“Yes!” I blurt, without even thinking.  “Of course I’ll go to grad-ball with you!”

Because what’s there to think about?  I’m saying yes, duh.  It’s been on the tip of my tongue since I got the feeling he was going to what he’s doing now.

“Yaaaaaaay!!”  Immediately, the whole—and I mean the whole—ice cream shop erupts into whistles and cheers.  I kinda feel bad for Josh because Mark stole his spotlight but WELL.  I certainly ain’t feelin’ bad about this!

“Yeah!”  Mark beams and jumps up, doing a little victory fist pump.  He throws his arm around me and presses me into a tight side hug.   “She said yes guys!  Woo!”  he yells, addressing the people around him as they continue clapping and gushing at Mark’s—eherm—romantic gesture.  

“WAIT A MINUTE!”  A voice suddenly calls from the crowd gathered around us.  I look back at them with a huge smile…. When it hits me.

Oh no.

Oh NO.

OH NO OH NO

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OH what the have I gotten myself into this time?!!

THESE PEOPLE…

THEY KNOW ME AS KAI’S ING WIFE!!!

Right?!  Remember the school trip we went on before with Jongguk?!

Oh God.  I really hope they don’t.  Okay, quick question—how do I Obliviate all these people??  Help please?  Harry?  Hermoine?? RON?  NEVILLE?  NEWT?  TINA?!?!  VOLDEMORT??!?!?!

Please floor just SWALLOW ME right now!  I’m ready!!  Or should I break through that glass?  Should I?  Should I lie about having a twin who knows Kai too OH OH or should I say that Kai and I have divorced already??  Or should I just try to convince them that they’re imagining things?!

“Aren’t you… Kai’s wife?”

A collective gasp louder than my brain on full-on panic mode resounds.  God dammit…

“OH MY GOD!  You’re right Jisoo’s mom!  Wait, isn’t Kai sitting right there?”

“That’s right!  She went with us to that parent-children trip right?  They were the cutest couple there!”

“That’s why you looked familiar!  You’re Kim Iseul right?!”

I close my eyes as I try to pretend I can’t see the tsunami of problems about to hit me.   Jeez, are you having fun ing me over, life?

And Lord… why?!  Why do I ALWAYS get tangled up in like this???!!  Is this karma?  Huh?  How exactly did I live my past life to deserve stuff like thisssss????!!  I’ve lived my life as blamelessly as possible and this is what I get?!  A scandal among elementary school moms?!  I’ll be a trending news on Line Today for all the wrong reasons soon, I can feel it!!

Okay, Iseul, SHUT UP.   Just shut up.  You got this!  You are a fighter, not a quitter!  Just open your mouth and pray that something live-saving will jump out of that gob of yours!!

I open my eyes and see Mark staring incredulously at me, and immediately I feel like hurling myself out the building again.  Can he not be so obvious?!

“Uh… right!  I am Kai’s wife… Right Kai?  Kai?”  I call, trying to get Kai’s attention.  WHY THE is he still sitting on that table with his arms folded like there’s nothing wrong here?!   He should be helping me out!

“He must be really mad at you right now.”  A woman nudges me harshly.  “But I totally understand!  How could you do that?!   How could you just cheat on him like that right in front of his face?!” 

“W-wife..?”  Mark echoes, nearly inaudibly.  I sent him a tiny ‘not now’ glare. 

“I’m not cheating on him!  I really am not!  I—“

“You said yes!   You said yes to another guy proposing to you right in front of his face!!”

“It wasn’t a proposal—“

“Are you guys divorced?!”

“We’re not!”  I quickly blurt without thinking, but that only gains me an even bigger gasp.

“SO YOU’RE NOT DIVORCED BUT YOU’RE MARRYING ANOTHER GUY RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR HUSBAND?!”

I wince and mentally smack myself.  “No, no, what I meant was…”

“You’re horrible!”  The woman says, stepping right in front of me.  And she looks livid.  God, why is she so worked up about other people’s problems anyway?  “Kai was waiting for you all alone since about an hour ago, then you show up with some guy who proposed to you and you accepted it right under his nose.. do you think anyone deserves anything like that?  What’s next?  Are you gonna steal Jongguk from him?!  Who the do you think you are to do that to another human being huh?!”

Wait. 

Hold up.

This old is pissing me off.

“Excuse me, ahjumma, before you start jumping into your own conclusions—oh, and I hope that burns at least a bit of your calories, by the way—I think you—“

This ahjumma inhales sharply, her nostrils expanding faster than any other.  “What did you just say?”

