Introducing new characters:
Kim Soo Jung is a little girl who lives in the apartment next to Seul Mi
& Kim Hyun Bin is Soo Jung's father

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~*~*~*~

LITTLE GIRL, MUMMY AND CONFUSION

A young boy of aged four came running to the kitchen one evening after school. His clothes were muddy and ruffled like his soft brown hair. ‘Mummy, where is daddy?’ the little boy asked.

His mum stilled. Her back was turned to him. She had been cleaning the dishes in the sink when he had walked in. ‘Why…why do you ask, honey?’ she choked out, unable to control her emotion that easily rushed over at the mention of her husband.

‘Because the kids in school are saying my daddy doesn’t love me and left me,’ he answered in his innocent voice.

She turned and ran to him. She bent down to his level. She didn’t care about the threatening tears that she was forcing back. She grabbed him and shook him lightly. ‘Your daddy loves you, you hear me? He loves you from heaven.’

‘Is he watching over us?’ he asked.

His mum nodded her head violently. ‘He’s watching over us,” her voice came out croaky.

He stared at her. She covered and sobbed silently. ‘Why did daddy have to die?’

His mum looked at him. ‘Your daddy was a great man. I think God wanted to take him away because he was too good.’

‘You’re a bad mummy!’ he stated.

She gasped. ‘Gi Kwang!’

‘If mummy is bad then God can’t take mummy away,’ he said pulling a long face.

His mum let out a loud sob. She took her son into her arms and hugged him. ‘Mummy won’t leave you, darling. I’ll be right here with you.’ She noticed the dirt on him. She pulled back and inspected him head to toe. ‘Did those kids do that?’ He nodded. ‘I’ll have to talk to your head teacher.’

All of a sudden he began to cry loudly. ‘They don’t want to be my friend because daddy isn’t here,’ he said.

‘Oh, honey,’ she hugged him again. She couldn’t tell him to stop crying. She couldn’t tell him everything will be okay. She just cried with him.
 

~*~*~*~

Gi Kwang opened his eyes. He lay on his back on his bed in the dark. He looked across the room at the clock hanging on the wall. The hands glowed in the dark. 04.12 am. Why was he thinking back at that time? Why was he missing his dad all of a sudden?

~*~*~*~

Seul Mi stared into Yo Seob’s eyes. They were both holding their breath. They sat in the classroom having a breathing competition. So far two minutes went by. Everyone around them watched patiently wondering who would win. Yo Seob was the only one from the group that was here early. The rest were probably up at the rooftop as usual.

“Come on, Yo Seob-kun, hwaiting!” half of the class room cheered for him.

“Seul Mi-ya! Hwaiting!” the other half cheered for her.

It was going to three minutes. Their cheeks were bloating. Soon they were turning blue but not one of them was giving in. The class room was in tension. They went quiet from cheering and waited anxiously. One of them will lose. Seul Mi clamped with her hands as she was at the verge of giving in.

“Yo Seob-ii! Yo Seob-ii!” they chanted.

Upon hearing that, the ones cheering for Seul Mi started chanting. “Seul Mi-ya! Seul Mi-ya!”

The door opened to the class room. But no one seemed to notice. In came five guys. They were staring angrily at Yo Seob. They stalked up to the back where they were seated.

The brunette finally gave in. She blew out a long breath and then started breathing heavily trying to get back to her breathing rhythm.

“Yo Seob!” Jun Hyung yelled. “What are you doing here?”

Yo Seob also let out a long breath. He looked up at his friends. The other students retrieved to their seats feeling the bad atmosphere. “Why are you so angry for?”

“How could you be here?” Dong Woon snapped. “With her!” he added in disgust.

The only girl in the classroom flinched at the last comment. She ignored them and spoke to Yo Seob. “Ah, you won fair and square.” She took out her purse and handed a thousand yen. “Here you go.”

Yo Seob grinned. “I told you, you can’t win against the best!” he stated.

