chapter ten
Of Bullets and Red Converse
Everything past in a blink of an eye. Without completely realizing it, the beautiful month of October was slowly coming to an end. It had been weeks since Chaekyung and Jimin’s little date too. However, whatever that has happened between the two stayed at that period, never brought up again in the current time. Chaekyung and Jimin had woken up feeling awkward and unsure about the event that had occurred between them but both were reluctant to open up the topic. So that was how the days passed. With each other pretending that the sparks never ignited between the two souls, continuing their daily lives normally. So as October inched to the end, the weather grew colder and the leaves started to change their colour. That beautiful 26th October morning, Chaekyung opened her bedroom window and was instantly greeted with a gush of strong, chilly breeze. She shivered a little and wrapped her arms around her frame, thankful that she had worn an oversized jacket before she got up. Chaekyung leaned out the window and inhaled deeply, smiling at the smell of autumn.
The leaves on the trees that grew around the mansion had changed from green to beautiful shades of orange, red and yellow. The wind carried the fallen leaves around, giving her poor old gardener a hard time. He had racked the leaves into piles but the wind had to play tricks on the old man, messing with his pile and increasing his work. Chaekyung refrained herself from giggling at the gardener’s misery when a large orange leaf blew into her open window. She caught it before it slapped into her face and smoothen the creases on the surface of the leaf gently, afraid that it might crumble in her hands. Her phone rang from on top of her dresser. Chaekyung placed the leaf under one of her books and went to answer the call.
“Hello there, sunshine. Good morning!” Sanjana chirped from the other end of the line.
Chaekyung smiled faintly, replying. “Good morning to you too, beautiful. So what’s up?”
Her friend then reminded her to bring along her laptop for her class presentation and not to forget, a whole loads of novels since Sanjana had recently got hooked on Cassandra Clare’s creations she started craving for The Mortal Instrument book set that Chaekyung owned. After making sure all that the girl wanted was in her school bag, she hummed an okay. “Oh and one more thing. The leaves are falling.” Sanjana mumbled.
“Dear, the leaves HAD been falling for almost the whole fall season.” Chaekyung rolled her eyes playfully and took her leaf in hand, twirling it between her fingers. Sanjana made a weird noise out of frustration and muttered something in her native language before clearing . “Girl, I have to make you watch Mohabbatein. Only then you’ll understand where I’m coming from here. Get your pendrive too so I can send you the movie.”
Chaekyung laughed. “What do you mean anyway now that you’ve mentioned?”
“Well, in the movie, the main roles who were university kids wrote their wishes for their girlfriends on a fallen leaf during Valentine’s Day. Because the boys were in this prestigious all-boys university under the care of a super strict principal, so the principal forbid all of the students from any kind of romance and those whom he catches falling in love would be expelled. Then, this teacher come along and changes everything, teaching the students especially the three boys to follow their hearts. So yeah, he taught the boys how to write their love on the leaves for their girlfriends. It’s a pretty cute story and every fall, I think of this movie.” Sanjana let out a dreamy sigh and Chaekyung could almost imagine the girl running around in her imaginary meadow in a beautiful sari, the breeze carried the leaves and enveloped her like a mini tornado.
Chaekyung took her uniform from inside her closet and dusted her cobalt blue blazer, smoothening the wrinkles on her skirt with the phone pressed between her ear and shoulder. “It’s so early and you’re already spazzing. Okay, I have to get ready now. See you in school, Sanju!” Both of them said their goodbyes and hung up.
The girl slipped into the showers and after freshening up had gotten out to put on her uniform, buttoning her inner shirt before slipping her arms into the blazer. At that moment, Chaekyung took one last glance at the leaf that lay on her study table. So leaves as a form of love letter? That’s really creative. Before she went down for breakfast, Chaekyung pulled out a black Sharpie from her pencil holder on her study and along with the leaf, she kept them well hidden inside a separate compartment in her backpack.
Lunch break was much more pleasant this time. The girls decided to have their meal outside in the garden because some food fight happened and everyone were pretty much joining in so they decided to seek refuge in the arms of nature. The four of them sat cross-legged on the grass with the blazers over their legs while eating.
“Ugh, this is disgusting. Guys, don’t eat that. Something tastes fishy.” Yoomi flicked the orange meat on her tray before setting it beside her on the grass. She literally tore open the opening of the orange carton and gulped the contents dry.
Sonia laughed at the other female’s reaction, swallowing the food that was in . “That’s because it’s fish and chips, silly. Of course it has to taste fishy! And it’s perfectly fine for me.” The other girls nodded in agreement but Yoomi still had a disgusted expression on her face. Sanjana pulled out a sandwich wrap from her pocket and waved it to Yoomi. “Here, have this. I originally plan on smuggling this into Physics class but you can take it.” Yoomi accepted the bread gratefully and ate heartily away.
