I Believe in a Thing Called Love

by Maurene Goo

  “Now can you both stop being annoying so we can finally watch this episode?” I barked as I hit Play on the remote and the credits to Descendants of the Sun started.

  Luca pulled in closer to me and I nestled into his shoulder. I felt a poke in my back. “Appa!”

  The foot poked me this time. “Ya. What are you doing in front of your dad?”

  Luca instantly released me and scooted away. But under the blanket we were sharing he reached for my hand and we laced our fingers together in the space between us.

  He whispered, “Do you think Captain Yoo is going to finally profess his feelings in this episode? Or will another natural disaster interrupt them again? I swear to God I’ll murder someone if they don’t kiss in this episode.”

  I shook my head ruefully. “You think he’s going to confess already? In your dreams, buddy. We haven’t been tortured enough yet.”

  Luca pulled his beanie over his eyes and dropped his head back. “My God. If I have to watch them save another orphan’s life instead—”

  “Be quiet!” my dad hollered.

  “It’s just the credits!” I snapped.

  My dad bit into another pickle. “So what! Also, no talking back now, Desi. Stanford rejection punishment.”

  Oof. The rejection letter had come two days after prom and while it was a huge blow, I had been somewhat prepared for it. And now, three months after graduation, it was a fading sting.

  When I had stood at the podium at graduation, about to start my valedictorian speech, I looked out into the crowd of tasseled caps and cheap polyester gowns, the sun blinding me. The ocean breeze had whipped through the stage at that moment and I’d lifted my hand to hold on to my cap.

  “Unexpected things happen,” I said into the microphone. “But it’s how we react to them, how we learn and evolve from these things that shapes us into who we are.”

  Once the rest of my speech was done, caps were thrown, cheers shouted, and I faced my graduating class with a huge grin on my face, knowing my Stanford rejection letter was sitting on my desk, framed to remind me of that message every day. It was what I thought of as I held back tears helping Wes store all his comics in boxes before he left for New Jersey. What I thought of when I ran alongside Penny as Fiona drove off to Berkeley, boxes filling up every inch of the car. It’s what I would think about the first few days settling into my dorm at Boston University.

  And it’s what I thought of as I spent the last few days of summer with Luca and my dad. The crushing sadness that came over me whenever I thought of leaving my dad was tempered by knowing that I was going to be an hour’s train ride away from Luca. (I had created a schedule for the entire school year so that we would see each other at least twice a month.) As for leaving my dad alone—well, Popcorn and her refusal to get potty trained were going to keep him pretty busy. That and the online dating profile I had set up for him (shudder).

  The drama started, with boyish Captain Yoo and doll-like beauty Doctor Kang getting drunk together in a kitchen, alone. A love ballad is in full swing; the two are staring at each other, moving closer, inch by inch. They kiss! Then … she runs off.

  Luca kicked the blanket off us and yelped, “Are you kidding me right now?”

  My dad and I cackled. We loved torturing Luca with K dramas; this was the third one he was watching with us this summer.

  “Don’t worry, one of them will get seriously hurt soon, then they’ll have to admit they like each other. I hope it’s another land mine!” I said gleefully.

  “I love how there are land mines just hiding in every corner of this army base. So random. Also, I didn’t know they needed South Korean military presence in the Mediterranean,” Luca scoffed.

  I pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes and adjusted his beanie. “Once you start going down Disbelief Road, you’re lost forever, boyfriend,” I said. “Just sit back and believe, it’s so much more fun that way.”

  THE ULTIMATE K DRAMA STARTER GUIDE

  Brought to you by Desi and Dramabeans!

  For all the newbies who have no idea where to start, fear no more! There’s a K drama out there for everyone. The one stipulation for this particular guide is that you must like romance.

  Let’s begin! First things first: Do you want to watch a romance romance or a rom-com?

  ROMANCE ROMANCE

  Okay, historical or contemporary setting?

  Historical!

  Check out Princess’s Man. Is there historical stuff with gender bending, perhaps? Of course—Sungkyunkwan Scandal is what you seek.

  How about historical with fantasy elements? See The Moon That Embraces the Sun. Specifically time travel? You’re looking for Faith.

  Contemporary!

