[Class 6A]

 

“JJAJANGMYUN …coffee…roses…” Ji-yeon murmured as she jotted down on the list. “The party will be held tomorrow, but nothing is settled yet.”

“You really work hard,” said Huiren as she gave a peek to her scribbles.

“Jjajangmyun will be settled tonight. The coffee and roses will be done this evening,” she muttered.

“Did you know about it?” Huiren eyed her.

“Know what?”

“The others were complaining.”

“Complaining about what?” Ji-yeon was curious as frowns drawn on her forehead.

“Everyone is working really hard but he is not contributing anything,” Huiren unfolded the case.“Did you really exclude him?” Huiren looked at the person she was mentioning.

Ji-yeon glanced at the same person Huiren was looking at. “Exclude? No. I did not. Hasn’t anybody assigned him a task?”

“No one…” Huiren confessed.

“Oh, bummer,” she groaned. Ji-yeon looked upset.

“Well actually the girls did ask for his help to move some tables yesterday, but he remained glued on his seat. What to do? He is the son of the principal anyway. No PE, no activity, no bus, and blah, blah, blah.” Huiren was upset herself.“It’s totally not fair.” She pulled a long face.

“Were you just talking about me?” Si-won was standing right beside Huiren.

She steered her head and found herself eye-to-eye with him.

“Si-si-won-ah…” She paused and nudged Ji-yeon.

“Do you have any problem with me?” he stared at Huiren sternly.

Huiren tried to smile but it faded and her expression grew anxious. “A-a-ani…” she stammered, not dared to say anything further.

“I hate to say this, but if you have any problem with me, could you PLEASE say it straight on my face? You don’t need to hiss it between you. Is that understood Mamarazzi?” Si-won warned Huiren with sharp glare at his eyes.

“So, you really want to know? Sometimes, curiosity could kill someone. Anyway, I’ll share it with you,” Ji-yeon suddenly spoke. “We were talking about a jelly-legged boasting prince with his strong pride. He is a prince but it’s very embarrassing that he couldn’t even move the tables, couldn’t ride on bus, no physical activities and etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But I happened to meet this prince at a place called Seoul Grand Park where he and­…” Quickly, Si-won covered Ji-yeon’s mouth with his hand. Their eyes met. Her eyes blinked vigorously. She was stunned while Si-won was panicking.

“Fish Ball, follow me!” ordered Si-won.He was dragging her like a kidnapper with his hand still covering . They settled at the corridor outside the class.

Ji-yeon pulled down his hand off from . “Yuck, that was disgusting,” she said.

“Yah, Fish Ball, watch your mouth!” he thundered.

“…andhe was with the Little Einstein… huh!”she continued. “I wish I could spit that out just now. Coward!”

“Hold your tongue!” anger was evident in his eyes. Ji-yeon blinked her eyes and showed him an annoying face. “I didn’t even mention your name just now. Is it that big of an issue for you to be embarrassed of?”

“Do I look like I am joking to you?”

“And do I look like I care?” she said defensively, squaring her shoulders.

“Haish! Jelly-legged boasting prince?” he seemed pissed off.

“That’s right! You jelly-legged boasting prince!”

“Don’t hiss around about the school trip to anyone! Arasseo?!” his gaze deepened at her eyes.

An idea scintillated in her mind. “Hmm … why don’t you surrender to us then?”

“What? Surrender?”

“If you’re willing to lend a hand, then I won’t tell it to anyone.”

Silence stretched for several long seconds before Si-won finally spoke up. “Haish … arasseo. But, only this time!” He glared at Ji-yeon who was smiling in a satisfy way. He was annoyed but he knew he had no choice because if he didn’t agree there would be a high probability for that so-called Fish Ball to unfold his appearance at Seoul Grand Park with a little boy on his school trip. A prideful teenager like him babysitting a little boy?That would be very shameful for him because he was very concerned with his image in that school. Public image was on top of everything for him.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

[Class 7A]

 

“AS USUALhyung, can I have it?” Chang-min squinted at the lunchbox. Yun-ho’s eyes bored on it, relentless, unblinking. “I’ll take it as a yes,” Chang-min said and settled on his seat.