She chuckled. “You did, didn’t you?” She wasn’t upset that she lost.

“Do you prefer to hang around her than us?” Gi Kwang asked. He was irritated that they were ignoring them. So were the other guys.

Seul Mi stared at Gi Kwang. “I have a name you know,” she told him trying to hold her anger down.

“What’s wrong with hanging with her?” Yo Seob said.

The girl looked at her only friend who suddenly stood up. She knew that he was ready for a fight with them. She could not allow that between these friends of his. Not for the sake of her. She quickly stood up preventing them from arguing any further. “I guess your friends are greedy to have you all to themselves,” she sighed. “I’m popping to the toilet if sonsaengnim asks,” she said more to Yo Seob than the others. She walked passed them. Her eyes met Doo Joon’s for a few short seconds. He was once again masking his emotions.

Yo Seob glared at the guys. “How could you be so rude?” he said as soon as the door closed behind her.

“What happened to you?” Hyun Seung asked. “Is she that fun to be with?”

Yo Seob sat down heaving a long sigh. “She’s different,” he said quietly. “What’s wrong with being her friend?”

Doo Joon who had been quiet the whole time looked at Yo Seob. He frowned. Yo Seob, who like the rest had not liked Seul Mi, has suddenly taken a liking for her. “Well, when she turns on you, don’t blame us,” Doo Joon finally spoke. He slumped down on his chair. The other four looked at Doo Joon in surprise.

“You’re kidding me!” Gi Kwang yelled in frustration. He looked from Yo Seob to Doo Joon. He then looked down at Yo Seob. “She is going to turn on us like ‘she’ did!”

Gi Kwang dashed out the room in rage. The other guys did not know what to do. They sat down on the seat. No one spoke in class. Hyun Joong entered. He did not take any notice to the guys. He just went up to his desk and started taking the registration.

Seul Mi came in shortly after. She sensed that something had happened in her absence. She was quick to realise Gi Kwang was missing. She knew that it had something to do with her. Yo Seob looked at her. She gave him a smile. He smiled back but she could see that it did not reach his eyes. She turned to Doo Joon who had his ear phones on his ears. He was nodding to the music beat and reading a manhwa.

Guys can be so difficult to understand, she thought with a huff.

~*~*~*~

After school Seul Mi made her way out of the building. She waved goodbye to Yo Seob and went on. She headed straight to Playdom Day Care Centre. She pressed the buzzer and waited for someone to answer. She had promised her neighbour to babysit his daughter for a while. She was happy to help him out since she already gave him her sympathy for being a single father. Maybe the reason is because it reminded her of herself and her brother.

A young woman in her mid-twenties opened the door. She had a cheery smile on. “Annyeong, can I help you?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m here to pick up Kim Soo Jung,” she replied with a smile.

The woman seemed a little taken aback. She looked Seul Mi up and down and frowned at her school uniform. “You’re Soo Jung’s mummy?”

“Huh?” Seul Mi’s stared at the teacher in confusion.

“Mummy, mummy!” the little girl cried out as she ran towards her holding her hands up.

Seul Mi’s eyes widened. She bent down not getting the chance to correct the woman. The girl jumped on her and wrapped her arms around her neck making her choke. “Soo Jung-ii,” she cried out. She tugged at her little arms.

The girl pulled back and smiled at her. “Can we go have an ice cream?”

“What do you say when you see someone?” Seul Mi said.

“Annyeong,” the little girl greeted her.

Seul Mi patted her head. “That’s a good girl.”

“So, can we have ice cream?”

She chewed her lips as if to ponder on the thought. “Only if you finish your dinner then you can but not before.”

“Yay!” the girl yelled. She jumped on her feet excitedly. “Sonsaengnim, I’ll be going now.”

The woman who was shocked snapped out and nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Soo Jung-ii.”

“Bye-bye,” Soo Jung sang out.

With her coat on and her bag over her shoulders she skipped happily hand in hand with Seul Mi. “Yay! Ice cream! I’m getting ice cream!” the little girl chanted.

