I stifle a laugh.

Um, Kim Chunji? Who thought that up? Does Chanhee’s “cover” also say he’s a major geek? “Why Chunji?" I ask my dad. What I really want to say is, “What’s wrong with the FBI? Couldn’t they give him a nice, normal name like Junho or Changmin instead of a nerdy name like Chunji? Are they trying to screw up his social life?”

Dad shrugs. “I don’t make those kinds of decisions. It’s really not that important. This is merely a temporary thing while the investigation continues. It’s not like Chanhee has to be Chunji for the rest of his life. In fact, you could even have a nickname,” Dad offers, running his fingers through his almost nonexistent hair. “Like just Chunji or Channie.”

“Channie?!” I exclaim. “I have to tell you, Dad, but that’s beyond dorky.”

Before we can argue on it further, Chanhee pipes up. “It’s okay. I think I’ll stick with Chunji. Thank you, sir.” He picks up the new driver’s license and turns it over in his hands. “What’s in a name?” he jokes.

“You’re going to fit right in, Chunji.” Dad looks so proud of himself, which is kind of ironic. This whole thing is borderline ridiculous, seeing how a hottie like Chanhee/Chunji could never go unnoticed at Cop-a-Feel High. He’s going to be the center of attention the second he steps through the front door. I don’t tell Dad that, though. He’s got this mondo excited look on his face, and I don’t want to burst his bubble.

“The paperwork says you’re from Peach Tree City, Georgia, which is right outside of Atlanta. We had to go with somewhere southern so your accent would ring true, but we wanted to get away from Texas.”

Chanhee nods. “Georgia’s great. I can easily pretend to be from there.”

“One other thing,” Dad says, turning to face me. “Chunji is going to be posing as your third cousin. And since his last name is Kim, he’s from my side of the family. So if anyone asks, that means you and Chunji share the same great-great-grandfather. Got it?”

I nod, even though I don’t have a clue how this bizarre family tree works. I have never understood all those second and third cousin things. At least Dad hasn’t added “once or twice removed” to the mix. Then I’d be really lost.

“Your mom will be home in an hour or so, and I was thinking we could all go out for dinner tonight to celebrate Chunji’s arrival. What do you say?”

I absolutely love going out to eat, so I naturally say yes. Chanhee is excited, too. “Where are we going?” Chanhee asks.

“How about The Cheesecake Factory?” Dad says.

The Cheesecake Factory is practically my favorite restaurant in the world. Their dinner portions are so ginormous that I’m always stuffed by the time dessert rolls around. Still, I always have to order a piece of white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake even though I usually throw in the towel after a bite or two.

“The Cheesecake Factory would be divine!” I say.

“What do you think, Chunji?” Geez, Dad is really taking to this whole Chunji thing.

“I’ve never been—never heard of the place, to tell you the truth—but I love cheesecake, so I’m game.”

How can Chanhee’s family own a private plane but he’s never heard of The Cheesecake Factory?

“Why don’t you and Chunji go get ready?” Dad says. “We can leave as soon as your mom gets home.”

I want to wear a skirt or dress to dinner, which requires freshly shaven legs, so my first stop is the bathtub. When I’m finished, I go to my room to pick an outfit. I spend eons looking through my closet, finally settling on a short black skirt, a tight burgundy top from Express, and a pair of knee-high black boots. It’s one of the chicest outfits I own, and I always feel super self-confident when I’m wearing it.

I take great pains getting dressed and fixing my hair and makeup. I flatiron my hair until they’re sleek, and I curl my eyelashes and carefully apply liner and eye shadow. It takes nearly an hour, but when I’m finished, I’m pleasantly surprised with the final product. Maybe I should start getting up an hour earlier for school and do this every day!

I don’t know why, but I’m really excited about dinner. It’s going to be fun to take Chanhee out and show him off—even if it’s only to other diners in the restaurant. I’m feeling pretty fantastic until I get downstairs and bump into Mom. She’s sitting on the living room couch chatting with Chanhee/Chunji.

“Heejoon!” she says when she sees me. “You look adorable!”

Adorable? I was so not going for adorable. y goddess, maybe. Gorgeous, even. Heck, I’d have been satisfied with a simple “You look really nice.” But “adorable” makes me sound like a kindergartner.

Then Mom says, “The last time you dressed up like this was your first date with Henry, wasn’t it?”

I gasp. Oh my God, why did she have to bring that up? Now Chanhee’s eyeing me curiously. He probably thinks I consider this some whacked-out double date with him and my parents. I’m so humiliated.

Luckily, Mom gets up from the couch. “Let me go changed clothes and then we can leave.”