Yong-hwa was staring at him few tables away. He turned his head to the windowpane and there she was, standing and looking at the guy. He wondered why this girl kept preparing him lunchbox after what he had done to her the night before. How could he ignore her? Why he kept letting her down? These questions danced in his head. He seemed deeply concerned about the things between them.

“Hmm … hyung,”Chang-min called.

“What?” Yun-ho replied.

“About the tournament… did you really mean it?” Chang-min looked at his hyung curiously.

Silent from Yun-ho.

“You are the lead dancer hyung. If you quit, then what will happen to the whole routine? Can you just apologize to Mr. Gong Yoo?” Chang-min sent him a pleading face.

“It’s something that I couldn’t do. I’m tired. That’s none of my business,” his voice made a sad expression on Chang-min’s pallor.

“It’s so bad. Ms. Lee would be very disappointed,” Chang-min murmured.

“What do you mean by that?” Yun-ho frowned over the statement.

“I heard that she is one of the judges,” told Chang-min.

He knew this hyung started to dance seriously since he was put under the counseling project two years ago. That was definitely because of the counselor.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

[Counseling Room]

 

SHE WAS waiting for someone. She made herself comfortable on the armchair. Suddenly, the door flung opened. He stepped in and marched towards the table, facing her. “You are here,” she greeted. She tried to be as friendly as she could.

There was no respond from that guy. He sat down. “Can you make this as quickly as possible?” he asked her.

She fixed her attention on his profile.

“Counsel Teacher, I don’t mean to be rude, but I do have something else to do. Make it fast.” He stared at her expectantly.

She threw a deep sigh and settled her eyeballs on his. “Okay, the first thing that I want to talk about is regarding the incident at the school field last week. Your PE teacher reported that you didn’t wear your PE uniform. You wore black shirt. So, why was that?” she asked him tentatively.

“I am allergic to white shirt. I just couldn’t wear white-colored attire,” he told her promptly.

“If it’s something related to health problem, you should have tagged along your health file since the day you enrolled in this school. By doing so, you will be exceptionally allowed to wear different color shirt during your PE class. How can we believe that it’s truly because of your health condition if you all of a sudden turned up in black without telling the school about your health problem?” She paused then continue. “Yong-hwa-ssi, if you have problem, I am here to listen,” she added.

“If I do, then can you really solve it? Counsel Teacher, how can you try to solve someone else’s problem if you yourself are unable to handle your own problem?”

“Yong-hwa…I don’t want to make it more difficult for you. It’s okay if you don’t talk about it to me. After all, it’s your privacy.I know I might not be able to solve your problem. I can never solve someone else’s problem. I can give advice but it’s up to you to decide what is best for you. I understand if you want to have your own space, and I am sorry if I’ve been forcing you all this while. I just want to help you,” she paused.

“Counsel Teacher, have you ever felt how it feels when you are abandoned by someone that you trust and love?” Yong-hwa started to open up.“Being abandoned and to abandon are two different things. And I am the abandoned one. If you know exactly how it feels, then you don’t even have to force me to come here. I come if I think this place would serve me good. I am all set up. I’m leaving.” He stood up and dragged himself out of the room.

She sat still in silent. He reminded her of someone two years ago.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

[School Gate]

 

JI-YEON WAS standing at the front gate waiting for the jelly-legged prince.

“Do you think he will make it? I don’t think so…” Huiren enquired her.

“I think he will,” said Ji-yeon confidently.

“Ji-yeon-ah, why are you so sure? The principal will scold us if we ever let him involved in this kind of activity.” Huiren wasn’t so sure of what was Ji-yeon up to.

“Why would the principal scold us for making his son mingle with students and do school-life-related stuffs?” Ji-yeon sighed. “I just could not bear it any longer. Who does he think he is?”

“What? Could not bear of it any longer?” a hoarse voice flew in the air. “You mean you are eager to go with me, huh?” he added.

They both looked back and they weren’t sure how to react to him. He was sitting in the driver seat and ducked his head a little bit to greet the girls with his over-irritating look.

“Annyeong Fish Ball, I’m here,” greeted Si-won with his usual annoying greeting.

“Yah, Jelly-legged Prince! Aren’t you coming with us?” Ji-yeon thundered.

“Haish, if you say that word again, then it will be the end of it,” he bellowed.

“Then stop calling me Fish Ball!”

