"Seo Yura, is it?" he asked.
"I think... we need to talk."
Soo-min pinched her nose, hoping this was just a bad dream.
Ouch!
Nope. That hurt. It even turned red.
So... this wasn't a dream?
She finally opened the bathroom door and found Ji-hoon standing right in front of her. His arms were crossed, and his eyes were icy cold... and kind of annoyed?
This wasn't the Ji-hoon she knew from the TV screen.
"Let's sit over there," Ji-hoon said.
Soo-min trailed behind him, eyeing her idol from behind. His shoulders looked strong... part of her kind of wanted to lean on them.
"So, your name's Seo Yura, right?" Ji-hoon asked as they sat on the living room couch.
Soo-min hesitated. Should she lie? If Ji-hoon found out about the real Soo-min, would he be grossed out?
But seriously, was this really the time to worry about that? She just woke up in a stranger's apartment... with her idol. This had to be a dream. Or maybe a prank show?
"No. My name's Soo-min. Han Soo-min. I don't know why that lady kept calling me Seo Yura," she answered.
"Stop lying, damn it," Ji-hoon snapped.
"I'm not lying, I—"
"I don't care what your real name is. I'm still gonna calling you Seo Yura," he said coldly. "Did you bring me here? Is this your apartment?"
His sudden tone startled her.
"I already told you, I'm not Seo Yura, and this isn't—"
"Ugh! You think this is funny? Give me my phone," he interrupted, leaning back on the couch.
"What? What phone?"
"My real phone. I need to call Gwangsik to come get me and sue your ass."
That was the last straw for Soo-min.
He wasn't the only one confused here. And seeing the real Ji-hoon being a complete jerk? She felt all her admiration drain away. On top of that, she remember was supposed to be... hurt?
Soo-min looked down at her body.
No wounds.
No pain.
Wait, what?
"Listen here, Mr. Angry Celebrity," she snapped, "I'm just as confused as you are. I have no idea how I ended up in this fancy apartment, waking up in the same room as my idol—ex-idol."
"If you wanna call your assistant, go ahead. I don't care. I should be dea—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Because suddenly, it all clicked.
The burns on her back. The bleeding wounds. The unbearable pain.
She really should be dead.
Ji-hoon noticed her unstable expression and figured she might actually be insane. Still, he decided to play along and dig for answers so he can go out.
"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.
Before Soo-min could reply, a phone started ringing.
Ji-hoon's phone—the one he'd been holding.
He glanced at the screen.
"Minho?"
"Who's Minho?" Ji-hoon asked.
"How should I know? Just answer it," she said.
Ji-hoon swiped and put it on speaker.
[Yo! Choi Minjae! You at home? I sent over something big to your place, so make sure you receive it, alright?]
[Choi Minjae? Who the hell is th—]
[Anyway, gotta run, no time for jokes. The delivery guy should be close to your house now.]
Ji-hoon froze. Soo-min just blinked.
[Oh, and congrats on getting married, man! Hope you enjoy and use my gift with Seo Yura. You're gonna love it!]
Click.
Call ended.
Wait.
What.
A gift? Choi Minjae? MARRIED?!
Ji-hoon just stared blankly. Soo-min was equally stunned.
So... the guy standing in front of her wasn't Ji-hoon?
He was actually someone named... Choi Minjae?
Then why did he act like she was a stalker and he was a celebrity? Was he confused too? Pretending? Lying?
At this point, Soo-min didn't care anymore. Whether he was Ji-hoon or Choi Minjae, she decided not to trust this guy.
DING DONG.
Someone rang the doorbell.
"Hey... is that the package your friend mentioned, Minjae?" Soo-min teased, feeling slightly amused now.
"Who are you calling Minjae?!" Ji-hoon barked, pointing at her.
Soo-min ignored him and walked over to the door.
She peeked through the peephole. Sure enough, there was a delivery guy holding a huge box. Like... couch-sized.
She opened the door.
"Choi Minjae?"
"Yeah, he's the one over there, he's Choi Minjae." Soo-min said, grinning and pointing at Ji-hoon, who was reluctantly walking over. Ji-hoon let out a deep sigh.
"Please sign here, sir."
Ji-hoon signed and let the guy bring the massive box into the living room.
It was as big as a person. Ji-hoon and Soo-min exchanged nervous glances.
"Should we open it?" Ji-hoon asked.
Soo-min nodded enthusiastically.
She rarely got presents—especially not giant ones—so this was exciting, even if the gift wasn't actually for her. It's for someone called Minjae dan Seo Yura.
They tore through the wrapping layer by layer until the contents were finally revealed.
"A... sofa?" Soo-min muttered.
"That Minho guy bought you a sofa? But what did he mean about using it with Seo Yura?" she asked, turning to Ji-hoon—who was frozen stiff.
His ears were bright red.
Soo-min recognized that look.
Her idol, Ji-hoon, always blushed when he was embarrassed—and it always showed in his ears.
But... why was he blushing?
She looked at the sofa again.
Bright red.
Weird shape.
No backrest.
Wait a minute... this wasn't a normal sofa.
"This... isn't a regular couch," Ji-hoon said awkwardly.
"What do you mean? I mean yeah, it's weird, maybe it's for poolside use? Like a lounger?"
"Gosh. I don't know if I should be the one to tell you this, but this isn't for... I mean, well..." Ji-hoon fumbled with his words.
Finally, he picked up his phone, typed something, and handed it to Soo-min.
She looked at the screen—and immediately gasped, slapping her hand over her mouth.
Ji-hoon turned away, staring at the wall in complete shame.
This was so embarrassing.
Soo-min dropped the phone on the table and bolted to the bathroom, her face as red as the couch.
Meanwhile, Ji-hoon—collapsed weakly onto the new sofa, staring at the picture he'd just shown her.
A photo of couples.
Doing things.
On that couch.
In various... positions.