Dara studied her reflection once more in the mirror. She was wearing her faded jeans, with her newly bought shirt. She brushed her hair. Should she put it up? No. Bad idea. The wind would just blow it down. She rummaged through her makeup bag and retrieved her brown velvet scrunchie.

“You look pretty.”

Dara jumped. “You scared me!” she chided Hayi.

Hayi came into the room and stood behind Dara, string at her reflection in the mirror. “Those are cool stuff,” she said admiring Dara’s accessories.

“Thanks,” Dara said.

“Mom and Dad never let me go to any of the beach parties,” Hayi complained, busying herself with tying and retying the bow of a big stuffed teddy bear that sat on a little chair next to the bed. “They make such a big deal of everything.”

“They just don’t want you to get hurt,” Dara told her, snapping the ponytail holder in place. She looked at the younger girl, who had now slumped forlornly on the bed.

“Hey. How about I give you a French brad? Would you like that?

Hayi’s face lit up. “Sure! Then I’ll look just like you, unnie. At least, a little bit.”

“We’ll be twins,” Dara promised. Hayi slid down onto the carpeted floor, and Dara began to brush.

“You know, Hayi,” Dara mused, “you probably wouldn’t like this kind of party anyway. It’s just a bunch of teenagers acting goofy. I bet you’ll have more fun staying inside and watching TV.” Dara began to braid.

Hayi sighed. “Big whoop. You know what?”

“What?” Dara asked, continuing to fashion the braid.

“When I’m older, I’m going to have parties on the beach every night. And I’m going to stay up late, and I’m going to have my own telephone in my room so I can call all my boyfriends whenever I want.”

“All your boyfriends?” Dara twisted her head around so her nose was almost touching Hayi’s. “How many do you plan on having, Ms. Kim?”

“Lots.” Hayi answered airily. Then she frowned. “I’ll never be able to decide on just one boyfriend. There are so many cute ones. How did you know that Kris oppa is the only boy you want to be with?”

Dara was silent for a few minutes. She finished the braid, snapped an elastic holder on, and tied a pale blue ribbon around the end.

“I’d never met anyone I liked any better than your brother,” Dara answered truthfully.

Problem is, I hadn’t met your Jaejoong oppa yet at that time.

**

“You look terrific, baby!” Kris murmured, kissing Dara gently on the lips. They waved good-bye to Hayi, who stood pouting on the other side of the glass doors, and headed down the stairs to the beach. “I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone,” Kris said. He pulled Dara by the arm. “Come on, baby.”

Laughing, Dara allowed herself to be dragged through the sand, cool and damp beneath her toes.

“You know I’m not going to remember anybody’s name. I’m terrible with that sort of thing.”

She didn’t like standing out in a crowd. She preferred to blend in, be one of the gang. But with Kris, that was impossible.  Kris was always where the action was.

“Remembering people’s name doesn’t matter. They’ll love you for sure.” He stopped, wrapping his arms around Dara’s waist. “Just like I do, Dara.”

Dara felt her pulse race. Kris had never said he loved her before.

Love. She’d fantasized having a guy say he loved her, but actually hearing it was weird.

Love, Just a word, but it made her feel pressure. Like she was expected to say something back. She gulped as Kris’ arms grew tighter around her waist.

“I love you, baby,” Kris whispered, staring into her eyes.

“I…I heard you the first time,” Dara stammered. Her face grew hot. She knew she was supposed to say, “I love you too,” but somehow the words got stuck in and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t get them out. Her palms were getting completely sweaty, and felt sandy. Not exactly how she’d pictures this scene in her head.

Kris pulled back. “That’s all you have to say?” he asked, surprised but smiling.

“A girl’s got to keep some mystery involved,” Dara answered lightly, breaking away toward the party scene ahead. “That’s what keeps you guys coming back for more.”

Kris grinned at her and held her hand.

**

The party was about a quarter of a mile down the beach from the house. A huge pile of brush and sticks stood waiting to be lit, and a big stereo system was rigged atop a plywood board that sat squarely on an old tire. Loud rock music blared out over the beach. The oceanfront homeowners rarely complained. For one, lots of the kids out there were their own sons and daughters, and for two, the noise of the music tended to get drowned out by the crashing of the surf.

Dara was astonished to see how many people were already congregated there. “How many parties have you had here this summer?” she asked. Kris’ arm was on her waist as they walked.

“A lot. At least once a week. I kind of lost track. It just seems like we had one last night.” The sound of Maroon 5 came drifting toward them, the beat alternating with the endless crash of the surf.

The party definitely was much bigger than the ones Dara been to in Seoul. Had everyone under the age of 25 at the shore shown up? Dara held on Kris’ arm as they navigated through the crowd.