Tsk tsk. “Get in!”

“Ji-yeon-ah, be careful,” warned Huiren as Ji-yeon was about to open the back door.

“Aren’t you going with me?” she looked at her. Huiren grinned. “Wae?” Ji-yeon was suspicious and a little bit worried.

“I have to go practice with HaHa,” told Huiren and Ji-yeon stared at her in the eyes.

“You mean now?”

Huiren didn’t utter any word instead she sent her a nod. “See you tomorrow morning,”she waved goodbye to Ji-yeon and marched off. Ji-yeon watched her in disbelief. Then she opened the back door and got in the back passenger seat.

“Yah, Fish Ball, why did you sit at the back?”He looked at her, long and hard.

She saw a familiar stubborn look creep over his face. Ji-yeon stayed there, motionless.

“So, you want me to sit at the front; right next to you? Is that what you’re implying?” Ji-yeon retorted. “Shiro! I like to sit at the back. I can look at myself in the mirror,” said Ji-yeon, lying. That was not the reason why she sat at the back. It was merely because the driver was Si-won and she didn’t want to sit next to him.

“Yah!Can’t you see those girls staring at me? Can’t you just... haish!” Si-won’s eyeballs pointed to the front sit. He didn’t want to be seen in such a scene,a boss-driver kind of situation. Without further delay, Ji-yeon made her way to the front seat. As she was about to sink in, someone pulled her hand from behind.

“Who do you think you are? Sitting next to Si-won oppa?!What are you trying to do?” Someone spoke up.

Ji-yeon turned round and saw Jessica and the gang, all lined-up, watching at her with sharp stares.Ji-yeon made an innocent face and said, “What did you say just now? You ask and you answer yourself, huh? Yes, you see, I am going to sit next to your Si-won so shoo, shoo.” Ji-yeon daringly fought back.

“Excuse me? This is my seat, okay?” She eyed the front seat and her eyeballs rolled to Ji-yeon. Si-won made no move to help Ji-yeon in that situation. He liked the entertainment of girls fighting over him. Well, Ji-yeon was not fighting to get you obviously, Si-won-ssi.

A shudder rippled through Ji-yeon as Jessica and her followers surrounded her – closer and closer. Ji-yeon was intimidated. ‘What are you doing in there? Don’t you think you need to handle this freaky fan of yours?’ thought Ji-yeon. Somehow she couldn’t utter the words to Si-won.

Si-won just sat there in his driver seat, enjoying the moment – it’s so entertaining. He knew it would happen. Meanwhile, panic was evident on her face. She bit her bottom lip and wished she could be someplace, anyplace, where she would feel more at ease.

“You’re enjoying it, aren’t you?” he said, in a low, mature-sounding drawl.Si-won steered his head to the right and saw the owner of the voice – Yun-ho. His smile faded away once he found himself eye-to-eye with that suspended student.

“I guess,” Si-won replied, excitement and anxiety washing over him in tandem.He was unable to fight the small glow of pleasure that filled him. As for him, knowing the fact that Ji-yeon had spilled a little secret regarding the school trip was a severe case. He hated it. He hated that she threatened him about it. A girl threatening him just won’t do. So seeing her in that kind of condition was kind of consoling for him.

“At least she’s not a duckling,” Yun-ho declared gallantly and walked towards the crowd where Ji-yeon was. Yun-ho’s saying wasn’t of great importance to him, but at the same time Si-won felt a pang of hurt. He decided to go out of the car to see the girls.

“Hello ladies? Any problem here?” Yun-ho greeted the crowd and as soon as his voice teetered in the air, it dispersed.

“Oppa!” Tiffany squeaked.

“Yes, hi everyone.” Yun-ho threw a smile. He was addressing the girls, but he was staring directly at Ji-yeon. “Where are you going?” he asked Ji-yeon while the peacocks were just fascinated by his appearance there. Feeling special that Yun-ho greeted you first this time, eh, ladies?

“Uh-uh-umm...” Ji-yeon stammered.

‘He shouldn’t know this, or else it’s going to be disaster!’ She thought.Ji-yeon was looking at her brother, studying his expression. Obviously, he looked so concerned.

“Going somewhere huh?” Yun-ho asked as his eyes settled at hers. His over-protective temperament could explode anytime. That question was a sign.

