Jiyong Part 1

“I told you one day you’d call me,” Bom says as we walk through the mall.

I called her yesterday and asked her to meet me after the Seoul High football game today. I need her help, because she’s the only one I know who’s hoity-toity enough to be an expert on all this Homecoming crap.

“Don’t brag about it,” I tell her. “I’m surprised Seunghyun didn’t insist on comin’ with us. You two are joined at the hip.”

She keeps her concentration on the racks of suits, picking out some for me to try on. “Let’s not talk about Seunghyun.”

“Why not, did you two have a fight?” I joke, not believin’ for a minute my brother would argue with his girlfriend.

Bom blinks a couple of times, as if holding back tears. “Actually, we broke up yesterday.”

“You’re not serious.”

“I’m dead serious, and I don’t want to talk about it. Go try on those suits before I start bawling in the middle of the store. It won’t be pretty.” She shoves the suits at me and shoos me off to the dressing room. When I look back, she’s taken a tissue out of her purse and is wiping her eyes with it.

What the hell? No wonder my brother hasn’t wanted to talk to me much and hasn’t drilled me about Devlin since Sunday night. What did he do to screw things up with Bom, the girl he said was responsible for changing his life?

Thanks to Devlin’s envelope full of cash, I buy the suit Bom says makes me look like a W-Korea magazin model. Then we pick up the corsage I ordered yesterday when I found a florist who would create one for Dara on short notice. When we’re back in the car, I figure it’s safe to ask Bom about the supposed breakup. If she cries now, nobody will see she’s got mascara runnin’ down her face.

I can’t hold it in any longer. My curiosity is killin’ me. “You and my brother are sickeningly perfect together, so what’s the problem?”

“Ask your brother.”

“I don’t happen to be with him right now, I’m with you. Unless you want me to call him . . .” I pull out the cell from my pocket.

“No!” she cries. “Don’t you dare call him. I don’t want to see him, hear him, or have anything to do with him right now.”

Oh, crap, this is serious. She’s not foolin’ around, so I better think of something quick. “Drive me to the body shop. I’m borrowin’ Seunghyun’s new car tonight.”

“You can use my car,” she says, not batting an eye.

Oh, hell. I’ve got to come up with an excuse as to why I need my brother’s new car instead of a hot Beemer convertible. “Dara likes vintage cars. She’ll be disappointed if I come in a Beemer when she’s expectin’ a Monte Carlo. She’s not normal, you know. And she gets upset easily. I wouldn’t want to make her cry and stutter on Homecoming.”

“Are you going to feed me more bull until I drop you at the body shop?”

“Pretty much.”

At a stoplight, Bom sighs and takes a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll take you. But don’t expect me to get out of the car or talk to him.”

“But if I’m takin’ his car, he’ll need a ride home. Can you take him, so I can get ready for the dance?” My brother and Bom together make me nauseous, but the thought of them apart and miserable is just . . .   not good. I give them a hard time, but deep down I envy their relationship. When they’re together, the world could fall apart around them and they’d never notice or care as long as they have each other.

“Don’t push it, Jiyong,” Bom says. “I’m dropping you off, then leaving. But I’ll give you a piece of advice for tonight, and then I’ll shut up. Rein in your attitude and ego tonight and treat Dara like you would a princess. Make her feel special.”

“You think I’ve got a big ego and an attitude problem?” I ask her.

She lets out a short laugh. “I don’t think you do, Jiyong. I know it. Unfortunately, it’s a Kwon flaw.”

“I’d call it an asset. It’s what makes us Kwon brothers irresistible.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she says. “It’s what ruins your relationships. If you want Dara to have great memories of tonight, just remember what I said and rein it in.”

“Did I ever tell you that Seunghyun loves you so much he got your name tattooed all over his body? Hell, he even got your name branded into the back of his neck.”

“They say ‘BB,’ Jiyong. The initials for Big Bang.”

“No, no, no. You’ve got it all wrong. He wants everyone to think that, but in reality it means Beautiful Bom. BB, get it?”

“Nice try, Jiyong. Totally not true, but a nice try nonetheless.”

True to her word, Bom drops me off at the shop and speeds away. Her tires screech on the parking lot, something I’m sure my brother taught her to do. It’s just more proof they should be together.

In the shop, my brother has his head under the hood of a Cadillac. I wonder if he’s oblivious that his recent ex-girlfriend/love of his life just sped away.

“What are you doin’ here?” Seunghyun asks me as he wipes his hands on a shop cloth. “I thought you were half dead.”

“You’d be surprised how far away half dead is from fully dead, Seung