Shine Page 55
I disappear into the bathroom and emerge a moment later, properly dressed in a pair of white denim shorts and a silky mint-green top, my hair in a messy fishtail braid and my purse slung over my shoulder. “Lead the way.”
* * *
“What do you think of this one?” Juhyun twirls around in a white silk dress with a ruffled hem and sheer crimped long sleeves.
I lean back on the velvet chaise lounge chair in our private suite, sipping a crystal glass full of sparkling water with lemon. “It’s cute, but guests usually avoid wearing white to wedding-type festivities. It’s kind of the bride’s color.”
“Please, it’s only an engagement party,” Juhyun says, sticking her tongue out at me. “Plus, this one’s not for tonight. It’s for the Molly Folly company gala. Do you know what you’re going to wear yet?”
The gala. I totally forgot about that. The twins’ parents throw one every summer and I always go, but with everything that’s been going on lately, it’s been the furthest thing from my mind. I swirl my water around, staring into the glass.
“I might not… have time to go this year,” I say.
“Nooo, Rachel,” Hyeri says. “You have to go!”
“Yeah,” Juhyun chimes in. “It’s, like, our best friend tradition. I give you guys a makeover, we eat a bunch of sushi while we watch my parents mingle with Seoul’s most annoying rich people, and then we go home and watch Mean Girls in our dresses!”
I smile, guilt creeping its way into my stomach. “I know and I love it. I just don’t know if I have time this summer.”
“No time for free gourmet sushi and Lindsay Lohan?” Juhyun says, her mouth dropping open. “Has K-pop sucked out your soul or something? You’ve been working so hard it’s like you’ve forgotten how to have fun.”
Even as I laugh, I can’t help but wince on the inside. Juhyun may be teasing, but she doesn’t know how close to home she’s hitting.
“I know what you need,” Hyeri says decisively. She grabs a polka-dotted chiffon minidress from the hanger and holds it out in front of me. “You need a dress for the engagement party.”
“What? I can’t go to your cousin’s engagement party! I don’t even know her!”
“Yes, you can,” Juhyun states matter-of-factly, pulling a few more dresses for me to try.
“There’s no point in arguing, Rachel.” Hyeri smiles. “Consider this a fun-tervention.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, lifting my hands in the air. “I give up.”
“Good,” Juhyun says, tossing a silvery strapless dress over to me. “Let’s start with that one.”
* * *
The last time I checked, Brooklyn Bridge Park didn’t have a rosé-spouting unicorn-shaped fountain or a hot-pink inflatable ball pit filled to the brim with mini disco balls. I’m also pretty certain that Diplo wasn’t livestreaming himself DJing from the second floor of a Lucite treehouse, completely covered in iridescent flakes of glitter.
My mouth drops open as I take it all in, and I turn to the twins. “How?”
“Our family rented the whole park for the evening and transformed it for the party,” Juhyun says. “All this stuff is only here for one night, so we better enjoy it while we can!”
Laid out next to the grand carousel that I remember from my childhood is a gigantic table filled to the brim with macarons in the shape of wedding rings and an artisanal cotton candy bar, with toppings ranging from edible glitter to strawberry-flavored Pop Rocks. The city skyline sparkles as the backdrop to the whole thing, and every person I see seems to be glowing with what I can only describe as pure, unfiltered, radiating joy. Or maybe it’s the light-up halo crowns they’re all wearing. As we make our way farther into the park, I see Jason standing by the unicorn fountain, searching the crowds of people like he’s waiting for someone. My breath catches.
I wasn’t expecting to see him here.
When his gaze falls on me, his whole face lights up in a smile and I realize he’s been waiting for me.
It takes me a minute to realize he’s not alone. To my surprise, Minjun and Daeho are with him, helping themselves to glasses of rosé from the fountain. Minjun sees me and beams, raising his glass in my direction.
“About time you got here, Rachel,” he says. He nudges Jason in the side. “This guy was about to send a search party looking for you.”
“Hi, Rachel,” Daeho says, sipping his rosé.
“What’s going on?” I say, looking from one person to the next and then back at the twins, who are both grinning at me with knowing smiles.
“We’ll let Jason explain,” Hyeri says.
Jason smiles shyly, his gaze softening as he meets my eyes. “I just wanted you to have some good memories of being back home. When you look back on your first tour, I want you to remember more than long days of filming with no food and a thousand outfit changes. I want you to have memories that you don’t want to forget. So I asked the Cho twins for help, and when they said they were coming for their cousin’s engagement party, well”—he shrugs like it’s nothing, but the look on his face is undeniably pleased—“the surprise just kind of fell into place. Minjun and Daeho flew in with the twins to celebrate with us.”
“Jason…” I think of all the things I want to say: This is so sweet. Thank you. I can’t believe you did this. This is beyond amazing. But suddenly I feel a wave of anxiety as I take in all the people around us. The park is packed with guests. What if some of them are NEXT BOYZ fans?
Jason’s smile falters as he sees my face. “What’s wrong?” he asks.
“I just… As much as I love this… what if someone recognizes us?” I ask. With Jason and Minjun both here, I can only imagine the frenzy that would ensue. And I’m not sure I’m up for being harassed by their fans again today. Or explaining to DB why a picture of me and Jason at a party in Brooklyn is all over Instagram. Not when things between us finally feel good again.
“Rachel, this is Brooklyn,” Juhyun says quickly, giving my arm a reassuring squeeze. “Everyone here would rather die than admit they recognize—or god forbid like—some shiny, perfect K-pop star. There’s nothing to worry about.”
I look around me and see that she’s right—no one is snapping covert pictures of the celebrity DJ or sneaking curious looks at that twentysomething pop star fresh off his first world tour who’s making out with his gorgeous, redheaded, Hollywood starlet fiancée in the disco ball pit. I start to relax.
“You’re right,” I say. I turn to Jason and smile. “And this is unbelievable. Thank you.”
“All right, all right,” Minjun says, jumping in. “Does this mean we can play now? Let’s get rolling before this guy gets drunk on unicorn juice!”
He points his thumb at Daeho, whose face has turned bright red after one drink.
“Is it that bad?” Daeho asks, pressing one hand against his cheek.
“I think you look perfect,” Hyeri says, her cheeks turning pink for a completely different reason.
Minjun shakes his head. “My man, you are literally an apple in the Big Apple.”