She shrugs. “All in a day’s work.”
“You work hard,” I say, walking past her. She needs to know how amazing she is, and I don’t know how to even tell her without getting weird about it. I’m falling fast and hard. The last time that happened, it didn’t end well.
Maybe that’s my weakness, my thing: falling and then crashing to the ground, waiting for my friends to clean up the mess.
I think of Haneul and swallow a lump in my throat.
And then I think about my sister and try to replace that thought with happy things because it’s just so damn depressing.
The doorbell rings, and I immediately want to rip it out of our building. Ah-Ri freezes on the couch. I shake my head. “It’s fine. Just stay there.”
I casually walk over to the door and open it.
My smile’s so big I can’t contain it.
Shit, perfect timing.
“Delivery.” The guy wants my signature.
I’m still smiling when I take the big box into the room and put it on the table.
Ah-Ri pulls off her headphones. “What’s this? Team uniforms?”
“Something like that.” I smirk. “Open it.”
She frowns and then slowly stands to look at the box. “I think I might need a knife with all this tape.”
“Please.” I roll my eyes and pull the box open. “You just need muscle.”
“And you need humility. Guess everyone wins today.”
“Cute. Now, look.” I jerk my head toward the box as she slowly starts to unravel what’s inside.
Two pairs of shoes for each girl.
Two athletic outfits for dance practice.
Ah-Ri’s hands tremble as she grabs the Jordans and looks at them. Brand-new and not cheap, she drops one shoe.
“Sorry, it’s just…” A tear slides down her cheek. “I was so”—more tears come—“I had no more practice shoes and didn’t want to ask my parents. And—”
I pull her in for a hug. “It’s okay.”
“How did you know? I just broke those shoes yesterday.”
I kiss her on the forehead. “Doesn’t matter. Haneul and I just want to make sure our group looks the best. It’s a totally selfish move on our part, you know.”
She laughs, nods, then holds out a white Jordan with pink and black on the sides. “Yeah, this is about you then?”
“Totally.”
“And the clothes?” she asks.
“Oh, we ordered in a bigger size because we fully intend to make sure you eat more food.” I wink. “That okay?”
She drops the shoe.
Then hugs herself.
Then collapses onto the couch. “Nobody’s ever given me gifts like this before.”
“Good.” I join her on the sofa. “Then I get to be the first.”
She smiles. “Of so many things.”
“So many,” I agree with a wink. “Now, go feed me soup. I did just buy super badass shoes for you.”
She bursts out laughing. “Yeah, okay, but just this once.”
I pull her against me and hug her, then whisper in her ear. “Wear the shoes, and don’t feel guilty. Wear the outfit. Feel beautiful and know your life will change. I promise.”
“And if it doesn’t?” She’s still against my chest.
“Then you’ll still have me.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I’m not,” I say simply. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of attached to my little anti-fan right now.”
“Because you won’t let go.”
“No,” I vow. “I won’t.”
“Soup,” she whispers. “Then songs.”
“Soup first. Songs later.”
“And after that?”
I hesitate, then kiss her forehead again. “We’ll see.”
Chapter Ten
Ah-Ri
I’m still at his apartment.
We’ve had soup.
Worked on the song.
And I know Jisoo and Haneul are gone, working on choreography before we start practicing together next week. Which means we’re completely alone. He’s sober. I’m sober and yet feeling drunk off the smiles he keeps giving me.
So, I try to focus on our schedule for the debut.
I start a countdown on my phone.
Three more weeks.
That’s not a lot of time.
I’m not nervous; we’re all pros at this point, and we only have to debut six songs and one music video. But, still, knowing there’s only one co-ed group in existence and we’ll be the second is a lot of pressure.
I stare at the shoes in the box and try not to smile. I fail. I was so embarrassed about mine, and then he just randomly ordered shoes—which means he did it before all of this, and I just didn’t know.
Which also means the Tin Man has a heart.
And an amazing kissing ability.
My focus is not the best right now. If I’m being honest, it’s been complete shit ever since the shoes and singing for the last few hours with Ryan.
I try to pretend like it’s not a big deal and that we’re just hanging out, but it feels deeper. Different.
“This song is hitting differently,” he says a few hours later. “I think we need to fix some lyrics.”
“Last minute?” I shriek. “I thought everything was set in stone. We literally have to perform this in the next month.”
He turns and smiles at me. He’s in a fresh black T-shirt and black sweats again with a backward Yankees hat. I love that he’s so casual with me when we work.