“I was about to say something, but—“

“Yah!  Did you just insult me, you two-timing ?!”  She raises her hand to slap me, brings it down at unearthly velocity, I close my eyes out of reflex, and—

“YAH!” 

The momentum is broken by a loud yell coming from someone who sounds a lot like Kai standing right beside me.  I open my eyes to find him indeed beside me, holding the mom’s wrist from slapping me.  And my God… he looks bat angry. 

He releases her wrist and pushes it down.  “I would appreciate it if you didn’t call my wife that way.”  He practically growls, his menacing poker-face on show.  The woman who was about to slap me whimpers and I feel Kai’s arm wrap protectively around my waist, pulling me closer to him. 

Oh God.  Oh God.

“And if you hurt her, things are not going to end well either.”  He continues, above the deafening thump thump thump of my heart. 

The woman scoffs.  “Excuse me, Kai, I have no idea if you’re deaf or something, but your wife just said yes to another guy right in front of you.  Are you still siding with her?”

“That was my brother, practicing his proposal to his girlfriend, you idiots!”  Kai yells, and immediately everyone cowers.  Kai’s hug around me tightens.  “Do you think my wife would do such a thing?  In front of me, her husband?  How ridiculous can you all be?!” 

“Is her saying yes part of the practice too?”  Someone asks from the back. 

Kai is silent for a second, so I jump in to help.  “Of course!  We’re expecting his future fiancée to say yes of course!  Because we want to make sure Mark here doesn’t randomly cry out of happiness in front of everyone else when she does tomorrow!”

I see Kai stare at me from my peripheral vision, but whatever!  The shot has been fired, even though my aim .  At least that’s something, right?

“So this was all just a practice?”               

“YES!  That’s what I was trying to tell you guys!”  I scream, gesturing wildly. 

“Yah, Kai, don’t you think your younger brother is a little too into your wife though?” A fellow father in the crowd says, and the others murmur in agreement.

Kai sighs exhasperatedly, and I instinctively rub his back.   Kai glances at me a little.  Okay, Iseul, I agree with Kai this time.  That was freaking weird.

“I don’t.  I trust him completely, and in fact, I’m glad he was really so into it.  That way we can be sure that he loves his fiancée.”

“Why did he have to practice on your wife though?  It’s not like she’s the last woman on this planet!”

“That’s because my wife is nice enough to let him run through some last minute practice!  Look, the point is—Iseul and I,”  Kai’s hand squeezes my shoulder as he turns to look at me, “we are still very much in love.” 

Me?  KAI?  IN LOVE?!

And then, as if to prove that point, Kai leans in, and suddenly…

Drops a kiss on my forehead.            

Soft, gentle, and brief. 

OH

MY

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!

I gasp (a little too loudly maybe) and look at Kai, who’s smiling at me with the most innocent smile—

And my heart does that little fluttery jumpy thing again and—

STOP IT ISEUL STOP IT!  He’s trying to save his own !!  That’s why he’s doing this!!

A kiss on the forehead means absolutely nothing, okay?!

But another side of me is going explosive. 

On my forehead, guys!!!  OOoonnN MY FORE… HEAD…..

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

Oh GOD.  JEEZ.  Why did that make me so nervous?!

Oh my God.  Oh my God.  My forehead has been blessed!

The woman who was so adamant before hesitates.  “Well.. I still don’t think that it’s morally correct to…”

“Josh’s mom?”  Kai calls, ignoring the woman in front of him.  “Could you please resume the party and return all the attention to your son?”

Once inside Kai’s car, about 35 minutes later, Kai drops all his fake pretenses and lets out a long, irritated sigh.  Nobody is saying anything.  Jongguk in the back seat, and I, on the passenger seat, am doing everything I can to avoid his gaze.  Oh look, a window!  I wonder what’s outside??  Oh, concrete pavements!  Streets!  Cars!  Mankind!!

“Yah, Iseul..”

“Yes?” I say, jumping a little.

“Don’t take what I did the wrong way, you hear me?  I only did it to save both of us from the embarrassment.”

“You mean the…”

“Yes, that.”

“The forehead ki—“

“AISH, yes, that!!”  Kai barks, obviously mad and regretting it now.

I quickly nod. 

