by Sarah Suk
“You don’t say this kind of stuff to people a lot, do you?” Taemin said.
I pressed my lips together and shook my head.
He surveyed me carefully and sighed. “Okay. I’ll help you.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
“Yeah. PR said that part of turning over a new leaf was to be more mindful of others and thoughtful in my actions. So”—he waved a hand in my general direction—“your whole spiel about helping me help you? I get it. This means a lot to you, and helping you out with this small thing is something I can do for you.”
I let out a breath of gratitude. “Thank you. Oh, and I’ll pay you for your time of course. In one bingsu.”
A wide grin spread across his face, his dimples deepening. “Well, why didn’t you say so? You’re one year older than me, right? Nuna? Can I call you Nuna?” He patted my hand. “You can trust me. I’m a master at getting info from people. Just call my name whenever you feel like buying me a bingsu. You have my number.”
* * *
After my meeting with Taemin, I felt way lighter about my bet with Wes. My confidence was back up to 99 percent, which was exactly where I liked it to be. I unwrapped a mango Hi-Chew to celebrate as I walked to the grocery store where Umma, Appa, and Halmeoni went shopping every Sunday afternoon around this time. It was only twenty minutes away from Snow Bunny, and if I timed it right, I could sneak a bag of Hi-Chews in the cart and catch a ride home.
I paused outside the mirrored grocery store windows to straighten my outfit—high-waisted mustard-yellow pants with a cream crop sweater and a small-brim bucket hat—before entering through the sliding automatic doors.
Aha. There were Umma and Appa, picking spinach in the vegetable aisle. I quickly let them know I was there before making my way to the candy aisle.
“Try to find Halmeoni if you can!” Umma called after me. “She’s probably in the cereal aisle.”
Hi-Chews… Hi-Chews… Hi-Chews… bingo. I grabbed a bag of mixed flavors and jogged over to the cereal aisle to find Halmeoni.
Only to find Wes standing there instead, holding a box of Honey Nut Cheerios.
I froze, staring at him. Was that really him or was I just imagining he was here because I’d been thinking of him all day? Thinking of the bet with him, I mean. Not thinking of him. Obviously.
He looked up and stared directly at me. His eyes widened in shock, the cereal box nearly falling out of his hands. “Valerie? What are you doing here?”
“Shopping with my family,” I said blankly. “What are you doing here?”
“I was, um, in the area to pick up my saxophone from the repair store across the street,” he said. “My dad asked me to get some groceries for him while I was out here.”
I nodded. “All right, then.”
Well, this was awkward, seeing Wes right after hiring someone to spy on him. I should have seen it coming. I always ran into someone from school here. Sunday was a popular grocery day. In fact, around this time I usually saw—
“Valerie! Wes!”
Kristy Lo came rolling down the aisle with a shopping cart, her hair bright violet and tied up in a braided bun. “What are you two doing together?”
“We’re not together,” I said quickly as Wes mumbled, “Cereal, getting cereal.”
“So funny to see you! I just saw Ethan Phan with his parents too. Did you hear he and his boyfriend broke up?” She shook her head. “So sad. I gave Ethan my Ben & Jerry’s coupon to help him mend his sorrows.”
“Ethan Phan is the one with the pottery business at school, right?” Wes said.
Kristy nodded. “Yep. Though the pottery studio was where he and his ex met. I’m not sure if he’ll want to go back there anytime soon.”
“Speaking of business, Kristy, will I see you at V&C tomorrow?” I asked. “I’m stocking a new package of deep-restoration vitamin-C face masks.”
Her face lit up. “Oh my God, Valerie, yes. That’s exactly what I need. My face has been feeling so dry these days.” She pressed the back of her hand against her cheek and shook her head. “It’s like the desert.”
“Um, Kristy, are you sure you don’t want to shop with me instead?” Wes jumped in. “I have limited samples of Crown Tiger’s new perfume line. I could save Shiyoon’s perfume for you if you want.”
Kristy gasped, her hand moving from her face to her heart. “What? Those are impossible to get here.”
