CHAPTER 1
TAE KWON DO SUMMER CAMP

“What even is tae kwon do?” I stared at the flyer Mom had pulled up on her laptop screen. There was a picture of a man in a white outfit with his legs kicked high in the air. The words Tae kwon do Beginner’s Summer Camp stretched across the top of the screen.

“It’s Korean martial arts,” Mom replied. “You do kicks, punches, and all kinds of cool moves!”

Mom’s eyes twinkled as if she expected me to jump up and down with excitement. Instead, my stomach dropped. Kicks? Punches? I looked back at the picture on her screen. There was no way I would be able to do anything like that.

“Do I have to?” I asked.

“It will be fun,” Mom said. “And it’s only two weeks. It’ll be good for you to try something active. And it’ll help you build confidence!”

I sighed. Mom might be right, but I still couldn’t help feeling nervous. This past winter, my dad’s job had moved our family from California to a suburb in Michigan. The move meant a new house, a new school, and new friends.

I’d been nervous about being the new kid, but I’d survived my first semester at Andaleen Elementary. It had been a weirder start than I’d expected thanks to some mysterious lunch box magic.

After some of the other kids had teased me on my first day, I’d made a wish to be like everyone else. Suddenly everything Korean had started disappearing—Mom’s cooking, my favorite TV show, gifts my grandma had sent, and more.

Thankfully, I’d also made a new friend— my neighbor and classmate Emilio. Turns out, he’d had his own weird experience when he was the new kid. He’d helped me stop the magic from spiraling even further out of control.

“Tae kwon do will be good for you, Ben,” Mom said, bringing me back to the present.

Dad walked into the living room. “My little Ben is learning tae kwon do?” He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “You know, I was actually pretty good at tae kwon do when I was younger,” he said proudly.

Mom laughed. “Now you can barely touch your toes,” she teased.

“Hey! I can touch my toes,” Dad protested, crossing his arms. “Let me show you something very special.” He walked over to the closet and took a box from the top shelf, then carried it over to me and took off the lid. “Ta-da!”

I leaned closer, and my eyes widened. The box was full of medals, trophies, and belts.

“Wow!” I said. “All of these are yours?”

I grabbed one of the trophies from the box. A figure at the top of the trophy was mid-kick. The words First Place Advanced Tournament were engraved on the base.

“Yep,” Dad replied. “I told you I was pretty good.” He stood up and did a few punches in the air. “Hana, dul, set, net!” he shouted, counting in Korean.

I had never seen my dad look so serious. He looked really cool doing the punches.

Ben sitting on the living room floor going through a box of Dad's tae kwon do trophies, medals, and belts while Dad practices his tae kwon do moves and Mom smiles and laughs.

“Let me show you one of my most-prized possessions,” Dad said. He reached into the box and pulled out a strip of plain black fabric.

I was confused. Out of all the trophies and medals, this was his most-prized possession?

“I know. It doesn’t look like much, but trust me, it is.” Dad rubbed his thumb gently across the fabric. “There are seven colored belts in tae kwon do. Each one represents a different rank. The first one is white. You get it when you start learning. You take a test to move on to a different belt. The next one is yellow, then orange, green, blue, brown, and finally black!”

I peered into the box to see the other belts. Together, they almost looked like a rainbow. Each belt had Dad’s name, Lee Tae Kyu, embroidered on it in Korean.

“Okay, enough showing off,” Mom said, nudging Dad. “What do you think, Ben? Do you want to give it a try?”

I looked at Dad’s black belt again. Maybe I could give it a try.

“Can I ask Emilio if he wants to sign up too?” I asked. My friend would be coming over that afternoon to watch an episode of Tobot V, my favorite Korean show. “That’s a great idea!” Mom agreed.

I smiled. With Emilio by my side, maybe I would feel a little more confident. Maybe tae kwon do wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Hello, sam-chon,” Emilio greeted Dad when he arrived that afternoon.

Dad waved before heading into the kitchen to help Mom make dinner. Emilio joined me on the couch. The Tobot V theme song was already playing on the TV.

A few seconds later, Mom came to the living room. “Good to see you, Emilio,” she said. She set a tray full of orange slices and Korean shrimp crackers on the coffee table in front of us.

“Hi, e-mo,” Emilio greeted her. He reached forward for a snack. “Ooh, shrimp crackers. My favorite! Thank you!”

I grabbed some crackers too. “Yeah. Thanks, Umma!”

“You’re welcome, boys,” Mom said with a smile before leaving the room.

Emilio and I watched TV for a few minutes. Onscreen, the main character, Pilsung, met with an alien robot. After, the commercials came on. I decided this was my chance.

“So… my mom wants me to do this two-week tae kwon do camp,” I said. “It’s Korean martial arts. I’m kind of worried about it. I’ve never done anything like that before.” I hesitated. “Would you maybe want to do it with me?”

Please say yes. Please say yes, I repeated in my head.

Emilio grinned. “Definitely! I won’t have soccer practice until later in the summer, so it’ll be good training. I’ll have to ask my mom, but I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Even though tae kwon do still sounded a little scary, it would be much better with my best friend there.

Ben and Emilio sitting in front of the couch on the living room floor and eating snacks from the coffee table while they watch TV.