I couldn’t believe how easy this was.  Everyone believed us.  Fans started to accept me.  The only speed bump was Seung Ri.  I still couldn’t be around him for too long.  I missed him.  I couldn’t tell how he felt anymore.  As time went on, he appeared to be less upset by our breakup and more indifferent to the whole situation.  I wasn’t as lucky to be able to just push him out of my mind if that’s what he did to me.  He was always there, in the back of my mind.

            One night, after I put Chae Yoon to bed.  I went downstairs to the kitchen when I heard Ji Yong on the phone.  He sounded angry.  I hurried into the kitchen to get some water.  I assumed he’d come tell me what was wrong.  We were married, after all.

            No matter how many times I said or thought that, it still felt strange.

            I was sitting on the sofa when Ji Yong came in from his study.  Seething with rage.  His hands were balled into fists and he paced the length of the living room before he noticed I was sitting there.

            “Ji Yong, what’s wrong?” I finally asked jumping off the sofa.  He was muttering to himself in Korean.  I had to stand in his way to make him stop pacing.  He looked at me in the eye.  His entire body was radiating fury, but his eyes were frightened.

            “Soo Young.  Soo Young!” he growled.  Then proceeded to let out a string of Korean curse words.

            “What happened?  What’s going on?”  I held him at an arm’s length in front of me.

            “Soo Young is suing me.  She filed the petition to take me to court,” he admitted.

            I chewed the inside of my cheek, swallowing the colorful adjectives I wanted to use to describe this good-for-nothing...  “But we already knew she was going to do it.”

            “No,” he said shaking his head.  He rubbed the back of his neck.  “She was just talking about it.  Her lawyer was talking to my lawyer.  There was a chance she wouldn’t do it, but now it’s official.  She wants Chae Yoon.  She’s going to take her away from me.  She’s going to take my baby.”  He was beginning to sound hysterical.

            “Ji Yong, chill.  Look at me, Ji Yong,” I demanded, moving my hands to his face.  “We knew this was coming.  That’s why we got married.  We’re going to take this head on.  Everything is going to be fine.  No one is taking away Chae Yoon.  I swear.  We can handle this together.  Everything is going to be alright.”

            “No, it’s not.”  He was still shaking his head.  “She doesn’t believe the marriage.  Her lawyer contacted immigration.  They’re coming in a few days to interview us to determine the legitimacy of our marriage.”

            I blinked.  I hadn’t heard him.  This wasn’t happening.  I had seen this in movies.  People getting interviewed about their marriage, but that was in the movies.  No one really comes to your house to interrogate you about your marriage.  This isn’t about a green card. 

            “We have to get our stories straight.  The first discrepancy is going to get you deported.  I never should have done this.  I never should have let you…I never…”

            “Ji Yong, please stop.  It isn’t as bad as you think.  We can do this.  We’ve lived together for a long time now.  Trust me, this is not so bad.  We just need to get our stories straight, like you said.  You need to calm down though.  We need to keep clear heads or it won’t work and I will be deported.  More importantly, you will lose Chae Yoon.”

           He breathed deep and I felt his shoulders sag under my hands.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry,” he exhaled.  “Mr. Son told me what the usual questions will be.  We need our answers to be similar.  They are going to talk to us together and then separately.  The questions can be anything from what’s your major to who my best friend is to which side of the bed you prefer to sleep on.  They might talk to Chae Yoon, also.”

            This is going to be tougher than I thought.  “We better get to work then.”

            It was like studying for a test the next couple of days.  Only this is much more important than just some test.  We sat together and told each other every detail of our lives, memorizing everything.  Getting our stories straight and adjusting our answers so that they wouldn’t sound rehearsed.

            Each of us took a turn talking to Chae Yoon some too, to get her to believe what we needed her to.  I felt a little guilty about that, but when I reminded myself that this was all for Chae Yoon’s well-being, I pushed the feelings aside.

            Ji Yong got a call from his lawyer saying that immigration doesn’t tell people when exactly they are coming.  They just show up.  If you aren’t home, they come back.

            I had just put Chae Yoon to bed Friday night when there was a knock at the door.  I raced down the stairs and met Ji Yong coming out of his study.

            “Are you expecting the guys?” I asked, knowing very well if it were the guys, they would have called through the door.  Teasing that we weren’t answering the door fast enough.  Ji Yong shook his head.

            “No.”  I began to wring my hands.  He laid one of his on top of mine.  “Relax, remember?  We got this.  Just stay casual.”

            “When did you become the level-headed one in the relationship?” I teased.

            He pecked me on the cheek and went to open the door.

            “Kwon Ji Yong?” I heard a voice ask.  I came closer to stand behind him.  It was a man and a woman dressed in navy business suits, holding clipboards.

            “Yes?” Ji Yong said.

            “We are…” the woman began and then hesitated when she saw me standing behind him.  Ji Yong looked back at me and then at the woman.

            “She can understand Korean,” Ji Yong assured the woman.  The woman smiled a tight lipped smile and then continued.

            “We are from immigration.  We are here for your interview.  You are aware we were coming?”

            He nodded.  “Please, come in.”

