Eunjae’s eyes burned with unshed tears. He looked at each of his brothers, his mind supplying the images of those who weren’t there, filling in the gaps where they would otherwise be standing. “I’m sorry,” he told them, voice breaking. “I’m sorry for everything.”
“Why the hell areyousorry?” Max exclaimed. “We’resorry!”
Kazu wrapped Eunjae in a bear hug. It was somewhat sweaty, but none of his brothers could beat Kazu at giving hugs, and no one ever complained when they got one. “Let them disband us, Ari. They couldn’t break us up if they tried. Maybe we wouldn’t be Apollo anymore, but only we can say when Apollo is over, right? Apollo is us. And if quitting is how you end up happy, then I say you should quit.Wesay you should quit.”
Eunjae hugged his brother back. He couldn’t string the right words together, what with the sob caught in his throat, so this silent demonstration of gratitude would have to suffice.
“Wow, did you know we have a real dad sometimes?” Kei whispered to Jesse.
“Right? He sounded like a real dad just now.”
“That was some leadership shit,” Max concurred.
“YA!”
“Don’t forget the other part of Mom’s text!” Jesse treated everyone to some dramatic drum roll noises before reading Jaehwan’s message out loud. “Here it is:We don’t need a piece of paper to tell us that we’re brothers, you goddamn idiots. Gosh, I want that on a shirt. Can we get that on a shirt?”
Well, now Eunjae really was going to cry. He did his best to master the emotions, knowing that they didn’t have much time. “I’m not the only one who deserves to be happy,” he said fiercely. “Everybody in the group deserves that. For as long as that clause is in our contracts, we’re trapped. One person can make a choice about staying or leaving, but the others won’t be able to choose whether or not to disband. In the end, none of us gets to have a say. It isn’t fair or right.”
Eunjae stood up straighter, aware of the implications and the consequences of what he was about to ask of them next. “That clause needs to be removed. I know I can’t make it happen on my own. The company can ignore me, bully me, ship me back to Brisbane until I’ve had enough, but they can’t silence all of us at once. We’ll leave the country like Kazu said. The world is always watching us — let’s use that. Let’s tell everyone the truth.”
“Like, have a press conference?”
“Let’s hire one of those planes that fly the big banners through the sky.”
“And the banner will say what?”
“WE QUIT!”
“We can’t quit,” said Eunjae. “Breaking contract triggers the penalty clause that allows them to disband us and keep our music. But if we tell our story, it could be enough pressure to make Emerald remove it. So come with me. Help me win this. I know we can’t lose if we fight them together.”
Jungwoo frowned, still apprehensive. “What if this just makes them even madder?”
“Oh, they’ll lose it,” Kazu answered. “But if they retaliate when so many eyes are watching, it’ll only make them look bad. The last thing they want is for the company’s reputation to take a hit. You know how they are.” He turned to Eunjae, a glimmer of pride in his dark eyes. “Just tell us what to do next, Ari. It’s all for one, right? And one for all.”
"What a stupid fucking catchphrase," muttered Max.
Jesse feigned offense. "That's fromliterature."
“I’ll tell the others,” said Nick. “We can just meet up at the airport.”
“How will we even make it inside without being mobbed? The fans are always watching.”
“None of our schedules put us at the airport today. Hopefully they won’t know until it’s too late.”
Kei picked up the backpack he’d brought with him from the dorms. “You guys don’t even have anything to wear. I’m the only one who remembered what Jaehwan said about always having a go bag.”
"He said that? When?"
Kazu kept on typing in the group text. “We’ll just buy whatever we’re missing.”
“International Bank of Kazuhiko!” Jesse and Nick shouted together, fists in the air.
“His money is blood and blood is money!”
“Our dad is rich!”
Eunjae laughed helplessly. Even Jungwoo cracked in the end, shaking his head and pulling up an app for flight bookings on his phone. He was laughing so much that he kept entering the destinations wrong. But he closed the app a second later, an epiphany written plainly on his face.
