Okay, so I took way too long with this; I'm sorry. Too many things got in the way, and I also had writer's block to be honest ;p I tried really hard on this though, and I hope it shows. Also, I would've uploaded this yesterday, but we got a power outage lolz. Plz tell me what you think :)

A Pink, Blue, Heart

It is an unhappy thing to be rich only to afterwards lose your riches- to be a “beautiful” flower only to afterwards be plucked, tossed into the midst of a bouquet of flowers, and realize that  you’re no different from all those around you… It’s very sad to be “special” only to find out what made you so “special” would soon vanish…

            Naeun was a rich, filthy rich, person- to the point where she could pay anyone to do anything she wanted. You either hated her or loved her; there was no in between. And for friends? You couldn’t really consider her as having friends; they were just people that stuck around her to leech off her fortune. That didn’t stop her from thinking highly of herself though. She knew they liked her for her money, but she was fine with it- as long as she was the most important person in their tiny, little, worlds. Naeun just wanted to live her life as number one under the sun. She wanted to be remembered as the most beautiful and richest girl that anyone would ever encounter.

            “Hey, you! Clean my shoes!” she would shout out to anyone at any given time, and they would actually go through with it…She would toss a “tip” their way though, to show that she “cares about the lower-class”.

And no one argued with her, because they knew she could simply pay someone off to hurt them. That didn’t stop people from brewing a deep, deep, sense of utter hatred for her though.

“It’s not fair,” they would say, “She’s rich and beautiful! She should be either one or the other!”

            And for Naeun, a regular day at school was nothing more than flaunting off her fortune and living off the empty praises of those around her. She was also not stupid; she was up there when it came to getting the highest grades in class. Nothing was too hard for her to figure out- except one person, though there were two distinct people that stood out for her. The first was Suzy, who only stood out because she was #2, runner up to everything that Naeun got first at. Suzy was her friend, but only because Naeun wanted to keep her close since she felt something was “off” about her.

The other person was an utter enigma to her though. His very existence puzzled Naeun. She could think about him for days, yet she could not fathom why he was the way he was. His name was Myungsoo, and he was kind to everyone, including Naeun herself. That is why she was always confused by him. “Why is he so nice to me?” she would ask herself. She could sense nothing evil or off about him, and it was that very genuineness in his kindness towards others (including herself) that led Naeun to hate him...

Notwithstanding, Naeun thought she would live her whole life like a princess, but unfortunately for her, the wind came and blew her riches away as her father was caught up in some typical “bad investment”- they went bankrupt soon after. And her family was forced to live out in the streets for a couple of days. It was really bad, but an acquaintance of her father offered her help. He told Naeun he had enough money to loan her family until they get back on their two feet and was willing to help, if her father did something in return.

            “He has to kiss my shoes and beg,” he told her, “He always treated me like dirt in the past, and so that’s why he now has to kiss the dirt on my shoes.”

She told her father. “Can you believe he told me that?”

But, he was desperate, knowing how the banks would in no way offer him a loan because of his bad credit, so he consented. He also thought no one would ever find out about the deal, so though he lost his dignity, he was okay with it since it would mean the salvation of his family. Naeun stood idly by as her father succumbed himself to degradation and shame, all the while clenching her fists and biting her lips till bleeding.

Come next Monday morning at school, a video of the “exchange” went viral…All her so-called friends left her, being disgusted by all that they had witnessed…Naeun rushed to Suzy for some type of comfort, but she immediately shoved her aside.

“Get off me!” Suzy told her. “I don’t mingle with your type of people!”

            She proved Naeun’s thoughts true: that something was indeed off about her. She hated Naeun down to every single strand of hair and molecule of her existence… And now that she was no longer number one, Suzy cut all ties between them and took her place.

Myungsoo, however, approached Naeun. But she hated him even more because of that…

-One week after the video went viral-

Naeun darted down the sidewalk on her way to school with her head bowed, her face being kept hidden by her hair. She was walking slowly, hoping that a whirlwind would abruptly whip her up to a different place- to a wonderland, where she would finally be able to breathe. Nevertheless, she continued walking even if at a pace slower than a slug.

