Page 76 of Secrets (The Sins Trilogy 2)
“Trust your best friend, then!” Yuna drags me to the vanity and forces me to sit still. “Close your eyes.”
“Yes, Mother,” I say sourly. Julie isn’t moving to help me, which means she must agree with Yuna.
She snickers. “Not even I go clubbing with my mom. You gotta work some magic. You want to look extra sexy and hot. Drive your man insane.”
I squirm. If Tony gets any lustier, I’ll never sleep. Or get out of bed, for that matter.
“I got us a limo for our night out,” Yuna says, moving a brush over my face. “We’re gonna club in style. And take lots of selfies.”
“You have an Instagram account?” I ask.
“Of course not.” She sounds horrified. “The Hae Min Group VP of publicity would kill me. We can only post what’s good for the group’s image—boring, stoic and hard-working.” She dabs something cold along my eyes. “They’re to commemorate our time tonight. Sometimes all you have left is pictures and texts.”
I crack my eyes open. The line of her mouth is set tight.
I forget sometimes that I’m not the only one affected by what happened nine years ago. Yuna’s hurting too—she lost her friend and maybe even gave up on her dream because of it. The fact that I don’t remember her fully is frustrating to me, but it must be painful for her. To her, I’m the best friend who she did all sorts of crazy, fun stuff with. Except now she has to start over to rebuild the lost friendship and trust between us.
“I’m keeping a diary so I don’t forget again,” I say softly.
Yuna smiles. “I better take up, like, a hundred percent of that space… After your man, I mean.”
I laugh lightly, since I don’t want to talk about the actual content of my journal. “I don’t think the math adds up.”
“Well, what can I say? My forte is music.” She gestures at the mirror. “So, what do you think?”
I study my reflection, my jaw slack. I look totally different. I always thought I looked nice, and I know how to apply makeup pretty well, but Yuna is magic. My eyes are slightly slanted and much larger, my cheekbones impossibly high and my lips… “I have a pouty mouth,” I say, pointing at the mirror.
“I know! There’s nothing a little makeup can’t do.” She turns to Julie. “What do you think?”
Julie looks at my face for a moment. “Nice. Very good.”
I frown at her flat tone. It isn’t like her to be so subdued and standoffish. She usually gets over whatever’s bugging her pretty quickly. It’s one of her greatest charms. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine. Just excited about going to Z. I’ve never been.” She smiles, although not with her usual easy cheeriness.
I want to probe, but don’t. If she’s not saying anything, it could be because she doesn’t want to talk about it in front of Yuna, whom she doesn’t know that well. Or maybe Yuna inadvertently did something that upset Julie. I make a mental note to ask later.
We go downstairs. Tony is just finishing his drink. He lowers the glass slowly, his eyes on me. Blatant heat flares in them, making me hot.
Yuna giggles. “Told you,” she whispers in my ear.
“Yes, you did.” I cover a warm cheek with my hand. I’m pleased with Tony’s reaction, and flustered that I’m so turned on by it when my friends are watching.
Tony pulls me to the side and kisses me. “You look…incredible.”
“You’re welcome,” Yuna says. “Now let’s go. The limo’s waiting.”
“Only you would get a limo to go to a club,” I tease.
“Might as well do it in style. Selfies, remember? Besides, we have at least six people in our party.”
“We do?” Julie asks.
“Uh-huh. You, me, Tony, Iris, then her bodyguard and Mr. Kim.”
“Mr. Kim’s coming too?” I ask. He doesn’t look like the clubbing type. Besides, he’s dressed like he’s going to a corporate meeting.
“Yes.” Yuna turns to Tony. “Unless he’s too old for it? Do you care in the States? In Korea, you can’t go clubbing when you’re his age.”
