Chapter Five: Jinx

When Hansol enters the shop on Saturday morning, he sits at his usual table and frowns at me. "I thought you said that Maple Hills gets chilly in fall," he says, while he sits down at our usual table. "It's still pretty warm out."

I shake my head and bring him his usual black milk tea. "It will," I assure him, shaking my head and sitting down across from him. "Homecoming is usually the beginning of winter, weather-wise."

"That's in October, right?

"It's the Saturday of week before Halloween. You'd better wear something nice, because you're taking Sunhee. But not, like, a full suit or anything. Just a nice shirt and not jeans."

"Ah." Hansol sighs. "I don't think I've ever been to a school dance before."

"They're terrible," I inform him, raising my eyebrows. "Do you want to hear all the terrible club pop songs of 2008 to 2011?"

"...No?"

"God, that was a terrible musical era." I sigh. "But that's not the point. You're going to want to show up an hour late, because the only people there for the first hour are student council and Sunhee got out of setting up this time. And actually dance with her, okay? Don't just make her grind on you, you'll look like a ."

"Gotcha." Hansol looks up at me. "Are you, like, really well-versed in school dances or something?"

I shake my head. "Nope. Never been to one, but people complain about them all the time."

"Makes sense."

"Yeah." I shrug. "How's it going with Sunhee, anyway?"

He shrugs right back. "You tell me."

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"It's her first time in a real relationship, but she thinks you're too emotionally distant," I explain, crossing my arms. "Be more affectionate. Hug her in public or something. Hold hands. Have you kissed her yet?"

"N-no?"

"Then wait for the right moment," I say, with a nod. "Maybe homecoming. But make it happen."

"Should I be taking notes?"

I laugh.  "Yes. Quiz on Monday."

He snaps his fingers. "Darn. I was going to...do other things."

"Do you even have a social life, outside of my squad?"

"I mean...you guys are also the only people I know, so..."

"Ah." I nod. "Sure is a shame you're stuck with us losers."

"You guys aren't -"

"Joking. As usual." I give him a half-smile. It's been about a month since we've started with these Saturday talks - technically, I'm supposed to be explaining magical concepts to him, but usually, we just end up talking about Sunhee or school or whatever. As it turns out, he's not just an irritating boy with distractingly pretty eyes who also happens to be dating my best friend; he's actually a fairly smart person who's easy and fun to talk to. "But seriously. The only class I have with you is algebra. What else are you taking, even, and with who?"

"Oh, um, basic stuff. LA, chemistry, US history, gym. And catering. Isn't that - that's standard for juniors here, right?"

"I figured you were in Sunhee's crazy environmental science class. You can help me with my homework!" I say, smiling brightly. Then I pause. "Wait, aren't you taking a language?"

"Nope. I'm bilingual anyways, so." He shrugs. "I'm probably just going to test out."

"English and Korean?"

"Yeah."

I sigh. "I wish I knew Korean. My mom speaks it, but I don't. Even though I can understand it, kind of."

"She could teach you."

"I'm sure she would if she was here."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh. My parents are both history professors," I explain, taking a sip of my tea. "And when they got the opportunity to teach at my dad's alma mater in Glasgow for a year, they jumped at it."

Hansol frowns. "Why didn't they take you?"

"I didn't want to leave Sunhee or Wonwoo." I shrug. "But I guess that's not the point. Anyways, where were we...classes with Sunhee? Or literally anyone?"

"It's good that you're close to them," Hansol says thoughtfully, ignoring my attempt to change the subject, much to my annoyance. I give him a light chop on the shoulder, but he just continues. "It's hard to keep friends for that long."

"...Thanks?"

"Yeah," he says, nodding. "Anyways, yeah, I don't have anything with Sunhee except for algebra. But Wonwoo's in my gym class."

"Ah." I laugh. "He's seriously good at everything he tries, isn't he? It's crazy. If he wasn't too busy being a giant nerd, he'd be a great athlete."

Hansol nods in agreement and sighs, resting his head in one hand. "It really emphasizes the fact that I'm terrible at sports," he replies, seeing almost genuinely pained. But then I see the corners of his lips perk up, and he bursts out into laughter. Then I'm laughing, too. And somewhere in the back of my mind, it occurs to me that Hansol Choi and I have become friends.

"There is no need to make homecoming plans yet," I say to Sunhee, on the phone, as I look up a spell to dye my hair auburn. (As much as I love the purple, sometimes, you just have to change things. And if it looks bad, changing it back to purple would be a snap.) "It isn't for a month, anyways."

"Yeah, but there are posters up. I helped put them up," she adds, sounding distressed and slightly proud of herself at the same time. "The theme is Candyland, by the way. And you're not supposed to know that."

