New Year’s Special

Even more New Years than Christmases ago…

Little nine year old Hyun sat on his little chair with his elbows on his little desk as he frowned at the A4 sized coloured paper that he had placed carefully on his little desk. The little Math genius was about to embark on a very important piece of work—writing his New Year resolutions. It was important to him because his mother always said to him, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Thus, in his little world, plans were important. Plans showed him the way. And plans led to great adventures. And what could be more important than his New Year’s resolutions? They were basically his big plans for the next year! Very important indeed.

He stared at the blank piece of blue coloured paper and drew a big breath. He knew what he wanted to plan. Now all he had to do was to write it down. There was a set of twelve coloured marker pens placed neatly above his paper. Now he had to choose his colours.

Picking up a dark blue marker pen, he uncapped it and smiled. He was ready. In eerily neat and precise handwriting that looked like it was printed by a computer, he began to write.

My New Year’s Resolutions By Hyun

Be a good boy Score the highest marks for Math Be the top in class Make two new friends Learn how to cook steamed gogumas Learn how to pick good gogumas at the market Learn Japanese so that Keroro won’t talk funny again Save up enough money to buy Keroro his own sleeping bag

Hyun stopped writing. He put his marker pen back in its case and smiled at his resolutions. He was going to have a really good year. He just knew it.

~~~~~

His caretaker sat him down by holding his shoulders firmly. “Be good and sit still for a few minutes, can you?”

A piece of paper with colourful words was placed in front of his eyes. It said: New Year’s Resolutions! in bright rainbow colours.

“Yoong, write your New Year’s resolutions while you wait for Grandpa Im to come home.”

“Okay!”

He got up and dashed across the room as his caretaker groaned and yelled, “Where are you running off to again?”

“I’m getting my coloured pencils!” he answered gleefully as he bent and grabbed a box from his bag.

“Okay. Make sure you colour it really nicely and show it to Grandpa Im later.”

“I will!”

Yoong grinned impishly and sat down at the table with his box. Inside the box were his favourite pens, pencils and coloured pencils. He fish out a pen and began to work on the piece of paper.

Yoong’s My New Year’s Resolutions

I want to be like Rilakkuma

Ten year old Yoong sniggered as he wrote that. He enjoyed sleeping, lying around in the house, watching television and listening to music as much as Rilakkuma did. And if he wasn’t doing those things, he’d be bouncing and running about with something naughty up his sleeves. Playing pranks on his caretaker and friends was the next most important thing in his life. Certainly, he wasn’t Grandpa Im’s idea of an ideal grandson.

His elder sister was the kind of child that his family wished he were like. Unfortunately, he was a polar opposite of her. If you were to ask him, however, he’d say it was fortunate. He shuddered to imagine himself being as mature and obedient as his sister was. No way Jose! He was way too cool for that! Cool kids made their caretakers go crazy. They didn’t say yes to everything.

He put his pen down, leaned back and whistled a random tune. He was done with his resolutions. It was boring to do them every year. Once upon a time, he had been very lofty in his aspirations for the next year but he never did keep his resolutions anyway. This year, he’d write a resolution was definitely achievable. Rilakkuma. He smiled impishly. Rilakkuma was the coolest bear in town.

~~~~~

“Young, you’re going to grow really fat if you keep on eating like that!”

“Noona, I’m ten years old and growing. I need my nutrients.”

“You’re eating my nutrients too, glut!”

“I need more nutrients than you! Besides, you are the one who doesn’t want to grow fat. I’m saving you from becoming fat. See?”

“Mommy! Young is eating my food again!!!”

Mama Choi stepped out of the kitchen looking as though she had just stepped out of a spa. Good looks definitely ran in the family. “Young needs to eat more. He’s a growing boy. But don’t worry, there’s more where that came from.”

Sure enough, more food was brought to the dining table by their kitchen helpers. Young simply smirked as his sister sulked over the injustice she suffered at the hands of her mother. Dinner continued as usual, with his father making his appearance after wrapping up another business phone call.

“Remember to do your resolutions after dinner,” Mama Choi reminded her children.