“But just why did you have to come here with Mark anyway?!   Don’t you remember being Jongguk’s mom in front of his friends?!  What if I wasn’t there?!  What were you going to do huh??”  Kai yammers on as he pulls out of the parking space and into the street.  “What the hell, Seo Iseul?!”

“I’m sorry!  I really am!  I completely forgot!!” 

“Didn’t it hit you when you were already there?  When I came over to you guys in the beginning?!”

“It—“

“And why did that boyfriend of yours have to make such a big show asking you to go with him to grad-ball or whatever?!  Wouldn’t flowers and a box of chocolates be enough?”

“I don’t know… That’s not in my place to tell him, is it?”

“You should’ve told him we’re a couple, God dammit!”  Kai barks.

“A couple?!”  I shriek.

He immediately falters.  “A pretend couple!  Jesus, you know what I mean!”

“WELL I TOLD YOU, I FORGOT!  Anyway, Mark wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t so blatantly rejected the idea of going to grad-ball with me—“

“OH so now it’s my fault?!  Is it?!”

“I’m just saying, if you had been a little nicer—“

“I thought you said it yourself!  I’m your boss, why would I go to grad-ball with you?!”

“Appa, noona—“

“Ya but still!  You shouldn’t just say NOPE like that, should you Kai?” I yell, completely getting ahead of myself now.

“What in the—“  Kai stops at a red light and looks at me.  “You… are you disappointed I didn’t want to go to grad-ball with you?”

“No!!”  I answer defensively.

“You are, aren’t you?  That’s why you brought it up?”

“For God’s sake, Kai, I am not!   I just didn’t expect you to so blatantly reject the idea of it like that!  Besides—“

“If I had said yes, then you probably won’t be going with Mark, are you?”  Kai asks, having the audacity to smirk all of a sudden.

“NOPE!” I answer indignantly, returning him with his one-word answer of flat rejection.

“Oh, so you are mad.”

“I’M NOT!”

“Appa, I think noona is—“

“Do you think I’m blind?”

“Well, you shouldn’t be looking at me right now!  Keep your eyes on the road, Kai!”

“Why?  I want to look at my wife.”

My heart stops beating momentarily and I freeze for a complete second before being able to function normally again.  “Yah!  That’s not funny!”

“What?  Because you keep forgetting how you’re my wife, albeit pretend, of course, I think I have the right to remind you about it.”

“IN FRONT OF THEM!  Not here, when literally no one is around.”

“Jongguk is.  He needs to be reminded that you’re his pretend mom too, right Guk?”

I scoff.  “I cannot believe how ridiculous this conversation is getting!  Yah, Kai, you want to call me your wife but don’t even want to go to grad-ball with me?  Get your ing priorities straight man!”

“YAH!  LANGUAGE!” 

“Oh for God’s sake!”

“You cursed in front of my 6 year old son and you don’t like me scolding you about it?!”

“I’m not pissed about that!” I retort, crossing my arms.

“Then what?  Because I didn’t want to go to grad-ball—“

“I’ve told you, I don’t care if you want to grad-ball with me or not!  I’m going with Mark, the amazing guy who serenaded me in front of a whole ice-cream shop anyway!”

“Fine!  Go with Mark!"

“Oh I will, thank you very much!”

“Fine.” Kai says, accelerating the car.

“Wae?  Are you jealous?”

“I am not!  Why the hell would I be?!”

“I don’t know... because now you can’t go to grad-ball with me?  Your wife?”

Kai’s face literally looks like it might explode.  “Yah, Seo Iseul—“

“I’m joking, I’m joking.  That’s how it feels when you buzz me with the stupidest questions I have ever heard.”  I say, laughing.

“Whatever.”  Kai mutters.  “Go ahead and go to the grad-ball with Mark.  I won’t even wait up at home.”

“OOOooooh, Is that the vocalization of JEALOUSY I hear?”

“Is this the human form of stupidity I’m dealing with?”

“Whatever!  Insult me all you want!  You won’t burst my happy bubble.  I’m going to grad-ball with Mark and that’s all that matters right now.”

“Pffft.”  Kai scoffs.  “So pathetic.”

“YAH!!”  I yell.  “Urgh, I should’ve just taken the subway home!”  I grunt to myself, turning to face the window.  I close my eyes and try to go to sleep, wanting to avoid another pointless conversation with Kai.

“Don’t sleep.  We’re nearly there.”  His voice disturbs my emotional peace again, although now it’s a significant 20 decibels softer and less angry. 

I ignore him and close my eyes anyway.

