Page 103 of When Worlds Collide
“Yah, don’t sleep here. Let’s go get something to eat.”
I rolled back up and eyed her with interest.
“Did you say food? Oh, thank God, I’m starving!”
“Yeah, I could eat a whole horse. Let’s go.”
She rose to her feet, wincing slightly, before extending her hand to me. I eyed it speculatively, before reaching out for her. She was stronger than she looked, pulling me to my feet with ease.
We got back in the mini bus with the other production team members, but got dropped off before going all the way back to ENT, as Hana said she knew a good place to eat just outside of Gangnam.
“Barbecue,” I sighed in appreciation as the little restaurant came into view, the enticing smells wafting out on the cold, January breeze as the door opened, and a laughing group of people walked out.
It wasn’t so busy inside that we needed to wait for a table, so we sat down and Hana called out for drinks.
“Holy hell, I needed this,” I sighed in relief as I came up for air after chugging my beer.
“Slow down there, England, I don’t wanna carry you out.”
Hana found it hysterical to call me ‘England’, whereas it seemed less funny when I called her ‘New Zealand’, after learning she was raised in Auckland.
“I won’t get drunk,” I promised. “This beer is medicinal. It’ll make my feet hurt less.”
She scoffed. “Maybe you can get your boyfriend to rub your feet later.”
She waggled her eyebrows at me over her own bottle as she tipped it up to drink.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know why you keep insisting that I have a boyfriend,” I protested.
“Because otherwise they wouldn’t let you near any of the boys.” She grinned.
“Come again?”
Was that an actual thing? I’d heard that single women weren’t allowed to work with male idols – I’d just thought it was bullshit made up by netizens.
Hana nodded solemnly.
“Only women in serious relationships are allowed to work with the male groups, or soloists. Haven’t you noticed all the eonnies this week?”
I hadn’t noticed, actually, but now that she mentioned it, all of the other women had been noticeably older. It hadn’t even crossed my mind, and hearing it confirmed made my stomach lurch. Director Kang already knew about our relationship, but what if others found out? This felt so much bigger than just a dating scandal. Or at least, it felt like another mile of land mines I needed to navigate.
“That feels a bit gross,” I admitted, pulling a face, but Hana just laughed.
“It’s how it is. Dating scandals end careers.”
She shrugged, while I tried to pretend like the beer in my mouth hadn’t just turned sour. I struggled to swallow.
“How come you’re working with them then?”
The band we’d been working with all week was most decidedly all male.
“I have a fiancé,” Hana sounded proud of the fact, although it took me by surprise.
“You’ve never said!”
“You’ve never asked!” she fired back, poking her tongue out at me, turning my shock into laughter.
“Yeah, I guess I never did,” I conceded. “Go on then, tell me all about him.”
