"Hmm," Heyi pondered after dinner, staring at the blank computer screen as she prepared to compose Mrs. Chiang's love letter. "Something strong but romantic."
"Daring but understated," Wooyoung suggested, feeling slightly guilty about disobeying his parents' orders.
"Passionate but pragmatic," added Heyi. The two siblings burst out laughing.
Heyi sat propped up against the wall in her bed, Wooyoung's new laptop computer perched precariously on his knees. Wooyoung lay comfortably on the floor amidst a pile of Heyi's clothing, staring up at the ceiling. Heyi's bedroom had been a study in purple and silver ever since she had redecorated from her previous all-brown phase. The chaos in Heyi's room provided a stark contrast to Wooyoung's impeccably neat bedroom, done in shades of soft cream and beige.
"My sweetie pie munchin Ji-Yu." Heyi began composing out loud. "I-"
"Come on, she'll never believe it," Wooyoung cut her off.
"You're right." Heyi began again. "Ji-Yu, my little pretty person whom I can't live without, light of my life, fire of my eyes-"
"JUNG HEYI!!" Wooyoung hurled a purple throw pillow at her. "We haven't got all night. I've got a date with Yeo in twenty-five minutes, and I want to be out of the house before Mom and Dad decide I can't go."
"Yeah, I don't envy you right now," Heyi said with just a touch of smugness. "I can't imagine what your punishment will be. What's the penalty for living in sin with your boyfriend? Being grounded for ten years? A convent, perhaps?"
"Well," said Wooyoung, "I was hardly sinning. I think being grounded for a week should be plenty. In a way, we were only trying to be responsible seeing what a more grown-up relationship would be like before we actually do it." Heyi rolled her eyes, and Wooyoung knew she was unconvinced. To tell the truth, he hadn't really convinced himself, either.
"You should follow my angelic example." Wooyoung said, smiling and fluttering her eyelashes. "Then you'd stay out of trouble. Just ask yourself before you do something: Would Mom approve?" She preached virtuously. "Would Dad be happy about my Arrrgh!" she shrieked as Wooyoung hummed another pillow at her head.
"Heyi, the day I take model behavior lessons from you is the day I get my head examined. Now, come on. Let's get this done."
"Okay Okay, Chill out." said Heyi. "How's this.."
'My dear, darling Ji-Yu'
"No, no, no. More realistic." Wooyoung sighed and lay back on a crumpled teal cotton jumpsuit.
"Sometimes silence can send the wrong message." Heyi continued hopefully.
"No, something more poetic," Wooyoung interjected. "Let's see."
'Sometimes silence can speak louder than words.'
"I've got it!" Heyi said excitedly.
'My dear Ji-Yu,'
'Sometimes silence can speak louder than words, and in this case, I think my silence on the subject of our marriage has sent you the wrong message.'
Heyi paused, considering, "Hmm, how about..."
'But I haven't said anything because I am hurt that you would doubt me?'
"Make it more concise," Wooyoung proposed.
'But my pride and my hurt have been in the way'
'My love, you are the only person I am interested in.'
"Wooyoung!" called Shinhye, knocking lightly on the door of Wooyoung's bedroom.
"Oh no!" Wooyoung said, bolting upright. "What are we going to do?"
"Shh," Heyi hissed. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. "We're in my room, Mom!" she called out. Shinhye crossed through the bathroom adjoining the siblings' bedrooms and walked into Heyi's room.
"Hi Mom." said Heyi, smiling sweetly as her mother opened the door. Wooyoung stared fixedly at a poster across the room, avoiding his Mom's eyes.
"What are you working on?" asked Shinhye.
"He is helping me with my history paper for Mr. Boo," explained Heyi smoothly. "He's letting me try out the new laptop." Wooyoung had saved up for a laptop computer and had given Heyi his old word processor.
"Oh, that's nice, Sweetie," said Shinhye, smiling at Wooyoung. Wooyoung swallowed hard and tried to smile back, achieving what felt more like a crooked grimace. "But remember, you're only helping Heyi with her paper, you're not writing it for her."
"Humph," grumbled Heyi. "Did you want something, Mom?"
