Frankly in Love

After his father is discharged, Frank feels elated, until he gets a text from Brit reminding him that it’s a Monday and the SAT test will be administered again tomorrow. Frank’s father announces that he’s going back to The Store, and Frank decides to go to school with Q. At school, he immediately runs into Brit in the cafeteria, and she asks about his night. He leads her to their spot behind the greenhouse and fills her in on the night’s events, omitting the fact that Q and Joy were with him in the hospital. Frank realizes he can’t be open with her, and apologizes for not calling, repeating “I love you.”

After school, Frank and Q return to Q’s house to study for the SAT. Frank tells Q that he’s still figuring out his situation with Brit, and Q points out that the longer he waits to tell her the truth, the more it will hurt her when he does. This branches into a deeper, more personal conversation about race. Q tells Frank that he’s proud to be Black, and that his parents always tell him “Black can be whatever you want it to be” (196)—despite his extended family giving his parents flak for being different. Frank says that in contrast, “Korean” means one thing. Exhausted, the boys eventually fall asleep. That night, Frank dreams he is wandering in a forest within his father’s lungs with Brit. The light shining on them is coming from the bullet hole in the lung, and suddenly, an eye appears in the hole. Frank knows the eye belongs to Joy and begins waving and calling to her.

This chapter describes four web searches, each one asking for a description of race. The first search is for Black people, the second is for white people, the third is for Asian people, and the fourth is for Korean people. The first three note that definitions vary by country, are mutable, and have changed throughout history. However, the definition of “Koreans” simply describes them as being from Korea, and notes that the widespread belief that Koreans share a single common ancestor has been proven a myth created by doctored genealogical records.

After the SAT, the Apeys meet up and feel confident that they performed better than the previous test. They discuss their various plans for celebration, and Frank and Brit decide to spend the rest of the day together. Before leaving, Frank checks in with Joy, who also feels like she did well. Frank and Brit sit and eat marzipan and kiss while waiting for Brit’s father to pick them up. While kissing, Frank spies Joy making a funny face at them from around a corner, making him laugh. However, he doesn’t share this with Brit. Instead, they talk about Frank’s answer to one of the SAT questions about evolution, which leads to a more honest conversation about race. However, it’s interrupted by the arrival of Brit’s parents. Brit’s parents take the two to lunch at a place called Young Dong Seafood & Korean BBQ. When Brit’s father suggests that Frank should order for them, Frank is irked at the expectation of being a Korean expert. However, he tries to keep the peace and obliges, ordering for everyone and doing his best to answer their many questions. Brit eventually points out to her parents that they aren’t expected to know everything about French food, and they realize their mistake. Afterward, Frank and Brit talk about rescuing each other from ignorant people. Brit admits that her parents embarrass her, but secretly, Frank feels jealous that her parents recognize racial injustice at all, since his do not.

While his parents resume their routine at The Store, working together rather than in shifts, Frank relaxes post-SAT. He and Joy exchange texts that make him laugh throughout the day. He thinks about the wedding he will be attending that weekend for Kyung Hee, one of the elder sisters of the Limbos. Brit accompanies Frank to his suit fitting, where he finds a tie to match Joy’s dress as instructed by his mother.

The wedding takes place on an old steam cruise ship. Frank is amazed by the sounds coming from the water and creak of the ship, and records some of them on his Tascam recording device. The service is performed in Korean, and Frank’s father attempts to translate it for him. Joy appears in dark makeup and a beautiful dress, and Frank is dumbstruck. Frank suggests they keep up their performance with so many eyes on them, so they hold hands. They make each other laugh while commenting on the lavish decorations at the wedding. Frank and Joy hang out with the other Limbos for a while and observe another table of children. Frank thinks of them as “super-Koreans” who demonstrate their belonging with language and other customs. The “super-Koreans” perform a song and dance routine for the bride and groom, and Frank begins to feel insecure and out of place. Frank and Joy escape the crowd and find a spot to sit and talk in private; there, Frank realizes that if he wasn’t with Brit, he would be falling for Joy. Joy tells him that she and Wu broke up, and that no one makes her laugh like him. Frank says the same is true for him. Joy says she was afraid that he wouldn’t reciprocate her feelings, but Frank finds the idea of telling her that he loves her easy. They kiss. As they kiss, they realize one of the tables is a firework display, and as the fireworks are ignited, the dark corner in which they are hiding is illuminated, and everyone claps for their kiss.

The rest of the wedding goes well, with Frank and Joy sneaking away to kiss, though they are plagued by guilt. Frank checks his phone and finds multiple messages from Brit. He resolves to tell her the truth on Monday.

