No way...no, I was late for school again. And if I said again, I meant again, for the 97th time this year. I was already popular for being late, and my popularity would increase because I would get the 97th punishment today. I was panting heavily when I reached the Physics room, I gulped when I remembered that the Physics' teacher, Ms. Kim Hyoyeon was inside. 

 

I slid the door open nervously, only to be greeted by a dark, ghostly look that Ms.Kim wore. She looked straight into my eyes with one of her brows furrowed, hands crossed as she was tapping one of her feet, she was expecting me. I scanned the classroom, some of them were seriously watching me, but almost half of the students hung their head low. That was already enough for me to figure out that Ms. Kim was in a bad mood. "I see that you're late again, Ms.Kim."She emphasized the word 'Kim' to remind me that we had the same first name. 

 

"I was, uh...I had...an accident?" I chuckled nervously, knowing that Ms.Kim won't buy my made-up excuse, not to mention that I used a questioning tone, I silently cursed myself.  "Kim Taeyeon, stop lying!" she roared.

 

"You're cleaning the pool today!"

 

***** *****

 

The last school bell rang, signalling students that school time was over, well except for me. I sighed as I pressed my head against the window, watching enviously to those students who trotted out from the school gate. Three of my friends, Yoona, Sooyoung and Yuri were cheering me up. 

 

"Today's punishment is cleaning the pool." I sang out of boredom, "I'm so going to complain to my parents later that she bullied me." I faked a cry.

 

"Who told you to be late?" Yoona stated inconsiderately. "Yah! You better shut your mouth before I beat you up, alligator!" I screamed at her face. 

 

"Mommy save me!" She faked a fearful face before she darted out from the classroom. "She probably wants you to be discipline, Taeng." Yuri exclaimed and Sooyoung nodded approvingly.

 

"But she's my own elder sister! We have the same genes and blood!"

 

"That's probably the reason why she did this. Come on, she's a teacher and you're a student in the same school, she's just playing her role. After this you shouldn't be late again or she'll be disappointed." Sooyoung stuffed all of her things inside her bag as both of them made their way to the door. "We'll get going now, see you tomorrow, Taeyeon. Good luck for cleaning the pool and take care." Yuri wished then they disappeared from my sight, leaving me all alone in the classroom. I pouted as I looked out the window.

 

 

 

 

"What a cute pout you have there."

 

 

 

 

There was a girl's voice coming from behind me out of the blue, following some evil laughters. Feeling startled, I turned around with my eyes widened. Then I spotted her, there, standing at the center in a group of seven just a few steps away from me.

 

Tiffany Hwang.

 

The school's biggest bully, yet the most popular girl because of her mature-looking face. On top of that, she came from a wealthy family. Every single girl in my school adored her, liked her and loved her, even the taken ones. I had a crush on her too, well who wouldn't?

 

She always got like, what? More than 30 confessions in a week, those who already confessed would confess again and again until she accepted them, but much to students' surprise, she turned every one of them down coldly. Why wouldn't she just accept them? I mean, usually a jerk like her would play people's feelings, right? Those who confessed with a smiling face ended up running away with a crying face.

 

She was a devil. A demon. A beast.

 

Oh, did I mention that I hated her? If no then yes, I hated her and I still do. I had a crush on her yet I hate her, I don't know if this makes sense.

 

"Looking good, Gim Tayan?" One of her friends stated, I rolled my eyes and began to put my things in my bag.

 

"Woah! Why so rude, Miss-Always-Late-?" The other one stuttered as she approached me and took my bag. She threw it to Tiffany. I get it now, I was her next victim. She took a look inside before smirking devilishly.

 

"Disgusting..." She remarked, it took just this word to seriously stab me deep in my heart. "Guys.." She turned around, facing her friends and I don't know what face she was wearing that their faces suddenly turned to fearful.

 

"We shouldn't disturb her, she's got things to do, right girl?" She handed me back my bag and smiled sweetly. Girls would go weak just by looking at her face, but not me.She could be an angel who saved people at this second but the next second she would turn to a devil. She could win an Oscar if she was an actor with those talents of hers.

 

I snatched my bag from her and stood up, I pushed her for she was blocking my way, making her lost balance and almost fell down. I stared at her eyes with no emotions showing, "You make a good actor."

For once I swear guilt filled her eyes, but I shrugged it off. I dashed my way to the front door but stopped halfway. "Oh, and tell that idiotic friend of yours. In case she doesn't know how to speak a non-demon language, my name is Kim Taeyeon, not Gim Tayan."

 With that I rushed to the school's pool.

 

***** *****

 

My jaw dropped when I looked around the mammoth-sized pool, this was not the first time I've been in here, but being inside it with no water made it a lot more tremendous. My sister was crazy, she owned such a miniature body, (although I was smaller than her) and a glamorous face but when she got crestfallen even lions and tigers could be worshipping her and that was how scary she could be. I groaned annoyingly before proceeding to start my duty, I began cleaning at the very end of the pool.