Not two minutes later, Kai says, “We’re here.  Let’s go.”

I immediately get up.  “What?  I swear we just passed Lotte Mall a while ago—“

Kai snickers and I come to realize that he has successfully tricked me. 

“Kaaaiii!!” I whine.  “Just for once, let me be happy okay?  I’m sleepy because I didn’t get enough sleep yesterday!  Because of someone who—“

“Arrasso arrasso, go to sleep.”  Kai interrupts quickly, like he’d rather I didn’t say it.

“Not that I’m complaining about it.” I mumble, hoping he doesn’t take it the wrong way. 

“I know you wouldn’t.”  Kai says, smiling smugly.

HEOL!  I whack Kai’s arm, who gives me a savage glare.  “You’re so cocky!”

“What’s cocky, noona?”

I spin around to look at Jongguk, pointing adamantly at his father.  “This!  Your father!  Being so overly proud and confident in everything he does!”

“But what did he do this time?” Jongguk asks, and I suddenly remember that he doesn’t know a single thing about last night’s outing.

“Well.. he..” I look at Kai slowly.

“Noona!  What did he do?!”

“He, uh,—“

“I took noona out yesterday night when you were asleep.” Kai quickly cuts in.

“Without me?!  Jongguk slept alone yesterday night?!”

“Of course not!  Your crazy uncle friends came over to keep you company!”

“Yah, don’t talk about my friends like that!”  Kai scolds me again for the 100th time that day.

“So noona went with Appa only?” Jongguk asks.

“Yes!”

“So noona had a date with Appa?!” He asks, bursting into a humongous grin for some reason.

I nearly choke on the air I’m breathing.  “WHAT?!  No!  It wasn’t a date!  It was a…. Yah, Kai!  Tell him!!”

“Tell him what?  I’m driving.  I thought I had to keep my eyes on the road.”  Kai answers.

THIS !!  I tch-ed impatiently and quickly re-addressed Jongguk.  “Jongguk, we didn’t go on a date.  We just went out for some food, and uh, a movie, that’s it.”  Later scenes shall not be revealed to this innocent little human.

“But it was just you and Appa right??”  Jongguk asks persistently.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it a date!  Just… a casual outing.”

“But Go Sonsaengnim said that if two people went out together, a boy and a girl, just the two of them, it’s a date!”

First of all, this Go Sonsaengnim needs some clarification here.  Two guys or two girls can go out together and call it a date too, if they wanted!  This whole relationship thing isn’t limited to heteroual preferences, is it?  And how can he/she simply say that two people who go out together are on a freaking date?!

“Yes, but….” I rack my brain for something to say.  “A date is when…. Ah!  A date is when two people who like each other go out together!  That’s the difference!”

“Oooooh, so it’s like noona and Jongguk?  Noona and Jongguk are dating.”

Kai bursts out laughing, howling even, from the driver’s seat.  “See Seul?  You choose:  date me, or Jongguk.” 

Omo, date Kai?!

SHUT UP, BRAIN! 

“Neither!”  I say, scowling.  “Shut up, you’re not even helping me.”

“Hey, why are you mad again?  You’re the one who—“

“Just drive!”

“Woah, so you’re the boss now huh?  Ne, arrasso, sajangnim~”  Kai says sarcastically. 

I smile proudly.  “Okay, Jongguk, so… noona and you are not exactly dating either.  When two people go out on a date, it’s with someone they.. like, love, or have a crush on… that kind of love.  The one where you want to be their boyfriend or girlfriend.  So, because that did not happen with Appa and me yesterday night, we can’t call it a date, and because that’s not the case for us either, noona and Jongguk aren’t dating as well!  You get it?”

“So noona’s not dating anyone?”

“Uh… nope!”

“Jongguk also isn’t?”

“Of course not!   Oh, and Jongguk, going on a date with someone doesn’t automatically make them your boyfriend or girlfriend, you know.  You have to ask for their permission.”

“Permission?”

“Mmmhm!  Consent!”

“Consent?”

“Yeah, like.. you have to ask them, ‘do you want to be my girlfriend?  Or boyfriend?’ before they really are.  You have to make sure!”

“Yah yah, what is my son going to do with that kind of knowledge at this age huh?  Stop teaching him nonsense!”

“I am not!  I’m teaching him something real!  Consent!  Consent should be taught from a very early age, you know.”

