Enjoy.

November 16th, 2020

I awoke to someone gently shaking me.

"Wake up, Jae."

The voice brought a rush of memories flooding back to me. Argument with Eunkyung. Leaving the house. Calling, seeing Lux again. At her house. In her guest room.

I shot up and came face-to-face with Lux. She was dressed in silk, white pajamas, her blonde hair tied up into a ponytail.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." She ruffled my messy morning hair. "Go and clean up. Lunch should be ready by the time you finish."

"Wait, lunch?"

"It's 11:30." She giggled and made for the door.

"Oh…" I stretched. "Thank you, Lux," I said once I finished.

"No problem." The door clicked shut behind her.

[;]

"How have you been, Jae?" Pieter asked as he set down his glass.

"I've… I've been better," I replied, surprised with how honest I was. "Things are a little difficult right now."

Concern immediately made its way onto Augatha's features. Her brows furrowed as she stared at me, clearly worried. "Is there anything that we can do to help?"

I vehemently declined. "No, no. I… I don't think anything you can offer me would solve the problem." I rubbed the back of my neck. "It's something that I need to fix myself."

"Are you sure?" Augatha pressed.

"I—"

"Mother," Lux interrupted. "I think that's enough." She smiled slightly at me. "If he says he doesn't want the help, then we should respect that, right?"

"You're right, Lux," Pieter said with a nod. He finished the rest of his drink and stood up. "Well, you're welcome to stay in the house as long as you need, Jae."

I bowed my head. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Pieter checked his watch, then turned to Augatha. "Well, we have a meeting in an hour." He waved to me. "Have a good day, Jae."

I waved back. "You too." I smiled, watching as the two walked away.

Lux tapped my shoulder. "Let's go to the gardens." She twirled on her heel and began to walk towards the door to the gardens.

[;]

The gardens of the Crownguard estate were more than extravagant. It was closer to a small forest, in all honesty, than a garden. I followed behind Lux as she navigated the greenery, we walked past the cerulean waterfall and climbed up to the tree that stood at the height of the waterfall. Beneath the canopy of the tree was a bench that overlooked the entirety of the gardens.

Lux sat on the bench and patted the empty space beside her. "Sit."

I sat beside her.

"Talk to me," she said.

"...About?"

She sighed. "Everything, Jae. Tell me everything." Lux turned to face me, her blue eyes alight with an indescribable emotion. "You and I haven't talked in pretty much a year. I want to know what you've been up to. And I'm sure that you're curious about what I've done too, right?"

"Fair enough." I leaned back on the bench. "So, how was graduation?"

She clicked her tongue. "If you could even call it a graduation. It was just me, sitting in my apartment, dressed in my cap and gown, watching a stream." Lux crossed her arms and pouted. "Probably the lamest thing I've ever experienced."

"Yeah. It was exactly like that here too." I chuckled. "They didn't even call our names out one-by-one. But… I'm not really sure what I expected, honestly."

"I expected something a lot more organized," Lux added. Her eyes were narrowed as she stared at the waterfall. "But it's whatever. Can't complain about the past, right?"

I nodded. "Right."

"Though, I didn't exactly want to talk about graduation." Lux glanced at me. "What happened between you and Sera? Last I was here, you two were on… really good terms, to say the least."

"She and I…" I trailed off. I bit my lip.

"You and her?"

"We had a falling out," I began slowly, trying to find the right words to explain the situation. "Throughout the school year, she and I were working on another EP— and during that time, I slowly realized that I loved her. As in, actually, genuinely loved her." I rubbed the back of my neck, heat crawled up my skin and tinged my cheeks. "I was writing a song about my feelings, just so I knew what to say and how to say it."

"But you waited too long to tell her, didn't you?"

I pursed my lips. "Yeah," I replied, my tone clipped. "Way, way too long."

"And now she's a part of ICONS, and too busy for you, right?"

"Something like that," I said. "I just want to move on. I want to forget about her. Those memories, those moments, I want to be free of them."

