Chapter 16: Seo Yerin
"My long-lost cousin!" Yerin shouted, wrapping her arms around my neck and throwing her entire body weight into a bone-crushing hug. "I finally get to meet you! Do you know how crazy I went when Aunt Alice told me you were back?!"
I froze, taking a second just to compose myself. I was currently holding Nova. The Nova. The woman half the world’s pop culture scene was obsessed with. Millions of people would probably launch a holy crusade just to get a high-five from her, and here she was, buried against my chest in our living room.
She was ridiculously beautiful up close. A faint, sweet fragrance reached me as she hugged me tightly, and I couldn’t help noticing the soft pressure of her body against my chest. A sudden rush of heat went through me, forcing me to take a slow, controlled breath to keep my composure.
[Oho? Look at you, harem protagonist,] Paige teased. [Surrounded by top-tier beauties every single day. Your heart rate just spiked by fifteen beats per minute. Want me to cool your blood down before you embarrass yourself?]
’Stay out of this, Paige, I replied mentally, awkwardly raising my hands before lightly patting Yerin’s back. ’I’m just having a normal human reaction to a global pop idol hugging me.’
[Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that while her chest is squishing against your hoodie.]
I pulled back slightly, giving Yerin a friendly, if somewhat stunned, smile. "It’s really nice to meet you too, Yerin. But didn’t you have a concert this week? I thought I saw something about your tour."
"Oh, that?" Yerin waved a hand dismissively, her dark eyes sparkling with unbothered delight. "I canceled the rest of the tour leg the second Aunt Alice called me! I told my management I had a family emergency and hopped on the first flight straight to the Capital. Nothing is more important than meeting my cousin!"
I blinked, genuinely speechless. She had casually put a multi-million-dollar international tour on hold just to fly over and say hi.
"I have to admit, I’m a little surprised," I said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of my neck. "The Nova everyone sees on TV and on stage is... well, a bit different."
In public, Nova was marketed as an icy, elegant queen of the music industry-poised, flawless, and almost untouchable. The girl bouncing on her heels in front of me was a chaotic ball of pure, unfiltered energy.
"That’s because Nova is just a job, Seth."
Mom’s gentle voice cut through the room as she walked out of the kitchen, wearing a light apron over her dress and carrying a tray of freshly baked cupcakes that filled the air with the rich scent of vanilla and chocolate.
"Yerin keeps her personal and professional lives strictly separate," Mom explained with a fond smile as she set the tray down on the coffee table. "Around here, she’s just our spoiled little niece."
The moment Yerin saw the tray, her eyes practically turned into hearts.
"Aunt Alice’s homemade cupcakes!" Yerin practically shrieked with excitement.
She didn’t even bother grabbing a napkin. She snatched two cupcakes off the tray at once and stuffed them straight into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out like a hungry squirrel.
"Mmmph!" Yerin let out a melodious moan of pure bliss, closing her eyes as she chewed. She held up both thumbs toward Mom before finally swallowing. "Aunt Alice, you are literally an angel sent from heaven! These are so good!"
Setting the remaining cupcakes aside, Yerin jumped forward and gave Mom a massive hug, burying her face against her neck like a clingy younger sister.
"You really haven’t changed a bit," Dad observed dryly from the sofa, though the amused smirk on his face betrayed just how much he enjoyed having her around.
"Why would I change?" Yerin asked, pulling back from Mom and turning toward me with a bright smile. Her honey-like voice carried a warmth that felt entirely genuine.
"This mansion... this family is where I get to be myself," Yerin said softly, her chaotic energy settling into something much gentler. "Out there, everyone wants something from Nova. The media, the record labels, the fans... it’s exhausting. But inside these doors, I’m just Yerin. I get to leave Nova outside."
She walked over to my sofa and leaned against the armrest, looking down at me with bright, inquisitive eyes.
"And now that you’re finally home, Seth, this place feels even more complete," Yerin added with a mischievous grin. "I’ve been hearing all about you from Aunt Alice, but I want to hear everything from you directly. We have years of catching up to do, cousin, and I’m not leaving until I know everything about you."
Looking at her beaming smile, I couldn’t help letting out a quiet laugh as a comfortable sense of belonging settled in my chest.
Having a famous, energetic global pop star as a cousin was definitely going to take some getting used to, but I had a feeling life at the Fernando estate was never going to be boring again.