Chapter 5

Da Hae narrowed her eyes but kept staring at the space in front of her. "You're sure he's not gay?"

He kept laughing. "Your conceit is pathetic. You think the only reason a guy wouldn't be interested in you is because he's gay?"

"It's not like I think I'm the most attractive girl on this planet but come on!" she said, under her breath. It wasn't even about him not being attracted to her – it was the fact that he didn't even seem to see her. What the hell?

Dong Gun abruptly stopped laughing and said, "Now you know how it feels."

She rolled her head to him. "What?"

"Now you're on the other side. I'm sure that everyday, you walk by so many people you don't even see. I bet there are people you've gone to school with since the first grade that you don't even know their names. Heck, I doubt you'd be able to recognize their faces."

She shook her head vehemently. "That's not true." He was making her sound self-involved and that wasn't who she was.

"Yes, it is. You've spent your life being part of the popular clique so nameless, faceless people you couldn't care two shi.ts about know you. But you don't know them."

"That's not fair. Besides, it's easier for everyone to know one person than one person to know everyone."

He nodded. "True. But now, since Jong Won Hyung is new, you're part of 'everyone' and not 'one person.'"

She groaned. What exactly was he trying to say? That she was less attractive than she thought she was? That if her popularity wasn't attached to it, she was just average? She'd always thought she was popular because she was supposedly beautiful. But was it that she was considered beautiful because she was popular? And was Jong Won the man to clarify this?

She sighed. "Other than the parking lot, where else does your friend hang out?"

"Well, I'm having lunch with him today so you can come and sit with us. From the way you're acting, it seems like things didn't go too well in the parking lot. Maybe you'll have better luck today. I'll even help you," he finished with a grin.

The fact that he was helping her because he was so confident that she couldn't get Jong Won really pissed her off. Why was he so confident? "Are you sure you're not sabotaging this for me?" Was he telling him tall tales about her?

"I am not." He lifted his three middle fingers up. "Scout's honor."

Whatever. "And if he's a new student, how come you're already so close to him?"

He shrugged. He'd already anticipated this question so he was well prepared with an answer. "I have to keep tabs on you. Since he's a guy, he'll definitely brag if you hit on him or anything. So to keep tabs on you I have to keep tabs on him."

She shook her head in pity. "You sure are an expert on stalking."

He frowned. "Stalking is different from friendship."

She nodded slowly. "Definitely. I mean, take us for example. We aren't even friends but sitting here side by side and talking is soooooo much better than opening your locker and finding a poem from someone you've never really spoken to."

He winced at the memory. The first one he'd given to her had taken him a week to write but later on, he'd gotten so much practice, that he could easily whip a poem out during their lunch break. "Let's not rehash the past."

She laughed. "Yeah, let's not. It's funny to talk about it now but back then, it was really annoying and scary."



***

"Hey, we're not sitting over there," Da Hae said to keep her cousin from walking to their usual table.

Soo Hyun looked at her inquisitively. "Are we really going to stop sitting there because of what Bo Ra and her crew said the other day?"

She shook her head. "It's the stupid bet with Dong Gun. I'm going to eat lunch with them today so help me find them."

As Soo Hyun looked around, even though she found a little satisfaction in the fact that her cousin didn't have the power to attract every man, she couldn't help but feel that there was something fishy about the whole arrangement. For him to completely ignore her? It made no sense. "Hey," she said, the moment she spotted Dong Gun. "They are over there." She pointed at them.

Da Hae looked over and took a deep breath in. "Thanks," she said as she walked over to them. She sat next to Dong Gun while Soo Hyun sat next to her. "Hey," she whispered to him. "What's the topic?"

Dong Gun glanced at her. "They are talking about something that happened in their class this morning."

"Ah. Speaking of class, I can't believe Mr. Kim gave us a pop quiz this morning."

"He's random like that – you have to be prepared at all times."

She picked up her fork. "Yeah, like I don't have a life. I can't be constantly studying just in case he decides to give us a quiz." She paused for a moment. "But I'm sure it was great for you. Weren't you first last year?"

He shook his head. "No. I actually finished fourth," he said in a pained voice he tried to mask with a cough.

She frowned. "Really? I could have sworn they announced your name at assembly."

He was surprised that she even remembered. "Yeah, I was first for the first term."

"Oh.

"So yeah, it wasn't a good year but this year will be different," he said confidently. "What about you?"

She shrugged. "Thirty-something, I think. I did better than about seventy percent of the class and that's good enough for me. Anyway, enough of this, I do have a bet to win, after all." She cleared her throat and leaned into the table so that everyone could see her. "So what are you guys doing this weekend?" Da Hae asked loudly.

