Call My Name by the Stars

CHAPT 24- Call My Name by the Stars

 The wind continued to echo in tempo, wisping and sliding through their hairs. Beyond the small rooftop lies two people under a swirling night of stars, enveloped by the comfortable silence.

Jooah lifted her head up, thoughts lost to the stars amongst blue. She said out of nowhere, "Don't think it means I'm fond of you now. I still dislike you, just to clarify."

Jaeryeong chuckled to the sky, "You do believe I'm that narcissistic."

"Are you not?"

"Can't argue with you, but fear not. I don't think that way. And you know, that's exactly why talking to you is much better. At least you're direct about your feelings from the start. It hurts less than being stabbed in the back," he said as he leans his palms against the tiles beneath him.

She shrugged, "Well that sounds personal... being stabbed in the back... By whom may I ask? Who'd be crazy enough to go against a powerful company?"

He gave a nod despite the fact that she wasn't even facing him, "Mhm. Just the people you can't escape from. Family."

She stopped her gaze above, glancing at him from the side. "It must be because Park Jaeryeong was raised by a single dad." Those were what she had heard from the people whose mouths she wanted to wash. But in the end, they were simply rumors. His personal information has always been hidden way too well.

"...Family?... Was it like your relatives or something?" she tried to sound uninterested, afraid of sounding too nosy.

"My relatives? I don't think I've even ever met them. I only have my uncle... He's the only one who's actually with me. He acts more like my father than my actual father. Funny right?" he smirked.

Jooah kept her silence for a while, thinking of what to say, "....Oh.... From the father's side?"

"Mom's....I'm not very close to my Dad or anyone related to him. It's usually my brother."

"You have a brother? I thought you were a single child?"

He smiled, putting a finger over his lips, "You know one more secret about me now."

Jooah continued to glare, wondering why she never noticed how mysterious his entire identity was.

"We're not close either, since technically he's my half-brother. He works in a high position in KK Entertainment. Not that I'm proud of it. "

She looked away, "Oh. Then that makes sense why it's a secret. Not that it's bad he's your step-brother, but it's true how people like to overreact. And then they'd assume you got in through connections."

"Oh I sure did," he chuckled again.

Jooah again turned her head to him, not because she was shocked, but because she was in disbelief of how casually he just said it, "What?"

"Of course, I'm made to think I did it on my own, but hey do you really think it's capable for a person like me who's always one step behind to win an audition through my skills alone?"

Jooah sneered in response, shaking her head, "Geez how corrupted... Why do you even want to be an idol in the first place? Shameless..."

He looked back up, "At that time, I thought I didn't have a choice. Young and foolish. By the time I realized what I could've done, it's already too late."

She scoffed, "There's no such thing as being too late. People who say that are just not courageous enough... But then again, who am I to say anything? I'm no different either, and I know nothing about anyone's situation. You're the same."