Chapter 32
They enjoyed approximately one sunny afternoon in Tokyo. Clouds had rolled in by evening, smothering the sky and putting an end to the mellow autumn weather, but of course the wedding would go on as scheduled. Neither the staff nor the bridal party showed much concern.
“It’s lucky,” Kei explained the next day, as water fell in sheets over the hotel’s glazed tiles and sloping roofs.
Eunjae and several of his brothers had convened in the shelter of a covered walkway.
It was time to rehearse for their performance at the reception, but the usual suspects were late.
Jungwoo and Kazu had already gone ahead with Denny.
Nicky tended to be punctual for dance practice and very little else, while Jesse…
was Jesse. Fervently, Eunjae hoped that their youngest member would show up within the next five minutes.
Someone would have to go get him, otherwise.
Who had the mental or physical fortitude for such a task? Jet lag was enough of a struggle.
Thunder rumbled. Namgyu looked out at the gardens, humming the chorus of a song intended for Apollo’s next album.
“What do you think?” he asked. “Like this, or like this? Ha, I can’t decide.
” He sang the chorus two ways, both slight deviations from the guide track, and brothers huddled close to hear the melody.
“Could change it a little more,” said Eunjae. “How about this?”
His voice rose above the sound of rainfall and dripping eaves. Max’s scowl disappeared. “Hey, that’s it. Keiichi, sing it just like hyung did. That line and the next one.”
Eunjae heard this and felt a pang of guilt.
It occurred to him that Max had been much quieter lately, present but more withdrawn.
Things got so busy, with the group decamping to Tokyo for a week.
There hadn’t been a minute to spare, but Eunjae should’ve checked on him, especially after the news about Jungwoo.
He’d talk to him after rehearsal. Meanwhile, Kei eyed Max like he was crazy. “Why do you want me to do it? That’s the chorus. I never get the chorus. What would be the point?”
“And you’ll never get the damn chorus,” Max shot back, irate, “if you don’t sing it right now.
I’ll play it for Jungwoo and see what he thinks.
It’s not like we have to follow all the same old rules we used to, so just sing.
” He pressed the Record button on his phone.
Kei gave up and delivered the verses as demanded. Namgyu came in with the harmony.
The result was something different, something new. But it was still Apollo, and Eunjae realized how much he liked the song, now that he’d heard it this way.
Passing guests expressed admiration. Kei croaked out his thanks, deeply embarrassed.
Jiyeon walked up during the last round of bowing, deflecting praise, and then bowing some more.
She and her brother had rooms at the adjacent hotel, another Tachibana Group property called Equinox Tokyo.
The grounds were connected at several points, allowing guests to come and go.
Drawing Eunjae aside, Jiyeon murmured, “Prism’s here. I saw an Eric in the lobby.”
He had no time to react. Jesse had finally deigned to come down from his room, skin perfectly dewy and moisturized, whining about being cold. And how could they be so mad at him for trying to get his full ten hours of sleep? And why was the banquet hall so far away?
The Grand Empress Hotel encompassed multiple buildings, including the wedding venue, a renowned restaurant, and a pair of towers like crystalline shards piercing the sky.
These were linked by a garden touted in guidebooks as one of the most picturesque within city limits.
Autumn foliage blazed in russet and gold, and a graceful bridge arched over koi ponds dotted with lilies.
The scene belonged in a painting, but the paths were uncovered.
They’d have to brave the rain in order to make it to rehearsal.
Liveried hotel staff stood at the ready, bowing and smiling, bearing umbrellas wide enough for two. Nicky borrowed one, then approached with a diabolical grin on his face. “It’s time, my son. You’re up.”
Jesse had only been awake for about ten or fifteen minutes by this point, but he was lucid enough to read the writing on the wall. Nicky never grinned like that unless he’d won. It meant the trap was sprung and you’d already been caught.
Struggling was futile. Did Jesse struggle anyway? Absolutely. He fought for his life. This was bullying! This was oppression! His brothers were merciless, tyrannical beings and he didn’t deserve them, he was an angel!
Nicky twirled the umbrella, unfazed. “You know how this goes, buddy. Everybody gets a turn. Isn’t that right, ajumma? Look at that romantic atmosphere. Rainy day, pretty garden, big umbrella. It’s perfect.”
“Oh, sure. I see where you’re going with it.”
Jesse turned to Jiyeon with the pitiful, wide-eyed stare of the freshly betrayed. “Noona, how can you be like this? And why is it my turn? It should be Nicky’s turn, or Keiichi’s!”
This prompted Kei to step behind a pillar, wary of being chosen instead.
That didn’t happen. Jesse’s fate was written in stone.
“Hear me out,” said Nicky. “All you have to do is hold the umbrella and walk with her to the banquet hall. You’ll have a little chat while the rest of us follow you with the camera. It won’t even take long.”
“That’s too easy,” Kei complained, from the safety of his pillar. “Give him something harder. Isn’t he supposed to be an actor?”
“Mean! The meanest!”
“Why do you think I gave him the scene that shows up in almost every drama ever made?”
But this was the precise reason Jesse refused to comply. “Nobody else had to do anything like that. It’s too much, hyung. I’m not old enough to play a romantic lead. I’ve got a baby face, that’s why they cast me in supporting roles instead.”