I start to sit down next to Chanhee, being careful to leave an empty seat between us. But my heel gets caught on a loose strand of carpet and I fall into the middle seat, practically landing in his lap.

“Uh, sorry,” I mumble, quickly scooting over to the opposite end of the couch. I certainly don’t want to make this any more awkward. Chanhee keeps looking at me in this funny way, and I worry he’s about to set me straight. What if my crush is totally obvious? Not that what I have is a crush. Not exactly. It’s more like a precrush. There should be some term for that.

“I was wondering if I could ask you something?” Chanhee says shyly.

I nod. Uh-oh, here it comes.

“Who’s Henry? Your boyfriend?”

Whoa. This could be a good sign, right? I try to steady my nerves. “He’s my ex-boyfriend. We broke up a while ago. He transferred to a private school a couple of months ago, which made things easier. Now I don’t have to see him between classes or at pep rallies and games."

Chanhee thinks it over. “Do you still hang out with him?”

“Never. We broke up on kind of bad terms.” I examine Chanhee’s face for some reaction—relief, happiness—but nothing shows.

“I’m sorry to hear that. People sometimes,” he says, pushing a lock of hair out of his eyes. “And bad breakups especially. It’s the same way with my ex-girlfriend, Nicole. She cheated on me, and there was no way I was gonna stay with her after that. At first I was really depressed, but then I realized it was better to find out her true personality now.”

I can’t imagine why any girl in her right mind would cheat on a guy like Chanhee. “For what it’s worth, I think this Nicole girl is an idiot.”

“Thanks.” He smiles. “Do you have a lot of guy friends?”

“A few,” I say, although this is kind of a stretch. Other than Inyoung’s boyfriend Byunghun, I don’t have any guy friends. And Byunghun and I are only friends by default, because he’s my BFF’s main squeeze. I’m dying to know what Chanhee means by all this, so I just come right out and ask. “Why are you so interested in my guy friends?” This is a little bold for me. I’m usually not so brave, but I figure that bravery is a crucial trait for a junior spy.

“I was thinkin’ how hard it’s going to be to meet people,” Chanhee says. “I figured if you knew a lot of guys, you could help introduce me around.”

“Oh.” I feel stupid now. Duh, of course that’s what he meant.

“Unless you like shooting hoops and stuff,” Chanhee continues. “And, uh, I’m a er for air hockey.”

I smile. “I’m not much of a basketball player, but I’m practically the state champ when it comes to air hockey.”

Chanhee’s eyes twinkle. “Well, you may be the Missouri state champ, but I got Texas all the way.”

“Is that a challenge?” I tease.

“Might be.” He smiles. “What do you say we have a face-off one of these days?”

“It sounds like a plan.”

Chanhee extends his hand and we shake on it. Even though it’s brief, it feels funny touching him. We talk for a few more minutes about our upcoming air hockey date (well, maybe “date” is the wrong word), and then my parents come downstairs and leave for dinner.

“Oops, I almost forgot something,” Chanhee says, dashing upstairs to retrieve a gray North Face jacket.

“Great jacket,” I tell him, admiringly.

“This thing?” he laughs, slipping it on. “It’s okay… I mean, my family wouldn’t let me bring any of my really nice clothes, so I had to settle for stuff like this.”

Settle for North Face? Is he kidding? I would kill for a North Face jacket! Before I have time to ask if he’s joking, Dad ushers us out of the front door.

I sit in the backseat next to Chanhee during the car ride, but we don’t talk much. My mom spends most of the trip telling us about how she got into fight with her editor. “He doesn’t understand that I want to take some time off, work from home a little more. Most of the other columnist are allowed to do it, so why not me?”

My ears perk up when she says this. What possible reason would Mom have to want to work from home unless she, gulp, really is pregnant?

Even on a Monday night, The Cheesecake Factory is packed. We have to wait half an hour for a table. We finally get seated at a table right smack dab in the center of the restaurant, which suits me fine. I’m a people person by nature, and I love being at the center of the action. Although… this probably isn’t the best advantage point for a spy. We’re open targets, sitting ducks for anyone who wants to make a play for Chanhee. I decide to keep my eyes peeled for anything suspicious. I’m sure Dad is doing the same thing but when I look over at him, he’s happily browsing through the menu, oblivious to what’s going on around us.

“So, Chanhee, what kind of food do you like?” Mom asks.

“Yes, Chunji, what are you going to order?” Dad says, shooting my mother a pointed look.

“Sorry,” she whispers.

It’s an easy mistake to make. This name thing is going to be tough!

