“Dara?” Top said, knocking on the door. “Bom was going to run some errands; she wanted me to let you know in case you needed to go.”

Jiyong hadn’t taken his eyes from mine. “ Butterfly?”

“Yeah,” I called to Top. “I have some stuff I need to take care of.”

“All right, she’s ready to go when you are,” Top said, his footsteps disappearing down the hall.

 “Dara?”

 I pulled a few things from the closet and slid past him. “Can we talk about this later? I have a lot to do today.”

 “Sure,” he said with a contrived smile.

 It was a relief to escape to the bathroom. I quickly closed the door behind me. Two weeks left in the apartment and no way to put off the conversation—at least, not for that long. The logical part of my brain insisted that Donghae was my type: attractive, smart and interested in me. Why I bothered with Jiyong was something I would never understand.

Whatever the reason, it was making us both insane. I had been divided into two separate people: the docile, polite person I was with Donghae, and the angry, confused, frustrated person I turned into around Jiyong. The entire school had witnessed Jiyong going from unpredictable before to damn near volatile.

I dressed quickly, leaving Jiyong and Top to go downtown with Bom. She giggled about her morning capade with Top, and I listened with dutiful nods in all the right places. It was hard to focus on the topic at hand with the diamonds of my bracelet creating tiny dots of light on the ceiling of the car, reminding me of the choice I was suddenly faced with. Jiyong wanted an answer, and I didn’t have one.

 “Okay, Dara. What’s going on? You’ve been quiet.”

 “This thing with Jiyong … it’s just a mess.”

 “Why?” she said, her sunglasses pushing up when she wrinkled her nose.

 “He asked me what we were doing.”

 “What are you doing? Are you with Donghae or what?”

 “I like him, but it’s been a week. We’re not serious or anything.”

 “You have feelings for Jiyong, don’t you?”

 I shook my head. “I don’t know how I feel about him. I just don’t see it happening, Bommie. He’s too much of a bad thing.”

“Neither one of you will just come out and say it, that’s the problem. You’re both so scared of what might happen that you’re fighting it tooth and nail. I know for a fact that if you looked Jiyong in the eye and told him you wanted him, he would never look at another woman again.”

“You know that for a fact?”

“Yes. I have the inside track, remember?”

I paused in thought for a moment. Jiyong had been talking to Top about me, but Top wouldn’t encourage a relationship by telling Bom. He knew she would tell me. This led me to the only conclusion: Bom had overheard them. I wanted to ask her what was said, but thought better of it.

“That situation is a broken heart just waiting to happen,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t think he’s capable of being faithful.”

“He wasn’t capable of carrying on a friendship with a female, either, but you two sure shocked the whole of Seoul U.”

I my bracelet and sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t mind how things are. We can just be friends.”

Bom shook her head. “Except that you’re not just friends,” she sighed. “You know what? I’m over this conversation. Let’s go get our hair and makeup done. I’ll buy you a new outfit for your birthday.”

“I think that’s exactly what I need,” I said.

After hours of manicures, pedicures, being brushed, waxed, and powdered, I stepped into my shiny yellow high heels and tugged on my new, grey dress.

“Now that’s the Dara I know and love!” she laughed, shaking her head at my ensemble. “You have to wear that to your party tomorrow.”

“Wasn’t that the plan all along?” I said, smirking. My cell phone buzzed in my purse, and I held it to my ear. “Hello?”

“It’s dinner time! Where the hell did you two run off to?” Jiyong said.

“We indulged in a little pampering. You and Top knew how to eat before we came along. I’m sure you can manage.”

“Well, no . We worry about you, ya know.”

I looked at Bom and smiled. “We’re fine.”

“Tell him I’ll have you back in no time. I have to stop by Siwon's to pick up some notes for Top, and then we’ll be home.”

“Did you get that?” I asked.

“Yeah. See you then, Butterfly.”

We drove to Siwon's in silence. Bom turned off the ignition, staring at the apartment building ahead. Top asking Bom to drive over surprised me; we were just a block from Top and Jiyong's apartment.

 “What’s wrong, Bommie?”

“Siwon just gives me the creeps. The last time I was here with Top, he was being all flirty.”

“Well, I’ll go in with you. If he so much as winks at you, I’ll stab him in the eye with my new heels, okay?”

Bom smiled and hugged me. “Thanks, Dara!”

We walked to the back of the building, and Bom took a deep breath before knocking on the door. We waited, but no one came.

“I guess he’s not here?” I asked.

“He’s here,” she said, irritated. She banged on the wood with the side of her fist and then the door swung open.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” the crowd inside yelled.

The ceiling was pink and black bubbles, every inch covered by helium balloons with long silver strings hanging down in the faces of the guests. The crowd separated, and Jiyong walked approached me with a broad smile, touching each side of my face and kissing my forehead.

“Happy birthday, Dara.”

“It’s not ’til tomorrow,” I said. Still in shock, I tried smiling at everyone around us.

Jiyong shrugged. “Well, since you were tipped off, we had to make some last minute changes to surprise you. Surprised?”

 “Very!” I said as Kwanghee hugged me.

 “Happy birthday, Dara!” Kwanghee said.

Bom nudged me with her elbow. “Good thing I got you to run errands with me today or you would have shown up looking like !”

 “You look great,” Jiyong said, scanning my dress.

 Siwon hugged me, pressing his cheek to mine. “And I hope you know Bom's Siwon is Creepy story was just a line to get you in here.”

 I looked at Bom and she laughed. “It worked, didn’t it?”

 Once everyone took turns hugging me and wishing me a happy birthday, I leaned into Bom's ear. “Where’s Donghae?”

 “He’ll be here later,” she whispered. “Top couldn’t get him on the phone to let him know until this afternoon.”

 Siwon cranked up the volume on the stereo, and everyone screamed. “Come here, Dara!” he said, walking to the kitchen. He lined up shot glasses along the counter and pulled a bottle of tequila from the bar. “Happy birthday from the football team, baby girl,” he smiled, pouring each shot glass full of Patrón. “This is the way we do birthdays: You turn nineteen,