The coffee shop incident had been four days ago, and still there was no sign of Ravi. Finals were over, and classes had been dismissed for the summer. Many of the students returned home for summer vacation, while some remained to pick up extra summer classes. You’d finally made the big decision after meeting Ravi- you were going to take on an extra art class for the summer. There wasn’t a lot of actual drawing or painting to be done for the class, it would mostly be museum visits and lectures, but you were fine with that. It gave you more time to focus on your own projects, rather than have them assigned to you.

Since the coffee shop incident, you hit a new high and had drawn sketch after sketch of various classmates, the scenery on campus, and, most importantly, Ravi. Of course those sketches usually ended up in the garbage bin. You definitely couldn’t be seen with them, people would think you were some childish creep. It wasn’t like that, even if you admitted to yourself you missed him. He just had a very nice face, and you found it was quite easy to draw him. It was as though he were born to model for art. He had the right facial structure that made it easy for your pencil to glide over the paper, and you loved filling in the lines of his hair. Yes, it was decided that he was destined to be the subject of different art pieces. Of course, after determining this, it still came as a surprise to you when you found out what exactly he had meant by understanding your art block.

It’d been four days since you’ve seen Ravi’s face, and there it was, on a shiny piece of poster, plastered in the student center. He looked so at ease on the poster, smiling the same way he had when you showed him the drawing in the coffee shop. He looked young and carefree and so happy. You were completely at a loss as to what it all meant. The poster was for the school talent show coming up in fall, at the start of the new semester. According to the small print under his name, Ravi was going to be a judge. But what exactly gave him the right? You’d never seen him around before, though by the way a few girls stood whispering excitedly at another nearby poster, he had to be well known. You were too busy trying to decipher the poster that you didn’t notice the girls had all grown silent, and were staring wide-eyed at you.

“Pretty impressive, huh?”

You jumped at the voice, at how close it was. You turned quickly to see Ravi leaning against the wall next to the poster. He wasn’t looking at it, his eyes were focused straight on you. You felt your heart flip flop again, and your hands suddenly felt clammy. The group of girls nearby shuffled forward as one, and you found yourself being moved aside so they could give Ravi their attention.

“What-”

“Ravi, is this really true?” one of the girls asked, flailing an arm towards the poster, and nearly knocking you in the head in the process.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be really fun. I’m looking forward to seeing the talent this school has. I’m already impressed.”
You couldn’t be sure, but you were pretty sure he was looking straight at you when he said that. Was he really? Did that mean he liked the way you drew? You felt it get to your head a bit, chest filling with pride. You still didn’t know who Ravi really was, but by the looks of things he was pretty important- and he liked your art. You listened as the girls started bombarding Ravi with questions; when he arrived, where he was staying, what brought him to campus today. They never gave him a chance to answer, but when he was asked if he knew you, he stepped through the crowd.

“Yeah, of course.” He put his arm around your shoulders, grinning widely. “I’m taking her out on a date.”
“Hey, wait. You can’t just decide that.”
“I did say I wanted to see you again,” he reminded. You had nothing to say to that, because you’d been wanting to see him again, too. He waved towards the group of girls, turning you around and heading for the door. “Practice up, if you’re gonna enter the show. I won’t go easy!”

The girls all chattered happily, and when you looked back at them they were back to admiring the poster. You had no idea where Ravi was leading you, but you remained silent as you two strolled across campus towards one of the exits. He seemed to know his way around pretty well, and you wondered why. Had he been a student here? Was he a student? Or had his importance granted him a private tour? You wondered, with a hint of malice, if the Hyuna girl had been the one to show him around. After the meeting in the coffee shop, you’d noticed her around campus and came to the conclusion that she, too, was a student. Every time you’d seen her, she seemed to be pretty close with a few people you recognized as students of the school. You weren’t sure why you were getting so jealous over something that probably didn’t happen, but you were. It wasn’t a good feeling.

“I got a few things I wanna discuss with you.”
You looked at Ravi, thankful he spoke to pull you from your thoughts. What did he want to talk about? You nodded, and he removed his arm from around you. Your shoulders felt cold now, but he quickly took your hand to lead you off campus. The streets were crowded with cars, students were leaving for home today. You wondered just how quiet your condo building was going to be now that school was over for the semester. No doubt there’d be others there, still, who were taking summer courses or whose parents couldn’t be bothered taking them in for the summer. This reminded you again about Ravi.

