To be kissed by a fool is stupid, but to be fooled by a kiss is worse
~Ambrose Redmoon~

03| The Reversal Kiss


My late mother had always been a firm believer in karma. “If you do bad things, my dear Bommie, bad luck will always follow you.”

Due to this belief, I was always afraid to be bad; afraid that the bad luck will haunt my life forever. I was always the boring, good girl. I was never rebellious and I always go by the rules. 

So I was puzzled when Choi SeungHyun suddenly appeared in my life, kissed me and drove me crazy ever since. 

What did I ever do to deserve this?

WHAT?

Why, God, why?!!
Why now??
Why him?
Why this?

Did I steal someone’s belonging?
Did I laugh at someone’s sorrow?
Did I lie to my Appa?

*Gasp*

Was I a murderer in the previous life?

OH MY GOD!

That should be it!
I must be a murderer in my previous life!
So now God is punishing me to compensate for my bad deeds.

I can’t believe that I’ve murdered someone in my past life.

I blinked rapidly, trying to determine whether it was really him standing in front of me. Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe what I saw just now was just an illusion. Maybe I’m imagining things.

The devil was still waving excitedly at me.

“Come here, corn girl! Taste our sweet corns!” he called.

Taste their sweet corns?!!!!

He must be crazy if he thinks that I would go there and taste their corns. Although I was a tad bit curious about how their corns taste like, I shall prevail over the temptation.

But what if their corns are better than yours, Bommie?

Aish!

Sometimes, I really hate the inner me speaking. It always brings out my deepest desire.
I contemplated on whether I should just accept his invitation. After all, to reject someone’s invitation for food would be rude right?

NO NO NO!

*shakes head*

I should NOT go!
NEVER!!
Remember, he’s insane!!!
He might want to embarrass me further.

I squinted my eyes at him and made the ‘X’ mark with my hands, shaking my head vigorously.

Choi SeungHyun gave me a smirk.
He was mocking me!

I continued to wipe the table. I shall never entertain him further if I want to keep my sanity.

“Hmmm.. this is delicious!!!!” he said loudly, “Are you sure you don’t want some, corn girl!!!”

I should NOT go!
Really, I shouldn’t.
But I didn’t know why my legs weren’t following my brain and in a matter of seconds, I found myself at his stall, eating the corns that he handed me in a haste, like I haven’t eaten for days.

Really, I hate myself.
I hate my infatuation with corns.

“Are you really hungry?” TaeYang asked.
“Maybe our corns are really good!” JiYong quipped, “That’s why she looks like a starved kid.”
“Maybe she’s just crazy,” HeeChul made the crazy gesture with his hand.
“Do you even realize that we have just stolen all your customers?” Micky asked, handing me a tissue, “Yet you still come here to eat our corns?” He looked at me with an amused smile.

God, why don’t you just kill me?
Why do you have to torture me like this?

“Isn’t it good?” SeungHyun asked, giving me a smug smile. I had nearly forgotten that he was there, watching me with an amused smile on his face.

I should just say no. But instead, I said, “Yes. Really.”

SeungHyun put up a victorious fist into the air while the others groaned. “Yess!!” he exclaimed excitedly, “Pay up, guys!”

“Seriously, I don’t even know why I even agree to this whole stupid thing,” HeeChul grumbled, taking out his wallet from the pocket of his jeans, “And I can’t believe that she will actually agree that our corns are better even after we have stolen all her customers. She is one weird girl. Tsk tsk.” He gave me a look full of pity.

“Stop grumbling, HeeChul,” SeungHyun said, “Our customers are waiting. Pay up and get back to work.” His eyes practically twinkled when HeeChul handed him the money.

It took me quite a while to realize that they had actually played a bet on me; well they, except for Micky. Apparently, Micky didn’t believe in the whole betting thing. HeeChul, TaeYang and JiYong had bet against SeungHyun that I would never agree that their corns are better after they had stolen my customers. They figured that I would be too angry to even consider eating their corns, which apparently is how any sane girl would react. 

What the he.ll is wrong with me??!!!