“Do I deserve this?” she questioned, “Do I?”

            When she looked up, she realized she had already made it to school. She tried desperately to puff her chest up in pride, but she knew she no longer had a reason to do so. She pulled her hair behind her ear and smiled more broadly than all who passed by her. Yet, her smile was a blatant farce to all who had known even the littlest about what she was going through.

            “Hello,” she greeted everyone quietly, hoping to be greeted back in return.

But they only scoffed and pointed fingers at her. “Loser!” they told her.

Naeun could only help but nod and smile in return. She kept walking, but this time she shrunk her shoulders in and let her hair again veil her face.

Then she bumped shoulders with a familiar face; the face she wanted to see the least.

“Hello Naeun,” Myungsoo said. His eyes were clear and the voice in which he spoke carried along a serene, comforting, tone to it.

            Naeun hated that.

She turned her face away from him and quickly walked on. “I bet he only wants to make fun of me too…”

Myungsoo bit his tongue. He wanted to talk to her, but stopped as he was unsure of how to approach her again. He stood still as he let her walk past him.

Naeun pulled up her wrist and looked at her watch. “8:00 AM,” it read.

She sighed. “Today’s a long day... I want to go home…I just want to disappear.”

As she was walking up the stairs to reach her English class, Naeun felt a sudden urge to pay the bathroom a visit. She hastened to reach it, as she felt the urge become stronger and stronger.

After she finished, Naeun began washing her hands clean and started to stare at the mirror. She stared intently at her reflection and noticed she had gotten bags under her eyes. She hadn’t been able to sleep for a few days already so it was of no surprise to her. She also didn’t care about looking so pretty any longer since she had now lost all her desire to stand out. Now all she wanted to do was to blend in and hope nobody would notice her or else they would only ridicule her, if not harm her again.

She closed the faucet and slowly walked out of the bathroom, but a sudden “Hey you!” coming from in front of her stopped her altogether.

It was Suzy… and she was not alone. She had brought a group of her friends (formerly Naeun’s followers) and was carrying a bucket full of water in her hands.

“Please stop,” Naeun told them, “Leave me alone…”

Suzy laughed. “You really think you saying ‘Pweease stahp?’ is going to get you anywhere?”

Her cronies joined in, “Yeah! How about all those times you told us to stick around you so that you would shine brighter? What was that supposed to mean?” and “It’s about time you get your comeuppance!”

The girls pushed Naeun back into the bathroom, and closed her up inside a stall.

“Please stop! I’m sorry!” Naeun pleaded as she pounded her fists on the door.

They didn’t care. Suzy’s friends made sure to keep Naeun in there, doing all they could to keep the door closed.

“Shut up, wench!” Suzy shouted at her.

Suzy threw the water over the stall  without restraint. And it came down on Naeun as Suzy and her friends laughed like maniacs. They would’ve done more too, but they decided to take it slow when it came to fleshing out their “revenge” on the once, proud heiress to a fortune, Naeun.

“Serves you right!” Suzy chortled.

Suzy and her friends left the bathroom with a big smile on their faces, as they almost immediately began plotting their next attack.

But as for Naeun, the water was cold which in turn caused her to tremble and whimper. “Why?” she questioned.

Yet, she was happy because now she had a legitimate reason to go back home. So she wiped the tears that had swept down her face and dried herself to the best of her ability with a handkerchief that had escaped the water. She groaned as she strained as much water as she could out of her hair, and afterwards she slumped down on the toilet seat.

After a small while she mustered up the courage and again left the bathroom…only to be seen by the person she hated the most once more.

“Naeun, who did this?!” Myungsoo exclaimed as he rushed to her.

Myungsoo could clearly see her wet uniform, and not only that but he could tell she had cried because of her eyes that were red.

She looked away, down to the concrete floor she was stepping on. “Leave me alone!” she said in a hearse voice, “I needed to freshen up.”