"Free of them?"

I nodded. "There's no point in me dwelling on her." I sighed. "Can't complain about the past," I finished with a smile directed at Lux.

"Too true," she bubbled. "Then I suggest you get busy," Lux said, poking me with a finger before placing a hand on her chest. "Take it from me, staying busy is the best way to forget about someone."

"Oh." I glanced to the side. "I'm sorry, Lux, I—"

"If you seriously think that one apology is going to fix the fact that you ghosted me for a whole year, then you've got more than a rant coming your way, Jae." She glared at me. And for the first time, I realized how scary Lux could get if she was genuinely angry. Her blue eyes burned holes into me, and she looked about ready to smack me.

"I… I'm sorry, Lux."

"I just want to know why, Jae. Why did you never message me? Why did you never call me?"

"Because I thought you were busy."

"You thought I was too busy to send a text to?" She crossed her arms.

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds really stupid," I murmured.

"How do you even think something like that, Jae?"

"Heh." I chuckled slightly. "I… I'm awful, aren't I?"

She shook her head . "You're not awful. You're not a bad person. And I'm not going to be mad at you forever."

"Ghosting your friend for a year when they're in a foreign country seems like something a bad person would do," I retorted.

Lux shook her head. "No. It's a mistake. And people make mistakes. I make mistakes too." She sighed. "I'm not entirely in the right either. I could have texted you myself, and I know that you would respond in heartbeat. But I believed that you were too busy with other things. And people."

"People?"

Lux rolled her eyes. "With Seraphine, Jae."

"Oh."

"Honestly, you two were so in love that it was almost annoying that you hadn't made it official yet," Lux grumbled, clearly annoyed. "I'm surprised I even got to kiss you on your cheek without her tearing off my head right then and there."

"That obvious, huh?"

"Oh yeah."

"More than just obvious," she said. "But that's in the past too. So we can't exactly do anything about it." Lux sighed, raising her hands up into the air and stretching. "You still never told me exactly what happened between the two of you."

"Well, that's because you sort of guessed the whole story."

Lux flushed. "I'm sorry. Didn't intend to cut you off like that."

"No, no. It wasn't entirely wrong," I replied.

"So, what happened then?"

"I produced two covers for Seraphine, K/DA's POP/STARS and ARY's Childhood Dreams, and she posted them on her social media accounts. In all honesty, I didn't think there was going to be that big of a response. But I guess I was wrong." I thumbed the armrest of the bench. "She got famous pretty much overnight, after that, she got an offer from K/DA. And the rest is history, I guess."

"She got signed into ICONS really fast, and I couldn't really escape the news in Korea," Lux added. "I was a little more than surprised to see her being signed alone, instead of with you."

"Yeah. Me too," I mumbled.

"Were you angry at her?"

"I was. For a bit. No more than a couple of days." I bit my lip. "Then I just… gave up."

"Gave up how?"

"Gave up everything," I explained. "I stopped going to work, stopped making music, stopped everything."

"What changed?"

I smiled slightly. "Xayah and Rakan reached out to me. They're helping Eunkyung and I pay our bills and groceries."

"That's good." Lux patted my shoulder. "Good to know that those two are still as friendly and helpful as ever."

"Yeah. They are."

"...And what about your music?"

"What about it?"

"Did you ever pick it back up?"

I shook my head. "Haven't played a single note in the last three months."

"Jae—"

"It's fine, Lux," I interrupted. "Really. It's fine. I… I don't really think I want to make music any time soon. At least, not as seriously as I did before."

Lux fell silent. She sternly held my gaze, as she seemed to stare through the windows of my eyes and into my very soul. All to find a fragment of deceit in my words. Then, she simply sighed. "Alright. Fine."

"That— that's it?" I asked, unbelieving that she would give up so easily. "No protests? No arguments? No convincing me? Just a 'that's fine,' is all you'll say?"

