XOXO (An XOXO Novel)

“First a stairwell, now a broom closet.”

“If you’re thinking of small places we’ve been in,” Jaewoo says, a hint of mischief in his voice, “the stairwell wasn’t the first.”

His reference to the picture booth, and that moment inside, makes my stomach do all kinds of twists and turns.

“I still have that sticker photo,” I say.

“Oh, yeah?” He leans back, not quite touching the rack of cleaning supplies behind him. The closet is so small that if I were to spread my arms, I could touch the door and the back wall. “Do you have it with you? Right now?” His eyes drop, then slowly move upward. It’s obvious that if I had that picture, it would be in my backpack, not on my person. Is this an excuse to check me out?

Normally I would be thrilled if it were, except that I’m wearing my decidedly uncute PE clothes.

Not like him. Dressed to impress, even in sweats. Speaking of which . . .

“Don’t you have a recording to go to?” I ask.

He frowns, clearly confused, then says, “Oh, Nathaniel told you.”

Sure.

“I have some time. Our performance isn’t until the end of the show, so technically we don’t have to be there until then.”

“I see.”

“Still, it’s polite to get there early and stay the whole time.”

Meaning, he really should be there, but chose to stay here longer, with me.

My heart swells in my chest, which is not exactly helpful when I’m trying to keep a level head. Concentrate, Jenny. Don’t let the cute boy’s words distract you from the times he’s brushed you off in the past.

Outside in the hall, voices approach. We both listen carefully until the voices grow distant, disappearing altogether.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Jaewoo says, “about Nathaniel.”

I blink, surprised. “What about him?”

“Stay away from him.”

I cross my arms. High-handed, much?

He hurries to explain. “Last fall, a tabloid released an article about Nathaniel, that he was dating someone . . .”

“I know,” I say. “He told me about it.”

“He did?” Jaewoo looks surprised. “Did he give any details?”

“Just that the other person involved was Sori.”

Jaewoo sighs. “It came at a bad time. We were only six months out from our debut, preparing to release “Don’t Look Back.” Then we got the news that Bulletin dropped that bomb. We had to cancel shows, interviews. Of course it was the worst for Nathaniel. Not only was he forced to break up with his girlfriend, but he stopped getting invited to do solo activities, and his SNS accounts were flooded with hate comments.”

It’s hard to imagine anyone getting upset enough at another person for dating and openly attacking them for it on their social media profiles. Especially Nathaniel, who’s so friendly and easygoing.

“Honestly, I don’t know how he does it,” Jaewoo says. “He claims none of it matters, but it can’t be easy.”

“And Sori?” I ask. “What was the fallout like on her side.”

“Luckily her mother is the CEO of Joah Entertainment, and she was able to force the tabloids to blur out Sori’s face in the photographs. There were some rumors at school . . . but that’s it.”

Well, not exactly. Even if her character wasn’t attacked by trolls on the internet, people like Jina, and I’m sure others, bully her at school. I’ve also only ever seen her alone.

“Okay,” I say. “I’ll try to stay away from Nathaniel. For his sake,” I clarify. “Not because you told me to. I don’t want to get him into trouble.”

I can see now that Jaewoo, unlike Nathaniel, is very careful with his public image, talking to everyone equally and not singling anyone out for special attention. Nathaniel is the complete opposite. He really doesn’t care.

“It’s not just out of concern for Nathaniel,” Jaewoo says.

Even with only the dim light of the bulb above us, I can see the high color in his cheeks.

“I don’t want you to be friends with him,” he says. “Not in the way you’re friends with me.”

It takes me a moment to realize . . .

He’s jealous.

“I meant everything I said.” He looks down, unable to meet my eyes. “But my motives aren’t entirely selfless.”

In the distance, a bell rings, signaling that lunch has officially started.

“We should go,” Jaewoo says, but neither of us moves.

I wonder if he sees the irony that in order to warn me away from a potential scandal with Nathaniel, he’s pulling me into stairwells and closets. But of course I’m not going to point that out to him.

A lock of his hair has fallen forward and I reach up, my fingers sweeping slowly across his brow.

“Jenny . . .” His eyes are heavy-lidded, his lips parted. As he moves closer to me, I grab onto the front of his hoodie, clutching it. Just as my eyes flutter closed, the door swings open.