The little boy runs away from his mother. He hides underneath the table that has picture frames of him and his mom. They are all smiling towards the camera. It was like nothing was wrong, and everything was bright and colorful.

“Where did you go,” his mom yells. “Come out!” She storms around until she sees him underneath the table. She bends down and grabs his petite arm. She drags him out and starts hitting his bottom.

The little boy starts crying. He tries to wiggle out of his mother’s grip, but she holds onto his arm tight.

“Who told you to spill your water! The floor is wet now because of you,” his mother yells.

The little boy cries desperately hoping that his mother would stop. He apologizes with his trembling voice, but his mother keeps going.

Eventually, she stops hitting him. He’s sitting on the ground still crying. His arm has a red mark from his mother’s grasp. He continues to cry as his mother wipes up the spill on the floor.

“Stop,” his mother says sternly. She throws the wet paper towels away, but he was still crying. “Stop crying,” his mother yells. She storms to her crying son and sits down in front of him. “Stop!” Her yelling makes him cry even harder. “Are you not going to stop?” He continues to cry. She huffs and stands up. She heads to the closet and grabs a clothes hanger. Seeing that his mom is holding a clothes hanger, he cries even harder. His mother marches over to him and grabs his delicate arm again. She pulls him up and starts to hit him again. “Stop crying! Crying will never make what you did go away!”

“It hurts,” he cries.

“If you know that it hurts, then stop crying,” his mom yells.

“I’ll stop crying,” he weeps. He tries to calm down, and his mother finally stops hitting him. He takes a few deep breaths and calms down.

That was his first encounter of being hit by his mother. His second encounter is when he dropped a piece of food on the ground.

As he grows up, he continues to encounter abuse by his single mother. In elementary school, his mother punished him for dropping a glass cup. Of course he cried, but the more he cried, the more his mother hit him.

In middle school, numerous accounts of him being abused by his mother occurred, but the one that stuck to him the most was when his mother hit him for always hanging out with his friends.

Even in high school, he was abused by his mother on numerous occasions, and the one that made him stressed and really hurt was when his mother hit him for not being able to make the grade.

Now, he’s a freshman in college, but that doesn’t matter. His mother still abuses him on a daily basis.

He’s sitting in class waiting for the professor to come in. As he is doing so, a young lady approaches him.

“Is anyone sitting here,” she asks him.

He looks up and sees a lady standing beside him. Her hair is dangling down to her chest. She is wearing a pink dress and wearing matching pink heels. She is carrying a big blue purse with her.

“No,” he says.

She smiles and sits down. She assembles herself before she turns to him again. “I haven’t seen you before. Are you new here?”

“Yes,” he replies. “This is my first year here.”

“Oh. You’re a freshman than? What school did you go to before this?”

“West School High.”

“That school? I heard that school is very competitive.”

“It is.”

“You must’ve been the top student than?”

“No. I was towards the bottom.”

“Oh.”

The professor walks in, so they stopped speaking to each other.

“Good morning,” the professor says. “This is speech class, so if you’re in the wrong class, please leave.” No one moves. “My name is Park Junho. You can call me Mr. Park.” He goes through the class syllabus. “I’m going to through roll now.” He starts naming off the students in the class. “So Youn Mi.”

“Present,” she says.

He turns his head towards the woman sitting next to her.

“Kim Won Sik,” Mr. Park asks.

He continues to stare at her. She oddly looks more beautiful when he heard her name.

“Is Won Sik here,” Mr. Park asks.

“Here,” Won Sik says coming back to reality.

Mr. Park continues to call off names.

“That’s it for today,” Mr. Park says. “I’ll see you again Wednesday.”

Everyone starts to pack up and leaves the room.

Won Sik zips his backpack shut, and leaves the room.

“Won Sik,” he hears Youn Mi call.

“Yes,” he answers turning back.

“Great! That is your name.”

She seems too optimistic for him.

“Yes. That’s my name,” he says.

“Are you busy,” she asks.

“I have to attend a class.”

“When does it start?”

“In five minutes.”

“Oh.” She pauses. “When does your class end?”

“At noon.”

“May I see you again at noon?”

“You want to see me at noon?”

“Yes. May I?”

“Yeah,” he says after a pause. “Yeah. I’ll see you at noon.”

“Okay. I’ll be in the library.”

He nods his head.

