Chapter 20

You have Pink Eye? I texted.

"So have you started shopping for our winter trip?" Ali asked. We were sitting with Convent Lisa and some of her other friends.

I shrugged and reached for my Coke. "I'm not even sure I can go."

"Well, you'd better make up your mind soon because you need to get your money to the treasurer by next week. In fact," she said, taking a fry off my plate, "you're going."

I shrugged again. Even though I'd told her that I was considering it, I knew my father wouldn't let me go away for a week without my family so I'd planned on just pretending to be indecisive till it was too late. She was about to say something else when my phone beeped.



Yes, I have Pink Eye, Ryan text back.

I hissed and texted, Didn't I tell you to not touch my eyes? I thought you were Super Ryan!



"Have you ever been to Los Angeles?" Lisa asked.

I shook my head as I tore open the ketchup packet with my teeth.

"Then you should be excited. By that time, it'll be even colder over here so we'll get to enjoy the sun. Plus the shopping," she said, counting them off her fingers, "the crazy food. Hollywood, Beverly Hills, the beach, celebrities and the hot, hot actors," she concluded dreamily. She nodded. "Yeah, definitely the hot actors."

"Actors or just guys who wish they were actors?" I said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible but it didn't help that it sounded like the trip was going to be a lot of fun.

"True. There'll be a lot of non-working actors," Ali said, making quotation marks with her fingers, "and porn stars too."

The other girls at the table scrunched their noses and let out a chorus of, "Eww."

"But I could get discovered and become the next Angelina Jolie," Ali finished.

"In your dreams," a redhead said. "You can't act your way out of a paper bag."

"But I've got these," she countered, grabbing her breasts.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled as my cell phone beeped. I flipped it open to read the text from Ryan.



"Even superheroes have their days off. Have you started working on the song?"



I groaned. Not that stupid song again. I was about but hit 'Reply' when Ali peered over my shoulder.

"Ha!" she said, slapping my arm. "I knew it was true. You guys made out after school. You and Ryan are totally together."

I looked at her like she was crazy. "What are you talking about? I thought I'd explained it already."

"I told you guys," she said ignoring me and laughing to her friends. "I told you they'd hook up." She stuck her tongue out. "Lisa, hand over my five bucks." She stretched out her right palm and pointed to it with her left forefinger.

I slapped it down and held out my keychain. "What's wrong with you? I have a boyfriend, remember?"

She made a face. "Then why isn't he the one you're sending love notes to?"

I held out my phone for her to read. "Does that look like a love note? We're talking about the movie."

"Whatever."

"You do seem to be protesting a lot," the annoying redhead said. "Everyone can see that you guys look so good together. Suyan for life!" she teased.

Not that Suyan sh.it again. Suyan? NO! I stood up. "I hope you're happy for killing my appetite," I said as I stormed off without my tray.



***

Since I had some lunchtime to kill, I decided to check my email. As I was walking to the computer room, I ran into the Ambassador's daughter. Even though she was supposedly looking out of me at school, we barely spoke and weirdly enough, after the initial excitement, her friends seemed to forget about my brother, which was fine by me.

"Hey, Su Jin," she called as I was about to walk past her.

Shocked that she hadn't ignored me like she normally did, I stopped abruptly.

"Are you coming over to my place for Thanksgiving?"

I still couldn't get why I was supposed to care about this particular holiday since it had almost nothing to do with my life but since everyone was making such a huge fuss about, I was quite sure that it was overrated. I shrugged. "Probably." I could definitely spend another evening listening to their exciting tales about searching for the ever elusive director.

"Really?" she asked in unhidden disappointment.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Trust me, I'd get out of it if I could."

She shrugged. "It's no big deal. My mother thinks we are friends so I guess you can just come and hang out in my room after dinner or something." She suddenly brightened up. "Is your brother going to be there?"

How predictable. "Yes."

"Does he have a girlfriend yet?" she asked hopefully.

"He has three."

The sarcasm appeared to go over her head because she perked up even more and said, "Good! That means it's nothing serious. See you next Thursday!"



***



When I finally got to the computer room, I logged on and checked my email. Other than the usual junk mail and some replies from my friends back home, I had an email from Min Ki and Ryan. Smiling, I clicked on Min Ki's.





