Lusso ordered the spaghetti meatball pasta, as a safety measure. Even the run-down shack five blocks from his apartment that called itself a pub didn’t mess that one up. When it came out with everyone else’s food, he took a bite and nodded. The tomato sauce didn’t have the bitter aftertaste of artificial tomato paste, and the meatballs weren’t low grade soy substitutes either. It was better than he’d expected, just as Ria said.

Ria said, “How’s the food here? Not bad, right?”

Micky said, “I’ll be honest. I thought it would be shit, but it’s kinda good.”

Lusso said, “It’s good.”

Ding nodded his head in agreement with a dazed expression on his face. He took his fork and swished it through his pumpkin soup.

Ria giggled, and said, “That’s what I thought when I first came here.”

Ria said, “It’s really nice. Like a breath of fresh air. To have someone that knows about this.”

Lusso said, “We can’t be the first ones.”

Ria said, “No. You guys really are. Everyone else would rat me out.”

Lusso said, “Not even your parents?”

Ria’s expression darkened and said, “Ah. Especially not them.”

Ding looked up from his soup to look at Ria’s eyes.

Lusso said, “Sorry if that was a touchy subject.”

Ria waved her hand and she composed herself again. She said, “No, it’s not. It’s just … sometimes I get the feeling that when I get to see them, they’re not being nice to me because I’m their daughter, but because I’ve got a lot of money.”

Ria looked down at her burger, which had a piece of wilted lettuce sticking out of it.

She said, “Sometimes, people see me either as a wallet or a pretty face they’d want to sleep with.”

Lusso said, “Oh. I’m sorry.”

Lusso exchanged a glance with Micky.

Micky said, “It’s harder being a star than most people give you credit for, isn’t it?”

Ria said, “I guess. But I chose this life. I do what JGE tells me to do because I don’t know what I’d do without them telling me what to do. Instead of learning to make my own decisions, I followed orders because it was the easier way out.”

Ding looked dizzy, as if he’d been blindsided by an uppercut to his chin.

Ria said, “You know. When I needed to film one of the music videos with my old team Ditzy, there was a scene where I had to drink a glass of milk and let it dribble down into my tank top.”

Micky cringed. She said, “Ugh.”

Ria said, “Disgusting, right? Thankfully, they cut that because they decided it wouldn’t match with my image. At the time I was just 16. I had a feeling that they were telling me to do something abhorrent, but I didn’t know how to refuse, so I just did it.”

Ria said, “There’s a lot more, and a lot worse that happened behind the scenes. But I’m sure you guys have it harder. I’m the luckiest one here. I don’t really deserve to whine.”

Micky said, “Don’t say that. Everyone has their problems, and when we talk to each other about them, it’s easier for us to get through them.”

Ria looked Micky in the eyes. She said, “Thank you.”

Ria said, “Is it fine if I talk a little about my boyfriend?”

Micky said, “Sure.”

Ria said, “It’s a weird story, so bear with me.”

Ria said, “We started talking online. Through some random mobile dating app I found. I used it because not many people did, so JGE didn’t find me out somehow.”

Lusso said, “Wait. Isn’t your phone monitored?”

Ria said, “One of mine is, but I secretly bought another one. I don’t think it’s being monitored. Because there’s no way that they would let me do this if they knew.”

Micky nodded and leaned inwards to hear better. She said, “So did you guys hit it off from the start?”

Ria said, “Well. We’ve never met in person, but we fell in love through text. I didn’t tell him who I was until 4 months into our texts.”

Micky said, “Oooh. And then you guys started video calling too?”

Ria said, “5 months in. He kept pestering me for real proof that I was Ria Jun, so I finally video called him.”

Micky said, “What’s his name?”

Ria said, “I probably shouldn’t tell you his name. Ah. What the hell. Maru Zest. He’s a government worker. He tells me he hates his job.”

Lusso said, “Where does he work?”

Ria said, “The PR department in the Weather Control Ministry.”

Lusso said, “Wow. The Weather Control Ministry? I’m pretty sure that’s one of the more prestigious ministries. But. Didn’t the PR department in the Weather Control Ministry get dissolved last year?”

Ria said, “I’m not really an expert with that kind of stuff. I barely watch the news.”

Lusso said, “I mean, if he says he works there, he probably does. Right? Even my memory isn’t foolproof.”

Ria said, “Yeah.”

Micky said, “I’m sorry about Lusso. Keep telling us about you and Maru.”

Ria chuckled, and continued. “Maru appeared out of nowhere during the biggest slump in my solo career. At the time, I barely had the willpower to wake up in the morning, and eat breakfast. I lost around 5 kilograms at the time. Instead of telling me to take time off, everyone around me told me to suck it up and keep going. Maru got me out of that pit.”

A radiant flare sparked behind Ria Jun’s eyes as she said, “That’s why I love him. He was the first person to love me enough to stay by my side even when things weren't turning out well for me.”

