Chapter 24
Hold On, my Warrior
I glanced back and forth between the two as they bore holes into each other’s faces. After a moment of awkwardness on my part, I repeated my question, and this time Gunwoo looked at me, a smile now forced onto his face. “I’m just on my way to get some of that ice cream. What about you?” I was about to answer him, but Himchan cut me off. “I don’t see how the hell that is any of your business.” Then, still glaring at Gunwoo, he grabbed my wrist, starting to pull me away. “Hang on!” I yelled, yanking my arm back and out of his grasp. I then turned to Gunwoo. “I think I need to explain.” I heard Himchan scoff behind me. “What the hell could you possibly need to explain to this ?” I spun around and walked over to him, getting right in his face. “Let me tell you something, Himchan. This guy here that you’re insulting is my friend, and a good one at that. The only person being an right now is you. I don’t give a about your rivalries and whatnot. You’re a regular ing guy right now -- not some gang leader -- so don’t get all high-and-mighty. He hasn’t said or done anything harmful to you as of yet, so where do you get off acting like that?” He stared at me for a moment, shocked, and was about to retort, when Gunwoo suddenly spoke up. “I’ll leave then; I don’t want to cause any trouble.” I spun around to see him walking away, hands shoved in his pockets. I looked back at Himchan to see his arms crossed, and a sneer on his face. “Go after him if you want to so badly. Why the should I care what you do?” He then turned and walked away, throwing his ice cream in a trash can. I sighed, and then turned back around and ran after Gunwoo, shouting his name. I caught up to him pretty quickly, and grabbed his shoulder, making him stop. He didn’t turn to look at me, so I walked in front of him; he averted his eyes. “Gunwoo, would you please let me explain?” It was then that he finally looked at me, our eyes connecting. “What is there to explain? That bullied you when you first moved here, even to the point where he chased you all the way across town on the first day of school, and you’re having ice cream with him and giggling like a little school girl. Did I miss anything?” “Yeah, actually, you did.” I replied, steely-eyed. “Why don’t you let me ing explain before you judge me? I thought you knew me better than that.” He stared at me for a second before answering. “Fine, I’m sorry. Explain.” “Thank you,” I said, before scanning the area. I spotted a bench under a tree, and motioned for him to follow me over to it. We sat, and I proceeded to explain everything that had happened: how the threatened me to join him, how he thinks I’m a guy, how I helped him when he was injured, how I started tutoring him, and -- most of all -- how I came to learn that he really wasn’t such a bad guy. I left out everything about his dad -- that was far too private -- as well as everything about him staying at my place -- Gunwoo would have flipped. He quietly listened to my story, not saying a word until I was done. He was silent for a moment once I finished, and then he stood up, clasping his hands behind his back and facing away from me. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts and -- once he had -- he turned back to look at me, his brow furrowed. “I suppose I can understand where you’re coming from with this,” he said slowly. “But I still don’t feel comfortable knowing that that jerk is taking advantage of you like that.” I sighed and leaned forward in my seat, staring up into his eyes. “I really don’t expect you to understand and, honestly, I don’t either. I just feel like he’s not as bad of a guy as he makes everyone believe, and I trust my instinct -- it’s never let me down before.” I then stood up and walked right in front of Gunwoo, still staring into his eyes, pleading with him. “I’d like for you to be able to accept what I‘m doing since you‘re a dear friend to me, but there’s honestly nothing you’d be able to do even if you didn‘t; it’s my choice to stay with him right now. I can’t put my friends at risk, and this is the easiest way to make sure that never happens. Please tell me you understand that.” He stared at me for a moment, and then sighed, turning away. “Yeah, alright, I understand. Just don’t look at me like that anymore.” A soft smile made its way onto my face and I grabbed his arm, linking mine with it. “Thank you so much. Now, let’s go get that ice cream, shall we?” He gave me a small smile, and unhooked his arm from mine. “Shouldn’t you get back to His Royal Highness? I’m sure he’s not very happy that his bodyguard left him for the enemy.” I sighed and stepped away, pouting. “I suppose so… The princess is going to be pissed. Well, this’ll be fun.” I then gave Gunwoo a little wave. “I’ll see you later then?” He nodded, smiling. “Come by the club this weekend, if you can.” With that, we bid our goodbyes and headed off in our separate directions. When I arrived I noticed that there wasn’t any music playing, and I couldn’t hear anyone in the backyard. I walked up to one of the guards and asked him what had happened. “The Master kicked everyone out, sir. He seemed to be in a very bad mood. He told me not to let anyone in, including you.” