When my eyes finally peeled open, I saw that my pillow consisted of denim and legs. Jiyong sat with his back against the tub; his head leaned against the wall, passed out cold. He looked as rough as I felt. I pulled the blanket off of me and stood up, gasping at my horrifying reflection in the mirror above the sink.

 

I looked like death.

 

Mascara smeared, black tearstains down my cheek, lipstick smudged across my mouth, and my hair had balls of rats on each side.

 

Sheets, towels, and blankets surrounded Jiyong. He had fashioned a soft pallet to sleep on while I expelled the fifteen shots of tequila I’d consumed the night before. Jiyong had held my hair out of the toilet, and sat with me all night.

 

I the faucet, holding my hand under the water until it was the temperature I wanted. Scrubbing the mess from my face, I heard a moan from the floor. Jiyong stirred, rubbed his eyes, and stretched, and then looked beside him, jerking in a panic.

 

“I’m right here,” I said. “Why don’t you go to bed? Get some sleep?”

 

“Yeah, I’m good. Well, good as I can be. I’ll feel better once I get a shower.”

 

He stood up. “You took my crazy title last night, just so you know. I don’t know where that came from, but I don’t want you to do it again.”

 

“It’s pretty much what I grew up around, Ji. Not a big deal.”

 

He took my chin in his hands and wiped the remaining smeared mascara from under my eyes with his thumbs.

 

“It was a big deal to me.”

 

“Fine, I won’t do it again. Happy?”

 

“Yes. But I have something to tell you, if you promise not to freak out.”

 

“Oh, God, what did I do?”

 

“Nothing, but you need to call Bom.”

 

“Where is she?”

 

“At Morgan. She got into it with Top last night.”

 

I rushed through my shower and yanked on the clothes Jiyong had set on the sink. When I emerged from the bathroom, Top and Jiyong were sitting in the living room.

 

“What did you do to her?” I demanded.

 

Top's face fell. “She’s really pissed at me.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“I was mad that she encouraged you to drink so much. I thought we were going to end up taking you to the hospital. One thing led to another, and the next thing I know, we’re screaming at each other. We were both drunk, Dara. I said some things I can’t take back,” he shook his head, looking to the floor.

 

“Like what?” I said, angry.

 

“I called her a few names I’m not proud of and then told her to leave.”

 

“You let her leave here drunk? Are you some kind of idiot?” I said, grabbing at my purse.

 

“Easy, Butterfly. He feels bad enough,” Jiyong said.

 

I fished my cell phone out of my purse, dialing Bom's number.

 

“Hello?” she answered. She sounded awful.

 

“I just heard,” I sighed. “Are you okay?” I walked down the hall for privacy, glancing back once to shoot a dirty look at Top.

 

“I’m fine. He’s an .” Her words were abrupt, but I could hear the hurt in her voice. Bom had mastered the art of hiding her emotions, and she could have hidden it from anyone but me.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t go with you.”

 

“You were out of it, Dara,” she said dismissively.

 

“Why don’t you come get me? We can talk about it.”

 

She breathed into the phone. “I don’t know. I don’t really feel like seeing him.”

 

“I’ll tell him to stay inside, then.”

 

After a long pause, I heard keys clink in the background. “All right. I’ll be there in a minute.”

 

I walked into the living room, pulling my purse over my shoulder. They watched me open the door to wait for Bom, and Top scooted forward on the couch.

 

“She’s coming here?”

 

“She doesn’t want to see you, Top. I told her you’d stay inside.”

 

He sighed and fell against the cushion. “She hates me.”

 

“I’ll talk to her. You better get one amazing apology together, though.”

 

Ten minutes later, a car horn beeped twice outside, and I closed the door behind me. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Top rushed past me to Bom's red Honda, and hunched over to see her through the window. I stopped in my tracks, watching Bom snub him as she looked straight ahead. She rolled down her window, and Top seemed to be explaining, and then they began to argue. I went inside to give them their privacy.

 

“Butterfly?” Jiyong said, trotting down the stairs.

 

“It doesn’t look good.”

 

“Let them figure it out. Come inside,” he said, intertwining his fingers in mine to lead me up the stairs.

 

“Was it that bad?” I asked.

 

He nodded. “It was pretty bad. They’re just getting out of the honeymoon stage, though. They’ll work it out.”

 

“For someone that’s never had a girlfriend, you seem to know about relationships.”

 

“I have four brothers and a lot of friends,” he said, grinning to himself.

 

Top stomped into the apartment and slammed the door behind him. “She’s ing impossible!”

 

I kissed Jiyong on the cheek. “That’s my cue.”

 

“Good luck,” Jiyong said.

 

I slid in beside Bom, and she huffed. “He’s ing impossible!”

 

I giggled, but she shot a glare in my direction. “Sorry,” I said, forcing my smile to fade.

 

We set out for a drive and Bom yelled and cried and yelled some more. At times she broke into rants that seemed to be directed at Top, as if he were sitting in my place. I sat quietly, letting her work it out in a way only Bom can.

 

“He called me irresponsible! Me! As if I don’t know you! As if I haven’t seen you rob your dad of hundreds of dollars drinking twice as much. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about! He doesn’t know what your life was like! He doesn’t know what I know, and he acts like I’m his child instead of his girlfriend!” I rested my hand on hers, but she pulled it away. “He thought you would be the reason we wouldn’t work out, and then he ended up doing the job on his own. And speaking of you, what the hell was that last night with Donghae?”

 

The sudden change of topic took me by surprise. “What do you mean?”

