“No shit you need to talk to him. Talk to hyung for an hour if you want, but I’m going first. He didn’t know about me. I didn’t tell him and then he had to find out at the wedding. I know that’s fucked up. I have to fix it.”
Eunjae jogged over to separate them. “Hyung,” said Max, startled. “We saw. Emma-noona sent some links.”
“Yeah. Faster that way. Can’t waste time.”
Eunjae grabbed both of his brothers, marching them back into the fray. They needed to hurry. Every hour that went by was another hour of Prism building a fortress around Apollo, unassailable, shielded on every side. The group would emerge with an ironclad reputation. This protection would come at the expense of people they loved.
The night was clear and quiet, amplifying every sound. They’d gotten loud enough to summon their manager from the main house. That was Denny, demanding a ceasefire. The argument simmered for all of three seconds before reaching a boiling point again.
“We’ll talk more when this is over,” Eunjae said, “but I’m not mad. I think you should go with Emerald. Both of you.”
Jungwoo stumbled on the path. “What?”
He’d wanted to say it for days, but it never felt like the right time, and Eunjae had no speech prepared. He did his best. “Hyung, sign with Emerald. That's your dream. The real dream, the big one. Don't turn it down just because of us, or Zenith, or anybody else. This is your chance, and it's Max’s chance, too. Take the offer and stop worrying about me.”
No reply. Eunjae had stunned them into silence. Finally, Jungwoo choked out, “I wish you’d yell at me. I wish you’d be mad instead.”
“Why the hell can’t you be mad?” Max had his hood pulled forward as far as it would go, and he stared at his shoes as he spoke. “Fuck. I hate agreeing with anything he says, but Jungwoo’s right. This would be easier if you’d just tell us to stay.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not? You fought so hard to get us away from Emerald. Why don’t you care? You should care the most.”
“I fought that contract so we could all be free,” said Eunjae, “and being free means getting to make choices for ourselves.”
Months ago, he'd realized that it would never be enough to break from Emerald on his own. Unless he earned freedom for all of them, the victory would be hollow. Now they could move forward, choosing paths that might not run precisely parallel. Those paths led somewhere beyond the horizon, to a place they couldn’t even see yet. But in that place, they would meet again. Until then, Eunjae needed his brothers to see that they were free to go, and grow, and keep on growing.
“It’s like our old table in the dining hall,” he said. “This deal with Zenith, I mean. None of us thinks it’s great, but we keep putting up with it anyway. We keep trying to stay together, even when it’s not working, because that’s what we know how to do. We should stop. Staying together doesn’t mean that we have to stay the same.”
“Hyung. Are you saying the nine of us are like some shitty table?”
Jungwoo had a hand pressed to his eyes. “The table. Yeah, I get it.” With a pained smile, he said, “I couldn’t let you leave, but you’ll do that for me? I just… I can’t stand you sometimes, Ari.”
“I can’t standyou,” said Max, easily triggered as always. He kicked at the gravel, face wet, arms crossed tight over his chest. “Fuck. This isn’t how it was supposed to go.”
“Doesn’t mean it won’t go well,” Eunjae replied. He twisted the fading elastic band on his wrist, always a comfort. “Come on. I think they called Jaehwan-hyung.”
He’d guessed correctly. That was their leader’s terrifying visage on the screen. “Have you lost your minds? You can't go down there. By all means, send Denny and tell Eric to get over it. That's his family. That's his restaurant. But the eight of you are going to bed, and tomorrow you’ll be at the diner, no exceptions.”
“Hwannie, it's not right. We should be there to help out. It was our fault.”
“One, you don't get to call me Hwannie when I'm pissed at you. Two, you wouldn't be helping. You might even make it worse. What if Sunshines show up looking for you?”
Jaehwan waited, standing in the shade outside the government office building where he fulfilled the terms of his mandatory military service. None of the members had an answer for him, but Ezra blurted out, “Give your dumb fans a broom.”
“Why's this one still awake? Don't kids have bedtimes anymore?”
“I'm fourteen, not four. Why would my bedtime be 8:02pm?”
Eunjae hustled Ezra into the cottage, asked him to please stay put for ten minutes, and shoved a random book into his hands. Then he rushed back to say, “Jaehwan-hyung, I have to be there. Denny and his family were kind to me. They've been kind to everyone I've brought to their door, no questions asked.”
Denny lifted a brow. “I had questions.”
“Ah, right. Sorry about that.”
“I still have questions.”
Eunjae started over. “Even when they had questions,” he amended, “they were kind to me anyway. I love them. I love Wanna Waffle. So I’m going, and I'm really sorry, hyung, but Ican’t listen to you this time. I’m sorry to cause more trouble. I’ll sincerely reflect on the consequences of my actions.”