“Okay!” chorused Young and his sister.

Young went to his room after dinner and took a blue whiteboard marker. Then he hummed and tapped his whiteboard marker on the whiteboard that hung above his writing desk. He didn’t really have any resolutions at all. He was happy with the things he had. He was happy with the way things were. He didn’t need to be resolute. But to please his mother, he decided to write a few anyway.

NY Resolutions

I will advance to the next Taekwondo rank

He wasn’t very good at athletics but his parents sent him to Taekwondo lessons because that’s what all rich families do. In the name of self-defense, they would say. He wasn’t too concerned about the fact that he was advancing slower than his peers but his parents would probably be happier if he did actually make it to the next rank.

NY Resolutions

I will advance to the next Taekwondo rank I will practice swimming I will eat more and grow very tall

Growing tall was something that Young really wanted. It was like the world was all up there. Up in the world of the grown-ups. He didn’t want to look up at people anymore. He wanted to be up there, in their midst, where all the action was.

~~~~~

Eleven year old Yul sat down at his desk with his journal and pen. If anyone could see him, they’d have thought he was in his late teens. His eyes wore a kind of weariness that spoke of maturity beyond his years. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration and mirrored that of a grown man, focusing on his work.

Long gone were the days where he lived as a carefree boy. It was so long ago that he couldn’t even remember it. In place of what should have been childlike innocence and delight was experience. The terrors of life and experiences that tormented his mind were what he had left.

He had thought that life might be better after his father died. Yet, two years later, he found himself in another kind of darkness. Another pit hole. Another struggle. His new family was a normal one but no less difficult. His new father wasn’t too bad actually. He knew that his mother received love from him. But was the love of one man enough to fend off the vicious attacks from the rest of his family?

His new grandmother was a scary woman. She was an oppressor. He had learnt about oppressors in his history books and decided that she was exactly that. His mother had no freedom. She was completely under the rule of that tyrant of a grandmother. The tyrant dictated everything she could or could not do, wear or could not wear, eat or could not eat.

And as for himself, nothing he did would ever be good enough because he was the son of a disgraced man. His tip top grades were nothing compared to the mediocre grades of the other children in the family. His outstanding performance in sports as a member of the school’s swimming team was brushed aside as unimportant. He could never bring any of his friends home for fear of having them mistreated by his family. And when asked why, he could only say, “My grandmother won’t like it.”

Fortunately for him, there was still light in his gloomy sky. There was warmth in his freezing cold heart. That light and that warmth came in the form of a sun. A sun that lived next door. A sun that he could touch, hold and draw comfort from when he fell into the depths of depression. That sun was a simple girl. And her name was Sunny.

Thinking about her brought a smile onto his otherwise weary face. She and her family showed him what love really was about. He was glad to have her in his life. She felt more like family than his own when she called him ‘oppa’ in that adorably cute voice of hers. He enjoyed the times when she loaned him her sister’s bicycle so that they could cycle to the park or the library together. There, they would study. He was exceptionally hardworking and excelled because of that but Sunny, she was a bright kid. She had a good brain that allowed her to cut herself a little slack at times without doing too badly.

And as he thought his thoughts, he decided to pen a few resolutions to help him get through the next year.

New Year’s Resolutions

I resolve… To be the best son to umma To be the best oppa to Sunny To be the best student in my grade To be the best swimmer in my school To always do the right thing, no matter what

~~~~~

“You’ll write yours and I’ll write mine, then we’ll show each other what we’ve written.”

“Okay!”

The two little girls giggled. Well, at eleven years old, one might not say that they were little but they were. They were shorter than most kids so they looked like they were eight or nine, rather than eleven. They were also suitably childish, playful and naughty so it was even more difficult to convince others that they were in fact, not that little.

Hyoyeon put her phone back in its cradle and got out a piece of paper from her bag of art supplies. She had the most amazing collection of coloured pens that amazed almost everyone who set their eyes on it—everyone but Sunny, her best friend. Her best friend didn’t appreciate the colours like she did. But it was a good thing! If it weren’t for Sunny, she would never be able to make up her mind about which pens to choose when she shopped for coloured pens.

