Chapter 31: CHAPTER THIRTY

Po was speechless as he sat in front of the sandwich shop, staring at the LED screen showing Mars celebrating their all-kill success on every chart.

Kaem’s actions and words echoed in his mind.

Could he and Thame really do better than this? Mars’ success seemed to declare that their strength lay solely in the unity of all five members.

Po let out a long sigh, only realizing someone had taken a seat beside him when he turned. It was Thame, sneaking out to meet him.

“I thought you’d be with your friends,” Po said.

“They told me to come see you first. Especially Pepper. He didn’t want you to think we achieved this because we had to break up.”

“Oh,” Po replied, avoiding eye contact, understanding what the group must have discussed.

“You don’t think that, right?”

Po didn’t answer the question. Instead, he looked up at Mars’ achievement and said, “It’s incredible. You guys really swept every chart.”

“I can’t believe it myself.”

“What’s so unbelievable? You all worked yourselves to death for this, didn’t you?”

“It’s just... thinking about the day when we thought we’d never be able to come back together, to this moment now, it feels surreal.

Back then, I was about to leave everyone and go to Korea. Mars had no hope of reuniting, no plan for making music. But today, we’ve hit number one on every chart.”

Po gave a faint smile.

“It’s all because of you,” Thame said, locking eyes with him. “If it weren’t for you, none of us would be here. Jun might be traveling somewhere, Dylan would probably be making music alone, Ai Per would still be stuck in a studio, and Nano would be studying something random. But you made it possible for us to come back and make music again.”

“It’s really because you guys already wanted to be together.”

“But you’re the one who brought that desire back together.”

Po smiled softly in response.

“So please, stay with us for a long time,” Thame said, grabbing Po’s hand.

“Tonight...” He paused. “I have to stay with the others to livestream and thank the fans. I won’t be able to come to your place. And tomorrow, I’ll be meeting with the company to discuss our contract.”

“Maybe I’ll see you at the office, then.”

“Yeah, so... uh...” Thame stood up and adjusted his jacket. Po gave him a puzzled look.

“It’s a little cold tonight, and since I can’t hug you…” Thame said shyly.

“Oh,” Po chuckled at how endearing Thame was being.

“If you want to feel close to me, just tuck your hands in here, okay?”

Thame demonstrated, slipping his hands into the jacket’s pockets and repeating the motion several times. “Like this, okay? Like this.”

“Got it. Go on.”

Thame handed him the jacket, hesitating as if he wanted to say more, but stopped himself.

“Hurry up. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

As Thame walked away, Po realized that Mars would probably find a cozy spot to livestream and connect with their fans. Meanwhile, he clutched Thame’s jacket and headed home. Before he could get into his car, a message from Mick popped up on his phone.

Mick:

Meet Khun Pemika in her office tomorrow. She wants to talk to you.

Po frowned slightly, unsure what it could be about.

—

Po stood outside Pemika’s office, feeling uneasy. What could she want this time? Last time, she had figured out he was the “mole” helping Mars reunite and sent him away to work with Ice. But this time? He had no idea.

He knocked twice before entering.

“Phi Mick said you wanted to see me…” “Take a seat,” Pemika said.

“Yes,” Po replied, sitting in the chair opposite her. She was watching the PAK-winning MV on a screen.

“Someone said you made this music video.”

“Uh, yes,” Po admitted.

“It seems you’ve spent most of your time working on projects Winner didn’t assign you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“But I’m not surprised you did it,” Pemika said, sliding four photos across the table. They were pictures of Po and Thame at the supermarket and outside the condo elevator.

“Did Thame ever tell you that Leak It originally had these photos, not Pepper’s? I had to release Pepper’s photos to protect Thame.”

Po froze. He hadn’t known. Thame hadn’t mentioned it. He wasn’t even sure if Thame had told anyone.

“So, you had no idea,” Pemika said, her gaze piercing. She pressed further, hitting Po squarely in his guilt. “The truth is, you’re the reason this all happened.”

Po felt his heart sink.

Pemika wasn’t wrong. If these photos had caused Pepper and Kaem to break up, it was entirely his fault.

“Why are you telling me this?” Po asked directly, sensing there was more to her words than just making him feel guilty.

