Anna looked at Seokjin with sympathy. It had been two days, but her longtime friend was still curled up on her couch staring unseeing at the TV. She tapped his shoulder and held out a can of root beer. He took it with a sigh.

Two days ago, Norma King's husband had returned to their mansion, and he'd demanded that Seokjin move out. Norma argued with her husband, but he threatened to kill the movie's release. Dream Lovers was being touted as a potential Best Movie winner, and Norma was sure it would make Seokjin a star. She explained to Seokjin why it was important to save the movie, so he packed his bags.

He'd been living in Norma's house for almost a year and had nowhere to go.

When Anna opened her door in the morning on her way to work, she found him sitting on his suitcase in the hallway, his hair disheveled and his clothes uncharacteristically rumpled. Without a word, she pulled him inside and told him to make himself at home and that they'd talk when she got back that evening.

Now, they sat on the couch drinking sodas, trying to find a normalcy in this strange situation. The gossip columns were busy speculating who Norma King's boy toy was and why her husband had returned yet again. Their story was a decade-old saga of separations and reconciliations. Anna knew that Seokjin should've known better than to get involved with an older, married woman, but she wouldn't reprimand him. He seemed genuinely to care about Norma even if she probably only used him to feel young again.

"The sofa bed should be delivered tomorrow." She sipped her soda. "It will be more comfortable than this old couch."

"I said I'd pay for it," he said softly.

"Don't worry about it. I was planning on getting one anyway to have for any overnight guests. It's no big deal."

He turned his sad, dark eyes to her. "It's a big deal to me that you're letting me stay here. I promise that as soon as I make some real money, I will pay you back for everything." Even though he'd starred in a major movie, he'd not been paid star money for it, and the movie itself wouldn't be released for another six or seven months.

"Jinnie, you're my best friend. I don't need you to pay back anything. You can stay here as long as you like. Or as long as you can stand sleeping on a sofa bed." She smiled at him.

He nodded. "I'd much rather be here on your sofa bed with your sincerity than in Norma's boudoir with all her betrayal."

"Hm. Sounds like a song lyric. Maybe you have a future as a songwriter."

He broke his first smile of the day. "Yeah. Maybe you're right. It's funny that I play a figment of her imagination in the movie, and I'm no better than that to her in real life. Trying to make it as an actor is proving to be too much for me. I'm not cut out for the lying and cheating and all that." He put his soda can on the low table in front of the couch. "I'm not sure of anything anymore."

Anna curled her legs under her body. "Jin, you're a great actor. You have a ton of potential. I know that the movie industry is vicious, but you have to stick with it. I know you can do it. I know it sucks right now, but maybe it's for the best. Now you can move out of Norma King's shadow and do things on your own. You don't need her. You don't want people to think that you have to ride on her coattails, do you?"

"Isn't that what everyone thinks already? That I became her lover so that I could be in her movie?" He shook his head.

"Don't say that. You're not like that. You're a good person. I know you are."

"Annie, I know that you're my best friend and think only good of me, but I'm not a good person." He ran a hand through his dark hair impatiently. "I'm not even remotely a good person. Call it what it was. I was having an affair with a married woman in exchange for a role in her movie. What part of that makes me good?"

She reached out and patted his shoulder. "No matter what happened or what you did, you're still my best friend, and I'll always think you're a good person. You made a mistake, but now you've learned and can move on. I know you will."

He looked at her for a while, wondering what he'd done to have earned the loyalty of such a wonderful, caring girl. Her faith in him made him want to be better and do better. From now on, he would endeavor to be the person she believed him to be. No more tawdry affairs. No more self pity. If he was going to succeed, it would be on his own merits.

"I am sorry that you're feeling so down." She sipped her soda. "I guess you must've loved her."

He looked down. "I guess. Yeah. I should've known that someone like Norma King would never fall for someone like me. I feel like such an idiot."

"We're all idiots when it comes to love, I suppose."

He looked at her again. "Annie? Are you in love with someone?"

She scoffed. "Me? No. I haven't really had time to go out."

"You have plenty of time on weekends."

She scrunched up her nose. "Okay, then. I'm not ready for a physical relationship, and I don't want to fall in love. Not now anyway. It's always one-sided. I don't want to be left behind, crying and heartbroken."

"Yeah. It's no picnic." He looked down.

She gasped. "Oh, Jinnie! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

He shook his head. "No. It's true. Love tends to be one-sided, and the one on the wrong side feels like crap. You're right to wait." He glanced at her. "Look, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go out to dinner. My treat."

"Sure. Let me get dressed." She scrambled off the couch and ran into her room.

Seokjin looked after her with a fond smile. Anna was such a wonderful friend. She was the one person he could always count on. Why couldn't he have fallen in love with her instead?