On Monday, Frank and Brit meet behind the greenhouse, and though she greets him with her usual affection, Frank voices his need to say something. She pleads with him, until Frank admits that he pretended to date Joy so he could date her. Hurt, Brit runs off. In the distance, Frank can see a fire cresting the hills. The school announces that the fire is contained, but students are advised to return home due to poor air quality. As Frank and Q head out, Wu approaches and punches Frank, having been informed by Brit of the situation.

As they drive home, Frank informs Q of what happened, and Q says that while Frank deserves his black eye, Joy seems right for him. Frank tells Q that Joy is his tribe and so is Q, making Q smile. At home, Frank claims his black eye was caused by a tetherball. Joy comes over, and they revel in finally expressing their feelings for each other. They go upstairs, where Frank’s mother brings them sliced melon and Joy thanks her in Korean. They are interrupted when Frank’s father comes home early from work. Frank eavesdrops and hears him say something is hurting, but is unable to make out the rest of what he tells his mother in Korean.

In the days before winter break, Brit cuts her hair short and ignores Frank. He gives her space and keeps his relationship with Joy quiet at school. As they prepare to receive college admissions letters, Frank, Q, and Joy agree to open their SAT scores and college letters together. When they receive the emails notifying them of their SAT scores, they drive to a nearby café. They all achieve high scores, with Q getting a perfect score, and marvel at the colleges they will now have access to. However, when Joy announces she’s going to Pittsburgh, Frank realizes their relationship may come to an end.

Although Frank and Joy get stuck in traffic due to a festival, they decide to ditch their plan and go to the festival, which turns out to be the Los Angeles Korean Winter Street Festival. They revel in Korean food and music, and the way everyone looks like them, and Frank feels a sense of belonging. Frank goes to order some sweet rice cakes for Joy, and on impulse, tries to order them in Korean, but mispronounces a word. The woman selling the sweet rice cakes calls Frank “stupid.” Disheartened, Frank takes Joy’s hand and tries to leave the festival. However, the grandson of the woman chases him down and offers sweet rice cakes, apologizing for his grandmother’s behavior. Before leaving, Frank texts Hanna that he misses her.

Not yet wanting to go home, Frank takes Joy to the Westchester Mall. When they walk to Lake Girlfriend, they see the fountain has been closed for maintenance. They decide to scoop up coins from the fountain, and before they are caught, take them to a school supply donation funnel for coins. The security guards catch them, but say their display was beautiful and tell them about an unpatrolled parking structure at the mall. Frank and Joy drive there, and Joy tells Frank that she wants him. The two consummate their relationship.

The next day, Frank works at The Store with his father, trying to avoid thinking about his graduation. He asks his father if he was scared when he immigrated, and he confirms that it was scary to be in an unknown place with no language, money, or connections. He says his greatest fear was failure and shame, but now that he’s found success, he is no longer afraid. Frank’s father gets a strange look in his eye and hurries Frank in his work. Frank spies his father taking medication, but his father claims he’s taking vitamins.

Frank and Joy go to a Gathering at Joy’s house. Joy pulls Frank away for a private kiss, telling him that she missed him. At dinner, the parents sit at one table and the Limbos sit at another as usual. The Limbos are talking about their post-graduation plans when an argument breaks out at the parents’ table; Frank and Joy’s fathers fight about their respective businesses. The fight quickly escalates, with the two men shouting at each other in Korean, before Frank’s father tells his family that they need to leave.

In the car, Frank’s father tells him to trust no one but family, saying Mr. Song betrayed him. Frank learns the argument began when Mr. Song made a joke about Frank’s father getting shot in the same place he made no money. Mr. Li retaliated, claiming that Mr. Song’s business was built on massive debt. Frank’s parents tell him that the Songs have always looked down on them because they came from a rich area of Korea, Gangnam, while they themselves came from the poorer Gwangju region. Frank begins to understand the five Korean American families’ complicated dynamics. When his father implies they will be breaking ties with the Songs, Frank asks if this means he is no longer allowed to see Joy. He begins to yell at his parents for restricting his choices, but when they hit a pothole, his father gets sick and pulls over to vomit.

That night, Frank wakes up to his mother’s hand on his forehead. Crying, she tells Frank that during his father’s hospitalization, they discovered bumps all over his lungs—small-cell carcinoma. His father has cancer, and his chemotherapy has been making him sick; he only has six months to a year left to live. When his mother leaves, Frank anticipates a panic attack. He again dreams of wandering in a forest of his father’s lungs, the trees coated with a dark substance. Eventually, he hugs a tree and the substance dissolves, leaving a beautiful forest with a park full of people just beyond.