Chapter 1
ONE
KIJA
present
“Is it just me or are these group names just getting crazier?” I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose as I look over the notes I took in the meeting I just left. I really need to get one of those diffusers or something like that in here for relaxation and stress relief.
“Definitely not just you,” Grace assures me as she steps into my office, setting an iced americano down on my desk, carefully avoiding the sheets of paper I’ve been staring at.
“I feel ridiculous saying so many of them when I have to make calls. ‘Yes, hi, I’m contacting you on behalf of J*embrace. Mmmm-hmmm, yes, that’s right.
Oh, you need me to spell it? Of course. J-star-E-M-B-R-A-C-E.
No, I don’t really get it either. Would you like to talk about F8FX, too? ’”
I laugh as she mimes hanging up her faux phone call and grab the drink immediately, taking a long, unnecessarily noisy slurp. “Hiring you was the best decision I have ever made in this role.”
“Oh, I know,” she says, flipping her short auburn hair, all sass and confidence. “You’d be lost without me.”
“That is an accurate statement,” I agree.
I had initially gotten some questions about hiring the very Welsh wife of one of Task Force’s security team members, but every day she has proven that she’s even more valuable than I initially suspected.
Supremely competent, hilarious, and completely unafraid to be candidly honest with me, Grace is not only my favorite person at the company, but one of my favorite people in general.
She settles on her usual spot, the sleek black couch near my desk, and primly crosses her ankles. “Do you want to give me the rundown, or would you like to hear the nonsense that occurred while you were trapped with the suits?”
“How much could have happened?” I frown. “Wait, how long was I in there? I know it felt like an eternity.”
Grace snickers. “Three hours and nine minutes.”
“Ugh,” I groan, finishing off my coffee. “Catch me up.”
“Jase tried to contact you thirteen times,” she tells me. “Ten texts, two calls on your line, and one to mine.”
I don’t know if I should be concerned or assume he’s being melodramatic. “Is my apartment on fire? What the hell?”
“It sounds as though your bonus roommate may have mistaken your slippers for a chew toy,” Grace says, clearly trying not to laugh.
My hand automatically returns to my face, ready to pinch again. In the eleven days that Jase and Noel have been cohabiting with me, a staggering number of mishaps have occurred that have led me to believe that Noel is not particularly fond of me.
I have apologized profusely for a wide range of things, including accidentally kicking a treat under a chair, stopping too soon when petting her, daring to move while she was sleeping on my lap, and leaving to go to work.
Jase literally has a photo of me on my knees in a full head-to-the-floor bow, trying to beg forgiveness from the small, furry tyrant that has turned my home into a minefield of things that squeak and crinkle.
If I’m being honest, I’ve probably put more effort into trying to make that dog happy than I have into relationships with some actual humans.
I understand that she will never love me the way she does Jase and I could never hope for her to adore me with the same level of affection she has for Nikko, but I’d settle for her not methodically destroying all of my possessions.
“I’ll call him… later.” I flip back though the pages I’ve scribbled on, looking for things Grace might need to be aware of or put on one of our calendars, while she hurries out to grab her laptop and pulls up to my desk, ready to listen.
“For as long as all those guys were talking, there’s actually not that much we need to worry about right now,” I laugh.
“Unless you’re trying to score an invite to what I believe is Bitgaram’s third vacation home? ”
Grace scoffs. “He’s already got Bali, Sapporo, and now where’s this one?”
“Phuket.”
“Of course, to round out the collection.” She makes a sweeping gesture with her hands, bangles jingling, to show off her invisible property portfolio.
I nod. “As one does.”
“Seojun and I are thinking of Maui for our next purchase,” Grace mentions, trying to sound both nonchalant and posh. “What about you?”
Shrugging, I’m happy to play along with her. A little whimsy goes a long way during the work day. “Keeping my options open. Maybe Seychelles, maybe Fiji. Wherever the vibe feels right.”
“Mmm, yes. I look forward to the two weeks there you will gift me for my birthday.” She bats her eyes and smiles, knowing full well if I actually had a vacation home anywhere, she would definitely have access to it.
“Just don’t hold your breath, okay?” I suddenly wonder if her birthday is closer than I realize and make a mental note to check after we’re done talking.
I really should know this by now, but I’ve never been good with dates.