“See you then.”

“Yeah.”

She smiles and walks away while he walks to his next class.

Many thought are running through his mind. Why was she so nice to him? Why did she want to see him again? He sits in class wondering, but he had to set the thoughts to the side, so he could concentrate in class.

After class is over, he goes to the library and looks around for Youn Mi. He spots her sitting at one of the tables, so he walks over to her.

“Hi,” he says quietly.

She lifts her head and smiles when she sees him.

“Hello,” she says. “Sit.”

He takes his backpack off and sets it on the chair before he sits across from her.

“Why did you want to meet me,” he asks.

“I was wondering if you were free. If you were, maybe we can go for a late lunch,” she asks.

“You want to go on a late lunch? Like a date?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? Because I want to go with you.”

He is overwhelmed. Ever since middle school, no one has ever asked him out before because his mother would always yell at him. Since the time has come again, he wanted to grasp the opportunity.

“I’d like that,” Won Sik says.

“Great,” she smiles. “Let’s go.”

She packs up her notebooks and pencils and throws them into her purse. She stands up, and then he stands up.

“Do you drive,” she asks him.

“I do,” he replies.

“Drive me then. I have this sandwich place that I really want to go to.” She leads them out of the library.

“Okay.”

And so he drives them to the sandwich shop that she wanted to go.

 

They’re sitting at the corner of the store. Youn Mi is eating a sandwich, and so is Won Sik.

“Do you like your sandwich,” she asks him.

“I do. It tastes really good,” he says.

“Is this your first time here?”

“Yes.”

“My first time here was with my friends.”

“Do you still hang out with them?”

“I don’t sadly. They were all older than me, and they’ve graduated already.”

“You don’t keep in touch with them?”

“No.”

“That’s sad.”

“Do you keep in touch with your friends from high school?”

“I don’t have any friends from high school.”

“You don’t?”

“No. My mother is pretty strict.”

“But you’re a grown man. You still listen to your mother?”

“She has always been very strict with me. I don’t want to disappoint her.”

“You’re a mama’s boy then.”

“You can say that.” He doesn’t want to tell Youn Mi that his mother abuses him. He’s ashamed of it, yet he doesn’t want his mother to be taken away from him.

After lunch, Won Sik drives Youn Mi back to school and parks his car besides her car.

“Lunch was great. I had a really good time,” Youn Mi says.

“Me too,” Won Sik replies.

“Maybe we can do it again some other time.”

“That’ll be nice.”

“I should get going then.”

“Okay.”

She unbuckles her seatbelt and grasps her bag. Youn Mi puts her bag to the side and leans in toward Won Sik before she gives him a peck on the lips.

His eyes widen, but she smiles.

“Bye,” she says before she quickly climbs out of the car. She climbs into her car.

Won Sik is still sitting in his car still shocked at what happened. This was his first kiss ever, and it was taken by a girl he just met. His head slowly turns to her car and sees that she is also blushing. A smile creeps onto his lips. For some reason, he knew that his life was going to be better with Youn Mi in it.

Days went to weeks, and weeks went to months. Won Sik and Youn Mi are now officially dating. This is the happiest he’s ever been. The only thing that is standing in the way now is introducing her to his mother.

They’re both having lunch together in the school cafeteria. It’s pretty loud since the cafeteria is almost filled.

“When am I going to meet your mother,” Youn Mi asks.

“I don’t know,” Won Sik replies.

He takes a bite out of his rice.

“What do you mean you don’t know,” Youn Mi asks a little annoyed. “We’ve been dating for months. When am I going to meet your mother? Everytime I bring up the topic, you always avoid it.”

“You really want to meet my mother,” Won Sik asks.

“Yes. I do.”

“Okay. Just let me talk to her and let her know that you want to meet her.”

“Okay.”

That evening, when Won Sik is at home, he approaches his mother hesitantly. She is sitting on the couch watching t.v.

“Mom,” Won Sik says quietly. “I have something to tell you.”

“What is it,” she asks.

“Umm,” he pauses.

“Sit.”

He sits on the edge of the couch.

“I have a friend,” he continues. “She wants to come see you.”

“Is she your girlfriend,” his mom asks.

“How did you know,” he asks shocked.

“What kind of girl wants to visit a friends mother? She’ll only want to visit if you two are dating”

“So,” he trials off. “Can she come?”

