Page 6 of Idol Moves

It took climbing three flights of concrete stairs to reach the door that opened to the arena proper. Jason had completely stopped listening to Seong Hyeon by then. He was just excited to be in a space larger than a cinder block corridor. The covered arena was more of the venue’s blandness but on a much larger scale, with acres of blue plastic seats stacked in rows that stretched higher than Jason remembered. Even the floor was just a giant segmented slab of smooth, gray concrete. At least it felt more airy and open. Even having seen it, Jason could hardly imagine the space filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans. Even harder to foresee was what the space would look like once it was dressed for Tae Hyun’s concert. They hadn’t even settled on a look yet.

“Mr. Park, sir?”

Jason sighed as he realized he’d tuned Seong Hyeon completely out. So much for not being an asshole anymore. “Sorry. I guess you lost me about halfway up the stairs.”

“I know, sir. I asked if you were alright.”

Jason frowned. “Don’t I look alright?”

Seong Hyeon’s carefully composed face betrayed little about his thoughts. “You look lost in thought,” he finally admitted.

“Ah.” Jason chuckled. “Yeah, that’s definitely not one of my strengths. I was thinking about Tae Hyun and the tour.” He walked over to a nearby row and sat a few spots in. “I won’t ask you to repeat your whole report. Just tell me that you can keep him safe here.”

Seong Hyeon nodded. “Yes, sir. I have every confidence. And the security staff here seems to know what they’re about.”

“Good enough.” Jason glanced at the empty seats beside him and gestured for Seong Hyeon to join him. “You may as well sit. They’ll let me know when they’re done.”

Seong Hyeon remained where he was for a few moments before taking the seat beside Jason. “If I may, sir–”

Jason chuckled again. “I wish you’d speak informally, but I know that makes you uncomfortable.”

“You’re my employer. It would be inappropriate.”

Jason snorted. “Well, we wouldn’t want that. What were you about to say?”

Seong Hyeon’s sigh caught Jason a little off guard. He’d grown so used to the man’s absolute stoicism that any show of emotion at all seemed like a big deal. “I can see how much Mr. Woo means to you, sir. And I know things like security reports aren’t something you’re used to dealing with. But I can’t stress how important they are. Especially given your and Mr. Woo’s status as–” He paused. Had he already used up the rest of the day’s word allotment? “As controversial public figures.”

Jason frowned. “Controversial?”

“Because you’re both gay, sir.” At least Seong Hyeon had the good sense to look embarrassed when he said that.

“Oh, sure.” Jason shook his head. “Except I’ve always been gay. The only controversy is that everyone knows now.”

“I’m aware, sir.”

Jason examined Seong Hyeon’s expression a little more closely. But there was no hint of malice or bias. His matter-of-fact delivery always seemed to signal his acceptance of whatever situation he was generally in. “Okay, fine. So, what’s the latest from the Big Hammer security team?”

“Fortunately, this has been a quiet week.” Seong Hyeon pulled his phone from his jacket and navigated to his notes app. “We only identified a dozen credible threats among the many more you and Mr. Woo receive daily. Most of the responsible parties reside in Seoul, so we sent the information to Yu Min Kyu’s team for possible action by the Seoul Metropolitan Police. One of the responsible parties lives here in Los Angeles, but my investigation determined the individual was not a threat.”

Jason nodded, stalling for time because he had no idea what to say. So he guessed. “Good work.” Seong Hyeon nodded without replying and put his phone away. An awkward silence settled between them. Jason was fine with companionable silences. But awkward ones drove him nuts. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, sir.”

“I–” Jason paused, unsure how to say what he wanted to say. “Okay, I guess it’s not really a question. I’m honestly a little surprised you and your brother have never had a problem with Tae Hyun and me being gay. I don’t mean to stereotype you boys, but you definitely fit the anti-gay mold.”

Seong Hyeon didn’t immediately comment or reply. Had Jason finally managed to offend his Security Chief? “I understand, sir. It’s because my brother’s also gay.”

Jason’s jaw fell open. “Wait. Seong Min is gay?”

“No, sir.” Seong Hyeon half-smiled and almost chuckled. “My older brother. I never considered myself to be homophobic, but when Seong Hun came out to us, it became important to me to ensure that I wasn’t.”

“Wow. I had no idea.” The concept of siblings was somewhat foreign to Jason, having grown up as an only child. The closest he’d probably come was with the core cast of theMonday Night Clubmovies since he’d worked so closely with them during his formative teen years. And most of them had turned out to be even messier than he had. “But that makes sense, seeing you and Seong Min together. You’re a good hyung to him, too.”

Seong Hyeon actually smiled then. It was a rare occurrence that Jason appreciated. “Thank you, sir. If I might ask something–”

Jason groaned. “Let’s just assume you always have blanket permission to ask or say things to me.”

Seong Hyeon nodded. “This is well beyond my place to inquire, sir. But, are you really alright?”

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