Min Jung

Rubbing my eyes as I made my way to the door with great annoyance, I opened the door, knowing who to expect. It was four in the morning and to make matters worse, it was a Saturday. It was the day where I got to wake up later of all days and then head to work. Yet, for the past few days, the sound of my doorbell ringing at four a.m. had always managed to disturb my sleep. Not that get much anyways, but it would've been much appreciated to be able to get a few extra minutes of shut eye rather than serving his royal pain in the-.

"You look terrible as always." 

Point taken. 

"I'm sure everybody looks great waking up at four in the morning to serve you. I'm sorry royal bast- master." I shoot back sarcastically, heading back to my room and throwing myself back on my bed. With his eyes narrowed at me, he followed me into my room as I sat up. "You didn't lock the door you idiot. What if someone-"

"Don't worry about it. For one, you have nothing valuable here. Second of all, who do you think you are? No one would want to touch you or even deal with you. Lastly," he paused and a smirk crossed his face as he leaned against the wall. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Well aren't you Mr. Humble-and-modest," I replied, once again using sarcasm. "Explain to me once again, why you always have to come here four in the morning. You might as well explain why you can't be normal and visit me at a appropriate time." Falling back down on my bed, he moves toward my bed as he bends down, his face hovering above of mine. He was attractive, but remembering the personality he carried inside was enough to set aside my so-called fantasies. With his hands placed on the bed, one hand beside the right side of my head and the other on the left.

"Well then, Ms. Normal, tell me when the appropriate time for you is." With his face close to mine, I racked my brain for an answer. Nothing came to mind and the next thing I knew, I was back to using sarcasm again.

"I don't know. Any other time where the sun isn't up and when the moon isn't up." I answered, pulling a pillow to cover my face. "I'm a very busy person you know."

"See, which is why I have to visit you four in the morning. You claim to be a very busy person during the day, so why not early in the morning?" He questions, standing up properly. I pull the pillow from my face and frown in his direction. "Or if you want, it could happen at night."

"Both of those times are very inconvenient for me! I need sleep too!" I protested, groaning a bit along the way.

"Well Ms. Busy, don't forget you don't have a choice." Pulling his phone out without hesitation, I snapped up into a sitting position and shot out of bed, taking his hands into mine. Forcing a sweet smile on my face, I ushered him to take a seat on the wobbly wooden chair of mine (I have a few of them ready to fall apart).

"So, let's get started." Brushing my hair behind my ear trying to maintain a happy and innocent image in front of him to keep him satisfied, his lips twitched. "So, what exactly do you want to learn about her?"

"Get dressed." Surprised by his words, I cocked my head to the side out of confusion. With that same look on his face, he stood up repeating it. "Get dressed, I need actually experience to learn." Hushed by him, I pushed him out of my room as he claimed I had nothing to look at in the first place and he wouldn't even want to look if I had paid him all the money in the world. With a scowl on my face, I pulled a pair of jeans and a t-shirt on before leaving my bedroom, causing him to stop me.

"You're going out, dressed like that?" He questioned in disbelief and it somehow made me feel insecure. Trying to gather the courage and act bold, I looked him in the eyes questioning him.

"What's wrong with this outfit? There's nothing wrong with it." I argued in defense, still intimidated by his stare. 

"You call that an outfit?" With a scoff, he took off his navy blue blazer and slung it over my shoulders commanding me to wear it. "I doubt you'd have any better clothing in that dingy box you call a wardrobe. Just wear this for today to keep me from being embarrassed." My face flushing red, I shot him a weak glare as he paid no heed to it. "Usually girls wear their best pieces of clothing on a date- but you... Remind me to never get angry at a girl who takes forever to look pretty. I'd rather be bored to death before the date instead of being embarrassed to death during the date."

"Well I'm sorry I don't have any clothes to your liking that won't embarrass you, sir. Not everyone has the time and money to dump in the toilet with what you guys call, shopping." I answer with an annoyed tone. "Besides- this isn't a date, which would explain why I didn’t' take an extra two hours to debate on what I should wear. I'm not dressing to impress you." Stalking over to my shoes, I slipped into a pair of converse as he stopped me.

"Your shoes are all worn out. Don't you have another pair of shoes?" Scanning my eyes over my other pairs of shoes, I found them all to be worn out too. With an audible sigh, he forces me out the door, handing me some breath mints. "You should've at least brushed your teeth before you left."

