“Oh!” Nick exclaims. “The one that just said DADDY. That’s it. Like, is that for all of us? Just one of us?”
A shower of thinking emojis floods the screen. Namgyu holds up his puppy and squeals, “Daddy!”
“I mean, that sign isn’t for me. I know that for sure. I’m more of a hot uncle.”
“Shut up, Nicky.”
Jesse groans from his spot on the floor. “You're the worst!”
“Favorite Apollo memes?”
This one prompts some discussion. It’s finally enough to get Jesse to roll to a sitting position in the middle of the debate, puppies wriggling in his arms. “Okay, so it’s not a meme,” he says in English, “but the stories fans write about us on, like, Tumblr and stuff…”
Kei nods vehemently. “The fanfiction. Yes.”
“Wait, what?” demands Jungwoo, intrigued. “They write stories about us? Like what kind of stories?”
“Nobody’s writing about you, Jungwoo,” says Max. He’s pelted with rubber chew toys as a result. Each missile is returned with twice the force.
“They write about everybody. I saved some of it on my account. But man, the stuff they write about Ari.” Jesse widens his eyes at the camera. “You guys arethirsty.”
Nick covers Jesse’s eyes. “No, my son! Your innocence!”
“Do the managers know you made that account?” Jaehwan inquires. Jesse flails his arms dramatically and shouts that Max and Kei have accounts too. The accused plead ‘not guilty’ with the fervor of men sentenced to the guillotine at sunrise. Meanwhile, Ari hides behind the basket of question cards. Jungwoo leans against him, laughing himself hoarse.
Kazu feeds treats to any puppy who wanders by. “But what are they saying about him? Hit me. I’m old enough for this content.”
“I thought Ari’s fans were the most chill,” supplies Kei, “but then he had that scene with Hazel Lim in theTrickstermusic video.”
“Aww! That scene was so romantic! Mine was just sad.”
“Namgyu really does get all the sad parts.”
Jungwoo stops laughing. “That scene barely lasted ten seconds!”
Even as he voices this complaint, Nick is in the background attempting to make a Tumblr account on his phone. Kazu suggests potential usernames. Judging from the looks he’s getting, these suggestions are universally terrible. Jesse and Kei are clapping as Max re-enacts the music video forTrickster, an Apollo song released in 2022. He assumes the role of Ari while a puppy takes the place of Hazel Lim, the young actress who starred in the video and has since become wildly popular. Chaos descends once more.
There is a burst of animated puppy paws and then the interview cuts to Ari pulling a new card. Everyone has been made to sit in a semi-circle around him as if this is story time at a preschool. Fans in the comments overwhelmingly note the grim satisfaction on Jaehwan’s face.
“In an alternate universe where you never debuted with Apollo,” Ari reads, “what would you be doing with your life?”
“Proud father of three!” Namgyu chimes in.
“Proud father of four!” Nicky one-ups him.
“Living peacefully, nowhere near any of these people.”
“You love us, Keiichi.”
More members speak up, naming alternate fates ranging from delightfully mundane to highly improbable. The only one to show even the slightest bit of hesitation is Ari, who maintains that he isn’t sure what he’d be doing. He gives the camera a shy, sheepish smile. “Just… being normal, I guess?”
“Hyung, are you saying you’d just be some random guy?”
Jungwoo slings an arm around him. “Ari always wanted to sing. He’d be on stage in every parallel universe, same as me. Right?”
And although the smile gutters like a candle flame, Ari turns to Jungwoo and replies, “Right.”
16