  Oh man, where to begin …

  How about something with action? So many goodies—if you like your heroes undercover, watch City Hunter or Healer. Action but with guns and tanks? Get yourself some Descendants of the Sun. But I also want some alternate-reality stuff. That means you want The King 2 Hearts.

  Let’s go back to high school. OMG, why, but if you must, then see Heirs. What about college? Check out a classic, Feeling.

  Something more grown-up—how about an epic political saga? There is truly only one, the great Sandglass.

  What about a Cinderella tale? The ultimate classic is Star in My Heart.

  Friends-to-lovers? Get thee to Propose and The Producers.

  Um, body swap? Yup, there’s Secret Garden.

  What about the most romantic of all—melodramatic terminal-illness stuff? Look no further than the weepy Four Seasons series: Autumn in My Heart, Winter Sonata, Summer Scent, and Spring Waltz.

  ROM-COM TIME!

  Straight up, try I Need Romance. Cool, but I love K-pop, too. Then check out You’re Beautiful and Dream High (#1). Speaking of high school … The most outrageous is Boys Over Flowers, but on the other end of the spectrum is the slice of life Answer Me, 1997 and its follow-ups Answer Me, 1994 and Answer Me, 1988.

  Let’s dig into fantasy. So thrilled to share I Hear Your Voice, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, and My Love from Another Star. Do any of them have body possession? Of course, Oh My Ghostess.

  What about something less extreme, like gender bending? Prepare to be obsessed with Coffee Prince (#1).

  Is there such a thing as trendy rom-com? In K dramas, yes. And the original is Jealousy.

  I bet you can’t find one about multiple personalities! Ha-ha, ye of little faith. Check out Kill Me, Heal Me.

  What about that old chestnut, relationship contracts? It takes fresh new life in Full House and My Name Is Sam-Soon.

  Now, go forth and drama! And if this wasn’t enough info for you, be sure to check out dramabeans.com. ☺

  xo

  Desi, javabeans, and girlfriday

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book’s journey was appropriately long and dramatic (alas, short of wrist grabs and car chases). And a whole lot of other people’s hours were logged into this fun book of mine.

  First, thanks to Judy Hansen, the toughest and bestest of them all.

  Thank you to my lovely editor, Margaret Ferguson, for her wisdom, patience, and for making me think much, much harder. And for reminding me to give Appa a dog! To Jasmine Ye for her K drama expertise and thoughtful notes. Many thanks also to Elizabeth Clark (that skirt!), Melissa Warten, Chandra Wohleber, and Andrea Nelkin.

  As my dad would say, “Believe it or not…” I had to do a lot of rando research for this book. Many thanks to: Chris Ban for the tennis talk (RIP tennis). Toby Cheng for making Desi the most accurate car nerd. Emma Goo for all things art class. Sharon Kim for the police backup. Desi Stewart for her name and for answering questions about grandmas and food. David Zorn for schooling me on boats. Susie Ghahremani for introducing me to the nice folks at RISD—Robert Brinkerhoff, Lucy King, and Bonnie Wojcik.

  Thank you to Found, Dinosaur, and the Semi-Tropic for providing me space, caffeine, and good vibes.

  , best romance writers in the
entire world: K drama writers. To the Healer sound track. To Healer.

  To my eonnies: Lydia Kang for the Gchats that kept me sane and for being Dr. Lydia; Ellen Oh, for your unwavering support and for everything WNDB.

  Thanks to all the wonderful and supportive early readers of this book: Natalie Afshar, Alison Cherry, Maya Elson, Cindy Hu, Nicole McInnes, Kara Thomas, and Amy Tintera. Thanks to the Lucky 13s, who were with me from the very beginning of this entire author thing. To the Bog, . Thanks to Celeste Pewter and Kaila Waybright for keeping this author going.

  Endless thanks to Sarah Chung (javabeans) and Jennifer Chung (girlfriday) of Dramabeans for providing the most expert K drama advice. And thank you for creating the most amazing K drama website and community.

  To my LA writing women, who are more essential than caffeine: Robin Benway, Brandy Colbert, Kristen Kittscher, Amy Spalding, and Elissa Sussman. We have written so much, texted so many pet photos, and had so much wine. I you guys beyond measure, thank you. To Amy Kim Kibuishi—forever my first reader. To my author spouses, Sarah Enni and Kirsten Hubbard, for coming to LA just in time.