Myungsoo was angry; he had always known of Suzy’s deep resent for Naeun, but since he thought she wouldn’t go to the lengths of physically harming her, he let her be.

“It’s my fault! I’m sorry Naeun, I should’ve been there!”
Naeun scoffed, “Be there for what? To join in on the fun?” She pushed him aside and headed towards the school gate. “Leave me alone,” she told him as she looked back.

Myungsoo wasn’t too keen on being idle and of no help at all. He swallowed his spit as he chose to go after her, even if that would cause her to hate him more.

“Wait, let me take you somewhere!” Myungsoo insisted as he caught up and grasped her hand.

Naeun slapped him. “Leave me alone! I already told you. Laugh at me or do whatever you want, just… just don’t come near me.”

Myungsoo caressed his cheek; his eyes began to water from the sheer pain. It was as though a bee had stung him.

“Please, I want to help you…” he told her as his eyes zeroed in on hers.

“Help how?!” Naeun questioned as her eyes swelled up. Her voice was quivering as she began to utter small moans. “How-how-can you help me?”

Myungsoo couldn’t smile as he usually did; if at that instance he would’ve smiled and say, “I can help you, so please let me!” it would’ve been a lie.

“See, I knew you can’t help me!” she scoffed.

Myungsoo felt his anger crawling up, from the pit of his belly, upwards all the way to his throat. For the first time in the longest, he felt like swearing.

He sighed deeply as he looked at Naeun. “You’re right!”

He chuckled, and as a result Naeun was taken captive by his contagious laughter; she began to laugh with him.

“You’re right, I can’t help. But, I tell you what, how about I take you to a nice place I know and sit with you there?”

“Sit and do what? Talk?”

“Yeah, you can talk to me about whatever you want.”

Naeun coughed, clearing her voice. “Fine, I’ll let you.” But, she quickly thought about the repercussions, “Won’t we get in trouble for ditching class though?”

“It don’t matter, does it? I mean, you were gonna ditch before I stopped you- So, let’s go!”

Naeun smiled as she heard his response. “Yeah, you’re right. But, where are you going to take me?” she questioned.

Myungsoo pointed upwards, “To heaven,” he said, “or at least a little part of it, here on earth- maybe a glimpse of heaven, if you will.”

Naeun couldn’t help but to again laugh. She thought Myungsoo was being too cheesy. It reminded her of the reason she hated to watch dramas and read romance stories- because of the typical male protagonist who would always engage in cliché stunts like the one he was pulling just now. However, she felt that this time, maybe just maybe, it would be interesting to find out what would happen next…

“Is it far?” she asked.

“Kinda… I’ll have to get my bike to take you there…So I guess it’s somewhat far.”

“I see…”

“Okay then, wait here while I go get my bike!”

Myungsoo scurried off to retrieve his bike that was parked at the back of the school’s main building while Naeun sat right where he left her, besides the school gate. She contemplated whether she had chosen the correct decision or not, but settled with the answer she heard in a song, “Lo que sera~ sera. Whatever will be~ will be.”

Naeun eventually zoned off as she began to daydream of the times in which she was once a total princess. Then, only after having spent a few minutes in a haze of memories, she became aware of the reality in which she was living now. She pinched her cheeks and let out a deep sigh. Then she saw Myungsoo in the distance and gestured for him to hurry up.

“Alright, let’s go!” Myungsoo said as he rung his bicycle’s bell.

Myungsoo mounted his bike, and was about ready to peddle as Naeun finished sitting on the rear seat, when they were halted by a deep, gruff voice- It was the principal who yelled, “You kids were you planning to ditch?!”

Myungsoo was thrown into a standstill. Naeun pulled at his hair, doing whatever she could to make him move, but was futile in her efforts.

The principal came and questioned Myungsoo’s motives, “You’re the nice boy; you shouldn’t be doing this!” His eyes then gravitated towards Naeun who was still soaking wet from Suzy’s attack. “Oh…I see. I too was once a young boy. It must be love.”

Naeun immediately laid out her repulsion as she sneered and said, “What?! Me- and him?”