“Sunny, should I buy this pen or this pen.”

Hyoyeon held up two pens in front of Sunny’s face.

“Hyo, they look exactly the same.”

“No they’re not! This one has more pink and this one has more yellow.”

Sunny sighed. Then she pointed at the pen on the left that had more pink. “Buy that one.”

“Okay!” Hyoyeon smiled cheerfully and put the other pen back.

Without Sunny, she could spend hours deciding. Shopping for pens with Sunny was a time saver. Definitely a good thing.

“Now…what colour should I use…”

Hyoyeon decided to use a sparkly pink pen to pen the title of her work.

Hyoyeonie’s New Year’s Resolutions

Then she outlined it with a sparkly blue pen.

“Now for my resolutions!” she grinned and giggled to herself.

Hyoyeonie’s New Year’s Resolutions

More colourful pens Become the best dancer in school Find the perfect guy Get married to the perfect guy Have many babies with the perfect guy

The numbers were in glittery red and the words were in glittery purple and outlined in glittery silver. And to finish it off, she drew stars and smiling faces of shimmering gold and silver all around her resolutions. It was a masterpiece.

~~~~~

Tiffany was happy. Christmas was nice and she received many presents. And as she sat by her window watching the world go by, she couldn’t help but smile. The new year was coming and she looked forward to it.

She decided to flip through the pages of her diary. It would be nice to look back on the year that had gone by so quickly. It seemed only like yesterday when the year first started.

It had been an eventful year for her. As a student she was actively involved in school events. She had a nickname too. Manager Hwang she was called. She was known for her meticulousness and many school events were organized by her. Her planning was careful, her execution, wonderful. The school’s graduation prom, for example, was under her jurisdiction and she made sure that it ran smoothly from beginning till the end.

Of course, she didn’t work alone. She was part of the student club that was in charge of student affairs out of the classroom. They handled everything from complaints about the canteen to teaching staff even, and of course student activities that involved the entire school. Only, she was focused solely on events and that was exactly what she wanted.

As for the new year…

Tiffany’s New Year’s Resolutions

Help more people Do well in school Plan more events

She smiled as she shut her diary and locked it with the little pink heart-shaped padlock that came with it. She couldn’t wait for the new year to come. She had lots to do!

~~~~~

Sunny giggled to herself as she sat down with a piece of paper and her stationary set. She had no doubt that Hyoyeon would produce an incredibly colourful piece of work but she had no desire to make hers colourful. Unlike some girls, Sunny was happy with just black and blue. Standard colours. No fuss, no muss.

She looked out her window and found her thoughts drifting to Yul, the boy next door. He was very good looking for his age. Whilst some boys were stuck in between childhood and puberty, awkward looking and some, painfully short, Yul was tall, dark and already boyishly handsome. He never brought anyone back to his home and was reserved about himself. He scored straight As and swam like a champion. All of that combined made him as mysterious and cool as a secret agent and the girls went gaga over him. Even the boys thought he was cool.

But Sunny knew better. She knew of the tormented soul that hid behind that heroic façade. She had managed to hear a little about his past from her mother who had heard it from the granny next door. And whatever little she got to hear wasn’t pretty. His father had left behind a mountain of debts that his mother couldn’t pay and if it weren’t for the nice man next door, the two of them would have been in dire circumstances.

The nice man next door was known to her as Mr. Won. He was a doctor and he was the one who had treated Yul’s mother for her injuries. She had been beaten up by the bad guys who wanted their money back. He had sustained injuries too but they weren’t severe because his mother had protected him. Mr. Won fell in love with the woman he treated and they got married before Sunny could say ‘Good job, yo’.

They moved in next door right after getting married and that was when Sunny first set her eyes on Yul. Her young heart thumped so hard that she thought it was going to jump out when she first spoke to him.

“Hi, I’m Sunny. I live next door. What’s your name?”

“I’m Yul.”