She raised a brow. "Is that what you want, Jae? If you're as serious about giving up on music as you say you are, then I think you wouldn't be so insecure about your decision." Lux shook her head ever-so-slightly. "Are you serious, Jae? About giving up music?"

"I—"

"And be honest with me," she demanded. "I know when you're lying."

I stared at my hands. "...I don't know."

"Then you better figure it out." Lux glanced at me. "Before you lose the time to decide."

[;]

November 18th, 2020

"Are you sure that you want to go home?" Lux asked, her hand frozen on the handle of the car door. "It hasn't been that long since you and your sister fought. She might still be mad—"

I shook my head. "Eunkyung and I fight all the time. Just so happens that this one was at a bad time. And she's not the kind of person to hold a grudge against someone, especially when she knows that it was her fault that it happened in the first place."

"Well, you know your sister better than I do. Let's get going."

Lux and I climbed into her car. Just as I was finally getting used to the newness of her Audi, I was going home. It was about time though. I'd already spent two nights at the Crownguard estate, and I was beginning to get the feeling that Lux's parents thought I was just leeching off of them— which was the last thing I wanted to become a reality considering how Lux's parents treated their own daughter.

Of course, even with the constant assurance from both Lux and her parents that it wasn't the case, that didn't dissuade my feelings regarding the whole situation.

I was already getting a lot of help from Xayah and Rakan.

The last thing I wanted was to seem like I was asking for more help.

"Are you alright?" Lux asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," I replied. "I just feel bad for making it seem like I was leeching off of your parents."

"Jae, you know that they don't see it like that at all, right?"

"I know," I said with a slight smile. "Still doesn't make me feel less bad about it."

Lux rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say," she teased.

The rest of the drive back to my house was mostly silent. Lux pulled into the garage and parked. Then, she turned to me. "Think you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Thank you, Lux. For everything."

"You're welcome," she replied with a smile. Lux raised a single finger. "You just owe me one thing."

"Which is?"

She pointed at me. "Don't. Ghost. Me. Again." She punctuated every word with a jab of her finger into my chest. "Got it?"

I furiously nodded. "Yes, I got it."

"Good."

[;]

Eunkyung thumbed the side of her black mug, a clumsy smiley face drawn into the side of its glossy surface. It was one of the four mugs that our family took home as souvenirs from when we went to a mug-making factory. They let us choose and decorate a mug of our choice. The one that Eunkyung held was mine.

"I didn't think you were coming back." Her voice was hoarse, like she hadn't drank water at all in the last couple of days. "Had me worried for a second there," she joked, but her expression told me that she was more than just worried.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't leave you all by yourself. You wouldn't even last a week alone," I said with a smirk.

"Probably true." Eunkyung glanced down at the mug. She turned it so the smiley face was facing towards her instead of me. She fell silent.

"Noona?"

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. She looked up at me. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "God, I'm so fucking sorry, Jae." Her tears fell freely now. They left glistening trails down her cheeks and onto the surface of the mug, marring the smiley face.

I reached across the table and placed my hand over Eunkyung's. I'd seen my sister cry before. Hundreds, if not thousands of times. But I'd never seen her cry for me. It took all of my willpower to not break down into tears as well. "It's okay, it's okay," I cooed. I stood up and wrapped Eunkyung in a hug. "I forgive you," I murmured. "I'm not going anywhere again."

"Do you promise?" She asked.

"I promise, Eunkyung," I replied. I rubbed her shoulder. "We're siblings. We fight all the time. This is no different from when we fought in the past."

She nodded. "Right."

I grinned. "Good." Then, I lightly smacked her back.

"Jae—"

"That's what you get for saying that to me. But… It wasn't exactly untrue either."

"No, Jae. What I said was out of line, and completely false. Don't you even dare think I would genuinely believe you would do something like that."

I slowly shook my head. "That's the thing, Eunkyung. I would do something like that. Maybe not now," I continued. "Not with the kind of person I am today. But three months ago? Our positions might be reversed."

"Jae…"

I shrugged. "It's alright. I forgive you."