  To Oliver—you were the best writing buddy. To Poppy, who kept it weird.

  To the Appelhans, Appelwats, and Peterhans for being my second family and turning this city girl into someone obsessed with trees. To all the members of the Goo-Lee-Chun and Choi-Hong-Han-Seo-Kim families, for keeping it real and Korean, always.

  To Halmoni, who taught me to be an independent woman with good manners and a manicure. You are truly missed.

  To my sister, Christine, for all the sister things (like meeting me for Panda Express when needed and enabling online shopping for stress relief). To my parents, for everything, but most importantly, for introducing me to K dramas those many years ago—who knew all those tedious trips to the video store would pay off? Thank you for always laughing at my running commentary.

  And finally, to my husband, Chris Appelhans. For the many late-night brainstorming sessions, for insisting on a true love story, for pushing me to always be better, for believing in me the most. Thank you, Original Cute Art Boy.

  ALSO BY MAURENE GOO

  Since You Asked

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Maurene Goo grew up in a Los Angeles suburb surrounded by floral wallpaper, one thousand cousins, and piles of books. She studied communication at UC San Diego and then later received a Masters in publishing, writing, and literature at Emerson College. Before publishing her first book, Since You Asked, she worked in both textbook and art book publishing. She has very strong feelings about tacos and houseplants. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two cats. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter Step 5: Have a Secret Dream That Brings You Closer to the Guy

  Step 6: Doggedly Pursue Your Dream, No Matter the Cost to Your Well-Being

  Step 7: Mystery Surrounds the Guy but Find Out More

  Step 8: Be Caught in an Obviously Lopsided Love Triangle

  Step 9: Get into a Predicament That Forces Both the Guy and You into an Intimate Bonding Moment

  Step 10: Find Out the Guy’s Big Secret, Preferably through Excruciatingly Repetitive Flashbacks

  Step 11: Prove That You Are Different from All Other Women—IN THE ENTIRE WORLD

  Step 12: Life-Threatening Event Makes Him/You Realize How Real Your Love Is

  Step 13: Reveal Your Vulnerabilities in a Heartbreaking Manner

  Step 14: Lock That Baby In with a Kiss! Finally. Maybe.

  Step 15: Fall Deeply into Cringe-Inducing Mushy Love

  Step 16: Pick Your Very Own Love Ballad to Blast Jarringly Over and Over Again!

  Step 17: Worlds Have to Collide for Some Comic Relief

  Step 18: Meet His Family and Win Them Over Chapter 18

  Step 19: You Must Make the Ultimate Sacrifice to Prove Your Love Chapter 19

  Step 20: You Are Not Allowed to Be Happy Until the Very Last Possible Minute Chapter 20

  Step 21: Betrayal Time—One of You Kinda-Not-Really Betrays the Other Chapter 21

  Step 22: At Your Lowest Point, Your Life Is Only Made Up of Flashback Montages of Good Times Chapter 22

  Chapter Step 23: Take Drastic Measures for Your Happy Ending

  Step 24: Get Your Happy Ending

  Epilogue

  The Ultimate K Drama Starter Guide

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Maurene Goo

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers

  An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

  Text copyright © 2017 by Maurene Goo

  All rights reserved

  First hardcover edition, 2017

  eBook edition, May 2017

  fiercereads.com

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Goo, Maurene, author.

  Title: I believe in a thing called love / Maurene Goo.

  Description: First edition.|New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017.|“Margaret Ferguson Books.”|Summary: A disaster in romance, high school senior Desi Lee decides to tackle her flirting failures by watching Korean television dramas, where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016035865 (print)|LCCN 2017009716 (ebook)|ISBN 9780374304041 (hardcover)|ISBN 9780374304072 (ebook)

  Subjects:|CYAC: Dating (Social customs)—Fiction.|Love—Fiction.|High schools—Fiction.|Schools—Fiction.|Korean Americans—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.G596 lah 2017 (print)|LCC PZ7.G596 (ebook)|DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016035865

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  eISBN 9780374304072