Date: 16 Nov 06:47:12
From: "Ha Min Ki"
Subject: Miss You
To: "Oh Su Jin"



Sweetie,

I just woke up from a weird dream so the first thing I'm doing this morning is sharing it with you. I can't really explain it but the dream started off with me driving on a long, deserted road. Then suddenly, I was on a plane. I didn't even know where I was going but it looked like I was in First Class because the air hostess kept stopping by to ask me how I was doing. And she kept calling me Mr. Ha. I think I was rich in my dream. biggrin.gif Then before I knew it, I was on a boat sailing. I was scared for a second till I remembered that I knew how to sail (remember, it's a dream). Then suddenly, the waters became stormy and when I swerved to miss a wave, I turned around and saw you sitting down, looking calm and collected. You smiled at me and held out your drink. It was one of those fancy ones with an umbrella in it. Suddenly, the water settled down and a soft breeze began to blow. Then you walked over and kissed me.



Su Jin, I really wish I could kiss you now.



Love,

Oppa.



I laughed. Did he make that up? I wasn't quite sure what to make of it except to know that it made me feel good. He wanted to kiss me? I touched my lip and tried to remember what it felt like the time he'd kissed me. I longed to experience the tingly sensation of a really passionate kiss and it sucked that I'd have to wait till I was at least twenty to share it with him.



I clicked on Ryan's email and read it.



Date: 16 Nov 12:24:57
From: "Ryan Cho"
Subject: Your song
To: "Oh Su Jin"



We need to start working on the song. Send me the lyrics.





I frowned. What kind of dumbass was he? No 'hello' or 'how are you doing' or at least some kind of salutation? I clicked on the reply button and typed out a response.



Date: 16 Nov 12:33:18
From: "Oh Su Jin"
Subject: Re: Your song
To: "Ryan Cho"



Is this what you call an email? How about being a bit polite next time? Next time, start off with, "Hi, Su Jin" and end it with, "Sincerely, Ryan."





About a minute later, after reading Na Young's email, I hit the refresh button and saw Ryan's reply.



Date: 16 Nov 12:34:45
From: "Ryan Cho"
Subject: Re: Re: Your song
To: "Oh Su Jin"


Hi Su Jin,


We need to start working on the song. Send me the lyrics.



Sincerely,

Ryan.



After cross-checking that he'd simply cut and paste his previous email, I hit the reply button.





Date: 16 Nov 12:35:51
From: "Oh Su Jin"
Subject: It's not my song
To: "Ryan Cho"


I bet you think you're funny or something. What makes you think I can write lyrics? I have no talent for this and I am sure they will sound stupid. Just come up with lyrics yourself and I'll sing them. Bye.





About a minute later, I got a reply from him.





Date: 16 Nov 12:37:33
From: "Ryan Cho"
Subject: Yes, it's your song
To: "Oh Su Jin"


Hi Su Jin,


Since I'm stuck at home, I want to start working on the music so it'll be nice to get some lyrics. Do you have a song theme? Since you're online, come on MSN so that we can talk properly.



Sincerely,

Ryan.



MSN? I was feeling uninspired and not in the mood to give myself a headache all in the name of coming up with lyrics to a song that nobody would listen to. I had a sneaking suspicion that our movie was complete crap and felt recording a song would be completely fruitless.





Date: 16 Nov 12:39:20
From: "Oh Su Jin"
Subject: No, it's not
To: "Ryan Cho"


I'm really busy now. I can't come on MSN. Just write the song yourself.



---



Date: 16 Nov 12:41:05
From: "Ryan Cho"
Subject: MSN!!!!!!
To: "Oh Su Jin"


Hi Su Jin,


Get on MSN



Sincerely,

Ryan.





Since I was definitely not getting on MSN and tired of the conversation, I decided to read the rest of my emails. About five minutes later, my phone rang. I didn't even have to look at the caller ID to know it was Ryan and after confirming it, I turned my phone off. A minute later, I received another email from him.



