Many were unsatisfied at the fact Dong Hae and I was still close as ever. Since word got out about my bullying, Dong Hae was more protective over me. Instead of spending my recess alone, I spent it with my brother’s friends. Of course we had to tell them about our secret to let me into the group.

  “Dude!” said my brother’s friend, Eun Hyuk. “I know you had a sister but I didn’t know she was cute!”

  “Hey, hands off!” my brother warned.

  “They are; no worries.” Eun Hyuk said with his hands up in surrender.

  “How’d you guys keep it so well all these years?” asked Ye Sung, another friend of my brother’s.

  “By not being seen together.” Dong Hae answered flatly as he ate his spaghetti while I watched.

  “Hye Ryung, right? Uh . . . why did you want to keep your brother a secret?” Ye Sung asked me.

  “I knew if I was I’d be the victim of every girl in this school who’d beg me for my brother’s number. Even so, make me hook them up with him. I hate being the middle person.” I blabbed.

  “She sounds just like you, Dong Hae.” Eun Hyuk stated gleefully.

  “Thanks for the info, genius.” Dong Hae said in a mundane tone.

  We continued to talk until someone interrupted our melodious moment. “Hey guys!”

  I looked up and there she was, Su Yeon. “What are you doing here, culprit?” Ye Sung said.

  “I just dropped by to say hello to my boyfriend.” Su Yeon said smugly.

  Dong Hae said while curling his arm around me, “You know I’m already taken, Su Yeon.”

  “So why don’t you go barking up someone else’s tree?” Eun Hyuk said.

  “How cute, the trio is protecting the little midget. She’s not worth your time Dong Hae. I am!” Su Yeon exclaimed proudly. Then added, “She’s nothing but a twerp who thinks she’s at the top of the food chain for having the most popular boy in school as her boyfriend! She’s a , a I tell you.”

  Dong Hae was enraged. He stood up and went over to Su Yeon, grabbing her by the collar and pushed her against the table, hard. Eun Hyuk and Ye Sung knew what was happening and quickly tried pulling Dong Hae away. Su Yeon was horrified.

  “Talk to Hye Ryung like that again and I SWEAR I’ll wash that mouth of yours with soap and barbed wire for a brush!!” Dong Hae threatened and walked away. He grabbed my arm and pulled me along as we walked out of the school cafeteria, leaving everyone in shock.

***

I never knew Dong Hae could be so scary. For a moment he was the Dong Hae I knew him as – the beautiful Dark Angel – and then he turned into the Devil himself! I was so terrified. Especially since he grabbed me by the collar and pushed me against the table beside his. The people sitting there were startled by us.

  I was lucky enough that his two friends were there; if not . . . I would’ve been Kung Pau Chicken!

  I knew Dong Hae and h wasn’t that. He was always kind to me until . . . until that brat brainwashed him, that’s it! She must’ve told him not to like me. She must’ve told him to stay away from me and despise me. All of my hate was now aimed towards that little twerp!

  You’ll get your turn after school brat . . . just wait and see what I’ve got waiting for you.

***

Dong Hae and I were on the school roof. I knew the place because one day when I was feeling down over my fight with SoRi, he brought me here, said that it was his place of comfort and now it could be mine too. Dong Hae was vulnerable around me at times. He cried in his arms and just became a soft toy.

  I could only give him my shoulder as he cried and told me about his thoughts on dad. He then spoke out about Su Yeon driving him crazy, saying that she was his girlfriend whereas in actual fact they hardly dated. He even said he was grateful to have friends like Eun Hyuk and Ye Sung for having his back – always.

  All of that was done in a matter of ten minutes. When recess was over, it was like the moment on the roof had never happened. He said he’d meet me after school at the usual spot and then left. He had taken a few steps before coming back and gave me a kiss on the forehead. When he does that, it usually means he was grateful for something I did. I got goose bumps just thinking about it after he left.

I was walking along the school’s parking lot. I was heading towards the school gates so I could wait for Dong Hae at his palm tree. In order to get to school gates, I had to cross the road. I was halfway across when I heard it, Dong Hae, yelling out my name. “HYE RYUNG!!”

  I turned around and from then on, it was like everything was in slow motion. I saw Dong Hae running towards me. He was running with all his might so he could catch up to me. I noticed girls and guys in stunned silence around him. I thought they were in shock at his alarmed state but when I heard the sound of screeching tires only did I look to the accelerating car heading my way.

  Dong Hae yelled my name again, “HYE RYUNG!!” This time, it was more urgent. He was trying to tell me to get out of the way but my feet were glued to the ground. I silently prayed as I tightly shut my eyes and waited for the impact hit me. I was pushed to the side by some freak of nature force and passed out once my head hit the pavement floor, hard.

  I woke up, sore from my fall and my head moist from the blood dripping due to my scar. A huge crowd had gathered in front of me. The crowd wasn’t looking at me but practically at another victim. I had hit my head too hard to even remember what had happened.

  It all came back to me as I sat up and rubbed my head. When I recalled Dong Hae, I rushed to get myself despite my legs were feeling wobbly but at the will of wanting to find out who it is that person the crowd was looking at, I endured the pain.

  My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. The crowd hardly gave me room to pass. I used the remaining strength I had and once got to the inner most layer of the circle, the colour in my face was utterly drained as I saw in terror, my brother, lying on the floor, gasping for air.

  I yelled, “DONG HAE!!” and ran to his aid. No one helped him. No one bothered to check for a pulse. They just watched. They watched!!

  I laid his head on my lap and made him face me. Tears were in my eyes. I couldn’t breathe at the reality of this scene in front of me. I gripped his hand in my hand and caressed his face as his honey gold eyes looked up to me.

  “Stay with me, Dong Hae.” I said in between sobs and yelled at the crowd, “Call the ing ambulance you idiots!! Call them NOW!!!” Only then did some bothered to take out their cell phones and type in the number for the hospital. I then turned back my attention to Dong Hae and racked my brain for things to do. I crumpled his shirt and pressed at the wound that overflowed with his blood. He made a gargled wince as the blood overflowed from his mouth. “Dong Hae, stay with me.” I said and pressed harder. His weak grip seemed to have tightened a little and I continued to do so to keep him awake.

  For the past half an hour, I constantly spoke to him, saying things like he should stay in there, don’t let go, don’t leave me and such. My tears had only rolled down once or twice because I wanted to be strong for him. Even though his grip was weak, he still gripped my hand with all the strength he had left and what mattered was his eyes were still open and they still held mine in hope.

  When the ambulance finally came, Eun Hyuk and Ye Sung helped the paramedics as they mounted him onto the vehicle. I rode with him all the way to the hospital and parted with him as they rushed into surgery.

  I sat on a bench and waited. I felt numb for a moment. That way, until a nurse came to me and asked, “Excuse me miss, you’re hurt.”

  Yes, I was. I looked to my hands that were covered in Dong Hae’s dried blood. My clothes too were soaked in them and then the thought of my father’s passing came to mind. The images of Dong Hae and me when we were small, of us when or father’s coffin was being buried, the moment we had on that roof . . . everything came back in a flash and I just broke down at the idea that I might just lose Dong Hae, the only person I couldn’t live without.