chapter four
Of Bullets and Red Converse
Everything seemed to look pretty in her eyes now. The flowers in her garden glowed under the beautiful moonlight from the full moon in the starry night skies. The breeze blew coolly but it didn’t mess around with the young lady’s hair unlike any other days before that. Perfect. Everything seems perfect right now. It felt as if she had stepped foot into a magical place, where only Prince Charming and herself existed.
It’s entirely weird to have imagine such things as she walked the gardens with Junhyeon by her side, hands behind his back. He walked with grace, so gentleman-like that it made Chaekyung feel incredibly insecure with herself. He looked as if he received How To Be A Prince 101 lessons based on how he carried himself. Chaekyung tried her best to monitor her steps, getting into the best Anne Hathaway she could pull off. Her father had sent both of them off into the garden for a night stroll while the elders talk about their future projects collaboration. Junhyeon was a total gentleman all the way. He even offered her his jacket as soon as she stepped out of the house and into the yard. They kept small conversations, mainly circulating around her life in the States and how she finds Korea so far. It wasn’t awkward since he had a good sense of humour and he definitely had the ice breaker in him.
“Chaekyung-ssi, I hope you won’t mind me asking this. Pardon me if I come across rude for asking though.” Junhyeon took her hand in his and walked them both to a nearby wooden bench in her garden. The spot looked perfect, with the moonlight as their personal spotlight. Chaekyung shook her head with a smile, keeping quietly and waited for him to proceed with his question.
Junhyeon cleared his throat a bit and ran his fingers through his blonde hair, “Is that Park Jimin guy your boyfriend?”
Chaekyung choked on her saliva. She covered with a hand over her lips as she blinked at him. He’s joking right? But the hint in his eyes showed no teasing or humour, just plain seriousness.
“No, we’re not dating. Not even close to that,” she assured with a single nod. To her surprise, the latter let go of the breath that he was holding on to before breaking into one of his heart throbbing smiles.
“Well,” Junhyeon brought up his hand, brushing his fingers against Chaekyung’s hairline slowly. “Since you’re available, can I co— Ouch!”
The lad retracted his hand in a flash, rubbing the back of it and hissed. Chaekyung gasped and reached out to blow at the bruise. Apparently a pebble had hit him hard out of nowhere. Chaekyung picked the shiny white stone and looked at it for a moment. A slight smile crept on her face as she spun around to glance at bushes around them. No one was in sight. Whatever—more like whoever— it was, Chaekyung knew how to deal with it.
“You must have a guardian angel around you, little Missy.” Junhyeon let out a forced chuckle, still cradling his hand. Chaekyung bowed apologetically and guided him back into the house. “I’ll have that hand tended to. I hope your father won’t kill me for injuring his only son.” Chaekyung hung her head low only to have a hand tugging on her chin, making her look back up into those mysterious dark eyes. Junhyeon’s platinum hair fell into his eyes as he gazed down at her.
“I won’t allow that. A beautiful princess should always have a knight in shining armour right? I’d play that knight role for you.” The words sent a tingle down her spine. He walked into the house by himself, leaving the girl as awestruck as ever. I’d play that knight role for you. The only line that played in her mind right now sounded so right, but also so wrong. Her heart was pushing those words out her head, denying every ounce of the meaning behind it.
“But…the problem is…I already have my knight in shining armour.” Her voice came out as a mere whisper, the wind carrying those true confession into the quiet moonlighted night.
Jimin grinded his teeth while drilling holes through the back of Junhyeon’s head. The Lees were leaving so everyone stood at the doorstep to see them off. Mr. Moon had his hands on his daughter’s shoulder while smiling at his new business partner. Chaekyung and Junhyeon had a short eye contact before breaking into individual signature smiles. A glint of sadness flickered in the girl’s eyes as she waved at the leaving Chevrolet Camaro. The boy inside returned her wave, even blowing her a kiss before the car went out the driveway and out of sight.
