“I can get myself home. You've done what they asked, so just let me go. I'm not heading straight to my parents, anyway.”
“I don't care. I'll take you, it's fine.”
“No. Goodnight, Arthur.”
He latched on to the handle of her suitcase. “That mess at the restaurant… I hate that it happened. My family’s been really sad to hear about it. They wanted me to tell you.”
“Okay. Thanks for that.”
“But I'm not surprised, Emms,” he continued. “Are you? I mean, shouldn't you expect this kind of thing to go down when you're connected to people like them?”
Flatly, she said, “People like them.”
“Apollo. Famous people. Whatever you want to say.” He let go of the handle. “No one even knows you're dating Ari, or at least not yet, and this is how it turned out. If you're caught, it could be worse. This might happen again. You should let me help you.”
Jiyeon held his gaze for a long moment. “If you want to help me, stay away. If you ever loved me, if you still want to be my friend, give me a break. Please, Arthur.”
She called for a rideshare and left him there, rolling her suitcase to the designated area. Her brain rebelled at the idea of calculating the time difference between herself and Eunjae. Still, she replied to everything he'd sent.
In the car, Jiyeon tried to decide if she was disappointed or relieved when he didn't send any messages back. She suspected he'd call if he was able. If he did, she'd start sobbing in the back seat of this nice lady's sedan.
At the end of the ride, the driver eyed Jiyeon's destination with concern. “You sure this is it, honey? Looks like it's closed.”
“This is it.”
“Got somebody meeting you here? I can stick around. You shouldn't wait alone.”
“I'll be okay,” said Jiyeon, touched by her kindness. “It's my family's restaurant. I have the keys. Just need to check on something, and then I'll call my dad. He'll come get me.”
She had to see it for herself. Maybe she'd expended the bulk of her courage on entering the address in the app, forcing herself to go to the shop instead of running home, climbing into bed, sobbing in the dark. She'd typed it in, though. She'd confirmed her destination without allowing time to second guess, like ripping off a Band-Aid.
Wanna Waffle had been closed since the disaster on Saturday. When was the last time they closed for that long? It had to be those days in June, when Apollo met their fans in this same parking lot and announced that they were free.
Jiyeon managed one step, then another. She followed the sidewalk and turned the corner. The parking lot blurred, the night dissolving into vague shapes and pools of shadow, street lights bleeding into the glow of distant stars. She buried her face in both hands and cried.
The door wasn't always orange. Purchased at an estate sale, it came to them without hinges, coated in a thick layer of dust. Jiyeon loved it, thinking at the time that she'd save it for her own place. When she realized Wanna Waffle needed something special, a memorable and unique detail, the plan changed.
Most of the family was baffled by her fixation on the door. Why did they need to replace the one they had? It worked fine. Her sister came along, though, to wrangle it into the truck they borrowed from Jeannie’s uncle. They brought Denny with them to buy paint. Janie insisted on the most garish shade of aqua,and their little brother demanded to know why it couldn't just be ‘door-colored.’
Orange. The color she'd chosen for that house she drew in middle school, a color that was bright and happy, evoking warmth in any season. There wouldn't be another door like it on the boulevard. Jiyeon knew that this could draw the eye and make you pause, the way a post could stop you from scrolling, and that was what she wanted. The door was part of her campaign to make the shop feel less like a restaurant and more like a second home. People would come, then. People would stay.
Jiyeon reached out to touch the broken panes of glass, covered with plastic sheets that rippled under her fingertips. The damage wasn't beyond repair. Wanna Waffle would open again, looking better than before. But was this the place where Jiyeon should be? Did the sight of this hurt so much because her heart was here, right here, and she'd been chasing the wrong dream for years and years?
What if this had been the dream all along?
Transcript from the weekly K-pop news podcastOmma Gosh!Season 5, Episode 45
Freddie Dang (Co-host; Producer):I’m just not buying it, Jooney. Why would Emerald set themselves up as the villain here,again?There’s no way they’d be that stupid.
Jooney Chun (Host):They were stupid enough to lose Apollo.
Freddie: Exactly. They lost Apollo, so now they should be playing it safe. Poaching Jungwoo and Max out of the Zenith deal is not an example of ‘playing it safe.’ You couldn’t play it dumber, and I don’t think Emerald’s that dumb. They’re dumb, but not stupid. (mutters) Okay, that made a lot of sense in my head but zero sense when I said it out loud, sorry.
Maisie Chun (Co-host; Jooney’s Mom):Why fight about it? Nine of them can make a deal with Zenith, do their group stuff, that kind of thing. The other two can write songs, whatever. Seen it before. One big group contract, nine little solo contracts. Not even a lawyer and I figured that out.
Jooney: Based on the press release from Zenith last weekend, they want all or nothing. They’re not willing to let Jungwoo and Max make songs for any competition.
Freddie: It’s like they didn’t decide they really, really, really want Apollo until the group got crazy popular with those leaks from the show and Emma Han taking over theSunshine 24/7channel. Then Lumina came right out of the gate as monster rookies, and it’s thanks to a song by two members of Apollo. Yeah, no wonder Zenith suddenly doesn’t want to share their toys after all.