Eunkyung nodded once. "And I hope you can forgive yourself too."

[;]

November 20th, 2020

"So," Lux hesitantly began. "My parents want you and Eunkyung to join us for Thanksgiving. It's just gonna be us, so there's no need to worry about the virus or anything."

"Are… Are you sure?"

"Jae, except for you, my entire family hasn't had contact with anyone but each other. And its safe to assume that Eunkyung is safe too, right?"

"Yeah. We're careful about it."

"Good," Lux bubbled. "Well, talk to your sister about it and let me know whether or not you want to come. Sounds good?"

"Yup," I replied. "Sounds good. Talk to you later, Lux. I've got to head to work."

"Oh. Okay. See you there!"

"See you— Wait, what?!"

Before I could get a response, the call clicked closed.

"Jae!" Eunkyung called from the hallway. "Let's go!"

"Okay, okay. I'm coming."

[;]

She's really working here again. I watched as Lux walked into the break room at The Grand Vastaya, her blonde hair tied up to the height it normally was whenever she worked. A simple white mask covered the bottom half of her face.

"I don't know whether or not I should be surprised to see you here," I said to Lux.

"Well, I'd rather you just be happy," she said with a wink.

Jinx sighed as she entered the room. "Why am I not surprised that you two are flirting on the first day that Lux comes back?"

Lux and I both blushed.

"We're not flirting," we said simultaneously. Then, we stared wide-eyed at one another.

"See, you're even saying the same things." Jinx pointed at us. "Ugh! It's so gross."

"I, for one, find it positively adorable," Orianna added, wandering into the break room.

"Did everyone start at the same time today?" I asked. There was just no way that every single person on the floor got on break, or clocked in at the same time.

"I am on break," Orianna replied.

"This is my second shift today." Jinx grinned.

"And I just started my shift." Lux smirked.

I sighed. "Okay, okay. I'm gonna get changed," I announced, holding up my uniform. "Everyone get back to work."

Jinx saluted me. "Yes sir!"

"Of course."

"Mmhm!"

[;]

"You and Lux are talking a lot," Eunkyung commented as she stood beside me, watching idly while I stirred the pot of yukgaejang. "I assume that you two are good friends again?"

"Yeah," I said. "We are."

"You know what's weird to me," she began. "Your only friends are females. Does that not weird you out at all? Never miss being friends with guys?"

I shrugged. "I don't really think about stuff like that. Friends are friends. Regardless of gender."

Eunkyung patted my back. "Good to know that you were raised well."

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. "Speaking of Lux, I wanted to ask you something."

"And that is?"

"Lux's parents invited us over for Thanksgiving. Do you want to go?"

"Us? Or you?"

"Us," I emphasized. "They knew Mom and Dad. And I think they'd be thrilled to meet you. I don't want to pressure you, but we haven't had a real Thanksgiving in a long time. It wouldn't hurt to have one again. With other people."

Eunkyung nodded. "Alright. Then we'll go."

[;]

November 25th, 2020

"Okay," Eunkyung said as she drove up to the Crownguard estate. "I knew that they were wealthy. But this? This is a little much." She stared in awe at the size and grandiosity of the mansion, her face a near exact copy of mine when I first saw their home.

"Yeah. I would say that you get used to it, but clearly that's not the case," I said, grinning.

Eunkyung pulled up to the front gate, and the guard, through the front window, recognized me. He waved and opened the gate, letting Eunkyung drive inside to the front of the mansion.

"I'll take your car from here," the guard said, popping open the driver's side door.

"Wait, are you—"

"The car will be fine," I assured Eunkyung. "Thanks again, James."

"Enjoy the evening you two."

And with that, he drove the car into their parking garage, leaving Eunkyung and me at the front door. I walked up to the door and rang the bell.

A few moments later, Lux opened the door. She wore a simple blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly. She greeted me with a grin. "Good evening, you two."

"Hi."

"Hey." I waved at her.

"Come on in. My parents are waiting for you at the dining room."

