Bo Woon went out of her room the following morning when her eomma met her at the door.

"Who was that boy? Is he the one who spends all your money?" Eomma asked. "Or are you deliberately spending all your money on him so you will not remit some to me?"

Bo Woon shook her head in denial. "It's not like that, Eomma..."

But her eomma was totally furious that she spanked her daughter with the rod, only this time, her rod hit Bo Woon's leg.

*********

Bo Woon looked at the traces of the rod on her skin. She planned to wear shorts for today, but since rod marks were on her skin, she decided to wear skinny jeans instead.

***********

"Annyeong, Bo Woon-ah," Gyu Won greeted her friend.

Gyu Won and their other friends approached Bo Woon.

"Wow, is that a new pair of jeans?" the first friend said.

"Ne," Bo Woon said. "By the way, let's all wear skinny jeans tomorrow."

"Mwo? But you know I never wear jeans," Gyu Won said helplessly.

The other girls thought that this is a good idea. Gyu Won should wear fashionable clothes too instead of the backward-looking clothes that she wears most of the time.

"Let us!" the other two girls squealed.

Gyu Won could not help but sigh. If her friends wanted to wear skinny jeans, then, she might as well wear it as well. Then, she noticed a happy face on Bo Woon.

"Something wonderful happened to you, right?" Gyu Won .

Bo Woon let out a big smile. "Joon Hee said that he loves me."

The other three friends looked at each other.

"Mwo? Jinjja?" Gyu Won asked in disbelief.

"What did you do to make him say that?" the other friend said.

"I told him yesterday that I will treat him to dinner. That was why he was so happy and said that he loves me," Bo Woon said.

The other three friends scoffed.

"He only said that because you bribed food," the second girl said. "You know that food is his ultimate love."

Bo Woon's smile turned upside down. "Geurae? Is it?"

The other friends nodded in unison.

******

The next day, Gyu Won went to school wearing a white tank top and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. She also wore a pair of doll shoes, and for her, only her doll shoes were in line with her cheesy fashion. Her classmates noticed the change, and she had to sheepishly tell them that her friend wanted that they (the Windflowers) wear the same outfit to school for a day.

"After this, never," Gyu Won thought spitefully.

For the whole day, she never saw her boyfriend, though he sent her a message that he would be busy with the musical rearrangements.

That afternoon, as she was about to wait for the bus, a guy on a bike passed her by.

"Gyu Won-ah," the guy called out.

She turned to see Shin.

"Shin-ah!" she waved to him with a smile.

Shin looked at  her from head to toe. She did not look like the Granny Gyu Won whom he dated for the past weeks. Who would have thought that to him, she looks totally hot?

"Wow, you actually look good on jeans," he complimented her.

Gyu Won felt the heat rising to her cheeks, so she flipped her hair and smiled. "Gomawo."

Shin smiled lovingly at her and patted the seat of his bike.

"Gaja," he said.

She rode on the bike with him and went home.

*************

Gyu Won knew that her appa and her halabeoji were out for a week for their own separate businesses. She was thinking as to what to cook for dinner.

"Gyu Won-ah," Shin said. "Eomma invited you over for dinner."

She smiled, as if he had read what was on her mind.

"All right, I will go with you."

So, she did not get inside her house, and followed Shin inside his house. When they got inside, Jung Hyun and their eomma were not yet there, so that left both of them alone.

"Let's go to my room," he invited her. "I am currently working on a piece that I could use for the musical."

She went with him to his room, and, like the first time, the room looked the same to her. She sat down on bed and waited for him to sit beside her. He gave her the musical piece, and she took a look at it as she received it.

"Hmmm....this looks nice," she said. "I find no fault in it."

Shin squinted his eyes. "Geurae, because I am a great musical composer."

She grinned at his feat.

"Well, how's your hand?" she asked him.

He looked at his left hand and felt his wrist. He began to feel some sensations, and found that his nerves were feeling better.

"I am thankful that my wrist is doing fine," he said. "I think I will fare better now."

Gyu Won held his hand lovingly and caressed his wrist.

"I believe in you, Shin-ah," she said to him. "You will do great."

Both of stared as each other with love in their eyes. She took his wrist to her lips and gave it a soft kiss.

