Dating an Idol

Twenty-Two: WHEN THINGS DON'T TURN OUT AS PLANNED

"I remember Haneul really loved to sing when he was little," Skye's mom said.

"Really, eomeonim?" I was surprised. "But I remember when we were still kids, we had to force him to sing for us. Like really force him."

We were back at their house now, enjoying some bottles of soju. We are going back to Seoul tomorrow night so we're making the most of our stay here in Busan.

Skye's stepdad couldn't join us, though, since he had to prepare for his lessons for tomorrow. So it was only me, Skye, his mom, and Eun. We were at the floor table outside their house, enjoying our soju under the starry night sky.

"Yeah, when he was younger, Haneul really loved to sing. It was like their favorite pastime with his dad. His dad would always ask Haneul to sing for him and he would gladly do it. Sometimes his dad would even bring him to karaoke rooms," Skye's mom recalled.

"No wonder he's Crest 88's main vocals. He had started really young. Maybe he was singing even before he was born," Eun said jokingly.

Skye just chuckled while pouring everyone's glasses with soju.

"What happened? When did he stop singing?" I asked.

"When his dad died," Skye's mom replied. "When his dad passed away, I noticed that he no longer sings like he used to do." There was a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Really?" I turned to Skye. "Why?"

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here. It's kinda awkward," Skye said instead.

Eun put his arm across Skye's shoulders and said, "What do you want us to talk about then? Your dating scandal with Dan Bi?"

"Stop it," Skye replied before he pushed Eun's arm off his shoulders.

"Eomeonim, did you actually expect that Skye would be an idol when he grew up?" Eun asked.

"Honestly, no," said Skye's mom. "Although he loved to sing when he was little, he would only do it in front of me and his dad. He would never sing in front of other people. He was always shy and aloof as a kid. So it's a surprise that he started enrolling in voice and dance classes. He even offered tutorial classes to his classmates so he could earn money to pay for those extracurricular classes."

"But I'm giving the credit to Yuri, of course," she continued. "Back when I thought that Haneul would never sing again, Yuri brought back his love for singing. Not only that, she even turned him into an idol."

"It was all because of Skye, eomeonim, and not because of me," I disagreed. "He became an idol because he's really talented and not because of me."

"But it was still you who inspired him to do so," his mom replied.

"C'mon. Stop talking about me already," Skye once again complained. "Can't you find some other topic rather than me?"

"But there's nothing more interesting than you," Eun teased him.

Skye threw him a warning look and said, "Stop it."

"We're running out of soju. Let me get some more bottles," Skye's mom offered before she stood up to go to the kitchen.

Eun and Skye were bickering when their phones started ringing almost in unison.

They answered their respective phones simultaneously. And when I saw their reactions, I instantly knew that something's not right.

"What happened?" I asked after they're done talking on their phones.

But instead of giving me an answer, they started scrolling on their social media accounts.

"What happened?" I asked again but they still didn't give me an answer.

That's when Skye's mom came out of the house with three more bottles of soju.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She must have noticed right away the sudden change of mood.

Eun and Skye were still busy scrolling through their phones.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked once again. I was starting to get really worried.

Skye handed me his phone and I saw what caused the panic in their eyes. There, all over his feed were pictures of Eun and I!

Photos of Eun and I were all over the internet! Like WTF!

These photos were taken earlier at the beach. It was a photo sequence of Eun putting his jacket over me, him sitting down beside me, us talking, us smiling at each other… it's crazy! It's really crazy!

And they're not low quality phone photos! They're taken by some professional long-range cameras so the photos were of high quality even if it's nighttime!

They must be taken by some paparazzi.

"Ohmigod, what shall we do about this?" I asked in panic.

"Was that your agency who called you just now?" Skye's mom asked.

"Yes, it was the agency. They asked where I was and whom I was with," Eun replied before he turned to me. "I'm so sorry, Yuri."

"No, it wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault," I said to him.

Then I turned to Skye and handed his phone back to him.

Skye started scrolling through his phone again and I watched as he moaned in frustration.

"What is it again?" I asked him.

When he didn't answer, I snatched the phone from his hand to check out what he was looking at.

I cussed internally when I saw what it was. My old photos from that airport incident resurfaced --- when Eun helped me up after I fell right in front of him. It was edited side by side with the photos taken at the beach earlier.

And the captions were crazy!

Fan Eun of Crest 88 Helped in the Airport Turns Out to be Not Just Fan But His Secret Girlfriend

Crest 88 Eun Dated a Fan After He Met Her in an Airport Incident

"This is crazy," I said.

"They should've at least blurred Yuri's face." Skye looked worried.

"This is not the right time to worry about me," I said. "What did your agency say?"

"I'm so sorry, Yuri," Eun said once again.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Skye's mom asked Eun.

Skye turned to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. "The agency's sending some staff to pick us up. You better stay here for maybe a couple of days more. Do not go back to Seoul until the agency cleans up this mess." He looked really worried.

But I'm more worried for him and Eun. How can they be both involved in a dating scandal?

Their agency just released an official statement earlier denying Skye's dating scandal with that girl group member and now it's Eun who's dragged into another dating scandal. Arghhh!

"Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. I can handle myself," I said. "It's Eun that I'm worried about."

"I'll be okay, Yuri. Don't worry about me. I'll get an earful but I'll be fine. I've been through worse when I was still a trainee. It's you that I'm worried about. Those rascals even showed your face!" Eun looked mad.

Our soju session ended earlier than planned as they needed to prepare. They're going back to Seoul tonight.

Skye's mom told me not to worry too much and that I should go ahead and sleep. But how can I possibly fall asleep after what happened so I waited for the staff to come.

It took them more than four hours to arrive. And since I couldn't show myself to them, I stayed in the bedroom when they came.

I heard a soft knocking on the door and before I could open it myself, Skye came in. He looked like he was ready to go.

"Will you be okay here?" he asked as he went inside the bedroom to come closer to me.

"Yes, of course. I'll be fine here." I was sitting on the bed.

He approached me and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Stop worrying too much, we'll fix this. Stay here until you get a go signal from me, okay?"

I just nodded. I know that arguing with him won't help. Although I wasn't really planning to stay here in Busan longer than we planned. I know I can handle myself.

He reached out for my head, ruffled my hair, and heaved a deep sigh. He looked worried.

"We need to go," he said after a short while.

"Please take care on your way back," I replied.

"You, too."

He stared at me for like a couple more minutes before he stood up and left the room.

I took a peek from the window and saw him and Eun get inside the company's van. A staff member went to drive Eun's car.

Then both cars left.

I closed the window and went back to bed. I checked the time on my phone and calculated the time. I believe they'll arrive in Seoul in the morning already. I hope they can both, at least, take a nap during the ride.

I lied down and tried to sleep. I was planning to take the early train back to Seoul tomorrow.

I was trying to lull myself to sleep when I suddenly remembered something. I cussed as I remembered Mael. I haven't told him about my connection with Skye yet!

I pulled myself up and sat down on my bed as I reached for my phone on the bedside table.

I dialled Mael's number but he wouldn't pick it up. I got even more worried.

What should I tell him? Will he get mad at me for hiding everything from him?