Seul Mi smiled. Just looking at Soo Jung made her happy. They walked pass the river. There were birds around. Soo Jung made her buy bread just to feed the birds. When they finished they went to the park.

~*~*~*~

Gi Kwang lay on the bottom of the slide. His eyes were closed. He had come from Doo Joon’s house leaving all the guys there. They were playing a new game on Doo Joon’s Play Station 3. He didn’t feel up to playing. His mind kept wondering to his dad especially with Doo Joon’s dad around in the mansion.

He heard a girl squealing. He opened one eye to catch the girl running towards the swing. He closed his eyes thinking it was just a random girl coming to the park with her mum.

“Mummy, mummy!” she yelled. “Can you push me?”

“I will if you stop calling me mummy,” he heard a familiar voice reply.

His eyes flew open. He sat up and saw Seul Mi walking across the play area to the swing where the girl was already sitting on one. He saw a different look on Seul Mi’s face. Her face lit up just watching the girl.

His new classmate didn’t notice him on the slide. Her full attention was on the little girl. She was bubbling with energy.

“After we played can we go have an ice cream?” the little girl asked.

Seul Mi laughed. “All you ever think about is ice cream, ne?” she said as she stood behind her. “Your daddy won’t be pleased.”

“Push, push!” the girl ordered excitedly.

She sighed. The girl only listened to things that were good to her. She began pushing the little girl. After a while she began feeling someone watching her. She became alarmed. She looked around and a small gasp escaped from . She spotted him in one glance. What was he doing here?

“Soo Jung-chan, let’s go and grab something to eat.”

The girl pulled a face. “But we just got here,” she moaned. “Can we go after I played with everything?”

Seul Mi’s eyes haven’t left Gi Kwang. He was now frowning. She looked away. She made up her mind. She wasn’t going to leave. This was a public park. If he had any problems he could be the one leaving. She started pushing again. She ignored the fact that he was walking up to them. She ignored him when he came to stand next to her. It was until Soo Jung saw him did she end up having to acknowledge him.

“Mummy, there is a man standing next to you,” she said looking at Gi Kwang.

Oh there is man alright, she thought miserably. With a forced cheery voice and a smile she asked, “Gi Kwang-sshi, what brings you here?”

“Is this your daughter?”

“Oh, mummy you know him?” Soo Jung cute in before Seul Mi could open . The little girl jumped off the swing and came to stand in front of Gi Kwang. She looked up at him. “Do you like my mummy?”

Gi Kwang jerked his head back startled by the girl’s bluntness while Seul Mi gaped at the girl. “No, I don’t,” he replied quietly.

Seul Mi felt uncomfortable. “Mianhae, she’s very talkative.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.

She opened to answer but Soo Jung took hold of Gi Kwang’s hand. “But my mummy is very pretty,” the girl complained. “My daddy said mummy is very pretty.”

Seul Mi’s face went bright red. She grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her towards her forcing her to let go of Gi Kwang’s hand. “What did I say about talking to strangers?”

The girl pouted. “But you know him.” Then, “Can he be my prince?”

The guy gasped then few seconds later smiled. He saw the shocked expression on Seul Mi. He found the girl was really cute. He bent down and stared at the girl. “Don’t you think I’m a bit too old for you?”

She shook her head. “When I grow up I’m going to marry you,” she firmly stated.

As if Seul Mi wasn’t shocked enough the girl came up with that. “Soo Jung-ii, you shouldn’t be saying that. We should get going,” she quickly said. Soo Jung opened to protest. “I thought you wanted ice cream.”

The girl’s face brightened. “Ice cream!”

“Itta bwa,” her voice came as a whisper. She walked away from Gi Kwang who looked like he was going to stop them. If he did want to he must have changed his mind, she assumed. It wasn’t until she got home did she realise she had not corrected Gi Kwang. He probably thought she was the little girl’s mummy.