Friday Fix

♚ | two

I looked in the mirror and choked on my own reflection. Standing next to me, Hyeong-gon nodded his head vigorously.

"Perfecto, my little sister." His eyes twinkled. "Or should I call you brother from now on?"

Gone was my jet-black hair that extended nearly to my waist. In its place was a pixie cut so short that in my current attire of tank top and denim jeans I looked like a defiant tomboy. If someone was to add on some eyeliner, a lip ring and black combat boots to replace my white sneakers, I would be the perfect punk girl aching for a fight.

"Mum would throw a fit if she sees me in this." I leaned in and inspected, with some awe, the caramel highlights that winked in and out of sight as I moved. "I mean, look at me. s**t. "

"How can she throw a fit when she can't recognize you?" Hyeong-gon laughed. "Aren't you glad I persuaded you to get those highlights?"

"I'm more astounded as to how I allowed myself to be persuaded by the four of you, to dress up as a boy and join Ryuk-il Academy." The full weight of the sentence hit me just then. "I'm so screwed if I get caught."

"Ah, but you won't be. Mum and dad wouldn't even know where to begin to look. And even if they get it into their heads to scour all the dance academies in Korea, they won't bother searching through an all-boys academy."

As I tried to adjust to my new reflection, Hyeong-gon waved a make-up bag in front of my face.

"I have an important question to ask you, sis." I raised an eyebrow. "Tell me you know how to use concealer and contour."

"Uh, yeah. Mum taught me."

"Good." He handed the bag over. "These are all the cosmetics you need. You'll be using them on a strictly religious basis to hide your soft cheeks and highlight your jaw so you can look masculine."

I took the bag. It was heavy. "What else did you put in here?" I asked, aghast.

"A wig and some other stuff." He winked. "Just in case there's a need to go back to the girly you."

He clapped my shoulders and took hold of my luggage bag. "Come. Now to hand you over to Haru."

My eyes brightened. "Haru is here? But why? He works in Daegu!"

"He took leave to come down to Seoul, of course. His only sister is going off to university, and" – he jiggled the large luggage bag, which was brand new and empty – "you're going to need clothes."

♚

Haru was a humanoid fluff bear, and the second I saw him I rushed over and hugged him tight.

"Oppa," I whined, increasing the pitch of my voice a little. "I haven't seen you since Christmas! You really should come back and visit more often."

My eldest brother laughed, and the sound rumbled through his chest and against my cheeks. Closing my eyes, I smiled - before just as quickly opening them again in a frown as he tweaked my nose.

"No more of this cutesy voice from now on," he warned. "You have to be manly as possible in the academy."

Hyeong-gon twirled the handle of the luggage bag. "She's all yours from here onward. And please - I know she's supposed to be a boy, but that doesn't give any excuse for sweatpants and wife-beaters."

He gave my slightly athletic frame a quick, critical run-down. "Michael Kors would look nice on her. Gucci too - if you can afford it. And don't forget the Calvin Klein underwear."

I flushed red. "I can get my own underwear, thanks."

"You gotta get the whole look, sis." Hyeong-gon paused. "Lucky for us you're flat-chested."

I stepped toward him in outrage, but he only darted away easily, laughing. With a salute, he turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Haru grabbed hold of the luggage bag with one hand and my hand with another. He looked down at me, tall and broad-shouldered with a presence that had always made me feel safe. Even though I insisted I was already 19 and needed no protecting.

He smiled. "Let's go shopping, kid."

♚

I gritted my teeth as I lugged the luggage bag, which now weighed a ton, across the street and toward the entrance of Seoul National University. I had also changed into appropriate boy clothes - dark green collared shirt, chino pants and grey Adidas shoes, the latter being Haru's good luck gift to me. I must have pulled it off well, because I could have sworn the check-out girl at the convenience store I stopped by was giving me the eye.

Or maybe she was just creeped out by how weird I looked.

The green man on the traffic light opposite blinked rapidly, and I swore as I all but dragged the luggage bag the last few feet onto the pavement. Just in time as well, as the traffic light turned green and all the vehicles on the road began accelerating forward.

