29 Dates Page 12

  Jisu’s face warmed. Stupid Dave was enjoying every second of this. Sure, it wasn’t okay for her to flake on him, but he didn’t have to rub it in.

  “Austin’s fun to hang out with,” Sophie said with a knowing smile. “I totally get it.”

  “What? What do you mean you totally get it?” Dave asked, just as the cashier called out their order number. Sophie left the table to get their food, leaving Jisu and Dave alone. Where the hell was Austin? Would it be cool if she just got up and left?

  “Listen, Dave. I’m sorry for flaking. But I did have plans with Austin that I forgot about. I felt bad and didn’t want to cancel on him,” Jisu explained.

  “But you were cool canceling on me. Got it.”

  God, he was so sensitive. “Oh, come on. You get to have a nice night out with your girlfriend. It kinda works out, right?”

  “And you? Are you and Austin dating?”

  “No...” Jisu hesitated. Were they dating? It still wasn’t clear to her. “We aren’t dating. We’re just hanging out.”

  “Just be careful around him.” Austin was outside, still on the phone, pacing back and forth. “Austin’s charming and nice and all, but you know he messes around with different girls all the time, right?”

  “Uh...no...?” Jisu said. What the hell was Dave talking about? What did he know? Also, she’d made it clear. They. Were. Not. Dating.

  “That’s his thing. He’ll get really friendly with one girl, hang out with her, get close, do the whole boyfriend experience and then drop her out of nowhere when he’s ready to move on to the next one.”

  Jisu couldn’t believe what Dave was saying. She refused to believe it. He was just trying to ruin her day. All because she’d flaked on him.

  “Austin and I are friends,” Jisu said. “Besides, it’s none of your business.”

  “Just looking out for you, Jees,” Dave said. That annoying nickname again.

  “Whatever. I don’t need you or anyone to look out for me.” Jisu glared at him. “I’m good.”

  Sophie returned with two large burritos, clearly unaware of the heated exchange that had just occurred. Outside, Austin hung up the phone and waved Jisu over.

  “Just let me know when you’re free to work on the project next week,” Dave said. “I’ll make whatever time work.”

  Jisu ignored him. “It was nice meeting you, Sophie. Enjoy your food.”

  “Thanks, girlie!” Sophie smiled widely. Dave should stick to looking out for her. This girl’s completely oblivious.

  AUGUST 1, SUMMER BREAK

  DATE NO. 10

  NAME: Hwang Taejin

  * * *

  INTERESTS:

  Painting, Italian, Metalwork

  * * *

  Parent Occupations:

  Chief Financial Offer at Geum Nara;

  Criminal prosecutor

  * * *

  5:58 p.m.

  TAEJIN: Hey, Jisu, I’m sitting at the table at the far right. I just got myself a cappuccino and I’m reading a book.

  6:07 p.m.

  TAEJIN: How far away are you? ETA?

  6:14 p.m.

  JISU: OMG, Taejin! I’m so sorry. I completely forgot about today. For some reason, I had it in my calendar for Thursday and not Tuesday. I’m so sorry.

  6:15 p.m.

  TAEJIN: Am I being stood up right now?

  6:15 p.m.

  JISU: No! Absolutely not. I’m just a dummy and got the day wrong. Omg. Please don’t hate me!

  6:16 p.m.

  TAEJIN: Thank god I brought a book. Otherwise I would’ve looked like an idiot.

  6:17 p.m.

  JISU: I’m so, so sorry. Let’s definitely reschedule. Does this Thursday work for you?

  AUGUST 2, SUMMER BREAK

  11:34 a.m.

  JISU: Hey, Taejin. I still feel really bad about yesterday, but I truly just blanked. You have every right to be annoyed at me, but I would still love to meet up. Let me know if you have time this week.

  1:00 p.m.

  TAEJIN: Don’t worry about it. I believe you. It’s all good.

  1:04 p.m.

  JISU: Let me buy you coffee! Please :)

  1:05 p.m.

  TAEJIN: I can’t. My family and I are going to Italy.

  1:06 p.m.

