Crazy For a Day
My Boss is a (On Hiatus)
[GottaLoveEm: School started again. Bummer. Oh well. I'll keep on writing on my spare time.]
*Bonus Baloney*
Love: Now then, here we have Minho-ssi, and Sandeul-ssi making a guest appearance.
Sandeul: Hello, everybody. We wanted to stop by and say hi as two of the least mentioned characters.
Minho: Hello.
Love: How sweet of you two. I assure you that you aren't hated by the public, or by me. I just forget to mention almost everybody whenever I'm working on the chapters.
Chicken: Unnie, you're mean.
Love: Shush. Come on, now, let's stop wasting everyone's time and get to work. We need to finish our piggies.
Love, Chicken, Minho, & Sandeul: We hope that you will enjoy this chapter. It is about a day in Alyss's life where we discover her talent. As you can see, it's also longer than usual.
Love: You'll find out later why this chapter is in some way important. So, without further ado, here it is. ^^
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*Alyss's POV*
After we get home, I drop onto the couch and doze off while Yun does whatever she's doing. Well, I would have actually fallen asleep if it weren't for the lump of fluffy stuff under my face that smells familiar. I open my eyes, accidentally wiggling around too much in a struggle to move my hands from under me, and end up rolling off the couch. Luckily, my head misses the table.
I sit up immediately and recognize what was bugging me. It's that bully's scarf. He must had forgotten it. I sigh and shove it out of the way, heading right back to trying to make myself fall asleep.
"....."
After about an hour of just lying there on the couch, I give up. When I check the time, it's an hour til midnight. *Damn it. Where's my phone?*
Once my new phone is sitting on my hands, I look through the contacts. I'd gotten so used to only seeing Spencer's name there, but now there was bunches of other names. Finally, I found who I was looking for. Frankly, I was thankful to Sun Hee for helping me out with learning Korean. I'd always been good with languages.
To: Lee Taemin
Hey. You still up? You left your scarf here.
After I send the text, I wonder if it was too casual sounding. Yun told me to be respectful to those who are older than me, even if it's only by a few months. Here I don't need to, but outside this apartment, to everyone else besides Yun and Sun Hee, I have to. Before I could think any more, I got a text back.
To: Alyss
Yeah. Practicing by myself. I left it there? No wonder. Why are you still up, little lamb?
The moment I saw 'little lamb', I felt like chucking my phone at the wall. *Is he still not going to forget how scared I was when I first got here? And what's with the little lamb?! Just because I was shivering and just blindly following Yun, sticking close by her means NOTHING!.... Other than that I'm kind of a coward. And I'm not exactly little! I'm a bit more than 170cm tall!*
Still, I resisted the urge to punch something.
To: Lee Taemin
-__- Little lamb? It's cause I can't sleep.
Things got even worse when I saw his next text.
To: Alyss
>‿‿◕ Come over and play then!
*.... A winky face?... A WINKY FACE?!!??*
To: Lee Taemin
... Fine. I'll be over in a while.
*Will Yun mind?..... Nah. It's not like I'm going to a cemetery at midnight to offer my soul in exchange for a bag of chips.*
To: Alyss
Alright then. Bring my scarf, but don't be a creep and start sniffing it or something, okay?
This time, I dropped the phone and ran to the bathroom in case I puked. *Sometimes he's too much -___-* After I was sure my dinner wasn't coming back up, I carefully picked up my phone again, trying not to throw it out the window from the creeps he gave me.
To: Lee Taemin
Don't worry. It'll never happen. ._.
I picked up the keys Yun had gotten me; from the blue keychain dangled a blue Hello Kitty charm, a kokeshi doll with pink hair, an old bracelet someone had once given me, and two keys. The one that looked like a guitar was for the front door, the other, normal looking one was for the mailbox. I smiled when I remembered how awkward it was when Yun introduced me to the man she'll work for if that Mi Sun girl fires her. He was a tall, somewhat balding man, but his laugh reminded me of Santa.
Before I drowned in my thoughts about Santa and Christmas, I headed out, locking the door and shoving my hands and keys into the pocket of my jacket. It was cold out, but I didn't mind too much.
Of course, it wasn't the cold that was bugging me. It was all the thug-looking guys who were staring me down as I walked past them. Can't a girl take a walk at the middle of the night without looking weird?
Finally, I saw his silhouette standing by the building I had just been to a few hours ago. His shoulders had looked tense until I walked under the streetlight, when he finally relaxed.
"Took you long enough," he said in choppy English, with a smile spread across his face, clearly mocking me.
