by Sarah Suk
A group of students had gathered to watch the basketball game. Charlie dribbled the basketball between his legs and did a flawless layup, making his fans erupt into cheers. His teammates pumped their fists in the air, jumping up and bumping their chests against his. He grinned, glancing our way to see if Pauline was watching, but she was looking in the other direction and had missed the whole thing. His shoulders slumped slightly, and he turned away, plastering a smile back on for his fans.
Fans. A sudden idea clicked in my head just as the end-of-lunch bell rang.
“Wes?” Pauline said. She waved a hand in front of my face. “Did you hear me? I said, do you have a plan?”
“Yeah,” I said. A smile spread slowly across my lips. “I think I just might.”
Saturday / November 2
Frank Sinatra’s voice crackled on the vinyl record in my bedroom as I sat at my desk, staring at all the products in front of me. At my request, Mom had come through with more Crown Tiger samples to “share” with my “friends.” This time it was a lineup of hair dye, each box featuring a different Crown Tiger member, one with red hair, the other with silver, and so on and so forth. Apparently, these had already been released in Korea and were flying off the shelves, giving the entire population neon-colored hair.
Hopefully it would have the same effect at school. Me and my saxophone were counting on it.
I ran through the checklist in my mind. Lesson number one from observing Valerie at the Halloween Market: You couldn’t just sell the same product over and over again. You had to offer something new that people wanted to get their hands on. I was pretty sure I had that now. The tricky, more strategic part came next.
Lesson number two from observing Valerie: make deals that feel like steals.
That’s what she had said to Charlie, wasn’t it? People might initially be interested in one thing, but if you paired it with a second thing at a discounted price, there was a good chance they would buy both, spending more than they’d intended because who could say no to a good deal?
The gears in my mind whirred as Frank sang about playing among the stars.
Stars. Fans of stars. Fans.
My target audience was Crown Tiger fans. Which meant they would probably buy other Crown Tiger–related merch, not just beauty products.
I rose from my desk and padded down the hall to Mom’s office. The weekend meant that Mom was out at meetings all day and Dad was out golfing. It was just me and Frank, his voice crooning down the hall as I pushed the office door open and flicked on the lights.
It was utter chaos inside. The dark wood desk was piled high with documents and rolled-up posters. The corner of the room was stacked with boxes spilling with T-shirts, the bookshelf bursting with magazines and more documents. To anyone else, it would have looked like a disaster zone, but I knew she had a system for her mess. She had an office like this in every house we moved to, a place to keep all her excess stuff. Nothing important or new, but overflow merch or promotional material that she didn’t know what to do with and often tried to pass off to me. I always said no. I’d never had a reason to say yes, at least not before today.
“One day, I’m going to have a clean office,” Mom always said. “We’ll do a big spring cleaning. Someday.”
Thank God spring cleaning hadn’t come yet. It never did. Mom either pushed it off, or we ended up moving and packing the office into boxes to replicate in another city, beginning the cycle again.
It took me a while to find what I was looking for. I unrolled the posters, scanned the bookshelf, and dug through the boxes in the corner of the room. It wasn’t until I opened the top drawer of the desk that I found it. Jackpot.
A stack of glossy, signed Crown Tiger postcards gleamed up at me like pirate’s treasure. I thumbed through the stack, each featuring a different member. Namkyu. Jun. Alex. Shiyoon. KP. These boys were the key to my success.
Make deals that feel like steals. Get a box of hair dye, or throw in two more dollars and get a postcard with it.
I grinned, sticking the postcards in my pocket. Frank’s voice lifted to the climax of his song, and my hopes rose right along with it. I had a good feeling about this plan.
Lesson number three from Valerie: don’t take your eyes off your goal.
Music school, here I come.
Monday / November 4
“Did you watch the links I sent you?”
