✓ Operation: Love Match -ˏˋwooyoungˊˎ [UNDER MINOR EDITING]

* modern cinderella

Wooyoung ran the vacuum cleaner across the living-room rug, wiping a dirty hand across his moist forehead. He felt as though he had been cleaning for days. He had dusted and vacuumed the entire house, scrubbed the bathrooms until the fixtures shined, and mopped and waxed the Spanish-tiled kitchen floor. Now it was Friday, and he was beat.

"Wooyoung!" his mother called from the kitchen. "Could you get that?" Wooyoung turned off the vacuum cleaner and heard the sound of the phone ringing.

"Hello?" he asked, picking up the receiver.

"Oh, hi, Woo! It's Yena. Is Wonyoung there?" Yena sounded as though she was in high spirits.

"No, sorry, she's not home yet. Do you want—" Wooyoung hesitated as he heard the sound of the front door opening, "Oh, wait a minute, I think she's here."

"Wony!" Wooyoung yelled as his sister walked in the front door. "Phone's for you!"

Wonyoung ran into the living room. "Thanks, Cinderella," she said, taking the phone from her brother.

Wooyoung looked down and took in his attire. He was wearing baggy old cotton sweats and an oversize man's white cotton shirt. His hair was pulled back from his forehead with a blue bandanna, and a bucket full of cleaning goods stood by his feet. Definitely the modern guy version of Cinderella.

"Humph," he said, turning the vacuum cleaner back on and continuing to vacuum the carpet.

"On second thought, I'll take it in the kitchen," Wonyoung said, running out of the living room. A few minutes later, Wonyoung slammed down the phone. Yena had only called to gloat about her upcoming date. She had given her every last detail of the impending evening. Yena had even outlined each item of her beach outfit, from her designer sandals to her matching straw beach bag.

Wonyoung took a deep breath and quickly composed herself. She had an idea. Turning to her mother, who was sitting at the butcher-block table doing paper work, she said, "Hey, Mom, can I help with dinner?"

She gave her mother a sugar coated smile. Shinhye turned to look at her daughter.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Wonyoung asked.

"What have you done with the real Wonyoung?" Shinhye asked with a sparkle in her eye.

"Oh, come on. I help sometimes! You're not giving me enough credit." Was the whole world turning against her?

"Maybe you're right. I'm sorry, dear. Of course you can help. But you know it's your brother's job this week."

"I know. I just thought I'd help her out. Sisterly love and all that." Wonyoung sat down on a stool and picked up a red onion from the pile of vegetables on the kitchen counter.

"Wooyoung!" Shinhye called. "Time to start dinner!"

Wonyoung bent her head and started chopping the onion. She let out a long, dramatic sigh and looked up to see how her mother was reacting. She hadn't seemed to notice.

"Okay, I'm ready, Mom," Wooyoung said, appearing on the threshold of the kitchen, looking tired and bedraggled. "Chicken, right?" he asked, wiping his forehead and rolling up her sleeves. Shinhye nodded, and Wooyoung headed to the refrigerator.

"What's for dinner?" Wolyoung asked, hands on the pocket of her hoodie.

"Something chicken." Wooyoung replied, while washing the hard chicken from the freezer.

"Hey, brother, I suppose you heard about the beach barbecue tonight, the one the entire junior class is having?" Wonyoung asked casually.

"Yeah, I heard," said Wooyoung with a sigh as he stood at the kitchen sink, washing the chicken. Felix had come running up to him at school with the news. Wooyoung was disappointed that he would miss the party. He had barely seen his friends or his boyfriend the entire week.

"I guess we can't go, because we're still grounded," Wonyoung said in a resigned tone. "Right, Mom?" she added, looking at her mother hopefully.

"I guess not," Shinhye agreed calmly.

"Mom, could we please, please just go to this one party?" Wonyoung pleaded. "It's extremely important."

"Wonyoung, what would be the point of being grounded if you could go out when you wanted to?" Shinhye asked.

"I promise I won't ever ask for anything else. And you could ground us for an extra day. That's it! We'll stay grounded until Monday night!" Wonyoung exclaimed, looking extremely pleased with her idea.

"What do you think, Wooyoung?" Wooyoung looked at his mother hopefully.

"The answer is no. And there will be no further discussion about it," Shinhye said firmly.

"I'll never get to Yunho now," Wonyoung wailed, still chopping the onion. "By sunset tonight Yena will have her claws firmly implanted in him."

Wooyoung looked at his sister and wondered if the tears on her cheeks were from Yena beating her out or from the onion.

"What's wrong with my twin sister?" Wolyoung whispered to Wooyoung. Wolyoung couldn't understand what her twin was expecting, so she hoped that Wooyoung would have an answer. 

"I'll tell you later."