Su Ryeon presides over a meeting with the management agency's executives, when the doors of her office burst open and a familiar man strides to her desk.

 

"I can't believe you did this! You're my management, not my guard!" Logan, the idol whose voice earned him a spot in her company, gestures to the article on his tablet. Her co-workers look at her worriedly, and sit to stop him, but she raises her hand, requesting privacy. "You told the magazine I'm not looking for a relationship ever! And they put it on the cover! It was one date, Ms CEO, one date I went to, and you had to punish me.” His neon coloured jacket sways with his clanky movements.

 

"Logan." She expected this reaction. "You know the deal. Idols are not allowed to date.” He opens his mouth to retort but she continues. "And I made this statement so that they'll stop linking you with every female celebrity that happens to be near you. You know the optics of it. You and the guys are starting the tour next month, nothing can take the focus off it. Not personal news, not scandals, just your music."

 

"That doesn't explain why you intentionally made me look like a loser! The press thinks I'm eating alone every day. I'm not a monk and neither is any one of us, I want the freedom to have a personal life."

 

"Not one that the media will turn against you. You've been in this business for ten years, how do you think you outstayed every other idol?" He made his debut in a teen band, but quickly outshined them all with his musical talent. A decade later, he's still as popular as the lead vocalist of Silverstone. "By having a clean image. Everything about you is about your music. And people respect you for it. You have fans of all ages. That never happens to idols."

 

He looks down but his lips are a thin line. He holds the tablet tightly, his fingers white from the force.

 

Her explanation is logical, but it's hard to stomach.

 

"Do you think you'd still be loved by the fans if they'd see photos of you with a different woman every week?” 

 

He can’t refute this. 

 

“It's harsh,” she continues, “but it's the rules of the career you chose."

 

That makes him scoff.

 

"I signed that contract when I was eighteen! I didn't know I was giving the rights to my personal life away forever!"

 

"But you signed with our company two years ago, at twenty-six. You weren't a kid then. You knew what you were agreeing to."

 

He takes off his blue tinted sunglasses -protection against camera flashes- and fumbles with them.

 

"It wasn’t even like that.” He looks across her office, eyes staying on the painting of lilies. “That girl. I just wanted to go out with someone. We've been locked inside practicing for three months now. And then it’s the Shadee Awards and then we're going on tour. It never stops. I needed to see another face, besides the ones in this damn building.”

 

He gestures vaguely in a desperate attempt to persuade her.

 

"I understand. It doesn't change the company's stance though. The rules apply to everyone, not just you. As long as you're an idol, you can't date whoever you want. It's for your own good. My job is to maintain your image, keep it as shiny as possible. So that you don’t lose opportunities because of it."

 

This is all she wanted. The talent of everyone she represented to be rewarded. Give every young hopeful person a chance for a decent living. She’s seen so many idols ruined overnight by scandals, she will protect her own from the judgment of society. 

 

She adopts a gentler tone, but he remains visibly agitated. 

 

"I work for you just as much as you work for me. We've come this far together; trust me," she does her best to reassure him.

 

He searches her eyes, his shoulders sagging. The sign of defeat should satisfy her. Yet the lines on his eyes soften and reveal a hint of dark circles. He must have stayed all night in the studio. 

 

"Is this the only way?" he asks, a last ditch attempt to sway her. 

 

"I don't see any other.”

 

She does, of course. Having studied media and communication in Northwestern, she’s foreign agencies handle the talent with more grace and less dating bans. But she’s in Korea now, where image is everything. The rules are set and she will play accordingly. 

 

Logan moves from one foot to another, weighing his -nonexistent- options. He thinks there must be something he could do. Any extenuating circumstances, any hidden clause to give him some freedom.

 

He takes a heavy step, forcing her to look up at him. Even in her trusted office pumps, he towers over her. 

 

There’s nothing that could warn her for what he says next. 

 

"What if I fall in love?" She gapes, but he goes on. "What if I want to get married, will my personal life be off limits to the agency then?"

 

She clasps her hands. After seeing celebrity relationships go up in flames every day, his question is pointless. There's no such thing. Her own messy divorce doesn't help her cold attitude towards love either. If Logan wants out so much, it's not her who would oppose.

 

"If you fall in love, you can pursue the relationship. If you find someone you see a future with, yes. But Logan," she makes her stipulation, "only if she falls for you too."

 

She doesn’t know it yet, but when they lock eyes, the game begins.

 

—

—

 

He won't be falling for anyone, that's for sure. It would be easier to make someone fall for him. The same person who can give him his freedom.

 

Shim Su Ryeon.

 

 

---/---