“Aww, but that’s just for now, right? You wanna be one of the important characters someday, don’t you?” Namgyu hauled him over to Jiyeon. “You can do this! It’s for your future!”
“Yeah, Jess. Think about your career. If you don’t practice now, you’ll be playing the bubbly junior colleague forever.”
“Dead junior colleague,” Max put in. “They’ll kill you off to keep the plot moving. Happens all the time in those dumb shows Jungwoo loves so much.”
“But I like being the junior colleague! And I’m amazing at death scenes, remember when I got stabbed in the MV for Break Point, I made that so emotional for everyone and Zuzu even cried for real—”
“Why don’t we just go? You guys will be late.” Jiyeon pulled her reluctant leading man onto the garden path, deploying the umbrella to the tune of Jesse’s panicked howling.
“Hyung!” he cried out, clawing at Eunjae. “Hyung, save me! Tell them you don’t like this, tell them you’re jealous! Aren’t you jealous? Why aren’t you ever jealous?”
Eunjae shrugged. “I don’t mind. And I’ve walked with her in the rain before,” he added, smiling at Jiyeon, “so it brings back a nice memory, actually.”
The standard uproar ensued. When did he do that? Was it recent? Was it today? How did they miss this event? Kei scoffed that it was stupid of Ari-hyung, regardless of when it happened. What if somebody saw and took a picture?
Jiyeon interrupted to ask if Max wanted to get the video for her. “You can hide behind us. Isn’t Hazel here? Maybe she won’t see you.”
“Oh, what the hell, noona—”
“Good!” Jesse crowed. “Torture him, too! Why should I be the only one suffering?”
“Why are you so upset? Isn’t she your date to the wedding?”
“Against my goddamn will!”
“But Hazel even posted about you this morning. I thought it was sweet. Did you see it, Eunjae?”
“I did.” The actress had uploaded some screenshots of a music video.
Dropped by Emerald Entertainment about twenty-four hours ago, it introduced the agency’s upcoming girl group, Lumina.
Max and Jungwoo were both credited for songwriting and production on the track.
It was a pre-release digital single, intended to drum up anticipation and excitement for the girls’ actual debut EP in December.
“Congratulations,” Jiyeon said to Max. “I saw the song’s already gone pretty high on the charts. Can’t blame Hazel for being excited.”
No one asked, since they’d all seen her post by then, but Nicky pulled it up and read the caption out loud anyway. “SO PROUD OF MY BABY @MX.LEE.MX AND YOU TOO NAMGYU KISS KISS KISSY FACE!”
“Awww! I didn’t even do anything and she’s proud of me, that’s so nice…!”
Agonized groaning. “Do you have to read the fucking emoji too?”
Jiyeon turned her back on Max and his meltdown, looping her arm through Jesse’s. She dragged him one step, then another. Borrowing an umbrella for himself, Eunjae took her phone and prepared to follow.
“Eunjae ruined his shoes on that walk,” he heard Jiyeon say. “He switched places with me so I wouldn’t get splashed. It was sweet. Think you can do something like that? It’ll be a nice touch for the video, yeah? We’ll slow it down like they do in dramas.”
“Awww!”
“Speaking my language, ajumma.”
Jesse glanced down at his boots. Gently, he replied, “Noona, please. These are Bottega.”
He said this with such finality that Jiyeon couldn’t help laughing. Kei lurched after them, swearing under his breath. “Bottega! Did he say Bottega? Those are mine!” The perpetrator let out a squeak but ultimately admitted nothing.
The paths were slick and half-smothered in moss.
Stone lanterns shaped like frogs lit the way.
Their mouths were wide open, emitting a soft glow.
Autumn camellias were in bloom, cherry red, petals and leaves glazed with rain.
Even under such dreary circumstances, the place managed to be gorgeous.
It was unfortunate that Prism’s intrusion soured the effect.
Eunjae tried not to worry as Jesse chattered happily about his last drama, a rom-com where he played the younger version of the main lead.
“A script came for me,” he confided, as they neared their destination. He’d gotten over his terror pretty fast. “It’s one of those hospital dramas. I can’t do it, but it sounds fun. I’d look good in those things that nurses wear, right? What are they called?”
“Scrubs,” said Eunjae.
“Yeah! Scrubs!”
Jiyeon frowned. “But why can’t you do it?”
“Won’t have time. Filming starts in January, and we’ll probably be promoting for the next album then.
Hyungs are waiting to enlist so we can have eight, even if Jaehwan-hyung will still be gone.
” Stepping over a puddle, he said, “We’re worth a lot less when we’re not a full set, noona.
We’re like toys you collect. So I have to pass, but I'm glad they thought of me.”
Eunjae paused the recording, dismayed. “We could try and negotiate that. You should’ve said something.”
“For what, hyung? Maybe Jungwoo doesn’t care if people are secretly mad at him, but I care. I need all of you to keep liking me or I won’t have a place to live when I’m old. But anyway! What did you ask me, noona? If this was my dream?”
And Jesse went on, telling the story of how he was scouted while competing on a quiz show, and how he dreamed of making his grandmother proud. He loved nothing more than to talk about his beloved granny, but Jesse’s steps were just a touch too buoyant, and his voice was just a bit too bright.
Eunjae heard regret there, layered beneath forced optimism. It chilled him more than the knowledge of Prism following them across the sea.