“We’ve got months to finish,” Jonghyun complained. It was Thursday night and we were having dinner together at his house – in the kitchen as opposed to the cavernous dining room, which I refused to even set foot in. Not only because it was bigger than my entire apartment, but also because it was filled to the brim with breakable things that my clumsy self probably shouldn’t go near.

I gave him a level look over my plate. “Jonghyun,” I said sternly. “This accounts for a huge portion of our grade. If you think I’m just going to sit by and let you half- it…”

“Who said anything about half-assing it?” Jonghyun demanded, leaning over and silencing me with his lips – he was alarmingly good at it. “We’re both gonna get good grades, babe. We just don’t have to work on it right now. It’s only July. Besides, isn’t this considered research?” And he kissed me again as if to prove his point that we were getting to know each other.

I wrinkled my nose but kissed him back nonetheless. “I sincerely doubt that this is what Ms. Lee meants when she said we should get to know our partners.”

“Probably not,” Jonghyun agreed with a laugh, feeding me a bite of galbi with his chopsticks. “But we’ll make sure to thank her when we turn in our assignments.”

“You’re incorrigible,” I accused through a mouthful of meat.

He grinned impishly. “I know.”

A throat clearing at the doorway interrupted our little bubble of happiness, and we turned to find Mr. Kang standing there. I immediately looked away. Even though I had become a rather regular fixture at the Kims’ home, it was obvious that Mr. Kang – and most of the other servants as well – didn’t approve of me.

“What is it, Kang?” Jonghyun was in a good mood and the interruption didn’t seem to bother him like it might have at one time not so long ago.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, young master,” Mr. Kang said with a low bow. “But you have a visitor. He was very insistent that I let him in…”

Without waiting for an introduction, Minho brushed past Mr. Kang into the kitchen. He was still dressed from school earlier and he was wearing an expression that I couldn’t quite place – haughty, distressed, ruffled?

“It’s fine, Kang,” Jonghyun dismissed the butler with a nonchalant wave of his hand. “What’s up, Minho? You should’ve called. We would’ve saved you some dinner.” He gestured to where we had eaten almost everything that had been cooked for us.

Minho took a seat beside Jonghyun, his lips pressed into a thin line. “It’s fine,” he muttered tersely. “I’m not hungry. I just need a place to crash for a couple of days.”

Jonghyun and I shared an uncertain and worried look. “Is everything okay, Minho?” I asked carefully. I knew better than to press when someone was wound as tightly as our friend appeared to be.

He shut me down almost immediately, though. “It’s fine,” he said shortly. “I’ll just stay in one of the guest rooms. You guys won’t even know that I’m here.”

Jonghyun opened his mouth to say something, probably to insist that Minho tell him what was really going on, but I kicked him underneath the table and gave him a curt shake of my head. So he just said, “That’s cool, man. You want a beer?”

That, at least, Minho agreed to. So after I’d cleaned up the dishes – Jonghyun hated that I refused to let the staff clean up after me but I still wasn’t used to having servants around – the three of us retreated to Jonghyun’s sitting room to watch television and have a few beers. I wasn’t technically old enough to drink and it was a school night, but I figured the unusual situation called for it. So I sat squished between Jonghyun and Minho, feeling them both thrumming with tension as we watched a reality show on the enormous television.

It was well past midnight when Minho finally got to his feet. “I guess I’ll go to bed,” he said, and there was a sad sort of reluctance in his voice. “I know where the guest rooms are. I’ll help myself to one.”

“Goodnight?” I said uncertainly.

Minho gave me a tense, tight smile. “Night.” And then he was gone.

I let out my breath almost explosively. “What was that all about?”

“Beats the hell out of me,” Jonghyun admitted, pulling me back down onto the couch, directly into his lap. He nuzzled his face into my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. “I’ve never seen Minho so freaked out before.”

