San sat on the front stoop dejectedly. He had finally been towed by the motor club and deposited at his doorstep. Where is everyone? he thought, looking at his watch. It was almost eight thirty, and the only cars in the driveway were those of his parents.
Just then he saw Wooyoung, Wonyoung and Wolyoung roaring up in their Jeep. They pulled up in the driveway and jumped out of the car, running toward him.
"San!" Wooyoung exclaimed. "We're so sorry! We had an, uh," she hesitated, "an uh, emergency situation." They had finally managed to break the seal on the bathroom doors by opening the window and running cold water in the shower.
San waved away her explanation. "Don't worry about it," he said despondently. "I just got here myself. Flat tire. So," he said, squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, "ready to storm the barracks?"
The four conspirators quietly opened the front door, looking for the Choi's. San shrugged and led the way around the first floor, but there was no sign of them.
Finally the only room left was the screening room. The twins put their ears to the door, but it was silent inside. Then they heard muffled voices, and what sounded like arguing. Frowning, Sab burst into the screening room, the siblings close behind. He stopped suddenly, stunned at the sight that greeted him. Mr. Siwon and Mrs. Jessie was locked in a passionate embrace on the love seat. On the large TV in front of them, Audrey Hepburn was screaming at some actor San didn't recognize.
The Choi's looked quickly up, startled, and separated. "San! Wooyoung, Wonyoung and Wolyoung!" said Mrs. Jessie looked flustered. "What's going on?"
"I…" Wonyoung began.
"We…" San and Wooyoung started to explain in a rush at the same time.
"You see, we just wanted—" San began again, but his voice dropped off as he searched for the words.
"We just thought—" Wooyoung said, trying to pick up from San.
Mrs. Jessie eyed the Jang siblings oddly. "You know," she began, turning to Mr. Siwon, "it seems like a strange coincidence that our lawyers both had car trouble the day we were scheduled to meet them last week."
San looked at Wooyoung and Wonyoung and sank down on the sofa, bracing himself for what was to come. The siblings followed his lead, sitting down next to him and looking at Jessie Chiang nervously.
"And it seems a little odd that someone filled Jessie's house with flowers using my credit card," agreed Mr. Siwon, looking at San. San squirmed and looked away.
"You know, come to think of it," said Mrs. Jessie, "I found a very strange anonymous tape in my mailbox this morning." Wonyoung's face turned bright red. "And somebody's key chain," continued Mrs. Patman, taking Wonyoung's keys out of her bag and handing them to her. She took the keys silently and looked down at the floor.
"And now," concluded Mr. Siwon, "here we all are together! What do you think of that?" The Choi's looked at the four kids, who were huddled together on the couch. San stared back at his parents, speechless. Then he turned to Wooyoung, his eyes silently calling for help.
"Uh, w-we were helping Wolyoung with her big project!" Wooyoung said frantically, yanking San up off the couch.
"Yeah," said San. "See you later!" The four of them backed out of the room, waving and smiling as Mr. Siwon and Mrs. Jessie watched them with amusement.
"It worked, it worked!" said Wonyoung, jumping up and down in excitement as soon as they were safely out of earshot in San's bedroom. "I knew I could do it! I'm the queen of schemes!"
San rolled his eyes, and Wooyoung fell back onto the bed, pretending to faint from exasperation.