I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye. What does he think he’s doing right now? Is he really trying to one-up me while I’m standing right here? As if I’m going to let that happen.
“What about the deep-restoration vitamin for your face, Kristy?” I asked. “It’s perfect for the fall, and all the beauty vloggers are using them these days.”
“Face masks are cool, but Crown Tiger is really like deep restoration for the soul,” Wes said.
Cheesy AF, but Kristy was nodding like this really spoke to her. “True, true. That’s what Crown Tiger does.”
“You have to be careful with perfume sometimes, though,” I said. “It can irritate your skin, especially if you’re having trouble with dryness.”
“But this perfume is really low scent,” Wes said quickly, glancing at me. “Especially Shiyoon’s. His fragrance is violet. Besides, would you rather have a face mask that you throw out after one use or the scent of Crown Tiger that you can carry with you all day?”
“Please, you know the effects of a face mask are way more beneficial than perfume. We’re talking long-lasting steps toward glowing skin over smelling like violets for a day.”
“Some people happen to love violets.”
“Well, some people happen to love vitamin C!”
“Um, Valerie? Wes?” Kristy looked back and forth between the two of us. “I’m still here, you know.”
Oh. Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, we had turned to face each other instead of Kristy. I cleared my throat and quickly turned back to Kristy as Wes adjusted his glasses, his cheeks pink.
“Anyway,” Kristy said, “I really do want both. I’ll have to think about it. See you two at school tomorrow?”
“Yep, see you,” I said as Wes waved and mumbled, “Bye, Kristy.”
She smiled brightly and waved back, rolling away with her shopping cart.
Wes and I glared at each other.
“You totally overreacted,” I said. “ ‘Deep restoration for the soul’? Really?”
“Me? What about you?” he said. “Trying to discredit my perfume by saying it’s irritating.”
“I didn’t say it’s irritating; I said it can be irritating for dry skin.”
“We all know what you were insinuating.”
I folded my arms across my chest. God, he was infuriating. Before I could snap back, a very familiar voice called down the cereal aisle.
“Valerie!” Halmeoni was walking toward me in her daisy-print pants, waving her hands. “Your mom said I would find you here.”
Oh my God. What was it with everyone showing up in the cereal aisle today? I ran to Halmeoni and grabbed her hand.
“You found me! Okay, let’s go.”
She glanced behind me, where Wes was standing, and patted my hand excitedly, nodding in his direction. “Who’s your handsome friend?”
Before I could say anything—Friend? No friend here; I don’t know who you’re talking about—Wes stepped forward and bowed politely. “Annyeonghaseyo. My name is Wes Jung. I’m classmates with Valerie.”
“Omo, so you’re Korean, too!” she said, doubly pleased. She stepped back to look at him more closely. “Wow, you’re so tall. Your parents must feed you well.”
He laughed. “Yes, and I’m not a picky eater, which probably helps.”
“Oh, that’s a good quality. Good eaters are the best,” Halmeoni said, beaming right back.
Uh-oh. There’s no faster way to bond with Halmeoni than to say you like food. I had to put a stop to this, stat.
“Come on, Halmeoni, we shoul
d get going.” I linked my arm through hers and started steering her away. “Quick, before Umma gets mad.”
“So nice to meet you, Wes!” she said. “Come over sometime!”
“Come over sometime”? Oh, Halmeoni, no.
Wes grinned, all good humor as he bowed goodbye. “Get home safely, Halmeoni.”
Annoying. Why did he have to be so sweet to Halmeoni? Now she was going to think he was just a nice boy who should come over to eat, when really he was the enemy of all enemies.
“Your friend seems very nice,” she said, patting my arm as we walked away.
“We’re not friends.”
She gave me an amused smile. “Okay, my girl. Whatever you say.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Wes leaning against the cereal aisle, watching us leave with that good-humored grin still on his face.
Yeah. Definitely not friends.
