Chapter 16
Eunjae and his brothers hadn't lived in such close quarters for a long while.
At least four or five years had passed since any of them shared a dorm with more than one other member, and even then, the space was split into separate bedrooms. The older brothers were accustomed to living alone.
Needless to say, co-existing in this cottage would take some adjustment.
“Just go in,” Nicky bellowed from the patio. “Everybody's seen everybody naked by now. Who cares?”
Frostily, Kei reminded them that the place was rigged with cameras and all of these were rolling. Jungwoo shouted back that the door was locked.
“So pick the lock. Here, want me to do it?”
“Sorry, but why the hell do you know how to pick a lock? Why do I still have to keep asking this question?”
Kazu switched the dryer off. “Quit standing around, we’ve got less than an hour!”
“You're one to talk when you take forever to get ready.”
“Deadbeat dad.”
“The worst.”
It was enough to justify remaining horizontal for the rest of the day.
Eunjae contemplated burrowing into his sleeping bag and waiting for the floor to swallow him whole.
Then he wouldn't have to figure out which brother made off with his toothpaste.
Nor would he be forced to referee the inevitable wrestling match when Max and Kei reached for the hair dryer at the same time.
He did sit up, though. Jiyeon might have texted him back.
It wasn’t possible to have a proper conversation in person, not last night and not this morning either.
Nor could he call her without being overheard.
They’d resorted to messages instead. Eunjae hated communicating like this, as if they were still long distance when Jiyeon was no more than ten minutes away from him at most, but what choice did they have?
Your dad’s here too? she’d typed an hour ago. For how long?
Until this is over, I guess, Eunjae texted in reply. An airline pilot one year shy of retirement, his father had rearranged his work schedule to join Ezra in California. This was the news his mother brought with her last night.
Jiyeon’s response popped up right away. Is your brother staying with him or Leila?
Good question. Ezra’s riding with us today. I’ll have to ask.
The custody agreement between his parents was pretty clear-cut: for most of the year, Ezra lived with their mother in Singapore, where he attended Blackridge as a weekly boarder.
He spent his term breaks with Simon in Brisbane and stayed at school or with friends when Leila had business in Sydney.
She performed on stage with a theater company several times a year.
Maybe his parents would stick to the same pattern here, Ezra shuttling back and forth between them.
But did it matter? Was one option any better than the other?
Eunjae drew his legs in before Jungwoo could stumble over them. Waiting for his turn in the bathroom, he’d launched into a lightning round of cleaning. “Oh, you’re awake. What do you think of these?” His brother hummed two melodies, varying by a single note. “First or second?”
“Second,” said Eunjae.
“Max thinks so, too. And that’s not for our next album, by the way,” Jungwoo made a point of adding, for the benefit of every camera hidden in the living room.
The rights to any songs they wrote during this period could be claimed by Emerald, according to the terms of their contract.
But Zenith would expect a comeback from Apollo as soon as possible, ideally before Nicky and Namgyu announced enlistment dates.
The group didn’t want to risk these new tracks reverting to their former company when the transfer went through.
His phone buzzed. Speaking of your dad, Jiyeon said, he just got here. And I think he’s scared of me?
Just doesn’t talk much. I had to get it from somebody
You talk to me a lot, she pointed out. You must be a fan, kinda.
Big fan, he typed back, smiling. So drastic
Don’t be like this when I can’t get you back for it
And then she had to go because Eric was calling again.
Good timing; the scuffle over the hair dryer was underway, as if ordained by fate.
He squeezed past Max and Kei in order to wash his face and brush his teeth at the kitchen sink.
Then, while Kazu braved the task of rousting Jesse out of bed, Eunjae changed into the first few things he pulled out of his suitcase.
It didn’t really matter what he wore. According to Denny’s schedule, they had stylists deciding the wardrobe again today.
He added a jacket for the early morning chill and called it good.
“Hyung,” said Max, cornering him by the refrigerator. “We need to talk. Don’t worry about the cameras. They can’t catch anything we’re saying.”
Eunjae couldn’t really catch what Max was saying, either. That had to be the loudest hair dryer in existence. “What did we need to talk about?”
“The way you’d better fix your face if noona walks in while we’re working.”
“Fix my face…?”
