Age 10: Reliability
Do You Remember?
Of course, I had to be the lucky one to have Kim Joonmyun as my walking buddy for school. Our moms didn’t like that we walked to school by ourselves every day, so they decided that we would walk together. The only problem with that is that Joonmyun likes to sleep. A lot. And that doesn’t help me get to school on time. Who would’ve thought that he’d have the same sleep patterns as he did when he was three: go to bed early and wake up extra late.
I walked over to his house and knocked on the door, hoping for a dressed and clean Joonmyun to answer for once. But, as it is every day, Mrs. Kim opened the door, fresh and wide eyed, saying, “Good morning, Su Min! Ready for school?”
“I am, but is Joonmyun?”
“What do you think?” She pointed up the stairs. “You know the drill.”
I nodded, heading over to the stairs and walking up to his room. Now, ‘the drill’ was pretty much me running around in his room and attempting to wake him up, but my original tactic stopped working. Once I got to his room, I had to improvise: find any way to wake Joonmyun up, get him up for school, and get out of here before we were late.
I quietly walked into his room, tip-toeing pass all the places I knew were creaky floorboards and spaces in the wood (thank God this used to be Min Hee’s room). I eventually made it over to Joonmyun’s bed and just looked as I saw him sleep so peacefully. I shook my head. Don’t let him sleep. You gotta get him up for school!
I slowly climbed up on his bed, making sure I didn’t step on him, and made my way to the corner. I mentally counted down in my mind, ready to wake him.
3... 2... 1! At that moment, I started jumping on the bed and yelling his name. “Joonmyun! Wake up! Time for school, sleepyhead!”
I saw him turn over under the sheets, burying his head into his pillow. “Come on, Joonmyun!” I yelled, pulling the sheets off him, “We’re gonna be late again if you don’t wake up!”
He groaned again, then looked up at me and shook his head. “I’m tired, Su Min!”
“And I didn’t do my math homework, but we still have to go to school!”
Joonmyun slowly sat up, getting off his bed and grabbing his uniform. “I’ll be back.” He took his uniform into the bathroom to get ready, while I was left alone, yet again, in his mess of a bedroom. Looking around, I noticed that he dirtied it up again since I cleaned it with him a few days ago. What does this boy do in his room, invite tornadoes to come play? I walked around and started picking up his dirty clothes off the floor and setting them in his laundry basket. Except his underwear, because… you know, that’s gross. I just kicked them by the basket. Maybe a miracle will happen and he’ll put them in there. I got his books out from under his bed and placed them in his bag, then set the bag on the side table.
Tired of waiting for him and cleaning his room, I shut his door and headed downstairs to Mr. Kim reading the newspaper and listening to the morning news broadcast on TV. Mr. Kim was an avid news junkie, wanting to know all the recent news about our town, country, and even around the world. He always found it interesting and would quiz me every day while I waited for Joonmyun to get ready for school. Joonmyun always found it embarrassing when Mr. Kim starting rattling off news facts, but I didn’t care. Because of him, I’m passing my political science class!
Finally, Joonmyun came downstairs, looking like a mess, as he does every day. Mr. Kim stood up and walked over to him, patting his head and straightening up his hair. “You all ready to go?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Breakfast?”
“I’ll eat at school.”
Mr. Kim smiled and gave Joonmyun a hug. “I’ll see you later. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t.”
He came over to me and smiled, putting his hand on my shoulder. “Nice seeing you again, Su Min.”
“It’s always a pleasure, Mr. Kim.”
He went over to the door and opened it up, pointing outside. “Now you guys get out of here before you’re late, okay? I don’t wanna get another call from the principal saying you were late, Joonmyun!”
We both nodded, running out the door and onto the sidewalk to school.
Once we were about halfway there, we stopped running and took a moment to rest. After our rest, we continued to the school, only walking this time. Suddenly, I could feel Joonmyun looking at me and, like my mind hinted him to do it, he wrapped one of his arms behind me, pulling me closer to him. “Okay, Su Min. Why so angry?”
I shook my head. The last person he should be worried about is me. ‘It’s nothing, Joonmyun.”
“Come on,” he said, dragging me over to the sidewalk and sitting down, “I know you well enough to know when you’re mad.”
“But we gotta go to school.”
“We’re not going to school until you tell me.”
“But we’re almost-!”
“I don’t care. We’re talking about it.”
I groaned, plopping onto the sidewalk and crossing my arms. He looked at me and smiled. But Joonmyun’s smiles aren’t just smiles. They’re the type that always look genuine, and in his case, stretch out as wide as his cheek muscles could go. I turned to him and smirked, trying to return his happiness, but he just frowned at me, knowing I was completely faking it. “So… what‘s up?”
“It’s just my dad,” I said, shrugging, “Just the usual.” My dad and I didn’t have the greatest relationship. He was one of those dads who would rather spend his free time with his friends, drinking, looking at vintage cars, or… well, drinking, instead of watching movies with Mom and I or family dinners. You know… family stuff. And that day was no different. I asked him if he could pick me up from play practice after school and he told me that he couldn’t. Why? He had to ‘volunteer at the bar’ today and wouldn’t be out until late, but I knew he just wanted to drink with his friends instead.
“Why doesn’t he tell you he’s going out drinking? You’re not five.”
“I think he still thinks I’m five.”
Joonmyun chuckled, making me follow suit. “What?” I asked between giggles, “You think that’s funny?”
He nodded. “A little.” When we calmed down a little bit, he turned to me and sighed. “But I can’t believe your dad would say that to you!”
“You’ve met him and you still don’t know how crazy he is?” There was only one time Joonmyun met my dad, and the only reason he did was because he left his jacket in the kitchen. And when Joonmyun walked into my house without knocking, which Mom said was okay to do, Dad had a fit bigger than a small child whose parents wouldn’t buy them a toy at the store. Dad even scolded Joonmyun for not greeting him as he walked in. “Hey, I didn’t know he was home that day!”
“But you still saw him being crazy.”
He slightly tilted his head to the side. “Kind of true. I’ve seen crazier.”
And like it was on cue, we looked at each other and smiled. “Mr. Park at the ramen stand.”
Joonmyun nodded. “Now he’s crazier!” We both chuckled, getting up from the sidewalk and brushing off the specks of dirt off our uniforms. He grabbed my satchel and one of the white flowers growing in the sidewalk cracks, handing it to me.
“Oh, what a gentleman!” I said sarcastically, making my voice sound extra high-pitched and girly.
He got down on his knee and said, in a deep voice, “That’s my job, m’lady.”
I chuckled, covering my face with my hands. He always knew how to make me feel better. As he got up, he put his hand on my shoulder and we continued walking to the school.
“Thanks for the talk, Joonmyun.”
He smiled. “Anytime, my friend.” Suddenly, his face lit up. “I’m gonna call my dad once we get up there and I’ll ask him if he’ll take you home from practice.”
“No, don’t worry!” I yelled, “I’ll be able to walk home.”
“Nope! Already made up my mind!”
I shook my head. “It’s fine!”
“That’s what friends do for each other, right?”
“Yeah,” I scoffed, “get rides home from each other’s parents and cleans room together.”
“It did help!”
“But you ruined it in three days! Do I have to come back and clean it again?”
He smiled at me, yet again, and we continued our way to school.
Oh, and I forgot to mention: we were later than we ever were before that day. And we got to spend an extra hour in detention because of it. At least I got to finish my homework.
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