Chapter 9: How Dare You

I stomped my feet as I went out. I was breathing real hard. I saw him standing, leaning on the wall just outside the entrance of the noraebang.

“YA!” I shouted at him at the top of my lungs. He turned around with a shocked face, like it was saying, stop-you’re-embarrassing-me. I didn’t care if he was embarrassed. I would love to embarrass him even more.

“What?” he said as he raised his left brow. I was getting annoyed by the minute. I walked towards him, still wearing my angry expression.

“What the hell is your problem?!” I snarled. He just looked at me. I advanced even more. Now we’re face to face.

“Why do you keep annoying me?” I said, emphasizing every word while gritting my teeth.

“You annoyed me first,” he said calmly as he looked around. I annoyed him first? I thought. What did I do? Did my existence annoy him?

“I don’t remember doing anything annoying to you,” I stepped back.

He sighed, and said, “You staying in that playground was annoying. You ruining my night with the guys was annoying. You getting a lot of attention was annoying. YOU are annoying. Just get lost.”

It was the first time someone talked to me that way. The first time a boy talked to me that way. Doesn’t he have at least a little respect for girls? Or for other people at the least? No, the answer was pretty obvious. He didn’t. I didn’t deserve to be treated like that. I am a girl, not to mention that I am a fan. I inhaled hard, shocked by everything he said.

“YOU are annoying..”

“Just get lost…”

It echoed in my head. It kept echoing, and then it came to the point that I couldn’t hold my anger anymore. I slapped him in the face real hard, Lily style.

And then the others came out from the noraebang, surprised to see Sungyeol’s red face. My hand left a red mark on his cheek, the exact shape of my hand. I was breathing hard again. But I felt better when I slapped him. You deserved that, I thought. I walked out.

Jong followed me as I headed to the tree box a few hundred meters away from the noraebang, and I sat there. I started crying. It wasn’t because Sungyeol didn’t like me. It was because I never would have thought that I will be treated the way he treated me. I was damn sure that I wasn’t seeking for any attention, and my trip to that playground was an accident. Plus, I didn’t know I would be . If I did, would I be stupid to even go there?

Jong sat beside me, and sympathized. He started telling me comforting words, like “Don’t mind everything he said..” “He was such an idiot..” “We’ll take care of him..” I mean, he tried his best, but it didn’t help. I thanked him anyway.

He held my hand, and put something on it. What was it? I looked up.

“If you’re having too much problems,” he paused and smiled. “Have a lemon candy.” I looked at what was in my hand. It was a lemon candy.

Now, Jong, that definitely cheered me up. I chuckled as I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand.

“Lemon satang!” he shouted.

“Lemon satang!” I replied, and ate the candy. I stopped crying as the taste of the candy cheered me up.

“That’s my dongsaeng,” he said.

I asked him, “Do you always have lemon candy with you?”

“Sometimes,” he giggled. He looked at me as he swung an arm around me.

“You know what dongsaeng, I feel proud of you.”

“Uh, why oppa?” I asked him. Was he proud of me because I ate his lemon candy?

“Because you never gave up. When I first met you, I felt that you were almost giving up on your dreams,” he swung his feet back and forth as he talked. “But you didn’t. And I’m wondering why the Woollim audition masters rejected you with that voice.”

“Thank you, oppa. To be honest,” I moved the candy from my left cheek to my right as I on it, “You were my inspiration, so I never really gave up.” I held back his hand, “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled. And then his phone rang. He answered it.

“Yes, boss? Oh, okay. We’ll be right there.” He faced me as he put his phone back to his pocket. “Boss said we should go back, and he wants to talk to you.”

Boss wants to talk to me? Oh no. I suddenly felt cold. My hands suddenly shook, and I felt a little paranoid. What will the boss tell me? Is he going to sue me for slapping Sungyeol? Oh no.

I’m in trouble.