AKA

Chapter Eight

"Wait? You want us to do what ?" Jer exclaimed, jumping onto his feet from Hana's bed.

"You heard me. We're going to throw a drinking party. Tonight. Yohee is going to be gone overnight because he's spending time with his family. And, of course, MK won't be there because he'll be home by then. That means there won't be anyone home tonight who can bust us or tell us what to do. No pain in the ass band leader or bossy manager. It'll be perfect!" Min-joon was basically beaming with mischief.

"But what does that have to do with getting Samuel to confess?" Jer asked, nearly whining.

"Samuel is a mess when he gets drunk. He'll say anything. Spill any secret he has. If we get him drunk enough, Jer, he'll definitely confess to his crime."

Jer wanted to walk over to Min-joon, grab his shoulders, and shake them until he recovered his common sense. There was no way they could throw a party in the A-House! All of the members of AKA except for Yohee and Taiyang were under twenty-one, so serving and drinking alcohol at the party would be illegal, Jer figured. And even if somehow it wasn't, Jer knew good and well if Yohee and Manager Kyung found out, they would be in so much trouble. Like a million times more in trouble than the time he, Brandon, and Taiyang accidentally blew off their scheduled group recording time back in December.

We can't go through with this plan. We can't...

"My mom and dad have tons of beer and bottles that they won't miss. It should cover what you need for your party," Hana said, interrupting Jer's inward groaning.

Jer stared open-mouthed at Hana. She's okay with this? I think she's awesome and amazing, but what in the world—?

"Thanks, Hana!" Min-joon was still grinning ear-to-ear. "Now all we got to do is buy some snacks, maybe order some pizza, get some supplies—oh—and get the word out. Hey, Jer, can you do that tonight after Yohee leaves?"

Jer continued to stand frozen and open-mouthed. He couldn't believe Min-joon wanted to do this. He couldn't believe Hana was going along with it.

And he couldn't believe himself when he swallowed the lump in his throat and told Min-joon, "Yeah, sure. I will."

Jer spent most of the rest of the afternoon reluctantly following Min-joon all over New Seoul so he could get the supplies he thought they would need for the party at the A-House that night. In a desperate, last-minute attempt to sway Min-joon from his reckless party idea, Jer pointed out that they couldn't just go out in public and shop or they'd get recognized. And if they got recognized in public, a tweet, post, or picture could get out all over the Internet. And if that happened, President Hyong and Manager Kyung would ask them about what they were doing together in public. And if that happened, their secret party could get exposed and they would be in big trouble. And if that happened—

Min-joon had cut Jer off in the middle his "what-if" theories. "That's not going to happen. Right now, it's three in the afternoon on a workday. Most people are at work or school now, so there's a very low chance that anyone who knows who we are would run into us. Plus, I have a box of disposable face masks in the back of my car, so we definitely won't get recognized out in public."

After that failed attempt to convince Min-joon to stop his party planning, Jer just kept quiet the rest of car ride. Meanwhile, Min-joon drove him and Jer all over downtown New Seoul and bought all the things he thought would be necessary for the party. Min-joon even briefly stopped at a pizza delivery place and pre-ordered a bunch of pizzas to be delivered directly to the A-House that night.