Pauline leaned against the music stand she was setting up, a frown creasing her forehead. It was seven thirty a.m. and Mr. Reyes had let us into the band room before dashing off to the staff room for his second cup of morning coffee. “Yeah, I did,” she said. “But I don’t get it. Why did I have to spend my whole weekend watching Crown Tiger videos on YouTube?”
I grinned. “Because I realized that we have to appeal to our target audience: fans of Crown Tiger. How can we appeal to the fans if we’re not even familiar with what they like?”
The whole weekend I had only one thought in my head: What Would Valerie Do? As far as I was concerned, there was only one person who could beat Valerie at her own sales, and that was Valerie herself. I tried to think of everything she would do to prepare for my Monday sale, including messaging Kristy Lo to spread the word.
I’ll be there! Kristy said, with a starry-eyed emoji.
Pauline lined up the hair dyes on the music stands. “I guess that makes sense,” she said. “At the very least, you definitely got my dad excited that I was watching K-pop music videos. He’s been encouraging me to listen to Korean music for years.”
I laughed as I fished the postcards out of my backpack. Hmm, how would Valerie set these up? Laid flat or propped up? “Your dad gets really excited when you show an interest in Korean stuff, huh?”
She smiled wryly. “Yeah. It’s more of a recent thing. My dad was born in America himself. He grew up really westernized, and so did my brothers and I. I don’t think he even really realized that he wanted his kids to be connected to his cultural heritage until my grandparents passed away a few years ago.”
“Oh really?” I realized I didn’t actually know that much about Pauline’s family or how she felt about being half-Korean. “What changed after your grandparents passed away?”
“Well, when they were around, I used to speak Korean with them and watch whatever Korean TV shows they were watching. I learned a lot about the culture through them. But after they were gone, it’s like I kind of lost my connection to my Korean side, if that makes sense. I tried to keep it up, but it was hard. It was like my Koreanness passed away with them. Does that make sense?”
I winced. “Yeah, it does. And I’m sorry. That sounds hard.”
She smiled. “Thanks. It just isn’t the same without them, you know? After they were gone, I think my dad just became really conscious about wanting me and my younger brothers to stay connected to our heritage. But I don’t know. The older I get, the further I feel from it, and it’s hard to force an interest in something, even if it is a part of your identity. Like the Crown Tiger videos are cool, but they aren’t something I would watch on my own time or anything. Same with K-dramas.”
She finished lining up the hair dyes, stepping back to survey her work. “What do you think?”
“I think that makes sense,” I said. “But Korean culture is more than just K-pop and K-dramas. Maybe there’s a way for you to connect with your heritage in other ways, especially if you feel like it’s still important to you and you just don’t know how to bridge the gap.”
She laughed. “I meant, what do you think about the hair-dye setup? Does it look okay?”
“Oh.” I grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head. “Yeah. It looks good.” I surveyed the postcards and decided to prop them up against the whiteboard so people could see them as soon as they walked in. But Pauline’s words kept coming back to me.
“Hey,” I said, thinking of something. “What about the haenyeo?”
“The Korean divers that Charlie was talking about?” she said.
I nodded. “Yeah. I also learned a bit about them in school when I lived in Korea. I feel like that could be interesting to you, since you love under the sea. Could be worth checking out?”
“I was interested when Charlie brought it up,” she said thoughtfully. “Maybe I’ll check it out. Thanks, Wes.”
I smiled just as the door to the band room burst open. Kristy entered with a huge crowd of friends behind her.
“Good morning, Wes!” she said, beaming. “I’m ready to shop! What’ve you got for us?”
“Good morning, Kristy,” I said. My heart rate picked up and the palms of my hands grew sweaty. Was this going to work? “Can I interest you in some Crown Tiger hair dyes? Brand-new. And, um, for only an extra two dollars, you can get one of these vintage signed postcards. Your favorite member is Shiyoon, right?” I held up a postcard of him in a fedora and swanky black vest. “Here’s one from his Lonely Nights era.”
