Vanessa- Doesn’t her family have a restaurant here? I thought I heard that somewhere.
Vanessa’s Friend- Maybe?(sighs)When Trevor broke up with me, Isowanted to have Emma chop off all my hair.
Vanessa- Same. Except there was no way I’d ever be able to afford a haircut at that fancy salon where she used to work. She was at Isabeau LA, right?
Vanessa’s Friend- Yeah, that’s it. She did Tessa Fong’s hair for theKill Me Twicepremiere, remember? That movie sucked but Tessa’s hair was amazing.
Vanessa and her friend end up chatting for the next few minutes, making it difficult to hear what Ari is saying. Jenna’s video is clearer.
Ari- Everything we said on that video is true and, as of tonight, Apollo is no longer represented by Emerald Entertainment.
Crowd- (VERY LOUD GASP HEARD ALL THE WAY IN ANTARCTICA)
Kazu- I think PR would say that we’ve ‘amicably parted ways’.
Max- What the hell was amicable about that?
Ari- We don’t know what’s next for us yet, but the most important thing is that we’re here together. And we’re staying together, no matter what. All of us as brothers, but also Apollo and our fans.
Jesse- We don’t need a piece of paper to tell us we’re brothers! That’s a Jaehwan original, and therewillbe shirts!
Ari- We’ll keep going. Thank you for trusting in us. Thank you for your time and your love.
All Members Except Max- WE BELONG TO OUR FANS!
Max- WE’RE FUCKING FREE!
Crowd- (thunderous applause, cheering, crying)
Ari- Our, um, substitute manager found us a guitar. How about a song?
EPILOGUE
Two Nights Later
Jiyeon waits with her brother in a plain black van. Compared to the motley assortment parked in this beachside lot, their vehicle is like a hole in the universe, a patch of night sliced out of the sky and outfitted with wheels. Its windows are lightless voids. Through the tinted glass, she watches an endless succession of waves come rolling to shore.
She’s taken the middle row. Her legs are tucked beneath her, a paper cup cradled in one hand. Hot chocolate has been acquired from a cart over by the pier, along with churros that she and Denny have long since devoured. “Do I want to know where you got this thing?” Jiyeon asks him now, drumming her fingers on the center console.
From the driver’s seat, Denny gives a noncommittal grunt in response. “Pulled a few strings.”
“Only a few strings, because mysterious black vans are a dime a dozen, I guess.”
“Hey, I only needed two. Believe me, it was a lot easier than convincing Mom that all ten Ryans were not, in fact, gonna fit in our apartment.” He pauses. “Eleven Ryans. Whatever. Too many brothers.”
“Seven brothers in LA,” amends Jiyeon. “One brother in Seoul, and just one Ryan.”Eunjae. It takes effort to call him by any other name, now.
“And that one Ryan will be more than enough trouble for you all by himself,” Denny shoots back. He glares at her in the rearview mirror. “I just can’t believe you did that, Yeonnie. This is a mess.”
She sighs. “I had to do it. If we switched places, if it had been your call, you would’ve done the same thing.”
“First of all, I wouldn't have adopted a random pop star on a random Wednesday night!”
“So you wish we'd never met him?”
“No!” Denny drags a hand down his face. “You should’ve just stuck with the shop account. That plan was fine.”
“A couple thousand followers wasn’t enough. That video needed to be seen by as many people as possible.”