"Sorry, we're a tad late," I apologized, following behind Lux as she led us through the foyer and towards the dining room.

"No worries. You guys actually showed up a lot earlier than my parents expected." Lux smirked in my direction. "They're used to Jae being a little late whenever he stops by to hang out, so they think you're the same way, Eunkyung."

Eunkyung's eyes narrowed in my direction. "Don't tarnish my reputation with yours."

"Sorry. Purely unintentional."

They narrowed even further.

I raised my hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay! Got it."

Eventually, we arrived at the front of the two dining room doors. Lux pushed them open to reveal the meticulously, and beautifully decorated dining room. Autumn banners draped down from the high ceiling, neatly crafted lanterns ran evenly from one end of the table to the other, and soft orange cushions covered the six seats that lined the table.

While the table itself was empty of food, the amount of plates and utensils on the table revealed that there was going to be an abundance of food. More than Eunkyung and I ever had on our own small Thanksgiving celebrations. But, as foreign and strange as it was, it was also more than welcome.

Lux guided Eunkyung and me to the patio outside of the dining hall where both Pieter and Augatha were relaxing in front of a small bonfire.

I moved to Lux's side, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "Where's Garen?"

"'Training,'" she said, with air quotes. "But he's having dinner with Katarina."

"Instead of you guys?"

"They always have dinner together on Thanksgiving. It's the only time that they can see each other." Lux smiled. "He'll be joining us later tonight though."

"Oh. That's good."

"It is good to finally meet you, Eunkyung," Pieter said once we were in sight. He patted the sides of his perfectly maintained white petticoat. Then, he extended a hand.

"You as well." Eunkyung bowed her head as she shook the older man's hand. Pulling her hand away, she glanced between Pieter and Augatha. "Jae tells me that you two knew our parents?"

"We all went to college together," Augatha explained with a smile.

"All of you?"

Augatha nodded.

"How… How did you guys even get connected? I know that Mom and Dad were in the same major, but are you two also musicians?"

Pieter chuckled at that. "No, no. Augatha and Amelia, your mother, were friends long before I knew Jungwon. I met Jungwon in one of my general education classes, and we became fast friends."

I glanced at Augatha. "Why did my mother never mention you to us?"

"We were all busy when you two were younger," she answered. "As much as we would have loved to meet you as kids, there wasn't any time for it."

"But after Mom and Dad died…?"

Pieter's gaze darkened. "We weren't sure if you knew of us. I felt as if reaching out to you, especially after your parents' death, was a foolish decision. It was more than likely that we were just going to be strangers in your eyes."

"That's…" Eunkyung trailed off, unsure of what to say. "That's fair. I likely would have just declined any help anyways."

Augatha nodded.

"Well, now that we've had that discussion," Pieter began. "Why don't we all sit down and eat?"

[;]

By the time we returned to the dining room, every plate was filled with food, everything from a beautifully prepared stuffed turkey, to, much to both my surprise and Eunkyung's, a few Korean dishes. Soft music played from hidden speakers, and a comfortable warmth accompanied the delicious aromas of the dishes. We all took our seats eagerly, eyes scanning every meal with anticipation.

As we began to eat, amicable conversation supplemented the food. We talked about the simple things, we reminisced about the past, especially about my parents' past as Eunkyung and I eagerly asked for more and more stories about our parents from Pieter and Augatha. Even Lux seemed incredibly interested, and that made my heart glow.

We eventually found the limits of our stomachs, and dinner began to wind down. Pieter and Augatha broke out the wine, serving themselves. Augatha, glass in hand, spoke up. "Jae," she said, looking momentarily at me. "Has anyone ever told you that you share your father's hair and eyes?"

I smiled. "I've heard the eyes. I'm the only person that I know with golden eyes, after all. But I haven't heard the hair."

"His hair greyed early too."

At that, Eunkyung let out an exclamation before screaming out in laughter. Lux chortled, her hand flying to her mouth in an awful attempt to hide her laughter from me.

