Last to receive his mission is Jesse. Based on the spring in his step, he's hit the jackpot. He refuses to be manipulated into swapping missions. “I know mine’s the easiest!” he wails. “That's why I'm keeping it! I’m just supposed to pretend I don’t know how to do basic things until someone else gives up and does it for me. I do that anyway! This is my chance, you can't stop me, I'mlocked in—”
Apollo’s youngest member kicks up such a fuss that Nicky lets it go. He's not about to compromise his agenda, so he'll switch with Ari himself. “Getting ten people to ask for a selfie, that’s brainless. I’d just be bored,” he confides to the camera, “and I’ll be chained to a griddle until 6:00, anyway. Now, writing my name on every order without getting caught? Way more interesting. They should’ve specified which name, though. They might regret that later.” Nicky grins. “Hey, you got all of that, right? When I made my rounds?”
The camera shakes. “You knew I was filming?”
“Oh, yeah. Wait, were you trying to be sneaky? That's so funny. Aren't you the same guy who’s been selling our used water bottles to fans online? Can you believe I've never told anyone about that? By the way, for a small monthly fee, I won’t say anything about your other secret, either.”
“My other secret? What are you talking about?”
But Nicky’s long gone. We’ll never know, and neither will this guy.
23
AtLakeMonroe,theair hummed with all the candy-fueled energy you might expect from the weekend before Halloween. The water was a mirror, its gleaming surface burnished to a high, golden shine as the sun dipped below the horizon. Hay bales and ornamental wheat sheaves lined the sidewalks.
They'd been in the thick of this autumn extravaganza for hours. The producers had Apollo running a stall at the festival’s sprawling lakeside market, a pop-up version of Sunshine Diner. The guys took turns dishing up pancakes and working the crowd, cameras ghosting behind them every step of the way. Their stall was such a hit that Jiyeon lost track of time.
She lost track of Eunjae, too. It was ages before she realized that he was still out there on the nearest dock, surrounded by tourists. He'd offered to take one family's photo, according to a report from Jesse, and then the requests wouldn’t stop coming.Selfies with the photographer were in as much demand as the photographer’s services.
“He’s gotten ten people by now, right?”
“More than ten. Ari’s good to go.”
“Good to go for what?” asked Jiyeon.
“Nothing,” came the weirdly synchronized reply.
“Huh. Okay.”
Jeannie focused on crowd control. Nicky handled the griddle, as usual, while Max and Jesse stacked pancakes on paper plates. They needed to survive being jammed into this stall with one another for thirty more minutes. Then they could close up shop at last. It would amount to a lot of disappointed people in line, but the producers wanted more footage of Apollo enjoying the event.
When would she have a chance to talk to Eunjae? He’d gotten back late last night, and he’d been so quiet since then. Jiyeon had no idea if they’d have time tonight, either.
“I need to get out of here,” she sighed, without really meaning to complain out loud.
“Ooooh, me too,” said Nicky. “But here's what else I need: the scoop. And the cameras just left, so let’s get into it while we can. What's with you and Arthur, ajumma? Tell me. I'm all ears.”
“Nothing’s going on there.”
“Exactly. Nothing. No chemistry.”
“Why would they have any?” Max groused. “That’s done. They broke up twice already.”
“Did you hear that, Jess? Bark, bark, bark. I thought the dog was here.”
“He does sound like Snowball, oh my gosh.”
“Whoa, whoa. Her name’s Uyu. That’s a flat fee of $499 if you’re changing it again.”
Jeannie leaned forward as though reporting the latest twist in a journalistic investigation. “They didn’t have any chemistryback then, either." And when Jiyeon turned to her, eyes wide, she only doubled down on that assertion. “What? It's true! You have loads more chemistry with Ryan than you ever did with Arthur. You have more chemistry with literally any member of Apollo. I should know. I've seen it.”
Max stared at Jeannie, slack-jawed. “Gross!”
“Everything I'm saying is true. The equation works perfectly if you just switch out Arthur. Like, who was that photographer man? Phillip? Jiyeon and Phillip, cute. Jiyeon and Colin, also cute. I sorta thought that might go somewhere. Jiyeon and Arthur, though? Not cute.”
“Oh my gosh. Ohhhhhh my gosh. Who do I tell? I have to tell somebody—”
“Who’s Phillip?” Max demanded. He almost dropped a pancake on the ground. “And who the hell is Colin?”
