My Summer in Seoul

“Thank you!” I could have kissed the screen. “I’ll take you to dinner when I get back.”

Rae said something under his breath. Had I heard it correctly? “No, you won’t”?

Lucas gave Kevin a thumbs up, then shut my laptop like he wanted this whole situation to be done already.

Grumpy, both of them, even after all the help.

I spun around on the bar stool. “I’m either taking Lucas with me or tying him to a chair using duct tape.”

Lucas frowned, then looked at Rae, who sighed. “You can’t lock him in. He’ll just escape.”

“So that means he gets to join me on a sting operation—and that we need some serious disguise for him.” I tilted my head. “If we cover the red hair, put on some sunglasses— oooh, a face mask, perfect.”

Rae’s eyes landed on me, then shifted to Lucas, then shot back to me. “We’ll all go.”

“Whoa, whoa!” I reached out to tug his arm, then jerked back. “That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard. First off, you have fans twenty-four seven trying to guess your top secret schedule just waiting for you to wave at them or breathe in the same direction online, second—”

Rae interrupted. “You really think we don’t know how to sneak out of our own dorm without being detected? Besides, we were able to leave with the Jeep, and it was fine; we just have to have a look out, make sure our schedules haven’t been leaked, and most importantly, leave from the parking garage.”

I frowned. “Well, no… yes— Wait, what? How often do you guys sneak out?”

Jay grinned. “I’ll get the disguises.”

“Why isn’t anyone answering me?” I said to a near-empty kitchen as the guys dispersed.

They returned minutes later in black face masks, which did disguise at least their perfect lips, but that was about it. Lucas put on a pair of black-rimmed glasses and pulled out a black and white striped beanie.

Was he insane? I wasn’t one of the fangirls, and I could still recognize the cold beauty beneath the disguise.

I shook my head. They were either masterminds, or we were going to get caught, and I was going to lose my job. At least in the Jeep people hadn’t suspected a thing. Bonus, though, there was nothing on the schedule, and since that was constantly leaked to the public, nobody would suspect us of being out.

But today, everyone knew the guys had been getting driven back and forth from choreography and variety shows on top of English lessons, interviews. It was busy, so maybe there wouldn’t be as many fans waiting?

I chewed my lower lip in worry. What other choice did I have? It wasn’t like I could strong-arm them. Besides, it would just be wasting time if I did, and time was something we didn’t have a lot of right now.

Kai and Rae both wore baseball caps. One seemed to be an LA fan, the other said Supreme across the front; I assumed it was a brand.

Jay, at least, looked a little unrecognizable, but that was because he’d tucked his hair into his beanie, hiding the color. His dark sunglasses hid his eyes well, and his black clothes were nondescript.

Sookie nearly matched him, which just left me standing there in my jeans and leather jacket.

“You.” I pointed to Lucas. “Stay.”

“He’s not a dog.” Rae smirked.

“Don’t move.” I pointed again. “Seriously, don’t make me sprint after you; I have no qualms about tackling a person to the floor in order to save him.”

I didn’t wait for him to reply but instead ran into my room and quickly put on a black Nike sweatshirt and pulled a black beanie over my dyed blond hair.

It’s not like I had to worry—I wasn’t famous, but the last thing the guys needed was for the new intern to get caught red-handed.

How had this gone from me trying to solve their issue to them all coming with me?

Crap.

I said a quick prayer.

It would be fine.

This was for Lucas.

If this kept him alive.

It would be worth it.

Even if my uncle killed me.

Which he very well could if we got caught.

“All right.” I ran back out to the kitchen. “First things first. Is our plan to just take the van?”

Rae held up keys, dangling them from his long fingertips. “It’s not like they trap us here all the time, and this is an emergency, correct?”

I gave him a firm nod. “I would say so.”

I reached for the keys only to have him shake his head and jerk them away. “I’m not that crazy. You may have gotten a bit better at driving, but we all still say a prayer every time you start the engine.”

“Hey!” I put my hands on my hips. “I’m a professional now.”

The room fell silent.

“Uh, fine.”

Rae grinned in triumph. “Let’s go.” He swept by me with the rest of the guys in tow.