Date: 16 Nov 12:49:27
From: "Ryan Cho"
Subject: Please get on MSN
To: "Oh Su Jin"


Hi Su Jin,


Do yourself a favor and get on MSN. Otherwise, I'm going to come over to your house and re-infect you with Pink Eye and any other diseases, viruses, bacteria etc etc I can get hold off. LOG ON NOW!



Sincerely,

Ryan.











***



We were about halfway through dinner when my father cleared his throat. He took a sip of his drink then coughed. "Kids," he said, looking sadly at my brother and me. "It's a shame I won't be able to spend your first Thanksgiving with you. I've unexpectedly been sent on a business trip and will be gone for about two weeks…"

I bit my lip to keep myself from yelling out from joy. Two whole weeks without my father? If it would have made any sense at all, I'd have died of joy.

"… and I'll be at the London embassy." He went on to give us details about what he was doing and as he was speaking, my cell phone rang. I'd forgotten to take it out of my pocket before coming downstairs for dinner. I ignored the daggers shooting for my father's eyes and excused myself from the table.

"Ryan, what do you want?" I barked into the receiver.

"Is that how you answer the phone? And there you were, lecturing me on email etiquette."

"What do you want?" I repeated.

"The song. We need to work on the song."

I groaned. "I'm having dinner. I'll see you at school."

"How funny. You know I won't be able to come to school for like two more days."

Poor guy. "And how's that my problem?"

"I would think that someone who spread her bacteria to an innocent party would be a lot more sympathetic."

"Whatever. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I have to go back to the dinning room," I said, glancing at it.

"Send me the lyrics tonight, Su Jin ah."

My heart stopped for a brief second because it was completely weird hearing him refer to me that way. And it was even weirder hearing it in an American accent.

"Are you still there?"

I swallowed some spit. "Yeah."

"Will you send the lyrics tonight?"

"Sure."

"Are you just saying that to get rid of me?"

I scoffed. "If I want to get rid of you, all I have to do is hang up," I said right before I did just that. Then I put my phone on vibrate.

The second I got back to the table, my father tore into me for rudely leaving them to take a call. Boy, I sure couldn't wait for those two weeks!



***



"I'm drawing a blank here," I said, looking up from the writing pad. It was Saturday so I was spending the afternoon at Ryan's working on our movie. I hadn't expected to do any filming but when I showed up, he wanted us to do a few re-shoots which made little sense because I wasn't wearing the same shirt as I had in those scenes. It was further evidence that our movie was going to suck and less incentive for me to care about the song. "I still don't get why I have to come up with any words at all. Just write them and I'll sing them. I'm sure they'd be great."

He tore his eyes off the keyboard and gave me a look. "If you write lyrics that hold a special meaning for you, you'll sing more passionately."

I thought for a minute. Lyrics that held a special meaning? "How about this: On the first day my daddy's gone I will go to the mall," I sang to the melody of Twelve Days of Christmas.

He shook his head then got off the chair then sat next to me. "Can't you think of something that matters to you? It can be anything – we'll make it work."

"Didn't you hear what I just sang?" I'd expected at least a chuckle.

He sighed. "I am being serious there. The deadline is fast approaching so we need to try to finish the song today. Do you want me to play the melody I came up with again? You can use that or we can come up with something else."

For the next few minutes, I tried to work on it but I was drawing a blank. Ryan was back at the keyboard tinkling with the keys.

"I am sure you can come up with something related to your boyfriend. What's his name again? Something-ki?"

"Min Ki," I enunciated.

"Yeah, him. Say something about him. How you feel about him," he said as he pretended to barf. "How it feels when you're together."

I turned away and tried to think.

"You've been together, right?"

"He's my boyfriend. Of course we've been together or you think it's always been long distance?"

He hissed. "I don't mean together like that. You know…."

"I know what?"

"Sex. You guys have had sex, right?"

I looked at him in horror. "What?"

He burst out laughing and as he bellowed like I'd just cracked the funniest joke he'd ever heard, he walked over and sat across from me. "I should have known that you've never had sex. It wouldn't have made sense otherwise."

I frowned. Why was he making sound like it wasn't perfectly normal for a 16 year old girl to be a virgin? "We've kissed and done some stuff but not sex. I'm not a loose girl." Okay, so 'other stuff' meant 'holding hands' but I'd never felt like our relationship had lacked in any respect.

