"I got a weird e-mail today," Chanhee says as we walk home from school Monday afternoon. "I wasn't sure if I should show it to you or not."

Alarm bells go off in my head. "What do you mean by weird?" I can't help but be suspicious. What if someone has tracked Chanhee down in St. Louis? What if they've sent him a threatening letter?

He looks uncomfortable. "It was about you."

"Me?" I stop dead in my tracks. "What did it say?" I ask. "And who sent it?"

He chews on his lower lip. "That's the thing—I have no idea who sent it. It came in anonymously."

"How can an e-mail be sent anonymously? It has to show a return address, right?"

Chanhee shakes his head. "That's what I thought, too. But apparently there's a way to go into Outlook and put in a fake return address. It's how people send spam and stuff."

"So what did it say?" I ask nervously. I can't imagine who would be writing to Chanhee about me.

"It's not exactly good." He sighs. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Uh-oh. "Yeah, of course I'm sure." Although I'm actually not. I hate hearing people talk about me.

Chanhee swallows hard. "I'm really sorry about this," he says, as he retrieves a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and hands it to me.

Dear Chunji,

Hope you're enjoying life at Copperfield. Changing schools is rough, even for a cool guy like yourself. Right now you seem to be fitting in, but I would hate to see your social standing tumble. And that's exactly what's gonna happen if you keep palling around Lee Heejoon. No offense, 'cause I know she's your relative and all. But she is a serious leech on your popularity. You haven't been at this school for long, so you probably don't realize what a loser she is. Let me fill you in: Heejoon is a major outcast. She is on the list at Copperfield—literally. She crapped her pants at the soccer tryouts a few weeks ago and people are still talking about it. Heejoon is a hanger-on who tries to fit in and fails miserably. Most of us feel really sorry for her because she's so damn oblivious to how lame she is. Heejoon doesn't get invited to parties or dates. And I would hate to see that same sad fate befall you.

I don't wanna be a hater, but I just thought you should know.

-A Concerned Friend

I scrunch up the e-mail in my fist. I'm so furious I'm physically shaking. "That ! Never mind all the 'Heejoon's a loser talk.' I can handle that. That's just her dumb opinion. But she's making up lies! I'm not a hanger-on. AND I DID NOT CRAP MY PANTS AT THE SOCCER TRYOUTS!" I scream.

"Heejoon, calm down. It's okay..."

'No, you don't understand, Chan—Chunji," I say, catching myself in the nick of time. "She's lying! I didn't even go out for the soccer team. That was Inyoung who that happened to. That Tiffany nees to get her facts straight. God, you'd think she'd remember, seeing as how she's the one who spiked Inyoung's Gatorade with laxatives and all."

Chanhee looks confused. "Wait a minute." He holds up his hand to stop me. "Why are you mad at Tiffany? She's not the one who sent the e-mail."

"Of course she is!" I thunder.

"Tiffany's your friend. She would't say these things."

Why is he defending her? "My friend? Puh-lease! She hates my guts. And, trust me, the feeling is mutual."

"I feel really bad about this, Heejoon. I really do. But you can't jump to conclusions," Chanhee says. "I want to know who did this as badly as you do. And as soon as I figure it out, trust me, I'll let 'em have it!"

"Figure it out?" I sputter, unable to control myself. "There's nothing to figure out. It's Tiffany. Look," I say, waving the piece of paper in the air. "Look at how she spelled my name, 'Lee Heejoon.' That's classic Tiffany. When she wrote that crap about my dad being gay, she spelled my name with Lee, too."

Chanhee's eyes widen. "Your dad is gay?" he gasps. "But he's married! What about your mom?"

"Oh, no, no, he's not," I say. I quickly explain the LEE HEEJOON'S DAD IS A FLAMER incident. "This is totally her style."

Chanhee thinks it over. I can tell he's getting it, seeing through Tiffany's facade. And then he says, "But you don't know that. I agree that whoever wrote that on the backboard is probably the same person who sent the e-mail. But you have no way of knowing that it was Tiffany who wrote on the blackboard in the first place. Do you?"

"It was her," I say confidently. "I heard her friend laughing about it the next day, saying how brilliant Tiffany was for callling out my dad like that."

Chanhee starts to object, but I cut him off. "Let's not talk about it," I say. "We're never going to see eye-to-eye. I'm just going to forget this whole e-mail even exists."

He looks like he wants to say something, but he doesnt.

- - -

"I'm gonna kick your tomorrow."

"You are not," I taunt, giving Chanhee a wicked smile. "I already told you. I'm the air hockey champ of Missouri. You can't mess with that."

"Ah, yes. But you know what they say. Don't mess with Texas."

I groan. I walked right into that one.