"Oh, right. I knew I came in here for a reason," said Shinhye. "Woo, Yeonjin just called while I was on the phone."
"Thanks, Mom." Wooyoung squeaked, feeling more guilty than ever. "Don't work too hard," said Shinhye lightly, shutting the door behind her.
Wooyoung sank back onto the floor, sighing with relief. "I don't know if I can take it, Heyi," he said. "I hate going behind Mom's back like this."
"You should be used to it, after last week," Heyi said unsympathetically. "Anyway, you're the one who promised San we would help. I generously only offered my services to get you out of the tight spot you found yourself in San's arms." Heyi cackled with laughter at Wooyoung's enraged look.
"Oh, stop it. Don't put on the prim act with me, Woo. I'm your sister, remember? There are no secrets between us," she said firmly. "We both know San can be the biggest jerk on the face of this earth, we both know he's a fabulous kisser, and we both know that right now he needs our help. So smooth your ruffled feathers and let's finish this before your date with Ms. Perfect at everything." She quickly scanned the screen and read back the last line.
'My love, you are the only person I am interested in.'
"No," Wooyoung said, swallowing his outrage with difficulty. "The idea is right, but the tone—" He thought for a moment.
'My love, I have eyes for you and only for you.'
"Okay." Heyi said, deleting the last line and typing in the new one.
'My love, I have eyes for you and only for you. It is my work, and not another woman, that has driven us apart. Forgive me, Ji-Yu. Please tell me that it is not too late, that I haven't sacrificed the most important things in the world to me, that person I love, and...'
Heyi hesitated. "The wonderful family we have made together?"
"I guess. If you can call San a wonderful family," Wooyoung said wryly, then felt a twinge of guilt. He and San had gotten quite close in the last few weeks, and though they would never be romantic again, he hoped they were now good friends. But sometimes it was hard to forget how he had always thought of him. "Try to make the sentence parallel," he suggested. "How about the man I love and the family I cherish?"
"Good, good," Heyi crooned, adding the last line. Quickly she ran a spell-check on it, then hooked the laptop up to the printer they shared. After showing the neatly printed letter to Wooyoung, who nodded his approval, he signed the letter with a flourish.
"Now for the finishing touch," Heyi said, her eyes gleaming. She dashed out of the room and returned a moment later with a bottle of her Dad's English Leather cologne. She folded the letter in thirds and inserted it carefully into an ivory envelope, sealing it with a gold sticker and dabbing it with a bit of her Dad's cologne for extra effect. Leaving Wooyoung upstairs getting ready for his date with Yeosang. Heyi hurried down the steps to mail the letter. At the bottom of the stairs she collided with her Dad.
"Heyi?" Geun-Suk said inquiringly. "Going somewhere?"
"Hi, Dad! Just doing a little stargazing. Be back in a sec," she said brightly, skipping out the front door. It was a bright, clear night, and the sky was dotted with twinkling stars.
Heyi ran down to the corner mailbox, feeling triumphant and satisfied. It was a good thing that she and Wooyoung were doing for San's parents. If her parents' marriage was in trouble, she would want someone like herself lending a caring hand and a devious mind. She remembered her parents' brief separation a while ago. She had been devastated, and she, Wooyoung, had joined forces to get her folks back together.
'We're old hands at this.' She thought cheerfully, dropping the letter into the mailbox. She turned to head back to the house, but then stopped dead in her tracks.
'The stamp!' she thought in alarm, clapping her hand to her mouth. Woo will never let me live this down. 'What a typical Heyi move.' she thought in disgust. After all their hard work, and the cologne and everything.
Well, she wasn't going to give up that easily. Glancing around to see if anyone was looking, Heyi stuck her arm as far into the mailbox as she could to try to fish out the letter. But as hard as she tried, she couldn't even reach the masses of mail, much less the critical letter.
Giving up, she started to pull her arm out, but found she couldn't. Her bracelets had gotten caught on the shelf that dumps the letters. She was stuck! The harder she pulled, the worse it got.