"I'm sorry, but my mind's a bit off because someone decided to take me out somewhere, four thirty in the morning. I didn't even get to wake up properly." I complained as he pulled me into the stairway and down the stairs. Forcing me into a black car despite my protests, he shot an order to the driver who sassed him for a while before driving the car.

"Mr. Hong, do you happen to have a brush anywhere in this car? The girl next to me looks like a barbarian." Biting my lip from his continuous insults I found intensified my glare at him before turning away to look out the car window, catching sight of the driver's eyes in the rearview mirror. With a twinkle in his eyes, he cleared his throat.

"Young master, for a moment there, I thought you were talking about yourself." Now, biting my lip to hold in my laughter, I turned to Hoon who had turned red from the comment as the driver continued. "I almost forgot that you were a man and the fact that you were civilized enough to treat beautiful young ladies such as the lady sitting next to you well. My apologies, young master."

"Mr. Hong-," Hoon growled as if he was giving him a warning.

"I know, I know. You'd fire me." The driver answered for him. "Too bad I wasn't hired by you." Letting a little sound of laughter escape from my mouth, my eyes met the driver's in the rearview mirror again as he shot me a smile with Hoon fuming next to me. "Here's the brush." The driver pulled the brush from a compartment in the front of the car, handing it blindly to Hoon as Hoon took it from him with a slight glare. Holding my hand out ready to receive the brush from him, he glanced at the brush before attempting to brush my hair for me, causing me to flinch under his touch. 

"What are you doing?" I questioned, inching away from him.

"Just stay still and turn around so I can brush it properly."

"Forget it. Let me brush it myself." Turning around and attempted to grab the brush from him, he pulled back.

"First of all, I don't trust you. Second of all, if you're planning to brush your hair like the usual I've seen," he paused for a moment to emphasis his point. "I'd rather help you. Besides, don't forget what I said. I learn best from experience."

"What does brushing my hair have anything to do with gaining experience?!" I questioned raising my voice as I turned around to face him. Forcing me to turn back around and roughly pulling me close to him, he lowered his voice, his mouth a few centimeters from my ear. 

"Lower your voice. The less people that know the better. I have a reputation you know."

"Well isn't that surprising? You have a reputation?" I scoffed. "I'm really learning more and more about you."

"Everyone has a reputation. Strictly speaking you have a wallflower reputation. Just like you want to stick to being a wallflower, I want to keep my reputation." His voice getting significantly lower. Biting my lips, I knew he was right. Maybe that was why we were both doing what we were. My reputation was why I was in the mess. But- it was more than that to me. It had to do with the fear- of ending up like..."Let's get off here." Snapping back to the scenery outside the car window, I realized we were parked right in front of a movie theater, causing me to scoff.

"A movie theater? Seriously?" Grabbing his wrist and taking a look at his watch, I pointed at the time. "It's five. No movie would be playing at this-" His hand covered my mouth as he used his other hand to pull me into the lobby of the movie theater. Surprisingly enough, there were staff in the movie theater already and he moved to the snack counter, getting a few snacks and drinks.

"Which movie do you want to watch?" He questioned, giving me some popcorn and dried squid to hold. 

"I don't want to watch-" He shot me a look and I paused. "I don't know, what do you recommend?" Taking a sip of the soda he had bought (and there was only one, clearly he didn't care for me- not that I cared) he shrugged.

"To be honest, I've watched all these movies before. It doesn't matter to me which movie we're watching anyhow. Just choose a random room and we'll watch whatever movie is playing." He suggested. With my shoulders deflated, I opened my mouth to question him.

"Do we really have-"

"Yes, so pick a room number or the picture goes viral." With that being said, I sent him a glare before dragging myself into the closest room and taking a seat in the front to be dragged to the center by him. "What are you doing?"

"The center has the best seats. The front can be a bit overwhelming," a look of doubt crossed my face as he caught on. "This is coming from someone who has experience."

"Alright, stop emphasizing experience. By the way, how long is this movie going to last?" I questioned, waiting for the commercials to finish up. I had work today and I wasn't planning on letting Sooyoung down. She had given me enough breaks recently that I've been feeling odd and out of it.

"Roughly around two hours. This movie is exactly two hours and thirty four minutes." Handing me so popcorn, I rejected it. I didn't want to eat popcorn early in the morning. 

"I can't believe the movie theater is open this early," I muttered, leaning against the seat. Feeling his eyes land on me in disbelief, I shot him a look. "What?"

"Nothing." He settled into his seat, staring straight ahead. "You always seem to forget that I own the movie theater." When the realization hit me, I bit my lip and focused on the screen as he pushed the bag of popcorn close to me. "Eat some. Knowing you, you would never take some time and eat breakfast after this. Too busy worrying about work."