I groan. "Candyland? What does that even mean? Ugh."

"Not the point."

"Ah, yes. The point. The point is," I continue, "It's not for a month! Don't stress."

"What if he doesn't ask me?"

"He's your boyfriend. He's going to ask you."

"But will he be freaked out if I ask him?" Sunhee continues. "It's not a Sadie Hawkins, but also, it shouldn't matter because we're living in the 21st century, right?"

"Sunhee."

"You're right." She sighs. "I just - I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"Of...I don't know. Love. Liking. Relationships. Kissing. The world. What a Candyland-themed homecoming constitutes."

Make Sunhee a pair of anti-anxiety earrings, I think to myself. "I know this isn't really advice in the slightest, but try not to worry. Your BF is a good egg and you'll have a good time."

"But if he kisses me - what do I do? It'd be my first kiss." 

"You'll kiss him back under the romantic...lighting...of a candy cane somewhere." I nod, though Sunhee can't see it. 

Apparently this was the right answer; she lets out the most lovestruck giggle I've ever heard. "That does sound nice. Really nice." She sighs happily, apparently satisfied.

I'm about to hang up and see what I look like as a red head, but then Sunhee says, "I'm guessing Wonwoo's taking you?"

"Oh, yeah. Do you guys need a ride?" I reply, quite pointedly not taking her bait.

"I mean, probably. But also, you know that's not what I meant."

"Oh, I know what you meant," I say, rolling my eyes. "We're going as friends. Platonic friends."

"Alright, alright. But it's his last high school homecoming, ever!" Sunhee says, half-excited, half-desperate. "Don't you want to make it special?"

I sigh. "Platonic bonds are just as special as romantic ones," I reply, shaking my head. "I'm going to go read the next chapter of Huckleberry Finn. See you later?"

"See ya," she replies, and hangs up. I sigh and flop down on my bed, all motivation to dye my hair (or do much of anything) suddenly gone. I try to think about why Sunhee's trying to set me up so hard with Wonwoo, but nothing logical comes to my head. The closest thing to something that makes sense that I can think of is that she's blinded by her own love, and just can't help seeing it where it isn't there.

So why are her suggestions messing me up so much?

I take my copy of Huck Finn off the shelf and sigh - I actually do need to have the next chapter read by Monday, and it's a boring- book. It'll probably take me a while. But thoughts of homecoming swim in my head. I shoot Hansol a text saying something about asking Sunhee soon before I start reading, but I'm only half paying attention.

"Layla, are you mad at me?"

I look up from my lunch; I've been spacing out. Wonwoo looks concerned. "I'm not mad," I reply, shaking my head. "Just kind of...stressed, I guess."

"And that's why you've been suspiciously quiet all lunch?" 

"Hey, not all the schemes can be zany."

"You know you can tell me whatever's wrong, right?"

"Nothing's wrong!" The words come out more angrily than I want them to. "I'm sorry," I say, immediately after. 

Wonwoo sighs. "Talk to me."

"It's just. We're friends, right? We're a male-female friendship. And it's cool. We're both cool with that. Right?" I ask, nodding.

He shrugs. "Yep."

"And we're both attracted to the opposite . Mostly," I add, as an afterthought.

"Also yep? Where are you going with this?" Wonwoo asks, crossing his arms.

"Sunhee wants us to date. Like, when we're not talking about Hansol, we're talking about the idea of you and I in a relationship. And I'm just..." I sigh. "Tell me I'm not crazy for thinking that that's crazy."

Wonwoo shrugs. "I mean, to be fair, we do pretty much everything together. And I'm driving you to homecoming. But you're not any more crazy than you usually are, I promise."

"Thank you," I reply, nodding. "I just miss the days when our friendship passed the Bechdel test, you know?"

"I mean, it makes sense. She's young and in love."

"For a given measure of 'love'. We're high schoolers. There's an 89% chance they break up by the time the year is over, anyway."

Wonwoo chuckles. "Has anyone ever told you that you're kind of cynical?"

I feign offense. "No! My goody goodness, me? Cynical? No." Then I laugh. "Anyway. How's learning Romanian going?"

"Aeroglisorul meu e plin de tipari," he replies. "That means 'my hovercraft is full of eels'."

"Which, I'm sure, is a pretty important Romanian phrase to know," I say, raising my eyebrows.

He sighs. "Or you could just not be not getting my reference."

"Yep."

Wonwoo sighs, but I can tell he's not as exasperated as he's acting. "It's from Monty Python's Flying Circus. We should get together and watch it sometime."

I nod. "Maybe Friday after school or something? Or, actually, whenever your house isn't crowded?"

