Day 2:

  It was another day of school. As I walking towards the gates, I spotted Ji Min with Yong Guk, holding hands and laughing and talking to each other. It pained me to see that scene, so I looked away. I spotted other people I knew talking to their other friends, but I didn’t feel like talking to them. I continued walking towards the entrance, but as I neared, I spotted Jung Jin with three other girls.

  One of them pushed her and yelled things I couldn’t comprehend cause I was still far. She raised her hand and slapped her across the face. Why wasn’t Jung Jin doing anything?! Why was she just standing there and taking the hit?

  I rush towards the girls and yelled, “Hey! Get away from her!”

  The girl stopped yelling and turned her head towards me, eyes filled with anger. Upon seeing who I was, her eyes widened in shock and she took a step back. “Himchan O-oppa!” She exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest.

  “Get away from her.” I grumbled.

  The girl took a couple more steps back.

  I grabbed Jung Jin by the arm and dragged her out of the situation without a word. I took her inside the school to her classroom and sat her down in her desk. I started scolding her like she was my own child. “Why didn’t you do anything? Why didn’t you defend yourself? Why weren’t you fighting back?”

  She lowered her head, but didn’t say a word.

  “Jung Jin, answer me!”

  She raised her head. “Because I didn’t want to go down to her level! I didn’t want to fight her for something so stupid! She hit me because I was hanging out with you yesterday at lunch! She kept saying crap like, ‘He’s mine,’ and ‘How dare you take him away from me!’ I didn’t want to hit her because of that! I did want to, but like I said, I didn’t want to go down to her level! Geez! You’re not my mom!” Jung Jin crossed her arms over her chest.

  I heaved a sigh, trying to calm myself. “Okay, I’m sorry. I was just worried about you.”

  Her eyes shift to me.

  “I guess I’m over reacting.”

  “You sure are,” she grumbled.

  “You really do want to get hit.” This girl sure knows how to get on my nerves, but I’m not even sure how. She’s just saying simple things, but I just can’t help but feel strong emotions from her words. I took another deep breath. “Next time if something happens like that, say something. I don’t want you to get hit again.”

  “I’m a tough girl, so I can handle a hit.”

  “Yeah, but would your sister say when she saw you with bruises or cuts? You don’t want her to worry.”

  Her mood suddenly changed. “Of course you wouldn’t be worried about me. You would be more worried about Ji Min Unnie.”

  “No I wouldn’t! I would equally be worried about both of you.”

  “Whatever. You should head to your classroom before the bell rings. You don’t want to be late.”

  I stared at her. Why was she acting that way? I shrugged it off. “Okay. I’m going now and when I come back to pick you up from lunch, I better see you in a better mood.” With that, I left.

  I entered my classroom, finding a few students inside, but the person I was looking for the most wasn’t there. I frowned and sat silently at my desk. I looked out the window, finding flowers starting to bloom and trees getting their leaves. It was spring, the time where love also blooms, but for me it was the opposite. This was the season when my love ended and I’m sure I wouldn’t find someone to make my heart beat again like Ji Min did.

  I tear my gaze away from the window and found Ji Min entering the room with a hand on her lips while smiling like an idiot. Yong Guk must’ve kissed her before he left. It was a sweet thing, but I felt disgusted about the idea. I didn’t want anyone else to make her smile like that.

  I got up and walked up to her. “Good morning, Ji Min.”

  She stared at me, her smile disappearing. “Good morning, Himchan.” She sat down.

  I didn’t leave. “Are you busy Friday?” It was Wednesday and I was thinking about taking her out for a place to eat or something after school. I mean, it doesn’t hurt to take someone out, right?

  She appeared annoyed. “Himchan, we’re over. Can’t you see that? We’re not supposed to go out on a date because I have a boyfriend. I’m sorry Himchan, but I’m busy on Friday. Yong Guk already asked me out for dinner that day.”

  “How about next week?”

  “Himchan…”

  “Okay, okay. Can we at least eat lunch together?” At least do that for me. Just once. I just want to be with her once.

  She heaved a shaky sigh. “Fine. Just for today.”

  I grinned. “Alright! I’ll see you later!” With that, I headed to my desk with the brightest smile I could offer. It’s been a while since I smiled like that.

♥♥♥

  It was finally time for lunch and the moment the bell rang, I jumped up from my seat and came up to Ji Min with a huge grin. “Are you ready?”

  She tilted her head in confusion until she remembered what I was talking about. “Oh! Yeah, I am, but I have to tell Yong Guk first or is it okay if he joins us and maybe I can ask my sister, too.” Ji Min got up, getting her money out to pay for lunch.