 

 

 

 

"I dealt with them."

 

 

 

 

Someone spoke, I pressed my lips tight together, forming a straight line as I turned around, knowing who it was. There she was again, squatting while staring down at me. 

At the time I felt like I was in the Colloseum in Rome, where I was a prisoner or a slave whom being forced to be one of the warriors to be in a life-danger battle, fighting with an unknown, seriously dangerously dangerous opponent just for a sick reason, -to entertain the audience. While she was one of them sitting in the front row, watching the battle intensely with great interest evident in her eyes and wondering the outcome.

 

I let out a huge breath before turning to continue what I was doing. "What do you want now, Tiffany?" I questioned without looking at her, annoyance appeared in my voice, letting her know that I was pissed at her presence.

 

"Maybe a thank you coming from your mouth?" She exclaimed.

 

I scoffed, "Or maybe not? Why would I be doing that?"

 

"Because maybe I just saved the hell out of your life from almost being bullied by my friends?" She continued, this time she got me turned to face her but my hands didn't stop from doing what I was doing. 

 

"Maybe that was just an act from you? Maybe you planned for your friends to 'almost' bully me then you came in suddenly like a Superhero saving his victims? So that you would be a heroic hero in public's eyes?" I responded like bullets coming out from a gun, making her speechless.

 

"Maybe you misunderstood?" She protested while frowning.

 

"Maybe I didn't?" 

She and I were so deep with our 'maybe' and 'questions answered with questions' session that we didn't realize a girl was approaching us with a folded paper in her hands, it was decorated with many heart shapes. It took just a millisecond for me to realize that it was obviously a love letter. She hid it behind her back as she stepped closer and closer to her.

 

"Tiffany unnie.." She called out, making her jumped in surprise and almost fell inside the pool, let alone that she was in a squat position. It should be funny, it should have been funny. But I didn't find it hilarious, or maybe that I was not in the mood to laugh.

 

"May we have a breif talk?" She looked at me, then to her, to me, to her, then to me again. I then figured out that the girl was asking for permission from me. I felt like a light bulb appeared itself above my head with a silent 'ting!' sound as I felt intelligent for figuring out, yet idiotic. 

 

"Ah..go ahead. Tiffany was just messing around with me. Besides, we barely talked. We are not even close to the level of being friends, and I need my time alone cleaning this stupid pool." I smiled, assuring her that it was all right to take her away. But surprisingly, the person who was supposed not to respond responded, and the person who was supposed to respond didn't respond.

"Fine, if you say so." 

Tiffany stated and I heard disappointment in her voice, just hearing it made a slight tingle travel up the whole length of my spine. She took the girl's hand and walked away from the pool, from me. I fought the urge to break down and cry right then and there, not going to show my weak side in school.

 

I was also one of her fans,  I also wanted to be close to her, I liked her more than any other girls. But unlike them, I didn't have the courage and wasn't brave enough to confess. 

 

While I was deep in my thought, I heard a person jumped inside the pool, followed by water-splashing and swiping sounds so I turned to that direction, it was her again.

 

"What the freaking hell are you freaking thinking you're freaking doing?" 

 

I questioned, watching every single move that she made.

 

"Freaking helping you." She replied while still swiping.

 

"What? Where's that girl?" If she was here, perhaps she could help us to clean, it'd make the job faster, right?

 

"Long gone.." She answered uninterestedly. I pouted in disappointment, looked like it was going to be just the both of us after all.

 

"But don't get me wrong.."She added.

 

"I help you because I pity you, as a matter of fact I still hate you."

She stated directly and heartlessly.

Didn't she know that I was also the same spesies as her? I have a heartbeat too just like any other human beings. Unless that she's a human-demon, a human acting like a demon. I'm a human-human, a human acting like a human. We're completely different after all. Her statement totally crushed my heart into countless of pieces, but still functioning.

 

"As if I like you." 

 

I fought back, although I admit that I felt the antithesis of hate for her. But then again, I also hate her. This love-hate feeling got me totally perplexed. Like I was standing in the middle of love and hate, unsure of where to go. 

 

If I went for hate, it would be suffering because I'd never get to be honest with myself, and I would watch her being taken by somebody else. But if I went for love, it would obviously be one-sided which I believe would be suffering too. Imagine if I confessed to her, she laughed at me, throwing insult words at me and the next day, rumors are spread, she's capable to do that anyway. 

 

So that's said that both paths are suffering, which I guess that I had to go for the better option-, staying in the middle.

 

"I didn't ask whether you like me or not, did I?" she continued.

 

"And I didn't ask whether you hate me or not, did I?"

 

"But I...-"

 

"Enough." I cut her, "If this keeps on going we wouldn't be able to  finish our job. If you want to help I'd appreciate it if you help in silence." It surprised me how this sentence actually got shut.

 

"You clean here and I'll clean there." With that I walked to the other side of the pool.

 

"Roger." I heard her said.

 

***** *****

 

"Ah! It's finally done!" I stuttered while stretching my body, on the other end of my eyes I could see that Tiffany was  glancing at me and smiled secretly.

