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“No,” Nathaniel says, and his voice doesn’t sound like it did over the radio—casual, unaffected. It sounds broken. “It still hurts like hell.”
It’s as if my body moves of its own volition, moving toward the gate that separates us.
I finally admit to myself that I didn’t come here for Hyemi; I came because I wanted to be with Nathaniel, and because I was jealous.
I close my hand around the latch of the gate.
In my pocket, my phone vibrates with a message. Gi Taek and Angela, wondering if I found Nathaniel, if I’m safe. I want to ignore their message, but I also don’t want them to call the cops.
I take out my phone. It’s a text from Cha Donghyun.What about lunch on Wednesday? I can pick you up.
The numbness from before freezes me in place, stealing away my will, my hope, my breath.
I’ve already made my decision. If I walk through these doors, if I go to Nathaniel now, I’ll be making a promise I can’t keep.
I release my hand from the gate. Before I can change my mind, I turn and rush out the doors...
And into a crowd.
For a moment, I just stand there, disoriented.
Then a girl points at me, so close that I can see the heart-shaped rhinestone on her fingernail. “Isn’t that Min Sori?”
Suddenly faces are turning toward me, phones being lifted. I cover my face with my hands, the shutter and click of cameras going off all around me.
“Sori-eonni, look at me!”
“Min Sori, I’m a fan.”
“Give her space!” a girl shouts. The crowd surges forward and I trip and fall; my phone skitters, disappearing into the rush of feet.
I see a gap in the crowd, and on instinct, I stand up and run. The students hang back, but some of the older people, men carrying large DSLR cameras, follow.
Tabloid reporters.Paparazzi.
They chase me down the street. I take a left, realizing too late that I’m headingawayfrom the main boulevard.
The streets are darker here. I can hardly see my feet hitting the pavement.
The only advantage I have is that I’m smaller, quicker. Catching sight of a narrow alley, I dart inside, only to cry out when I realize it’s a dead end. Backtracking, I spot a tiny space between garbage bins and lower myself to the ground. I listen to the pounding of feet as the paparazzi rush past my hiding place.
I pull my knees to my chest. I don’t have my phone, so I can’t call anyone. Gi Taek warned me that this could happen. I hadn’t taken him seriously. Or at least, I hadn’t wanted to. All I could think about was reaching Nathaniel. I shift on the ground, then wince, noticing a trickle of blood sweeping down my leg. I must have scraped my knee when I fell.
I should leave this alley. I’m trapped here with nowhere to run. If one of the paparazzi should circle back...
There’s a noise outside the alley. Footsteps from the direction the men had run earlier. Someone’s coming. I stand, looking for a way out, a door, a ladder, but it’s all brick. I feel panic overtake me, my heart palpitating.
“Sori!”
Nathaniel.
He skids into the alley, as if he’d been sprinting. His eyes are bright, his breath ragged.
Crying out, I rush toward him. His arms circle around me, holding me close. “God, I’m so glad I found you. Are you hurt?”
I shake my head, unable to speak.
“Why are you here? Weren’t you just on the radio show?”