“Come on now, Chaekyung. Get changed and head to bed soon.” Her father patted her on the shoulder before heading inside. The girl still had her eyes on the driveway, silently hoping her prince would come back and take her breath away once again. But he didn’t. Instead, she felt a sharp tug on her elbow and snapped back her head.
“Dream on. Pretty Boy isn’t coming back. Now get inside before you freeze to death.” Jimin’s tone was rather cold and stern, however his eyes swirled with concern. She threw one last look outside before entering the warm house. The maids were out of sight and so was her father. Jimin was going on and on about how he didn’t like Junhyeon, even to the point of hating the way he blinks. Chaekyung only chuckled and shrugged, humouring his nonsense dissing. When she suddenly turned around to face the latter, he kept quiet figuring she was going to flick him on the forehead or slap his arm like how she always did. Instead, she took his hand in hers and opened his palm. She opened her clenched left fist to reveal a small pebble before placing it on Jimin’s palm. His bewildered expression melted into one of shock and fluster.
Chaekyung let out a Yzma-like evil laugh, “Finally! I got you! It’s so rare to see you with such expression, Mr. Bodyguard!”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about. What is a pebble supposed to mean?” He stammered on his words but tried his best to remain as calm as possible.
“I know you threw the stone. I know you were hiding behind the rose bushes,” she tapped the pebble in his open palm. “This pebbles are only found at our rose bushes.”
Jimin kept mute, deciding to play the innocent little lamb with his baffled expression that he pulled off failingly. Chaekyung’s lips slowly curled into a soft smile, blue eyes shining as they looked straight at Jimin. She folded Jimin’s palm, closing the pebble in his hand. Her eyes were now staring at her feet. “And this is why I’m content with having you as my knight in shining armour. You do the job better.” Those words were so soft that Jimin had to sharpen his hearing senses to catch the words. Before he could ask for a verification on what he heard, the young lady walked up the steps and dashed for her room. Jimin had chased after her but the hard wooden door slammed right in his face. He pouted but fought the urge to knock on her door. Slowly he shuffled away to his room.
“Oh my god what did you just say, Moon Chaekyung?!” She knocked her temple with her small fists, mentally cursing at herself. The blush on her cheeks were still visible even without any light source in her room but the moonlight that sipped through her curtains. She pushed herself from leaning against the door and dragged her feet to the balcony. She drew back the curtains and unlocked the glass sliding door, letting the cool night breeze tousle her hair. Chaekyung inhaled deeply and smelled fresh grass. It must have drizzled a bit. The smell excited her and before she knew it, she had ran out to the railing and stood out there in the night. Her view was perfect, the moon just in front of her, round and bright. The dark skies glittered with billions of stars. Slowly, she sat on the tiled floor of her balcony and looked up, enjoying her view.
The sound of the glass door sliding was heard. Chaekyung turned her head and saw Jimin, who was at his balcony beside hers. Both blinked at each other and the scene from earlier played in their minds. Chaekyung felt her cheeks burn so she drew her legs up and buried her face between her knees. Jimin was in his hoodie and track pants, hair fluffed and eyes eyeliner-free. Still he looks so handsome. I hate myself for having such a weak heart. Chaekyung thought to herself with her head still buried. “So, are you going to just ignore me or can I join you out here?” Chaekyung looked up from her knees and glance at Jimin. With a hesitate nod from her, the male made his way out to his balcony and sat down. They weren’t too far apart, just a few feet away. The only thing that separated them was the railings and that gap in between.
“I never see you come out here.” Jimin was first to break the silence.
Chaekyung smiled to herself as she hugged her legs and said, “Yeah. After all, I arrived not too long ago. My room has so much to be done, unpacking and decorating.”
“I did offer you help but you didn’t want to…”
Chaekyung narrowed her eyes at him before threatening to throw a punch at him. Jimin, being his usual playful self, stuck out his tongue and provoked her to do so. Both of them were laughing and making funny faces at each other when suddenly Chaekyung realized that she had moved much closer to his balcony already. Jimin too noticed how his had magically moved itself closer to the railing that separated their balconies. Both dropped into a silent state once again, staring right into each other’s eyes. This time, Chaekyung decided to voice out first and went with another tease. “Hello there, Park Jimin. How are you doing in your cage?”
