Description: enemies to lovers!wonpil

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2010

April 28th.

It was my birthday, and his.

It was also the first day we met.

Nothing seemed odd about him at first. He was of an average height, had some pretty sharp features and a billion watt smile; the kind that you see in toothpaste commercials. The girls started buzzing amongst themselves – he was a catch alright. But when the teacher asked him to introduce himself to the class, that’s when we all knew that he was a little different from the rest of us. I mean, who else would use paper and not his voice to a self-introduction?

“Hi everyone.”

Flip.

“My name is Kim Wonpil.”

Flip.

“I can’t speak because I’m deaf.”

Flip.

“But I will work hard to communicate with you during conversations and group projects using this booklet.”

Flip.

“Please do take care of me! I hope to be friends with everyone here!”

Flip. And that billion watt smile was on again. Everyone clapped, but you can feel a definite shift in the air. People were less enthusiastic about the new kid; the claps were merely a sign of courtesy. I had known from an earlier conversation with the teacher that I was to be his buddy and honestly, I don’t mind. I’m not the type the judge much – unlike the others. Although getting close to him might be a concern for me. When he sat in the seat beside mine, he immediately flipped to a fresh sheet of paper and hurriedly scribbled something on it.

“Hi, Y/N! Nice to meet you! I got your name from the teacher just now.”

“Hi, Wonpil. It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Let’s be friends ok?”

“Ok.”

And my life has changed very much ever since that day.

--

Wonpil is a very curious and bright kid by nature so every 5 seconds in class; I would have his paper shoved into my face, a query written in bold black ink. When I couldn’t answer, he’ll need a little more time for his question to be answered by the teacher – which earned groans from the class – but of course, he can’t hear them. Gradually, everyone came to detest Wonpil a little – not because he was rude or unfriendly or anything of that sort – but the fact that he was different and required a little more time in this fast-paced world slowed them down, and they didn’t appreciate it.

No one was really willing to hang out with Wonpil at all – except me and my other friend Eva. On the days when even I got annoyed with Wonpil, Eva was the only one that could continue to keep up with his pace, and sincerely took time to be his friend. I guess this was also the reason why Wonpil’s world in school came to shrink to just me and Eva – but more of me since I spent almost all my time in class with him.

I don’t know why I was so blind; why I was so ignorant to his feelings. But my clouded perceptions ruined everything henceforth. My friendlessness turned to tolerance, and that tolerance eventually turned to loathing. And till today, I can never really forgive myself for the way I treated him.

--

I felt something cool press against the back of my hand. Cracking open my bleary eyes, I brushed my fingers against the cool plastic of the banana milk carton before focusing on the person standing behind it. He held his booklet in his hand which had said, “For you. You haven’t been eating well these days so you should at least drink that!”

I wrote in my own booklet before showing it to him.

“Thanks Wonpil but its ok. I really don’t have an appetite now.”

“No! You must at least drink that!”

Without waiting for my confirmation, he poked the straw through the metal sheet on top and passed it to me. Despite the obvious frown on my face, I took the drink from his hands and sipped on it bit by bit. Pleased, he sat down beside me again before engrossing himself in his own work. I merely glanced at his book but the contents made my do a double take.

Musical notes? How can he write music?

Out of curiosity, I tapped on the shoulder before showing him my question.

“How do you make music? You can’t hear the notes…right?”

“I used to be able to hear when I was little; maybe till I was 6? Despite the little memories I have of music, it is my first love. I remember enough to write some music and I’ve been doing so since I was 13. I know it’s funny – I can remember music but I can’t remember words.”

At that point in time, I merely nodded but the part of me chose not to believe what he had just told me.

--

“Have you seen Wonpil’s music book yet?”

“Uh huh. What about it?”

“Well? Don’t you think it’s fascinating? How someone can’t hear but can still create music.”

The words were out of my mouth before I could even assess the weight of it.

“Personally I find it quite incredulous. How can someone produce music without being able to hear it?”

“Y/N!”

“What!”

“Are you hearing yourself now? When did you become one of those judgemental people in school? You can choose not to support him in what he’s doing but it’s wrong to ridicule him for it!”

Eva then picked her bag up and with one last glance at me, she stormed out of the bathroom and let the door slam shut, leaving me to drown in my thoughts. Bent over the sink, I took a deep breath before I could form a coherent thought again.

She’s right. Since when I have I began to judge Wonpil for who he is?

Since that day, our relationship has entered the point of no return.

--

No matter what Wonpil did, it just ticked me off in every way possible.

Everything he did felt like a bother to me – it’s like I’ve come to label Wonpil as “annoying” and the mode around him would be “avoid at all costs”

Whenever he tried to let me listen to his music, I would come up with some excuse to not listen to it, convinced that I could never possibly like it.

Whenever he asked for help with schoolwork, I’d lied and said that I didn’t know how to solve it, hoping that he’ll go bother someone else with his questions.

Whenever he asked to hang out on the weekends, my standard response was “Sorry I can’t, I got to study.” – That wasn’t a lie but surely I could have spared some time to spend with him?

Gradually, I think he took the hint because I stopped receiving questions or requests from him – he’d just go straight to the teacher or Eva. Eva was spending more time with Wonpil now than I do but that was fine with me. It just means that I get more time to study alone in peace –which was exactly what I needed now.

I thought I could hold it all in but the dam finally broke one day.

--

Everything about that day felt so cold.

The dark skies were pouring down relentlessly, the giant raindrops sounding like rocks being thrown at the window. I was staying back in class for night study class and I was the last one left. My stomach growled in protest – the last time I ate something was… 9, 10 hours ago? Being too engrossed trying to get my sums right, I completely forgotten to eat until I felt the sting of the gastric setting into my stomach.

I looked at the clock: It was 10 minutes to 9, which means that I would have to leave school soon. The last math question stared back at me and I decided my growling stomach could wait another 10 minutes for me to be done before being satisfied.

Just 10 more minutes, I can do this.

But the heavens have a terribly clever way of ruining my plans. On cue, Wonpil stepped into the classroom with a dinner box in hand and judging by his purposeful steps towards me, that dinner box was surely meant for me.

True enough, the sticky note on top of the box made his intentions very clear.

“Please eat this now Y/N. You haven’t eaten anything since morning’s break. You’re going to make yourself sick at this rate.”

At this point in time, I couldn’t even be bothered to waste time to write a response. Instead, I merely pushed the dinner box back into his hands, wishing that he’ll just leave me alone. But for someone like Wonpil that never gives up, this was just another challenge that he will surely overcome.

Sure enough, he placed the dinner box in front of me and for the next 5 minutes or so, we played the push and pull game.

Until I just snapped like a cold wire on the frigid, winter night.

“WONPIL PLEASE STOP! WHY WON’T YOU GET THE HINT!”

The need to hurl something was too overwhelming and as the surge of anger rose within me, I picked up the closest thing to me without thinking twice, I