“Where are you staying? Or, are you from here? Why are you even here?”
Ravi laughed, squeezing your hand. “I’ll explain everything. Let’s find somewhere quiet, first.”

You could only nod as he lead you through the city. You were pretty impressed he knew his way around, which just made you even more curious about him. You were nearing one of the higher end hotels, and as you got closer, you noticed large banners with his face on them. They were advertising a concert series, made mention of the school talent show, and most of all, kept boasting about a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It made your head hurt just seeing them all.
Rave led you inside the hotel, bypassed the front desk, and went straight for the elevators.

“Wait, where are you taking me?”
“It’s a surprise.”

You found you had enough strength to pull your hand from his, and you crossed your arms as you took a step back. He wasn’t trying to take you to a room, was he? Or… his room. He laughed, as though he could read your mind.

“Trust me, there’s no privacy there. Just trust me.”
He held his hand out, reaching with his other to call the elevator. You watched the numbers make their descent, and when the elevator arrived you took his hand. What the hell, you had him to thank, anyway. The least you could do was take a leap of faith. Inside the elevator, he pushed a button for one of the higher floors, and entered a passcode. Just how famous was he that security was going to be that tight on his room? You found out in just a few moments, though. When he led you inside one of the suites on the higher floors, you were frozen. There was so much sound equipment and computers, not to mention a few people sitting around. You could hear voices in another room off to the side.
“What exactly is this?” you asked.

“Ta-da!”

Ravi swept his arms wide, backing into the room. You weren’t exactly what you were supposed to be admiring, but you were pretty amazed by all the work that was going on, or that must have gone on in that room. If anything, though, it just gave you more questions.

“Come on.” Ravi headed for the kitchen area, which seemed to be the quietest. He held out a barstool at the counter for you, and you sat in it, placing your bag at the edge of the counter. He got two glasses out, poured some juice, and leaned on his elbows across from you. He was still smiling. “Go on.”
“What is this place? Who are you? What’s going on?”
He didn’t laugh, but you could tell from the look on his face that he wanted to. He took a sip of his juice, standing up and crossing his arms.

“Where do I even begin?”

“Maybe with who you are?”
“Right, right. I already said- I’m Wonshik. But I guess you don’t really know.” He scratched his chin, looking deep in thought. “I used to live here. Never went to college here, but I guess since I’m a hometown star or something… Right. I produce and make my own music. Which is why I’m judging the talent show. And I’m having a concert series here. Taking it back to the roots, right? I hit a block writing so I came home.”

“So why all this? In a hotel?”
“My parents skipped town a few years ago, I bought them a nice house. So I don’t live here anymore. But I come back sometimes.”
“And Hyuna…?”
“Just a girl I used to hang out with. I swear. I don’t know why she’s been so crazy lately. Could be the fame.”
It was a lot to take in, but you were starting to get the big picture. You felt embarrassed you had no idea who Ravi was, but you weren’t from this city, or even paid attention to the latest big names in the music scene. You had your playlists, filled with music you listened to from the nineties, but that was it. You were more interested in your art. However, none of it really explained the coffee shop incident. You let Ravi know, and he took a sip of his juice. It seemed to last forever, and you were at the edge of your seat by the time he set his glass down.
“I want you to be my girlfriend.”

You nearly toppled out of your chair, and one of the men in the room came over, laughing. He seemed to think it was a joke, but Ravi had a very serious look on his face. The man got some food from the fridge, and walked away. Ravi hadn’t said anything in that small time frame, but once the man was gone he rested his elbows on the counter, leaning towards you.
“It wouldn’t be for real, but Hyuna needs to get off my case, and I need someone I can trust to spend time with me when I’m in town. I don’t know what it is about you, but you caught my attention the second I caught you go into the coffee shop.”

“So, what’s in it for me?”
“I want you to do the album work for my next album, so you’ll get a lot of recognition. And you get to spend time with me.”

It actually didn’t seem to be a bad deal. You did enjoy his company, even if you didn’t know anything about him. Well, barely knew anything about him. And you’d need something to do during the summer between your classes. Why not?
“Sure, I guess. It’s not real, anyway.”
“Yeah, exactly. There’s just one thing, though.”
“What is that?”
“You can’t fall in love with me."
Your heart nearly fell to the pit of your stomach. You ignored that feeling, though. It couldn’t be that hard not to, right…? Your heart seemed to squeeze tight in your chest. Maybe not.