"I'm fine. It's not like popcorn would keep me filled in any way." I answered, watching as the screen turned into a neon green and then transitioned into the beginning of the movie. 

"What should I do if my girlfriend doesn't want to do anything I plan for her?" His question startled me as I found myself nearly choking on my saliva before I realized what he had meant. He wasn't referring to me as his girlfriend. He was asking about the future. 

"Well then," observing him as he stared ahead, I gave him a sincere answer. I gave him the answer in which Jae Hee would've wanted. "Give her some thrill. If anything, I think everyone would like a bit of thrill if they don't like whatever they're currently doing. Know their limits and don't go all out unless they want to."

"Thrill? In that case, why don't we go to an amusement park tomorrow?" He suggested, pulling a large piece of dried squid from the pack he had bought earlier. Stuffing the piece in my mouth, I found myself glaring at him as his eyes seemed to gleam with mischief in the dark. "Is the dried squid enough thrill for you?"

"No, but it's dry enough," I replied coughing, not bothering to even make a witty comeback. Handing me his cup of soda, I continued to cough and push it away. "No thanks. It's yours."

"Yours and mine, it's all the same. Just drink it before you die. I don't want you dying in here and causing all the investments in this movie theater to drop." 

"Wow, your concern for me is real." Sarcastically taking the cup of soda from him I added, "if you're really planning on asking Jae Hee out, you better take out your wallet and buy two cups. Jae Hee isn't the type to drink from another's saliva. Oh wait-", rolling my eyes, I continued, "you don't have to pay do you? After all this movie theater is yours."

"Correction, it's my father's. I still do pay. I don't want to owe that old man a single cent." He refuted, the both of us not paying any attention to the movie. 

"Brilliant. Where exactly do you get the money if you don't work? Aren't you basically just taking money from your father to essentially- pay him?" It was my turn to question him and with my hand holding onto the large piece of dry squid, he grabbed my hand and pushed it towards my face, shoving the squid into my mouth.

"Just watch the movie and do what you're supposed to do."

Concentrating on the movie now, I turned to the screen trying to enjoy the movie. It wasn't often that I was able to come to movie theater. Actually, I've never gone to one in the past twelve years. However, as much as I was trying to enjoy it- I found myself falling asleep. I guess it was the side effect to waking up early and watching a boring movie. As sad as the movie was supposed to be, I knew of sadder incidents that the movie couldn't even be compared to. With a harsh shake, I woke up to see him watching me. 

"What?" I mumbled, taking the dried squid from my mouth. I was still eating the same piece of squid until I had fallen asleep. The movie had advanced forward to somewhere in the middle.

"Don't fall asleep here! Can you at least act like we're on a date? I'm sure you wouldn't fall asleep if you came here with your boyfriend." He nagged. "If you can get one that is."

"I'm sure Jae Hee would too if you brought her to the movies so early in the morning," I refuted, refusing to lose to him. "Assuming she'll be willing to go on a date with the likes of someone like you."

"Assuming she won't, I'll post your picture online. After all, you're the one that's supposed to help me." Slumping down into my seat due to the lack of effect my words had on him, I stared at the screen ahead, watching a bullying scene. 

The main character was pushed into the center of the cafeteria and food was thrown at her. Halfway through the attack, a boy snuck up behind her with a trashcan in hand and poured the trash all over. The teachers and staff stood aside, watching unwilling to help and get involved. Once the bullies had left the cafeteria as the bell had rung, the staff tossed a broom and mop at her, telling her to clean the mess up. The girl returned home and her parents asked her what had happened. Even her younger sister was concerned. She refused to tell them- rather she lied to them. She was just fine. 

"Eonni, what happened? Why do you have," the younger female paused and picked out an eggshell in her hair. "An egg shell in your hair?" The older female bent down to her younger sister's height and tossed the thin egg shell a glance, taking it from her hands.

"Do... Do you ever what to just crush everything and everyone who has hurt you?" was dry and her voice was raspy as a result. Her eyes were glossed over and she threw the egg shell on the floor, ready to stomp on it- when she realized her younger sister was in front of her. She softened. "Don't. Because even though you feel like they've hurt you- that you've done nothing wrong- just by crushing them- you'll be doing everything wrong. You'll be like them and you'll only have to clean up after the mess. You'll hurt the people you love and the people around you. If I crushed this egg shell now, I would have to clean it up later."

