Chapter 3: Wanting a Mario Brother
With Or Without You
Wanting a Mario Brother
Two months later…
“Little Miss! Little Miss! Where are you?!” Mrs. Choi shouted as she looked around worriedly for Dara.
“Nyah, nyah, you can’t catch me!”
“I can catch you Ji-Yong! Just you wait!”
Mrs. Choi heard voices sounding from afar. She turned, looking for the source of the voice, recognizing Dara’s voice.
“Ji-Yong!!!”
“Who’re you calling Ji-Yong?! I’m older than you. You should call me ‘oppa’!”
The voices continued to sound. When she couldn’t find the owner of the voices anywhere around she decided to look up. And what she saw almost caused her to faint.
“Little Miss!” she exclaimed, while clutching her chest, as if having a heart attack.
Little Miss Park Sandara and Young Master Kwon Ji-Yong were up on a tall tree, growing harmlessly in the Park’s vast yard.
Ji-Yong was up higher than the little girl, but she was trying valiantly to catch up to him. She was making good progress too, considering that she only started tree-climbing for less than a month.
“I’m going to get you Ji-Yong! Give me back my Ariel doll!” Dara yelled at the boy, while trying hard to reach a branch above her head and hoisting herself up on it.
Not an easy feat, considering that she was in a blouse, shorts, and a pair of sandals. But determination blazed in her eyes as she concentrated hard on her task.
“Hmph! Make me, then! And what did I say about calling me just ‘Ji-Yong’? It’s supposed to be ‘Ji-Yong OPPA’ since you need to respect me,” Ji-Yong said while sitting atop a tree branch, waiting for her to catch up with him.
“Respect? What respect? I don’t have to respect a rude boy like you!” she rallied back. “Ha! See? I did catch you! So give Ariel back!”
“Hmph. So you did. Here’s your stupid doll back,” he said while handing her back the doll.
“Thank you!” she replied, ever so politely while snatching the doll.
“See? I told you, you could climb the tree if you wanted to. You shouldn't be scared. It’s only a tree now, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I guess so. Hey! You can see the pond from here! Look!”
Ji-Yong looked at where she was pointing to. And sure enough, they could see the small pond from where they were seated.
“Cool! You can see everything from here!” he said, enthusiastically.
“Yep,” she said happily. Then she looked at the boy next to her, intently. “But you already knew that, right? You’ve been here before.”
“Yes, I did. What do you think I am, stupid like you? You said you wanted to see the pond during sunset, so I brought you here.”
“What?” she said, while recalling when she exactly told him that….
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One hour earlier…
“Ji-Yong!”
“What?!”
“Don’t do that to Belle, it isn’t nice!”
“Do what? This?” the little boy replied while twisting the doll’s head again, causing the little girl he was playing with to screech.
“Aisht! I told you not to do that!” she exclaimed, snatching the doll back from him.
“I’m bored, why do we have to play house anyway?! This is so stupid,” the 7-year old said while getting up and looking out of her window.
They were inside Dara’s play room, playing house.
“Because,” she replied, “we already finished playing G.I. Joe, where I had to be a dirty soldier. We’ve also done Mario Brosthers already, and I let you beat me!”
“What do you mean ‘let’? I won, fair and square and I was able to save the Princess!” he said while striking a pose like he had a sword in his extended hand.
Dara gave a sigh and said, “I wish I had a Mario brother to save me. And we’ll ride the dragon into the sunset.”
Ji-Yong looked at her quizzically, “Wah? Why would you need a Mario brother? You’re not a princess!”
She gave him a look of disgust and said impatiently, “You wouldn’t understand! I want to have someone that would save me from the Evil King Kuppa and his minions."
“Someone I can give my good wishes to. Someone who can show me the sunset by the pond whenever I wanted to because Mr. Song won’t take me out driving after 5. That’s what I want.”
“You could’ve told me that! You don’t need a Mario brother! All you need is your oppa here to save you! And I know somewhere we can see the sunset.”
“Really?” she asked him excitedly.
“Sure. Without leaving your yard even,” he said smugly.
“Okay. Show me,” she dared him.
“No. It’s still too early. Let’s play something else while we wait,” he replied.
“Alright. What are we going to play?”
“Tag! And you’re ‘It’!” he said with mischief in his voice.
“Aisht! I don’t want to play tag! I’ll get all sweaty!” she told him.
“No? Oh well, who would you say is your favorite doll?” he asked him.
“Hmmmm…”she said while looking around her massive play room. “I’d have to say it’s Ariel. I liked her in the cartoon,” she said.
“Okay. So Ariel it is,” he said.
Then he picked the little mermaid doll from the cabinet where it rested along with the other Disney princesses dolls.
“Nyah, nyah! Now you have to get her back from me if you want to see her alive!” he said with an evil smirk on his face, while backing up slowly towards the door.
“Nooooo! Ji-Yong! That’s mean! Give Ariel back!” she said while stomping her foot.
