Chaerin thought it was extraordinarily lucky that we’d come across Junsu when he was injured. I didn’t enlighten her. Bom said nothing that night until I met her in the bathroom. She was brushing her teeth fiercely.

“Want to talk?” I asked.

She showed me a mouth full of foam.

“I guess I should’ve warned you.”

She spit into the sink and rinsed. “You guess right.”

“I…I guess I didn’t want it to be true,” I explained.

“So you could prove a point to Jae? So you could be out while he was out?”

Her words hit home. My mouth quivered. I felt like crying.

“I’m sorry, Dara,” she said quickly. “I’m mad, and I’m all mixed up.”

“Mad at me? At Siwon?”

“At both of you…and myself. I must’ve been crazy when I decided to date him.”

“I hope Junsu’s doing all right.”

“Me too,” she said, but volunteered nothing more.

**

The next morning I called Junsu’s house and left a message for him to call back when he was up to it. Then my sisters and I were corralled by my mother for a major housecleaning event. At lunch, Chaerin asked to borrow my car so she could go shopping.

“You mean there’s still an outfit in the mall you haven’t tried on?” I .

She grinned at me. “If there is, I’m going to find it.”

As soon as Chaerin left, Bom started practicing piano. She was playing up a storm and didn’t hear the light knock at the back door.

“Hey, Junsu,” I said as I opened the door. “How are you doing?”

“Good.” He leaned on a pair of crutches. “Good.”

“I can see that,” I said. “Tell me, are you slowly turning into a mummy, or is that a new-style boot?”

He laughed. “The foot’s broken, but not too bad.”

“Come on in.”

“I won’t stay long, Dara,” he said, hobbling into the kitchen.

“Does it still hurt?” I asked.

He shook his head. “They gave me lots of painkillers.”

“Yeah? Do they work for the heart too?”

“Not so far,” he said, sitting on the edge of a high stool. “I’m really sorry about last night, Dara. I came to apologize.”

“You don’t owe me an apology,” I replied. “Siwon had those backpacks loaded with beer. I was just as glad to get home.”

He nodded. “I’d hoped that something good would come out of it for you. I thought maybe you’d stay at the hospital so you could have some time with Jae.”

“Why would I want time with Jae?”

He just looked at me.

“I’m that obvious, huh?”

“Maybe, I can see it because I’m in the same boat.” He set his crutches aside, then pulled off his backpack. “I brought Bom’s pictures,” he said, reaching into the sack. “Double prints, one envelope for her and one for you in case you want to take some photos back to your school. In your envelope I added pictures of Chaerin, Min…and Jae. Okay?”

“It’s the best present you could give me, Junsu,” I told him. “Thanks.”

He glanced toward the living room, where the piano music was reaching a crescendo. “I also bought a pair of tickets to the opera for Bom.”

“I’ll go get her.”

“Dara, wait!” he said. “Would you stay around when I apologize to her? I feel like a real jerk.”

“I’ll stay,” I promised, “but you are not a jerk.”

I hurried off and caught my sister at a half-note pause. “You got a minute?” I asked. “Junsu’s in the kitchen.”

Bom’s hands hovered above the keys. “Junsu?”

She got up and bumped into a leg of the piano, which was unlike her. As we passed through the hall I saw her glance at herself in the mirror and tuck up a piece of hair. There was hope.

“Oh, no!” she said as soon as she saw Junsu’s cast. She looked really worried.

He gave her a crooked smile. “It’s no big deal. And I won’t stay long. I just wanted to apologize.”

“For what?” she asked.

“Screwing up your date last night. Making Siwon mad. Embarrassing you. Acting like an idiot. Did I leave anything out?”

“No big deal,” she repeated back to him.

“I thought you might like to have these,” he told her, handing over the pictures. “They’re from the fall production. I’d be glad to make more if you want to give some to Siwon.”

“Thanks,” she said, and opened the envelope.

I peered over her shoulder. Jae was right about the photos: The picture on top was more than a snapshot of a pretty face. Junsu had caught the energy and spirit of Bom. She pulled out another photo, one he’d taken backstage before she went on. You could see her excitement, the effort to focus, the fear and the hope, all bundled inside her.

“This is wonderful!” I said, taking it from her, holding it up for Junsu.

He nodded and smiled. “It’s my favorite. Used a telephoto.”

Bom slid the pictures back in the envelope. “I want to look at these by myself if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, I’ve got to get going anyway,” Junsu replied, pulling on his backpack. “One other thing, I have two tickets to a concert given by the Opera Company on New Year’s Eve.”

Bom’s eyes opened wide. “New Year’s Eve?”

He nodded and reached into his pocket. “The company is local, but I think they’re good. And it’s early in the evening, so I thought you and Siwon could fit it in before Top’s party.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed.

“Bom, I can’t fix last night,” he explained. “I hope these will make up for it in some way.” He handed her the tickets and pulled himself up on his crutches.

Bom gazed up at him with her starry eyes, standing close to him so he had to bend his head to look down at her. I’d seen that ploy before.

“The problem is,” she said, “the only kind of operas Siwon knows are soaps. I think he’d be disappointed.”

“Well, I was trying to find something you’d like. It’s the thought that counts.”

“So you don’t want to go?” she said, sweeping him with her long lashes.

“I’m sure somebody will enjoy the concert,” Junsu replied. “Maybe Dara and you could go together,” he suggested, “then meet up with…whoever, I don’t know. I’m not good at these things.”

Bom flicked the tickets back and forth against one wrist, then rested her hand on Junsu’s. “I thought you liked this kind of music. You said that the company was good.”

“I like all kinds,” he replied, swinging himself toward the door as soon as she removed her hand. “And this company