I blinked. *Remember what Spencer said. No punching people in the face just because they made a bad joke.* I exhaled, and let out a smile.
"Hello, Taemin-ssi," I greeted him clearly in Korean, and his smile just got bigger.
"You're catching on quickly. Come on," he praised me before taking my arm and dragging me inside, to a practice room.
I took a seat on the floor at the back, and he some music. It was "Lucifer", and he was focused on getting the moves perfectly. I stood up to take a good look at his moves. Since the song was on replay, he was doing the same moves, over and over again.
When he suddenly stopped and turned to me, I tilted my head a bit, wondering what was wrong.
"What?," I asked when he took a step forward, his face twisted with surprise and confusion.
"Were you just... copying me?," he asked me, staring at me like he didn't know who I was. I swallowed back a lump that was forming.
"Um.... Y-yes?," I managed to answer in a small voice. He took another step forward, examining me like I was a new species of goat.
"Do it again," he finally answered. So, this time, facing each other, we both had to dance. I closed my eyes for a second, replaying the moves I had been watching him do in my head and repeated them when the right moment appeared. As Taemin-ssi saw that we were almost mirror images of each other, he smiled and stopped, leaving me to dance the rest by myself. Once I finished the song, he clapped.
"I'm impressed, little lamb. I thought you were going to be stiff," he complimented, while I just looked at the reflection in the mirror of myself, looking at the baffled expression on my face.
"I'm SO not used to this. I just saw and...copied. I didn't know that would happen," I told him, starting to shake. Taemin-ssi grabbed onto my shoulders, trying to calm me down, and looked into my eyes.
"Chill out. So you found out you can copy dance moves. So what? It's not like you grew another arm. Don't be scared," he said, trying to get me to stop shivering. I shook my head and stepped back.
"I'm not scared.... I'm amazed. I'm dumbfounded. I'm exhilarated. I feel incredible", I began, and with each word, the smile that was forming would grow,"and I wanna do it again."
Taemin-ssi stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. With a smirk on his face, he nodded.
"Come here," he said, leading me to another room, and there, he found a computer. He turned it on and shoved it towards me.
"Look anything up and copy it. I wanna see how well you can remember and copy," he explained, and I decided to browse on youtube. Eventually, I found After School's 'Ah!'. I glanced at him, and he gave me a skeptical look.
"You sure about that one? I mean, if you want to, try something easier first," he muttered. Stubborn, I clicked on it anyways and watched the video a few times, taking in all the moves they were doing, the timing, the force they were using for some of the moves.
"Close your eyes. I wanna practice a bit first," I said as I stood up. By then I had already taken off my jacket, so I felt a bit more free.
I played the video once more, but instead of watching it, I mirrored their moves. Of course, not the part where everyone but the chick in the center start shaking their in the air. *I don't exactly wanna do that one...*
After about ten minutes of perfecting the hand movements, I nudged Taemin-ssi with my foot. He opened his eyes and smiled mockingly, as if waiting for me to fail. I smiled back and pointed that the computer, gesturing for him to play the video again.
As soon as the music started, I let my body move on its own, and did not, for a single second, doubt myself. Even if I messed up, I was doing this for fun. I moved with the music, and almost lost myself in it, until I realized I had stopped. The song was over, and Taemin-ssi was staring at me, clearly pleasantly surprised.
I was panting by now.
"So? What did you think?," I managed to ask in between breaths. He nodded approvingly, and smiled.
"Well done, little lamb. If I didn't know you, I probably would have wondered if you were part of After School, you know, after wondering what the hell I'm doing here with you," he praised me once more, ruffling my hair, then looking at the time. He silently cursed, aparently it was later than he had planned to stay. He turned back to me, and smiled.
"It got late. Don't you have school tomorrow?," he asked as he turned off the computer and picked up my jacket from the floor.
"I'm being homeschooled right now. At least, until my Korean is close to perfect and I'm caught up with everything that I need to know before going to school with Yun, Sunnie and the others," I told him, using my pet name for Sun Hee. He nodded like he understood, then stopped, turning to me.
"By how much are you older than them?," he wondered. I walked up to him, taking the jacket from his outstretched hands, and looked up, lost in thought.
"Older than Sunnie by a few months. Older than Yun by.... A month, I think," I responded, putting on my jacket and taking out his scarf from the pocket. I looked at the time, it was 1:30.
"Here's your scarf. Um... I think I should go... It's late... Good night, Taemin-ssi," I said with a small smile, handing him the scarf and walking to the door we had come from.
