She didn’t answer, just tipped her face up for a kiss. This, too, was normal. An everyday luxury.
They’d both made an Olympic sport out of avoiding social media, and the Internet in general, since those posts went live on Wednesday. Eunjae didn’t even read the statement from Emerald confirming that Apollo’s Ari and influencer Emma Han were ‘meeting with warm and hopeful feelings.’ He only knew the exact verbiage because Nicky turned the announcement into a skit at dinner… and then again at every meal thereafter.
He did read the email from Haewon, signed by both of the agency’s founders but sent from her email address alone. It contained their best wishes for his happiness, along with an offer of representation, since he’d opted not to sign with Zenith.We hope that the terms are sufficiently transparent for you, they’dwritten at the bottom. He could hear this line in Haewon’s brisk, sardonic voice.
Eunjae had expressed his thanks. Also, that he was on an indefinite hiatus. It was time to get some rest. Few sentences had ever been more satisfying to type.
“Find anything?” he asked Jiyeon, after a while. “Maybe we can go tomorrow.”
“Hmm. Sort of. I think there’s a place that might work out, but it’ll take a lot of renovation. Could be perfect if we knocked down some walls.”
Jiyeon listed potential improvements, plans for a bakery case, an airy space full of tables for game nights and studying and birthday parties. She’d add more windows and carve out a small lounge, maybe a conference room for meetings. “Not a restaurant,” she’d told him last night, eyes shining. “More like a community center. I’ll call it Orange Door.”
Plenty of people thought they knew what it was, to be proud of someone they loved. They’d have to work pretty hard to know the feeling better than Eunjae. He was sure of it.
The hour flew by. They parted ways at the cottage, then met again at the diner, just one more time. Although he’d considered himself ready to leave Monroe from the moment filming began, this final day on set still managed to taste bittersweet.
The day’s objective was simple: Apollo would work one more Friday morning shift, serving a celebratory pancake breakfast to family and friends. The producers were going for something easy and relaxed.
So much for that pipe dream. Jesse hurtled into the kitchen right out of the stylists’ trailer, wild-eyed, one sleeve of his pastel yellow pullover flapping behind him like a flag. He’d spilled lemon water down the front. Throwing himself at Eunjae, he proceeded to cling for dear life. “It’s him! He’s here, he’s outside! Hide me, he’s the worst, he’shomicidal—”
“Could you stop yelling?” Kei snapped at him, ducking under the counter. “What if he hears you? Idiot!”
Max insisted on Jiyeon’s immediate evacuation. “Hyung, she can’t be in this building. He'll go straight for her.”
“Who?”
“A monster, noona. From the actual basement level of hell.”
He had a lot more to say on this subject, but Nicky interjected, grinning from ear to ear. “Ari, let her meet him at least once. Rite of passage.”
“Ah, no,” said Eunjae. Fleeing sounded like the correct response to this state of emergency. Jungwoo thought a barricade would work better. In complete disagreement, Kazu plundered the knife block, intent on arming himself to the teeth.
Realization dawned. “Sunny’s here,” said Jiyeon. “That’s why.”
Namgyu explained, lovingly, that she must never say this cursed name out loud. “It summons him. Haha!”
In truth, Eunjae should also be evacuated from the danger zone. As Nicky pointed out, torturing him was Sunny’s favorite way of torturing Max. “We’re dealing with a master of strategy,” he said, chuckling.
“Aww, but Hazel just got here! Wouldn’t S-U-N-N-Y attack her instead?”
“Good question, Gyu. Will he rank a fake, stolen girlfriend on the same level as a legit, ethically sourced girlfriend and adjust his target—”
“Shut the hell up, hyung!”
Jiyeon smiled. “Hazel’s here? I’ll go say hi.”
A set of swinging saloon doors separated the kitchen from the main part of the diner. They were shorter than the frame, with gaps at the top and bottom, allowing sunlight and conversation to leak in from the adjacent room. As Jiyeon raisedher hand to push through, these gaps filled with sun rays. Cuddly sun rays sewn from plush fabric, engineered for violence.
Eunjae’s life flashed before his eyes. He seized Jiyeon by the waist and hauled her out of Sunny’s range. There wasn’t a second to spare; Apollo’s mascot was capable of frightening speed, defying its own unwieldy shape and less than aerodynamic design. The creature came bursting over the threshold as Jesse wailed his head off, begging for rescue in six different languages.
Rescue came in the form of a massive hand, adept with a waffle iron but well-suited for pulverizing boulders as well. Calloused fingers latched on to the intruder. There was a popping noise, and then a hiss as pressure released from a hidden valve. Miraculously, Sunny began to melt. His malicious, starry eyeballs became puddles of nylon. The sun rays drooped like withered petals.
“Ridiculous,” said Denny, scowling at the deflated remains of Apollo’s mascot. “How many times have I told you to keep your hands off my jester squad during work hours? This is a place of business. I’m running a combination diner and clown orphanage. Have a little empathy for my situation.” Their manager yanked Sunny out of the kitchen. “Heads up, Lee,” he bellowed over the triumphant whooping, shouting, and singing. “Your girlfriend found Trevor.”
“Oh, shit,” said Max.
Hazel perched on a bar stool next to Apollo’s publicist, legs crossed, twirling a butter knife. She lit up at the sight of Namgyu, but nothing could derail her focus. “Unnie, this is him?” she asked Jiyeon.
