“Hello?” Lani spoke once she heard an answer at the other end.

“Lani?” L.Joe croaked tiredly.  

In less than fifteen minutes, L.Joe was at Lani’s door. After hearing how scared and uneasy she sounded on the phone, he rushed over as fast as he could. As soon as Lani opened the door, she threw her arms around L.Joe’s neck and buried her face in his chest. He soothingly her hair and guided her back into the apartment.

“Do you have any candles?” L.Joe asked her before they took a seat on the couch.

“There should be one in the bathroom,” she replied to him.

L.Joe slipped away and entered the bathroom. It was completely dark in the confined space but L.Joe didn’t mind. He felt around for the cabinet and rummaged through it until his hand landed on the small cylindrical figure. He grabbed it and luckily, right next to the candle was a small pack of matches, which he also grabbed. He returned to the couch where Lani was waiting patiently and placed the candle on the small coffee table. He struck the match against the package and it came to life; he then lit the candle before blowing out the match.

“There we go,” L.Joe said in content.

He smiled at Lani and she smiled back. He noticed her rubbing her arms for warmth and got up once again.

“Where are you going?” she questioned.

But instead of relying, L.Joe walked away. Lani watched as he disappeared into the darkness only to return moments later with a blanket in his hands. He carefully draped it around Lani’s shoulders and sat back down next to her. She stretched out her arm and wrapped the blanket around L.Joe too so both of them were shielded from the cold. L.Joe automatically put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him; she rested her head on his shoulder.

Lani silently watched the small flame flicker in the night. She took a breath and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry Byunghun,” she murmured softly but sincerely.

“For what?” he asked caught slightly off guard.

“Just… everything,” she responded. “For acting the way I did today… for getting so worked up…”

“It’s okay,” he replied, “I should be the one apologizing… I know you’re under a lot of stress with everything going on, forgive me?”

“Of course.”

She wrapped her arms around him and tightly hugged him, “I love you Byunghun.”

“I love you too, Lani, with all of my heart.”

They spent the rest of the night just talking about everything and anything until both of them fell fast asleep, holding each other in a tight embrace. L.Joe and Lani slept soundly throughout the night until the sun rose the next morning. The grey clouds had cleared and there was no sign that it had even rained; the sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky. Lani stirred in L.Joe’s arms and slowly opened her eyes. It took her a moment to register why she was sleeping in the living room and on the couch. She gently lifted L.Joe’s arms from her waist and sat up to stretch her stiff body. L.Joe awoke due to the movement and rubbed his eyes.

“Morning babe,” L.Joe mumbled with a yawn.

“Good morning,” Lani sweetly chimed.

“Is the power back on?” he questioned as he sat up next to her.

“Hmm, let me check.” Lani grabbed the remote off the coffee table and pressed the power button. As she hoped, the TV indicating that the power came back. “It’s back,” Lani cheerfully beamed.

L.Joe smiled back at her before he stood up and stretched his arms. Lani decided to prepare a small breakfast for the both of them as L.Joe took a shower. As Lani buttered the toast, there was a small knock on the door. She rushed to it and turned the door knob; she opened it slightly and poked her head out.

“Oh! Oppa, what are you doing here?” Lani asked when she saw her manager standing at the door.

“Just came to check on you,” her manager replied.

“Oh, well I’m doing pretty good,” Lani said to him. “Is there anything else you need?”

“Well I want to go over your upcoming schedule with you, I hope you weren’t busy.”

“I was just finishing up breakfast, come in,” Lani opened the door wider and motioned for him to enter.

He followed Lani to the couch where the blanket was sloppily draped over the cushions. Lani quickly grabbed it and messily folded it so it was out of the way. Her manager took a seat, but curiously looked in the direction of the bathroom.

“Who’s in the shower…?” he questioned with confusion and suspicion.

“Uh,” Lani hesitated, “I was just about to shower when you came to the door.”

“You said you were finishing breakfast when I came to the door,” he stated with rising suspicion.

“I was doing both,” she answered with an awkward laugh. “I’ll go turn it off so we can talk first.”

Lani hurriedly ran into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

“Did you come to join me?” L.Joe seductively spoke as he stuck his head out from behind the curtain.

“Shh!” Lani pressed her hand over L.Joe’s mouth to muffle his voice.

He looked at her in confusion and she explained the situation to him. He understood and took off the shower. After putting on his clothes, Lani left him in the bathroom to wait as she got rid of her manager. She returned to the living room and took a seat next to him. They briefly discussed what was to come within the following week and spoke of how she was to respond to questions of the scandal. Her manager wouldn’t stop talking. Each subject just lead to another and the conversation dragged on. Lani knew L.Joe was becoming impatient sitting in the bathroom and she had to find a way to get her manager to leave.

Her manager finally decided it was time to go, “Before I leave, can I quickly use your bathroom?”

“Uh…” Lani wasn’t sure what to do. “Yeah you can use the BATHROOM,” she said unnecessarily loud.

Her manager gave her a look and warily walked away as if she was crazy.

“IT’S DOWN THE HALL TO THE LEFT,” she continued in the same booming voice.

He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow, “I’ve used your bathroom before… I know where it is…”

“Oh, okay…” Lani trailed off as he walked out of sight.