Page 36 of Idol Prize
Woo Jin gently rapped his fist on Min Jae’s head. “Hey, earth to Min Jae!”
Min Jae scowled. “What?”
Woo Jin dramatically shook his head and shrugged. “I’ve been calling your name for ten seconds. I’m leaving, and wanted to say goodbye.”
“Oh.” Min Jae relaxed his scowl into a frown. “Sorry. I was just reading all my messages.”
“Sure.” Woo Jin smirked. “All your girlfriends wondering where you disappeared to, right?”
Min Jae chuckled. “Something like that.” He offered his hand. “See you when you get back?”
Woo Jin smacked Min Jae’s hand away and pulled him into a hug. “What, am I Seo Joon or something? We’ve been roomies for more than a month now. I think I deserve better than a fucking handshake.”
Min Jae accepted the hug, wrapping his arms around Woo Jin as he realized his error. Woo Jin was right. They’d grown close enough during their time together to rate an actual hug. “Sorry, that was an asshole move.”
“You’re damn right, hyung.” Woo Jin smiled and grabbed his suitcase handle. “Anyway, my folks are here, so I’m headed out. See you after?”
Min Jae nodded. “See you after.”
Once Woo Jin walked away, Min Jae dragged his suitcase to the side of the Sky Village rotunda and scanned the remaining crowd, looking for Andy. In the short amount of time since the idea occurred to him, Min Jae had begun to come around. Maybe it wasn’t that crazy. The whole #MinDy narrative was potentially the most powerful weapon they had in the competition. It made them stand out from the others. It made them unique. And, if word got out that Min Jae had taken the lonely American trainee home for a traditional Chuseok holiday, the reaction would be off the charts. It would cement their storyline and all but guarantee them a massive surge in votes.
Min Jae spotted Andy near the doors saying his goodbyes to Leo. He worked up the nerve, and, with a final, decisive snort, walked over to speak with him. Andy, as if he somehow always knew when Min Jae was watching, turned around as Min Jae approached, completely unsurprised. Then he smiled.
“Are you here to say goodbye, too?”
Min Jae smiled back, unable to stop himself. “The opposite,actually. I kind of overheard you talking to Leo about staying here for the holiday, so I thought I’d invite you to come home with me.”
Finally, a look of surprise. Min Jae was glad he hadn’t become too predictable yet.
After a moment, Andy allowed his face to relax into a gentle frown. “Then you probably heard my answer to Leo, too.”
Min Jae chuckled. Keep it light. “I did, but I’m not making the same offer. I also heard you say your family doesn’t really celebrate Chuseok. Well, mine does. Except it’s just me and my grandmother at home. And she always makes way too much food for just the two of us, so there’ll be plenty. You should come.”
Andy’s brows fell as his eyes narrowed. “Just you and your grandmother?”
Min Jae nodded. “I know, I’ve never really talked about my homelife. But it’s really just me and her. And it’s not much. No luxury hotel suites or anything. But we live right by Bukhansan, so it’s really pretty. There’s a lot of walking trails nearby.”
Andy’s face relaxed a bit. Not exactly a smile or grin, but not far off. “That actually does sound nice. But–”
“And we should think about #MinDy, too. This would be a chance for us to work out how we want to play that. Off camera.”
Andy’s smirk finally appeared. “Ah, so that’s what it’s really about.”
Min Jae shrugged. “It’s partly about that, yeah. But it’s not like I’ve been shy about what I’m doing here. I want to win. I want to debut. I think this will work in both our favors.”
“Hmm.” Andy’s narrow-eyed gaze returned. There was no disguising the fact that Min Jae was being judged. That was fine. Andy had already judged him plenty. “You really want to do this?”
Min Jae nodded. “I do.”
Andy slowly mirrored Min Jae’s nod. “Well, I can hardly turn down a chance to meet the ice king’s grandmother, can I? And Icould honestly go for some real home cooking right now.” He chuckled. “I mean, the food here’s great, but...” He trailed off with a shrug.
“My grandmother is a true artist in the kitchen,” Min Jae confirmed. “So, that’s a yes?”
“I’ll have to go pack now, and tell production I’m leaving.” Andy smiled. “But, yes. Let’s do it.”
15
After all thetime Andy had been in Korea, he’d still seen so little of it beyond the trip between Sky Village and SBN’s Vision Center. The long subway ride from Gyeonggi to Suyu, where Min Jae lived, did little to change things. It also could’ve been a good chance for them to talk and get to know one another, but Min Jae simply told Andy to wake him before they got to Suyu station and fell asleep.
