Page 69 of I'll Be the One

Henry sighs.

“They’re okay now, though. They live together and, well, you saw them. They’re really cute. And happy.”

“That’s good. I’m glad for them.”

“Let’s not be douchey homophobic parents, yeah?”

Henry raises his eyebrows. “Whoa, don’t you think it’s too early to be talking about kids?”

I lightly punch him in the arm. “You know what I mean. We’re, like... the future of Koreans and Korean Americans,you know? We have to be better than our parents’ generation.”

“Yup, definitely.”

I wait a few seconds before saying, “I’m bi too.”

He sits up immediately, a smile tentatively spreading across his face. “Wait, you are? That’s awesome.”

And that’s that. Henry accepts me without a moment of hesitation. And I accept him, too.

“I guess that makes us... what, bi squared?”

“Bi squared,” he says with a smile. “I like it.”

Chapter Thirty

THE NEXT ROUND OF THE COMPETITION IS BRUTAL.Things really get ugly as people butt heads onstage, doing their best to win against each other. Since there are only ten people total in the vocals portion for this round, we all huddle up around the TV in the green room as we wait for our turn to perform.

By some cruel twist of fate—or, more likely, the cruel whims of the judges—Mindy, mentored by Gary, and Isabel, mentored by Mr. Park, end up facing each other onstage, even though they were partners in the previous round. Isabel wins against Mindy with a powerful song-and-rap combo that blows Mindy’s cute but otherwise unremarkable rendition of a Mamamoo song out of the water. When the judges select Isabel as the winner, Mindy runs from the stage crying.

Lana, mentored by Mr. Park, is up next. Before she leaves, she gives my hand a tight squeeze.

“Good luck,” I tell her as she goes out the door.

I anxiously watch the TV as she goes up against Kevin Byun, a Korean American guy mentored by Gary who sounds impossibly more angelic than she does.This isn’t good!I think, even more so when Lana gets too nervous and overshoots a high note. I’ve never heard Lana make a pitch mistake before, but I guess that’s just how much pressure she’s under during her performance.

When she gets eliminated, Lana looks so sad I want to run to the stage and give her a hug. But since I can’t right now, I send her a text filled with hearts and what I hope are words of encouragement instead. I’ll have to catch up with her later.

A bunch of other drama happens, like when one of the singers admits to spying on the other contestant and choosing a song from the same artist so he could one-up his rival. We all expect the judges to disqualify him right away, but instead, the judges eliminate theothercontestant, saying that the spying guy was, in Mr. Park’s words, “indeed better than the other individual.” A fight breaks out between the two guys and security has to escort them offstage.

Finally, we’re down to the last four people who haven’t performed yet. It oddly feels like an “and then there were none” moment, as if we’re all getting picked off one by one. Sweat forms on my forehead, and I clench and unclench my fists to relieve some tension.

Aside from me, there’s Melinda and two other people who I only know the faces of. Melinda doesn’t even look at me, or at any of the other competitors in the room. Instead, sheresolutely stares ahead like she’s way above us. Appearance-wise, she definitely is on another level than anyone else. Her blond hair is curled in perfect ringlets, her skin is clear andactuallydewy, and her eyes are rimmed with just the right amount of smoky eyeliner. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d had her makeup professionally done.

I’m back to watching people perform on TV again when I get a text.

HENRY CHO:How are you holding up? Is it time for you to go yet?

ME:Not yet. Trying not to let my nerves get to me. How about you?

HENRY CHO:Just left for the venue rn. Dance performances start right after you guys finish.

My heart aches a little bit at the mention of dance. But I still try to be encouraging as I reply to Henry.

Good luck! Lmk how it goes.

HENRY CHO:Will do. Good luck to you, too.

He sends me a picture of Snowball eating a dog popsicle, and I stifle a giggle.

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