Page 59 of Idol Lives
Jason laughed. “It’s what your brother usually drinks now.”
“Oh.” Yun Seo gamely took another sip. “I guess it’s okay. I usually drink wine.” She sipped it again. “So, how are you two doing? I notice he’s been spending a lot of time with Ren lately.”
Jason fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Tae Hyun’s been complaining about not having any friends, so I guess it’s a good thing that they get along.” His words were measured and carefully neutral, but the underlying tension in his tone was unmistakable.
Yun Seo’s eyes narrowed with apparent skepticism. “You know about the, uh–” She trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.
“The kiss?” Jason’s lips tightened as he held off an ugly grimace. “Yeah. I guess it was all a misunderstanding.”
Yun Seo snorted. “You’re taking it awfully well. If some girl tried to kiss Seong Min, I’d kick her ass.”
Jason’s knowing chuckle was more than a little dark. “I don’t doubt it. But it’s complicated. I mean, I don’t believe for a second that he’d ever cheat on me.”
“Tae Hyun?” Yun Seo shook her head. “No way. He’d never. But, Ren?” She elaborately shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“I don’t think Ren and I will be exchanging friendship bracelets anytime soon,” Jason admitted. “But for Tae Hyun’s sake, I’ll try to play nice.”
Yun Seo rested a friendly hand on Jason’s arm. “See? That’s why I like you. You respect my brother enough to put upwith his shitty friends.”
Jason laughed, a genuine warmth replacing his earlier tension. “That’s me. I–” He paused when his phone buzzed. It had been so long since someone called him that he’d forgotten he even had it.
“Sorry,” Jason muttered as he retrieved his phone. Lily’s name flashed across the screen–another neglected responsibility from his increasingly complex life. He hoped she wasn’t calling to quit. With a sinking feeling, he tapped the answer button.
“Hey, Lil. What’s up?”
“Jason? Oh, thank god.” Lily sounded much more frantic than usual. “I was afraid you’d ignore this call.”
A cold spike of worry poked at Jason’s thoughts. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s Naomi,” Lily blurted out. “There’s been an accident.”
18
Tae Hyun knew something was wrong the moment he saw Jason’s face. His show had been genuinely flawless. No sound issues. No missed cues. And, most importantly, no paint projectiles thrown at him. But Jason still stood at the base of the stage lift with the same angry, anxious expression he’d had the day before.
“Hyung?” Tae Hyun was barely audible over the backstage noise as he rushed to Jason’s side. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Naomi,” Jason replied with enough dread to send a chill down Tae Hyun’s spine. He scanned the crowd, his eyes narrowed as if searching for an invisible threat. “Not here. Let’s go to your dressing room.”
Tae Hyun nodded, took Jason’s hand, and led him away from the excited crowd gathered around the lift. His usual post-show buzz felt muted and distant as a growing sense of foreboding settled over him. What could have happened? Why the secrecy? The suspicious way Jason scanned their surroundings only intensified his worry.
Tae Hyun wasted no time, cornering Jason once they were safely behind the dressing room’s locked door. “Please, hyung. What happened to Naomi?”
Jason leaned against the closed door, the weight of thenews evident in the slump of his shoulders. He took a deep, shuddering breath. “She’s in the hospital,” he said in a near monotone. “There was an accident.”
Tae Hyun’s stomach dropped. He reached for Jason’s hand and tightly squeezed it. “An accident? Is she okay?”
Jason shook his head, his gaze dropping to the floor. “No, not really. She’s in bad shape. Lily said it was bad.” His voice cracked, his forced composure finally shattering.
The room seemed to close in on them, the air thickening with shared fear. Tae Hyun’s mind raced to process this sudden turn of events. Naomi–Jason’s rock, his mentor, his friend–broken and vulnerable in a hospital bed. The image was too painful to bear. He shook it away.
“What happened?”
Jason looked up, his eyes meeting Tae Hyun’s. His pained anger was almost tangible. “A car accident. Someone hit her.” He shook his head as if trying to sort the words. “Lily didn’t know much else. They rushed her to the hospital, and–” He growled with frustration. “That’s all I know.”
Tae Hyun tightened his grip on Jason’s hand. He could feel the tremors wracking Jason’s body, the barely suppressed rage simmering beneath the surface. He knew that look–that dangerous sharpening of Jason’s eyes. It was the same look he’d seen the night Jason confronted Chang Min all those months ago. But he understood why, just like he had then. And there was only one course of action to take.
“You have to go back,” Tae Hyun firmly announced, the decision already made. “You have to be there for her.”