“I guess I’ll have pizza,” Chanhee decides. He looks kind of bored. “We never get pizza at home, so I might as well be adventurous.”

“You never have pizza?” I ask. That seems so strange! I can’t imagine life without pizza.

“I may have it once a year. Most of my friends would rather sit around the country club eating prime rib or lobster.”

I can’t imagine passing over pizza or burgers for something like lobster. Seafood is way gross, if you ask me. “I’ve never ever tried lobster,” I admit.

“What a shame.” Chanhee laughs. “You’re missing out.”

I feel my face redden. He looks so amused, like he can’t believe there’s someone on the planet who has yet to try lobster. Wow, I realize suddenly, this must seem positively pedestrian to a guy like Chanhee. He’s used to fancy restaurants, lobster dinners, expensive clothes. I’m sure being around dull, ordinary, uncultured people like me must bore him to tears! He’s probably just being nice to me because he has to.

The waiter comes over and I order lemon chicken with mashed potatoes, and both Dad and Mom get pasta. True to be his word, Chanhee orders the Big Five Pizza which is an enormous pie covered with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and peppers. He asked them to hold the onions, which is what I always do if I think I’m going to be kissing someone soon.

Dinner is really pleasant and when it comes time to order dessert I’m surprised to find Chanhee and I like the exact same type. “You want to share?” I ask. “I can never eat a whole piece.”

“Sounds good,” he says, shrugging. I blush again. Why do I have to be so pushy? He probably wants his own piece but is too polite to say so.

We’ve just gotten our desserts when I feel somebody squeeze my shoulder. It startles me and I accidentally drop my knife, sending a sliver of cheesecake tumbling to my lap. “Well, hello there, Heejoon.”

I turn around to see who it is. Oh. My. God. Of all the people in the world did we have to run into Tiffany Hwang?! Talk about spoiling your appetite.

“Who’s your friend?” she asks, gesturing toward Chanhee.

“Oh, this is my cousin Chunji,” I say.

“Cousin.” She giggles. “I should have known. Not that you two look alike but, well, you know.”

I hate her. I absolutely hate her. I want to stab her with my butter knife.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to everyone?”

“Mom, Dad, Chunji, this is Tiffany Hwang. We go to school together.”

“Chunji’s going to be at Copperfield High soon,” Dad announces.

Tiffany’s eyes grow huge, but she quickly recovers. She tosses her long hair over one shoulder. “So nice to meet you.” She smiles briefly at my parents, but then her attention goes right back to Chanhee. “Chunji, are you from out of town?”

“I just moved her from Georgia,” Chanhee says.

“Georgia!” Tiffany squeals. “So that’s where your accent comes from. Has anyone ever told you how precious it is?” Before Chanhee can answer she turns and gives me an exaggerated nudge. “He’s a cutie. You should have introduced us before now. Heejoon, you’re one of my best friends and I didn’t even know you had a hottie cousin!”

Could she lay it on any thicker? Tiffany’s going to need a shovel to get out from under all this. Surely no one is buying this.

“I like your friend,” Dad says after Tiffany has walked away to go rejoin her family.

Dad’s a secret agent—he should be a better judge of character than this. I want to tell him the truth about Tiffany, but I don’t want to come off as a jealous wench in front of Chanhee.

My mom, who has been quiet this whole time, throws me a knowing look. “It’s a girl thing,” she mouths, and I think she’s right. Some things guys just don’t understand. And girl-to-girl iness is one of them. They never get when we’re being fake with each other.

“She seems very nice,” Dad adds.

I’m about to object when I look over and see Chanhee nodding his head. “Just when I was worried St. Louis might not be so great, things are starting to look up. Especially if all of Heejoon’s friends are so awesome.”

I feel my heart sink. He thinks Tiffany is awesome?

“I’m glad you’re getting a jump-start on meeting people,” Dad chimes in. “Who knows, maybe Chunji and Tiffany will become great friends. Wouldn’t that be terrific, Heejoon?”

“Yeah,” I say, stabbing at my cheesecake with a fork. “Abso-freaking-lutely terrific.”

- - -

I know Chunji is NOT a nerd name, but let's just pretend it is, okay?! xD

Updated 'cause it's JS&Hyuna debut stage on Music Bank! I freaking watched it and I freaking won't stop squealing. Jang Hyunseong is sucha a hottie and cutie. ><

Kkkk. I'll keep it short this time. Not in the mood to write it longer. Hehe.

As usual. Read, subscribe (if you haven't), enjoy and don't for get to comment below! ^^

Updated on: 7:02pm, 9.12.2011

Peace out! ;D