CHAPTER TEN WES
Sunday / December 1
The aquarium was decked out in strings of holiday lights and hanging snowflake decorations. I wrapped my scarf around my neck as I stepped out into the outdoor aquarium area, the frosty air nipping at my cheeks. Pauline was narrating the sea-otter show, and we’d decided to meet here after her volunteer shift to talk business plans. Though, to be honest, I was definitely more interested in seeing some sea otters. I needed something to help me de-stress. Life had been a bit overwhelming lately, to say the least.
I sat down on a bench by the sea-otter tank and rubbed my forehead, as if that would help smooth out all the thoughts in my head. Honestly, my mind these days was like an orchestra of out-of-tune instruments, all competing to be heard over the others. My parents were at the forefront of that, nudging me to study harder, to keep my grades sharp, to get my college applications ready. Not that I was going to apply to the schools they wanted me to. I just hadn’t figured out a way to tell them that yet.
Then there was the business and the sales I was trying to keep up with, constantly asking Mom for new merch and digging through her office for old stuff when she didn’t have any. Not to mention my own saxophone practices and music-school applications. My stomach did a flip when I thought about the application I had secretly sent out yesterday to Toblie School of Music. I had managed to raise enough money to both pay Pauline back for what she’d loaned me and to apply to one school, which left me with equal parts relief and horror. Relief that I’d gotten it in and horror that I was really doing this behind my parents’ backs. What would they do when they found out? I got anxious every time I thought about it. That, and the fact that I didn’t apply to any backup schools. The only person I’d told outside school was Uncle Hojin, who I’d still been emailing with here and there. He was thrilled. If only I could feel certain that my parents would feel the same.
And then, of course, there was Valerie. And the bet. I was constantly going back and forth on whether that had been the right move or not, especially after our run-in at the grocery store a few weeks ago. She was tough competition, and seeing her with her grandma had made things harder in a way I hadn’t expected. It made her more human than rival, and I already had enough trouble thinking straight when it came to Valerie.
I didn’t have time to doubt, though. I had to win this. After I had sent in my application to Toblie, I’d gone through the class list for the first-year jazz program, and my heart had ached so bad with wanting. I wished I could be there right now, learning music theory and playing in ensembles with other people who loved music as much as I do.
“Is this seat taken?”
I startled out of my thoughts, looking up to see a guy around my age standing next to my bench, holding a paper cup of hot chocolate in his hand. He was wearing a white hoodie with the hood up over his head and a puffy black North Face vest. I slid over on the bench to make room for him.
“Thanks,” he said gratefully. “I’m Taemin Park, by the way.”
I smiled in recognition of the Korean name. “Wes Jung.”
“Yo, no way,” Taemin said, pointing at me with his hot chocolate. “I’ve heard of you. Aren’t you the guy who sells Crown Tiger beauty products at Crescent Brook?”
What the—? I gaped at him. “How’d you know that?”
“I’ve heard the rumors,” Taemin said. “I’m a junior at North Hill Academy. You know, the school your school is always losing to in basketball?”
“Sorry.” I laughed, though in my head I was still turning over the fact that people outside our school knew about my business. Strange. A terrifying thought seized my brain. What if Mom and Dad find out? Shit. Let’s hope my reputation doesn’t reach that far. “I’m new here.”
“Where you from?” Taemin asked.
Ah. The “where are you from?” question. Always difficult for me to answer. Do I share where I was born? Where I lived the longest? Where I felt most comfortable before being uprooted yet again? I settled on my default answer.
“I was born in Seoul, but I moved around a lot.”
“Wow, so you have lots of homes,” Taemin said.
I smiled politely, though what I really wanted to say was, Lots of cities, but not that many homes. A specific place never came to my mind when I thought of the word “home.” The only thing that came close was my saxophone, and that wasn’t even a place.
“I bet none of the places you’ve lived before has an aquarium as nice as this one,” Taemin said. “This place is the bomb. First time here?”
“Yeah. I’m actually here to meet a friend. She’s about to narrate the sea-otter show.”
His eyes widened. “Dude. I love sea otters. Perfect timing.”