The latter frowned at her but laughed anyway as he threw a comeback, “Just fine. How about you, Chae-thug?”
“Who’re you calling thug?” Chaekyung glared at him, folding her arms across her chest. Jimin then pointed to her siting posture, her right leg pulled up and left leg folded along with that messy brown waves and the hunch. Chaekyung took off her bunny slippers and stretched her arm through the railing gaps in attempt to hit him with it but Jimin dodged it easily, mocking her with his hyena laugh. Both were then back to laughing and bringing up the old days when suddenly Jimin said, “You called me your knight in shining armour earlier. Right?”
Chaekyung tensed and again, she felt her face burn from the memory. She was so close to denying it but when she looked at him behind the railings, she caught the smile on his face. It was the type where you would wear on when you remember a bittersweet memory from the past. Because that’s exactly what it was. The past. The day she left.
“Jimin oppa!” A 6-year-old Chaekyung called out to 9 years old Jimin. Her face was stained with tear trails and she was panting from running all the way. Jimin turn to look over his shoulder from a painting he was working on and gasped when a pair of arms wrapped itself around his neck. The girl started to cry again, this time even louder. She buried her face in his shoulder, her breath tickling his neck. He twisted his body and faced the little girl, enveloping her in his embrace. She was crying nonstop. It was a rare sight to see her cry. Someone who always smiled and laughed every second of her life was now choking on her tears. Jimin pulled himself back and looked down at her face. Her icy blue eyes were now bloodshot red, tears swirling in them and trickled down her flushed cheeks. Snot was coming out of her nose which made Jimin smile as he took out his handkerchief in his jeans pocket, handing it out to her.
Chaekyung took it and blew her nose hard. But her crying still didn’t quieten down one bit. Jimin bended his knees and matched her eye level. “What’s wrong, my princess? Why are you crying?” Chaekyung choked on her tears, wiping them off her cheeks as new ones rolled down the wet trails again. She didn’t reply him but instead, she grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the garden. They ran to a huge oak tree at the end of the garden before Chaekyung stopped. She faced Jimin once again and like earlier, threw her arms around his waist. His heart clenched. The feeling wasn’t good. Something was wrong, he thought. Before he could ask again, Chaekyung spoke. And what she said next made his heart dropped.
“Father said he’s sending me away. To the States. He’s sending me to my mom. Today!”
Jimin pulled away from the hug. He couldn’t process what she was saying. His mind went blank. His eyes burned and his vision blurred. “Why so sudden? You haven’t even packed.” His voice croaked as he spoke. Chaekyung shrugged and shook her head, her crying grew even louder at the sight of Jimin crying as well. When she looked up, he saw how the spark in her blue eyes were missing. The usual puppy eyes were not visible as it was replaced with the glassy thin ice.
“Oppa, please promise me something?”
Jimin curled a strand of her medium length brown hair behind her ear and wore on a forced smile. “Anything.”
“You’ll always be my knight in shining armour. Right?” she whispered. This time, Jimin’s smile melted into a genuine one. His signature smile where his eyes would form crescent moons, that was the smile he had on. “Always.” He muttered softly and hugged the small girl carefully. Suddenly, footsteps were heard behind them. Jimin opened his eyes and saw the older bodyguards coming their way. Chaekyung too turned at the sound and when she saw who was coming, she screamed and clutched onto Jimin’s shirt desperately as if her life depended on him.
