“What? I bet your teacher doesn’t think that,” I replied. “Let’s speed walk to the car.”
Austin had come out of the house now with Mrs. Yun. Ahead of us, Kent and Minjae flanked Channing’s sides. She was closer to Minjae, butKent kept raising his arm as if to loop it over her shoulder and pull her away from the other man. He seemed to lose his nerve and dropped his arm as Channing leaned away. Up and down, Kent’s arm rose and fell.
Paul walked on the other side of Minjae and was entertaining all of them with some story about a friend of his. Channing’s laughter drifted in the air. Since Harabeoji planned to stay at the Yuns’ for the duration of the visit, we handed over Harabeoji’s bag to him and waved goodbye. As Channing backed out of the driveway, Kent got into his car, too. His silver car was parked by the curb. It followed us for many blocks.
Chapter 8
I was lying on a couch with a blanket and a pillow, about to fall asleep, when Channing came in with two large mugs of hot tea, the steam curling above the liquid. Her face hovered over them. I smelled peppermint.
“Are you awake?” she asked.
I sat up and took one of the mugs from her. “The kids go right to bed?”
“Without a peep. They were worn out.”
I took a sip. “You want to talk about Minjae?”
“No. Hey, there’s a new Chunhyang on Kovikiflix.” She set up her laptop on a chair at an angle for both of us to watch.
“Who’s in it?” I asked. All the Chunhyang shows were similar. LikePride and PrejudiceandSense and Sensibility, there were many versions of the “Tale of Chunhyang.”
Channing watched every one. Several were period dramas set in the Joseon dynasty. In a modern comedy rendition, Chunhyang was a high school student who dreamt of a career as a K-pop star, and Mongryong was a teenager who rode a motorcycle and got in trouble with the law. The evil villain who kept them apart was an entertainment mogul. Channing obsessively watched all of them on repeat. The one I took biggest issue with was a movie where Bangja, Mongryong’s servant, played a bigger role in the love story. Unfair and unrealistic, I thought. It should be Hyangdan, Chunhyang’s maid, who got more screentime.
“Is this one historical or modern?” I asked.
“Historical,” she replied.
“How many times have you seen it?”
“Only twice. I like that they include Chunhyang’s mother’s life before Chunhyang was born,” Channing said, and put her tea down. She didn’t seem to be in a hurry to start the show. “Why aren’t you in the parents’ room? It’s totally empty,” she continued.
She’d shown me all the rooms earlier, and it had just felt odd to sleep in the Ahns’ bedroom, so clean and neat with Korean figurines in traditional clothes and lots of photos in ceramic frames of the children. Also, Edison had scowled when we’d opened the door and said his parents didn’t like anyone going in there when they weren’t home.
Instead of the parents’ bedroom, I’d chosen to sleep in the mother’s study with her smooth white leather modern couch padded by wide cushions. Besides a desk, a shelf, and this couch, the room was empty, as if the boys’ mother hadn’t begun the work she intended to do in this space yet. I liked how impersonal it was.
“It was a fun night. Good to see Harabeoji with his best friend,” I said.
“Until Kent showed up. Didn’t I say he’d be there?”
“Why did you tell him if you didn’t want him there?” I asked.
“I didn’t.”
“Well he said to Harabeoji and Mr. Yun that you’d told him all about me and Harabeoji coming today.”
“He’s a liar.”
“Then how did he know?” It made no sense to me.
“Dahee, you’re sayingI’mlying?” She got up and walked to the window, moved aside the curtains, and looked out at the street.
I pulled the blanket up to my chin. “I believe you. I just thought maybe you forgot.”
Channing was quiet. I said after a minute, “Did you see how he slapped away Edison’s hand when we were walking to the cars?”
She came back to sit on the floor by the couch, and her shoulders slumped. “That’s exactly him. He’s like that. Horrible. I’m glad you saw it.”
I brought the cup to my lips. “We’ll figure it out. Harabeoji is on the case. And if Kent shows up in this house while I’m here, I’ll scream and scare the shit out of him.”
