Jooney- But from what I understand, it’s not as bad now, right? Oh, but dating bans are still a thing.
Freddie- Yeah, there’s at least one agency that doesn’t allow artists to date in the first three years after debut. The amount of time varies but there always seems to be a policy against dating. Speaking of Emerald, they’re not allowed to date if they still live in the dorms. Pretty strict. I personally feel like the agencies ban dating but it’s the fans who enforce it. Some fans get sooooooooo mad when their idols try to be normal freaking people.
Jooney- I think it’s crazy that most idols make the choice to potentially live this kind of life when they’re just kids. Most start training around the age of thirteen. I knew nothing about life when I was thirteen. (pauses) I know nothing about life right now.
Freddie- Better to live at home and make podcasts, eh? I mean, look at Jooney. $90 t-shirts.
Maisie- Pah!
22
IfDennyHaneverneeded a new job, he'd do well to consider hiring himself out to do wake up calls. The man was an alarm clock you couldn't snooze. Eunjae had woken at 4:32am to find him standing over the bed, a walking mountain somehow gifted with powers of stealth. It shocked all the sleepiness out of him. They were at Wanna Waffle by 5am sharp, firing up the irons and pulling down all the dining room chairs.
Now it was midmorning and Eunjae occupied a seat behind the counter, a quarter of the way through his mandatory reading assignment: an old hardback copy ofMolly Merriweather and the Clockwork Knight. Inside the front cover was a fading Bookmobile sticker and the name ‘Emma Jiyeon Han’ scrawled in shaky cursive. Denny had inscribed his own name underneath hers at a later date. His cursive was clearer, more precise. Neither could agree on rightful ownership of the book and Eunjae had stepped in to mediate.
He made swift progress through the firstMolly Merriweatherbook as the morning ticked slowly away and Jeannie shuffled around the empty dining room with a broom. She possessed a bottomless supply of soda candy and even plunked a handful beside the register for Eunjae. By force of habit, he chose a flavor that none of his younger brothers would squabble over.
“Oppa-yah,” Jeannie drawled shortly thereafter, removing one earbud and pointing the broom handle at Eunjae. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like Ari from Apollo?”
Denny exploded out of the kitchen. “Who are you out here calling oppa?”
“Ryan,” said Jeannie. She popped another candy in her mouth. “He looks just like —”
“He looks just likenotanyone's oppa!”
“Denny-boss, you’re getting old. Like, you used to babysit me. So it makes sense that your eyes are getting bad and you can’t see that this new guy is totally an oppa. His oppa energy is intense.”
“Insubordination,” scolded Denny. “And you! Ryan! How can you just sit there while some girl calls you oppa? You didn't even react. You're either as empty-eyed as I said you were, or you're a coldblooded serial killer, which I also said you were.”
Of course Eunjae hadn't reacted. Sunshines were forever addressing him in this manner. Although the honorific was meant to be used by girls when talking to an older brother, ‘oppa’ had evolved into something more flirtatious and affectionate in certain contexts. After nine years, it just bounced right off him. Being accused of resembling Ari from Apollo had been much more concerning at the time.
He lowered the book. “Um, I didn't notice. I was reading. Like you told me to.”
Denny's wrath subsided as quickly as it had flared. “You're damn right you were reading. Do it fast ‘cause there's still four books left in the series and we’re watching the movies, too.”
He stormed back into the kitchen just as Jiyeon came out, balancing a tray. Eunjae jumped up to hold the door open for her and she thanked him through the pair of plastic-wrapped boba straws she was carrying in her teeth.
“You don't have to read the whole series in one day,” she said, shaking her head. “No need to watch all the movies, either. He's just really excited.”
“I don't mind,” said Eunjae, truthfully.
Jiyeon set the tray down on a table near the big window. It held a waffle with a pristine scoop of ice cream on top. She dusted the whole thing with powdered sugar and then adorned the plate with strawberries sliced into little hearts.
“How about it, Miss Vho? You feel like being a waffle model today, right?”
In answer to this question, Jeannie whirled around and tugged Eunjae forward. “Use him! He looks just like Ar—”
“Ryan’s too shy for modeling work,” Jiyeon said easily, arranging and then rearranging a pale pink smoothie and a boba tea around the waffle with a practiced eye. She thumped the waffle straws on the tabletop so that their sharp ends pierced through the plastic wrap in one go. “Do you think the tea should be on the left or the right? I say left.”
“Left. You know I'll drop this tray, Sis.”
“You won't. Come on, help me. Denny only ever posts pictures of the same waffle on the shop’s Instagram over and over again. He thinks taking it from a new angle makes it different. We’re overdue for some video.”
“I’m too young to be trusted with this. Ask Denny-boss, he’ll tell you.”
“I’ll braid your hair tomorrow.”
These were the magic words. Jeannie jumped into the task with sky-high motivation. Eunjae looked on from the sidelines, wary of getting in the way. Jiyeon had appropriated her brother’s phone for the project and went about it with her usual certainty, filming the components of several videos in a batch. It struck Eunjae that he had yet to see her fumble or hesitate, no matter the task or circumstance. Whatever it was, she just did it.