“Mars has an agreement with me to go to Korea as a group if they swept the charts. You probably knew that. I’ve already discussed this with the Korean side. But they have concerns—this.” Pemika tapped the photos of him and Thame.

“They’re very strict about this kind of thing. An idol group can’t have scandals like this. Sending the group to Korea while knowing this could come up later would jeopardize Winner’s future deals. So, I don’t have many options.”

She looked Po in the eye.

“Do you want Mars to go to Korea as agreed, or do you want to remain the stain that ruins everything they’ve worked for? I’ll leave the choice to you.”

—

Po sat frozen near Pemika’s office, reeling from the conversation. He heard voices approaching and turned to see Pepper and Dylan.

“Oh, you’re here. Did you meet Khun Pemika already?”

“Yeah, but Ai Jun got hungry and dragged everyone else to eat. Dylan was annoyed, so he made me come up here instead,” Pepper said, motioning toward Dylan, who was listening to music and scrolling through his phone.

“Thame said the talks with Korea look promising. That’s good news, right?”

“Yeah…” Po replied half-heartedly, knowing that “promising” likely meant he and Thame would have to break up.

“What about you? How are you holding up with everything?” Po asked.

“Just going with the flow,” Pepper said, trying to seem unfazed. “The guys haven’t left me alone, so I haven’t had time to feel down.”

“I’m sorry,” Po blurted out.

“Huh? Sorry for what, Phi?” Pepper asked, oblivious to the real reason behind Po’s apology.

Before Po could respond, Dylan spoke up.

“Pepper, they’re back. Let’s go.”

Thame, Jun, and Nano walked in. Thame lingered behind, handing Po a can of drink with a Post-it note attached:

Meet me on the rooftop after work.

—

Po spent the rest of the day at his desk, his thoughts swirling. He didn’t know what to do about Pemika’s ultimatum. The creative department continued its routine, and Mars seemed to have a real shot at going to Korea. But Ming and Tae hadn’t finalized any changes to the concert plan yet.

Everything was at a crossroads.

And Po felt like the one holding the map.

—

At 7 PM, Po made his way to the rooftop. Thame was already there, gazing at the billboard celebrating Mars’ success. When he heard Po’s footsteps, he spoke first.

“This is where we had our first conversation, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Back then, we had nothing. But look at us now,” Thame said, smiling at the billboard featuring Mars’ MV.

“With Mars and you, I think this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Po couldn’t bring himself to respond, so he asked instead, “What did they say when you talked to them earlier?”

“They said it’s possible,” Thame replied with a hopeful smile. “After I left Khun Pemika’s office, the guys went crazy researching Korea. But, well, they didn’t get very far. Dylan just looked up food, Jun was all about sightseeing, Nano wants traditional Korean outfits, and Pepper couldn’t even keep up with his notes.”

“What about you?”

Thame rubbed his nose sheepishly. “I was checking if the internet would be fast enough for me to call you all the time.”

Po couldn’t help but laugh a little. Thame continued, “We’re all excited.

Even though we know it won’t be as easy as it seems, we’ll figure it out.

And when we get there, no matter what happens, I know we’ll get through it. We’ve already overcome the hardest part.”

Thame smiled warmly at Po. “The five of us will stay together, make music, and keep each other going. Dylan might be a little fussy, Jun won’t care about anything as usual, and Pepper and Nano will handle all the arrangements. Nano will probably whip us into shape with stricter dance practices, but we’ll be happy.”

Thame’s eyes sparkled as he imagined it.

Mars in Korea. Recording, practicing, walking through snow, eating warm food at convenience stores, and finally debuting as a group.

“It’s something to be proud of, isn’t it? To think we’ll go that far.”

Thame turned to Po. “And as for us, I’ll call you as often as I can. If I can’t, I’ll text you every day. I’ll video call you after work and save up to fly you out to see me as much as possible.”

His words were filled with hope.

“That’s how we’ll keep going, Phi Po.”

Po avoided Thame’s gaze.

“You don’t like my plan?”

“It’s not that,” Po said quietly. “I should be thrilled. Just thinking about seeing you there, hearing updates every day... It sounds amazing.”

But the bittersweet smile on Po’s face made Thame uneasy.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s just... everything involving me... it won’t happen, Thame.”

Thame tilted his head, confused. Po finally said the words he had been dreading.

“Because we have to break up.”

TO BE CONTINUED.