Terrifying

Gene held Annabelle tightly as she cried. 
     The two of them sat in their hotel room with the curtains drawn. They were close together on his bed as the light in the ceiling glowed comfortingly.
     She buried her head in his shoulder.
     He stared directly at the wall of the hotel room and frowned.
     He'd finally met Miya in person, and she was more beautiful than he'd ever expected her to be. He couldn't stop thinking about her hair; her arms; the way her lips moved when she said his name. The trembling in her voice when she'd thanked him for showing up had briefly given him the urge sweep her up in his arms, and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that he had missed his opportunity.
     Then she'd cried, and something inside him had told him to run. 
     He was glad he'd listened to that instinct, because what had happened next had been more terrifying than stalling five hundred feet above the ground.
     The crowd had turned vicious.
     All it had taken was the one short video of Miya crying after he talked to her, and the internet had become convinced that he and Annabelle were out to hurt the miracle. 
     Thankfully he couldn't understand most of the insults they'd hurled at him, due to his inability to speak the native language, but Annabelle hadn't been so lucky. He'd covered her ears and ran as fast as he could have towards their hotel, yet she'd still managed to hear some of what the fans had said. 
     He sighed and retrieved his phone from his pocket, then dropped it in shock.
     "No..." His eyes focused on the words she'd written on the back of his cellphone.
     "Miya Min-Hee."
     His lips turned dry as he contemplated what that meant. Annabelle clung to him tighter, unaware of what her older brother was seeing. He redirected his attention to her and placed a hand on her head. 
     "S'okay, we'll be leaving tomorrow morning." He whispered. "Then we can go out for ice cream at 'Felix Cones' when we get back home."
     She nodded.
     He kept comforting his sister and glancing at the back of his cellphone for a long while.
~~~
     Chi-Hun felt a buzz in his pocket as he ate his lunch on the fourth floor of Zygeist Media. He languidly pulled his phone out of his pocket. His eyes widened and he stopped mid-chew as he saw who the notification was from.
     "Director Sang-Ki?" He mumbled, swallowing the bite of tteokbokki still in his mouth. All the notification said was that he was required in the director's office immediately.
     He took his tray of food and dumped the rest of the rice cakes and their sauce into the trash can as he quickly made his way towards the elevator.
     He pushed the call button for it, pulled up his phone's camera to make sure he didn't have anything stuck in his teeth, and made sure that his clothes looked up to snuff. Just as he finished, the elevator doors opened. 
     Mukashi was inside the elevator.
     Chi-Hun exhaled quickly, then smiled and stepped inside. The elevator doors closed, and he pressed the button that led to the ninth floor of Zygeist Media. He noticed that the button for the third floor had already been pressed.
     "Il-Sun, I hear that you had a little bit of trouble with your idol today, hmm?" He said with a playful smile. 
     Mukashi didn't respond; instead, he kept staring straight at the elevator doors. Chi-Hun's smile tightened slightly.
     "I see; it was that bad, eh?" He shook his head as the elevator reached the third floor of Zygeist Media. "Well, if you ever need to talk to someone who's dealt with his fair share of trouble, you can always talk to me." He looked up at Mukashi and smiled. "Of course, you can only do that if I'm not busy with my boys at the moment."
     The doors to the third floor opened, showing the sleeping quarters of the idols stretching out before them. Chi-Hun waited for Mukashi to step out. 
     He didn't. 
     "Il-Sun, isn't this your stop?"
     Mukashi didn't respond.
     "The next stop is on the ninth floor; I've got a meeting with Director Sang-Ki, so you better step off if you don't want to be late."
     Chi-Hun watched with a furrowed brow as the doors to the third floor slowly closed again. As the doors closed, Mukashi's head slowly turned towards Chi-Hun's.
     Mukashi's gray eyes bored into the soul of the lesser manager. 
     Chi-Hun tensed.
     "It's rude to make eye contact with your coworkers, Il-Sun." Chi-Hun said, his smile still stretched. "Plus, you look a little creepy."
     Mukashi took a few steps and angled his body so that he was facing Chi-Hun directly. Chi-Hun's heartrate began to pick up slightly. Mukashi's gray hair was still mostly combed, but it looked a little frayed at the edges, and his face was shadowed because of how he was standing, so that a long tall shadow was being cast over Chi-Hun in the elevator. 
     "S-stop that, Il-Sun. This is very unprofessional of you." Chi-Hun said, his voice a little sharper than normal. 
     Mukashi's breathing was rhythmic and slow.
     Chi-Hun realized that Mukashi had taken up all routes of escape. He looked at the floor number and saw that there were still four floors left before they reached the ninth floor and he could get off. He looked up at the dark shadow looming over him and felt a shiver run down his spine. 
     "Il-Sun, if you don't stop this, I'll have to report you for workplace harassment." Chi-Hun said with a smirk. "So back off."
     Mukashi lingered for a few more seconds, then did as he was asked. 
     "T-that's right." Chi-Hun said, regaining his breath. "Young upstarts like you have no respect for those of us who have been working diligently for years." He frowned and dusted himself off.
     Mukashi said nothing else as Chi-Hun prepared himself for his meeting. He simply watched with a strange sense of excitement. He redirected his attention to the floor number and observed silently as it changed from showing the number five to the number six. 
     He glanced back at Chi-Hun, then back at the number, over and over. Each time the number changed, the excitement Mukashi felt increased. As the number changed from eight to nine, the elevator jolted to a stop. He looked down at Chi-Hun, who glanced up at him in response.
     Chi-Hun flinched.
     "W-what are you smiling about?" Asked the lesser manager, sounding shocked.
     Mukashi raised his eyebrows and put his hands to his face, then realized that Chi-Hun was right. He was smiling. He shook his head and redirected his eyes at Chi-Hun, who was already stepping out of the elevator.
     "The reason I'm smiling is none of your concern." Mukashi lied. "Good luck with your meeting."
     Chi-Hun nodded awkwardly as he stood outside of the elevator. The doors closed slowly.
     Mukashi couldn't stop smiling as he thought about what awaited Chi-Hun in Director Sang-Ki's office. He pushed the button for the third floor again and watched the numbers tick down slowly.
~~~
     Mukashi stood outside Miya's bedroom door for a few moments. He was still feeling a strange sense of elation about what had happened to Chi-Hun, but he couldn't let himself be distracted for too long. He placed his hand on the doorknob for her bedroom and opened it.
     The room was dark. He looked at his phone. It was only barely eight pm. She still had to eat dinner and get in her last practice for the day. He flicked on the lights to her bedroom. 
     Miya was laying on her bed; thankfully, she hadn't removed any of her makeup or changed her outfit. She yawned slowly and sat up in bed with a stretch. As she did so, Mukashi stole a glance at her surroundings.
     He saw something on her bedside table.
     Before Miya could completely wake up, she saw Mukashi take several quick steps toward her bed. She tilted her head, confused as to why he was doing that, then watched as he walked right past her and picked up the papers on her bedside table.
     She yawned slowly as she thought about what Mukashi was doing.
     Her blood froze in her veins.
     "W-wait! M-Mukashi, don't read those!" She practically shouted as she scrambled towards her bedside table and lunged for the papers. 
     Mukashi gracefully evaded her grasp as he took a step back, still holding all the papers in his hand. 
     "Don't! P-put those down!" She shouted again, her face turning bright red as tears of fright welled up in her eyes.
     Mukashi read the huge letter Miya had written to Gene; it spoke of his appearance; kindness; loyalty; how special he made her feel, and how thankful she was for his visit.
     Despite never having experienced it, he knew what her letter was describing. 
     Love.