“So this is Jae,” Bom said on Thursday evening. My father had answered the door, exchanged a few polite words with Jae and Top, and then padded off the den with his Macworld Magazine. Naturally my sister felt compelled to make up for the lapse in parental cross-examination.

I had tried to reason with her earlier that evening. “It’s not a real date, Bommie,” I’d explained. “Not for me, so there’s no need to check out the guys.”

“Sorry, but I’ve been following this K-Drama for a week and a half. I’m not missing a chance to meet one of the main characters in the flesh.”

Now she gave both guys a serious once-over. I noticed Top blushed.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Bom said to Jae.

“Really?” he glanced at me, smiling, uncertain.

“Well, not from Dee, but you’re popular topic on our answering machine,” Bom told him.

“Oh. And you, you must be the one who laid the tire tracks on YGU,” Jae said.

Bom laughed. “So Dee told you about Sleeping Beauty.”

“Sleeping Beauty?” Jae looked intrigued.

“Bommie!” I said in a soft, warning voice.

“What a crazy guy,” Bom said, shaking her head laughing.

Jae turned to me, his eyes glittering. He must have guessed she was talking about Big Bee – Hyun Joong – whatever. I hadn’t heard from Hyun Joong since Monday night and had ducked every attempt by Jae and the other counselors to find out how things had gone.

I turned to Top, whom I was counting on to shepherd us along cheerfully, just as he did at work. But Top had mysteriously changed into another person. Instead of banging his hand on the wall and saying “Okay, guys, let’s go, and let’s make this the best carnival ever” he stood still on the exact spot where he had entered the living room.

“Bommie, this is Top, our fearless leader,” I said, hoping to snap him out of his trance.

Top smiled, looking a little nervous. I waited for him to extend his hand the way he always did, making you feel as if you were shaking the paw of a very dangerous bear. But his hands dangled by his sides as if he were a guy at his first dance. “Nice to meet you, Bommie.”

“Well, we don’t want to keep Jessica waiting,” I said.

“Why not? Let her wait until her eyes are all white,” Bom said, smirking.

Jae laughed.

“Bommie,” Top said, “would you like to come along with us?”

My sister stared at him, and then her cheeks flushed. It was the first color I had seen in her face since she had come home pregnant.

“Just what I need,” she said tartly, “a bunch of rides to give me evening as well as morning sickness.”

Top looked at her puzzled.

“I guess Dee didn’t tell you our little family secret. I’ve got a baby corn-muncher in here.” She patted her stomach. She looked sad but she tried to smile for us.

I wasn’t sure if Top’s hair really stood on the end or if his reddening scalp just made it look that way.

“Oh…well…that’s wonderful. Congratulations!” Top said.

Bom managed something between a grimace and a smile. Top looked as if he wanted to escape through the nearest window. I gave him a light push toward the door.

“I’m sorry you can’t come with us,” Jae said. “I’d like to hear more about Sleeping Beauty.”

“Oh, I could tell you lost of interesting things,” Bom replied and winked.

I yanked Jae through the door.

Top remained quiet all the way to Jessica’s house. I sat in the front seat with Jae, giving him directions and a bit of romantic advice.

“Dara,” he said at last, “I thought I told you, this is not a date. This is not a setup. It’s just a group of people going out together.”

“Right. And this is just a theoretical discussion. I’m telling you what I’ve observed about dating – and about Jessica because I happen to know her best – in case some time in the future it might be useful to you.”

He sighed.

“I mean, there are so many little opportunities for a guy – turn left. Left!” I shouted.

Jae pulled the wheel, and the car squealed around the corner. “Next time,” he said, “tell me before we’ve crossed the intersection, okay?”

“For instance,” I went on. “You and a girl are watching the sun set, or the moon rise, or harbor lights, whatever. Where do you stand?”

“What do you mean where?” Jae asked. “Is this a trick question?”

“Just tell me where.”

“Give me a multiple choice,” he said.

“A. In front of her. B. Beside her. C. Behind her.”

He shrugged. “B. Beside her.”

“Wrong.”

“Well, maybe it’s wrong for you,” Jae began.

“If you’re standing behind her,” I explained, “and you do it right – barely touching her,” I said, making my voice low and soft, “your arms lightly encircling her, your hands almost – almost touching her chest, your cheek just grazing her cheek, your quivering mouth close, so close, making her wild for you to – red light, red light. Stop, Jae! Jeez, didn’t you see it?”

“You’re giving me a lot of different directions, Dara.”

“You okay, Top?” I asked. “Maybe you had better buckle your seatbelt too.”

Top nodded. His face was burning again. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. The scary aura was gone.

“Now where was I…Oh, yeah, your cheeks just grazing her cheeks…”

Jae glanced in the rearview mirror. “You don’t have to go on. I think Top and I’ve both got the picture.”

“Great. We’re almost there. Turn right. It’s at the end of this dark street. Since you’re new around here, you probably want to take note of where the dark streets are. It’s lucky Jessica lives on one. Not that you need it right away, of course, you don’t want to come on too strong.”

Jae to the dark road, cut the engine then the lights.

“What?” I said. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t answer me right away. Top rustled around in the backseat.

“What’s going on?”

Jae leaned toward me. I guess it was the sudden darkness, but I was very aware of his closeness – that same good smell, the long line of his cheek and strong jaw, the depth of his voice. When he spoke, there was a very tense edge to it.

“Repeat after me, Dara. This is not a setup. We’re just four friends having a good time.”

“We really will have a good time,” I said cheerfully.

“Dara.” He held my chin with one finger, one light finger, but I felt as if I couldn’t move left or right. He held me still with his closeness. “Repeat after me. This is not a setup.”

And that’s another thing, I wanted to say. When you touch someone like that in the dark…but suddenly I realized Jae might have known what he was doing.

“Okay,” I said, pulling away from him. “I get the message.”

“Good.”

We drove on.

Though we were late, Jessica was later, which had become routine for our double dates. I gave the usual tour of the patio and swimming pool. Top was impressed. Jae, however, was one cool customer and continued to be, even when Jessica came out in her short skirt with her hair falling softly around her face. That was all right. Jessica loved his lack of interest. When he pulled the ribbon around my loose ponytail, telling me it was slipping out, she drank it up. I began to believe that Jae knew exactly what he was doing. As he drove to the fairgrounds, I made Jessica give directions so she could overcome her shyness.

I’ve always loved Lotte’s World. I love the fact that it’s always just as I’ve remembered it. The 4 of us wandered down a row of booths: glass cases with tumbling buttered popcorn, grills with sizzling sausage, and all those sticky tornadoes of pink cotton candy. There were penny pitches and basketball tosses and darts and hoops. There were table full of second hand junk that no sane perso