I felt my cheeks burn. "It's not exactly grey hair."

Augatha frowned. "Oh. Then what is it?"

"They started popping up after my parents passed," I replied. "And since I didn't have the money to dye it, I sort of got used to them being on my head. Does… Does it look bad?"

"I don't think so," Augatha said. "I think it tells a story about you." Her eyes shimmered with mischief. "Though, it can be satisfying to poke a bit of fun at you for it."

I rolled my eyes.

"Well, Jae may have inherited his father's traits," Augatha said before turning to Eunkyung. "But you inherited everything about your mother, at least in terms of your appearance." She smiled widely. "You are a very beautiful young woman, Eunkyung. Amelia would be so proud of you."

"The both of you," Pieter corrected. "You two… It amazes me how strong the two of you are. Despite everything you've been through, the challenges you've had to face, you two came out on top." He sent Lux a half-hearted glare. "If only our own daughter could do as much."

I smirked at the banter.

After dinner, we returned to the patio and sat once again around the reignited bonfire. Between conversations, snacks, and more stories about our parents than I knew what to do with, time passed in the blink of an eye. Before both Eunkyung and I knew it, the moon was already at its peak, shining down on the gardens of the Crownguard estate.

"You two should probably head on home," Pieter said. "It's rather late."

"Unless you would like to stay the night," Augatha quickly added.

Eunkyung glanced at me. "Do you want to stay?"

"Might be for the best," I replied. "You drank a couple glasses tonight."

She nodded. "Alright. We'll stay."

Eunkyung and I both bowed our heads.

"Thank you."

"Thanks."

"It's no problem," Pieter looked to Lux. "If you don't mind showing them to one of the guest rooms, Luxanna. We're going to retire for the night."

"Of course, Father," Lux bubbled.

We followed behind Lux as she guided us to two separate guest rooms. Eunkyung quickly excused herself, the door to her room closing with a nearly silent click. She left Lux and I in the hallway in front of my room's door.

"Thanks for inviting us," I said to Lux. I scratched the back of my neck. "It… It means a lot."

"Of course. You're welcome, Jae."

"Seriously, Lux. You've been a ton of help lately and I don't even know how to repay you for it."

"Just keep being my friend," she said simply. "That's all I ask."

"Then I'll do just that." I grinned. "Good night, Lux."

"Good night, Jae."

And with that, she walked off towards her room.

I opened the door to the room that I was sleeping in last week and, after quickly changing into the provided pajamas, crashed onto the bed. I couldn't stop a smile from blooming on my face as I stared up at the ceiling.

Today… Today was a good day.

It was, by far, the best Thanksgiving that I've ever experienced.

And once again, it was all because of Lux.

I turned to my side and held my hand out in front of me. I owed Lux… more than words could even describe. I owed her more than the world at this point. I owed her anything and everything she could ever want. She saved me.

With my thoughts filled with the soft blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes of Luxanna Crownguard, sleep came to me the easiest it had in months.

I apologize for the lateness of this chapter! I had a lot of real life stuff to do this week, and I'm trying to keep track of everything. I already have most of next chapter written, as well as the final act of this story planned out. Isn't it crazy that we're closer to the end of Rising Stars than we are to the start?

Thank you all for supporting me thus far.

Perzeus - Well, here's hoping! As for the band... I'm not a total fan of that sort of thing. But, it's definitely an idea!

Guest - Wow! That's a lot of writing. Thanks for leaving such a long review, it's great to see someone so invested in my story. In terms of addressing your points, I'll quickly go over a few of them. There's definitely a lot of development left to be done for both Jae and Seraphine, both in their relationship and just them as characters. I'm excited for everyone to be able to read that. Seraphine definitely has the potential to become a successful artist, and so does Jae. The only reason that the both of them are currently not successful is because of those burdens that they have yet to shed. As for your comments about The Producer, I appreciate that you enjoyed it despite its flaws. Thank you for supporting me so greatly! :)

Next Chapter: 3/5/21