Page 52 of Teach Me K-Pop

“And followed it up with an addendum of no details.”

“You’re the one that asked me if he was naked in my lap!”

“I regretted that immediately,” Kija grumbles. “Do you know how awkward this is for me? You’re my best friend, so it should be a no-limits conversation, but then he’s my client and friend, and I can’t be in a meeting with him thinking about where your mouths have been or who had their dick out.”

“I’m oddly flattered you’d be contemplating my dick situation,” I tease.

“You know what, I think I hear one of the managers calling me. I have to go.”

Scoffing, I call him out. “You’re a liar, Kim Kija.”

“That makes two of us,” he counters.

“What am I lying about?”

“I’m not in love with him,” he mocks, in a terrible imitation of my voice.

I can’t think about that at the moment. “You’re right, one of the managers is calling you. Goodbye, Kija.”

His smug laughter echoes through the phone as he hangs up on me.

?

NIKKO

“Kija-hyung?” I’m so startled by the video call that I momentarily forget to bow and nearly collide with the screen of my laptop in my haste to correct myself. As soon as I straighten up and can see him again, my first thought is terrible. Something has happened to Jase, and he wants to let me know. I can feel the color draining from my face. “Is…” I don’t even know how to ask, I’m so afraid of what he might say.

He holds a hand up to stop me. “I can see you panicking. Everything—everyone—is fine, Nikko.”

The relief that I feel is so instant and overwhelming it makes me a little lightheaded. I take a shaky breath, willing my heart to go back to normal. If I had any doubts about the depth or strength of my feelings for Jase, I think the last two minutes has made everything crystal clear. I can see him waiting for me to compose myself. “I am sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to check in on you,” he says, giving me a soft smile.

I have known and worked with Kija for most of the time I have been with the group, and while he has always been friendly and casually interested in our lives, he doesn’t justcheck inon any of us. I wonder if Jase has asked him to do so, and the idea makes me happy. “Oh. I’m well, thank you.”

He looks at me for a long moment, lips quirked into something that’s not quite a smirk, but definitely makes him seem amused. “That’s good. Anything exciting happen recently?”

Of course he’s aware of the time Jase and I spent together. But I don’t know how much Jase might have told him. Part of me hopes he couldn’t help but share everything because, like me, he felt like he might explode keeping it all inside. But the rest of me thinks I might prefer it if he didn’t give all the details and let us keep those amazing moments to ourselves. Even as the other members had tried to get me to tell them. There is so little that I am allowed to have that is all mine, it seemed important to hold those precious experiences close to my heart.

I know I’m blushing when I reply. “I got to see Jase.”

“And?” he prompts, an eyebrow raised, waiting, but he’s smiling now—bright and mischievous.

“He’s wonderful. I’m so glad I got to spend time with him,” I tell him. “But it makes me miss him now.”

“Sounds familiar,” he teases.

That must mean Jase has said the same about me. My heart gets that fizzy feeling again that makes me giggly. “You are being mean, hyung.”

Shaking his head, he says, “No, not mean. I know you were looking forward to seeing him, and I truly did want to see how you were feeling about that now. He’s my best friend, Nikko, and I want you both to be happy. And it makes me pleased to know that you are.”

I can’t stop the grin that takes over my mouth. I needed to hear that; his ongoing support is important to me. “Hyung…” I bite my lip, wondering if it’s appropriate for me to ask what I want to know. When he just waits, looking at me curiously, I decide to take the chance. “Did you think that… when you suggested him for my lessons… did you think…”

Kija laughs softly. “Jase asked me the same thing a while ago,” he explains, and I want to ask him a million more questions about when and how that conversation went. “I didn’t set you up intentionally. But now, it kind of seems like maybe I knew more than I realized, because all of this just makes sense to me. Feels right.”

“Thank you, hyung.” I can see my reflection in the screen, the way I am practically beaming even as there are tears prickling at the back of my eyes. I’ve always been a romantic, a believer in destiny and fate. Kija’s words make something in me light up, like a confirmation I did not realize I had been waiting for. “I want to see him again.”

“So, why don’t you?” he asks. “Invite him to the next stop.”

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