Kitsch

Wonyoung left for Taipei immediately after their photoshoot ended, vanishing before I could ask her why she was traveling when it wasn’t on the schedule that was given to me by Manager Kim—or even tell her that I’d made up my mind about choosing Yujin.

As much as I partially blamed Yujin for the mess I got myself into, she was still more familiar to me than Rei. But my relationship with her was strange, to say the least. Ever since that night, things between us existed in a subtle, weird tension that I couldn’t describe.

She never actually crossed the line again, but it felt like her eyes were constantly testing me; in crowded vans, backstage hallways, hotel lobbies, I’d catch her shooting quick, deliberate glances my way—just long enough for me to notice, but never enough for Wonyoung to catch. At first I thought my mind was just playing tricks on me, but after a while, it felt intentional, like she was playing her own game.

On top of that, whenever I leaned in a little too close to Wonyoung or poured even a bit of extra care for her, Yujin would find a way to insert herself between us, without actually doing it. A subtle tilt of her head, a devilish smirk, or eyes that lingered just long enough to break my focus for a split second. It was as if she wanted to spoil Wonyoung’s control over me in those fleeting moments, reminding me of my single grave mistake that night.

Speaking of which, without ever formally agreeing to it, we somehow all kept quiet about what happened in that hotel room, a hush secret shared between the four of us. But Rei would often jokingly say that she’d heard us through her dreams, implying that she had some kind of awareness of what was going on.

What weirded me more than her teasing though was the fact she wanted to be part of this game between Wonyoung and Yujin at all. Why would she even ask Wonyoung to borrow me? Aside from that one moment where she’d called me a “cute boy”, Rei had never shown me anything resembling attraction towards me, so I was completely thrown off when I saw her behind Yujin when the door to their dorm swung open.

“Wonbin-ah!” Rei pouted, exaggerating the syllables. “I need you to confirm, did you really choose Yujin over me or is she lying as usual?”

Yujin didn’t answer. She just smirked, that maddening expression she always had whenever she knew more than everyone else.

The two of them were still in the same outfits from the photoshoot; Rei wore a tight black dress—short, sleek, and a lot more revealing than usual, while Yujin was in a white dress suit with a sleeveless vest that was both crisp and chic. Her aura made the entire room feel like it belonged to her. And maybe it did.

“I—um—I mean—it’s really not like that—”

“Argh!” Rei huffed, crossing her arms. “It’s always like this! If it’s not Wonyoung, then it’s Yujin! No one ever cares about me or the rest of us!”

“I told you I wasn’t lying,” Yujin said, more amused than she should’ve been.

Rei turned back to me. “Wonbin, just tell me the truth…am I not pretty?”

“No no, it’s not that—”

“Then why do you see Yujin as a woman and not me? You already did it with her that night, so isn’t it my turn?”

My mouth went dry. There wasn’t an answer I could give that would dig me out of this without burying me deeper.

“I just didn’t know we were supposed to be taking turns…” I muttered.

Rei groaned theatrically and flopped onto the couch on her stomach. “This is so frustrating…it’s just not fair…Wonyoung said she would share…”

“I’m sorry, Rei, I didn’t even know you wanted…um…this,” I said, without much conviction on what this even was.

She lifted her head just enough to glare at me. “Why wouldn’t I? I want to have fun too, I’m stressed and tired all the time just like everyone else!”

“Maybe I can help you, uh, find a boyfriend?”

The words sounded absurd the second they left me.

Is this even something I should be saying as a manager?

“Forget it! It’s fine, I’ll just leave you two alone to have sex all night long again.” She pushed herself up with a dramatic huff, turning away like she couldn’t even look at me.

I looked desperately to Yujin for some kind of rescue, but she wasn’t even pretending to feel bad. Her eyes glittered like she was enjoying every second of my panic.

“What am I supposed to do?” I whispered.

She suddenly came up behind me, the warmth of her body pressing close as she wrapped her arms around my waist. Her sweet, yet sharp perfume hit me all at once, sending goosebumps down my arms.

“Whatever I tell you to do,” she breathed against my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “I own you tonight, don’t I?”

Her soft lips brushed my skin, and Wonyoung’s last words echoed in my head.

Be a good boy, okay?

“Yes,” I said, almost by reflex.

“Good. I’ll make sure you learn quickly...” Her smile touched my ear as she kissed it again. “That being with me is a reward, not a punishment like it is with Wonyoung. Are you ready for your first lesson?”

“Yes,” I swallowed.

“Go over there and cheer her up.”

“H-how?”

“You know how.”

I swallowed even harder. I didn’t know exactly what she was telling me to do, or better yet, why I was even complying so willingly. Was I afraid of Wonyoung finding out that I didn’t obey her, or did Yujin really have this much power over me on her own?

Without knowing what came next, I crossed the room toward Rei. She looked at me carefully, like even she hadn’t predicted it would go this far.

“Rei, I’ll make you a deal,” Yujin said smoothly. “I’ll share him with you—under one condition.”

Rei perked up, her pout vanishing into a grin. “Really? What is it?”

“Make it fun for me.” Yujin’s smirk curled as her eyes flicked to mine. “Let’s see if we can make him forget about Wonyoung tonight.”

“Don’t forget about Wonyoung’s tape mark, Wonbin. Did you double-check that it’s down for the opening?” Manager Kim asked from behind the large room.

“Yeah, it’s down. I re-taped it after soundcheck just to be safe,” I said, nudging a set of tripods back just a few inches, trying not to block the camera crew’s line of sight.

“Right there is fine,” our director of photography called, barely looking up. “Perfect, nice, lock that please!”

“We’re at two minutes to show,” the stage manager said, holding the side of his headset. “FOH wants confirmation—are all six preset in the wings?”

“Record unit is up,” I said, fumbling slightly as I pressed the record button on the phone dedicated to our internal concert footage—mostly for documentation and practice notes later.

“House is ready,” FOH crackled through a speaker. “Standby lights and track.”

“Where’s Yujin’s backup in-ear pack?” another staff member called.

“On the stool by the door,” I answered, pointing. “The one with the blue tape.”

“Got it!”