“Hi, Yul! You must be Mr. Won’s new wife’s son, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

Sunny knew not what came over her but she gave Yul a tight hug. When she released him, she saw that he wore a look of sheer surprise and was worried that she ruined her chance to be his friend.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that. I don’t usually hug people so soon after meeting them.”

But to her immense relief, he began to smile at her. And that was the smile that took her breath away.

Alright, it was time to get down to it.

Sunny’s Sunny Resolutions

Study harder to make oppa happy

He was always egging her to study harder.

“Don’t you want to make your parents proud?” he’d always say.

In truth she wanted to make her parents proud too, but most of the time, the desire to play overshadowed it.

Sunny’s Sunny Resolutions

Study harder to make oppa happy Study harder to make my parents proud Grow taller Grow longer legs Hang out more with oppa

She looked at her list with satisfaction. She hoped that even if all else failed, at least number five could be realized.

~~~~~

Eleven year old Jessica was at a slumber party with her friends. She had invited two of her friends to stay over at her place to celebrate New Year’s eve’s eve together. The giggly girls got into their PJs and hopped into Jessica’s humongous bed.

“I wish my bed were as big as yours.”

“Mine’s king sized. I wanted the biggest bed possible.” Jessica looked at her huge bed happily.

“Mine’s queen sized.”

“Mine’s a double.”

“Hmm, my New Year’s resolution will be getting a king sized bed just like yours.”

Jessica laughed care freely. “Who’d make a resolution like that?”

“I would.”

“What’s your resolution then?”

“Hmm…I don’t have any.” Jessica shrugged.

“And here you are, laughing at mine.”

“Don’t you have at least one?”

“I don’t need one. I already have everything,” said Jessica, nonchalantly.

“Are you sure?”

“Well, maybe just one thing.” Jessica pursed her lips.

“What’s that?”

“A sister.” Jessica allowed herself a little smile at the thought of it.

“Why? Isn’t it totally awesome to have all this to yourself? I have a sister and she’s as irritating as hell.”

“I just think that it’d be nice to have a sister, okay?” Jessica glared at her friend.

“Okay, okay. Relax.”

~~~~~

“Taengoo, stop playing with Cherry. It’s time to write your New Year’s resolutions and put them up on the wall.”

“Okay, Mummy.”

Taeng patted Cherry’s head affectionately and it barked happily in return. Its tail was wagging rapidly and that’s how he knew that Cherry was happy.

“Come on, Cherry. Let’s get some paper and do our resolutions together.”

The little dog followed Taeng into his room and sat down at his feet. Taeng had placed a piece of paper on the floor and opened a box of crayons to write and colour with. Cherry sniffed at the crayons and barked at them when they rolled away.

“Cherry, these are crayons. They’re not food.”

Taeng patted Cherry’s head and put the crayons back into their box. Then he looked at his paper in concentration.

Taengoo’s New Year’s Resolutions

Take care of Mummy and Daddy Take care of Cherry Study hard and do well in school Be brave Be strong Be a hero Grow taller

He didn’t quite know how he was going to fulfill his sixth resolution but he wrote it down anyway. Being a hero seemed so farfetched but it was good to dream about being one anyway. Besides, being a hero simply meant doing good things to help others. So if Cherry got into trouble and he saved it, that would make him a hero, wouldn’t it?

He wasn’t too certain about his seventh resolution either but he wrote it every year. He certainly didn’t want to end up short as an adult and regretting that he didn’t try harder while he was still growing. He had grown a little this year but it wasn’t enough. He had a long way to go and he was going to keep on working on it. He didn’t want to be the shortest in class and in his family.

His brother did not spare him from the teasing although their mother always scolded him for it. He certainly didn’t enjoy being teased for being short but there was nothing much he could do about it. Especially when it happened in school. So the only solution was to grow taller. A little faster.

Yes. Faster was important too.

Taengoo’s New Year’s Resolutions

Take care of Mummy and Daddy Take care of Cherry Study hard and do well in school Be brave Be strong Be a hero Grow taller faster

Taeng set down his crayon and smiled. It was a good list. Now, to put it up.

~~~~~