“Okay.”

“Huh…?” My eyelids fluttered open as I quizzically cocked my head.

“Perfect! That one was good!” He happily winked and gave me a thumbs-up from his right hand, while holding the chocolate box in his left hand. I stood motionless and cracked a fake smile, wondering if I had heard right.

“Alright! I think this is enough practice! Now you’re ready to give him the chocolates!”

That sentence made me snap; I started to shake, a fire building up inside of me. Oh, but I wasn’t trembling because I was broken hearted- I was trembling from anger. I closed my eyes, squeezing my hands together.

Oh, Myungsoo. You really want to die, don’t you.

Gritting my teeth, I kicked Myungsoo hard in the shin, causing him to crouch over in pain. The chocoaltes flew out of his hands and onto the floor; not that I cared anymore. He fell to his knees, clutching his shin as he winced in pain.

“What was that for?!” He complained, massaging his shin.

“Don’t ever talk to me again! Don’t come near me, you pea-brained idiot!” I yelled, haughtily turning my head and stomping towards the door.

“Huh? Why are you so made all of a sudden?” Myungsoo whined, slightly wobbling as he pushed himself off the floor. “Ouch. So violent…”

“Shut up! Die!” I turned around to shoot him a scathing look. I know that I have a problem with my temper, but Myungsoo’s obliviousness was more than just a problem. At this rate, I’ll never be able to get my feelings across his tiny brain.

“Yooae… the chocolate…?” He stooped down and carefully picked up the chocolate box.

“You know what?” I whirled around.

“Yes?” He quickly squeaked.

“I know that you don’t mean it in a bad way, but that doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you want! I paused, before adding one last sentence. “And can’t you be serious for once? Just think about it!”

I waited, expecting Myungsoo to give me some meek or idiotic reply. I gulped when I saw his reaction; his face was expressionless. He seemed to be in deep thought, based on his distant eyes and serious air.

“I guess so,” He murmured, before coldly pushing past me and disappearing into the hallway.

Shoot. Did I say something wrong?

----------------------------------------------

Calm down. Breathe in. Breathe in, Yooae, breathe in. You can do this!

I pushed back all my pride this morning to convince myself to apologize to Myungsoo. Airi didn’t provide much input, except for her usual “What do you even see in him?” rant. After a long morning of pondering, I decided to take the safe route and apologize.

“Myungsoo!” I pushed myself through the throng of students, finally reaching Myungsoo’s desk.

“Good morni-“

“It’s actually your fault. it’s definitely one hundred percent your fault, but it was a teeny weeny bit of my fault too, so I’ll go out of my way to apologize…” I rambled, nervously tapping my fingers on his table. “Sorry. Just a little sorry. I was too harsh.”

He blinked, staring down at me.

“Uh…” He awkward smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. “For what?”

There it went. His unique talent...

“Yesterday! When I told you to be serious and to think about it! You got mad and then you went home!” I fumed. “I’m trying to apologize, can’t you see?!”

“Oh, that!” His mouth formed an “o” shape as he finally realized what I was talking about. My mouth twitched as I heard him quickly whisper to himself,” Is that really apologizing?”

“I wasn’t really mad,” He chuckled. “Actually, I was never mad…”

“Wait, then what was that?”

“It’s okay, don’t sweat it. It has nothing to do with you, anyways,” He shrugged, a carefree smile on his face. I simply stared at him, my eyes wide open.

“Oh, and I’m sorry too! I took your chocolates home by mistake,” He worriedly apologized, slightly bowing. “It’s a bit late, but do you still want to give it to him? I can explain the situation to him…”

“It’s okay,” I automatically responded.

“What should I do with the chocolates, then?” He hastily fidgeted. A shadow grew over my face as my expression turned into one of utter loathe.

“Burn it and throw it away,” I managed to crack sadistic smile. “Along with yourself.”

Silence. A long, awkward silence.

----------------------------------------------

“Koo Yooae, please come up to the front,” Mr. Lee shifted his reading glasses. The class was currently in a study session kind of thing- Mr. Lee didn’t have a lesson planned out today, so everybody got free time. Actually, more than half the class was goofing around.

I sighed and set my book down. What did I do wrong? The class quieted down for a moment before returning to its busy buzz, watching me walk up to the teacher’s podium.