“Young Miss Chaekyung, you’ll be missing your flight. Your father is waiting at the airport already. Now if you’d just come along…” The men in black reached out to take her hand but Chaekyung let out one of her dolphin screams and grabbed onto Jimin’s shirt. Jimin didn’t know what to do so he followed his heart. He wrapped his arms around the younger protectively, preventing the guards from taking her away. As much as the guards tried to coax her into following them, she didn’t budge from her spot and didn’t loosen her grip one bit from Jimin. One of the guard’s phone rang and he took the call. He glanced at the girl from time to time as he mumbled into the speaker. After he had finished his call, he stuffed the phone into his pocket. Then, he rolled up his sleeves and advanced towards the little girl.
“Forgive me, Miss Chaekyung but this is your father’s orders.” And he wrapped his arms around the little girl’s waist before pulling her away by force. She screamed and thrash her arms and legs in the air, desperately clinging onto the boy’s arm. Jimin tried his best to pull her away from the man but the other guard held him back, grabbing onto his other arm. Thunder rattled the grounds and soon, a downpour came. The rain grew heavier as the struggles between Jimin and Chaekyung against the guards. Now only one of Chaekyung’s arm was left to be freed. Her grip was so strong it surprised the guards. The one holding onto Chaekyung was careful to not bruise the young girl but if he let her go, she’ll run away again. He pulled with all his might, hoping their hands would unclasp. Jimin started to cry aloud now.
“Jimin oppa! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!”
Their hands grew slippery from the rain. Slowly, she started to slip. Jimin tried to grab onto her but the friction was impossible in such weather. And the horror happened. Her hand came free. The guard then carried the girl away. She screamed and kicked and punched the guard’s back, calling out to the young boy’s name. He called out to her, screaming to the top of his lungs. He had no choice but to bite on the guard that held him by the hand and took off when he loosen his grip around Jimin’s shoulder. He was too late though. When he skidded at the driveway, he saw Chaekyung being strapped to the seat with the seatbelt and a guard was sitting next to her to pin her down. The white Hyundai drove off before Jimin could catch up. He was about to run after the car but a hand held him back. He looked up and saw his father. The old man only shook his head and that was enough to make Jimin cry again. He hugged his father’s leg and begged him to stop the car but Mr. Park stood firm, unfazed by his son’s loud crying. The thunder and rain drowned the little boy’s cries as he called out to the long gone girl. A part of his heart ripped and tore, shredded into a million pieces. The boy then dropped to the ground, fingers digging into the grass beneath his feet. Mr. Park couldn’t take it anymore and bend down to take his son in his arms, soothing him in a hushed voice. All Jimin heard was, “She’ll be back. Just wait. She will.” And just like that, 10 years went by.
Chaekyung wiped the tears that suddenly trickled down her cheeks. The memory had wounded her mentally. Every time she thought about the boy she had left in Korea, it would make her cry to sleep. It was hard to live the years in the States with her mother knowing her knight was left behind. She remembered him calling out to her as clear as day. She would hear his voice in the wind when she walked about in the garden back in her mother’s, but when she turned he was never there. 10 years and she never forgotten him. The day she came back was the day she felt alive again. Her life began her and would end here, that’s what she thought. The flashbacks resided back in her mind. Slowly, she looked beside her and saw Jimin spacing out. His eyes sparkled with tears but none of them came out. She knew he was thinking about the same event.
Softly, she asked. “Jimin, you’ll always be my knight in shining armour. Right?”
The said boy was startled by her question. He remembered the last time he answered, she was taken away. He didn’t want the same thing to happen so he kept quiet, refusing to answer. Chaekyung bit her lower lip, regretting her words instantly. To cover up the embarrassment, she stood up and dusted her dress. Goosebumps crept on her arms so she used it as an excuse to head inside.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Jimin. Goodnight.” She waved to the male who still sat outside his balcony and shut the sliding door, pulling the curtains close. Jimin stared at the closed doors to her room. Something tugged at his heart, probably guilt from not replying. I can’t risk seeing you being taken away again. I won’t let history repeat. Goodnight, Moon Chaekyung.