Then Kris’ eyes lit up in recognition. “Hey, there’s my boarding buddies. Suho! Chen!” He waved to a couple of guys with boogie boards standing down near the water. “You got to meet these guys, baby. They’re really cool. Chen surfed the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii last winter.” He started toward them.

Dara hung back for a moment, her eyes scanning the crowd. “Wait a minute, Kris. We told Jae we’d meet him down here. I don’t think we should just leave him alone. That’s not really very nice.”

“Jae hyung ‘s a big boy, baby. He can take care of himself,” Kris grinned. “And by the looks of things, he’s doing a good job of it.”

Dara followed Kris’ gaze. She recognized Jaejoong’s strong, muscular body, clad in jeans immediately. To her surprise, Jaejoong wasn’t alone. He was standing with 3 girls, talking and laughing. One of them, a leggy girl, leaned over and whispered in Jaejoong’s ear. He squeezed her shoulder and laughed. Dara frowned. He was laughing a little too hard. And who were those girls?

But why shouldn’t he be laughing? She thought, fighting down the strange new possessive side of her that longed to run over and fling the girl’s hand from his arm. I told him I didn’t want to be with him. That I was happy with Kris. She was happy with Kris, she told herself sternly. So why did she feel as if her heart were twisting in two?

**

“Hi.”

Jaejoong turned. A girl with long hair and beautiful eyes smiled back at him. He squinted. The girl looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her…

“My name’s Bom. I live next door to the Kims,” she said, thumbing back toward the shore. “I saw you out on the deck on Monday. That was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. I knew I recognized you from somewhere.” Jaejoong smiled. “We drove down on Saturday. Well, actually, it was Sunday.” Jaejoong shook his head. “Never mind. It’s a long story. I’m Jae, by the way, Kris’ older brother from back home.”

“Hey, Jae, catch up with you later,” Yuri, the girl Jaejoong had been talking to called over her shoulder. She moseyed off, her two sidekicks behind her.

Bom looked relieved to see them go. “Ugh! Those girls always latch on to whatever new guy is here. They’re pathetic. Anyway, it’s finally nice to meet the older brother of Kris.”

Jaejoong laughed. “Now I really feel special.”

“No, no! I didn’t mean it like that.” Bom giggled, blowing her bangs off her forehead. “They’re just the local shore vultures, swooping down for a new victim.” She grinned. “Kris mentioned you were coming for a visit. You actually got here at a good time. A lot of the weekend summer crowds have thinned out. It can be a real pain sometimes. My dad had to kick people off our deck back in July. They got drunk and thought our house was a bar or something.”

Jaejoong laughed. “Sounds like they party hard here.”

Bom nodded. “They definitely do. I never really used to hang out at night during the summer.”

“Why?”

Bom’s face flushed slightly. “I don’t know. Just shy, I guess.”

“Where you from?”

“California.”

“That’s far.” Jaejoong said.

“Yes. We moved here when my parents decided to retire. I will be staying in Seoul for school though,” Bom explained.

“So where’s your boyfriend? Back home in US?”

Bom kicked at a clump of seaweed. “I don’t have one. Here or there.”

“The guys here and there must be nuts,” Jaejoong told her sincerely. Bom was cute and seemed really sweet – Jaejoong could think of a dozen guys back home who’d go for her.

“How about you? Do you have a girlfriend?”

Jaejoong shrugged. “Nah. I’m just playing the field this summer.”

“Oh.” Bom cleared . “Kris and Dara are pretty serious, huh?”

Jaejoong glanced over at the crowd, trying to locate Dara and his brother. “I guess you could say that. Kris doesn’t usually stay with one girl for very long.”

“Really?”

Jaejoong nodded. “He’s kind of a Romeo. The partying type.”

“Speaking of partying, do you want a drink or something? They’ve got beer and stuff, but I don’t drink. Or sometimes I get myself a beer but end up holding it the whole night.” She wrinkled her nose. “I still don’t get why people like the taste of it so much.”

“I’ll get you something,” Jaejoong offered. “Maybe a Coke?”

Bom nodded, and then changed her mind and shook her head. “Coke, yes. But I’ll get it. Be right back!” She jogged off, her sneakers kicking up the sand as she ran.

Jaejoong sat down, took off his slippers, and dug his feet into the cold, damp sand. The beach felt so different at night than it did during the day. It was so hard to believe it was the same place. He felt something smooth underneath his toe. Reaching forward, he dug underneath the sand and pulled it out.

It was a piece of pale blue glass, worn smooth by years of exposure to the wind and sea. Somehow had painted a tiny palm tree on it. He was