Chapter 19 – First things first

Later that afteroon, Hyomi sprawled across her bed, unable to settle down to doing anything. She had another english paper to start, but she couldn’t focus on it. Even the thought of reading a good book didn’t interest her. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. If only she could stop worrying bout her mom.

Hyomi had offered to join her for the weekly grocery shopping, but Mrs. Park said she had a long list of other errands and Hyomi would be bored. And when her mother had returned, she’s started cleaning the basement, the way she always did when she was upset.

Glancing at the phone, Hyomi was strongly tempted to call Jaejoong. After all, he was as concerned about his father as she was about her mother. It wouldn’t hurt to find out how mr. Kim was doing. The phone rang six times before Jaejoong picked it up. “Hi.” She said. “This is Hyomi, uh- I was wondering if there’s anything new with your dad.”

“Not really. Is something wrong?” he asked. “you sound funny.”

“Oh, everything is horrible here.” Hyomi said. “If I had only known how badly this would hurt mom—well, maybe we should have left them alone.” “I’ve been thinking the same thing.” Jaejoong admitted. “We had no right to try to control their lives.”

Jaejoong was silent for a moment. “I know. Can we fix it? Do you think we could turn things around?” Hyomi sat up straight, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “We sure could try! We broke them up—maybe we can bring them back together!”

“Yeah, why not?” Jaejoong sounded excited too. “But we’ll need to come up with a really good plan. Why don’t I pick you up tomorrow so we can talk bout it?” “Oh, I’d love it.” Hyomi said. “But I can’t, Sunday’s my special day with mom, and now that she’s so bummed, it’s more important than ever.”

“Then it’ll have to be after baseball practice Monday. Let’s meet up at Pizza hut, okay?”  “Okay.” Hyomi murmured. It wasn’t a date, but at least it was a chance to be with him. “See you in chem class.”

Just before Jaejoong hung up, he said softly, “And you know, hyomi, maybe we could try again, too.”

She stared at the phone. What did he mean by that? Did he only mean trying to get their parents back together? With all her heart, hyomi hoped he meant something a lot more personal.

In the student government office after school on Monday, Hyomi looked at her watch a hundred times while she helped to make campaign posters. Finally, it was time to meet Jaejoong. She decided to wait for him outside the locker room door so they could walk to Pizza Hut together.

Jaejoong was the first one out of the locker room. She looked surprised and pleased to see her there. “Come on.” He said, grabbing her hand. “Let’s get out of here before Yunho horns in.” He started running down the hall, pulling Hyomi along.

“I’m sure he’d have a lot of ideas.” Hyomi said, laughing as she tried to keep up with him. “Yeah, all of them bad.”

They hurried out of the school and down the street to the pizza parlor. They sat at the same table in the back corner, where they’d sat before. To Hyomi, that seemed like a life time ago. Then, they had been working so hard to break up their parents, and now they were trying to undo what they’d done.

Jaejoong got them each a soda and a slice. “Mushrooms, right?” He said. “I told them to pile ‘em on.”

“Yum!” Hyomi eyed the mound of mushrooms appreciatively. “You must know somebody in the kitchen.”

“A guy from the football team.” He mumbled around a mouthful of pepperoni packed pizza. Hyomi wondered if he’d forgotten why they were meeting. It would be so nice to go somewhere together without any business to take care of, just because they like eacher other. But today wasn’t the case.

“Have you come up with any ideas?” she asked. Jaejoong grinned. “For ‘Operation Patchup’?” Hyomi nodded. “Do you really think we can do it?” “hope so.” He said between bites. “And fast. Then we can have some time for ourselves.”

Hyomi caught her breath. Was it possible to dream about a future for the two of them? She smiled shyly. “I’d like that.”

“I think we ought to play up the romance angle.” Jaejoong said. “What do you think is romantic?”

“well..flowers.” Hyomi told him. “Flowers are very romantic.” “Okay, I’ll send some to your mom and sign my dad’s name. what kind of flowers does she like?”

“Roses.” Hyomi said. “Red roses. They’re her favorites—and mine too.” “What about the restaurang you said was so romantic, the one they didn’t go to before?” He asked. “you mean La cherie?” “That’s the one. And there’s going to be a full moon in a few days.” Hyomi’s eyes widened in surprise. “How do you know that?”

“I looked it up.” Jaejoong grinned sheepishly. “I’ve been doing some research since I spoke to you on Saturday. I figure if dad sends her flowers and takes her out to dinner , they’ll be back together in no time flat.” “Sounds good.” Hyomi admitted. “But how do we get them to the restaurant?”

For the next hour, as they worked out all the details of a romantic evening for their parents. Hyomi kept wishing that she and Jaejoong could share such a night. But she brushed that thought inside, reminding herself. First things first.

The next day Hyomi sat with Jaejoong at lunchtime. They compared notes on what had happened yesterday and exchanged the invitations they’d written to their parents. Hyomi had painstakingly copied her mother’s writing on a scented note card. Mr. Kim shouldn’t have any reasons  to think it wasn’t the real thing. Jaejoong had scrawled his invitation in a fair imitation of his father’s bold handwriting.

As soon as she got home, Hyomi slipped Jaejoong’s note into her mom’s stack of mail. Now she just had to wait. When Mrs. Park arrived, she took off her suit jacket and absentmindedly picked up the mail. Hyomi seemed uninterested but inside she was tied up in nervous knots, wondering how her mother would react to the note. Hyomi knew by heart the words she and Jaejoong had decided on.

Dear Hyemi,
I’m getting into town early Saturday evening. It’s time we got together again. Can you meet me at la cherie at 8:00? I’ve missed you more than I can say.

                                                   Dongwoon.


Hyomi and Jaejoong changed the time twice before agreeing on eight o’clock. It would be dark by then, and the full moon would just be beginning to rise. Hyomi’s smile reflected her mother’s when she finished reading the invitation. It looked as if everything was falling into place. At this point, Hyomi and Jaejoong’s only worry was the possibility of either parent phoning the other.

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I'll post up the last chapter for this fiction tomorrow!