“You can’t catch me!” the little boy taunted while running out of the room.
“Ji-Yong!!! I am soooooo gonna get you!” she said while sprinting out of her room and going after the boy.
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At the present...
“Hey!” Ji-Yong said, elbowing Dara. “You have that glassy look in your eyes again! Don’t daydream!”
“Wah! Aisht! I almost fell!” she said crossly.
“Oh. Sorry,” he said, not looking sorry at all.
Back on the ground, a worried Mrs. Choi was joined by a worried Mr. Han. They were joined by a small crowd of worried servants, all looking up the tree.
“We must get them down. Yo – “ Mr. Han made as if to yell up to the two children on the tree.
“Ouch! What did you do that for?! I was about to call Young Master and ask him to come down!” he asked Mrs. Choi who had elbowed him in the stomach before he could yell out.
“Because, my good man, they would have to look down and lose their balance once they hear you!” she patiently explained.
“Oh. So what do we do?” he asked.
“Well, I think we should call the firemen and have them come with a fire truck’s ladder to help them down,” she suggested.
“Good idea Mrs. Choi! Miss Kim!” he said, calling out to a young maid. “Call the fire department and have them come. Tell them that there’s an emergency. Two kids are stuck in a very, tall tree.”
“Yes, sir,” the maid bowed and went off hurriedly.
Meanwhile, up in the tree…
“Look, Ji-Yong! The sun is setting!” Dara squealed, grasping his arm.
“Ouch. Get off, Princess Dara, I can see the sun setting too,” he said, rubbing his arm.
“Aisht! You’re such a meanie,” she pouted.
Then they lapsed into silence as they watched the sunset.
“I never knew that orange looked well with purple. Until I saw this. It’s really pretty,” Dara said, looking at the horizon.
“Uh-huh,” he said noncommittally.
“Thank you for this…oppa,” she said quietly.
Ji-Yong, who did not expect the endearment, could only look at the little girl who was staring intently at the sunset.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, just as quietly.
Back on the ground, the adults were starting to panic as Miss Kim reported that the fire department will not be coming.
“What?! What do you mean, they’re not coming?” an alarmed Mr. Han asked.
“Well sir, they say that only kittens get stuck in a tree and that if the kids knew how to get up, they can come back down for sure,” said a distressed Miss Kim.
“Aisht! What are we going to do?!” asked Mr. Han, not really addressing a specific person.
“Oh no!” cried Mrs. Choi.
“What?!”
“The kids are starting to come down!”
“What?!”
At that, they all looked up, and sure enough, the children were slowly coming down of the tree, with Ji-Yong in the lead.
“We need to get down or we’ll be in trouble,” said Ji-Yong.
“But…” said Dara tentatively.
“What?” he asked, looking up at her.
“Who will hold Ariel? I can’t hold her and go down at the same time,” she wailed.
“Fine! Give me the stupid doll,” he said.
Once Dara handed him the doll, he dropped it to the ground.
“YAH! What are you doing?!” she asked him.
“Don’t worry! Miss Eun-jee caught your doll,” he told her.
“Really?” she asked while acting to look down.
“No! What are you doing?! I told you not to look down!” he scolded her.
“Sorry. But…oppa?”
“What?”
“I’m scared.”
Ji-Yong looked at the little girl who blindly followed him up a tree that he knew she was scared of.
“Don’t worry I won’t let you fall,” he reassured her, taking her hand in his for a moment.
“You promise?” Dara asked, tears threatening to fall from her beautiful eyes.
“Yes.” he reassured her.
As the two were slowly, but surely making their way down, the adults on the ground were very close to panicking.
Ten suspense-filled minutes later, Ji-Yong was back on the ground. Taking Dara’s hand, he helped her down the last 2 feet off the tree.
“Thank you,” Dara politely told him, as she headed her way to Mrs. Choi.
"Oh I am so glad you're safe, Little Miss!" Mrs. Choi exclaimed.
“Now, let’s go back to our house Young Master. Your omma will be worried about you,” Mr. Han said, ushering Ji-Yong back to the Park’s house to get to the front gates.
“Omma? Hmph. As if she cares,” he said with contempt in his voice.
“Little Miss, what were you doing up there?” Mrs. Choi asked her.
“Ji-Yong took me to look at the sunset by the pond,” she replied matter-of-factly.
“Oh. You could have gotten hurt! Or worse, you could’ve fallen!” said the woman.
“No. Ji-Yong -oppa would not have let me fall,” she said, looking at Ji-Yong.
The two smiled at each other, and without saying a word, he took her smaller hand into his, as they walked side by side to the mansion.
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Awwwww...Friendship at it's best. LOL! I want a Mario Brother too. Haha! Beats out a cliched "Prince Charming" doesn't it? Kekeke..
Anyways, Read and review!
Youngbae would be making his appearance in the next chappie! WOOHOO!
Kudos,
~Belle
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