Last night, after Thame and Pepper cleared the air, Pepper gave Thame some advice on how idols could maintain relationships without getting caught. One key strategy was maintaining distance. Pepper explained that he kept a five-meter gap from Phi Kaem whenever they were out in public.
That way, no one would suspect that they secretly texted each other, exchanged glances from afar, or left little gifts for one another unnoticed.
Anyone outside their trusted circle of five shouldn't know anything at all.
Thame thought about this "five-meter rule" with Po. He had never measured the distance between them before and wasn't even sure if five meters was a realistic number. It equated to five hundred centimeters-much farther than he was used to. Still, if keeping Po close meant learning to maintain that distance, Thame was willing to try.
Whenever Po visited the Mars house, Thame would shift around, trying to estimate five meters. If Po was in the living room, Thame stayed in the kitchen. If Po was on the first floor, Thame would go upstairs. When Po was inside, Thame would step outside, and so on.
-
Jun quickly caught on to the situation and couldn't resist teasing. "Man, it's so obvious. He doesn't like you at all. He keeps running away."
"Who asked you?!" Po snapped back, annoyed.
He hadn't vented to Jun about Thame's behavior, even though he didn't understand why Thame said he wanted Po to stick around but was now avoiding him.
"Tell you what, I'll help you," Jun offered with an innocent smile. "You want to direct Mars's new music video? It's a job nobody's taken yet.
I sort of... volunteered for it by accident. Think you can help me? I can't handle it on my own."
Why on earth did you volunteer for it, then?!"
"Why else? For you, of course," Jun said matter-of-factly. "So you can get closer to Thame."
"I don't trust you at all," Po said flatly, though he couldn't help but ask, "So, what's the first step?"
"Call Thame, obviously. We need to know what the song is like so we can plan the video," Jun replied.
Po grabbed his phone and dialed Thame. The phone rang twice before Thame picked up, but before Po could say a word, Jun snatched the phone from him.
"Annyeong!" Jun chirped.
"Jun!" Po shouted, trying to grab his phone back, but Jun held it out of reach.
"I borrowed Po's phone to ask about the MV briefing," Jun explained over the call. "Tell me about the song. I want to make sure we get it right."
Po couldn't hear Thame's response, but Jun's reply was, "Come on, man.
You think I care that much about what you and Dylan are working on? You know me. Just give us the briefing so Po and I can make the MV together."
Jun emphasized "Po and I," making sure to tease Thame before hanging up.
"You said you'd help me get closer to Thame, but you didn't even let me talk to him!" Po protested, exasperated. "You're such a con artist!"
"Fine, I admit I'm half a con artist," Jun said with a shrug. "But I did take on this MV project for you. Now, get ready to jot down some notes about the song."
Po glared at Jun but couldn't resist. As much as Jun annoyed him, Po wanted to help Thame, so he picked up his iPad and started taking notes.
-
After ending the call, Thame turned to Dylan, Pepper, and Nano.
"Did someone feed Jun something weird?" Pepper wondered aloud. "Why is he suddenly so eager to work on an MV?"
Nano immediately pointed at Dylan. "It's you, isn't it, Phi Dylan? You don't like Jun, but did you really have to spike his drink?"
"I didn't do anything to him," Dylan shot back. "But honestly, what other reason could he have? He probably just wants credit for directing while secretly making Po do all the work."
"You're so negative about Jun," Pepper interjected.
"Well then, what do you think his reason is?" Dylan challenged.
"Uh..." Pepper hesitated.
"Exactly!" Nano declared, grinning. "Dylan's answer is correct!"
Thame, however, had his own theory about Jun's motives. He sent Jun a quick text:
"Meet me at the game center?"
The reply came swiftly:
"8 PM."
TO BE CONTINUED.