Wonwoo rolls his eyes. "I'll pencil you in for whenever hell freezes over. Everyone's moving in and out, since Samhain is so soon and Jeonghan is witnessing for people. It's a mess."

"Oh, yeah. It's October. Right." I nod. Samhain is, basically, the most important holiday in the witch year. Symbolically, it's the day that the year switches from light to dark, and it's the celebration of winter. But more importantly, it's usually the day that 18-year-old witches and warlocks choose if they're going to stay or leave, in this stupidly intricate ceremony that requires a witness and candles and stuff. (There are other days, but Samhain is, like, the best day.) It also happens to fall on Halloween. I usually spend Samhain with my family and Wonwoo's family together.

"Yeah. Can your mom and dad make it home this year?" he asks, slightly concerned. 

I shake my head. "Nah. They'll be home for winter break, but not for any of the real holidays."

"Ah. ."

"I guess. But at least I have you, right?"

Wonwoo shifts unccomfortably; my face falls. "I'm...going to Changwon. I have a cousin who just turned 18, and my dad is witnessing. I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine," I reply, expertly hiding any hurt I might feel. "There's always Amy."

"I'm sorry, Layla. Seriously."

"You don't have to be. Tell me what it's like out there in the real world, okay?" I give Wonwoo my biggest, best "Layla-Always-Okay" smile; he smiles back. "Anyways, we can always watch that movie or whatever some other time. Just give me eel hovercraft context, and we're golden." The subject change works too, and we spend the rest of the night planning. I put whatever negative feelings I have at the back of my mind, to deal with later.

"Hey!" Sunhee runs up to our locker after school, grinning widely. "He asked me. I would've just called you later but oh my goodness I am excited."

"Con-congratulations?" I reply, nearly dropping my history textbook in surprise. Sunhee is in, like, every club - Korean heritage, student council, gardening, other things that she's in because why not - and pretty much has stuff to do after school every day. "Don't you have...something?"

She shrugs. "Gardening club got canceled since Mr. Carsen is sick."

"Ah. But hey, we can walk home together. Just like when we were little." I smile at her, finishing packing up my stuff and closing our locker.

Sunhee nods. "Exactly! Oh, and let's stop and get something to eat, too."

I reach my hand into my pocket. "I only have a few dollars."

Sunhee shrugs. "It's no problem. I'm hyped and willing to pay for your food. So let's go."

I laugh as we start walking. "Jeez. You'd think he also gave you a million dollars or something,"

"Oh, no. But he didn't just ask me to homecoming."

I whiz around. "What did he do?"

"I'll tell you when we're outside. Keep walking!"

"Why can't you tell me when we're inside?"

"Because it's embarassing!" 

She's blushing bright red, so I drop the subject. "Fine, fine. Let's go to Starbucks or something."

Sunhee frowns. "Don't you want to go to Cypress?"

I shake my head. "As much as I love Amy, I want a change of scenery. And non-organic pastries. With gluten."

"Alright." Sunhee nearly jumps down the stairs leading out of the school; I run to catch up with her. 

As soon as we hit the sunlight, I turn around again. "So. We're outside. Spill your beans."

She sighs dreamily. "Alright. So I was walking out of Econ, right. And we'd just had a test and Mrs. Cillian was being really terrible, so I was down. But then Hansol was waiting for me outside the classroom. With brownies."

"Not brownies with anything in them, right?" I cross my arms. 

"No. He made them in catering. And there was one that he shaped into this heart, that was like...not a heart at all, you know? But I could tell he tried." She giggles. "And he gave it to me, so I said 'thank you', and he was like, 'so hey, I know homecoming isn't for a while, but...do you want to go with me?' with the pause, like that."

"And you said yes."

"Of course I said yes!" Sunhee pushes me on the arm playfully. "And then, guess what."

"What?"

"He kind of, like, leaned in, and kissed my forehead. Like a soap opera or something, oh my god. He's never been that affectionate in public, you know? But it was still low-key and I really appreciated that. It was perfect. He's perfect."

I wrap an arm around her shoulder and grin. "Congrats, young Padawan," I say.

But on the inside, something in me twists; it feels like my lungs are shrinking, or something. I think of what Wonwoo said earlier - she's young and in love. And I'm young and a supporting character in my best friend's romantic drama. 

So that's probably what's wrong; I shrug the feeling off and make a half-joke so that my lungs feel whole again. "So when's the wedding?" I ask, smirking. Sunhee turns an even brighter shade of red.

But she's smiling. She's happy. And if there's one thing that I know about my life, it's that Sunhee Lee's happiness is the #1 thing that matters.

A/N: It returns!

But I'm tired.

And this is unbeta'd.

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And the next chapter will be later. <3