Page 76 of Wish Upon a K-Star

“Fine, but are you really going to stay away when it’s Robbie’s birthday party?”

He falters at that. His frown melting away as he puts the empty cup on the coffee table. “No.”

“Let’s go then.” I start to stand, but he grabs my wrist.

“Not yet, okay? I’m still not completely cooled off. And if I see Jongdae right now, I might start swinging.”

I’m surprised enough by the claim that I let him pull me back onto the couch. His hand lingering on my wrist. We sit there a minute awkwardly.

Finally, I can’t take the silence. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly.”

“Fine.” I pick up the remote, planning to at least turn on the TV.

But he blurts out, “He just won’t admit that things are shit between us right now. He’s acting like he’s not the reason we’re in this mess.”

He jumps up to pace toward the kitchen before spinning around to pace back again.

It’s weird to see him so jittery. I can tell he’s hurting, but I suddenly realize I’ve never been the one to comfort Minseok. When we were younger, he was always the one pulling me out of a bad mood with a joke or a sweet gesture. He was always too go-with-the-flow to stress about anything, or at least that’s how it always seemed.

“Maybe he’s scared that acknowledging it will make it worse,” I try.

“No, that’s bull.” Minseok shakes his head. “He’s treating me like I can’t be trusted. I havealwayshad his back since we were trainees. I’ve always kept his secrets. And he couldn’t trust me enough to tell me about Sooyeon.”

He falls back onto the couch, perching his elbows on his knees to bury his face in his hands.

I am the last person to give advice on how to keep the peace in a group. I was obviously horrible at it in Helloglow. But I have to say something. “Have you tried telling him all of this?”

“No.” He sighs. “First, I was too pissed and now there’s never a good time. He’s not really at the dorm these days; he’s staying at his parents’ house to recover from his accident.”

“But he’s here tonight,” I point out.

“I can’t have the talk now.” He pushes his hair out of his face in frustration.

“I’m sorry.” He looks so lonely. It’s unsettling. A lonely Minseok feels wrong to me. “You’ll figure this out. That’s what family does.”

He lets out a heavy sigh. Then, to my surprise, he turns to me. Leaning his face into my shoulder.

My arms hover in the air around him. Like they’re not sure if they should embrace or push away. But he lets out another sigh, and I hesitantly pat him on the back.

His arms come around me tightly, like he’s been waiting for me to do just this. And I give in to the moment. It can’t hurt, right? I’m just a friend comforting another friend. I rub his back in small circles. “You’re going to figure this out. You’re closer than brothers.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He mutters it into my shoulder.

I pull back to look him in the eye and say sternly, “Stop over-thinking it.”

He pinches my chin playfully. “You’re one to talk. You’re the queen of overthinking.”

I’m about to rebut; instead I shrug with a rueful smile. “Yeah, you’re right.”

We’re both laughing at ourselves when it strikes me that we’re holding on to each other, sitting awfully close together. I have a flash of that moment by the pool, when we sat just this close. How I wanted so badly for him to kiss me. I push away from him defensively.

Jumping off the couch in a rush, I say, “We should get back to the party, right?”

“Hyeri,” Minseok says, grabbing my hand so I can’t escape.

“Yeah? What’s up?” I try my best to pretend like I am not internally freaking out.

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