"Wait, woah. You can't go home by yourself this late. What if someone kidnaps you and kills you? I won't have anyone to bug anymore," he called out as I opened the door. I turned, and flashed him a devilish grin.
"I'll be fine. Go to sleep, Taemin-ssi. Why would I let myself be kidnapped? Then who would I dance with?," I laughed. He didn't seem convinced, but he muttered an agreement, walking to the door with me.
As I turned to say goodnight one last time, he wrapped his scarf around me and gave me a small smile.
"It's cold outside. Don't die, okay?," he mumbled, and with one last glance at him, I nodded and walked off.
"Goodnight, Taemin-ssi...," I whispered as I went around the corner and started to make my way home.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem like it'd be a pleasant walk home. One of the thugs from before was standing by the streetlight, seemingly waiting for me.
"Who was your little boyfriend?," he asked, with a erse grin on his greasy face. I shot him a cold glare and kept walking, unfortunately, his way. When I was directly next to him, he tried to wrap his arm around my waist, but I kicked him as hard as I could on the stomach, apparently delivering TOO strong of a blow, since he was bent over the sidewalk, clutching his stomach in pain and coughing blood. He managed to lift his head enough to sneak a glance my way, and when he started breathing harder, I wanted to puke. His body and breathe reaked of alcohol, and he was trying to grab onto my ankle with one hand, the other still wrapped around his torso.
Once again, I looked at him in a way that would kill if it could.
"Don't touch me."
***
After that incident, I took many back streets and made my way through many other streets in case he or his buddies were trying to follow me. Finally, though, I got home, unlocked the door, and made my way in, dropping my jacket by the small seat next to the door and locked the door again. The lights were off, but I made my way to the couch, and somehow fell asleep, completely forgetting about the scarf that was still wrapped around me.
***
"Yah, Alyss. Wake up. It's almost 7, your teacher will be here soon. I left you some breakfast okay?," I heard Yun's voice say and she gently shook me. Slowly, I opened my eyes, remembering what happened last night. Taemin-ssi. Dancing. The thug. The blood. The stench of alcohol. I smiled. My day wasn't complete without a bit of fun, right?
"Thank you, Yun. Say hello to the twins for me, and to Sunnie, too. Have fun at school," I grumbled as I sat up. She stood by the door, slipping on her shoes, when she saw the scarf.
".... Isn't that Taemin-oppa's scarf?," she wondered out loud. I smiled and nodded, standing up to go get dressed.
"He let me borrow it. Then I came home, and on my way, beat up some guy who was too friendly...," I mumbled, slurring my words and wobbling a bit, then made my way to the kitchen.
"Okay. As long as he didn't follow you back. See you later!," I heard her answer calmly, then shortly after, the sound of the door closing.
Today's a good day. At least, I hope so. After eating whatever it is that Yun had left me, I stood up to wash the dishes and take out the trash. Once outside, I saw someone else who was also taking out the trash. It was a guy with brown hair who looked strangely familiar. Either ways, once we made eye contact, I smiled and greeted him, bowing politely, and he greeted me back, with a straight face, but I shrugged it off and kept myself happy.
Well, I would have, had I not seen someone I had no intention of ever seeing again coming around the corner. Towards the guy with the brown hair. The guy looked up, confused, and saw the thug. Then turned to me. I mouthed "Go back inside" and after looking at the serious expression on my face, nodded and went back towards the apartments.
"Just you and me now, eh, girlie? I gotta repay you for what you--"
WHAM. Punched him square on the jaw, and I heard a cracking sound. He collapsed, and I held back the urge to kick him once more. Instead, I slipped out my cellphone and called the cops, fake crying and saying there was a stalker who followed me last night, and trying to me. It wasn't necessarily a lie, he HAD followed me, and if I hadn't hit him when I did, he could have done things to me that I don't plan on letting happen.
When the police came and took him away, my whole body shook with sobs, saying it was self defense. The guy with the brown hair even came back and said I was saying the truth, that he could have hurt me. The guy even gave me a hug to comfort me. When the cops disappeared, I stopped sobbing and he let go.
"You knew," I said. He smiled and nodded, then whispered, "You're not the only good one at lying". I smiled back at him and knew I had just instantly made a friend. We walked back inside, and he ended up living two doors down.
"My name's No Taehyun. You would be?," he said, with his hand stretched out.
"My name is Alyss. Pleasure to meet you," I responded, shaking his hand. After that, he sighed and shoved his hands inside the pocket of his sweater, then looked up towards the sky.
