“I’m telling my mom today. At lunch.”

“Telling her what exactly?” Dara asked. She picked up her water bottle from the cup holder on the elliptical machine and took a long drink.

“That we broke up. Then we can be done with the whole charade.”

Dara could feel his eyes on her, but she didn’t look at him. She concentrated on not showing her disappointment. The breakup had been her idea, but it still bothered her how much relief he’d shown when she had suggested it. He wanted distance.

“Maybe we could start over?” he added, sounding unsure.

Start over? What did that mean? Dara picked up her speed on the elliptical machine. It would be a better workout if she increased the elevation instead, but Jiyong’s words made her feel like sprinting, as far and as fast as she could, and this was the closest she’d get to that. She closed her eyes and imagined the machine’s little fan blowing air in her face was the wind outside, and she was ten years old on her pink bike. Back then, they’d lived in a good neighbourhood, and all the kids stayed outside until it was dark and they could barely see their way home. It had been the best year of her whole childhood. And the hardest move when the time came. But they always moved eventually. To a better job. A more affordable rental.

Starting over always sounded like a positive thing. But she’d hated it then, and she didn’t care for it much now either. She was good at it, but that almost made it worse.

She opened her eyes and saw Jiyong’s concern for her etched in his face. He’d been waiting for a response, and she hadn’t given him one. Her childhood issues were not his fault. They were nobody’s fault, really.

“Start over our game, you mean?” She asked with a smile. “Do you have any mysteries left for me to unravel?”

Jiyong shook his head. “Not many.”

“I’ll test that theory.” So, yes, they would start over. And that meant giving up on the idea that she and Jiyong could have a real relationship or that she could keep the little place she’d carved out for herself in his quirky family. That part made her just as sad as the idea that Jiyong wasn’t interested in a real relationship.

Dara moved to the treadmill to walk down her heart rate. “Are you telling your mom that you broke up with me or that I broke up with you?”

Jiyong put down the weight he’d been holding with a clank. “Good question. Should I tell her it was mutual? That we broke up last night?”

“The less details you have to give, the better. I mean, the whole point of this is to stop making up lies, right? Just tell her the truth. That we’re better off as friends.”

Jiyong picked up his weight and turned away. “Okay. That makes sense.”

Dara took a long drink of her water and gathered up her things. “See you tomorrow.” So they were officially broken up. At least there was some finality to that.

She jogged up to her apartment and got ready for work, purposely blasting music that made her feel good and didn’t allow for a lot of thought. She checked her email for the fourth time that morning, hoping the DNA results were back, but of course, there was no reason to believe the results would arrive on the early side of the six-to-eight-week window the company had given her.

Getting into the routine of work made her feel better. And as a bonus, Kiyong was avoiding her these days. She wouldn’t be cluing him into her fake breakup with Jiyong until someone new came along. That wouldn’t be for a while. If nothing else, Jiyong had taught her to have a little more patience. She wouldn’t impulsively jump into another relationship just because it was better than not having one.

Her patients were her focus, and she made sure everyone was as happy to be there as was possible at a dentist appointment.

At ten, two guys came in. One as the patient, and one as the friend there for “emotional support,” though not exactly in the way Dara had been there for Giran. The support guy leaned against the wall in the corner and cracked jokes while she cleaned his friend’s teeth. They were both attractive, and her mind immediately compared them to Jiyong, showing where they came up short. It was irritating. She wanted Jiyong out of her head, but he was there, taking up space against her will.

The one standing against the wall was blond and buff. In theory, he should have been better looking than Jiyong, but he was like the Instagram shiny version of what a guy should be. She preferred Jiyong’s ruddy complexion and serious eyes to this guy’s pretty face. Dang it. She had to stop thinking about Jiyong.

The two guys told her some stories from their troublemaking days in high school, which were hilarious. They’d likely been those kids the teachers let off easy because they were just that likable. But mostly, they had a lot of questions for her, especially the blond friend, Jaejoong. Her patient obviously couldn’t talk as much since she was working on his mouth.

She felt Jaejoong’s eyes on her, and she looked up at him.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked.

Dara glanced behind her to see if anyone was in hearing range, something he didn’t miss. “Not exactly.”

Jaejoong laughed. “Does he know that? Poor guy.”

“We’ve decided to be friends,” she finally said.

Jaejoong and her patient had quite a few teasing things to say about that, but she refused to elaborate further.

When she was done and the dentist came in to have a look, Jaejoong followed her over to the next room where she began prepping for the next patient. He leaned against the door jamb, attempting to look charming. His clothes were a mixture of preppy and devil-may-care. At least he wasn’t doing the popped collar thing.

“Hey, I have a confession to make.”

Dara raised an eyebrow. “Like a dental confession? Because unless you’re about to tell me you hate to floss, I don’t think I’m the right person to hear this.”

“Well, let me just say that I’m so gun shy about blind dates that I prefer to meet them … how do I put this… unawares?”

Dara stared back at him. “Are you saying … What are you saying?”

“In-na wants to set us up.”

She scoffed. “Oh, so you’re that guy. What is this? You decided to come check me out, and if you weren’t interested, you could tell In-na never mind?”

“Who says I’m not interested?” His roguish smile told her exactly what kind of guy she was dealing with. If In-na recommended him, he couldn’t be too much of a jerk, but he obviously liked to pretend he was. He spoke with a confidence she was usually drawn to. Now, she wasn’t sure she wanted it.