  TAEJIN: My parents just bought a house in Tuscany, so they want to take full advantage. And we’re also going to explore more of the South and do Capri for a week, too.

  1:15 p.m.

  JISU: I bet you all will last two weeks tops before homesickness and cravings for kimchi bring you back here.

  1:17 p.m.

  TAEJIN: I bet I could find kimchi in Tuscany. Korean food is trendy and acceptable almost every in the world now, Jisu.

  1:18 p.m.

  JISU: Yeah, and I guess all that yummy pasta won’t hurt either.

  1:20 p.m.

  TAEJIN: I’ll just hit you up when I’m back?

  1:25 p.m.

  JISU: Okay! I really am sorry about yesterday. Hope you have a great trip. Can’t wait to hear about it!

  11

  Jisu rang the doorbell to Dave’s house and tried to bleach the awful encounter at El Farolito from her memory. When she had gotten home and replayed the events of the day, she’d had to be honest with herself. Dave had meant well. He might have been a little salty in his delivery, but he was only saying an iteration of what Kaylee had said, too. Austin didn’t date anyone.

  None of it mattered though. Because she wasn’t trying to date Austin. They were both simply living their lives, going where the wind carried them.

  Through the opaque glass, Jisu could see a tall figure approaching the door. She braced herself. If he was going to be cold to her, she deserved it, partially, maybe.

  “Suuuup, Jees?” Dave welcomed her in, his usual friendly self. “Just a warning. I told my mom I was having a friend come over and when she found out you were Korean, she kinda went nuts in the kitchen. You’re gonna leave ten pounds heavier.”

  Jisu broke into a smile. Maybe it was all good and they were back to normal.

  The living room was not what she expected. There was no slick coffee table made of birch or a rigid, midcentury-style couch like the Murrays’. Instead there was a plush white leather sofa (still chic in its own way) and a rich chestnut-colored sang, a Korean-style low-level table. Four bang-seok, floor cushions surrounded it. Jisu and her parents didn’t even eat every meal at a sang, but sitting on the cushion with her legs folded and feet tucked under made her feel immediately at home.

  “Omo, omo! Bul suh wassuh? She’s already here?” a woman Jisu assumed was Mrs. Kang shouted as she hurried into the living room with a plate filled with sliced persimmon and Korean pear.

  Jisu sprang to her feet and bowed her head. A respectable person always stood up and greeted their elders properly. “Anyoung ha say yo,” she said politely.

  “Wah, so polite. Dave, do you see this? Jisu, please teach Dave how to be a good Korean.” Mrs. Kang clasped her hands together and smiled. “Eat as much as you want. And you can bring home the leftovers.” Jisu resisted every urge to give Mrs. Kang a bear hug. She smiled and thanked her profusely. It felt nice to have a Korean mom overwhelm her with care.

  “Where in Seoul do you live?” Mrs. Kang spoke to Jisu in Korean. Music to Jisu’s ears. The only Korean Jisu got to speak now was through a poor connection over the phone or via video chat with her parents. It was so nice to speak the language with someone in person. It’s too bad Dave doesn’t speak much.

  “My parents live in Daechi-dong, near the Han River.”

  “Gangnam! I hear it’s such a nice area now. Everyone tells me that Seoul changes entirely every three years because of all the rapid developments.”

  “That’s kinda true. Do you not visit Seoul often?” Jisu asked Mrs. Kang, and also looked to Dave in case he under
stood any part of their conversation. He shrugged and ate another piece of persimmon.

  “No, it’s been almost fifteen years now,” Mrs. Kang said. “The last time we went, this guy was only three. He probably doesn’t remember.” She pinched her son’s cheek.

  “Ow, Mom!” Dave put his fork down. “The fruit is delicious. And I’m glad you like Jisu, but we actually have some schoolwork to do.”

  “Okay, okay.” Mrs. Kang relented, switching back to English. “But it’s dinnertime. You guys need to eat,” she said, as if she hadn’t just stuffed heaps of fruit down their throats. “Jisu, you like namul bap?”

  “I love everything. I’ll eat whatever you give me.” Jisu beamed at Mrs. Kang.