Her question had interrupted their conversation so they all stopped talking and turned to her. Da Hae planted a smile on her face and finally understood what the metaphor, 'pregnant silence' meant.

"Who are you?" Jong Won asked.

Okay, so that question swiftly stunned her out of the metaphor deciphering she'd been engaging in. "Er… w-we met yesterday?"

"This guy is a total idiot," Soo Hyun whispered.

"Really? We did?" Jong Won asked pointing at her then at himself.

She nodded too hard. Okay, so was he deranged or something? What the...? "Yeah. Yes… in the parking lot?"

His mask of confusion was still firmly on his face. "I see. And did I invite you to lunch or something? Why are you h--?"

"Hyung," Dong Gun quickly interrupted. Jong Won was overdoing it a bit. The idea was to ignore her but that didn't include being unnecessarily rude. If he went over the top, there was no way that Da Hae wouldn't figure it all out. "She's my friend –that's why she's here. I asked her to join us for lunch."

Jong Won's face suddenly brightened up. "You're a friend of Dong Gun's? You should have said that from the beginning. He's been so great since I moved here. One of the best people I know. Very helpful and wonderful. He's--"

"Hey," Dong Gun cut in, "quit it."

He laughed. "See? He's so modest. So Dong Gun's friend--"

She smiled at him. "Da Hae. My name is Da Hae."

"Alright, Da Hae ssi, we're going bowling this evening. Would you like to join us?"

Phew! They were finally getting somewhere. She discreetly gave Dong Gun a victory elbow in his side. "I'd love to."



***



Soo Hyun walked into the restaurant and stood at Sung Joo's line. She'd spent an hour at Da Hae's getting her hair and make up done just for this meeting. She knew it was ridiculous but no one ever got a hot guy while looking ugly… well, outside of Korean Dramas. She looked over at him. So not all uniforms were created equal but Soo Hyun didn't look too bad. She was only in line for a few minutes when she got to the counter.

"Hey," he said, smiling at her. "What's up?"

"I'm here for my discounted fries."

He laughed then glanced at the wall clock. "I get a break in about 10 minutes. Do you mind waiting?"

She shook her head and pointed at an empty table. "I'll be over there."

She'd been sitting for about five minutes when someone said, "Excuse me, Arashi, would you mind if I cleaned this table?'

She looked up to find her former biology lab partner, Hee Chul, smiling down at her.

She grinned. "Hey, you, I didn't know you worked here." They'd barely seen each other since the class ended but she only had pleasant memories of their class together.

He nodded grimly. "I do. Now I want to know why you're taking up valuable restaurant space without ordering."

Since the restaurant was half-empty, she laughed at his joke. "Whatever."

"So what are you doing here… wait a minute. Wait a minute!"

"What?"

He frowned. "Don't tell me you're here to meet Mr. Universe over there," he said, pointing at Sung Joo.

She rolled her eyes. Hee Chul was king when it came to coming up with lame analogies.

"No, you're really not here for him, are you?" He folded his arms. "I always thought you were smarter than that."

She sucked her teeth. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He bent over conspiratorially. "This place has become like PMS Central since he arrived. Look over there." He pointed at a table full of girls. "They're all here for him. Every five minutes, one of them gets up to ask him for salt, or a napkin or ketchup or whatever, which would make sense if the counter with all the condiments wasn't right next to their table."

Soo Hyun would have laughed if she didn't understand its implication. There were other girls vying for her oppa's attention? She stared at the table. "Well, it's different for me. He asked me to come."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, then. See you later."

Soo Hyun was contemplating walking over to the table of desperate girls and making them buzz off when Sung Joo approached her. "Hey, I hope you didn't wait long. I'm going outside for some air – do you want to come?" he asked, gesturing for her to follow him. "And here are your fries. They are on the house."

"Wow, you're so generous," she said, taking the fries from him then getting up and following him through the back door.

A few moments later, he was leaning with his back against the rough wall and smiling at her. "The fresh air feels so good."

She laughed. "I guess it must be hot in there. I thought you were coming out to smoke."

"Me?" He shook his head. "I don't smoke. So… how do you like the fries?"

She picked one up and bit into it. "They taste just like regular fries – I guess you did a good job wiping them." "Flirt, don't leer," was Dating Tip #12. She hoped she was doing it justice. She picked up another fry and smiled at him.

He smiled back but didn't say anything. Even though they weren't speaking, it wasn't awkward. She walked over to him and leaned against the wall, mimicking his stance.

"You look different," he observed.

She touched her hair self-consciously." I do? I don't why that might be."

"Oh, I think it's because you're wearing make-up."

"Yeah?" What the heck? What was the point of having the 'natural look' if people could still tell that you are painted?

"It looks good on you. You should wear it more often."

