Truth

Sakuya left Kana’s apartment alone and made his way back to the agency building. There were some people lurking on the street, snapping pictures of him as he went past, but with the cap low in his face, he could only pray they wouldn’t recognise him.

He was so deep in thought he missed several traffic light changes and had to be reminded by the drivers behind him through horns and lights. When he finally arrived at the agency, he immediately went to the practice studio. It was empty and silent, except for Haruki, sitting on the floor in front of a large mirror, reading a book.

“Look who finally showed up. We were supposed to start dance practice two hours ago,” Haruki said.

“Where’s Jun?”

“He stepped out for a break, some fresh air. Unlike other people, he actually showed up for practice today and put in the hours.”

“Sometimes there are more important things.”

Haruki looked up.

“Is that so?”

And then he saw it. The self-satisfied grin on Haruki’s face. He’d only seen it once before, on the night they had the party to celebrate their audition win. Haruki had stood outside on the balcony, grinning like this, until Sakuya called out to him and he switched, just like that, into his brilliant sunshine smile.

Now, however, he wore the expression openly.

Sakuya ripped Haruki’s book from his hand and threw it across the room.

“You did it on purpose! Everything! You inserted yourself everywhere you could until she ran!” Sakuya yelled.

Haruki cocked his head. “I was reading that.”

“Did you leak her name to the press? How did they already have a statement from you otherwise?” Sakuya shouted. “Can’t you just leave her alone? You’ve done enough to ruin her career—let her live her life!”

“I was letting her live her life. Did you really think I didn’t know where she was all those years? She’s the one person who could sink me, and it was perfect, how she kept quiet and out of the way. All was perfect until you insisted on dragging her back to me!”

Sakuya had never seen an expression as openly hostile on Haruki’s face. The man was so far from the idol he portrayed on stage, his fans wouldn’t even recognise him. He all but growled as he spoke.

“It’s your fault, Saku-chan. I never would’ve needed to intervene like this if you just let her be. But no, you just had to go ahead and visit her time and time again, even after she told you to stay away. You leaked our concepts to her, shooting locations, even our MVs. And then you invited her to your hotel room? What if anyone saw her? It wouldn’t fall on you. It would fall on me! My name is associated with her! Do you want us to fail? Do you want this band to end before we even get started?”

Sakuya flexed his hands uselessly at his sides.

“I know all that. I know it, but—”

“No buts. You know I’m right. Be happy she’s gone. If no one can reach her, if no one sees her, she’ll disappear from the media cycle. She’ll disappear from our lives, just as it should be. Her absence only lasted for three years last time, but this time it should be permanent.”

“You don’t care about her at all! You never have!”

“I care about the things that are important to me, and she was never one of them.”

“If your fans could see you now…”

Haruki huffed a derisive laugh. “But they don’t, that’s the whole point. They see the curated image, the front that is shining. Nothing can scratch that front, or the parts behind it will become visible. Nothing.”

“You wouldn’t need a perfect front if you had nothing to hide.”

Haruki jumped up and grabbed Sakuya’s shirt so tightly in his fist, it almost ripped.

“You know what they’re like, the so-called fans. They chase us and dig through our lives, our family’s lives, our friend’s lives. They are relentless. We’re always on the run and can’t show even a shred of weakness. As your popularity grows, so does the potential to slip up and be buried forever. I can’t have another setback. I can’t.”

Sakuya grabbed Haruki’s hand and squeezed it until he let go, then threw it to the side.

“We’re leaving.”

“We?” Haruki frowned.

He only realised that the door was slightly ajar when it opened fully and Jun walked into the room. His expression was unreadable.

“Haruki,” he said. “Is all of this true?”

“Be your own judge,” Haruki replied. “But you’re not leaving. The stage for the new single is coming up and we have to train.”

Sakuya took one last, good look at the man he had been so happy to spend the next five years with. Then he turned and left the room, walking past Jun.

“Come back here!” Haruki yelled. “Don’t you dare!”

He jumped up, ready to run after him, but Jun stopped him by grabbing Haruki’s arm. Haruki looked up at him, confused.

“What’s your problem?” he hissed.

“You, apparently,” Jun said. His tone wasn’t angry, but it dripped with disappointment.

Haruki stared at him.

“Sort yourself out,” Jun said and left him standing alone in the doorway.