Page 104 of Wish Upon a K-Star

He made a mistake trying to kiss her earlier. No, actually, the mistake had been breaking up with her to begin with—or the non-breakup, because the original mistake had been letting her convince him to keep things undefined. He wants to define them. He wants to tell her that she can go to LA and have him too. That he’ll wait for her.

Minseok steps into the backstage area and almost collides with a tall gangly man wearing a low baseball cap. No, wait, not a man, or barely one at least. It’s that antifan that keeps bothering Hyeri. What was his name again? Kwang Donghwa? Kwak Dongeun?

“Kwak Dongha.” Minseok snaps out the name, and the boy’s head jerks up before he dashes away. But Minseok is fast enough to grab the other guy by the shoulder, trapping him against the wall.

“Where’s Hyeri?”

“How should I know?” Dongha struggles against Minseok’s hold.

“Security!” Minseok shouts.

“Fine, fine! She and Kim Ana went to go talk to some hairdresser guy. Dave or something.”

“Why?” Minseok scowls.

“They think he’s HyeriTopAnti.”

“What?” The surprise is enough to make Minseok’s grip loosen. Dongha pushes away, causing Minseok to slam into the opposite wall.

When Dongha races out of an emergency exit Minseok doesn’t try to go after him. He has to find Hyeri.

“But you already punished her, didn’t you?” I blurt out, and it’s enough to distract Jeongho. He stops mid-stride, his angry glare turning to me.

Ana is fully sobbing now.

“The pill bottle,” I clarify even though my own voice is shaking. “You gave it to the police to punish Ana, right?”

“The police?” he says, frowning like he’s trying to recall the details. “Yes, there were two, so I gave one to the police and the other…”

“You sold it, right? To another fan,” I provide. I’m inching closer to the door. Ana is clinging so tight to me that I’m practically dragging her along the floor.

“It was compensation!” Jeongho shouts so loud that I flinch as I reach for the handle. “I’ve spent thousands on Ana. Going to concerts, bulk buying albums, traveling to international events. I deserved compensation for that after Ana failed to keep up her part of the deal.”

“The deal that she would be perfect?” I prompt, hoping it’ll distract him into another tirade. Now that I feel the cold metal of the handle in my hand, I’m terrified. What if I’m not fast enough?

I take a deep breath, readying myself to yank it open. My hand is so slick with sweat that the knob seems slippery beneath it. But I grip it tighter, counting to three in my head. One. Two.

I start to twist the knob, but the gesture turns my arm and my elbow nudges at Ana.

She lets out a terrified scream.

It pulls Jeongho’s attention back to us. His eyes flare with rage as he lunges forward.

I pull on the door, but Ana is pushed too hard against me. I can’t move her back and the door swings into us. We both go tumbling to the floor.

Jeongho plows into the open door, slamming it shut again.

I pull Ana to her feet, dragging her after me to the other end of the room, where there’s another door. If I can get to it in time…

But Ana lets out a scream a second before she’s yanked out of my arms.

Jeongho pulls her back by the hair.

I pitch myself at him, using nails, teeth, anything to make him let go.

The two of us tumble to the ground together.

I land the wrong way. Something in my shoulder pops, and my vision goes searing white for just a second.

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