  “Oh.” I did mind Yong Guk being there, but I though what if she gets mad at me and refused to eat with me. I didn’t want that to happen, so I nodded my head. “Yeah, they both can eat with us.” I’ll go get Jung Jin while you talk to Yong Guk.”

  She patted my cheek. “Okay, I’ll see you in the cafeteria, then.”

  I nodded my head. “Yeah.”

  With a slight head bow, she walked off.

  I went to the other direction, heading to Jung Jin’s classroom and found her gathering her bag. I came up to her. “Hey, do you want to eat with me and Ji Min today?”

  She paused while she was slinging the bag over her head for a moment before continuing with what she was doing. “Uhm… I don’t know. I was kind of thinking about eating at the roof with you again. But if you want to eat with them, I can just catch up because I have to return my book to the library before I forget.”

  “Okay. I guess I’ll see you later.” I was quite disappointed because I wanted to walk with her and say sorry for what happened this morning. I was thinking about it the whole morning and wondered why was I scolding her. I really am not her mother, so why should I care so much? I mean, she’s a high schooler now and can handle things by herself. I don’t need to be watching her every move.

  “Bye for now, Himchannie!” She exclaimed before walking towards the library.

  I headed to the cafeteria and found Yong Guk and Ji Min already sitting down with their food. Yong Guk spotted me first and stared right into my eyes. His expression turned sad as I came closer to them. I sat in front of the couple and said, “Jung Jin will catch up. I’ll be back. I’m just going to get my lunch.”

  “You can have mine,” Yong Guk stated.

  I stared at his food. “Are you not hungry?”

  He shook his head.

  “He can share with me, Himchan. It’s okay. I’m not that hungry either.” Ji Min stated and scooted her food in between her and Yong Guk”

  I stared at Yong Guk’s food. Should I take it or not? I could feel my stomach wanting to growl, but my mind was being stubborn and telling me not to eat it. I wanted it, but then I don’t! I don’t know what to do!

  I stared at the two who were feeding eat other and immediately dropped my gaze to the food once more. I hesitantly took it and ate a piece. After a while, I didn’t care and started eating more until all the food was gone.

  When I was finished, I realized Jung Jin still wasn’t there. “Did you see Jung Jin come in?” I asked the couple.

  They, too, had finished their lunch.

  “No. You said she would catch up, right?” Ji Min answered as worry was shown all over her face.

  “She must be eating on the roof or at the library.” I said, not wanting her to worry. I stood. “I’ll go look for her. I’ll be back.” I threw away my trash and headed to the library first since she usually gets caught up in a book.

  I searched around the library, but didn’t find her anywhere. I checked the mystery section where she always goes to, but she wasn’t sticking her nose in a book. Maybe she was at the roof. I rush towards there, but didn’t find her there either. I looked down over the rails, seeing if I could see her outside. Again, she wasn’t outside.

  The last place I decided to go to was her classroom. I peeked inside and found other students inside, but not her. Now, where could she be? I walked around and found myself standing by the staircase. I heard sobbing near me and looked down to see Jung Jin sitting on the steps, knees on her chest while burying her head.

  I came to her aid and sat next to her. “Jung Jin.” I lightly placed a hand on her shoulder.

  She jumped and raised her head, tears smearing her cheeks.

  I wiped her tears away and found a purple bruise on the side of her lip. “What happened?” I lightly pressed onto the bruise, causing her to flinch.

  She moved her head away from my hand and muttered, “It’s nothing.” Jung Jin wiped her eyes and bit her lip. “It’s nothing…”

  “Don’t lie to me. Was it the girls from this morning?”

  She didn’t reply.

  “It was, wasn’t it? I’m going to give them a piece of my mind!” I stood up with a fist raised. I really wouldn’t hit them, but I would yell at them for hurting her. It wasn’t right to hit someone who didn’t do anything to you.

  “Himchannie… You don’t need to.”

  “I don’t want them to hurt you.”

  She grabbed onto my sleeve. “Please, Himchannie. They’re not going to do it again.”

  “How do you know? What if they do? What if they do something much worse than what they did today. I’m not going to let them hurt you.”

  Jung Jin stared at me with pleading eyes. I could tell she didn’t want me to be caught up in her troubles, but I didn’t want her to get hurt. I didn’t want me ex-girlfriend’s sister get hurt because of me. I don’t know why those girls are hurting her when she’s my friend.

  She stood up and took me into a tight embrace. “Thank you, Himchannie. Thank you for being there for me.” She buried her head into my chest and squeezed me tight. She was trying to say something but everything sounded muffled as she said it through my shirt.

  “What did you say?” I whispered while petting her head like a puppy.

  Jung Jin raised her head and stared into my eyes. She shook her head and forced a smile. “It’s nothing you need to hear yet.”

  “Uhm… Okay.” Yet? What does she mean by that?