“Are you hanging out here by yourself?” I asked, taking a quick glance behind him to see if any of his friends or family would be joining. Not wanting to sound judgmental, I hastily added, “It’s fine if you are, of course.”
“Yep, just me. I’m actually here to try and convince the aquarium to hire me part-time as a magician. My youth pastor thinks I should do more volunteering.” He shrugged. “No dice, though. The aquarium just doesn’t appreciate my talent. Wanna see a card trick?” He chugged the rest of his hot chocolate and crumpled the cup in his hand before pulling out a deck of cards from the pocket of his vest. He fanned the deck out in front of me. “Pick a card.”
I laughed. There was an easygoing manner to Taemin that made him fun to talk to. I slid a card out from the middle of the deck. “Now look at it, but don’t tell me what it is,” he said. He covered his eyes with a theatrical sweep of his hand. “I promise I’m not peeking.”
I glanced at the card. A joker. Huh. I wondered if he’d forgotten to take those out. “Okay, I’m ready.”
He uncovered his eyes and patted the deck. “Put it back anywhere, my friend.”
I slipped the card back and watched as he shuffled the deck several times, slicing it this way and that. Finally, he stopped, the deck facedown in his palm. He flipped over the card on top.
“Is this your card?”
A joker stared back at me.
“Wow, yeah!” I said, totally impressed. “How’d you do that?”
He grinned. “A magician never reveals his secrets.”
Just then, Pauline stepped out by the sea-otter tank, dressed in her red volunteer vest with a wireless microphone attached to the side of her face. “Welcome to the sea-otter show, everybody,” she said. “Please join me in welcoming our trainers and otters!”
Taemin burst into applause along with the rest of the audience. Pauline introduced the otter trainer, Eileen, and all the otters: Kenny, Benjamin, and Mister Ottermelon. She did a great job narrating as the otters held hands, spun in circles in the water, and were fed by Eileen. “All these otter friends have been rehabilitated at the aquarium after being found onshore with injuries,” Pauline said. “Though they’ve been deemed unable to be released back into the wild, we do our very best here at the aquarium to make them feel safe and at home.”
Fifteen minutes of sea-otter tricks and feedings later, the show
came to an end. “Thanks for coming, everyone!” Pauline said. “Eileen will be available for further questions.”
“Man, that was awesome,” Taemin said as Pauline approached us after the show. He stood up to shake her hand. “Excellent narration. You should do audiobooks.”
“Thank you,” Pauline said, looking somewhat bewildered. She glanced at me and then back at Taemin. “And you are…?”
“Taemin Park. Sea-otter fan and aspiring aquarium magician.”
“The aquarium doesn’t have any magicians,” Pauline said.
“Not yet they don’t.” He held out the deck of cards. “Pick a card.”
She pulled one out, an amused smile on her face. She raised her eyebrows. “Wait, but this is a joker.”
“A joker?” I said at the same time Taemin sighed, “You’re not supposed to tell me that.”
“Can we see the rest of the deck?” I asked, realization dawning on me.
Taemin pressed his lips together in a sheepish smile. “Okay. You caught me.” He flipped the deck over to reveal that every single card was, in fact, a joker. “Maybe not my best trick.”
“I can’t believe I fell for that,” I groaned.
Taemin and Pauline laughed, and I couldn’t help but join in, feeling some of my earlier stress lift from my shoulders. It felt good to just laugh about something and put a pause on the dissonance in my head.
“So, are you ready for our planning lunch?” Pauline asked me.
“Yeah.” I turned to Taemin, not quite ready to say goodbye to someone who felt like a potential new friend. With everything on my mind, making new friends hadn’t really happened yet outside of Pauline. I was struck by a sudden sense of boldness. If I was trying to grow in confidence, why not in making new friends, too? “Do you want to join us? You’re here on your own, right? We have some business stuff to talk about, which might be boring for you, but you’re welcome to eat with us if you want.”
Taemin perked up, a smile spreading across his face, revealing deep dimples. “Really? I would love to join you.” He tucked the deck of jokers back into his pocket. “Lead the way.”