Micky asked, “Will you two ever meet in person?”

Ria said, “I’m going to sneak out after my last concert in Felicity. That’s when security gets the most lax.”

Micky said, “Aww. What an amazing relationship. I’m kind of jealous, actually.”

Ria said, “Thank you. I’m sure you’ll find someone like that too. It just takes time to sift through the trash, and eventually, there’ll be someone there that loves you for who you are.”

Micky said, “I hope so.”

Lusso said, “I’m just curious, but since when have you worked with JGE?”

Ria said, “From a very young age. Nearly from birth.”

Lusso said, “Wow. I didn’t expect it to be that early.”

Ria said, “Yeah.”

Ria looked around the table, then stopped at Ding. Ding was biting his lip so hard it was bleeding. A drop of blood fell from his mouth into his soup. The red circle that formed in the orange soup grew darker and darker.

Ria said, “Are you okay?”

Lusso wondered what was up with Ding, then it hit him. Ding had been giving him warning signs along the way, and he hadn’t paid attention. Lusso’s mouth opened in a silent scream when Ding began to speak.

Ding said, “Ria. We. I mean … Lusso. He saw that Jin told someone about your boyfriend. Through text.”

Ria exclaimed, “Huh?”

Ria looked at Lusso questioningly.

Lusso said, “First of all, no. That’s a misunderstanding.”

Ding said, “He took … a picture.”

Ria said, “Give me your phone.”

Lusso said, “Sure.”

Lusso prayed that just by chance, that she’d miss the photos. He opened his phone and gave it to her. Ria’s expression of concern turned into one of disbelief, then anger.

Ria looked at Micky. Micky had her eyes turned downwards, shaking her head with raised eyebrows. Ria then looked at Lusso.

Ria said, “So you were lying the whole time? I trusted you guys. I thought we had an agree—”

Lusso balled up his fists and slammed them onto the table. Lusso said, “Holy shit! Do you even know what happened last night? Jin was murdered! Someone turned his brains into scrambled eggs. Then, someone bribed the police into letting us go, then as we walked out the police station, Ding and I almost got killed by Jin’s friend.”

Ria opened her mouth, like she wanted to say something, then closed it.

Lusso said, “This isn’t just about your relationship anymore. This is about my life, Micky’s life, and Ding’s life. Maybe for you, this ends with you breaking up with whatever the fuck that guy’s name is. But for us, the deeper we go into this, the more likely we end up in back alley with our fucking brains blown out.”

Lusso said, “You get it now? I hope you fucking do, ‘cause I’m done sucking your ass, so I’m not explaining this shit twice.”

Ria began to massage her temples. She said, “Get out. Get out now.”

Lusso stood up, and dragged a petrified Ding out of the venue. Micky followed them out.

Lusso shoved Ding out the door — the front door this time. Ding fell onto the pavement, then turned to look at Lusso. He looked like a rabbit cornered by a pack of hunting dogs.

Ding squeezed out a word, “Lusso—”

Lusso said, “Shut the fuck up! I’m done with you. All you had to do was just stick to the plan. Then we would have been fine.”

Micky said, “Ding, that was fucking stupid. Lusso’s right. Even I can’t support you on that one.”

Lusso said, “I can’t. I can’t even—”

Ding said, “I did it for us. If we all lied there, bad things would happen to us. Stuff that you wouldn’t even be able to imagine.”

Lusso’s face turned crimson, and he balled his fists up. His right eyelid twitched. He leaned down to grab Ding by his collar. Lusso said, “Say another fucking thing, and I’ll kill you. You fucking idiot, you don’t even understand how bad you’ve fucked us over, do you?”

Micky tapped Lusso on the shoulder. Lusso let go of Ding. Ding fell back onto the ground.

Lusso said, “What?”

Micky said, “Let’s not get physical here. We go back to the motel, wash up, and sleep. We have work tomorrow anyways.”

Lusso clenched his eyes, trying to bring himself back to composure. Micky called a cab from her phone to get back to the motel.

Lusso opened the door to the room he shared with Ding. Lusso noticed that his janitor jumpsuit was on the floor. He thought he had put it on the bed. With a sigh, he picked it up off the ground, brushed it off, then placed it on his side of the bed. As Lusso was about to sit down on the bed, his eyes shot open. Alarm bells rang in his head as his heart started to race. He scanned the entire room, looking for more things out of place. Random items were scattered on the floor - his toothbrush, a towel, and more. Lusso made a beeline over to his duffel bag and zipped it open. He jammed his arm in, rummaging through his bag for the jar he had found with Jin. When he couldn’t find it, he dumped the contents onto the floor, frantically spreading items out to look for the jar.

Ding asked, “What are you doing?”

Lusso didn’t answer, but kept searching the room, as if he was looking for a time bomb someone had hidden in the room.

Lusso said, “Ding, call Micky. Tell her to come over her right now. We’ve been robbed.”