Chapter 13: CHAPTER TWELVE

Thame let out a deep sigh, as if the heavy weight he had carried for so long was finally lifted. He wasn’t going to Korea anymore. Instead, he was sitting in Uncle Choi’s suit shop, eating a sandwich with Po. The sense of relief that washed over him wasn’t just because of his decision—it was because of Po. Thame knew Po would help him.

It wasn’t just Po’s position that allowed him to connect with Thame’s bandmates more easily; it was who Po was.

Thame had never met anyone like Po. Plenty of people had asked him what he thought, but no one had ever asked how he truly felt. Even if they had, they would’ve believed him when he lied and said, “I’m fine.” Po wasn’t like that. He looked deeper, peeling back layers Thame had hidden even from himself.

The synchronicity of their lives—the way Po’s experiences echoed his own —felt too perfect to be mere coincidence. Thame didn’t want to call it luck;

he preferred to think of it as fate.

Someone once said that after rain comes a rainbow, and if you walk to the end of it, you’ll find treasure.

Could Po lead him to that treasure? Could they follow the colors of the rainbow before it faded?

“Do you really want to help me?” Thame asked suddenly, breaking the silence as Po was tossing his sandwich wrapper into the trash.

“You’re the one who really wants to do this, right?” Po countered, meeting Thame’s gaze. “Do you even know how much chaos you’re causing right now? I bet your company group chats are blowing up, and your phone is probably—”

“I turned it off before I made my decision,” Thame said calmly. “And as for your question… I’ve never been more certain about a decision in my life.

What I’m doing now is what I truly want to do.”

For most of his life, Thame had carried the expectations of others. If it wasn’t his family’s expectations, it was those of his bandmates. He always knew what everyone else wanted—what their dreams were, how they saw themselves. But he had never stopped to ask himself what he truly wanted.

He had agreed to go to Korea because he thought his friends no longer wanted to continue Mars. It was something his parents and Pemika had arranged—a path to allow his bandmates to pursue their own dreams while he moved forward alone. He never wanted it for himself.

Korea was someone else’s dream. For Pemika, it was a strategy to elevate Winner Entertainment and take T-Pop to the next level. For his parents, it was the ultimate success for their son. But it wasn’t his dream.

Po had made him realize that what he really wanted was to stay here.

“I’ve never felt this good about a decision,” Thame said, looking at Po with a rare, genuine smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he had let himself smile like this. And why was it so easy to show this side of himself to Po?

He didn’t know.

“If you’ve thought it through, I’ll help you,” Po replied. “But do you know what you’re going to do next?”

“I do,” Thame nodded. “And do you know what you’ll need to do?”

“If you need me to help, I guess I’ll talk to your friends on your behalf or find a way to help you talk to them.”

“Then you still don’t understand,” Thame said cryptically.

“Huh?” Po raised an eyebrow.

“What’s coming next will be scarier than you think. And it’ll put you in danger, too.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’ve never gone against the company before. They’ll be scrambling to deal with this. They might tell the Korean company I’m sick to smooth things over. They’ll start investigating why I changed my mind. They’ll call me in for meetings, but I won’t tell them anything. When they can’t get answers from me, they’ll look for someone else to blame. The first person they’ll suspect is Jun.”

“Why Jun?” Po asked, surprised.

“The company has always seen Jun as a troublemaker. He skips practice whenever he can, shirks responsibility, and charms his way out of trouble. If they think he’s behind my decision, they’ll assume it’s part of some scheme.”

“That’s… not the Jun I’ve seen.”

“He’s clever, both on and off camera,” Thame said knowingly. “And trust me, if Jun finds out I’m not going to Korea, he’ll use it to his advantage.”

“How?”

“Jun will promise Pemika to find the ‘culprit’ behind this mess. In exchange, he’ll ask the company to terminate his idol contract so he can sign as an actor instead. He knows exactly who’s responsible for my decision.”

“You mean… he’ll figure out it’s me?” Po asked, alarmed.

“Not figure out. He already knows.”

“What?” Po exclaimed. “How could he possibly know?”

“Before you started working here, I never acted this way. Then you show up, and this happens. Who else would he suspect? He’ll go straight to Pemika and ask her to fire you.”

Po stared at Thame, his mouth open in shock, unable to process what he was hearing.

“I’m prepared for the fallout,” Thame said calmly. “The question is, are you ready for what might happen to you?”

Po blinked, clearly unsettled. He hadn’t considered how this might affect his own career.

“Po,” Thame said, stepping closer and looking him directly in the eyes.

“You didn’t think about this at all, did you?”

Po shook his head.

“Are you starting to regret helping me?”

Po didn’t answer, and Thame couldn’t tell what he was thinking. But whether or not Po was hesitant, Thame had already planned what to say next.

“What if I told you not to worry? That no harm will come to you because I’ll protect you no matter what? Would you still help me then?”

“How… would you do that?”

Thame smiled faintly. “By making Jun the first one to join our side.”

“What?!”

TO BE CONTINUED.