'I'm totally caught!' she thought in dismay, looking around wildly for help. To her horror all she saw was a police car slowly cruising down the street. Heyi gulped in panic. Keeping her eyes glued on the approaching vehicle, she tried desperately to dislodge her hand.
'This can't be happening to me. I just have to act casual. Maybe they won't notice I have my arm down the box.' she thought frantically. Just then she noticed a Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe turn the corner.
Jeong Yunho! she thought in dismay. Is there any way this situation can get worse? How about an earthquake right now?
Heyi tried to strike a casual pose, resting her left elbow lightly on top of the mailbox and leaning against it with her ankles crossed in front of her. Whistling and looking around nonchalantly, she tried to appear as if she were waiting for someone.
Just as Yunho drove by, the police officer got on his loudspeaker and boomed, "Remove your hand from the mailbox! Remove your hand from the mailbox!"
"Please, please, let the earth just open and swallow me up. Let me just disappear from the face of the earth forever. I cannot believe this." Heyi was so embarrassed she wanted to die.
'Just my luck.' She thought. 'The man of my dreams drives by, and like an idiot I have my hand caught in a mailbox, and now I have Officer Friday bellowing at me. This is just fabulous.' She desperately tried to extricate herself, but to no avail.
The police officer pulled over and got out of his car. Heyi thought she saw Jeong Yunho watching the spectacle through his rearview mirror.
'How will I ever live this down? I won't, that's how. I won't, ever.'
"Do you realize that tampering with the mail is a federal offense, young lady?" The police officer asked sternly.
"Uh, yes," Heyi answered in a rush, desperate to get rid of the police Officer as quickly as possible. "But you see, officer... I-I wasn't actually tampering. It's just that I mailed an extremely important letter and I forgot the stamp, so I just had to get it back, and then my hand got caught-"
"The details are irrelevant," the police officer interrupted her firmly. "An offense is an offense."
"Of course, Officer," she said, quickly changing tactics. She flashed him a winning smile. "You are completely right," she said in her most complacent tone, "and I'll never-"
"I'm taking you down to the station, young lady." interrupted the officer again. "Now, get in the car." Wonyoung's composure snapped. "I would love to, Officer, but my hand is stuck. I've been telling you. If you'd like to get my hand unstuck, I'll be happy to go with you to the station. Or maybe we could just take the mailbox with us," she said sarcastically, aware that she was sinking into hotter water all the time.
'Dad is going to love this. Hope he's not too tired from his trip.'
Heyi and the officer were locked into a battle of wills as they stood there, glaring at each other. Then, with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, she noticed Yunho begin to back up the street toward them.
Yunho stopped his car and got out. Heyi forgot all about the policeman for a minute and gazed at Yunho. He looked cool and together in soft, faded jeans and a white cotton shirt. Then, remembering her predicament, she froze, mortified that he was seeing her in this ridiculous situation. She could feel her face burning as he calmly shut the door to his car and strode unhurriedly toward them.
"Is there a problem here?" Yunho asked softly, smiling down at Heyi.
Heyi shook her head. "Uh, no, no problem-"
"Seems the young woman's gotten herself stuck," offered the police officer, apparently believing her story. Heyi looked away, flushed with embarrassment, wishing she could disappear into one of the cracks in the sidewalk.
"Hmm," said Yunho, coolly assessing the situation. He joined Heyi at the mailbox, standing so close to her that she could feel the heat from his body.
"It's my bracelets..." Heyi said weakly, aware of his clean, soapy scent.
Yunho reached down into the mailbox and clasped his hand around Heyi's wrist, gently removing the offending jewelry. Heyi shivered, her hand tingling from his touch. Well, that's it, she thought as she pulled out her arm. 'My chances with him are finished.' Then she had an idea. Wooyoung would kill her if he found out, but he had no choice.
She turned to Yunho with a shy smile. "Thank you for your help," Heyi said demurely. "I'm Jung Wolyoung, by the way." He just nodded his head, looking at her with his incredibly sexy eyes. Then he handed her her bracelets and got back in his car.
"This way, young lady," said the police officer sharply, taking her arm and escorting her to the car. "We're going down to the station for fingerprinting."