            I offered them something to drink, but they declined.  We all sat around the kitchen table.  “My name is Seong Moon Kim.  First, we will do a group interview and then Mr. Kwon, you will come with me for a private interview and my partner, Yeon Soo Go will interview Miss Lanston,” the man explained.  They sat across from us while Ji Yong and I sat together.

            “If you are ready, we will begin,” Miss Go said.

            We nodded.  Ready as I’ll ever be, I told myself.

            They asked us questions about how we met, how Ji Yong proposed, what we liked to do together, they asked about Chae Yoon.  Basic questions, I thought.  We answered properly, just as we rehearsed.  We even bickered a little, to make us seem like a real couple.  Ji Yong was charming and apologized when I playfully scolded him for forgetting this or that.

            “Is there a room we may use to separate you for the private interviews now?” Mr. Kim asked when we had finished.

            “Mr. Kim, we can step into my study,” Ji Yong offered, standing.  He leaned down to kiss my temple.  “Don’t make me look bad,” he joked before leaving with Mr. Kim.

            “Now, Miss Lanston,” Miss Go began.

            “Please call me Rian,” I interrupted.  She smiled slightly.

            “Rian, if you’d like, we can speak English for this private interview.  I am certified in Korean and English.”  I was worried they would use it against me if I said I preferred to speak English.  I didn’t know what Soo Young or her lawyer or her crazy rich husband was capable of.

            “Korean is fine.”

            “Alright then, we shall begin.  I will apologize in advance, some of these questions will get a bit personal.  Please, don’t get offended.  This is strictly business.  I will ask you questions about yourself and about Kwon Ji Yong.”

            “I understand.”

            “Alright,” she glanced down at her clipboard, “Where was Kwon Ji Yong born?”

            Easy.  “Here in Seoul,” I answered.

            “Which high school did you attend?”

            “Northern Seattle High School.”  Too easy.  I sat back in my chair.

            “Does Kwon Ji Yong have any siblings?”

            “He has an older sister.”

            “How many members are in your immediate family?”

            “Five.  My parents and my three brothers.”  I crossed my legs and rested my wrists on the table.

            “What time does Kwon Ji Yong usually leave for work?”

            “Around ten, normally.  First, he always eats breakfast with Chae Yoon.  He’s a good father.”  Take that, Soo Young.  I was beginning to feel cocky.

            “On an average week, how often are you and Kwon Ji Yong intimate?”

            I coughed, heaving myself forward and almost out of the chair.  I could feel the blood rushing into my face.

            “I…”  I laughed uncomfortably.  We talked about this.  This is part of the lie we had to create.  Ji Yong and I didn’t even sleep in the same room.  Breathe and remain cool.  “We’re newlyweds,” I began, covering my flaming cheeks in an attempt to be shy.  “It’s usually four times a week.”

            Miss Go’s face remained unchanged.  Any questions she threw at me after that one were nothing.

            Ji Yong and Mr. Kim emerged from the study a few minutes after we finished.  Mr. Kim and Miss Go went together into the study to compare answers.

            I stood up and met Ji Yong in the living room.  Too afraid to say anything that may appear criminating, he smiled and pulled me in for a hug.

            A few minutes later, they came back into the living room.

            “After reviewing both of your answers, we are satisfied that the basis of your relationship is legitimate and honest.  Thank you for your time,” Mr. Kim said.

            “No offense, Mr. Kim, but we knew you would.  We would never defile the commitment of marriage through such acts of falsification,” Ji Yong said as we walked them to the door.  Laying it on kind of thick, aren’t you, G Dragon?

            I smiled and patted him lovingly on the chest.  “Come on, Ji Yong.  They were just doing their job.  It’s just business,” I said, giving Miss Go a sugary sweet smile.

            “We apologize for the inconvenience,” Mr. Kim apologized as Ji Yong opened the door for them.  He draped an arm around my shoulders.

            “No inconvenience at all,” he replied with a bow of his head.  “Have a good night.”

            I waved and Ji Yong shut the door.  We stood there for a moment, listening to their footsteps fade away down the hall.  To the elevator.  Even after the silence moved into the hallway, we didn’t move.  We looked around.  Fearing that if we said anything, Mr. Kim would pop out of somewhere and bust us.

            Finally, Ji Yong covered his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut.  Bending at the knees, he muffled a delighted scream.  I clapped excitedly.

            “We did it,” he said.  I stretched my arms into the air, hands balled into fists in victory.  Ji Yong wrapped his arms around my waist and spun me in a circle.  “I can’t believe it.”

            “That wasn’t so bad,” I said when he put me down.

            He laughed sarcastically.  “Not so bad?  You just about pissed yourself when you heard the knock at the door.”

            I hip checked him, but I joined in his laughter.  “Well, that was before I saw how charming you could be when you tried.”

            “Like you didn’t know?” he scoffed.  “But you, you were amazing.”

            “Me?  No way.”  I popped the invisible collar on my tee shit and bent my legs, mocking him from what I’d seen in his music videos.  “I can’t hold a candle to the oh-so charismatic G Dragon.”

            “Ha, ha, ha.  You’re hilarious,” he said.  “So who cares?  The point is we did it!”  He stepped forward and crushed me against his body for another spin.  He spun us around one too many times and stumbled, knocking us both into the wall.  Still laughing, he rested his forehead against mine.

            We stopped laughing as soon as he pressed his lips to mine.