Sonia her lips before looking around her friends. “So, what are you guys going to go as for this year’s Halloween Night?” The girls blinked at her, clearly unaware of any Halloween event. Yoomi however remembered instantly after Sonia had mentioned, leaving the other two girls in complete blur. Yoomi searched her blazer pocket before pulling out a folded poster and spread it out on the ground in the middle of them all. All their heads craned to catch a peek of what the poster read. The poster was a blend between the colour black and grey. The fonts had blood dripping from them and they were in striking red, illustrations of horrifying creatures that haunted your nightmares decorated the paper. Vampires, werewolves and witches, you name it. They were all on the poster.
“Halloween Night special. A night where all your nightmares come alive. Be sure to be dressed in your costumes. An Underworld King and Queen would be chosen so it’s dress to impress! 30th October night at Olympus International High Hall. The horror begins at 7pm. Get your tickets from Seo Nayoung Senior Class 1.” Sanjana read out loud, slurping noisily on her carton of apple juice.
Sonia clapped, her face lit with glee like a kid opening her present on Christmas morning. “Oh my God, we all should go! This would be Chaekyung’s first Halloween Night in Korea! We should, we should!” The girl grabbed onto Chaekyung’s forearm and shook it hard, bouncing in her spot. The glint of excitement in her puppy-like brown eyes were so hypnotizing that saying no would be like delivering a kick to an innocent puppy.
“Well.” Chaekyung glanced around the group and knew if she were to say no, she’d disappoint not only Sonia but her other two friends. How bad could it be? I mean…it’s not like there’s anything I would be doing anyway. “I guess I could ask my dad if I could go.” She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug but the others had already piled on her, hugging and thanking her for agreeing to come along. Chaekyung laughed at her bunch of beagles for friends. They never failed to keep her mood on hype. Going to a party with them must be everything but boring. So the girls immediately initiated a conversation about what they were going to wear as their costume for the night till the bell signalling the end of lunch rang in a distance.
Jimin was busy jotting down some notes that he missed during class when a flyer slapped against his open page. The hand that held down the paper drummed to an inaudible beat before tracing a line across the huge title of the poster. Jimin looked up at his pal, Taehyung before raising his eyebrows. “What is this?” He questioned the male in a cool tone. Taehyung pulled out the chair across Jimin and turned it around so he had his arms balanced on the back of the chair with his legs spread on either sides of the seat. “Oh, come on Jimin. You can’t read already?”
The said boy threw him a death glare. “Idiot. I mean what’s the purpose of showing me a Halloween Night poster?”
Hoseok came along and headlocked the latter, cackling like Snow White’s evil Queen stepmother-turned-witch. “Oh come on, man! You’re the idiot here. What else would we want you to do? We want you to come with us. Be a part of the gang! How about that? I have these really cool friends in Hongdae and we can all get together or something. Really!”
Jimin had a bored look on his face as he stared back at them. “I’m not going.” With that, he pushed off the poster from his book and brought it up to cover his face as he pretended to be immersed in his notes so they would go away. Of course, no isn’t in Taehyung’s dictionary because he grabbed hold of the spine of Jimin’s book and tug it away in a hard pull before sending the book flying out of the window. Jimin stood up in defence but Taehyung just shoved him back into his chair and lifted his knee, pressing it against the boy’s chest. Jimin coughed hard and pushed the leg away from him. “What the hell?! That was SO not necessary.”
“It’s either you go with us or I’ll burn your notes along with your whole backpack.” Jimin only realized now that his friend had a Daegu accent as Taehyung pierced his soul with his intense glare. Being Jimin, he wasn’t flustered from the threat but matched up to his gaze. The ice in his eyes only made him look scarier than he already is. “Try me. I bet on my life you won’t even come close to doing so.”
Instantly the latter broke into his signature cheeky grin and laid both his hands onto Jimin’s shoulder, cooling him down before running off to grab the notebook he had threw out. “Come on, you have got to come with us. You’re like one of us now! Plus, I’m sure your girlfriend is going too.” Taehyung threw a casual grin at the boy as he handed him back him notebook.
“My…girlfriend?” Jimin stared blankly at his friends. “Who is my—wait, are you referring to Chaekyung?” At the mention of the girl’s name, Taehyung and Hoseok immediately high fived each other, laughing as they nodded back. “So she is your girlfriend!” Hoseok reached out to punch him playfully on his arm, wiggling his eyebrows.