I leaned into his touch as his lips ghosted over my neck, his arms wrapping comfortably around my waist. “Do you think he’s okay?”

“Not sure,” Jonghyun murmured, his breath tickling my skin. “It must be something pretty big if he’s not going home. I wonder if he had a fight with his parents or something?”

I hummed noncommittally as the program we’d been watching ended and the news came on.

“In other news,” the bright-faced newscaster reported. “Core Hotel stock has plummeted in light of the recent news.”

Jonghyun stopped kissing me. “Did she just say Core Hotel?” he demanded. “That’s Minho’s father’s chain of hotels…”

“Their stock plummeted?” I repeated. “No wonder Minho is in a foul mood, then! What will this mean for his family?”

“The stock isn’t really a big deal,” Jonghyun admitted, turning up the volume on the television. “His family will be fine, financially. But what is this recent news that set this off? That’s what I want to know.”

But the news report didn’t elaborate on whatever had happened, and the mention of Core Hotel was brief.

Jonghyun grabbed his laptop and pulled up a search engine, typing in Core Hotel stock drop. He clicked on the first news article that popped up and we both read it silently.

Recent photographs of Core Hotel heir Choi Siwon have come to light through anonymous sources. The photographs show the young businessman on a date with another man. Witnesses say that the two were close all evening, even going so far as to kiss on more than one occasion.

Choi Siwon is the eldest son of Choi Junhong, CEO of the chain of five-star Core Hotels. He was next in line to take over his father’s company, but how will this scandal affect his future and the future of Core Hotels?

Netizens’ reactions to the news have been mixed:

• Who cares if he’s gay? His private life shouldn’t be aired to the public like this.
• It’s an abomination. Someone like him should not be allowed in power! Both he and his lover are disgusting.
• If he’s going to be gay, shouldn’t he be more discreet about it?
• I hope he’s kicked to the curb ㅋㅋ I definitely won’t be staying at any Core Hotels in the future.

As of now, it’s unclear what course of action CEO Choi Junhong will take regarding this matter.

I sat back after reading the article, barely glancing at the series of photos accompanying it. I personally couldn’t care less about someone’s ual preference – my choice of friends demonstrated that well enough – but it was something damning in many circles in Korea. If Minho’s brother had been ousted as gay…

“Well, no wonder Minho is here,” Jonghyun said with a sigh, closing his laptop and setting it on the coffee table. “I bet really hit the fan at his house.”

“Couldn’t he just close himself up in his room?” I asked uncertainly, scooting back into my boyfriend’s welcoming arms. “And just wait for the storm to blow over?”

Jonghyun laughed humorlessly. “Mr. Choi’s got a loud voice, Narae, and it can carry pretty far. Besides, I don’t think this is something that’s just going to blow over.”

“What’ll you think will happen to Minho’s brother?” I asked next.

But Jonghyun shrugged. “I’m more worried about Minho, honestly. He and his brother were really close. He’s probably really hurt that his brother kept this from him, and he’s also probably pretty freaked out about it. He’s always sort of resented the fact that Siwon was next in line to become CEO, but if Siwon is out then that means Minho will be the next CEO and, even though he’s secretly coveted the title for a while now, I don’t think he’s ready for it.”

I groaned. “Wow, this is such a mess.”

Jonghyun nodded grimly. “Let’s just hope people at school don’t know what’s going on. It’ll be a hundred times worse for Minho if they do.”

But luck could never be on my side. It was obvious from the second the three of us stepped through the front doors of the school building that everyone knew about Minho’s family scandal. There were whispers and stares and even some blatant pointing, and for once it wasn’t directed at me, an outsider, but at one of their own.

To his credit, Minho held his head high and, if their gossiping was getting to him, he didn’t let it show. He was made of strong stuff, that was sure. Jonghyun and I shared a look, both silently promising to keep an eye on him and hopefully shield him from the worst of the malicious rumors. I’d had enough practice with that already, at least.