“Oh!” Angie cried out. “You’re here! And Emma’s here!” Her face fell. “Oh, no. Okay, let’s calm down. Let’s just take some deep breaths and figure this out.”
Of course her ex-boyfriend would come in for a haircut today, of all days. And of course Arthur would come to this salon, because he’d been coming here for almost as long as Jiyeon.
“You won’t make any trouble for my girl, will you, Mr. Hong?” Gloria inquired. “We didn’t know she’d be here today. I would’ve rescheduled you.”
Arthur only grinned. “What? ‘Course I won’t,” he replied. “Ouch, Miss Gloria.”
“Ouch! That’s what you’ll say if you make her mad!”
“I’m not mad,” said Jiyeon. She bit back a sigh. “Hi, Arthur.”
Happiness brightened his face, which wouldn’t be out of place in any Korean drama searching for a leading man. He’dgrown into the chiseled good looks of an orphan hero, morally upright, stricken with a tragic backstory. Not that Jiyeon could picture Arthur and tragedy on the same page. She’d spent years of her life watching sadness roll right off him, repelled by his radiant positivity.
“Hey, Emmie,” he replied, upping the wattage on his grin. “Look at that. I knew I was getting here early for a reason. How’s everything? It’s been forever!”
“It’s been two weeks.”
“That was just a text, though. I haven’tseenyou in forever. When’s Dee-dubs back from his big adventure?”
Angie’s expression turned quizzical. “Dee-dubs…?”
“He means Denny. D for Denny and W for Woosung.”
“Yeah,” said Arthur, as if this should’ve been patently obvious from the start. “Dee-dubs.”
“Back on Sunday,” chirped Lizzie.
“And Ari too, right? Man, I really hope I get to meet him this time—”
Gloria narrowed her eyes at both of them. “Ari? Who’s that?”
“A friend. Denny’s friend. He’s coming for a visit.”
It took a second, but Arthur got the hint. “Yeah! Great guy. Can’t wait to see him.” He angled himself toward Miss Gloria, lowering his voice as if imparting a secret. “Ari’s my pen pal.”
“Your pen pal.” That was the first Jiyeon had ever heard of it. “Really.”
“Well, we send emails. Same difference.” He went swiping through the calendar app on his phone. “Dinner! Next week, maybe. I’ll take Ari to that new place with the giant basket of zucchini fries. It’s cool if I borrow him, right? Denny won’t flip out? I know they’re best buddies and all.”
She blinked at this. “Oh, sure.”
“Wait," said Arthur, bouncing into the chair next to Lizzie's. "I’m being a jerk. You can come too, Emms. You get alongwith Ari, right?” Pleased with these arrangements, he moved on without waiting for her to confirm or deny. He chattered with her mother until Gloria returned to the original subject.
“Okay, we met the old guy already,” she said, gesturing at Arthur. “When will we meet the new guy? Soon?”
Arthur swiveled back to Jiyeon so fast that there had to have been some danger of whiplash. “New guy?” he exclaimed. “Who?”
A fist rapped on the front window. Gloria waved to the couple who ran the bakery next door, on their way home for dinner. “You could’ve gotten a big, big divorce from this one,” she whispered, pointing at Arthur. “Why didn’t you just wait? Marry first, then break up. Didn’t I tell you that before?”
Angie shushed her. Jiyeon tried to decide between laughing or crying. Her hair was dry, so she shrugged free of the cape, standing up to shake clipped strands onto the floor. “It’s nobody you know, Arthur.”
“I might,” he argued. “Try me.”
“Why? You’ve been out on dates, haven’t you? And I’ve never been in your business about it.”
Primly, Miss Gloria reported that Arthur had, in fact, gone out for drinks with Felicity Wen. She’d heard it from Felicity’s mother while they both waited in line at Lowell’s. The grocery store: a whirling nexus of Lemon Grove gossip, second only to either of Wanna Waffle’s weekly mahjong nights.
Lizzie made a tutting noise. “Felicity Wen! Much younger than you! Why take a baby for drinks? Arthur, you are a very nice boy most of the time—”