 

“Jiyong threw you that party, Dara, and you go off and make out with Donghae. And you wonder why everyone is talking about you!”

 

“Hold on a minute! I told Donghae we shouldn’t be back there. What does it matter if Jiyong threw me that party or not? I’m not with him!”

 

Bom looked straight ahead, blowing a puff of air from her nose.

 

“All right, Bom. What is it? You’re mad at me now?”

 

“I’m not mad at you. I just don’t associate with complete idiots.”

 

I shook my head and then looked out the window before I said something I couldn’t take back. Bom had always been able to make me feel like on command.

 

“Do you even see what’s going on?” she asked. “Jiyong quit fighting. He doesn’t go out without you. He hasn’t brought any girls home since the bimbo twins, has yet to murder Donghae, and you’re worried that people are saying you’re playing them both. You know why that is, Dara? Because it’s the truth!”

 

I turned, slowly craning my neck in her direction, trying to give her the dirtiest look I knew how. “What the hell is wrong with you?

 

“You’re dating Donghae now, and you’re so happy,” she said in a mocking tone. “Then why aren’t you at Morgan?”

 

“Because I lost the bet, you know that!”

 

“Give me a break, Dara! You talk about how perfect Donghae is, you go on these amazing dates with him, talk to him for hours on the phone, and then you lie next to Jiyong every night. Do you see what’s wrong with this situation? If you really liked Donghae, your stuff would be at Morgan right now.”

 

I clenched my teeth. “You know I’ve never welched on a bet, Bom.”

 

“That’s what I thought,” she said, twisting her hands around the steering wheel. “Jiyong is what you want, and Donghae is what you think you need.”

 

“I know it looks that way, but—”

 

“It looks that way to everyone. So if you don't like the way people are talking about you—change. It’s not Jiyong's fault. He’s done a 180 for you. You’re reaping the rewards, and Donghae'e getting the benefits.”

 

“A week ago you wanted to pack me up and never let Jiyong come near me again! Now you’re defending him?”

 

“Sandara! I’m not defending him, stupid! I’m looking out for you! You’re both crazy about each other! Do something about it!”

 

“How could you possibly think I should be with him?” I wailed. “You are supposed to be keeping me away from people like him!”

 

She pressed her lips together, clearly losing her patience. “You have worked so hard to separate yourself from your father. That’s the only reason you’re even considering Donghae! He’s the complete opposite of Soo Man, and you think Jiyong is going to land you right back where you were. He’s not like your dad, Dara.”

 

“I didn’t say he was, but it’s putting me in a prime position to follow in his footsteps.”

 

“Jiyong wouldn’t do that to you. I think you underestimate just how much you mean to him. If you’d just tell him—”

 

“No. We didn’t leave everything behind to have everyone here look at me the way they did in Busan. Let’s focus on the problem at hand. Top is waiting for you.”

 

“I don’t want to talk about Top,” she said, slowing to a stop at the light.

 

“He’s miserable, Bom. He loves you.”

 

Her eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip quivered. “I don’t care.”

 

“Yes, you do.”

 

“I know,” she whimpered, leaning against my shoulder.

 

She cried until the light changed, and then I kissed her head. “Green light.”

 

She sat up, wiping her nose. “I was pretty mean to him earlier. I don’t think he’ll talk to me now.”

 

“He’ll talk to you. He knew you were mad.”

 

Bom wiped her face and then made a slow U-turn. I was worried it would take a lot of coaxing on my part to get her to come in with me, but Top ran down the stairs before she turned off the ignition.

 

He yanked open her car door, pulling her to her feet. “I’m so sorry, baby. I should have minded my own business, I … please don’t leave. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

 

Bom took his face in her hands and smiled. “You’re an arrogant , but I still love you.”

 

Top kissed her over and over as though he hadn’t seen her in months, and I smiled at a job well done. Jiyong stood in the doorway, grinning as I made my way into the apartment.

 

“And they lived happily ever after,” Jiyong said, shutting the door behind me.

 

I collapsed on the couch, and he sat next to me, pulling my legs onto his lap.

 

“What do you wanna do today, Butterfly?”

 

“Sleep. Or rest … or sleep.”

 

“Can I give you your present first?”

 

I pushed his shoulder. “Shut up. You got me a present?”

 

His mouth curved into a nervous smile. “It’s not a diamond bracelet, but I thought you’d like it.”

 

“I’ll love it, sight unseen.”

 

He lifted my legs off of his lap and then disappeared into Top's bedroom. I raised an eyebrow when I heard him murmuring, and then he emerged with a box. He sat it on the floor at my feet, crouching behind it.

 

“Hurry, I want you to be surprised,” he smiled.

 

“Hurry?” I asked, lifting the lid.

 

My mouth fell open when a pair of big, dark eyes looked up at me.

 

“A puppy?” I shrieked, reaching into the box. I lifted the dark, wiry-haired baby to my face, and it covered my mouth in warm, wet kisses.

 

Jiyong beamed, triumphant. “You like him?”

 

“Him? I love him! You got me a puppy!”

 

“It’s a cairn terrier. I had to drive three hours to pick him up Thursday after class.”

 

“So when you said you were going with Top to take his car to the shop …”

 

“We went to get your present,” he nodded.

 

“He’s wiggly!” I laughed.

 

“Every girl from Busan needs a puppy,” Jiyong said, helping me hang on to the tiny fuzz ball in my lap.

 

 “He looks like a bear! That’s what I’m going to call him,” I said, wrinkling my nose at the squirmy pup.

 

“You can keep him here.