"...and then a police officer accused her of tampering with the mail and took her down to the station," Heyi said in a low voice to San, updating him on the previous evening's events during lunch on Tuesday.
"He took her in?" San said in a disbelieving tone.
San and Wooyoung were sitting in the cafeteria, waiting for Heyi with her usual lunchtime crowd. This meant they had to suffer through Chanty and Rei's new found belief in astrology.
Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul or Ten for short, the class gossip, was sitting across the table from them, chattering away merrily with Kim Jungwoo and his best friend, Kim Doyoung.
Wooyoung looked at Ten anxiously and drew his head closer to San's. San didn't want anybody to know what they were up to, and if Ten got hold of the news, it was sure to travel through the school like lightning.
"Yeah," Wooyoung continued, lowering his voice. "My Dad had to go down to the station to talk the policeman out of pressing charges."
"How could she mess up something as simple as mailing a letter?" San asked, exasperated.
"Planetary alignment, I suppose," Wooyoung responded humorously. He didn't tell San that Heyi actually had blamed the evening's events on Mercury. "Besides, that was a Heyi thing to do."
"Geez, you'd think-" San began.
Chanty's voice cut through their conversation. "Hey, you guys look pretty cozy over there," she said insinuatingly.
Wooyoung was well aware that Chanty knew all about the kiss between San and Wooyoung at the pool party Saturday night, as did most of the junior class.
'It was the juiciest morsel of information to hit the gossip channels in a long time.' Wooyoung thought ruefully.
He could just hear Chanty and Chenle hashing it through: "Not only are San and Wooyoung the most unlikely pair at Angelwood High," she imagined them saying, "but conventional, conservative Jung Wooyoung acted entirely out of character."
Thinking about it made the blood rush to Wooyoung's face. He took a deep breath and looked straight at Yena. "Did you have something to say to us, Maria Chantal Videla?" he asked in a controlled voice.
"No, no, just making a little remark," said Chanty innocently.
"Well, maybe you should keep your little remarks to yourself," San said, his voice harsh.
"My oh my, we're defensive today, aren't we?" said Chanty huffily. "It's getting obvious guys. Try hiding it again."
Annoyed with the conversation, San turned away and surveyed the tables around him, looking for Mingi. Mingi had been sitting with Chanty and Rei, but he had pointedly left the table when San and Wooyoung had arrived. He saw him sitting a few tables away, talking quietly with some members of the girls' tennis team. After he had transferred from Fix On High, Mingi had become the new star of the Angelwood High team. San tried to catch his eye, but he steadfastly avoided his gaze.
"Where the heck is your sister?" San growled, turning his attention back to the table and looking at his watch.
"I can't imagine what's keeping her," Wooyoung said.
"She's probably caught in some Mercurial predicament," Chanty speculated. "There's a total lunar eclipse in her sign today."
San looked at Wooyoung and rolled his eyes. "That goes for you too, Woo," Chanty put in, giving Wooyoung a significant look. "I'd lay low today if I were you."
"Thanks for the tip, Chanty Dope. I'll be sure to lay very low," Wooyoung said wryly.
"No problem," Chanty said with a wave of her hand. "And please, drop that Dope."
"Oh, Chanty," Rei said, her slate-gray eyes flashing with excitement. "I found Joshua Hong's sign. He's a Capricorn."
Joshua Jisoo Hong was a senior at SVT High and drove a shiny red BMW. Yena and Rei had been checking him out at the Carat Land Club, wherein he owns the club and sometimes doing car racing for fun. He had pretty eyes, thick black hair, and an incredibly beautiful smile. Not just boyfriend material but husband material! Full package.
"How did you find out?" Ten asked excitedly.
"I just went up to him at the club yesterday, and I said, 'Hey, what's your sign?' Capricorn fellas." Rei said.
"Brilliant," San muttered.
"A Capricorn!" Chanty breathed. "Capricorns are perfect for Leos. That's it! I'm asking him out."
"You're asking a guy out?" asked Jongho, who had just arrived with Kim Seungmin. "Ladies and gentlemen, a liberated woman of the nineties," he said, setting down his tray.
"That horoscope number, 1-999-127 ZODIACS, said my keys to success this month were action and aggressiveness," Chanty asserted.
"You've been calling 1-900-ZODIACS?" Seungmin asked. "You're spending money on this astrology bunk now?"
"For your information," Chanty said huffily, "astrology is a science. Besides, it's only fifty pesos per call."
"Yeah," Rei joined in. "And it's amazingly accurate. It said my cerebral activity would be at its peak this week, and I got an A on my math test."
"That is amazing," San whispered to Wooyoung.
"And it said Doyoung was in for a week of passion and romance," said Ten, "And Nakamoto Yuta showed up five minutes later with a dozen long-stemmed roses."
"When Ten called in, it warned that Virgos would be accident-prone this month," added Doyoung. "The very next day he sprained his wrist in cheerleading practice." Ten held up his bandaged wrist as proof.
"It's a miracle!" Exclaimed Jongho.
"Wonders never cease," Seungmin agreed.
Chanty shook her head self-righteously. "You boys are just too immature to understand."
"Much too immature." Rei agreed.
"Us? Immature?" Seungmin asked, crossing his legs and assuming an exaggeratedly sophisticated position. Jongho adopted a blasé expression and pretended to blow smoke in Seungmin's face. Chanty and Rei couldn't help laughing.
"Definitely," said Chanty disdainfully. "I think we girls need some older, more mature, senior guys."
"Senior guys? Jongho, she's wounding me," said Seungmin, pretending to thrust a sword in his chest. "Come and stop me from pulling her hair Jongho!"
"Yah Maria Chantal Videla, take it easy, would you?" said Jongho. "He's sensitive, you know?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Little puppy." said Chanty with exaggerated concern. "You know, just one more year and you're there. But for the moment..." Chanty's practiced eyes raked the cafeteria.
"Yes, we absolutely need some senior guys," Rei said, picking up the clue from Chanty. "Some suave, so phisticated seniors."
"Like tall, fair, and handsome Jeong Yunho, for example?" asked Seungmin, fluttering his eyelashes.
"A real dreamboat," added Jongho for good measure.
"Yes. Like Yunho, for example," said Chanty matter-of-factly. She looked over her shoulder at Yunho, sitting alone, as usual, at a table in the corner. "You don't see him acting like an infant."
"I bet he's incredibly refined," breathed Rei.
"He'd probably take you to La Maison Blanche on your first date and order everything in French." Wooyoung looked over at Yunho while the girls scrutinized him.
He was startled to find him staring straight at him with an intense expression on his face. Wooyoung shook himself and drew his attention back to the group. 'Why the fuck is he looking at me? He doesn't even know me.' He thought. Yet every time he looked up he seemed to be casting glances in his direction.