"Eonni, I'll clean it up for you- so you can crush it. If you want," the younger female paused. "I'll clean everything up for you eonni."

"Will you really?" The older female's eyes were brimmed with tears in which the younger could not understand why. Before the younger could ask, the older one continued. "I'm okay, but are you really willing to clean up after your eonni? Everything?"

"Of course! So eonni, don't cry! I'll even crush it for you!" Stomping on the egg shell and the picking up the tiny pieces of what was left, the younger beamed. "See, I've picked up the pieces and I'll throw them away. Eonni, don't worry about anything! I'll be there to clean things up for you."

"Thank you so much." The older female pulled the younger into a hug and the tears rolled down her cheeks. "I- I'm... very fortunate to have a younger sister like you. Eonni- will give up now. She'll leave everything up to you okay? Once I do, don't crush anymore. Just clean. That's all you have to do. I- I... don't want mom, dad, and you to be hurt. So just stay and clean, okay?"

"Okay!" The younger piped in, being rather stupid and oblivious.

"Do you know what eonni is talking about?" The older pulled away from the hug, the tears evident on her face as the younger wiped at them with her sleeves.

"Mhm. You want me to clean so mom and dad don't fall over the garbage and get hurt by them. I'll clean well so you too, won't get hurt. So don't worry about anything!" The younger responded as the older allowed a relieved smile to cross her face.

"Alright, let's throw away the egg shell now." Standing up, she led the younger female to a garbage can indicating for the egg shell to be thrown away. "Treat the garbage like your eonni and clean well, okay?" Dropping the egg shells into the garbage can, the younger tilted her head up to question her.

"How can I treat eonni like garbage?" The younger female was innocent, naive, and plain stupid. Just stupid.

"Eonni will only be a burden to you in the future."

"So throw the garbage away and never look back."

The main character died. I turned my head to look at Hoon, who seemed to be focused on the screen- his eyebrows furrowed together. Watching him was more interesting than the movie was. He seemed to be captivated by the movie and when the credits came up, I watched as he faced me with semi watery eyes, noticing my normal ones.

"Wasn't the movie sad?" He asked, pulling a pack of tissues out. "I even prepared for it. I thought this type of movie was enough to make a girl bawl her eyes out."

"What part of the movie was supposed to be sad?" I questioned. "I thought everything was just completely stupid."

"The main character died due to bullying. She was hurting and she had no one to turn to." He pointed out, causing me to scoff. 

"That's where you're wrong. She had her family to turn to. Her parents and her younger sister asked. She was just stupid to think she had no one to turn to," I shot back with a bit too much anger. That of course, added more fuel to the flames.

"Her parents didn't care. Her younger sister didn't understand. If they cared enough they would've persisted on and asked about what was happening and how she was feeling!" He growled. "But they didn't give a about her and clearly didn't give a about how she felt!"

"It wasn't about that! They didn't know. How were they supposed to help if they didn't know?!" I snapped back. "If she had told them everything- even if they didn't care- they could've done something about it! They would've!"

"Do you think she hasn't tried before?" The both of us were yelling at each other and we were lucky that there was no one else here but us. "Maybe she has but they just didn't care. They probably thought she was a child and her problems weren't important enough! Maybe they thought her problems could've been handled easily but it couldn't have! She was tired of fighting against the world and just wanted to give up. No one cared and no one bothered to understand!"

"Her parents did care! The younger sister would've understood if she had explained it to her! The whole family would've supported to her! But because of her-," before I could continue, Hoon had cut me off.

"No they wouldn't have." His voice was low as the entire room had turned dark as the movie had ended. "Adults always think that kids like to play rough and like to tattle on one another. They would've told her to it up and keep on going. No one would've helped her and I know it for a fact." My head began to spin as I processed his words.

"I know for a fact that as the younger sister- I would've helped." I choked these words out. My head was hurting too much and it was suffocating to be in this room suddenly. 

"No, you wouldn't have. The younger sister was just," he paused before he spit out, "plain stupid."

That was it.

"Yeah, you know what? Maybe she was stupid- but now she's gotten smarter and she's gotten more experience." With that being said, I got up and rushed out of the room.

My head was hurting and I felt like- everything was falling apart again.

The things I've tried so hard to clean,

The garbage I've tried to throw away,

They always managed to find a way back to me.

It was a burden that I wanted to let go off.

A/N: The chapter might seem a bit random- but I can assure you that it's not. This chapter should reveal a bit about the characters themselves and hopefully next chapter will be more interesting. :)