“Oh my God,” Kristy said, gasping. “The Lonely Nights era is one of my favorites. Did you see their music video for ‘Call Me Tomorrow’?”
I nodded. I had, in fact, watched it ten times over the weekend, including the behind-the-scenes making-of video and every live performance. My research was thorough. “Yep.” I held up a box of blue hair dye. “If you want hair to match Jun from ‘Call Me Tomorrow,’ this color could look great on you.”
“Did you say Jun?” one of Kristy’s friends said, already pulling out her wallet. “Jun is my husband. I want that one! With his postcard, please!”
The next half an hour went by in a blur. Pauline and I could barely keep up with people’s orders as more and more students filled the band room. By the time the first bell rang, we were almost completely sold out.
I stood there in shock, looking at the nearly empty music stands as Pauline joined Mr. Reyes, who was back with his coffee, at his desk to go through a recap of our sales. Wow. I couldn’t believe it had worked. We were making sales. We were nearly selling out.
“You really know how to clear out, huh?” a voice said.
I looked up from the music stands to see Lisa Carol standing before me, hugging her clarinet case. Other band students were starting to trickle into class as well.
I smiled at Lisa, feeling proud of myself. “Thank you. Only one box of hair dye left if you want to finish us off.”
She picked up the box of pink dye, turning it over in her hands. “It is cute. I’ve always wanted to try a pink streak,” she said. “But I was planning on buying a new emulsion from V&C today. Sorry, Wes.”
“Ah.” I nodded, pretending to know what the word “emulsion” meant. “Well, that’s…” I was going to say “okay,” but I stopped myself. What Would Valerie Do? She’d find a way to make this sale, I was sure of it. “What if I gave you a discount? Fifteen percent off if you shop with me instead of V&C.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Seriously? You’ll give me a discount if I don’t shop with Valerie?”
“Um, yep,” I said. And because it felt a little weird to bribe her so explicitly like this, I added, “Don’t tell anyone, of course. It’s just between you and me.”
It wasn’t the best tactic, and, as ruthless as Valerie was, I wasn’t sure if it was one she would have used. But still, it worked. Lisa grinned, pulling out her leather wallet. “Well, I can’t say no to that.” She paid, taking my last hair dye. It was official. We’d completely sold out today.
“By the way, Wes, I’m having a party at my house next Saturday night. All the seniors are invited.” She touched my elbow lightly. “Will I see you there?”
Alarm bells went off in my head. Flirting. Flirting. Okay, Wes, time to flirt back. You just cleared out your sales. You can do this simple flirting thing. Put your new confidence to the test.
“Sure, I’ll be there.” I clapped my hands together and gave her a double thumbs-up. “Can’t wait.”
Wow. Double thumbs-up? That was not what I wanted at all. But to Lisa’s credit, she laughed, pleased at my answer.
“Great. See you there.”
“Great,” I said in relief. “See you.”
As Lisa walked away, I quickly thumbed through the cash box. My smile faded as I did some calculations in my head. We might have cleared out, but after all the discounts and Pauline’s cut, I wasn’t left with as much money as I’d hoped. I was still short of being able to fix my sax, and after all my earnings went to repairs, I’d still have $0 for the December application deadline. And, after I spent that, I still had to earn $1,500 by May to pay for enrollment and housing deposits.
This was overwhelming. It was like after I paid one expense, another was right on its heels. If only there were a way I could get more products to sell, or if I had another way to…
A thought came to me. I looked down at my palm, remembering the way it had felt to have Valerie’s hand in mine. The way it had felt to make a deal. There’d been an uneasiness to it, no doubt, but there was also something thrilling about taking a risk.
Slowly, the thought unfurled into an idea. A very big, very risky idea. I closed the cash box and tried to shake it from my mind. It was ridiculous what I was thinking. It would never work. But something Pauline had said came back to me, sticking to me like a tune on loop in my head. Smart or not, you only grow by taking risks, right?