He stopped laughing but kept the silly grin on his face. "I never thought you were. But I am sure you can come up with some lyrics about him. Let's work on this together. What do you miss about him? What do you like about him? Let's just start from the beginning; how did you meet?"

After I told him all about my relationship with Min Ki oppa, he stretched his face animatedly. "Nice story and all but I need some drama. Okay, tell me about your first heartbreak."

I shook my head and told him I'd never really experienced any. At least, nothing significant.


Once again, he began to laugh like I was some kind of comedian but when he saw I wasn't amused, he stopped and apologized.

"Since you're so experienced, why don't you tell me about your first heartbreak? Maybe we can come up with a song about it."

"I already told you about it… about the girl who left town before I could play the piano for her. Trust me, it really hurt when she left," he said dramatically.

I was about to say something sarcastic when I realized that I had the perfect opening to ask him about something else. "What about you and Ali?"

He suddenly looked directly into my eyes and got more serious. "Me and Ali? There's nothing."

"Yeah, maybe not now. But before. There must have been something, right?"

"Must? Why must there have been something?"

Since his tone had changed, I suddenly felt nervous. I looked away to avoid his eyes. "You know, she's pretty and funny and you guys spend a lot of time together. You guys obviously like each other and all that. Are you saying that you've never liked her liked her?" I licked my lips as I waited for his response. Even though it was none of my business, I really wanted to hear his answer. No, scratch that. I needed to hear it.

He put his legs up on the coffee table and shook his head. "This world is full of small minded people. So a guy and a girl can't be friends? Ali and I are just friends. That's all we ever were and all we'll ever be. There has never been anything between us but friendship," he said, emphasizing the last word.

"Really?" There was something about Ali that attracted a lot of guys to her. Why was Ryan supposedly immune to it?

"Really," he said definitely.

"For real?"

He laughed in disbelief. "For real. Why won't you believe me?"

"I don't know… it's just that it's hard to believe you've never had a thing for her even for like a minute. And then what Jonathan said—"

"Forget him," he said dismissively. "He's just a big baby. When things don't go his way, he looks for other people to blame."

"And what thing didn't go his way?"

He stared at me for a few seconds then told me to ask Ali about it since it really wasn't about him.

Since it was obvious he wasn't going to spill, I let it go. "Alright. But back to Ali. You're telling me you've never had a thing for her? Maybe you're just good at hiding it…."

He laughed and shook his head. "Why would I lie to you? What's my motivation? What do I gain from it? What's my motive?"

Hearing the last word triggered a memory and thinking back to it, I laughed at how ridiculous it really was. He looked at me curiously and said that he wished to share in the joke.

When I was done giggling, I said, "It's just something that Min Ki oppa said. He said that you must have had an ulterior motive for giving me your notes and becoming my friend. He thought that you liked me or something. How ridiculous is that?" I laughed and waited for him to crack a smile but his cheeks didn't move.

"Why is it ridiculous?" he asked far too seriously.

I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at him in shock. What did he just say? "Because we're just friends."

"But what you said about Ali can also apply to you. You're not exactly ugly and we hang out together and we like each other to some degree. So maybe I have a thing for you and I'm just good at hiding it," he said without blinking.

"But I have a boyfriend."

He smiled knowingly. "Exactly. So that's why it's ridiculous. It'll be absolutely ridiculous for me to like a girl who's so proud of her relationship that she carries her ring everywhere with her. That won't make any sense at all."

In a matter of seconds, the room had filled with tension and the more I stared at him, the worse the silence got. He couldn't be serious, could he? He didn't have a thing for me. He was just joking and trying to use my words against me to prove his friendship with Ali was platonic. Yes, that was what it was. I let out a nervous laugh and said, "You're just kidding, right?"

He pursed his lips and watched what must have been my fear-stricken face then finally smiled. "What do you think? That'll make the most sense, wouldn't it? Now that we've gotten that settled, let's get back to the song. What should it be about?"

I picked up my pen and bent down to pick up the writing pad that had somehow found its way to the floor. With the pad in hand, I slowly lifted my head and looked at him. I had nothing to worry about, right? He was joking and it was supposedly settled and all that. But why was my heart still beating out of control?