CHAPTER 3: NEW ACQUAINTANCES

After two lessons it was time for lunch. The lunch break, the longest break between the lessons was the time when rumours started spreading like fire, and I definitely noticed it. The moment me, Eunwoo and Youngmi walked out of the classroom, I could hear the whispering start. Now I had people around me so I felt a little bit more confident than earlier. Youngmi seemed like the type of person who would defend and protect her friends with her life, since she stopped me, a total stranger, from slapping Mikyung. That told me a lot about her. And Eunwoo… he was his silent, serious self, but didn’t refuse to eat with us, so he must’ve felt comfortable too.

As we walked to the cafeteria and got into the line, waiting to get some food, I heard the words Jeju, aunt and relations a few times. It seemed like the thing that annoyed the others the most was the fact I didn’t get to this school with my grades. That felt really hypocrite for me – in the world of the rich bribing and using relations to achieve things was common. I could’ve bet that many other students here hadn’t got into the school with their grades – so why did my case bother them?

“I don’t see Bin anywhere”, Youngmi muttered. 

“He never eats in the cafeteria”, Eunwoo said quietly. I turned to look at him. Did he know Bin personally?

“Really?” Youngmi asked. “Oh. Well, then we’ll see him later. Now, let’s get some food!”

After we got our food, we hurried to one of the tables and started stuffing ourselves. I scanned the cafeteria with my eyes while eating. There were all kinds of teenagers. Tall, short, skinny, chubby… Just like in any high school. Only difference was that we were eating gourmet food instead of the regular cafeteria food normal high schools offered. It was good, for sure, but it didn’t feel right for me. Perhaps it would take some getting used to.

My eyes wandered to one specific table. It was empty – excluding one person who was eating alone in the corner. He didn’t look around, he just stuffed himself like he was trying to hurry and get out of the cafeteria. He had beautifully tanned skin and fluffy looking brown hair. He didn’t look like a person who would eat all alone.

“Youngmi”, I said. “Who is that?”

“Who?” she asked and raised her glance from her plate. “Ah, him. His name is Park Minhyuk. He is on the second grade. That’s all I know.”

I nodded and glanced at the boy eating quickly for a moment before continuing my meal.

As we finished our meals and got out of the school building to get some fresh air and to go buy ice creams from a small stand on the school yard, we walked pass Mikyung and her group of friends. She gave me a dirty glare but I just smiled at her, trying to look as friendly as possible. I would try to ignore her and her ridiculous attention seeking, for my own sake.

We didn’t get far as Eunwoo stopped to listen at something, and as I stopped to pay attention too, I realized there were shouts of “fight, fight, fight" echoing from behind a corner. I wasn’t the least bit surprised as Youngmi’s expression became curious and she started heading towards the shouting. Me and Eunwoo glanced at each other before following her.

Turns out there was a fight at the school’s main gate. There was shouting, cursing, punching, wrestling, and all over again. I just stared at them with big eyes – I had never seen such a fight before in real life. Just in dramas. I had no idea why they were fighting, but they both seemed very angry, at least judging from the curses they threw at each other.

“Minji”, Youngmi said. “Now you see why I told you to stay away from Bin. That’s him.”

I stared at the two fighting boys. Right now the taller counterpart, who had short black hair and chains hanging from his pants’ belt loops, threw the other boy to the ground. He actually looked like a gangster.

“Okay, I think you’re right. He does look like he’s a part of a gang.”

“No, the other one”, Youngmi corrected me and I glanced at him, surprised, before looking at the boy who got up from the ground, looking very tired, and punching the other boy again. He looked like the victim! He had somewhat friendly looking face even when he was griming like that.

It looked like the fight was coming to an end as the taller, actual gangster-looking boy got up and started walking away. At this point Bin, however, got up and kicked a squeezed soda can that was lying on the ground. The other guy managed to dodge it, but unfortunately the can flew straight towards Park Minhyuk, the boy I had seen eating alone in the cafeteria earlier. He was just passing by, probably not even interested in the fight, but the soda can flew across the air just to hit his forehead. I flinched as I heard the soda can drop to the ground and watched as the boy, clearly startled, rushed away and disappeared into the building.