Kai doesn’t counter that, so I return to Jongguk again.  “It’s the same like everything else.  You have to always ask for consent.  Or permission!  Things like, ‘can I borrow this?’ or ‘can I do this?’… that’s important Jongguk!  Remember it, okay?”

“What if I don’t?”

“Then you’ll become a mean guy!”

“Why?!”

“Because you’ll hurt people.”

“Aww, okay!”

“Amen.  Amen.”  Kai joins, making the sign of the Cross.  

Jeez, this dude!!  He’s making it his life’s mission to piss the whole living crap out of me, I swear!!!!

“Honestly, Kai, you could learn some of this too!”  I say, slapping his arm again.

“What?  Me?  When have I ever went beyond your consent?!”  Kai asks, jutting his lower lip out a bit.

“Um.. not really… but, you know!  For future reference!”

“I’ve learned that a long time ago, thank you very much!”  Kai says as he pulls into a parking space in the regular HOC basement.  Woah, I didn’t even realize that we’re here already! 

“Whose car is this?”  I ask, referring to the silver Ford he was driving.

“Company’s car.”

“What about the Mercedes Dae usually drives?”

“Company’s as well.”

“Why didn’t you go with Dae today?” I question again.

“He’s having a day off.”

“Is Dae your personal driver or something?”

“Not really.  Are you done interrogating me now?”

But for some reason, I’m having a huge urge to literally ask out every single question I’ve ever been curious about.

“Why do you get to keep you cars on your own basement??”

“Because we’re special and those are super expensive, hello??”

“Why don’t you usually drive your own car?”

“Because, Ms Seo Iseul,” Kai pronounces my name slowly by the syllable, “Right now is still in my work hours.  I use the company’s cars when I’m working.”

“Then how come they let you pick Jongguk up in the middle of the afternoon when you’re supposed to be working?!”  I continue to ask, nearly tipping over with confusion by now.  So many things just don’t add up! 

“Because I’ve been granted special privileges seeing how I’m a single parent who has been working with HOC for so long already!”

“Seriously, what is it that you do, Kai?” 

Kai locks the car with a beep and holds Jongguk’s hand.  “I’m the chief security officer, I told you!”

“Then why don’t you ever work in a uniform?!  Why don’t you have a personnel ID badge like I’ve seen some other HOC workers have?”

“Because I work inconspicuously!  There, are you happy now?” Kai throws his hands up to the air.

I open my mouth to ask why he works inconspicuously but thought better of it.  “For now.”  I say, nodding amicably.

“Thank goodness.  Come on.  I need to drop the keys.”  Kai says, dangling the Ford keys in front of him.  We step into the elevator and, as he always does, Kai looks right up at the CCTV where a beam of green light emerges and scans his retina.  Immediately, a whole new set of buttons appear on a separate panel.  Another question immediately works its way to the tip of my tongue.

“Kai?”

“What?”  Kai sounds bored this time, like he was already anticipating this.

“Why do you get your retina scanned?  I mean, why don’t you have a card like the rest of us?”

“Because security.”

I stomp frustratedly and Jongguk shoots me a semi-confused semi-scared kind of look.  “But like, why?!”

“Company secrets.”

“Oh for the love of God.” I groan, rubbing my face.  “How many buttons are there exactly?”

“In total?”

“Yep.”

“A lot.”

“YAH!!!” I shriek.

“What?  I don’t waste my time counting them!  All I know is that my eye opens every single one of them.”

“Oh, so that’s all of it?”  I ask, peering at the newly appeared panel of buttons.  “Where does U go?”

“Somewhere.  Another somewhere.  And yet another somewhere.”

I give up.  It’s impossible!  I can’t extract any kind of information from this guy!!  There’s really absolutely negative point in asking.

“So where are we going?”  I ask, sounding extremely hopeless even to myself. 

“Level 2.”  Kai smiles, finally answering something properly.  “But you’re going straight to P!”

“Nooo!!  I wanna see what’s on Level 2!”  I beg, stepping right in front of the elevator doors. 

“You can’t!!  You think my office is some kind of tourist attraction?!”

“No, but—“

“And it’s just a regular office anyway!  There’s nothing fun to see!”

“But I wanna….”  I pout.  “Pleaaaase?”  I beg him, giving my best aegyo eyes. 

“Aish, stop looking at me like that.”  Kai says, closing his eyes.  .  Was my best aegyo that bad?!

“Kai~  Come on, I won’t do anything weird!” I poke him twice.  “Jongguk, come on!  Beg your appa too!”