Classes went on as usual. It was Chaekyung’s second day at Olympus International High School and things were slowly falling into place. People already knew who she was and many were very friendly though some still kept their distance. Mathematics ended as soon as the bell rang through the school. Chaekyung wore on a happy smile, folding her quiz neatly in her bag and praised herself for at least scoring well for the test. Yoomi jumped to her side and hooked an arm around her neck. “Well, well. Congratulations on your quiz! You must have studied hard to get such a grade.” Chaekyung smiled a bit, lifting her shoulders in a shrugging manner. She scanned through her schedule for the next class. Physical Education, it read. The girl groaned aloud before frustratingly stuffing the file back into her bag. Yoomi patted her back sympathetically but couldn’t hide back her own happy smile.
“You must like PE huh, Miss Hyper?” Chaekyung mumbled lazily. Yoomi nodded in reply before twirling in her spot, clapping excitedly.
“I wonder what we’ll be doing today! Woo, I hope we get netball. Or dodgeball!” Her enthusiasm only made Chaekyung feel worse. The young heiress at sports, be it running or playing. She always preferred sitting under a tree and read her vampire novels than join the track team or netball team. Yoomi clucked her tongue at the sudden mood drop she saw in her friend, maneuvering her to their locker rooms to change.
Changing into their sport wear which consist of a simple cobalt blue tee with their school logo printed on the front right and a pair of shorts, the two girls entered the gym. Students were standing in groups, talking and doing some warmups. The atmosphere was enough to lower Chaekyung’s already low self-esteem. The girls looked tan and well built, pretty too not to leave that aside. Their tees looked specially fit to the body, highlighting their toned body and curves. Chaekyung subconsciously brought her hand up to her chest, feeling small among the beautiful athletic girls. At that moment, two bright souls entered the gym and ran to Yoomi’s and Chaekyung’s sides. Sanjana and Sonia looked pretty good themselves, especially Sanjana. Sonia encircled her arm around Chaekyung’s shoulder and questioned, “So I’m guessing you’re not the sporty type of girl huh?”
“How did you know? Is my body that bad?” Chaekyung blurted.
Sonia shook her head in denial, reaching out to pinch the female’s cheek. Chaekyung yelped a bit but cracked into a small laugh as she pried the Chinese girl’s fingers off. Sonia crinkled her nose and said, “Your body is fine, girl! But if your face gets any more sour, I swear I’d stuff you with ice cream the second we’re done with PE.”
Chaekyung rolled her eyes playfully and turned to Sanjana who was bouncing on her toes, imitating a skipping rope action. “I’m sensing you’re into PE as much as Yoomi then, Sanju?” Sanjana paused from her warmup and chuckled, shaking her head a bit. “If you count dancing as a sport then sure! I’ve never showed much interest in anything other than dancing. It’s my passion.” The girl then demonstrated a modern hip hop dance in front of her, leaving her gaping at how graceful and powerful Sanjana looked. The energy just flowed out of her body like liquid and Chaekyung actually felt like joining in the dance. Sonia was cheering—more like howling— with her hands moving up and down in the air while chanting, “Go Sanju! Go Sanju!” Her final move was a ballerina twirl and stopped in beat with the music only she could hear up in her head. The whole gym cheered, having their attentions on the dancing female earlier thanks to Sonia, as Sanjana came to an end with her mini performance.
“Wow, Sanju. I’d love to have you show me that later during our practice.” A voice came up behind them, startling Sanjana in particular.
Hoseok was grinning as he did a double thumbs up for our Sanju. The girl wore on a shy smile as she dipped into a deep bow. “Of course, Hoseok-ssi. I’d be glad to.” And just like that, the two dancers started talking about some music and went on about some routine changes. Sonia was just about to begin a random conversation between Chaekyung and Yoomi when someone slammed right into her back, almost having her fall face first in the middle of the gym.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry the—. Hey, Sonia! I was looking all over for you.” Taehyung greeted her in his signature square-ish smile, teeth flashing proud. A hiss escaped the said girl’s lips and she turned around to ignore the latter. Taehyung pouted and reached out to tug Sonia’s tee sleeve, attempting aegyo once again to melt her heart. “Sonia-ah, don’t be mad at me anymore. I didn’t eat the cookies on purpose. They looked too tempting as if they were calling out to me…” He did a beckoning motion, humming a weird alien summoning tone under his breath which ended with another flicking on the forehead by Sonia. However, she didn’t look too mad though based on how she was laughing all over again. At the contrary, Chaekyung remained quiet with her icy blue eyes scanning through the sea of students, looking out for one person. He was nowhere to be seen. Didn’t Father say he had almost every class similar to mine? Does PE count?