The principal smiled, and he kept that smile as he pulled their ears all the way to his office.

They spent an hour there, being scolded and given the usual speech of “I know that you’re in that age when pimples grow and hormones change the way you think and feel, but you still need to go to school.” He also suggested for Naeun to change into her gym clothes after finally taking into account how she was wet, and perhaps at the verge of catching a cold.

Naeun quickly accepted his suggestion and went to her locker to pick up her clothes, but was again introduced to Suzy and friends.

“I heard you got caught ditching with a boy,” she taunted, “Who was it?”

“None of your business. Now, please, leave me alone.”

“Why we ain’t holdin’ you down or anything,” Suzy’s friends mocked.

“Just, please, shut-up and leave.”

“What happens if we don’t?” Suzy answered with a cocky grin.

Naeun was unsure of how to respond and, for once in her life, hoped for someone to help her out.

No one came.

            Suzy looked up and down the hallway, making sure no one was in view, and then ordered her cronies to hold Naeun against the wall.
“Leave me alone!” Naeun whimpered.

“Shut-up.” Suzy grabbed a lock of Naeun’s hair and began to caress it slowly again and again. “Your hair is very pretty…”

Her cronies laughed, knowing what they had hoped for years would now become reality.

Suzy’s hand reached into her back-pocket, pulling out a pair of scarlet scissors. “I think you need a hair-cut!”

“Snip, snip, snip!” they all giggled.

Naeun’s eyes shut as Suzy tensed the lock of hair she held in her one hand. The sound of her precious hair being cut saturated Naeun’s ears and little beads of tears streamed down her eyes. After her moment of suffering, Suzy alongside her cronies let Naeun go as they saw her sink down into a pit of despair and anguish.

“That’s what you get!” they laughed, “And what’s funny is that we just happened to meet you after going for a bathroom break.”

Naeun dried up her tears, sniffling all the while, and went to finish changing into her gym clothes. Once she was done changing, she went back to the principal’s office, and sat down into her seat.

“You can go now,” the principal told her, “Myungsoo already left, so…If anything, I think you should go to the nurse’s office; you look a little under the weather…Is everything okay?”

The principal’s eye sight was bad and he had taken his glasses off, so he couldn’t tell Naeun’s hair had just been cut. Naeun had no intention of telling him. She knew the harassment she would have to endure on Suzy’s part would only grow worst if she told him.

“Uhm yeah…It's just the weather, like you said…” Naeun sniffled.

Naeun stood up, said “Goodbye,” and headed directly to the nurse’s office. No one was there when she arrived- except another student who was already laying down on the one bed that was there, with the curtains pulled to keep him from being seen, protecting his privacy.

She assumed it was a male student because of his uniform that peeked through the curtains, but wouldn’t have cared less if it was a girl since by this point all she wanted to do was find rest. Naeun grunted, hoping to wake up the boy, but nothing. The boy continued to sleep.

 In a fit of rage, Naeun reached to pull open the curtains, and yelled, “Hey, it’s my turn! You’ve had the bed for the longest, now let me take a rest!”
When the curtain (being pulled) revealed who was the one sleeping, Naeun was greeted by the half-asleep face of Myungsoo.

“Reasons like these are why I hate you!” she told him.

Myungsoo was puzzled; still unaware of what was happening. He scratched his head and yawned.

Then he realized who was standing before him, “Oh…Naeun! You felt sick too?”

“Yes, Sherlock. Now, let me get a chance to sleep.”
Myungsoo smiled at her answer, but his answer was quickly taken away as he spotted the lock of hair that was, once long, now short.

“What happened to your hair?!” he demanded to know.

“It’s nothing. Now, leave me alone…”

Myungsoo sighed as stepped down from the bed. “It was Suzy again, wasn’t it?”

“Yes! Happy?”

“Why would I be happy to see you hurt?”

“I don’t know and I honestly don’t care. Can you please now let me get some sleep?”

Naeun climbed into bed and hid herself under the covers.

Myungsoo pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. “I was going to take you to a park.”

“Really? A park? To play in the swings or something?”