“How can she not be his girlfriend after that date. Man, you should have seen those two. They look so cute together!” Taehyung made googly eyes and swayed his hips in a girly manner, batting his eyelashes. Hoseok wrinkled his nose in disgust, throwing a fake punch across Taehyung’s jaw to shut him up. Jimin’s ear perked up at the very second he heard the word ‘date’. “Wait…what date are you talking about?” Immediately, Taehyung and Hoseok froze. They looked at each other, unaware that they had blown their little secret. Not to mention the girls’ secret too.
“Uh…I gotta run! Talk to you later!” Before Jimin could get a hold of Hosoek’s collar, the boy had dashed off and out of the classroom, leaving a dumbfounded Taehyung to face the wrath of Park Jimin. Like it or not, he had been forced to spit out the details he and Sonia had saw (more like stalked) on their little trip out to the amusement park and Han River.
To his surprise, Jimin wasn’t half as mad as he expected him to be. Instead, he appeared rather sullen about the reminder of that day. The sigh he let out was enough for Taehyung to summarize Jimin and Chaekyung’s current relationship: No progress at all. Taehyung came up to his pal and slung a lazy arm across the back of his chair. “Look, if you like her, just tell her. I doubt that she doesn’t like you back. I mean, you are just fine. You have the looks, the skills and the personality of a Prince Charming. You just lack in height, that’s all.” Jimin growled at the last part, making Taehyung chuckle nervously. “Well, maybe we can cut out the last fact.” Jimin didn’t quit his glaring though as the boy continued pointing out his ‘perfect’ sides.
“It’s not easy, Taehyung. Our situation is more complicated than that.” Jimin rubbed a hand over his eyes before dropping his gaze to the floor.
Taehyung creased his eyebrows and asked, “What? Don’t tell me you like guys or something.”
Just when Jimin was about to strangle the life out of him, the bell rang. Taehyung had the victory smile on his face as he fixed his blazer and jumped over a table and landed in his seat behind Jimin. Before the teacher came in, he managed to reach out and pat the latter on the shoulder. “Listen, buddy. All you need is to be courageous enough to step up and ask her. Don’t be afraid to take risks,” whispered Taehyung as he did a double thumbs up for his friend. When the teacher entered and proceed with the lessons, Jimin wasn’t paying full attention on her class. All he could think of that point was ways on asking the heiress if she would so kind enough be her bodyguard’s date for a Halloween Night special.
That night, Chaekyung bubbled all the courage she could summon in herself to knock on her father’s study doors. When she heard her father calling from inside, she pushed the heavy oak doors wide enough so she could slip inside. She closed it behind her with a click and walked up to her father’s table. He was flipping through a heap of files that laid open on his table. The coffee that Dahee had made for her father especially when he had overnight work from office still sat on the table, untouched. The steam was long gone, warm coffee aroma drifted and filled every space between the air particles in the study. Mr Moon looked up at his daughter when he heard her clear , pulling his attention away from his work. He wore on a fatherly smile, something Chaekyung loved but hardly could see, as he beckon her closer and made her sit in front of him. “My jewel. What a sudden visit. Anything I could do for you?” He pushed his files aside and made room for himself to reach out and clasp his rough hands over his daughter’s.
“You look as if you’ve aged so much, Father. Is something troubling you?” Chaekyung searched her father’s eyes and his face, noticing the wrinkles and dark circles that were never before on her father’s handsome face. The old man laughed, “Just some slight issues. The shareholders in the company are getting out of hand and to settle this, I need to consult the other board of directors. Not to mention how some aren’t too cooperative. This is why sometimes a pretty face and an intelligent lady like you are needed by her old man’s side.” He reached out to caress his daughter’s cheek. Chaekyung lean into her father’s touch and smiled back softly. “Once I’m all done with my studies, I promise to help whatever I can with the company. But don’t forget, Mother had already called dibs on me to take over Glitterix.” Chaekyung reminded her father in a playful tone before laughing together with her father.
“So, Chaekyung. What’s the purpose of you coming here? I’m sure you don’t just want to see how your old man is doing.” Chaekyung frowned a little at her father’s doubt in her care for him before pulling out a ticket and also the poster she got from the senior Nayoung about the Halloween Night. “It’s a school party and my friends asked if I can go. I got the ticket in advance since she said they were selling like hot cakes so she didn’t want me to be upset if I can’t get one tomorrow.” Mr Moon pulled the poster closer to examine the details on it, pushing his glasses up his nose properly to see better. Chaekyung kept her fingers crossed on her lap as she waited for his answer. The man took his own sweet time in admiring the decorations, unaware that his daughter was thumping her feet impatiently against the carpet under the table. When he looked up at her, Chaekyung quickly added in a pitiful tone. “But if your answer is no… I will sell back the ticket and just stay home.”
