02 ~ Inspiration... ?

The piercing voice of the girl visibly startled the recipient of her words, as he stumbled back a few steps.

With every step he took, he inched perilously closer to a yellow banana peel that lay haphazardly on the sleek floor of the hallway.

Closer, closer, closer he went… until his foot landed right upon the recently tossed fruit peel.

The slippery nature of the banana peel – coupled with the newly polished floor where it lay – meant that it gave way under his foot almost instantly.

So up into the air he went in a backwards motion, outstretched like a swimmer doing the backstroke. The rotation of his body continued as he approached a plastic trash can nearby upside down, crashing head first into the unfortunate demise that awaited hi----

“Whatcha doin’?”

I jumped in my seat at the sudden interruption.

A slight sigh made its way out of my mouth as I recognised the familiar voice. I shouldn’t even be surprised anymore, but I still am.

You’re probably all thinking of someone whose given name starts with a ‘Dae’ and ends with a ‘Hyun’.

It’s a fair assumption, given what I’ve told you so far.

But no. It’s not someone whose given name starts with a ‘Dae’ and ends with a ‘Hyun’. But she could be just as insufferable when she really wanted to be.

I whirled around in my study chair and was met with a pair of round, curious eyes.

Meet Lee Miyeon, my crazy best friend who I’ve practically known since I was born. Our parents were close neighbours back in the day, so… you can pretty much see how that worked out. Of course both of our families have moved since then, but that didn’t stop her from inviting herself over to my house whenever she felt like it.

And that’s exactly what she’s doing now. Same old, same old.

She wrinkled her nose as she scanned over the pieces of paper strewn across my study table. “Drawing cartoons again?”

She emphasised the ‘again’.

And yep, I was drawing comics instead of whatever it is you might have been led into thinking I was doing. I was supposed to be working on my portfolio for art class – but you don’t need me to tell you I got sidetracked.

 “It’s manga,” another voice piped in. “Or manhwa, if we’re using the Korean term.”

I turned to smile at my other best friend. This is Tanaka Rina, who Miyeon and I both met in middle school when she transferred to our school from Japan. Her dad’s Japanese while her mom’s Korean, so she’s fluent in both languages.

She’s an otaku, so she could always relate to me when it came to my interest in drawing comics. Miyeon, on the other hand, wasn’t much of a reader and was more into romancey (is that even a word?) films, chick-flicks and blockbuster movies.

But we all liked blockbuster movies with all the action and stuff, so that was something we all had in common.

“Hang on…” Miyeon mumbled as she looked closely at my drawings. She burst out laughing a moment later when she realised what the storyline (if you can even call it that since it’s only 2 pages long) was about.

“Hey, isn’t this what happened between you and Jung Daehyun just yesterday? You actually drew it out? Oh my god, you’re such a weirdo!”

I shifted in my seat a little in embarrassment. Yeah, I realised it was weird, but the whole thing was so hilarious that I found myself unconsciously drawing it out comically without even intending to.

Trust me. Seeing it all happen right before your eyes is quite the unforgettable experience.

Rina studied over the drawings enthusiastically. “This is actually really good! It feels like a real comedy spread by a mangaka!”

Well, that’s nice to hear. I’m always grateful for any compliments directed towards my artwork.

“Did you at least help him out of the trash can?” Miyeon asked.

I raised an eyebrow. “Uh… I don’t think so. I just remember laughing a lot until my sides hurt. Why?”

She looked at me as if I just grew another head, so I returned the favour and looked at her as if she grew another arm.

“Oh, I don’t know, Sora. Maybe to show a bit of human decency for a fellow classmate in trouble?”

I raised both eyebrows this time.

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I would’ve laughed too if I were you,” she continued. “But I would’ve helped him up and everything since he’s such a nice person after all.”

I basically choked on air at that last bit. “Nice person?! Exactly what part of him is even remotely nice?”

Did she not hear me complaining about him for the past few weeks? I’m not exactly proud to say this, but I did. A lot. For the first time in my life.

Miyeon went on to list all the good traits this Mr. Daehyun apparently has. And of course, she made sure to point out that he was well-liked by teachers and students alike and that I was the only one who seemed to have a problem with him.

It would be much more accurate to say that I was the only person he had a problem with.  