She turned her face to hide a grimace. Was that a compliment or an insult?

"So, Soo Hyun, what do you normally do at this time of the day? You know, when you're not at McDonald's?"

"I'm usually at Burger King," she said with a straight face.

His forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Oh… you don't have dinner at home?"

She shook her head. "I'm just kidding." She looked at her watch. "How long is your break?"

He sighed. "Just 15 minutes. I'll have to get back soon. Oh," he said, hitting his head like he'd suddenly remembered something. "So I haven't seen a movie since I've been here. I was wondering if you could show me where to watch one."

She put her hands on her waist and looked up and down the road. "You know something? There's actually one not too far from here," she said before giving him directions.

He looked down and smiled. "I was hoping you could show it to me."

Ah… why did his smile have to send all sorts of currents down her spine? She'd show him the Taj Mahal if he just smiled at her. Ah, what great, white teeth! She glanced at her watch again. "I don't think we'll have enough time today but what about during lunch tomorrow?"

He shook his head and chuckled. Then he looked up and directly into her eyes. "I mean that maybe you could show it to me and we can watch a movie together."

"Oh."



***



Da Hae got off the bus and walked carefully to the bowling alley. She'd taken extra care with her hair and make-up so she really didn't need the wind to do its business and mess things up. As she turned the corner towards the bowling alley, other than the people walking up and down the street and those entering the building, all she saw was a lone figure of a guy standing with his hands in his pocket. Where was everyone? Was she early?

As she got closer, she made out the features of the only person waiting.

"Hey, Dong Gun, where's everyone?" she called. When he turned to her, she saw a very familiar look in his eye. She smiled. It looked like all the time she'd spent getting ready would be worth it. So she was looking hot, huh? Surely, Jong Won would notice her now. "How come you're alone?"

"They decided then didn't want to bowl anymore so they've gone to play miniature golf."

She frowned. The closest minigolf course was at least five blocks away. "How come no one called me?" If she'd known earlier, she'd have gotten off at a different bus stop. Plus it sucked that they couldn't even be bothered to wait for her. "You should have called me."

"No one has your number," he said plainly.

"Oh…," she said, reaching for her phone. "What's your number? Let me call it, that way you can save it in your phone."

He didn't make any attempts to retrieve his phone. "Are you sure that's necessary?"

She rolled her eyes. "We don't want this to happen again, do we? I'm sure you don't want to spend all your time waiting for me."

After exchanging numbers, they started walking to the place.

"So Dong Gun, I've been thinking about what you said earlier today."

"About?"

The stupid wind had started blowing so Da Hae placed her hands on her head to keep it in place.

Dong Gun glanced at her and bit his lip to keep from laughing. She really did look like a monkey.

"Well," she continued, "we attended the same middle school and now we're at the same high school but I really don't know that much about you."

Unfortunately, he couldn't say that same about her.

"So tell me something. Anything you like… anything that won't make you a nameless, faceless person to me."

When he'd made his comments earlier in the day, he'd expected them to go into one ear and come out of the other. He couldn't believe that she'd actually taken them to heart. "What do you want to know?"

"Ah… where should I start? Okay, how many brothers and sisters do you have?"

"Watch where you're going," he cautioned. The road had begun to slope downwards.

She laughed. "My hands aren't exactly blocking my view. Answer the question."

"I have a younger brother."

They stood at the traffic lights and waited for them to change so they could cross the street.

"I have an older brother. And your parents? What do they do?"

Dong Gun's jacket had begun to blow in the wind so he zipped it up. "My mother stays at home but she used to be newscaster."

"I think I knew that, didn't I?" The light changed so they began to cross the street. Da Hae noticed one of the drivers leering at her but she ignored him. "Why did she stop?"

He'd already reached the other side of the road since he didn't have high heels to contend with. When she caught up with him, he said, "She quit about four or five years ago."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Family stuff." They'd begun to walk in step again.

"Ah… I see. And your father?"

"He's a pharmacist."

"Ah, good!" She clapped her hands in excitement. "It's a good thing I asked you. You see, the problem is that I sometimes get this pain at the back of my neck when I…"

He groaned in exasperation. "Are you kidding me?"

She giggled. "Whaaaat?" she said with a sing-song tone. "Don't be like that. Ask your father to recommend the best OTC painkiller for that."

He rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you see a doctor?"

"Sure. So that he can charge me 100,000 Won to tell me what pills to take? It's not that serious so just do me a favor and ask your father."

They finally arrived at the minigolf course. "Whatever, I'm going in."

She looked up at the building's sign and hesitated. "You know what? Why don't you go ahead? I just need to make a quick phone call."

Dong Gun watched her walk over to a corner before entering the building. He really hoped Jong Won would be up to it tonight.