“He means,” said Kei, berating him over the dryer’s deafening roar, “that you’re a terrible actor. You’ll be a total weirdo whenever you see her, and that’s how you’ll get caught. You get caught, Sunshines find out we’ve got two of you idiots dating, and we lose our deal with Zenith.”
“Get off him,” barked Max. “Go finish your stupid hair. Hyung, just be normal. You’re so obvious. Try harder, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Try harder to fix my face. Okay.”
“Ha! Fix his face! Is that what you just told him?” Namgyu strolled in, shirtless, chugging black coffee out of a travel mug. He tried the English phrase a few times before switching back to Korean. “Fix your face, fix your face. Aww, there’s nothing to fix there, Ari.”
Nicky popped his head into the cottage. He’d wrangled the dog into a track jacket that matched his own. “Hey, Ari Junior’s here.”
“Don’t call me that,” snapped Ezra.
“Ari the Sequel.”
“Stop.”
“Okay, so Budget Ari—”
Ezra whirled around to confront him, but Nicky had taken off again, hooting with laughter, running another lap around the property with Uyu on her leash. But the name changed yesterday, didn’t it? Wasn’t she back to being Marshmallow now?
Eunjae held the door open in case his brother wanted to come inside. The kid didn’t move an inch. “That’s what you’re wearing?”
“Ah, yeah. Why?”
“You look like a walking laundry basket,” sniffed Ezra, “but whatever.”
“They’ll have us change when we get there.”
A shrug. “Okay.”
Since this topic wasn’t going anywhere, Eunjae decided to change tack. “I saw the schedule. Did they give you the interview questions in advance?”
“They did. Why?”
“Just wanted to make sure. I asked them if they could. I know you’ve never done anything like this before.”
“It wasn’t a big deal. All the questions were pretty boring.” Ezra shoved his hands into his pockets. “Mostly they just want to know about you. Story of my life.”
He said this with such bitterness that Eunjae took a small step backward, bumping into an incensed Max.
He’d heard everything from ‘walking laundry basket’ onward.
It might have ignited the umpteenth brawl of the morning if not for Denny’s arrival.
He surveyed the scene, colossal and unimpressed, a portent of inescapable doom.
“So,” said their manager. “Three fully dressed, three half-dressed, one in a stolen bathrobe, one in a towel. Par for the course.”
“Zu counts as half-dressed, right?” mumbled Kei. “Grandpa’s not even wearing a shirt under that jacket.”
“It’s zipped up all the way,” Kazu exclaimed in his own defense.
“Should you get a trophy or something?”
“I should get a trophy,” whined Jesse. “Why am I awake right now? This can’t be legal.”
“Just get in the car, Ahn.”
“But Captain, can we bring the puppy?”
“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh can we please bring her—”
Denny rejected the notion outright. Then came his requisite speech about appropriate behavior in moving vehicles, similar to the safety demonstration provided by flight attendants.
Herding Apollo out of the guesthouse, he warned that none of them would survive a scenario in which he was forced to pull over.
No hostages would be taken. They’d enter an era of martial law.
Guillotines, Catherine wheels, imprisonment in a tower accessible only by moat — the works.
The ruckus carried on, but in whispers. Somehow it was even more chaotic than bickering at the regular volume.
Could Namgyu quit monopolizing the bathroom?
Was it truly necessary for him to perform a full drama soundtrack while he was in there?
And on that note, could Jungwoo please change the horrible goddamn lyrics he’d added to the one song yesterday?
Why was he like this? What kind of fucking monster?
But also, could Max refrain from using that kind of language around today’s youth?
There was an infant in the van with them!
Buckling his seatbelt, Ezra muttered, “I get it now. You tried to quit your job so you wouldn’t have to live with these losers anymore.”
It was like someone punched an invisible mute button. Mouths hung open all around.
“The hell’s his problem?” Max complained, breaking the stunned silence.
“Ha! But that’s so funny! Extra, extra funny, since I was born a winner. I’ve never lost at anything in my whole life!”
But Ezra had produced headphones from his backpack, a gigantic, noise-canceling pair with cushioned ear pads and flawless sound. He spent the rest of the drive ignoring them as if his continued existence depended on it, or he might become a loser by breathing the same air.
Eight weeks of this. Eunjae longed to crawl back into his sleeping bag and just stay there.