“Of course.”

Won Sik smiles. His mom has never agreed to anything he said before. He feels like he’s opened up to his mom just a little bit.

“Thank you, mom,” he says happy. “I’ll bring her tomorrow after school.”

He stands up and walks to his room. Won Sik shuts the door behind him and sits on his desk. He grabs his phone, which was sitting on the table, and texts Youn Mi.

“You can come over tomorrow after school.” She reads.

“Okay. I can’t wait!” She texts back.

The next day, Won Sik brings Youn Mi to visit his mom like he told her. They are sitting on the couch while his mom is in the kitchen pouring them some juice.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” his mom says. She walks in with a platter. On the platter sits two glasses of juice.

“It’s fine,” Youn Mi says.

His mom hands her the juice.

“Thank you,” Youn Mi says. She takes the juice from his mom and takes a sip.

“Thanks, mom,” Won Sik says.

His mom smiles and sits beside Won Sik.

“How long has it been since you two have been dating,” his mom asks.

“About five months. November 17 marks the date that we started to date,” Youn Mi answers.

“Oh. I see. You two have fun. I’ll be around.”

His mom stands up and walks to the kitchen.

Won Sik turns to Youn Mi and smiles.

“Your mom is very nice,” Youn Mi compliments.

“Thanks,” Won Sik replies.

She stays until dinner. After dinner, Won Sik walks her out.

“I had a lot of fun,” Youn Mi says. “Your mom is also very nice. She’s a great cook too.”

“Thanks,” Won Sik says.

“I’m very glad I met you,” his mom says.

“Me too,” Youn Mi replies back. “Perhaps I can come again?”

“Maybe,” his mom says after a pause. “Or maybe not.”

“Huh,” Youn Mi asks not sure what his mom meant.

“I’ll take you to your car,” Won Sik says, and so he does,

“What does your mom mean by that,” Youn Mi asks Won Sik.

“I’m not sure. I’m sure she meant well though.”

“I don’t think she meant well by saying that.”

“No matter what, it doesn’t matter.”

He gives her a hug and sends her off.

He heads back inside and sees his mom sitting at the couch.

“Come here,” she commands.

He closes the door and slowly walks over to her. The tension in the air is very high. He senses that something is wrong.

“Sit,” she commands.

He sits on the edge.

“Come closer,” she commands.

He does. He sits next to his mom.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were dating,” she asks.

“Well,” he stutters. “The thing is. It just kind of happened.”

“What do you mean it just kind of happened,” she asks stopping him abruptly. “You’ve been dating for months, and you haven’t told me. If she didn’t want to see me you would’ve never told me.”

“No, mom. That’s not it.”

“What do you mean that’s not it,” she asks hitting him on the head.

He is shocked at his mother’s action. She seemed to like Youn Mi, but she is hitting him again.

“Next time you do something, come tell me,” she commands. “If you don’t, I’ll have to repeat my actions.”

“Yes, mom,” he whispers. His head is hung low.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m only hitting you to teach you. Understand?”

“Yes, mom,” he whispers.

“Go.”

He stands up and slowly walks to his room. Won Sik closes the door to his room and sits on the chair in front of his desk. A tear escapes his eye, and he wipes it away. He thought that he was finally getting closer to his mom, but everything is still the same.

Youn Mi has not visited Won Sik’s home ever since. She’s made the effort, but his mom always rejected her.

A year passes, and Won Sik lands himself a job as a waiter. He saves money and rents himself an apartment. Of course, he tells his mom first. She isn’t for it. He, of course, is hit a few times, but he is stern and tells his mom that moving out is what he wants, so he moves. Youn Mi frequently visits him and would even sleep over. When she doesn’t sleep over, they would send each other late night texts. Life is great for Won Sik. He is away from his abusive mother, and his relationship with Youn Mi is blossoming like there’s no tomorrow.

Won Sik works and goes to school simultaneously that he rarely sees Youn Mi anymore. They will always shoot each other texts, but that’s not the same as meeting each other.

He visits his mom from time to time, but when he goes meet her, she always yells at him and hits him on the head. She wants him to break up with Youn Mi and focus with his education, and she wants him to move back in with her. He takes all the yelling in and all the hits, but he will not do what his mom wants. For once, he’s doing something that he wants. He doesn’t want his mom to control him anymore.

