Chapter 3

The next morning Hyomi met Sun Mi at the corner to walk to school.

“How did the big date go?” Sun Mi asked immediately. Hyomi sighed. “She liked him.” Sun Mi squealed, but when she saw Hyomi’s grim expression, she tried to be serious. “What did you do while they were out?” Hyomi wrinkled her nose. “I spent the whole night doing homework.” “Why didn’t you come and stay with me?”

“Well, I wanted to see Mr. Kim was like—“ “Hey! Were you spying on them?” Sun Mi interrupted. “I was not spying! I was just checking him out, that’s all. Anyway, do you know any single men?” Sun Mi laughed. “The school’s full of them!”

“No, I mean older men, around Mr. Kim’s age.” “Oh, I get it,” Sun Mi said.” “You mean like for you mother?” Hyomi nodded. “I figure if  I can find her someone else, maybe Jaejoong’s dad will just fade out of the picture.” Sun Mi grinned. “Sounds like an excellent plan. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for somebody cool and – and old!”

Hyomi couldn’t keep her mind on her classes that morning. She was too busy trying to make a list of suitable men for her mother. She looked thoughtfully at Mr. Lee, who was lecturing on the North and south Korea war. She’d put him on the list if he was about twenty years younger.

Hyomi grinned for a moment, picturing her mom with the gray-haired, stoop-shouldered history teacher. But by the time Hyomi walked into the student government office for third period, she hadn’t come up with a single name. Sun mi joined her a few minutes later and asked. “Any ideas yet?”

Hyomi shook her head. “No, but I’m sure I’ll think of someone soon. What about you?” “Not so far, but I’m working on it. Listen, are you going to the game this afternoon?” She asked. “It’s a big one, and there’s a pep rally at noon.”

“I couldn’t care less about baseball or baseball players,” Hyomi said. “But I guess it doesn’t look good for the junior president not to show, so I guess I’ll be there.”  Sun Mi grinned. “Good! Too bad it’s not basketball season. I love to see all the guys in those cute little shorts.” Hyomi gave her a mock scowl. “Sun mi! You’re supposed to be thinking about school spirits, not guys!”

Sun mi grinned. “So we each have our priorities. Come on—let’s go paint.” Making banners for the games was a student council responsibility and Hyomi was helping Sun Mi’s publicity committee. As she picked up a set of wide markers, Hyomi said. “I think I’ll make one says, ‘Kim Jaejoong is a jerk.”

“you wouldn’t.” Sun Mi said. Laughing, Hyomi admitted, “No, I wouldn’t but I’d like to!” The girls gathered up their supplies and headed outside to the open quad, where the rest of the committee members were waiting. “Let’s get this done so we can go to the pep rally.” Hyomi said.

For the next hour the publicity committee worked at a frantic pace to get all the banners done. When the bell rang, Hyomi, Sun mi and the others headed for the gym where the pep rally was to be held. The cheerleaders ran through their cheers and dance routines. When the players trotted onto the floor, the crowd of students cheered and whistled.

“Guess we don’t have to worry about school’s spirit.” Sun Mi yelled to Hyomi over the din.

The team took seats on the platform by the band. One by one they were introduced by the head cheerleader, who gave a glowing tribute to each player as he came forward. Jaejoong was last. When he stepped to the microphone, the crowd went wild.

Hyomi looked at Sun mi and made a face. “Looks like I’m definitely in the minority here.”

“Better believe it!” Sun mi said, laughing. The noise died down as the student body waited to hear what Jaejoong had to say about the game that after noon. It wasn’t much. “They’re going to get whipped.” He stated. “They don’t stand a chance against us!”

“That was dumb,” Hyomi whispered. “Let’s get out of here. This is making me sick!”  “Can five hundreds fans be wrong?” Sun mi asked innocently. “They’re just crazy about him because he’s a hotshot athlete,” Hyomi said. “If he was just a plain student, he wouldn’t be so popular.”

Sun mi giggled. “A guy who looks like that could hardly be called a ‘plain’ student!”

Hyomi knew that her friend was right. Even without Jaejoong’s star status, the girls would still be crazy about him because he was so handsome. But Hyomi would take someone who was smart any day, and she certainly didn’t have to worry about the person being Kim Jaejoong.

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guiwang_4ever   = thanks. i hope you like this chapter too!