Gulped. Ji-yeon was completely blank, not knowing what to say.

“We have an errand to run. Together,” Si-won appeared. He dropped his voice on this last word ‘together’, as if it were interesting.

“So, could you excuse us?” He added and grabbed Ji-yeon’s wrist, getting back in the car.

“Together?!” Jessica snapped.

“S-s-see you later,” Ji-yeon said to Yun-ho as she sank in the front seat. Yun-ho was standing still in silent while Jessica looked at him in dismay. In a split of second, the car vanished from their eyes.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

[Gold Fish’s Car]

 

Si-won’s eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled. His dimples emerged. Why did that fact make Ji-yeon’s stomach somersault? Twice? His gaze met hers briefly. He brought back the word in his mind.

“Duckling?” he said somewhat annoyed but ended up laughing over the word. Then he had a serious look on his face.

Ji-yeon’s heart fluttered, but she felt a spark of irritation. She drew a deep breath. ‘What’s wrong with him?’ she asked herself. “So...” She said, choosing her word carefully. ‘Get a grip, Ji-yeon!’ she told herself sternly.

He gave no respond. He seemed totally lost in his own world.

She took out the list and with every ounce of strength she spitted out a question. “Do you know any flower shop nearby?”Ji-yeon watched his Adam’s apple move up and down as he swallowed and yet there’s no answer. His expression was unreadable. “Am I talking to the seat belt?” Ji-yeon could feel her patience running low, like an uncharged battery. The guy swept his gaze over her face, and her heart flip-flopped.

“Can you just sit still in silent?” He finally spoke up. In return, Ji-yeon felt like laughing and crying all at once over his command.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

[Music Studio]

 

“I WAS told that we have to perform for the dance competition next week,”IU told Yong-hwa.

“We? Performance?” Yong-hwa raised his voice.

“Yes, you and I – on the stage together. A duet.” She confirmed him.

“This is so sudden to me. I haven’t done any preparation yet,” he confessed.

“I composed a song. I have just finished it last night. But I have no idea about the lyrics.” She handed him the piece.

Yong-hwa studied the notes as he strummed his guitar. “Hmm, sounds nice. It’s the same piece that you played that day right?” he asked her.

“Um.” She nodded.A few seconds of silence stretched between them.“The day when he helped me with the strumming,” she mumbled.

“Eh?” Yong-hwa heard a noise coming out from IU’s mouth but couldn’t make sense of it since she was just mumbling to herself.

“Err...a friend of mine! Yes, a friend …” IU tried to cover up at her spill. Well he wouldn’t know if you don’t try to cover it with those words.

Seeing her getting nervous like that, Yong-hwa knew whom she was talking about.It is none other than the guy who iscareless, heartless, and mindless – Park Yun-ho. He smiled somewhat enigmatically.

Relief and embarrassment washed over her at once.

“Last night...” he started a new topic.

IU’s stomach twisted into a pretzel knot and her palms went cold. Her pulse ticked faster as she brought back the incident at the staff room as soon as she heard the words ‘last night’. “Yes?” she looked at him, tried to be cool even though sadness was evident in her eyes.

Yong-hwa studied her face for a while and then lowered his head, acting like he was scanning the piece.“You cried,” he said demurely.

She grabbed her drink and gulped it and let the fizzy, sweet taste make bubbles in . She sipped more lemonade and let him keep talking.

“You stumbled on the ground,” he continued. He settled his eyes at her. It looked so transfixed.

Her head hurt. The pain in her chest was getting worse. She wanted to say, ‘What are you talking about?’Or ‘Did I?’ But she couldn’t get any words out.

Yong-hwa could see it bothered her so bad. He tried not to look as if it bothered him too. Maybe he should stop asking such sensitive questions, just pretend like he didn’t know anything.

IU was struggling to steady her breath until Yong-hwa decided to break the awkwardness between them. He took a sheet of plain paper.

“I like a story telling kind of lyrics, I mean like a synopsis of a made up or real event,” said Yong-hwa. “Do you want to make the lyrics together? Or...” he eyed her, playing the pen between his fingers.

“Shall we?” she smiled at him.