  “Aigoo, even her English is so good! Dave, you need to take Korean lessons again. She speaks both so fluently.” Mrs. Kang went back into the kitchen and reemerged with a tray full of food. “Jisu-ya, why don’t you teach my son Korean? I’ll feed you and pay you.”

  “Mom,” Dave said, sounding exasperated. He covered his face with his hand. Jisu couldn’t help but laugh. “By the way, I ordered myself a pizza.”

  “Aigoo, Dave!” Mrs. Kang smacked her son on the shoulder. “Sometimes I wonder if I really gave birth to a Korean or not.”

  Jisu ate a warm spoonful of the namul bap. It was the perfect bite with the right amount of rice, spinach, nameul and sesame oil. “This is so delicious,” Jisu said in Korean, much to Mrs. Kang’s delight.

  The bell rang and Dave went to get the door.

  “It’s so nice to have a Korean girl around the house. You know, Sophie only recently came around to trying kimchi,” Mrs. Kang said. “I don’t think she even likes it.”

  Dave returned to the living room, the pizza box open in one hand and a slice already half eaten in the other.

  “Dave, have some manners! We have a guest,” Mrs. Kang scolded her son. “I’m going to leave a plate of namul bap on the kitchen counter in case you’re still hungry, okay?”

  “Thank you, Mom.” Dave gave his mother a hug, with pizza slice still in his hand. He towered over her tiny frame. She hugged him back and then hurried out of the room.

  “She can be a lot, I know,” Dave said to Jisu as he sat back down at the table.

  “No, I love your mom! She’s so sweet,” Jisu said and she meant it. It was so nice to be taken care of by an overly caring ajumma. It was a different kind of care from what Linda showed her family. Jisu knew Linda loved Jeff and Mandy, but it was different from the overflowing warmth that Mrs. Kang had.

  Dave grabbed his notebook from his backpack and placed the assignment sheet on the table.

  “Before we get into this, I just want to apologize for the other day at El Farolito—”

  “Dave, don’t worry about it. Really. It’s all good,” Jisu said, hoping they could quickly move on to the actual task at hand.

  “No, I want you to know that I didn’t mean what I said in a mean way. I consider you a friend, and I was just looking out. Not that you need looking out for, but—”

  “Dave.” Jisu pointed her spoon at him. “Your mom is feeding me the best Korean food I’ve had in weeks. We’re cool.”

  “All right, Jees. All right.” Dave laughed, and Jisu didn’t mind the nickname this time. No wonder everyone in their class liked him. He was actually a really nice dude. He didn’t have to apologize—if anything, Jisu should’ve been the one to say sorry for overreacting.

  One large pizza and two bowls of namul bap later, Jisu and Dave were still at square one with zero good ideas. Their assigned topic was “encouraging and increasing political involvement among the general public.” And it had to be somehow tied to their motto: Head, Hands and Heart. It could be anything, and it could be nothing. They were stumped.

  “Maybe we should go for a walk,” Dave suggested. “I’ve heard that walking helps clear your mind.”

  “Okay, good, because I’m so full. I need to move around.”

  They walked from Dave’s house to Bernal Heights Park, where they wandered around the fields. They stopped to pet every other dog that was being taken for its evening stroll. They followed a trail up a large hill. By the time they got to the top, the sun was starting to go down, and they still hadn’t come up with a good plan for the project.

  “You haven’t been to this park yet, have you?” Dave asked. “This is supposed to be the main attraction.” He led her to a tree at the top of the hill. A wooden swing hung off a large branch.

  “A swing!” Jisu ran over and hopped on.

  “I knew you’d like it.”

  Jisu kicked her legs into the air. “Okay, so our ideas so far are—”

  “They’re terrible, Jees. Our ideas so far are terrible.” Dave leaned against the tree and sighed. Jisu kicked a little harder and pushed herself higher each time.

  “What about following around a local politician? Making a guerrilla-style documentary?” she asked, pumping her feet and swinging farther out. It felt like she could jump off the swing, flap her arms and fly over the city like a bird.