He is working one day. The time is going by very slowly, so he decides to shoot Youn Mi a text.

“What are you doing,” he asks.

She doesn’t reply.

He thinks that she’s probably busy, so he waits a few hours.

After work, he checks his phone again, but Youn Mi still haven’t replied to him.

“I just got off work. Are you busy? Let’s have dinner together,” he texts her.

He drives home, takes a shower, and even changes, but she still didn’t reply.

“Is everything okay,” he texts her at midnight.

He falls asleep waiting for her text.

“I’m fine,” she texts back in the morning. “I’m sorry. I was with a friend. She broke up with her boyfriend last night. I was consoling her. Let’s go for dinner tonight. I’ll pay.”

“Is everything okay with her,” Won Sik texts back. “Dinner tonight sounds great.”

“Everything is fine now. She's still heartbroken, but time will heal her.”

Won Sik washes up and gets ready to go to school. He sits in the middle seat and pretty soon, Youn Mi joins him.

“Hey,” she greets him.

“Hello,” he says.

She is wearing a long blue dress with a long skin colored cardigan while he is wearing a blue striped shirt with black skinny jeans.

“How was work yesterday,” she asks.

“It was very slow,” he answers.

“You have work again don't you?”

“I do.”

She pouts. “I never get to see you anymore. It seems like we’re drifting apart.”

“We are not drifting apart. I may be busy with work, but our relationship is still going strong as ever.”

The professor walks in.

“We’ll talk again later,” Won Sik whispers.

After speech class, Won Sik attends his other class, then he goes meet Youn Mi. She walks him to his car and kisses him goodbye before he goes to work.

There relationship remains the same for the past year, but Won Sik is doing anything he can to make up for the lost time he has with Youn Mi. He doesn’t want her to feel like he’s neglecting her. However, she feels that their relationship is dragging, but she still is with him because she loves him.

It is time for Youn Mi to graduate college. Won Sik goes to congratulate her. He buys her flowers and shows her nothing but a smile.

She is happy that he is their for her.

Her family is there as well. They are all taking pictures together and greeting friends and other families.

“Youn Mi,” a man walks up to her. “I’m so proud of you.” He hands a bouquet of roses.

“Thank you, uncle Soo.”

He looks rather young to Won Sik, but that doesn’t bother him.

“Who is this,” uncle Soo asks pointing to Won Sik.

“Oh,” Youn Mi says. “This is my boyfriend. Kim Won Sik. Won Sik. This is my uncle. We call him uncle Soo, but his full name is Kim Soohyun.”

“Nice to meet you, uncle,” Won Sik says as he extends his arm to uncle Soo.

“Same goes to you,” uncle Soo says taking Won Sik’s hand. “How long have you two been dating.” They let go of each other’s hand.

“Two years already,” Youn Mi says. “It’ll be three years in November.”

“Wow. I’m so happy for you. My little princess has grown up so fast.”

Youn Mi laughs.

“What year did you graduate,” uncle Soo asks Won Sik.

“I’m still a student,” Won Sik says.

“You are,” uncle Soo asks surprised. “What year are you in?”

“I’m a junior.”

“So you’ll graduate next year?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your major?”

“I’m in business.”

“That’s good. Do you know where you want to work yet?”

“I still have to look for a job. For now, I want to focus on my studies.”

“Good thinking.”

After the ceremony, Won Sik takes Youn Mi out for dinner. He takes her to a pasta restaurant. They both order spaghetti and both received a side order of breadsticks.

“Won Sik,” Youn Mi starts.

“Yeah,” he asks.

“I received a job.”

“Really,” he asks happy. “Is it the job that you want?”

“Yes! I was recruited when I was having tea with friend. Can you believe that? I’m so happy!”

“I’m happy for you too! All your hard work will pay of really soon!”

Youn Mi is recruited by a model agent. She’s been going to school for that.

Everything goes fine for the summer. Won Sik is still working, but without school, he has more time for Youn Mi, but now that she’s training to be a model, she doesn’t have time for him.

When next year comes, Won Sik goes back to school to finish his major and continues to work. With Won Sik working and going to school, and Youn Mi modeling, they barely have time to see each other. The only times they have for each other is when they are on break which is no more than one hour.