“Well it’s a beautiful park that really stands out to me. I used to go to it a lot since I was a kid and always thought of it as a small glimpse of heaven because of all the flowers it had. It also has this dreamy atmosphere to it; I don’t know how to describe it in words…That’s why I wanted to take you there, so I could share it with you…”
Naeun exhaled, letting out a deep breath of air, and pondered about his sincere response. He wanted to share something like a treasure with her, and that touched her heart- maybe even opening it up a little. She thought back to the times she made fun of the small things people around her held dear, of the times she compared those things to hers that were always better. “Maybe I deserve all of this?” she questioned.

“Naeun, are you sad?”

“What? No…”

Myungsoo pulled the covers away from her, unveiling her now, puffed up, reddened eyes. He was at a loss for words, unsure of how to comfort her. He remembered how when she walked there always used to be a sophisticated air about her, but now she was at the verge of bawling like a child who was lost and all alone. Myungsoo thought of what he could do to help, but at the sight at seeing her eyes, he became lost.

Nevertheless, Myungsoo wanted to do something for her; he grasped her hands, and whispered, “I can listen…I’m here for you.”

Naeun began to sob uncontrollably, prompting Myungsoo to think of what he could do next.

Myungsoo brought her close to his chest and whispered, “Just let it all out,” into her ear.

Naeun pounded her small fists on his chest, and Myungsoo was willing to take all the pain. If he could, he would’ve also taken all her tears away from her and well them up in his eyes- that he might cry in her place. She sniffled and sniffled, trying all she could to say a word, but her all she could mutter were bitter moans.

“It’s okay Naeun. It’s okay, just let it all out. No need for words… Just let your tears be your voice.”      

After minutes of crying, Naeun calmed herself and breathed out deeply. “Thank you,” she said as she slowly pulled herself away from his embrace.

Myungsoo thought of how to respond, but ultimately chose to answer her gratitude with a smile.

“It’s just that...” She sighed, “Do you think I deserve this?”

“If I said ‘Yes’ or even if I said ‘No’, I don’t think that would help you at all. I can only answer you with a question, ‘What will you do now’?

Naeun pondered deeply about his question. “I don’t know…I guess live on… and try to survive in this cruel world.”

Myungsoo chuckled, “Yeah, this world is cruel. It will love you one moment, and then will eat you up and spit you right out the next. I could go into some very deep things about what I think…but, I don’t think that’s really important at this moment.”

“Then what is important?” she distraughtly asked.

“Well, for one, to let you know that I want to be here for you. I don’t want to make fun of you, nor do I want to say I can save you from all your problems; though I would love to do that, I can’t. I’m not Superman. But, I can at the very least be here with you and help take some of the burdens off your shoulders by sharing them with you and not letting you deal with them alone.”

“Why would you want to do that for me? Why would you go to such lengths?” Naeun asked, desperately wanting to know his intentions. “Why are you so kind to me?”
Myungsoo smiled and said, “Would it be arrogant of me to say that I’m kind to everyone?”

“I don’t know, but I can tell you that you are kind to everyone. You’re the ‘nice guy’” Naeun gawked at him, drying the last tear off her eye, answering, “That’s the reason I hate you…You’re too nice. How is it humanly possible to be nice to the one person everyone hates the most?”
“You know, you’re not exactly an evil dictator of sorts. When you were rich, well, you were just a spoiled brat. You lived as if you were the most perfect being alive, and as though the whole world revolved around you, but that’s it.”

She gasped, “How dare you! I was modern day princess; I was the heiress to a fortune.”

“Okay, but still, you weren’t ‘evil’; you were just a typical brat, like I said…albeit a loveable one.”

 “What? What do you mean by that?” she scoffed, “Do you like me?”

“Yeah, is that wrong?”

Naeun, though she was once at ease by simply staring into his eyes, was now unable to do so- she was afraid of falling for his words.

Naeun hid her inability to keep her composure by laughing it out, “Why would you like a girl like me? How come you don’t like Suzy- she is better than me, at least she is now.”