 

We lumbered out from the school, ambling to the school gate until it started raining. We took shelter under the hut near our school, it was raining so hard that I was freezing. Tiffany fished out her phone and began ringing someone.

 

"Hello? Mr.Park? Can you pick me up? It's raining, mom will get mad at me if I go home soaking wet."

Obviously, she was phoning her driver. After a awhile she put her phone back to her bag. 

 

Because of the cold atmosphere, I sneezed and rubbed my hands together to make it warm. Just then I felt something soft and warm wrapped around my body, with a hoodie covering my head. I then realized that it was a pink jacket, it smelled like strawberry. I gazed at her, she was tapping her foot as she watched the opposite side of the road, pretending to be waiting for her driver. 

 

"What about you, Tiffany?" I caught her attention as she faced me.

 

"What about me?"

 

"It's cold, you'll get sick."

 

"No, I wouldn't. I'm perfectly fine."

 

I don't care how stubborn she was, if she got sick I would feel bad. I took her hand, feeling the temperature and it was freezing so badly.

 

"See how cold you are?"

 

I took off her jacket from me and placed half of it on her. We were sharing it together in silence.

 

"How do you get home?" she asked out of the blue.

 

"Walk..I could've been gone now you know?"

 

"So why you're still here? Cuz it's raining? If I were you I would just go.."

 

"And leave you alone? What if something bad happens to you?" 

 

We heard a car horning in the distance and in a split second it was in front of us. Her driver which I believe was Mr.Park opened the door for her with an umbrella on his other hand, then he bowed afterwards.

 

"I guess it's guaranteed that  something won't happen to you now." I chuckled and got out from her jacket."Thank you for everything today, Tiffany." 

 

I was so ready to walk home soaking wet and catch cold the other day, but it seemed like it would never happen when I felt her clutching my clothes.

 

"Where do you think you're going?" she questioned.

 

"Home?"

 

"Who said you can walk?" she walked towards her car and stood beside the opened door.

 

"Get in..I'll give you a ride."

 

***** *****

 

When her car stopped in front of my house, I thanked her and the driver. 

 

"You know, you're actually a good person. Just stop bullying and you'll get a lover in no time."

 

I stated before closing her car door as I waved at her, I scurried to my house once her car was out of sight.

 

"Took you long enough to clean the pool.." my sister, also known as my teacher, Kim Hyoyeon stuttered as soon as I got inside. That explained why we had the same family name, I believe.

 

"That was your fault." I glared at her.

 

"How could that be my fault?"

 

"You gave me that punishment!" I shouted, but she remained calm.

 

"That's because I want you to be discipline as a student! You've been late for 97th time! That is not a joke, I'm telling you!" she roared back.

 

"Whatever, I'm going to my room." I gave up, totally tired to argue with her. What's done is done anyway. 

 

"Wait, it's raining outside. And you're not wet, you brought no umbrella to school so..who sent you home?" she mumbled when I was halfway on the staircase.

 

"Why do you want to know?" 

 

"Because you're my sister.."

 

I sighed for the numerous time in defeat. She would always win in our arguments.

 

"Tiffany Hwang..."

 

***** *****

 

Late at night I was lying on my bed doing nothing, then I felt vibrations beside me, I don't need to mention that it was my phone right?

 

I looked at the bright screen, someone was phoning me. But the caller ID didn't ring a bell, it was anonymous actually.

 

As always, two options for someone who received phone calls. Green or red? Accept or decline? Swipe or ignore?

 

Usually when an unknown number rings me, I would automatically press the red button. I planned to do the same with this one, but something was urging me to push the green button, something inside me was telling me to answer the call. 

 

So I did. I reluctantly pressed the green one.

 

"Hello?" I answered, but there was no reply, not even a sound in the background was heard..but one thing for sure, nervous breathing.

 

"Hello?" I tried again, "Earth to Mr.Anonymous?" 

 

"Hi.." 

 

Finally a reply, and it was a girl.

 

"Oh, my bad. So Ms.Anonymous, who are you and why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"

 

"I..um.."

 

"I don't take 'I..um..' as an answer, it's not the answer to any of my questions. So answer my first question, who are you?"

 

Though it might sound rude, but whoever it was on the other line was indeed kind. She was a stranger, yes. But I could sense kindness somewhere in her voice, and it sounded quite familiar.

 

"Perhaps the person helping you cleaning the pool this evening?"

 

Ah..so that explains why it was so familiar.

 

"Tiffany? How did you get my number?"

 

I heard her chuckle on the other end, "You know me, I can do everything." she replied confidently.

 

"Okay, then it's time for you to answer my second question. Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"

 

"Because I pity you.."

 

"You pity me for not calling me in the middle of the night?"

 

"No! Of course not! I just.." she hesitated.

 

"Say the truth, Hwang. What's your real reason?" I questioned again, making sure to know the answer.

 

"Fine.. I wanted to hear your voice, that's all."