For the rest of the day, this idea was all I could think about. Maybe it wasn’t just business strategies that I’d learned from Valerie at the Halloween Market. I thought of her lipstick pressed against my shirt as she made me her walking advertisement.
Maybe there was a way I could make my competition work for me like she had made me work for her.
Saturday / November 16
Lisa Carol’s party was already well underway by the time I got there. It looked like everyone from our senior class had actually shown up. Pop music was blasting, and people ran around with red plastic cups filled with beer. I suddenly felt outrageously nerdy in my cardigan with elbow patches. That’s not what you wear to a party. What was I thinking?
“Wes! I’m so glad you could make it!” Lisa bounded toward me, wearing a pretty white dress, her curly red hair in a high ponytail. “Can I get you a drink?”
A drink? Oh man. I get the worst Asian flush when I drink. I basically turn into a walking tomato. I should say no. I’ll definitely say no.
“Sure,” I said.
What is it with my inability to say no to anything?
“Great! Be right back.” She beamed and disappeared into the crowd. I watched her go, my stomach sinking.
I looked around the packed living room. Lisa had said that all the seniors would be here. There was one senior in particular I was hoping to see. Would she be here?
I’d been avoiding Valerie at school for the past couple of weeks, while I mulled over my idea and discussed the details with Pauline. Anytime I would see Valerie coming down the hallway, I would turn around and walk the other way. I wasn’t ready to see her until I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I thought I had a good idea of it by now, but suddenly, being here with the very real possibility of seeing her face-to-face, I wasn’t so sure. Something about her. She knew how to make a guy nervous just by standing next to him.
Ugh. I needed some air. Or maybe just a second to myself. I jogged up the stairs to the bathroom, but it was locked. I stood outside, bouncing from foot to foot, digging through my pocket for my earphones. I would go into the bathroom and listen to one song to calm me down, and then I would come out again and look for Valerie and say what I had planned to say. A short, three-minute song. That wasn’t too long to hide in the bathroom, right?
The bathroom door swung open just as I untangled my earphones from my pocket. I looked up to see the very person I had been trying to avoid.
“Oh,” Valerie said. “Hi.”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. There it was. That something. What was it about this girl that caught me completely off guard? Other than the fact that she was totally intimidating, of course. Was it
the way her eyes looked like they could see right through you? Or the knowledge that she was as cunning as she was smart? Or was it the fact that in all her sharpness, her lips still looked soft enough to disorient a guy?
“You all right?” she asked.
I managed to nod. “Yep. Totally chill.” Totally chill? I immediately wanted to slap myself in the forehead. Why was I such a dork?
A trace of a smile flashed across her lips. “Okay, then.”
We just stared at each other for a good ten seconds. Her cheeks grew pink and I wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was, how the air between us grew more electric every time we were together. Suddenly, the past couple of weeks of trying to dodge her in the halls felt like a missed opportunity. She made me nervous, true, but now that she was here in front of me, there was so much I wanted to say. I wanted to ask if she had heard about my sales and what she thought about it, if I was doing a good job, if the lipstick she was wearing was the same one she had used to write on my shirt. There were so many things I wanted to know about her. She made me curious.
But instead I took a deep breath and said the thing I had been rehearsing to myself for almost two weeks.
“Valerie, I was wondering if you might be interested in another bet,” I said.
“A bet?” Her eyebrows lifted in surprise, and she glanced at my chest like she was remembering Halloween. Her eyes slowly trailed back up to mine and she grinned. “Why? You want to do some more free advertising for me?”
This girl. I nearly choked on my words, but somehow I managed to get them out. “I was thinking something a little bigger than that. An all-or-nothing bet. We keep track of how much we made throughout the school year, and whoever makes the most wins.”
“Wins what?” she asked, looking intrigued.
I swallowed hard. No going back now. “All the other person’s earnings from the year, starting now.”
