Ari gives her a thumbs up. “Someone sent me a letter with a picture of their dog dressed up like a lion. A service dog. You said she came with you to one of our Seoul concerts. Are you here?”
>> Ya! That’s my friend!!! She’s here!!!!
>> ari it was me, omg i cant believe u read my letter
“I try to read them all but it takes me forever,” he admits. “I’m sorry I can’t reply. There’s a lot of letters. How’s the dog doing? Is she feeling better?”
>> she’s okay! her leg is still healing! thank u for asking abt her
Footsteps ring out against the practice room floor. Jungwoo plops down next to Ari, chugging an energy drink tinted neon blue. He playfully pretends to edge his groupmate out of the frame. “Sunshines! My Sunshines!” he calls out, and the chat explodes with greetings in return. The warm welcome drowns out the round of griping from fans who only wanted to see Ari tonight. There’s always a few of those.
>> AAAAAAAHHHHHH ????????
>> Jungwoo oppa, did you eat yet?
>> oppa those energy drinks are poison, pls go get some water ??
>> My otp together again!!!!!!!
Jungwoo flicks through the chat history, responding to some comments on Ari’s behalf. Now that his brother has effectively taken over the livestream, Ari seems content to fade into the background.
“You guys had to remind him I ate his snacks,” laments Jungwoo. “It's not like I didn't buy him more snacks later on! I’m not a monster.” He scrolls through the chat some more. “See, your livestreams are always so cozy. When it’s my turn to go live, I get nothing but —”
>> oppa is it true that u wrotelove me leave mefor hazel lim
>> Which songs on the album are about your ex gf????
>> pls jungwoo who hurt you?
>> love triangle… ari jungwoo hazel GO
>> Get out, that’s disgusting
>> Jungwoo’s dating Ruby or Mi-yeon from Athena but the agency paid off the tabloids again
“This! This happens every time!” Jungwoo gets to his feet and pretends to flounce off in a huff. “I can’t believe you guys,” he says to the fans, feigning insult. “I wrote all those songs for you! Yes, you! And you, and you, and you!”
“We belong to our fans,” Ari pipes up.
“We do belong to our fans! Goodbye!” Jungwoo points at the camera. “And you, the one with the unicorn profile pic — if you want to marry Ari then you have to marry the rest of us too. We’re like, a package deal. Right, Ari?”
Ari shrugs, laughing. “Right.”
NOTE:Fans refer to Jungwoo using the rose emoji because of the costume he wore to Emerald Entertainment’s Halloween party in 2016. He showed up as a certain masked hero from a classic anime franchise about magical girls in sailor suits.
18
Justcomeback,Ari.Come home.
Home. But the life that Jungwoo wanted him to resume — did it really count as home?
Back at the Hans’ apartment, Eunjae polished off another chocolate chip cookie and tried to evaluate how much of a trail he’d left behind. He hadn't gone about this with anything resembling strategy.
He looked around at the people seated at the dining table. Midway through dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Han had fallen back into a circular argument about whether the ending ofI Loved Youqualified as tragic or hopeful in nature. Denny, arms crossed, was in a separate circular argument with Jiyeon about whether or not Eunjae's hair had been properly rehabilitated of its floppiness.
“Den, for the last time, the floppiness is part of the charm.”
“The goal wasn't to make him charming! The goal was to make him wholesome!”
