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Sookie
I wake up feeling sore and exhausted and nearly roll out of my bed onto Jay’s face. “Bro, why are you on the floor?”
He looks up at me, his eyes are bloodshot, and his blinking is really slow. I wave in front of his face, he tries to open his eyes wider, then rubs them with both fists. He’s shirtless, wearing nothing but grey sweatpants, one black slipper, and his hair’s a mess, shit is that a hickey?
I poke his neck. “What the hell did you do while we were filming last night?”
He slowly rolls onto his stomach then his back again, then stomach. “I got really, really, really, hammered.”
I groan and plop next to him, feeling horrible because I didn’t wash my face—huge infraction—brush my teeth—I was pissed and fell asleep and have to be on camera today—and in my tight leggings all after sweating and not eating dinner. “Were you alone?”
He freezes. “Well, uh, Grace knows how to sneak us out remember? I mean not, out, out, but to that part of the property where they have no cameras and you can sneak someone in.”
My jaw drops. “Hyung!”
“What?” He answers back in Korean. “I didn’t sneak anyone that doesn’t know how to, um, sneak.”
“Is that hickey from them?” I point at his neck, he slaps my hand away. I point again, he slaps again, and then Kai walks in.
He sits down on the ground. “Are we playing a slap game or—oh wow, you have a very large hickey on the side of your neck,” He also tries to touch it.
Jay slaps with both hands while Lucas barges in with Rae.
Both just accept we’re all exhausted and sitting on the floor when Lucas’s eyes bulge, he elbows Rae who collapses onto his back and stares up at the ceiling. “My young heart can’t handle this.”
“Hickeys?” Kai offers. “Because you can always cover them with makeup like they do our tattoos, just a couple little dab, dab, dab—ooff.” Rae throws a pillow at his face then sits up and stares at all of us.
Oh no. The tension is thick, and I know I’m one of the reasons why.
He looks for at least three creepy seconds at each member, making intense eye contact and refusing to show any sort of emotion other than coldness. I almost don’t breathe when he opens his mouth. “Do we stall our release?”
Lucas is the first to speak up. “Not what I expected, especially after last night.” All eyes briefly go to me. “But, we can’t do it, we have Idol Countdown in less than two months, followed by Countdown K-pop, followed by a very strict fan meeting in front of the label where we sign autographs, followed by two special edition releases of the album, and our title track is out at the end of next month. I know I don’t need to add on the fact that social media has been blowing up, all of our concept pictures are out except for the last set right before the teaser for Devil so, no, I don’t think we can just stall our release without dying a very slow and painful death in the K-pop industry disappointing fans and our label and making it even harder than it already is, fuck I’m tired!”
Kai nods. “And you only pointed out half of our release month schedule.”
Jay continues to groan while Rae puts his hands over his face. “I messed up the final special edition song for our mini album.”
“What?” We all say in unison.
He shakes his head. “It won’t come, I’ve tried it’s like I’m blocked and I keep ruining it more and more and it was for the special edition albums, the more expensive ones, they have added photocards, and what should be an extra track and all I have is, humming.”
“You hum?” I ask.
He nods. “It started well, ended with a hum then I banged my head against the table and fell asleep with a paper stuck to my face until Eric walked in and asked if I was alive.”
Kai, “That was nice.”
Rae glares. “He needed the studio.”
“Damn.” Lucas sighs. “Well, what if the reason you’re blocked is because of this show?”
Rae leaned against the wall. “It’s not just that, Ari’s been acting really weird, and just, cold lately, last night she looked at me like she got caught doing something wrong and when I asked her she just laughed and said it was a past I didn’t need to worry about.”
Crack. Break. Splinter. Fall. I try to swallow and can’t remember how. I try to think but no thoughts come. I just sit there like an idiot while everyone pipes up with reasons why she would be acting that way.
First fling.
Now past.
