I rub my head, listening in on the meeting. Our CEO clears his throat over the phone.

“Well?”

“What do you want me to say?” I ask quietly. “Do you want me to tell them to break up? Do you want me to say that their relationship can potentially cause a loss in your stocks?”

CEO Manhwa sighs loudly. “You and I both know, Baekjae, that money isn’t the issue. I’m more concerned about your welfare than I am anything else.”

My gaze doesn’t leave the ground. “Then why do you want me to talk to them?”

“You’re their leader, aren’t you?” Annoyance flickers in his voice. “That’s what I appointed you for, right?”

For the past week we’ve been dodging questions around their relationship. Everything is going to hell. Frustration mounts inside me.

“Yeah.” It isn’t that I’m annoyed at my boss, but more at the fact that I honestly don’t know how to make this situation better. How can I protect my friends but still keep everything running with our jobs?

“I don’t want Kang doing something stupid and I don’t want bad feelings between any of you. Just talk to them, okay?” His voice softens. “I’ll try to do everything I can here on my side. You’re not alone. If Kang is serious about this relationship, let’s make sure things don’t get out of hand for him and Morgan.”

CEO Manhwa is someone I can’t seem to figure out. He runs our company, but in more ways than one he treats us like his sons. Anything that happens to us negatively, sometimes I feel like he takes it more on a personal level. It’s one of the reasons all of us have so much respect for him. To him, we are more than money makers. I tell him I will talk to them and hang up the phone. Sighing loudly, I run my hands through my hair. We have to go back to Korea tomorrow for the Busan fansign.

Will it help us or hinder us? What should I say? Opening the door, I see Kang leaning against the wall, his head bowed to his chest. He doesn’t look up as I move closer.

“You heard, huh?” I ask quietly. He just nods.

“Lift your head,” I order.

Kang shakes his head and looks away when I reach for him. I don’t give him a chance to hide. I lift his head, frowning at the tears streaming down his face. He sucks in a shuddering breath. “I don’t want to ruin our group.”

“What makes you think you ruined this group?” I pull him into a hug. As a leader, I’m supposed to comfort my members but sometimes friends don’t need a leader.

“I don’t know,” he sobs.

“Ya. Why are you crying?” Dragon orders as he walks towards us. “If you start crying, then the rest of them are going to start crying. Get it together, Kang.”

Arms encircle me and Kang as the rest of the members join in on the hug.

“No matter who you like or what you do in the future,” DaeDae whispers, “we will never leave your side.”

Jun nods. “We’re a family.”

“And family never leaves each other behind. I mean, I figured your relationship would come out eventually, but I didn’t think it would be this soon,” Hajoon admits. “This might be a good thing.”

Sunshine sighs loudly. “People will always have issues about topics like this. That’s when you have to show them that it’s none of their business who you date.”

I grin. I never felt so much pride for my team. “We’ll be there for Morgan too.”

“He passed the test. He can’t leave,” DaeDae agrees. “I like him.”

“You like anyone who is willing to feed you,” Hajoon scoffs.

“True.”

We pull away and I watch as Kang wipes his face. He gives us a watery smile and rubs his chest. “I love you guys.”

“Ugh, he’s being mushy.” Dragon winces. “Make it stop.”

“You know you love it.” He wraps his arms around Dragon.

Dragon begins pushing him away weakly. I see the admiration in his eyes though. “Get off.”

The door down the hall opens and Morgan steps out, his face dejected until he catches us staring. I watch the mask quickly come over him before he shoves his hands into his pockets.

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“Group hug. You want in?” Jun opens his arms.

Morgan smiles with a nod before he wraps his arms around Jun. The sound of a car pulls up outside and all of us turn towards the sound. Someone knocks on the door and we all freeze.

“Who’s that?” Morgan wonders as he moves back.

“Baekjae? Kangsu?” A familiar voice calls out.

“Manager!” I call out as Hajoon runs into the living room to let him in. Taejin steps into the hallway. His hair is combed too neatly. He has a bad habit of running his hands through his hair and then painstakingly putting it back together to hide the evidence of his frustration.

“Is everyone okay? Do you know how chaotic the last twenty-four hours have been?” He goes right into another lecture, barely raising his voice as he pins us down with glares. I can feel myself shrinking under his gaze.

“I got calls with reporters asking me about Kang coming out and how long has he been dating Morgan. Are you out of your mind?” He crosses his arms looking between Kang and Morgan. “If you were planning on going public, you should have come to me first. It takes time for things like this.”

“I never planned on outing us like that.” Morgan waves his hands in defense. “It’s not Kang’s fault.”

“You have to understand that you’re dating someone famous, someone whose love life can have a major impact in a lot of ways.” Taejin sighs. “You two… I swear.”

Morgan’s back stiffens. “I’ll take responsibility.”

“Oh, will you?”

Kang grabs Morgan’s hand. “Not alone.”

Morgan shakes his head. “You are already going through enough. I can handle the repercussions.”

“We’ll do this together,” I remind them. “Wish is a team and you’re our friend. Whatever happens, we will all face this.”

Taejin rubs his face. “I swear you’re giving me grey hair. Fine. You want to do it your way? Tell me your way first, then I’ll go over the possible consequences with you.”

“Was thinking of putting a tape-” I hear a smack. DaeDae glares at Dragon. “I was kidding.”

Dragon hisses through his teeth in warning and I feel my lips twitch in amusement.

“Does anyone want a drink?” Kang asks suddenly. He walks to the kitchen.

“Drinks!” Hajoon chases after him.

“Yeah, I’ll take a drink,” Taejin resigns in defeat. This is going to end badly. If you can’t beat the madness, you might as well join it. We end up on the back porch, different bottles laid out on the table.

