Absinthe

Halfway through our meal at Jollibee, I fished out my phone to check if there were any messages from my friends. None. I sent a quick text to Cassie, Faye, and Derrick. I doubted they would respond, but I just wanted to let them know that I was open to talking things over with them.

"Do you have any social media accounts?" I asked Jiwoo.

"I don't really have time for those."

"You know that you can get some income from them, right?"

"Really?" Jiwoo was now interested, his eyes suddenly alert.

"Yeah. If you get enough followers, brands will start to notice you and give you sponsorships."

Jiwoo was quiet for a bit. "How do I do that? And will it really allow me to earn a lot of money?"

I nodded. "Pretty much. I've heard of some IG stars buying houses mostly with their earnings from IG."

"How do I get... What did you call it? Followship?"

"Followers. Well, there's no surefire way to get them, but in your case, you can always use your face."

"I don't understand."

"I'm talking about fan service. Everyone wants to see attractive people, so you just have to show them your handsome face!"

Jiwoo smiled and blushed. "You think I'm handsome?"

Fuck. How do I answer him without revealing my attraction to him?

"I think you're more handsome than I am," Jiwoo added.

"That's not possible," I said.

"So you really think I'm handsome, then?"

"Do you know Gossip Gurl?" I asked, suddenly remembering something and deliberately ignoring his question. "She posts pictures of the hottest people in the metro, celebrities and non-celebrities alike. She even had a photo of you one time!"

"Can I see it?" he asked excitedly.

"Here." I opened Gossip Gurl's page and showed it to Jiwoo. And I'll be damned—it was now full of candid photos of me and Jiwoo earlier in Recto. "See? Gossip Gurl's making money off of your face and mine!"

Recto!" Jiwoo said, reading the caption of another candid photo of him holding my hand and crossing the street. "How

follow her secretly take photos of her subjects and share them

"Are you @bjmesoftly?"

was Faye who had come up with that username several years ago. I only had

it

lightly on the shoulder. "I wasn't the one who thought of that.

you

up his Instagram account. He chose the handle @g_whooo as a play on how his name sounds like. I taught him how to follow other accounts

of followers. Do you

account to gain followers. It just sort of happened when this Gossip Gurl started tagging

of me and JM with Elle and Eiji, Faye's twins. "And I'm guessing

a sad reminder of how gullible I was, and

your exes," he said, scrolling through more

the sudden change in his facial expression, and I remembered what Janus had told us last time about Jiwoo's

to," I admitted. "But I'm back

respond to

my exes!" I added.

of your followers are females? I mean, this Gossip Gurl is practically screaming

chuckled upon seeing the confusion on Jiwoo's face. "Those are what we call BL fangirls, as in boys' love. They're basically fans of guys who date one another. I don't really

food. I must say that their palabok is amazing. I don't expect a lot from Jollibee since it's

"Kiss me then."

spat half the palabok still in my mouth and nearly choked on the other half I had

kiss me. Maybe that will get me followers more

that the whole suggestion had not

around my shoulder and

and

selfie. "Just pretend to kiss me. Make your mouth go like this." He

closed my eyes, and mimicked

Jiwoo said. "Don't close your eyes this

time keeping my eyes open. Jiwoo snapped a couple of shots before declaring, "Not like that!" He was clearly still

"How?" I asked, annoyed.

"Like this!"

still slightly open, forming out the vowel in the word "how." Jiwoo turned and pretended to kiss me, only our lips connected because I

picked up a