Hongki was standing under a lamppost near the university steps. His glasses were round and gold-edged, his formal shirt tucked in neatly as he kept his hands in the pockets of his dress pants and watched me struggle my way over. Instead of looking like the nerd that he really was, I had to admit, very grudgingly, that somehow my youngest brother managed to make the good boy look seem cool.

He glanced at his leather watch, which had been a gift from my father when Hongki had successfully passed the SNU entrance examination. He didn't even remark on my new image, and simply said, "You're late."

"Well, maybe" - I grunted as I hefted the luggage bag to a stop - "maybe if someone had kindly helped me from the mall entrance to here, instead of making me walk alone, I would have been on time."

"Why didn't Haru bring you over himself?"

"He had to rush back to work." I threw Hongki an accusing glare. "And don't play innocent. You could have helped, you just didn't want to."

Hongki yawned. "Whatever. I have a class to get back to. Let's hit the subway, and get rid of you quick."

I bit back a sharp retort. You did not want to get into a verbal fight with Hongki. The boy had a thesaurus of insults just waiting to be used. I'd tried once, and ended up being assaulted with a smooth string of words that I couldn't make head or tails of. It was a definite insult of some sort, judging by the way my second brother had been busting his gut with laughter, but all I could do was stand there looking stupid because I had absolutely no idea what they had meant.

The subway ride was silent all the way. Hongki had his eyes trained on his phone, and when I glanced over they were all diagrams of human anatomy, drawn in excruciating detail. The long scientific names made me shudder, but at the same time I looked at him in envy.

Why couldn't I be like that? Then perhaps father would not sigh every time he looked at me.

We reached our stop and got off. As we walked down the busy streets of the city, Hongki suddenly came to a halt. He didn't spare me a look, but instead said curtly, "Wait here."

I watched him disappear into a shop. The summer breeze was hot and heavy, but it still send a shiver down the nape of my neck. I couldn't stop rubbing the short bristles there. I had had long hair for as long as I remembered, and this whole short hair affair - and very short hair at that - was extremely jarring for me.

An old woman walked into sight, slow. As she passed me, she tripped and her bag of groceries fell over every which way. I rushed to help, and as we gathered up her things, she smiled, all warm, and said, "Well aren't you a nice young man. Thank you!"

It was only after she had went on her way did I realized she had called me a young man. Young man! I puffed my chest with pride. Maybe the check-out girl really had been giving me the eye after all.

A black plastic bag waved in front of my face. I blinked, and Hongki's face came into view.

"Nah. Take it."

I took it. "What is this?"

"Bare essentials. You may look like a boy, but you sure aren't one."

I peered inside the bag. There were quite a number of sanitary pads, and what looked like a few sports bras. I looked back at him, surprised.

Hongki ran his fingers through his hair. Was it my imagination, or did this usually blank-faced brother of mine actually looked . . . embarrassed?

"I don't know much about sanitary pads, only that girls need it, so I just grabbed whatever I saw from the shelf. Also the sports bra helps keep your chest out of sight." He glanced down, just a brief look. "Although I don't think you really need it, because - "

" - I'm flat-chested," I finished for him, rolling my eyes. "Yes. I know. Hyeong-gon was very kind to remind me of that."

I looked back into the bag. Hongki had bought for me exactly what I needed. I had been in such a rush since yesterday, lying to my parents that I would be visiting Ha Yul for a week, packing everything only to take them all out as my brothers reminded me I couldn't bring my girly clothes there. Sanitary pads were an item I'd completely forgotten about. And Hongki had got it for me.

I looked up at him, and he nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw the tears welling up in my eyes from gratitude.

"Hongki," I started to wail, "thank you so much - "

He pressed his palms hastily against my mouth. "Nope. Uh-huh. No need. Just get out of my sight quickly and to your new school so I can get back to mine. Bye."

He stepped back. I smiled at him, clutching the plastic bag tight. He grunted, and gave a dismissive wave. As I walked away toward the opposite end of the street, he called.

"Haneul!"

I looked back.

"Don't fail!"

I smiled then, big and wide and genuine, and it was as if the summer wind had found its way right into my chest.