“I can’t like her; I never did, nor I can I ever see myself liking someone the likes of her. This might be too harsh to hear, but I think she’s evil, and that’s why she’s the only one I can never really be nice to. I’ve tried, but I just can’t.  Even before she did all of this to you, I had a weird feeling that there was a rotting sense of hatred in her heart, and I was right. I’m repulsed by it and as a result, all I can ever do is to simply be indifferent to her; ignoring her every time she passes by me. But after today, I think I have to give her a word. I can’t stand someone hurting you.”

“Okay fine, but I still don’t think that explains why you like me. Why do you like me?”

“I don’t know,” Myungsoo answered as he turned to look up, towards the ceiling, “Do I have to have a reason? Does it matter?”

“It’s supposed to, isn’t it?”

Myungsoo brought his eyes down, again locking onto Naeun’s. “I just like you. Maybe it’s because I always saw something good inside of you, even when you were a hateful person? I’m not entirely sure…It could be your eyes; they’re round, and full of charm, shining as though they had never seen evil, pure and totally innocent. Or maybe it’s the way you smile; it always had a genuine feel to it whenever I would see you smiling- it always tugged at my heart and caused a warm feeling to seep through my chest. And the way you laugh: a delicate, youthful, voice exemplifying the joy of life…Your nose, your lips…”

Naeun was taken aback by his honest response. All she could was hold onto her cheeks as they grew flushed, being painted with a dash of red and being made a warm, tender, feeling.
Myungsoo too was still adrift in thought, as he thought of more ways to define his reason for his attraction to her, “I was always drawn to you, whenever you made tantrums; whenever you made fun of someone and afterwards maybe even bore a sense of guilt; whenever I would see you do the most random thing, I just wanted to be next to you…”

“How could you say so much of me, when I never cared about you or anyone else for that matter?” Naeun clutched at her chest, and heaved a little. “Because, to be honest I think I wouldn’t have changed at all had it not been for all of those events that recently took place in my life.”
           “Yeah, that , because I think you’re right. And it’s also sad to see that some are unable to change until they hit rock bottom. But, like I said, I just have no real reason to say I like you besides saying that I like you…And I want to be here for you. Maybe that’s the meaning of life,” he said, “to love…I’m not sure. I think it’s more than that; maybe it has to do with about forgiveness? I’m not sure…”

“Sure about what, the meaning of life?”

“Yeah, that,” Myungsoo chuckled. “Would you like to discover it with me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Would you be mines? My girlfriend?”

Naeun was bewildered at how love and hate, though two entirely different emotions, could in essence be only a step away from each other. In the batting of an eye, she lost all sense of hatred towards him. And, though at one point in time her heart was dark and heavy, being filled with floodwaters of hatred and callousness towards others, she felt as though she could be able to love, as though a ray of light shined down upon her… Yet, Naeun felt guilty for all that she had done; she felt she didn’t deserve to be loved by anyone.

Myungsoo grabbed hold of her hand. “Naeun? What do you say?”

 Naeun pulled back her hand. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can. Looking back at the way I’ve been living up till recently, I don’t think it would be fair.”

“That’s a pretty stupid answer. What makes you conceited enough to say that?” Myungsoo laughed. “Think about it, who says we deserve to live? Look, at all the things that man has done, yet we still live. If the reason we’re living now is because of the hope of one day being changed entirely from within, from the very heart, so that we would no longer do the things we shouldn’t- then who’s to say that you can’t hope to one day change too? And for now, until that happens- until you become a new person, will you let me be with you?”

Naeun was still doubting, but after looking at Myungsoo’s sincere eyes, she felt a peace in her heart that she wanted to keep.

“If you’re okay with putting up with me then…Would you really take me?”

“Yes, of course!”

Naeun smiled, and was happy. She thought that maybe the road ahead wouldn’t be too harsh, since now she wouldn’t have to go through it alone.

“Thank you,” she told Myungsoo.

Myungsoo grinned and tilted his neck just slightly, “Thank me for what?”

“For being with me…and for teaching me the meaning of life…I think.”