“Looking for me, Moon-derella?” Jimin popped out of nowhere. Chaekyung jumped as she brought a hand up to her accelerating heart. She silently cursed under her breath before punching the boy hard on the arm, making him wince at the force. “I’ll take that as a yes then,” he teased while rubbing his arm up and down. Before Chakyung could say anything back, a man in a baseball hat and sports attire entered the gym. He had a silver whistle dangling from his neck and a clipboard in hand. His biceps were rock hard from Chaekyung’s view, making her shudder at the horrifying images that played in her mind with her gym teacher being one of the WWF fighters punching people and knocking out their teeth with much force.
“Checking out our gym teacher already, little ert? I have them too okay.” Jimin started flexing in front of Chaekyung’s face. The girl tried hard to ignore him, however failing miserably when at one point she turn to stare at his biceps and finding them looking rather attractive. Snap out of it, Moon Chaekyung! She mentally slapped herself across the face.
Her gym teacher scanned the crowd of students before him, tapping a pen against his clipboard. Then he dragged the pen across the clipboard, searching for something before looking back at the crowd. “Moon Chaekyung and Park Jimin, please come up front.” The two froze at their spots before going up front to the teacher. He eyed the two new students as they stood straight in front of him. He went back to his clipboard and flipped through some papers before yelling out, “10 laps around the gym now!”
Chaekyung almost fainted at the number he gave and blurted, “What?! 10?”
The teacher, or Coach Jung based on his nametag, snapped up from his clipboard. “You’re disobeying me now, Miss Moon? 10 laps. NOW!” He blew the whistle in her face, sending her running off into the first lap around. The other students were instructed to do their regular warmups with Yoomi’s guidance in the centre of the circle. She occasionally stole glances at Chaekyung who had only completed 4 laps and looked as if she was ready to pass out anytime soon. Coach Jung blew on his whistle harder, pointing at Chaekyung. “Don’t you dare slack on me, lady! Run!” She clutched onto her aching side of her stomach and jogged faster. Jimin glanced over his shoulder and saw how she was struggling. Her hand was pressing hard on her side and her eyebrows creased. Her jog was inconsistent and wobbly. Before she could really drop down to her knees, the boy stopped in his 7th lap and called out to the coach. “Sir! I would like to do the honours of completing Chaekyung’s remaining rounds!” Chaekyung widen her eyes at his request, coming up to his side ever ready to protest when the coach stride up to them.
“No students slacks off. No students are given special treatments. And especially, no students help other students finish their laps!” He barked in Jimin’s face. Chaekyung squeaked and almost took off to complete her 5th when Jimin pulled her back.
“Sir, she can’t run. Her side is already aching. At least let her run less laps.” Jimin eyed a sweating Chaekyung.
Coach Jung almost opened his mouth to yell something back when someone from the crowd hollered, “Coach! Can I help Chaekyung run her remaining laps? My feet are itching to do laps. These warmup aren’t enough.”
Chaekyung looked back the coach’s shoulder and saw a raised hand. It was none other than Lee Junhyeon, looking just as dashing with his hair brushed back from his forehead. He winked at her from afar, making her blush lightly.
“No. I will.” Jimin said between clenched teeth. Chaekyung pinched the bridge of her nose when he said so. Oh God, please not now. At least, not here.
Long update. I apologize if it was a drag. ; w; Comments are always loved and will be replied if I can. Thanks for the support so far!
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