-

The person present behind the door turned out not to be who they were expecting. Instead, a chubby man as tall as Eunji in his late 20s with round glasses and I-just-shaved-it-this-morning mustache appeared. “Who are you?” Eunji asked.

“Yeah, what’s your business here?” Chanyeol added in a defensive tone.

“I’m Sungkyu’s manager and I really need to speak to you, Miss Jeong Eunji,” he answered through his panting.

Eunji turned to face Chanyeol and told him, “You can leave.” He was hesitant in doing so, afraid that something bad happened or was about to happen. “I can handle this, don’t worry.” She patted his arm and he eventually walked out of her house. Having her attention back at Sungkyu’s manager, she said, “Please come in.”

He nodded and stepped inside. “This is very crucial for you to know.”

“O-okay . . .” she replied as they sat down in the living room. The mess she created with Chanyeol earlier was still in attendance—empty pizza boxes, sauce spill, used tissue. “What’s wrong?”

“I got a call from the head of artist management an hour ago, and he said that some paparazzi caught Sungkyu walking into this apartment building a couple of nights ago,” he informed, “Of course they know Sungkyu nor his family live here, so he must be visiting someone else, right?”

“Oh, .”

“Exactly,” Manager agreed. “Those paparazzi are just waiting to release this news on the internet. If this happens, not just Sungkyu who will be affected, you might too. Thus, there’s a likely chance of your identity being discovered. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

Eunji was silent for a while, thinking that the manager was going to continue on with whatever he had in mind. Yet, he was silent too, as if expecting Eunji to say something. “I take that as a rhetorical question,” she finally said.

Manager sighed and then continued, “You’re gonna have to be very careful from now on—”

“You think I haven’t been?” she cut him off. “You’re his manager; you’re supposed to manage him! Why did you let him go to my place every damn night when you know damn well that he’s not supposed to?”

He heaved another sigh. “Miss, I know that. But, Sungkyu is just so damn stubborn and selfish, he wouldn’t take no as an answer.”

“Damn right he is. And now I have to endure the risk of what he and his stupid mind had decided to do . . . ” she continued. Eunji spat out some cursing words and then grunted loudly. In her head, she had killed Sungkyu at least 5 times.

“Aigoo, Miss, let’s not get angry right now,” Manager said. “Sungkyu will be called into an urgent meeting tomorrow morning and we’ll try our best not to burden you even more.”

“Yeah, I hope he’d stop coming and risking my already wrecked life after that damn meeting.”

They stood up and she led him to the front door. Manager bowed and then said, “I’m sorry for bothering you in the middle of the night, I’ll leave now.” Eunji nodded. “Oh, and, be very cautious.”

“I know. Thanks for reminding me.” She was being sarcastic but Manager replied with a genuine, “You’re welcome,” before completely leaving. She just rolled her eyes.

The first thing she did after closing the door was marching to where her phone was: on the coffee table, hidden amongst the mess. She tried reaching out to That Idol Singer only to no avail; there was no response. “Ya! Pick up your damn phone!” she screamed to the emptiness. Another attempt was made and she knew this one had a high chance of being answered.

“Eunji? What’s wrong?” Sungkyu said when he answered.

“What’s wrong!? You’re asking me what the f is wrong!?”

“Aish, don’t swear,” he nonchalantly said.

“You put my identity on the line and you told me not to swear!? I don’t f-ing care, dumbwit!” She grunted loudly and then stood up. While pacing back and forth she listened to what Sungkyu was saying. Thought it may seemed that way, she wasn’t. She was deep in her own thoughts.

“. . . therefore I’m sorry for not being careful,” he declared with a voice full of regret. Though, did he really?

“If I hear my name being shared between people on the streets or see my name written on a post about you on the internet, I’d f-ing hunt you down,” she said before hanging up. Having no control of her emotions anymore, she kicked the empty bottles on the table. “Screw you, Kim Sungkyu!”

-

Despite having a class that was very prominent for her GPA, Eunji decided to just sleep in. ‘F*** my life. F*** my score,’ she thought after pressing the button to stop her alarm clock from filling the air with ear-piercing noises. What she was more worried about was her identity, not her score. So she woke up to check the internet, whether something new and fresh about Sungkyu had been posted and whether it had her name in it or not.

No. Nothing. She sighed in relieve and then went back to covering all of her body with the warm blanket. The comfort didn’t last long as her phone rang with the ringtone she especially set up for Sungkyu. “What!?”

“You’re so pissed at me yet you pick the phone up . . . that’s very considerate.” If Eunji were right in front of him right now, she would have landed a big blow on his face.

“Will I be the talk of the town, Kim Sungkyu?”

“No,” Sungkyu said. Eunji sighed, ‘So the meeting went well.’ “At