"I'll take that as a lucky charm," he .

He scooted next to her and leaned close to her. She closed her eyes and felt his lips kiss hers. They were sharing some soft kisses when the door to his room opened.

"Oppa!" a female's voice piped out.

Both of them broke from their kiss and looked at Jung Hyun.

"Were you not taught how to knock?" Shin snapped at her.

Jung Hyun looked at them spitefully.

"Gyu Won-eonni, are you really sure that Shin-oppa will marry you? 'Coz I don't want you for a sister-in-law," she shot at Gyu Won.

Then, Gyu Won replied. "Oh, but don't you want it? If you will be my sister-in-law, Halabeoji will be your grandfather-in-law, and you will be his legitimate heir to the pansori."

Jung Hyu pouted.

"Imagine? The great Lee Dong Jin, having the heir named Lee Jung Hyun," Gyu Won said. "The people will think that we are cousins, after all."

Jung Hyun pouted at her again and shut the door. Both of them laughed at the highschooler's bratty behavior.

"Well, tomorrow, I will play at Catharsis again," Shin said. "I hope you will come."

"Of course I will," she said as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "I am your number one fan."

Shin smiled at her remark and closed his eyes as he savored the feel of his girlfriend next to him.

**********

Saturday night.

Catharsis was lively once again, and many girls were there, even if they knew that Shin had a girlfriend. Of course, they were hoping that he and Gyu Won would break up some day. Sa Rang and Soo Myung were totally pleased that their revenue increased. If Madame Goo had not chased some to Chile, he would have seen this large amount of profit.

After the show, Bo Woon went out of the club to answer a phone call from someone. It was coincidence when The Stupid went out of the same door.

"O? Appa! Ne, I am fine," Bo Woon said with a smile on her face.

Guitarist Guy and Bassist Guy looked at Shin and then at Bo Woon.

"She always looks happy, but not this happy," Guitarist Guy commented.

Joon Hee did not reply, for he knew that it was only a front.

"Let's get moving, guys," Shin said to his bandmates.

Joon Hee told his bandmates to go ahead, as he had something left inside. Shin did not ask any more questions, so the three guys left little Drummer Boy at the spot.

"O? Ne, ne, Appa," she happily said. "Aw, goodbye."

As Bo Woon hung up, she noticed Joon Hee looking at her.

"Eonni," he said.

Bo Woon smiled sadly at him. "Annyeong."

*************

Both of them went to the park, where they ate ice cream sandwiches.

"My Appa called," she said. "I am so happy that he called."

She told him about the rest of her life story. Eversince her parents' divorce, her father remarried. She had seen her stepmother, who was totally kind to her. Her father and the new woman did not know of the maltreatment at home, and even if her father wanted her to move in with them, she refused, always giving the excuse that she will miss her eomma. Of course, she will miss her eomma, even if the ajumma always battered her. The place where Gyu Won and her friends knew to be Bo Woon's house is her father's house, and everytime they would ask her regarding the whereabouts of her real mother, she would tell them that she was in the province.

"Joon Hee-ya, only you knew where I really live, and only you knew of my mother's maltreatment of me," she begged. "Please don't tell anyone about it, not even my appa."

"I promise," Joon Hee said.

He finished his ice cream and placed the pack inside his pocket. Then, he reached for her hand and held it, and his other hand, he placed on his chest.

"I, Yeo Joon Hee, will promise to be a friend and will protect you, no matter what," he pledged.

Bo Woon's eyes teared up, then she hugged him tight.

"Gomawo, gomawo...." she said as she let tears fall down his jacket.

He buried his face on her shoulder and hugged her tight as well.

"I promise that, Eonni...." he whispered to her.

He had always played Hee Joo's knight in shining armor, while Bo Woon played the food benefactor he seldom acknowledged. He felt that he had to play the part of her knight in shining armor, since Bo Woon needed someone to protect her. He felt that it is his duty to do it, after seeing her in such a wounded and sorry state.

"Joon Hee-ya, promise me you will not tell anyone where I live, not even Shin or Gyu Won," she said. "If  you tell them, I will hate you forever..."

Joon Hee looked at her sadly. "I promise...."