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “What’s your name?” I asked, surprising him. “Jinwoon, sir. Kang Jinwoon.” “Well, Kang Jinwoon,” I said, slowly walking up to him, my eyes cold and heartless. “I am here on behalf of Himchan. My job is to take care of Himchan. You wouldn’t deprive me of my job, would you?” As small as I am, the guard noticeably took a step backwards upon my advance as I growled out my words. “If you don’t want me to make your life a living hell, then I suggest you step aide and let me do my ing job.” He quickly nodded and motioned for the other guards to let me in. I suddenly smiled up at him. “Thank you very much.” I then made my way into the house and up to Himchan’s room. Without knocking, I burst open the door to see a startled Himchan standing at the window. “What the hell do you want?” He asked, and I leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. “I came to do my job.” He looked at me, confused. “What the hell are you talking about?” “My job is to take care of you, no? Well it seems you need some taking care of right now.” I stomped over to him and grabbed his arm, puling him away from the window. He regained his balance and looked at me like I was crazy. “Would you listen to what I have to say?” I asked, standing in front of him with my arms crossed. “Why the hell would you need to explain anything to me? I’m your master, and you’re my bodyguard; isn’t that how it is? I don’t give a about your personal life and who you fraternize with. As long as you’re not spilling secrets about me, then why the should I care?” I stared at him for a moment, and then swiftly slapped him across his face. His hand flew to his cheek, and he looked at me in shock. “Are you crazy?! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” He suddenly swung at me, and I calmly caught his arm, holding it above his head. He tried again with the other hand, but I caught that one as well. He then tried to kick at me, but I blocked his leg with mine, knocking him off balance. He toppled backwards onto his bed, pulling me with him. I landed on top of him: one leg between his, and my hands pinning his arms above his head. He looked shocked at the sudden change of position, but I remained steely-eyed. “Would you just shut the up and let me explain? Gunwoo is a very good friend of mine. I met him on the first day I started here, when you and your little s chased me across town; he helped me out a lot at that time. After that, we met again, and he became comfort for me when school wasn’t all that great because of you.” He looked like he was going to say something, but I shut him up with a little knee to the groin -- not enough to do damage, but enough to let him know that I’m talking. “You were an in the beginning, and you know that. He was my first good friend after I moved here, and you can’t expect me to throw that away just because of some stupid rivalry you guys have going on with the schools. I’m sorry, but I won’t do it.” “You think I don’t like you hanging out with him because of some rivalry? You‘re a brilliant one, you are.” He suddenly burst out, glaring at me. “Well, if not, then why?” I asked, raising my voice; I was tired of this. “It’s because I care about you!” He yelled out, surprising himself. I stared at his face for a moment. “You…care about me?” “That’s what I in’ said.” He growled, turning his head away. A huge grin suddenly spread across my face. “You care about me? The great and almighty Himchan cares about me?” I let out a laugh, surprising him and causing him to look at me. I then fell into a fit of giggles, moving my leg so I was now straddling him, and let go of his arms, sitting up. He pushed himself up with his hands and stared at me, confused. “I get it now! You feel jealous, is that it?” I asked after I had calmed down. “I understand; you’ve never had a friend before, have you? I’m your first? You don’t like seeing me being friendly with someone like Gunwoo, because you see him as a threat to our friendship. Good lord, I would never have imagined this.” I collapsed into another fit of giggles, rolling off of him. He looked at me in distaste as I tried to calm myself back down. "That's not what I meant." He mumbled, but i didn't hear. When I had calmed down, I sat back up, looking at him. “Dude, you don’t need to worry about that kind of stuff; no one will threaten our friendship. I’m not so cheap that I would leave a friend once I found a new one. There’s nothing to worry about.” I reached my hand up, patting his head. He scowled and pushed my hand to the side, causing me to laugh once again. “Man, come one, you have to admit it’s a bit funny. To think that the great and powerful Himchan has an inferiority complex with something like this.” I laughed, wrapping my arm around his neck and pulling his head into my shoulder, giving him a little noogie as he struggled to get away. I sighed and lay back down, releasing his head, but keeping my arm around his shoulders, pulling him down with me. We lay there for a moment, staring at his ceiling, before I spoke up, completely serious now. “I mean it though, Himchan. You really don’t have to worry about me leaving you. I’m not here anymore because of some deal we made at the beginning of the year. I’m here because I want to be. You’re as much of a precious friend to me as Gunwoo is, or Sora or Hyesu, or any of them.” He suddenly sighed and got up. “You’re so stupid.” He mumbled before going and picking something up off of the chair. He tossed it to me, and I realized it was my clothes. “The maid washed them while you were gone. You can give me my clothes back on Monday.” I suddenly stood up and walked over to the door before turning to him. “Hmmm you know what? I think I’ll keep the clothes. They’re pretty comfy.” He was about to yell at me, but I sprinted out of the room and down the hall, laughing. I heard something about the price of the clothing before I was down the stairs and too far away to hear him anymore. I winked at the guard as I left, and I made my way home, feeling pretty satisfied with myself, and still laughing at the thought of an insecure Himchan.
Comments