A few shots in and I watch Morgan press his hands over his mouth to quiet the laughs as he listens to the others. His face scrunches up and he pulls his phone out.

“Kim keeps calling me.” Morgan blinks rapidly at the screen before hitting a button. “Kim!”

“What are you doing?” Kim asks warily over the speakerphone.

Kang snorts while Hajoon sings “Shots” in the background. I take a sip from my soda. Being sober is more entertaining than being drunk. Hajoon and Sunshine start salsa dancing on the porch.

“Drinking. Kang busted out the alcohol,” Morgan slurs. How could he be drunk this quickly?

“So I’m guessing that everything is going good?”

He shakes his head so hard he nearly falls off his chair. “It’s to shit! I love these guys. So much.”

Laughter echoes over the phone. “I bet you do.”

“Seriously!” He slowly puts the phone onto the table as if it’s a bomb. “But I need to tell you a secret.”

“Hmm. What’s the secret?”

My lips curve with amusement. Morgan claps his hands together. “I’m like absolutely in love with Lee Kangsu. Absolutely. I mean, I’ve been trying to hold it back you know? I like playing it cool because I’m the cool one. I’m super cool. I’m tired of hiding it though. I want everyone to know that I love this guy.”

Kim softens her voice. “I know you do. I’m glad you love him.”

“I love you too!” Kang throws his arms around Morgan drunkenly. He begins to rain kisses over his face and hair. “Come on. We need to dance.”

Morgan makes a face as he looks between the phone and Kang. “But Kim…” Kang drags him away. I lean over the table and grab the phone, taking it off speaker.

“I guess you lost your chance to speak normally with him,” I reply. Taejin is leaning back in his chair, nodding to the music as he nurses a bottle of beer in his hand.

“I just wanted to check in on him. I’m glad he’s with all of you.”

“Until tomorrow.” My words come out a mumble. “We have to go to Busan.”

She sighs. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay long. You don’t have to worry about Mo. I can handle him. I’m concerned about Kang though. Have you seen the comments he’s been getting?”

I can only guess. “Don’t worry too much. You have my word that things will blow over. Morgan and Kang can have a somewhat simple relationship.”

“Is that Kim?” Dragon stumbles over to snatch the phone from my ear. His face is bright red from being drunk. “The software we bought is nearly full. Do you think you can buy me another and ship it to me?” The speed he speaks could rival his own rap songs. I shake my head as he listens to what Kim says. He slowly repeats it in English before jerking upright.

“What do you mean how did I fill it so quickly? When you’re a musical genius you tend to make music a lot. Did you just scoff at me?” He pulls the phone away from his ear and glares at it. In Korean he growls, “Why is she so frustrating yet amusing?” He switches back to English. “I don’t see you giving anyone else hell about their hobbies. Oh, so it’s only me? I don’t feel honored. So are you going to send it? Yes, yes, I’ll make sure I shout you out on the next album. I’ll make sure it’s in bold.”

He barks out a laugh and walks away with the phone. A couple of hours later, I stand up, ushering my friends inside the house. I begin to put them to bed one by one.

“Dad!” Jun grips my shirt. “I don’t wanna go to bed.”

“If you don’t get your ass into bed right now...” I warn.

He pouts before leaping onto the bed. “Fine.”

Sunshine pushes me out of the way and climbs on top of the blankets before flopping sideways, half lying on Jun’s legs. “Move over. I’m sleeping here.”

Taejin is still outside, staring at the stars. “Manager Taejin.”

He looks at me. “Hm?”

“Time to rest.”

I watch him stand up. “Since when did you get so bossy?” At least he’s not drunk. “I wanted a moment of quiet before I started living life again.” He claps me on the shoulder, giving me a smile. “You’re all good boys. I promise we’ll get through this.”

“I trust you, Manager.”

He walks away, disappearing inside the house. Movement from the corner of my eye catches my attention. Morgan sits on the bottom step, staring at his phone. When did he sneak back out here?

“You’re supposed to be inside,” I call out as I stomp down the stairs. Morgan glances at me and then away.

“Shouldn’t I be telling you to be asleep? You’re leaving early tomorrow.” Catching some of the words on his text message, I can’t help but feel my stomach clench. His Dad?

Sitting next to him, I look at the beach. “Everything okay?”

He waves his phone at me. “My mother called earlier. Apparently everyone is hearing about this.”

“How is she taking it?”

“Fine.” He cracks a smile. “She’s actually taking it better than Dad. I’ve always been told to never make him look bad. He’s a powerful man who has an image to protect. It’s one of the reasons I’m out here working for Kim. Now that his gay son is out and dating a famous idol, things are not going smoothly for him.”

I nudge his shoulder with mine. “But are you fine with this?”

“If you’re asking if I’m going to break up with Kang because of a little backlash, I’m not. I fought so hard to keep him by my side. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thought about this scenario so many times I can probably recount many of them by heart. This is my choice, Jay. I’m happy.”

I reach out and rub his head. “You’re a good person.”

“Tonight was good, especially seeing everyone let their guard down. All I want to do right now is sleep and wake up to a better world tomorrow.”

Standing up, I hold my hand out. “Let’s start simple and just sleep.”

He stands up and nearly trips over his feet as he clutches my hand. “I think I drank too much.”

“Do you normally drink?”

“Never.” He laughs. “I don’t think I can ever chug back alcohol like Kang does.”

I scoff at the image. “God I don’t think anyone can keep up with him. If I didn’t know him or what restraints he puts on himself, I would fear for his liver and brain.”

We make our way back into the house with Morgan checking the locks on all the doors.

“See you tomorrow, Jay.” He waves before closing the door to his bedroom softly. I collapse onto the sofa, throwing my arm over my head. Will everything go smoothly? I hope so.