"You look rather young. What's your excuse for not being in school right now?," he finally asked, looking back down at me. I was finally aware of the time. I gasped and facepalmed.
"I'm homeschooled. I'm from America, so right now I'm just learning Korean," I said in a rush, then calmed down. *I'm already late.* He smiled that beautiful smile of his again.
"You must have one hell of a teacher if you can speak so fluently now," he laughed. I nodded, then started noticing things about him. Like, how he was really goodlooking. He had a warm, inviting smile, and his brown eyes seemed to lure me in. I mentally snapped my fingers. *Now I know why he looks familiar. It's cause he looks so much like G-Dragon.There we go!*
He seemed to have noticed me staring, because he suddenly got quiet.
"I know, I look like him. Get over it," he said with a playful smirk tugging at his lips. I cracked into a smile. *The boy can read minds.*
"So? What's your excuse? Why are YOU not in school?," I asked. He looked young enough. As soon as I asked, he rubbed the back of his neck nervously and faked a cough.
"I'm 'sick'. Can't you tell?," he finally answered, managing to make me laugh again. We stood there, laughing for a few more minutes until it started sprinkling.
"Well, I should probably go back inside now. Parents must be wondering why I'm taking so long to throw out the trash. And why they heard sirens outside," Taehyun-ssi said with that smile about to appear again. I laughed a bit and nodded.
"See you around then," I replied.
"See you 'round," he agreed, then I stepped into my apartment with one last wave before closing the door, and once we were on
opposite sides of the door, a huge smile spread on my face. After a few minutes of wondering why I was alone, I heard a knock on the door.
"It's me, Mr. Choi. There was a traffic buildup on my way here, I'm sorry I'm late," he explained through the door, making shuffling sounds like if he was shaking the water off his umbrella. I opened the door for him and greeted him, then finally, he started to go over the lesson for today.
***
Finally, class was over and Mr. Choi left. I exhaled. *My brain hurts. It's time for ice cream.* Much to my dismay, however, there was no more ice cream. Luckily, Yun had left me some money in case I wanted a snack while she was working. Apparently, today she was practicing the song.
I put on my shoes, and walked out the door, whistling. After locking up, I made my way to the store around the corner and literally bumped into Taehyun-ssi. Apparently he had the same idea, only sooner.
"Ice cream on a rainy day? What type of weirdo are you?," I joked, and he smiled once he noticed it was me he bumped into.
"Apparently the same type you are," he retorted with a playful grin. I snapped my fingers.
"Weren't you ignoring me earlier, when we were by the dumpster?," I asked him while my imaginary beard. His eyes widened for a second like he just remembered what I was talking about, then scratched his head and started walking away, whistling.
"Yah! Answer me, you jerk!," I demanded, walking faster to catch up with him. He still wouldn't look at me, so I snatched his ice cream and made a break for it.
"Thanks for the ice cream!," I called out to him, who was running after me to get his ice cream back. And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!
Just kidding. I slammed into Taemin-ssi by accident, and then we both ate it. Not the ice cream, though. I almost face-planted, but Taehyun-ssi caught me in time, while Taemin-ssi just landed on his .
"I'm so sorry! I'm so so sorry! I wasn't looking!," I apologized, bowing many times, but he shook his head and got back up with Taehyun-ssi's help.
"..... Wait.... What are you doing here?," I wondered, handing Taehyun-ssi's ice cream back to him. Taemin-ssi looked from me to Taehyun-ssi, then cocked an eyebrow questioningly.
"I came to ask you if you wanted to go dance some more with me, but I'm starting to think you're already busy with your friend here. Anyways, I'm heading back now. See ya," he answered quickly before turning back and leaving me there without being able to say bye.
Then my phone vibrated.
To: Alyss
Remember to use condoms, okay kids? ^^
Now I know why he walked away so fast.
To: Lee Taemin
-__-; I'll refrain from saying anything about that for now. Are you free in, like, an hour?
I turned back to Taehyun-ssi, who was just standing there looking at me, but with the tub of ice cream opened and was eating away at the corners. I grinned widely.
"Pig," I laughed, pointing at the ice cream all over the corners of his mouth. He quickly wiped it off, red-faced. After hanging out a while longer, we waved goodbye and I texted Taemin-ssi to know if I could come over and dance with him.
To: Alyss
Yeah, I'm done for today. Come on over. I'll wait for you around the same place.
With that, I sighed contently, and walked off.
As it appears, I'd written two additional chapters, but after those are posted, I do not intend to continue with this.
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