“I’ll do it for her,” the angel said.

“Interesting,” I heard YeJin saying softly to herself, with a meaningful smile plastered on her face.

I swear, only an angel could sound so sweet.

It was DaeSung.

 

Funny, at times like this, only he was willing to help me; to protect me from being the biggest laughing stock in the whole school. He was sparing me the humiliation of being laughed at by the others, of being thrown with tomatoes, of being boo-ed, of bei-

 

“Good, then you can do a duet together,” Mrs. Choi smirked.

 

That broke my train of thoughts.
 

What?
 

Damn it, this woman really had a problem with me! Just now she had said that I’d be off the hook if someone wanted to replace me.

The class cheered. Jung-su in particular clapped the loudest and even whistled gleefully. HyeYeon and her b1tchy friends giggled in mock glee.

 

I stood up. “He just said that he wants to replace me,” I said with anger rising from inside of me, “So what’s the need of the duet? Right, DaeSung?” I looked at him, expecting him to agree quickly. 

I, for one, would never let this mother-son double combo to bully me like this.
It was time for a knock out.
 

Mrs. Choi gave DaeSung an icy stare while awaiting his answer.

“Uh, I think a duet will be.. fun?” DaeSung said timidly as he glanced my way.

What?!!
Damn traitor!
And I thought he was an angel.
Angel my !

 

Mrs. Choi gave me a satisfied smirk as I slumped down on my seat. I slapped my forehead and sank my head in my hands.

Oh, remind me to bite off DaeSung’s head during lunch.

 

“So it’s settled then,” Mrs. Choi said cheerfully, “We’ll have a duet representing our class. Make sure you two make us proud.”

 

I groaned loudly while the class clapped. I doubt she meant it. She just wanted us to make a fool out of ourselves.

 

“Don’t worry, ChaeRin,” HyeYeon said from behind me, “I’ll bring extra tomatoes to throw at you.”
ShinAh and YiYoung giggled.

 

I saw YeJin’s whole body tensed up and she turned to face the b1tch.

 

“You,” YeJin hissed, “if you dare do anything like that, I’ll make sure to cut your pretty little hands and throw them off at the wolves in Seoraksan park.”

 

HyeYeon and crew immediately stopped laughing.

“Mrs. Choi,” HyeYeon said loudly in her annoying voice, “Park YeJin is making threats at me.”

 

“Lee ChaeRin, stop bullying your classmates!” came the beastly bark from Mrs. Choi.

 

What the ? I didn’t even do anything.
Was she deaf? 
HyeYeon clearly didn’t say my name.

I swear, Mrs. Choi really had some issues with me.

 

“Okay, open your textbook to page 28. Repeat after me, ‘Please don’t go’.”

 

I felt YeJin’s hand patting my back. “It’s okay, ChaeRin-ah, at least you have DaeSung with you on that stage. Now, let’s just pray that he can sing.”

 

Yes, I forgot that one simple detail.
Can DaeSung sing?

Crap! What if he doesn’t?

 

I sunk lower in my seat.
Great, just great!
And I suddenly had the urge to put flowers in my hair and declare myself insane.
At least, when I’m officially crazy, people can forgive my terrible frog-like singing voice.

 

Wibbit, wibbit.
Sing together with me now.
Wibbit.. wibbit..
 

********************

“Are you okay?” DaeSung asked me during lunch. His voice was full of concern and I could tell that he was feeling guilty about the whole duet thing. He was seated opposite of me with YeJin beside him. YeJin suddenly looked back and forth between me and DaeSung and smiled to herself while she ate her lunch pack. MinHo had returned to being his old self and was sleeping under the tree.

 

I sighed loudly.

 

They say that if you take a deep breath and count to 10, you’ll forget all of your worries. So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and counted to 10. When I opened my eyes, I saw a pair of small eyes looking at me.

 

“Argh! What the hell did you stand so close to me for?!!” I yelled at DaeSung.

He looked a bit startled by my sudden outburst and retreated back a few steps. “Nothing,” he said sheepishly, “I thought you were imagining us singing together.”

 

YeJin snorted. I shot her a look and she immediately pretended to look elsewhere.

 

“Yah, I thought you wanted to help me! Why did you agree to a duet?” I said bitterly. 

Part of me was really thankful of him for trying to replace me and the other part of me really hated the fact that he dragged me back into the stupid talent show.

 

“I have stage fright,” he admitted, “so, I thought that if you’re up there with me, I won’t be so scared,” he said, “Trust me, if I don’t have stage fright, I’ll do it for you in a heartbeat.”

 

Okay, how can anyone really stay angry at him when he put it that way? Even though he suffered from stage fright, he did try to save me from the humiliation.

Kang DaeSung, you’re really sweet, I had wanted to say but somehow the words were stuck in my throat.

 

“Well, thanks for trying,” I said shyly, and felt my cheeks getting warm.

I’ll do it for you in a heartbeat, the words kept replaying in my head.

DaeSung smiled back. “So we’re okay?” he asked.
I nodded and his eyes twinkled.

 

“Ehem,” YeJin cleared , “I hate to break this sweet moment,” she smiled teasingly, “but the main question is, can you sing Dae?”