I would probably fail to realize it was my own birthday, were it not for the 5:42 am phone call my mom insists on each year to remind me of the exact time of my birth.
“Do you want the highlights or the whole thing?”
“Just give me all of it, because you know something always comes up later and one of us has to pretend like we know what’s going on,” Grace says, fingers poised above the keys, ready to type.
“Again, this is why you are my favorite,” I remind her. “Okay, so Chokollit’s debut has been moved forward to… next week? Or soon. Something like that. I was hungry and got distracted by their name. They are working on putting together a new girl group…”
“GlamBop? Or another one?” Grace clarifies.
“A different one. Babeidol, I think. Nine members. One of them comes from a chaebol family, apparently, so that will be news,” I grumble, because I know that will be the only thing the media will focus on and not how talented or hardworking any of the members are.
“The idea of a making-the-band survival show is being tossed around, but for international trainees? I think they were trying to call it Glow+ball? Oh, wait, Glow+ball, global, I get it now.”
She stops typing and snorts. “Sometimes your brain amazes me, and sometimes I think it’s a good thing you’re so attractive.”
“Awww, you think I’m attractive?” I give her my best ladies-love-me smile.
Grace shoots me a withering look and immediately turns her eyes back to the screen. “You do not need me to stroke your ego. You know what you see in the mirror.”
I still preen a little, though, before I do a rundown of the rest of the latest updates and random Task Force gossip.
“Anything with RYSING?” she asks, before closing her laptop.
I scan my scribbles again, just in case I missed something. “They’re on a break right now, so I don’t think there should be. Why?”
“Just curious. You know I love those boys.” Grace stands and starts to walk out, before tossing one more comment over her shoulder. “And I know at least one of them is a big fan of yours!”
Her cackling laugh follows her out the door and back to her desk and I have to roll my eyes. She loves to tease me about the crush she’s sure one of the RYSING members has on me. We were all in the same room one time for about five minutes, and she swears she saw everything she needed to know.
I think she’s exaggerating, but I will admit, I have noticed that Lux’s gaze lingers on me a little bit longer than necessary sometimes.
I’m humble enough to dismiss the idea that an idol would have any kind of interest in me, but self-assured enough to know it’s not the first time a man has looked at me and liked what he saw.
Something I remind Jase about all the time, much to his dismay.
I grab my phone and start to text him back, but realize he’s just going to call me anyway, so I tap his number and wait for the phone to ring.
“Heeeyyy,” Jase says as soon as he picks up. “Good day at work? You’ve been busy, huh? You want me to order something for dinner tonight? I can have it waiting if you let me know when you’re leaving the office.”
“Jase.”
“Yeah? No on delivery? I can meet you somewhere. Maybe that would be better anyway.” There’s a pause, some rustling. “Noel! Please no. No, not those, too… oh my god.”
“Jase.”
He laughs, all awkward-sounding. “So, those kinda tan-brown slippers you wear all the time? Were those, uh, designer? Like, could I go buy a pair of those right now? If that were something I wanted to do?”
“I know the dog ate my slippers,” I interject before he can keep going.
“Damn,” he sighs. “I’m sorry. I think she’s just all discombobulated from the move and not having a yard, and she doesn’t understand why she can’t see Nikko more often, and…”
I cut him off again. “Please tell Noel that I forgive her. Go take her for a walk at that park you swear she prefers or something and do whatever you want for dinner. I have another after hours thing to go to.”
“Again? Is it like every week or what?” Noel is growling near him, like she’s angry about this development.
“Just wait until you officially start working with us and you have to go, too,” I say. “Having a drink with all of the people who know everything about your boyfriend’s business, that won’t be weird at all.”
Jase groans. “That is very much not necessary. I’m not an executive-type, they don’t want me around.”
“Company culture, man. You know you can’t skip out on getting drunk with your bosses if you want them to like you.
” I’m only half kidding. He really is going to have to make an effort if he wants to stay in the good graces of the people who will not only be signing his checks, but are also essentially allowing him to stay in a relationship with Nikko.
“I’ll worry about that once I’m actually settled in. Right now I have other things to figure out first.” The sound of his voice changes like he just switched over to speakerphone. “Like how to find a place to live before you threaten to kick me and Noel out on the street.”