Turns out, RM's shotgun was stolen. He also had a hella bunch of heroin and other narcotics in his coat. Jacqueline says since he's eighteen and he's been arrested before, he might be tried as an adult and serve some time in prison. Right now, he's being detoxed in a jail cell. Jacqueline says his attorney will try to persuade the judge to put him in a state-run rehab facility for a couple of week while he awaits trail. No guarantee that will happen, though.

I get all this information the day after the events in the surf shop, so I relay it by text to Taehyung and let him know. We haven't really had any time to talk, with all the chaos. His family showed up few minutes after the cops and were understandably freaked. Mr. Kim was so angry at RM, he had to be restrained until Mrs. Kim could talk him down. Jacqueline called appa, who immediately left work and rushed over to the surf shop to make sure I was okay. It was a whole fiasco.

By the time we'd given statements and everyone cleared out, Taehyung had to go to work at the Vogue, so I followed appa home. It wasn't until he was ordering us lunch that I realized Taehyung had, at some point when I wasn't paying attention, slipped the shark tooth back into my pocket. I got a text from him a few minutes later.

All it said was: We're not done talking.

The next day after dinner, out of nowhere, appa asks to see my old map of the boardwalk. I'd almost thrown it away in a fit when V blew me off weeks ago. I have to dig it out from my desk drawer in my room. Appa spreads it out on the patio table near our tree and studies it, nodding slowly.

"What?" I say.

Appa sits back in his chair and smiles at me. "You know, you're persistent and stubborn. You got that from eomma. It's what attracted me to Jacqueline. It's what makes her a good cop."

I give him the side eye. Where's he going with this?

"However, this thing has its downside, because it's all forward movement with blinders on. Like a horse, you know?" He holds his hands up on either side of his eyes. "You plow ahead, and you make a lot of progress that other people wouldn't make, but you can't see what's happening on either side of the road. You have blindspots. You ignore things that are right next to you. Your eomma did that all the time."

"Is that why you got divorced?"

He thinks about this for a long time. "It was one reason. But this isn't about your mom and me. I'm talking about you. And your blindspots. Don't be too persistent. Sometimes you've got to stop and look around."

"Why don't you ever just come out and tell me what you're trying to say, Yoda?"

"Because I'm trying to raise you to think for yourself, young Jedi. I can offer advice, but you've got to do the work. The whole goal of parenting is for you to become an independent woman and come up with your own answers. Not for me to provide them for you."

"It sounds like you read that in a parenting book."

He holds back a smile. "Maybe I did."

"What a dork," I tease. "Okay, what's your advice, then? Lay it on me."

"Have you told Taehyung that you were talking to V before you moved out here?"

"Um, no."

"Maybe you should. People can sense when you're holding things back from them. I knew your mom was cheating on me with Minho for months before she told me. I had no proof, but I could sense something was wrong."

I'm so floored by this, I don't know what to say. Appa has never talked much about Minho - or that he knew Eomma was cheating with Minho. It makes me uncomfortable. What's weird is that he's so casual. But it's sort of weirder that we can talk about this together now. And wait just one stinking second -

"I wasn't cheating on Taehyung with V," I tell him. "Or cheating on V with Taehyung."

"What you actually did or didn't do doesn't matter," Appa says. "It's the secrecy that eats away at you. Just tell Taehyung. And maybe be honest with V while you're at it. You'll feel better, I promise."

"I don't know about that," I mutter.

"Like I said, it's not my job to do the work for you." He folds up the map in neat squares. "But my advice, dearest daughter, is that you settle up your boy problems in order, one at a time."

☜(⌒▽⌒)☞

It takes me an entire day to think about everything Appa said, but I think I finally see the logic. V was a big part of my daily life for a long time. And, sure, he blew me off. But I should have told him I'd moved across the ocean. Maybe if I'd tell him now, he won't even care anymore, especially now that I've broken the ice about Taehyung in that last heart-to-heart messaging we had. I guess I won't know until I try.

@GiantMaknae: Hey. Me, again. Are you still there?

His reply comes two hours later.

@V: I'm here. What's up?

@GiantMaknae: Since we were being all super honest in our last talk, I thought I'd do some more spilling. This one is a little bigger. Are you ready?

@V: Should I be sitting? *is afriad*

@GiantMaknae: Probably.

@V: Sitting.

@GiantMaknae: Okay, so here's the deal. I'm in town, living with appa, and have been here for a while. Sorry I didn't say anything. Long story, but I was worried it might be weird, and I have a tendency to avoid confrontation. But better late and never? I was wondering if you wanted to get together and have lunch. Anyways . . . this is getting awkward, so I'll shut up. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry I never said anything about being here, and I thought maybe I could apologize in person, since we're both in the same town and used to be friends. (And hopefully still are?) What do you say?

I wait and wait for his reply. This is a mistake. I should probably delete my message. If he hasn't read it yet, I might still be able to . . .

@V: What about your boyfriend?

@GiantMaknae: This would be a nonromantic lunch. I'm sorry, nothing's changed since our last conversation. I'm still not over him.

@V: Why don't we go with our original plan? Meet me Sunday night on the beach under the California flag, half an hour before the fashion festival's showing of GUCCI: Limited Edition.

Oh, shoot. I wasn't prepared for that! I tear my room apart searching for the festival guide that Mark gave me and look up the schedule for the shows they're showing on the beach. The GUCCI: Limited Edition doesn't start until 9 p.m. It will be dark by then. Should I meet a strange boy after dark? That doesn't seem advisable. Then again, it's public, and when I browse the guide, there are pictures from last year; all the concessions areas appear well lit. Surely the flag is somewhere around there.

Should I do this? 

@GiantMaknae: Okay. I'll meet you there.

That's one boy problem taken care of. Now for the next. This one seems harder. I shoot off a quick text.

Me: Hey, are you busy? I was hoping we could meet somewhere and talk. I'm willing to do the quid pro thing now. You win.

Taehyung: Actually, I'm sort of booked util after Sunday. How about after that?

Me: Okay, it's a deal. Will text you then.

Actually, I'm relieved. GUCCI: Limited Edition is on Sunday, so that gives me time to meet V and mend things with him before I talk to Taehyung. Who knew two boys could be so much trouble?