him because I had no self-control.
It didn’t go through.
I texted him every day anyway, and every time it came back “undeliverable,” I wanted to cry even harder.
Was I a fling?
Nothing hit the news either. I checked, nothing about an intern, nothing about two half-brothers pining over the same girl, which just made me think that had all been nothing but a giant ruse.
Or maybe a lie.
One I believed over and over again.
I tried to stay away from YouTube, but that was impossible. Their next video started trending again and surpassed the first one by another forty million views.
SWT had been big when I’d started with them.
Now?
They were everywhere in the States.
From merchandise, to food, to promotions for their sold-out US tour. I’d have to be dead not to notice them.
Every other commercial had their songs.
Every other product had their SWEET fan logo on it.
I was in actual hell.
“Hey!” Kevin flicked the screen of his phone. “Are you even listening to me? I have concert tickets. Why don’t we just go? You can punch them all in the face, say your piece, then get really drunk?”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s not all their fault… it’s me. I was the problem.” Somehow it was my fault, right? I was the reason Rae was mad, the reason Lucas slept with me as a goodbye, the reason Sookie almost cried, why Jay and Kai had to drive me to the airport, why my uncle had to basically fire me.
Ugh, even my parents were confused since he’d just called earlier that last day to say I was doing an amazing job, and he was thinking of keeping me on longer. I’d lied and told them I had to come home early because the schedule changed for the US tour, and weirdly enough, Uncle Siu went with it as if it was the truth when we both knew it wasn’t.