"I won't!" I yelled, and then he was swallowed up by the crowd.

♚

Ha Yul was waiting for me in a cafe down the street. Dressed in a black suit with his white shirt unbuttoned, it was easy to spot him from a mile away, especially since his long legs stretched out way past the table and presented a tripping hazard for whoever that walked through the cafe door. As I entered he was taking a sip of his iced Americano. Instantly he choked. I took the seat opposite, unsure if I should be glaring or laughing.

"So," he said after he finally got his coughing under control, "no more sweet little Miss Haneul, huh? Now it's punk boy Lee Han?"

He peered closer. "Holy s**t, are those highlights?"

"You can blame Hyeong-gon for that. Although," I added as I twirled a honey-colored lock, "I kinda like it."

He snorted. "Of course you do. You're going to pursue your passion. What's not to be excited about?"

I hesitated. The thought had been playing in my mind since I took the subway with Hongki. Now I felt I just had to bring it up.

"Ha Yul . . . do you think this is wise? What if I - what if I regret it?"

My second brother said nothing. His eyes stayed on me, unusually keen.

"I mean," I continued, "why am I always the oddball?" The words flowed out like they couldn't be stopped. "I'm the only girl in a family of four sons. I'm the only one who doesn't have an ambition dad is okay with. I mean, he never forced any of you to go into accounting, or law, or medicine; you all chose it because you were all genuinely interested in it. And your interests just happen to be something that dad knows he can be reassured about, because those professions are safe."

I bit my lip, looking down at my lap as I mumbled. "But I - I'm the only one who has to do everything the opposite way."

"And what's wrong with that?" Ha Yul asked.

I looked up.

"Ain't no shame in being different, Haneul. If anything it's something you should take pride in." Ha Yul uncrossed his legs. "You don't have to stick to the norm. You don't have to be the same. You just have to be yourself, and we'll be your brothers. That's how it's always been, and that's how it will always be."

I swallowed. Like Haru, Ha Yul too had a busy job, but because we spoke often on the phone, I had never quite considered him as someone I missed. But now that we were looking at each other face to face, I realized that like Haru, I had not see Ha Yul too in a very long time.

My brother took a long, final pull on his coffee and stood up. "Come. Let's go to Ryuk-il Academy."

The dance school was only five minutes away from the cafe, and as we stood in front of the ornate, iron-wrought gates, I was seized with a moment of nervousness. Ha Yul gave a comfortable, firm squeeze of my shoulder.

"You'll be fine," he said as we looked up at the pale walls of the large building. "Go in and knock their socks off."

"You know mum and dad will go after you first, right? When they notice I'm not coming home? Because I said I was staying with you."

"And I'll just say I dropped you off at the subway and that was the last I saw of you. Besides, we have Haru. He'll cover everything up. He does lie for a living."

Excitement, anxiety and happiness were all boiling within me. "What if they find out? I mean the school, not mum and dad."

"Don't think they will. Hyeong-gon said he has a friend in there who's going to take care of things. I think he's in admin or something."

"Still, that friend of his works for the school. He might value his job more than me. I am breaking all the rules here."

"With the hold Hyeong-gon has got over him," Ha Yul smirked, "I don't think so."

I gave him a wary look. "What sort of a hold?"

The smirk widened, and a glint like muffled laughter entered his eyes. "I would say . . . a pretty big one."

My brother looked down at me. "Now go. Reach for the sky like your name demands it." He paused. "Literally, you know, cos haneul means sky - "

I rolled my eyes and whacked his shoulder with the plastic bag Hongki had given. "I got it, I got it."

I looked to the school.

This is it.

Taking a deep breath, I took my first step over the threshold and into the grounds of Ryuk-il Academy, Institution of Dance for Boys.

❈

A female is the star of our story, but she must be paired with a male protagonist. Just like how a main dish is the star of a good meal, but it must also have a glass of good wine.

And how would we like our wine, dear readers?

Suave with the smoothness of silk, and a lightest touch of dark chocolate?

Or rough with the taste of passion, and the flame of a fiery flambé?

Ah. Decisions, decisions.

Yours in seduction,

Lady Godiva.