“You watched our show?”
“I've seen all of your dumb shows. Like, every episode.”
Was he indignant or embarrassed? Both? Eunjae couldn’t tell. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Max fidgeting with the hem of his blanket. He also had something to say and just wasn't saying it.
“Anyway,” Ezra continued, “food is how you fix your problems.”
Jungwoo disagreed. “I don’t think food will fix this. It’s just not that simple.”
“Not to you, but you're the one who never thinks anything is simple, right?” The teenager squinted at him. “I think your name starts with a J. Can't keep track. There's too many of you.”
The dam finally broke. Max let out a strangled noise that devolved into crazed, hysterical laughter. “This is fucking incredible. If you think we're so lame, why do you know everything about us? I can't stand this kid. Get him the hell away from me.”
“I don't know everything about you!”
“Yeah you do, you just said Keiichi’s an edgy brat and Jungwoo's an edgy loser!” Max pelted Ezra with a fistful of marshmallows. “Admit it. You watched our shows because youdon'tthink your brother is lame.”
“I watched your shows because everybody at school asks me about Eunjae,” Ezra yelled, seizing a whole bag of marshmallows and volleying right back. “It’s research! I have to pretend like I know him! And by the way, you’realllame, because you’re fighting each other instead of Eric, and your fans trashed Denny’s restaurant but you won’t say anything—”
Eunjae felt like he'd been sucker punched. Max caught the bag, too shocked to return fire. Wearily, Kazu got between them, braving a potential hail of marshmallows. “Settle down. I agree, but Jungwoo's right. It’s not that simple.”
“It is. You could just do the right thing, but you won’t.” Ezra took a breath, then yelled some more. “I wish you’d fight back! I wish you didn’t suck!”
38
Intheory,Jiyeonknewwhat needed to be done.Justget started, said the rational part of her brain. The advice had worked for her in the past. But every time the shop’s ruined facade appeared in her mind, she wanted to cry again.
She didn’t. Jiyeon avoided the shop, letting her parents coordinate with Prism on cleanup, now scheduled for Wednesday morning. She toured four prospective salons chosen by Prism and had a pile of raw material waiting to be turned into content. Daily, she told Eunjae she was fine. Jiyeon told everyone she was fine. This wasn’t true, and now she’d been hiding on the back porch at Ivy Lane for hours, getting nowhere with the video she was supposed to edit. But what did it matter?
Stay with Erin. When you’re not with Erin, stay home and stay safe.Eric’s emails said the same thing over and over again. Jiyeon complied. This was easier than fighting, and probably wiser. What did she even know, anymore? Trudging throughempty retail spaces, she evaluated a dream she’d believed in and pursued for decades, now increasingly in tatters.
There wasn’t anything wrong with the locations Prism found, even if none had felt right to her. Thanks to all the tours, Jiyeon was forced to confront the truth: she didn’t want to open a salon. Her dream had changed. It felt like a betrayal of who she was, of the person she’d thought herself to be. It felt like giving up. And it would help if she could at least figure out the new dream, to adjust her trajectory, to begin again after wasting so much time. She yearned for something else but couldn’t name it.
Dully, she checked for news about Apollo. Fans continued to blame Hazel for posting, for merely existing, and for Max’s absence at that group dinner on Saturday night. Eric had pushed them to keep the reservation. Later, Eunjae described that joyless meal as the worst they’d ever had together.
Prism took Max’s defiance in stride. They made sure to propagate paparazzi photos of him arguing with Hazel up and down the aisles of a convenience store, dressed in full evening attire, both of them beautiful and utterly furious. The gossip machine resurrected articles on Hazel’s dating history. Fans criticized the number of villainous acting roles she’d taken, and how often she replied to rude social media comments with reciprocal rudeness. Her idol boyfriend was squeaky clean in comparison.
>> just look at her lol u can tell she’s messy as hell
>> fr lol girlie’s a psycho
>> It’s fake!!! None of that is real!!!
>> Shame on u Hazel for USING Max like this!
>> We know u don’t really LOVE him!
>> Max omg you can do better than her
The door slid open on its rails. Jeannie pushed the blinds aside. She slipped through the gap with red-rimmed eyes, ahairbrush in her right hand. In the left, she had a hair tie and some pins.
Jiyeon sat up, freeing herself from the mire because she thought Jeannie had come to be comforted. Even as a child, she'd ask to have her hair braided after a hard day, or in anticipation of anything big and scary that was supposed to happen. On the morning of her uncle’s funeral, Jeannie sobbed while Jiyeon combed out the tangles. She’d requested a braided ponytail an hour before her driving exam and a braided updo for commencement. She always said it soothed her.
But when Jiyeon moved to take the brush, Jeannie wouldn't let her have it. “I know how to do this one,” she said, sniffling. “I watched your video two million times.”
“You're here to braidmyhair?”
“Yeah, and then we’re gonna go fight the twins.”