Because seriously, he was the one making this a problem in the first place.

~~~

I stared at my hands as I sat across the table from Miss Yoon, who was looking through my files.

She was a nice but eccentric woman in her mid-thirties who was both the music teacher and the future pathways counsellor for second year students.

And that’s why I’m here. Because I’m the only one who has absolutely no idea what I even want to do once I graduate.

I’ve basically just been cruising through life doing whatever I felt like doing at the time, so I’ve never really thought about what I wanted to do for a career.

Miss Yoon looked up at me, so I straightened up in my seat. I should at least take this seriously if I want to get somewhere in life.

“So Sora, I see you’ve had a little trouble working out what you want to do after you’ve moved onto the next stage of your youth.”

Funny way of putting it, but I nodded anyway. She gave me a smile.

“You have remarkable grades for art class, so I can see you’re one of the creative ones,” she giggled. “All you need is a little inspiration to figure out where you want to go from here.”

That sounds great and all, but the problem is – I’m not exactly the type of person who’s easily inspired to do something.

Miss Yoon clasped her hands together in excitement (she’s a little over-the-top at times, but we’re all used it already) as she came up with what I expected to be a great idea to help me find my inspiration in life.

Oh, how wrong I was.

“Why don’t you help me out with the school gardening after school?” she suggested.

A short moment of silence followed before I managed to blink away my incomprehension.

“… Sorry, what was that?”

She reached into her drawer and pulled out what looked like small packs of seeds and flower bulbs.

Oh dear lord.

“Gardening always helps to draw out my creative sense whenever I have any troubles with composing scores, so it might work wonders for you too.”

She beamed at me as she held up the packs.

“Remember to come by my office after school to pick these up for planting!”

She must’ve taken my stoned expression and lack of ability to form words as a ‘yes’, because the next second she was ushering me out of the room while telling me it was time to go off to my next class.

Gardening? Planting seeds? After school?

Like what is this even?! And doesn’t the school pay for its own gardener?!

I kicked a random scrunched up ball of paper nearby in annoyance.

I seriously cannot believe this right now.

~~~

“Miss Yoon?” I called as I knocked on the closed door of her office for the fifth time.

And for the fifth time – she did not answer.

Does this mean I can go home and take a nap? I grinned as I my heels to head off. Well, I guess that turned out for the better. No gardening for me.

… Or not.

Unfortunately, I heard a door opening and my name being called.

And no, it wasn’t Miss Yoon.

It was Mr Kim, the math teacher whose office was situated next to hers.

He handed me a small plastic bag.

“I believe this is for you,” he said.

He then went on to explain how Miss Yoon needed to leave early and how she was ‘counting on me’.

Well, there’s not much to count on when I don’t even know how to garden or plant seeds or whatever. Do I just dig a hole, chuck in the seeds, and add water?

“She also said to ask the other student helping her out in the vegetation area if there’s anything you’re not sure about,” Mr Kim added.

I extended my thanks, albeit a little half-heartedly, and trudged on towards the school vegetation area with heavy feet.

Some course counselling session this is. The teacher isn’t even here herself!

The only thing I’m getting from this is to never hand in a blank future plans questionnaire ever again.

I sighed no less than fifteen times by the time I reached the place.

I stopped as I took in the scenery before me. And I have to say – the gardens were kinda impressive.

On one side were various types of colourful flowers while the other side had fruit trees and vegetables. Some even looked ready to harvest.

I’m guessing this is where the home ecs class gets their fresh produce from.

I scanned the area for the other student who was supposedly helping out as well until my eyes landed on a crouched figure within the flower field. It was a male student. Or least someone wearing the boys uniform.

“Um… hi,” I greeted a little awkwardly as I approached him. “Are you also helping out Miss Yoon?”

He stopped what he was doing and stood up before turning around to face me.

And when he did, I stepped back in surprise as I mentally cursed.

Surprise, surprise.

Yep.

It’s the guy whose name starts with a ‘Dae’ and ends with a ‘Hyun’.

And if it’s not obvious enough, then his family name is ‘Jung’.

A corner of his lips curved up into a slight smirk as he studied my expression. Well at least that’s what I think he’s doing. Who knows what’s going through that annoying brain of his.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

“…Right…” I replied rather reluctantly as I eyed him suspiciously.

My luck just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it.

His gaze moved over to the bag of flower bulbs and stuff in my hand before looking up at me again. That irritating smirk of his grew wider.

“So, how about we get down and dirty?”

Well, I'm back from that long break I took from AFF (due to a lot of reasons). I just felt like writing again, so I took up this story again :)

Happy reading guys!

--- Mistlea