I turned to look at Bin and the other boy, who now just grinned at Bin, clapped his hands and walked away. Bin, whose face was less injured than his counterparts, just stared after the him, spit out some blood and then walked away to the opposite direction. The fight was over.

“Oh my god”, Youngmi said. “Did you see Park Minhyuk? He looked like a puppy getting hit!”

“I think he is actually a puppy in disguise”, Eunwoo said quietly. “A sad puppy living on streets.”

“I wonder if he got badly hurt…” I thought out loud and glanced at the direction he had disappeared to a moment earlier.

“It was just a soda can, it can’t make a big cut”, Eunwoo stated. “The next lesson is starting, let’s go.”

We hurried back to the building and our classroom. As we sat down and prepared our books, I realized I had seen Bin’s face somewhere earlier. Anyhow, I couldn’t get my mind to it so I let it go and tried to concentrate on my notes.

After the lessons for that day were over, I parted ways with Youngmi who had to rush home to eat and then to a private academy to study some more. Me and Eunwoo were supposed to go and buy me the phone we had discussed yesterday, but Eunwoo had something to do at school before, so he told me to wait in the main hall. I walked around the hallways for a moment – the school looked a lot fancier and bigger now that it was almost completely empty. Only few students stayed there; some stayed to self-study and some probably had club activities, but most of the students went home to eat and then to academies. I had never had the money to attend an academy, but my grades had always been decent without any.

I walked to the main hall with long, slow steps and stopped at the staircase, where I just leaned on the wall and shut my eyes for a while. At some point I heard footsteps coming closer and opened my eyes, expecting to see Eunwoo but ended up meeting eyes with Park Minhyuk, who apparently was about to leave school as well. I couldn’t ignore the small smudge of blood on his forehead.

“Are you okay?” I asked without hesitation.

“Yes…” he replied quietly and tried to avoid my eyes.

“Sorry, but I can look at that?” I suggested and nodded at his forehead.

For a moment I saw hesitation in his eyes, but he ended up nodding and we sat down next to each other. I brushed his hair away from his forehead and saw a small, clean cut that had bled little bit – but enough to have a small drain of dried blood going down his skin.

“I should have tissues with me”, I said and started going through my backpack.

“Why are you helping me?” the boy suddenly asked.

I stopped and put the pack down. I blinked a few times, thinking of a good answer. “Well, I think you know who I am. People don’t really like me. But you don't seem like the others so I just feel like I should help you.” I started examining my backpack again and this time I actually found a small package of bandaids. I almost smiled. My aunt had thought about everything!

I wiped the blood away with a napkin and gently placed a bandaid on the cut on his forehead. I flashed him a small smile and got up. I noticed him finally looking at me. He had this puzzled look in his eyes, and after a short silence he opened his mouth.

“Ryu Minji”, he said. “Right?”

“And you’re Park Minhyuk”, I said while nodding. “I think we’re both labelled outcasts so why not be friends?”

He seemed flustered and looked away. “I have a lot of friends.”

“Yes, of course, I understand”, I smiled at him. “Our table at the cafeteria is always available for you.”

Minhyuk blinked once, twice. Then he got up as well, and with a small nod exited the building. I looked after him for a moment, but before I even got to smile, Eunwoo appeared from the hallway. He looked like he was a little out of breath, as if he had run form where ever he had been.

“Let’s go home”, he said.

“What about the phone?” I asked – I didn’t mean to sound bratty but I would really need a phone; at least now that I had gotten friends.

“I got it already”, Eunwoo said shortly.

“What? When?” 

“Just now”, he said and pulled a small box out of his backpack.

Wow. He was sly! He didn’t have anything to do at school – he just wanted to buy the phone for me! I pushed him playfully and got the box from him. I was actually a bit scared to see what model he had gotten me – anything too expensive would be too much. I hated the feeling of being in dept. As I saw the text on the boxes side I let out a deep sigh. It was expensive. I glared at Eunwoo who just shrugged his shoulders. My glare changed into a grin and I pushed him playfully again.

“Thank you, Eunwoo. Really, I appreciate it."