He stepped closer. “So, there’s another guy?”

Not if Jiyong didn’t want to be. She wasn’t getting her hopes up about Jaejoong either, but one date with him wouldn’t hurt. It would make In-na happy.

“There’s no one you need to worry about. But I have to get back to work. You have my number I assume?”

He broke into a triumphant smile. “I do.” He went to pick up one of the instruments off the table, and she batted his hand away, making him laugh.

“Sorry, I work with tools, just none this small and shiny. I’m looking forward to seeing you again, Dara. It was nice to meet you.” He put his hand out for her to shake. She hadn’t put a new set of gloves on yet and her bare hand gripped his firm and warm one. His eyes said he wished he could do more than shake her hand. There was no zing for her, but there was the potential for it to develop, maybe when her head wasn’t so clouded with other things. Jaejoong’s eyes were so appreciative. He didn’t hold anything back, and she blushed, something that didn’t happen to her often.

“I’ll call you later,” he said. It sounded like a promise. He reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I wish all my trips to the dentist were like this.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You weren’t even the patient.”

He grinned before turning to leave, almost running into the person behind him. “Excuse me, ma’am. I didn’t see you there.” He ducked around whoever it was, revealing the last person in the world Dara would want to overhear that conversation. Giran stared at her with shock and hurt.

“I came to bring you cookies. Here.” She shoved them at Dara and then turned and fled.

Dara dropped the cookies on the counter and ran after her. “Wait.”

Giran kept going. Which was probably for the best. They couldn’t have this conversation right in the middle of the office. Vaguely, Dara was aware they’d passed by a bewildered-looking Jaejoong.

This could get infinitely worse, but Dara followed Giran out to her car anyway. “Please wait and talk to me for a minute.”

Giran shook her head. “If you’re hoping I’m not going to say anything to Jiyong, you’re wasting your time.”

“I wouldn’t ask that. You know me.”

“Do I?” Giran’s lip trembled as she studied Dara, maybe trying to see what was real and what was not. But that was an impossible task. She didn’t know what was real because they’d lied to her.

Dara took a step back. “You know what, talk to Jiyong first. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Dara turned and forced herself to walk calmly back inside. Her hands were shaking, and she shoved them in the pockets of her scrubs.

Of course this whole thing would blow up. Juggling lies had a way of doing that. At least Dara didn’t have to fret about whether Giran would call and want to hang out after the breakup. The woman hated her now. She thought she was a cheater and a liar.

Lisa, one of the other hygienists, was in the exam room with Dara’s next patient. She gave Dara an apologetic smile. “I’ve got this one. Take a few minutes.”

“Thanks.” Dara retreated to the bathroom, not even caring how Lisa knew she needed a few minutes to compose herself. She gave a shaky laugh as she looked in the mirror. Well, In-na was two for two with disastrous setups. First Suho, and now this? It truly wasn’t In-na’s fault, but the woman had terrible matchmaking luck.

Dara pulled out her phone, intending to call Jiyong, but she put it away again. She wasn’t ready to talk about it. Not today. She’d let him deal with the aftermath.

+++

Jiyong took his time driving to his mom’s house. He sang along with the radio, something he rarely allowed himself to do. Why was that? Was he so uptight he couldn’t even loosen up around … himself? But Dara was changing that, and he realized he was looking forward to telling his mom it was over and starting fresh. Dara might claim she was fine with everything, but she had seemed annoyed the last time they talked about it. The pretending part needed to end. With Christmas coming, the events and the lies would continue to pile up until it ruined both their holidays. But the thought of Dara around at Christmas time wasn’t altogether unpleasant either. He would have to pay attention and figure out a good Christmas present for her, something personal but not too pretentious.

The fence alongside the road leading up to Mom’s house sported a festive line of Christmas lights, dropping and rising in a scalloped pattern. Soohyuk, with a lot of grumbling, had agreed to be the one to put them up. It looked nice. Next year, Jiyong would do it. He whistled “Jingle Bells” as he pulled in and parked, greeted the dogs, and jogged up the porch steps.

His mom was banging pots and pans around in the kitchen when he walked in, which wasn’t unusual, but the angry muttering was new. A cupboard door slammed.

“Mom, are you okay? Does your mouth hurt?”

She whirled around and took one look at him before bursting into tears. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Is everyone okay? Is it YoungHwan?”

“YoungHwan’s fine. It’s Dara.”

“Dara?” Jiyong took a moment to reassess Mom’s body language. He wasn’t sure whether mad or sad was winning out. Why did it have to do with Dara?

She pulled a square-shaped frying pan out of the bottom of the stack and clanked it onto the counter, on top of a sauce pot.

“What are you doing?” If they were having chicken salad, there was no need for a pot or pan.

“I’m rearranging cupboards. It helps me when I’m stressed.”

“And you’re stressed because of Dara?” Maybe Dara had already told Mom about the breakup. Maybe she had told Mom everything. After all, when Mom sniffed out a mystery, she wasn’t one to be satisfied with a few details.

“I went to Dara’s office today to bring her cookies. A thank you for staying with me yesterday. And they directed me down the hall to where she was … flirting it up with some other man. Giving him her number. He promised to call her.”

Mom turned around and glanced up at him, waiting for him to react.

The frown came naturally, though he didn’t have a right to be upset. Dara hadn’t known his mom would overhear. He and Dara were gym buddies. They’d never talked about whether or not she might date anyone else. And yet he still felt that immediate spark