He knew it was a force curve at her lips. He knew she was badly hurt. He knew what had happened. An idea started forming in his head, a spark of hope.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

[Flower Shop]

 

THE DOOR creaked open.“Oh, you’re here.” A middle-aged woman greeted Si-won amiably as if she’d known him for years.

“Ne,” Si-won replied and sent her a faint smile.

“Yeojachingu?” She asked him somewhat teasingly as she squinted at Ji-yeon.

Si-won’s eyes widened as he heard the woman said ‘Yeojachingu’. There’s no way this girl was his girlfriend.“She’s just a friend. A classmate.” Si-won gave Ji-yeon a sly look.

Ji-yeon smiled at the woman who was smiling at her prettily. “Annyeonghaseyo.” Ji-yeon gave the woman a warm greeting.

It had been years and that day was the only day he ever brought someone along to this particular shop. He was a regular customer of the shop, every month, at the same date, same time, he would buy the same flower – alone. The woman looked at Si-won with eyes full of hope. “It’s not 14^th yet. Any special occasion?” she asked.

Silence from Si-won. He was idly fondling the white carnations. His mind was somewhere else.

“Um, it’s our classroom teacher’s birthday tomorrow. We’re thinking to buy her roses.” Ji-yeon supplied as she noticed that jelly-legged prince all of a sudden seemed extraordinarily quiet.

“Roses? Oh, we do supply roses too. It’s popular nowadays, well it almost Valentine’s Day. We have huge demand of them. Come, I’ll show you. Over here.” The florist led Ji-yeon to the roses section.

Ji-yeon stopped when she saw the beautiful flowers in front of her. She was so overwhelmed; the room was filled with soft-touching kind of scent. She stopped at her favourite – baby’s breath. She smelled it and smiled widely.

“They just arrived this morning. Smells fresh, right?” She informed Ji-yeon who looked at particular species with deep interest.

“Ne,” Ji-yeon agreed.

“The roses at the corner. Come,” said the lady, leading Ji-yeon to a space where she kept the flower. “Here we are. We have red, yellow, purple, white, pink, green, orange and blue roses. We have promotion now. If you buy a bouquet of any flower, you can have a free bouquet of other flower. The lowest price we have is 3000won.” She showed her the roses.

“Jeongmalyo?” Ji-yeon was so excited.

“Ne,” the florist confirmed her.

“I want red roses,” informed Ji-yeon.

“Do you want a bouquet or just a single rose? Or do you have any preference?” the florist enquired her as she wore the pink gloves.

“Oh, I don’t know. Wait a second. Si-won-ah!” called Ji-yeon. She believed that he would know about that matter.‘Oh? Did I just call him in a friendly manner? What’s wrong with me?’ thought Ji-yeon. Maybe because the florist was there.

“Yes, anything?” he turned up.

“Should we buy a bouquet of red roses?” asked Ji-yeon, looking at Si-won straight to his eyes.

“Give us ten stalks, eomoni,” Si-won said in such a humble voice.

“Eomoni? Ten stalks?” Ji-yeon could hardly believe her ears. This guy was so unpredictable.

“Ten stalks? Why ten?” Ji-yeon seemed unsettled with the number of stalks he requested.

“You’re beautiful,” he said it straight to her face.

Ji-yeon muted dead. Si-won’s words came crashing back into her mind. She faltered, feeling heat spread across her cheeks. “It’s no time for a joke. I’m being serious.” Ji-yeon complaint and drew a deep sighed.

“He’s right,” the florist interjected.“Ten stalks of red roses mean ‘you’re pretty’. He knows it all. I think that’s the effect of being a regular customer here. He comes over every month, every 14^th, as usual early in the morning. He would spend the whole day here, helping me with the arrangement and leaves before 4p.m. But weirdly, he doesn’t want to receive any payment. It has been three years now. I thought he has no friends. So, seeing you today with him has proved me wrong,” blurted the florist.

Ji-yeon found herself staring at him blankly. Her mind whirred. She didn’t expect to know a piece of information about that guy’s life. He was wondering along the counter and then stopped again at the carnations. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.

“Young lady?” the florist called.

Her words jolted Ji-yeon back to what she had to do. What she was going to say.“Oh, sorry. I’ll take ten stalks then.” She confirmed her and lingered around the baby’s breath that caught her attention from the beginning.

 

*   *   *   *   *

TO BE CONTINUED