“Come on appa, pleeeaaaase?”

“You guys are killing me!”  Kai moans as the elevator dings, indicating that we’re at level 2 already.  I get ready to step out.

“Yah, Iseul, I told you—“

“Come on Kai!  I’m your wife!”  I smile playfully. 

, Iseul, just what the hell are you doing?! 

I’m using the wife card, that’s what.  If my HOC card opens the P button, then the wife card will—

Well.

I’m not sure exactly.  But it’s doing something, I hope.

Kai stares at me, stock-still and slack-jawed in shock, and I skip out happily with Jongguk in hand as soon as the elevator doors slide open. 

“Boss, Taekwon and Jinsoo reported running into Kai and a girl today at around 4 in the morning.”  A figure says, his head bowed respectively before his boss. 

The man he called his boss lets out a shriek of delight and claps his hand delightfully.  “The girl?  Seo Iseul?!”

“Yes, Jinsoo also stated that that was the girl’s name.”

“He was only with her?  None of his stupid guy friends?”

“From what they’ve reported, that is the case, boss.”

“Interesting.  Interesting.”  The Boss the back of his ear thoughtfully.  “But, but, wait!  You haven’t told me how they all met.”

“Well… apparently... Taekwon and Jinsoo were trying to… have some fun with the girl.”

“And then?  And then?”  the Boss leans in curiously, his eyes glittering with maniacal delight.  “Did they have any?”

“No, Kai came into the scene and threatened and attacked them.  They said he was being very aggressive… and protective over the girl.”

“That poor.. stupid.. boy.”  Boss shakes his head.  “He always does this.  Gets attached to something and does something stupid for the sake of it.”

The Boss sighs.  “Jiro.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Give Taekwon and Jinsoo a reminder.  Iseul is mine to have fun with... and mine alone.”

I’m sitting on the living room couch, slouching on one of the armrests, with my laptop on my lap after putting Jongguk to sleep.   I gaze dreamily at Lee Minho being Heo Joon Jae in The Legend of the Blue Sea, which is the K-drama I’m currently watching.  Oh my God.  OH MY GOD!!  I can’t—he’s just so cute to Shim Cheong!  He really likes her but somehow it all comes out as him yelling at her to change into a longer skirt, setting a dumb curfew for her (8 pm), telling her to go clean the house so she won’t go out and about, GAAAAH!!   AND THEN!  All he says is “It’s my house!  I can do whatever I want!”

And don’t even get me started on his wardrobe.  THAT !  His outfits are always so on freaking point!  Though you know, personally, I liked it best when he wore that pilot uniform in episode 3.  Jesus.  If he looked at me in that outfit and in that hairstyle, I might get pregnant. 

Anyway, so right now, this Si Ah girl is trying to act all cute and girly in front of him, but—yay!  Joon Jae isn’t listening to her!  Omo!  He called her a cab!  When she was about to show him something!!  I can’t even!  He’s literally implicitly shooing her away!  Okay, so that’s kiiinda mean, but—

“Are you going to continue making creepy sounds and faces at your laptop like that for the rest of the night?”

Immediately, my happy bubble pops into thin air.   I jerk my head up and look at Kai who’s slouching on the opposite end of the couch.   When did he get here anyway? 

“I’m not being creepy!  This is a normal thing girls do when they watch K-dramas anyway!”

“What are you watching this time?”  Kai asks, scooting closer.  Which is kind of a big surprise because usually all he does is take a peek at the screen, insult whatever he sees in that fraction of a second, before retreating to his bedroom. 

Okay, Iseul.  DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE FOREHEAD THING.

DO NOT THINK OF THE FOREHEAD THING.

DO NOT THINK OF THE—

“Helloooo?”

I snap back to Earth.  “Uuh.. Legend of the Blue Sea.  Why?”

“Who’s in it?”  He asks, suddenly right next to me.  Umm…. Okay.

“Lee Minho and Jun Jihyun.”

“What about that dude?  Who’s that?”

“That’s Nam Doo, Joon Jae’s friend.  Now be quiet.”

“Why is it called Legend of the Blue Sea??”

“Because Cheon Songyi—I mean, Jun Jihyun here.. she’s a mermaid.  Shim Cheong!”

“What?!  They named her Shim Cheong?!”

“Actually, Joon Jae named her that.  Because she was pretty dumb in the beginning, when she first came to Seoul.”

“Oooh.”  Kai shifts closer, getting a good look at