It's later that night, and we're sitting sprawled out on the floor of the living room, watching Smallville reruns and trying to forget about the evil e-mail. Except we're not really watching the episode so much as we're talking over them.

Things have been kind of tense between Chanhee and me since our argument about the e-mail. But we're trying to move past it. We've made plans to go to the arcade after school tomorrow for our own personal air hockey tournament.

The phone rings. Ordinarily I would make a mad dash to answer it, but I'm so engrossed in Smallville that I let Dad get it.

A few minutes later he appears in the living room. "Chunji, it's for you."

I blink in surprise. What? How is that possible. Chanhee jumps up and goes into the kitchen to get on the line.

"Dad!" I hiss, standing up off the floor. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Do I think what's a good idea?"

"Letting Chan—Chunji," I catch myself, "take a phone call. Are you sure it's safe? Remember what you told me the first day Chunji got here? You said if anybody called asking for him, that was an emergency."

"I said it was an emergency situation if anyone called asking for," he mouths the word, "Chanhee. But you're right to be concerned. If anyone calls asking for Chunji, don't put him on the phone—take a message and bring it to me right away."

I feel like stomping my feet. I'm so annoyed. "No offense, Dad, but you're sending a ton of mixed messages. Can Chunji talk on the phone or not?"

"We're going to evaluate it on a call-by-call basis," Dad says, sounding all FBI-ish. "In this case, it's all right. It's just one of your friends."

"One of my friends?" I ask. "Inyoung's calling to talk to Chunji?"

"Not Inyoung. Tiffany."

"What?" I gasp. "YOU LET HIM TALK TO HER?!?!"

"Relax. She called her for him the other night, too. This girl is harmless. She wants to invite Chanhee to a picnic tomorrow after school with some kids from Copperfield. I told her that sounded great and that Chunji would love to go."

"Since when are you making decisions for Chunji?"

Dad looks taken aback. I don't usually challenge him like this. "Since he's under my care, that's when. Tiffany and I talked for a couple of minutes and she mentioned the picnic tomorrow. I told her it sounded like a lot of fun and I was fairly certain Chunji was free."

I shake my head. "You don't get it. That girl is poison."

"Tiffany seems harmless. She's very friendly. It'll be good for Chunji to make some casual friends. As long as he doesn't get too close to anyone."

I feel like crap. "Chunji and I are supposed to play air hockey at the arcade tomorrow. We've been planning it all week."

Dad waves his hand dismissively. "One day apart won't kill you. It's important for Chunji to have a decent social life. It will help keep him from getting depressed. And," he whispers conspiratorially, "it's good for his cover. Sometimes the best plast to blend in is the center of a crowd."

Dad leaves to go for his nightly jog, and I sink back down on the floor. My father has no idea what's he's talking about. Hanging out with Tiffany Hwang isn't good for anybody, especially not Chanhee. He's probably feeling super vulnerable and weak right now. Tiffany will swoop in like a vulture and tear him to pieces.

Chanhee comes back a minute later, looking embarrassed. "That was Tiffany," he sas apologetically. "She kind of invited me to go on a picnic tomorrow with 'the girls'. It's at the same time as our air hockey tournament."

"I know. Dad told me."

"I feel awful about this..."

He's going to cancel. He's going to cancel on me to go out with her. I pick at a stray thread on my jeans. I can't look him in the eyes. I don't want to give away how hurt I am.

"So I told Tiffany I couldn't go on account of our air hockey match," Chanhee continues.

My ears perk up. He turned her down? To hang out with me? That's fantastic!

"And she said, 'That sounds fun, I love air hockey! The girls and I can meet you and Heejoon at the arcade. Unless there's some reason you want to be alone with your cousin.'"

I chew my lower lip. That doesn't sound good. Is it possible Tiffany's figured out Chanhee's not my cousin? I push that thought out of my head. No, she's not that smart. She's just being y.

"So I kind of had to say 'yes' after that," Chanhee admits. "But I think it will probably be pretty fun. I hope you don't mind."

I do, but what can I say? "It's okay," I tell him. "I'll just kick Tiffany's after I kick yours!"

- - -

Another update in NEW YEAR! ^^

But this time, it's not for new year. It's for.... *insert drum rolls*

이성민♥

Happy 27th birthday, Lee Sungmin. May God bless you, your family, your members and your loved ones everyday. I love you so much for being the aegyo king you are. And of course, even with that aegyo of yours, you still have that tough man inside. One minute you're in your aegyo voice, another you're already the manly Lee Sungmin. I love both sides of yours. If people say you're a two-faced, I'll say you're Lee Sungmin and that's what made you special. If people say you're gay for liking pink, I'll say you are a real man for wearing pink.

Happy Birthday Lee Sungmin. This is the second time I ever wish you and I hope there will be a third, fourth, fifth time!

나는 당신을 사랑합니다♥