“We shouldn’t have followed HeeChul,” JiYong grumbled, “I told you she’s weird.”
“Man, she just make me 20000 won poorer,” TaeYang shook his head.
“Hey, hey! Get back to work!” SeungHyun yelled.

I didn’t know why I didn’t just leave. I didn’t know why I just stood there frozen at my spot. I should have just kicked his groin or slap him across the face, but I didn’t.

I just stood there, blinking rapidly, like a girl casted under a weird spell.

“Oppa, you’re really handsome,” one of the customers gushed to SeungHyun.
“I know,” he replied, giving her a smug smile.
I could see the girl was about to faint after seeing his smile.

I rolled my eyes.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I turned around and walked back to my own stall.

I sat at one of the chairs at my stall and sighed.

“Why did you even go there, stupid Bom?”
“But their corns are really nice. Nicer than mine, in fact.”
“Fine if their corns are nicer, but you don’t have to admit that to them, do you? Stupid Bom!”

Ever since little, I had the tendency to talk to myself whenever I am thinking about something that is bothering my head. This time is not an exception. 

“But really, Bom, it’s not your fault. You love corns so that’s why you went. Anyone will do the same.”
“Stupid Bom, no one will side with you. They’ll just think you’re stupid to side with the enemy.”
I slapped my forehead.

“Yes, you’re really stupid, corn girl!”
“B-bu-but, I only went there because I didn’t want to-”

I stopped in mid-sentence; my eyes widened in shock.
The voice that I had just heard wasn’t my voice. If I was still talking to myself, it would be my own voice, right? Why did the voice sound like Choi SeungHyun?

I looked at their stall. He was nowhere in sight.

“If he is not there, can it be that he is here?” I asked myself.
“That’s quite possible. He can be here,” the voice said again.

My eyes widened when I heard his voice. I immediately turned to look at the person sitting opposite of me.

Choi SeungHyun was laughing to himself. “You are really weird, corn girl. Only crazy people talk to themselves.”

I winced. 

“Why are you here, SeungHyun-shi?” I asked through gritted teeth. I would not tolerate any more insults from him.
“What? Can’t I be friendly to my business competitor?” he asked innocently. He thought I would believe such bullsh1t? He was wrong!
“What competitor?!!!” I asked, my voice rising, “Why do you have to open a corn stall next to mine?!! I sold corns here first! If this was some journalism, I would call it plagiarizing! You’re copying me, you-you-” I paused to think of an insult, “You CRAZY PERSON!”

SeungHyun chuckled mockingly. “Crazy person?” he mocked, “That’s the best insult you can give? You’re one weird girl, corn girl. I already told you that you’re going to regret not taking the responsibility for kissing me that night.”

“You did all this just because of that?!!”
“Of course.”

Aish!
He was really getting on my nerve.

“YAH!” I yelled, “Just go back to your stall and sell your corns! Don’t bother me!!”
“Hey, you can’t just chase away a customer. No wonder your stall is unpopular, just like you,” he said.

I breathed deeply, trying to contain my anger. Seriously, why did I even bother talking to him? It was obviously just a waste of my time.

“You. Are. Not. A. Customer,” I retorted angrily, squinting my eyes at him.
“How can I be when you didn’t even try to sell me your corns!” he smiled annoyingly.
“If I did, will you even buy one?” I asked.
“Of course not!” he said, “You think that I’m crazy like you to eat the competitor’s food?”

Arghh!!
Why did I even bother?

Suddenly, I saw a middle-aged woman approaching my stall. As she came closer, I recognised her. She was ShinAh, one of my oldest customers, who always buy my corns whenever she got off from work. I immediately stood up and gave her a polite bow.

“Unni,” I greeted her.
“Hi, Bommie,” she said warmly, her eyes crinkled, “What’s with the long queue at the next stall?”
“Don’t mind that, Unni,” I said, “So, you want the usual?”

I was about to go and prepare the corns for ShinAh when SeungHyun suddenly cleared his throat. I almost forgot that he was there.

I watched in horror as he stood up. “Noona,” he said brightly, “That’s a stall that my friends and I are opening to raise some fund for an orphan. It would be my honour if