“Yes, Mr. Lee?” I respectfully greeted him. He scratched his head, his blonde hair slightly sticking out. It was odd that he dyed his hair blonde, since the principal was known to be nitty gritty about being properly dressed. Maybe he was a rebel at heart.

“Um… you see…” He awkwardly cleared his throat. “Miss Yooae, you’re currently ranked in the top ten, right?”

“I think so...” I tipped my head sideways. “Why?”

“Myungsoo is currently ranked… uh…” His voice grew quieter. “Last.”

I wasn’t surprised at all. Rankings in our school were displayed publicly. Some people didn’t want to bear the embarrassment of being last, thus they studied hard. Others just didn’t give a damn about their rankings, like Myungsoo. However, if you were ranked in the last ten by the end of the year, you didn’t have much of a good chance of graduating high school.

“The quarter finals are coming,” He continued. “I’m… worried.”

“Let me guess,” I bit my lip. “You want me to help him?”

“That would be great,” Mr. Lee smiled in relief. “Like, some sessions in the school library would be great.”

Usually, I would be overjoyed to be spending more time with Myungsoo. I got angry at him way too often, and I was worried that I would simply create even more awkwardness between us.

“I don’t know…” I tapped my fingers on the side of his podium.

“He would probably listen to you more than me,” Mr. Lee rubbed his temples. “That kid.”

“But…”

“Um… I’ll let you come late to my classes! I’ll treat you to an all you can eat frozen yogurt bar! Please?” He tilted his head, his eyes silently pleading me. I nearly chuckled; even Mr. Lee had a hard time teaching Myungsoo. Still; it was a teacher that was pleading me.

“Alright then!” I immediately replied, gaining an approving nod from Mr. Lee. I came late nearly every day, and this could be a way for me to escape the daily rants of “You should be a punctual person, yada yada yada…”

“Oh! Could you come to the staff room after school today so I can give you the material I want Myungsoo to study?”

“Sure,” I bobbed my head up and down in understanding. “Anything else?”

“Nah,” Mr. Lee let out a long sigh, then reached over to pat my head. “Thanks. I knew I could rely on you.”

I awkwardly ambled away, taking a seat in my desk. Are teachers supposed to pat their students on the head? Okay, maybe they can. But patting a high school student’s head?

“Odd,” I mumbled to myself.

“Oh my god! Is this you, Myungsoo?!”

I flinched at instinctively at the high pitched squeals of surprise. I arched my back, turning around to see what the fuss was all about. A group of my female peers were ogling over a picture of Myungsoo from middle school.

“Hey, Yooae, look at this!” One of my classmates pulled me out of my seat and towards the picture.

“Yeah,” I brushed her hand off of my arm, peering over her shoulder to look at the picture. It was a picture of Myungsoo with blond hair, wearing his uniform sloppily. He was crouched against the wall, a cigarette in between his hands. He had diamond studs in both of his ears.

“Your hair was blonde, Myungsoo?!” A girl laughed, throwing her head back.

“Wow, such a rebel!”  A guy clapped Myungsoo on the back. Soon, the whole classroom was surrounding the picture of Myungsoo, oohing and ahhing at his 180 degree change.

“You were in Myungsoo’s middle school, weren’t you, Yooae?” A girl next to me nudged my shoulder. “What was he like?”

“Yeah, I was” I shrugged, tapping my chin. “He was a gangster, I guess? He always loitered around the hallway with his group of… friends.”

“Did you guys ever talk? I mean, you guys were in the same school!”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he remembers,” I slowly replied, watching Myungsoo actively chatting with his friends.

“Why’d you change, Myungie?” Two girls whined. “You were so badass!”

“Yeah, what a change,” Myungsoo’s friends snickered. “Your hair is pitch back and your earrings are gone. Ditched the cigarette too, huh?”

“It’s a phase everyone goes through,” Myungsoo grinned.

“Uh, no, they don't…” I shot him a disapproving look, gaining an awkward chuckle from Myungsoo. The crowd laughed once again, before dispersing. I flopped into my seat, immediately letting my head fall lazily onto my journal. I fidgeted with the zipper of my pencil box, waiting for the bell to ring.                                  

“Did you guys ever talk? I mean, you guys were in the same school!”

“I doubt he remembers,” I buried my head into my arms.

It would be a miracle if he did, though.