Mr Moon could see how his daughter wanted to go so bad. He noticed how she was biting on her lower lip habitually, an act that showed how nervous she way which was similar to his wife. He took off his glasses and set them down on the table. Slowly, his lips curled into a perfect smile before nodding once. “Fine, you can go to this party.” Chaekyung had wanted to jump with joy and throw confetti in the air when her father agreed until he raised his hand and paused her in mid-cheer.
“Provided you take Park Jimin along with you.” He spoke his condition loud and clear. The girl’s face grew in a faint shade of pink, shaking her head. Her father narrowed his eyes at his daughter, tapping his pen on the ticket and the poster. “Do you want to go or not?” Sighing in defeat, she knew where this was going and had to nod in the end.
“Good.” Mr Moon rubbed his hands together and finally grabbed the holder of the coffee cup, gulping in almost half of the cup before setting it down softly. “I won’t want you unsupervised for this event which is why I want you to take your bodyguard along with you. Besides, that boy needs to loosen up a bit. Since his father’s death, he had never left my side and yours. So I want him to mingle with kids around his age and experience things that he had missed out for all his years after being home schooled.”
Chaekyung was sent out of the room after that to leave her father to settle his work. With a nervous heart, she made her way up the steps and changed into a wool sweater before stepping out into her balcony.
The cold night breeze brushed against her cheeks and sent the tingles down her spine. The cold was tolerable but she couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of asking a guy out to a party. Isn’t it a guy’s place to do the asking? She questioned herself as she approached Jimin’s balcony. She wasn’t close enough to knock on his sliding door so she had to use her feather duster stick to tap against the glass. After tapping and calling out to him a couple of times, he finally drew back the curtains and widen his eyes when he saw the girl out in the cold. He pushed open the door and walked out to stand before her in his balcony. “What in Heaven’s name are you doing outside the cold? Do you want to fall sick or something?”
Before he could nag her on, she quickly pulled out something she had been keeping inside sweater. The leaf that had flown in her room that morning, now with black letters scribbled on the surface with black Sharpie. She waved the leaf at him, indirectly asking him to take it. Her eyes were elsewhere since she didn’t want to see his reaction after presenting him with a leaf to ask him to the Halloween Night. The boy flipped the leaf around and read the words she had carefully written on the leaf. Though his expression was stone hard but his insides melted in an instant. Just seeing her outside with the feather duster in hand made his heart beat like a thousand bongos. Now, with her asking him to the Halloween Night by writing it on beautiful autumn leaf made him hear violins playing in the distance. ‘Park Jimin, would you accompany me to the Halloween Night?’ Simply yet enough to make his mind go fuzzy. His lips crafted into a teasing grin as he waved the leaf slightly to her. “What a cute way of asking me to be your date. Where did you learn this trick?”
Chaekyung blushed so hard she started to look like a tomato. She bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from cursing at him for pointing that out. “Father said I could only go if I were to bring you along. Don’t flatter yourself too much. Now if you think it’s so funny, give the leaf back and pretend this never happened. I’ll just sell back my ticket.” She couldn’t control her harsh tone as she tried to reach out for the leaf in his hand.
He raised it above his head just in time before she could pull on it but that was when she lost her balance and almost fell, hitting her forehead against the railing. She let out a yelp as Jimin’s hands caught her shoulders and pushed her back up to her feet. When he met her pretty blue eyes, his heart skip. She was using the puppy eyes on him again. Every time she wanted something from him, she’d do this even when she’s mad. Moon Chaekyung, what are you doing to me… Slowly, he smiled at her before slipping the leaf carefully into his sweats pocket. “You don’t have to sell back your ticket. I’ll go with you, of course. It is after all my duty to watch out for you.”
At that, Chaekyung bounced on her tiptoes and squealed like a happy kiddo. She immediately threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug despite the slight distance between them from the balcony railings. She thanked him multiple times as she twirled around before saying her goodnight and skipped into her bedroom. Jimin was left all alone outside again. The silence of the night enveloped him in a chilly but comforting embrace. He grinned to himself at the memory of her hugging him ever so naturally. To see that smile on her face, he would give anything in the world. Because when she’s happy, I’m happy. When she’s sad, then so am I. To be her bodyguard is to be the closest person to her. To be a part of her…
“I wished I had been the first to ask you out though, princess.” He mumbled to himself soft enough to let the words dissolve in the air. Now all that’s left that troubles me is what I should wear for Halloween Night.
so there you have it. I know it's going to be Christmas yet I'm still writing about Halloween. I'm super sorry but I would try my best to update this story as quick as possible so I can make it for a Chirstmas special.~ BTW to those who want to take up a new challenge and watch a new type of movie, I'm suggesting Mohabbatein! it's a Bollywood movie starring Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai along. It's romantic and fun! And to those readers who went to THE RED BULLET you guys are so lucky i envy you-- T.T A y Jimin for you all!
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