  “No, that narrows it down to one aspect of local politics. And our focus is grassroots, not necessarily the local political scene. That takes the international part out of it. It needs to be broader.”

  Jisu could tell that Dave was deep in thought. He slightly tilted his head when he concentrated, she’d noticed. He narrowed his eyes like he was trying to get a lens to focus.

  The sun disappeared into the horizon and the blue of the sky deepened. Jisu let the swing slow down. They hadn’t cracked the project, but they had made an earnest effort. A few bad ideas would inevitably lead to a good one.

  “Dave, I don’t think I can do any more brainstorming.” She hopped off the swing and leaned on the tree next to him. She felt light-headed—it was probably from swaying back and forth on the swing so much.

  “Let me walk you home.”

  He didn’t have to. Jisu knew her way back, and the Murrays weren’t that far from the park. But she didn’t protest. It was nice to have someone walk next to you. The streetlights turned on one by one as they made their way toward the Murrays’ house. Jisu wondered how they looked together walking down the street as the day slowly turned to night.

  * * *

  When they got to the Murrays’, Jisu and Dave hugged each other goodbye.

  “Thanks a lot for today,” Jisu said.

  “It was nothing! And my mom can be a bit much—she loves having people over and can overwhelm them—so thanks for being a good sport about that.” Dave rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at his feet, seeming a bit embarrassed.

  “Not at all! I’m so happy I met her. Really. And all that food. I’ve been so homesick and I think she helped ease some of that.”

  “Well, that’s good! I should probably head back. My mom’s probably going to start worrying and blow up my phone.”

  “Today was fun.” Jisu smiled at Dave. “And productive.”

  “It was fun. Have a good night, Jees.” Dave walked down the driveway onto the street and waved. “See you at school!”

  Jisu sat at her desk to keep brainstorming. Her journal was open where she’d left it last, when she was scribbling down her scattered thoughts after spending the day surfing with Austin.

  Picks you up and drops you off without asking

  Introduces you to new things

  Looks out for you

  Introduces you to his friends and family

  These were bullet points from that silly magazine quiz that Mandy had left in her room. Jisu remembered Austin basking in that afternoon sunlight, his long black hair still wet from the ocean. The more time they spent together, alone, the more she liked him. But did he like her?

  And then there was Dave. Her schoolmate, class partner and friend. In that order. But a lot of the bullet points she’d checked off for Austin als
o applied to Dave.

  Jisu stopped herself. Why was she comparing Austin to Dave? She was actually into Austin. He was carefree and living his best life. Dave was more serious. Jisu wanted to see Austin again and again. She would be fine if she never saw Dave outside of Wick. No, if anything, this was a sign that she should be more forward with Austin, especially if things between them were on the same level as her whatever friendship with Dave.

  Why am I thinking about a stupid dating quiz? Why am I so caught up about any of this? Why was her mind so much clearer when she was knocking out several seons per week, but now that she had a break from Ms. Moon, all she could think about were boys? No, just one boy. Singular. Austin was the one who preoccupied her thoughts.

  Jisu could hear the faint noise of a TV show through the wall. Mandy was probably catching up on Riverdale on her iPad. On her way up to her room, she had seen Jeff in his study, talking into his Bluetooth and gesticulating wildly. He was probably on a conference call. And when she’d walked past the living room, Linda had been reading a book and chomping away at a handful of celery and carrot sticks—she was on a new diet. Jisu had been to Dave’s for the first time today and met Mrs. Kang merely hours ago, but the Kang household felt more like home than the Murrays’ did.

  Jisu Kim, she said to herself. Focus. Stop thinking about Austin. Stop thinking about Dave. She was homesick, and some parts of Dave’s life reminded her of home. That was why she liked him, why today had been so nice, even if they hadn’t gotten far with their project. Plus, she couldn’t actually like him. He had a girlfriend. Sophie. Simple Sophie. A really boring girlfriend who doesn’t even like kimchi. Oh, Dave. How could you bring a girl home to your mom if she doesn’t like kimchi?

  AUGUST 7, SUMMER BREAK

  DATE NO. 11