 

DaeSung immediately retreated back to his seat, avoiding our eyes as he continued to eat his lunch. We were waiting like crazy for his answer. My heart seriously stopped beating. It was that suspenseful.

 

“Err..” he began, “Maybe?” he sounded unsure.

 

My eyes opened wide with horror. 
Maybe?
“What do you mean by 'maybe'?” I asked, horrified.

This is not going to be good, I thought.

 

“Well, my grandmother and my mother love to sing..” he began to say.
“So, what does this got to do with whether you can sing or not?” I said.
“Aish, ChaeRin, just wait for him to finish,” YeJin scolded, “Then?” she asked DaeSung.

 

DaeSung looked sheepishly from YeJin back to me and I thought I saw a tinge of pink on his cheeks.
He’s blushing?
“Well, according to them, I’m so good that I can even win Superstar K,” he grinned.

 

“That’s it?” I asked, “Only your mother and grandmother? No one else has said anything?”
“Well, I don’t usually sing with other people. Like I said, I have stage fright.”
“Let me get this straight,” YeJin interjected, “you have never sang to other people?”

 

DaeSung shook his head no.

It was quiet after that. YeJin and I began to exchange the look of horror, like we were thinking the exact same thing. Kang DaeSung just admitted that no one apart from his mother and grandmother had praised him before. 

 

They’re his family, so of course they’d praise him. It’s not like they’ll tell him to his face how bad he is. Families are always supportive. It was doubtful that this douche could even sing.
Suddenly, I imagined him and myself being laughed at and thrown with tomatoes.
Oh man, what had I got myself into?
Damn that b1tch HyeYeon!

 

Then, as if it wasn’t horrifying enough, suddenly we heard some people laughing their horrible laugh.

 

“Yah, Kang DaeSung, we miss you, don’t we guys?” bully #1 appeared like a bad dream.
“Yes, very much so,” bullies #2 and #3 chirped.
They were smiling meaningfully to DaeSung, shooting daggers with their eyes. I could see DaeSung quivering. 

“Wh-wha-what are y-yy-you do-dddoing hh-he-here?” he stuttered.

The bullies came even closer, snickering loudly.

“Do you really think that we’d let you off the hook so easily?” bully #3 asked.
“Yah, my ears are still ringing of that b1tch’s voice. Do you think it was fun hearing her scream for more than one hour?” bully #2 said angrily, rubbing the temples of his head.
DaeSung gulped. “Err.. I’m sorry?” he said, unsure.

 

The bullies looked like they were ready to eat him alive. YeJin looked at DaeSung with fear in her eyes. She probably feared for his life.

 

I didn’t know why, but I was suddenly very bothered by the three bozos. Maybe because I was still dreading the thought that I might become the school’s laughing stock. I immediately got up.

 

“YAH, JUST ING LEAVE HIM ALONE!” I yelled, “Are you GAY or something? Always saying how much you miss him?” I glared at them. I didn’t know how I got the nerve to yell at the three stupid big guys like them.
I could see from the corners of my eyes that YeJin and DaeSung’s jaws had dropped to the ground.

 

The three bullies apparently were startled by my sudden outburst as they turned their attention to me.

“What did you say, b1tch?” bully #2 asked.
“Gay?” bully #1 spat, “Don’t make me laugh, b1tch.”

They were coming closer towards me but I wasn’t scared even for a bit. I kept my icy stare on them. I was ready to fight them off on my own.

 

“Don’t call her b1tch!” DaeSung suddenly came in front of me, shielding me from the bullies, “This is between us. Don’t involve her,” he said, “ChaeRin, stay back. Go to YeJin,” he instructed to me.

 

I was still frozen at my spot. I couldn’t even force myself to move. Out of the corner my eyes, I saw that YeJin had left us.

What? I thought we were friends through thick and thin?
How dare she just leave me like that?
 

Bully #2 snickered. “It’s not our fault,” he said, “The b.tch is the one who involves herself.”
“I said, DON’T call her b1tch,” DaeSung said angrily. His eyes were shooting laser beams to the bullies.
“So what you gonna do, DaeSung-ah? Show us your balls?” bully #3 said.
 

The bullies laughed mockingly. 
I could see DaeSung’s fist tightening.
Wow, I didn’t know DaeSung had this hidden side of him. I thought that he was always a wuss.
 

“Yah, get up you stupid Math nerd,” I heard YeJin saying to someone behind me, “The bullies are here. You said that you’re going to do something about them.”

I turned to look and saw YeJin shaking MinHo who was still sleeping under the tree.
“Hmm…” I heard MinHo grumbling sleepily and rolled my eyes when I saw that he didn’t even move an inch.
“Yahhhh!!!! My best friend’s in danger you IDIOT!” YeJin yelled in frustration. She kicked the side of MinHo’s body a few times before he jerked awake.
“What?” he said, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
“Wake up, wake up,” YeJin bended down and slapped his cheeks, “The bullies are here. This is your time to be the hero.”

 

I shook my head and turned back to look at DaeSung and the bullies.
They were still exchanging death glares with each other.

“What? You want to fight us now?” bully #1