Won Sik is sitting in class waiting for the professor to come in. He has everything that he needs in front of him: notebook, pencil, calculator, math book, and his phone. As he is waiting, a person from behind him taps him on the shoulder. He turns around, and a woman wearing glasses greets him. He notices her short black hair that stops just above her shoulders. She is wearing a long sleeved white shirt, and sitting in front of her is everything he has, but a pencil.

“Hi,” she greets. “I’m sorry, but I was wondering if you have a pencil I can borrow.”

“Uh, I’ll see if I can find one,” Won Sik replies.

He turns around and looks through his backpack for a pencil. When he finds one, he turns around and hands her it.

“Here you go,” he tells her.

“Thank you,” she says accepting the pencil. “I'll give you the pencil back at the end of class.”

“You're welcome.”

The professor walks in and class begins. When class is over, she taps him on the shoulder again. He turns around, and she hands him the pencil.

“Thank you so much,” she says.

“You're welcome,” Won Sik replies.

He packs up and heads to his next class. Won Sik sits in the center of class and takes out his notebook and pencil. He grabs his phone and texts Youn Mi.

“Are you free tonight,” he texts her.

“No. I have another gig I have to go to,” she texts back.

“Okay. Have fun. Make sure to rest.”

“Thanks! You too!”

He puts down his phone on the desk and looks forward to see a woman with short hair sitting in front of him. He taps her on the back, and the same woman for before turns around.

“I thought that was you,” Won Sik says.

“Hey! You're the guy who gave me the pencil,” she says smiling.

“Yeah! Do you need a pencil again? I can lend you mine again.”

“Please? I'd appreciate it.”

He gives his pencil to her.

“Thank you,” she says. “You're a lifesaver.”

“I wouldn't say that. You can keep that pencil if you want to.”

“It's okay. I'll give you your pencil back at the end of class.”

She turns to the front again.

Won Sik soon learns that her name is Oh Ra Eun.

At the end of class, Won Sik packs his belongings and head out of class. He is out the door and a few steps away from the classroom, but he feels a tap on the shoulder, so he turns around. It's Ra Eun.

“Here's your pencil,” she says giving his pencil to him.

“Thanks,” he says accepting it.

She shoves her books into her backpack and zips it shut before fixing her glasses.

“I'm very grateful that you borrowed me the pencil,” she s her backpack again. “I don't have anything on me.” She pulls her hand out of her backpack. “Here's a piece of chocolate for my gratitude.” She extends her arm over to him. “You like chocolate right?”

“I do, but going as far as giving me chocolate,” he pauses. “Isn't that too much? I just borrowed you my pencil.”

“But I'm so grateful. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to take notes. Please accept this chocolate. Maybe I can buy you lunch in the cafeteria instead?”

“No.” He grabs the chocolate from her hand. “This chocolate is fine. Thank you.” He gives her one last smile before turning his back on her and walking away. “What a weird person,” he thinks to himself. Won Sik throws the chocolate in his car before he drives home.

At the front of his door hangs a piece of paper. He takes the paper and reads it.

“I am shutting this place down. I'll give you and each of the residence that live here two weeks to move. Thank you, and sorry for the inconvenience.”

“What is this,” Won Sik thinks.

He walks into his apartment and sets his backpack on the couch before he takes out his phone to call his landlord.

“Hello,” his landlord asks.

“What do you mean you're shutting this place down,” Won Sik asks.

“I don't have the money to run this place anymore,” the landlord cries.

“Where am I supposed to live then?”

“That's not my problem. I have my own problems to deal with, so stop calling me!” His landlord hangs up the phone.

“What the heck,” Won Sik curses.

And just like that, Won Sik moves back into his mom's house.

She yells at him. Calls him stupid for moving out in the first place. Hits him on the head telling him to keep this as a lesson.

Though he feels like everything is slowly crumbling down, he is happy that he still has Youn Mi with him. He texts her about his apartment, and she shoots him back a text, “I'm sorry to hear, and I'm sorry that I'm not there for you. Everything will be fine I promise.”

He smiles reading her text.

A few days later, Youn Mi texts him and tells him that she has a whole day off from work, and she wanted to spend the whole day with him. However, he texts back that he had school and work to attend.

“Can't you just skip them,” she asks in the text.

“I can't. I have to be in class that day, and we have a special guest coming over to visit the restaurant. It's mandatory that all the workers go and help,” Won Sik texts back.

“Fine. When do you get off?”

“The latest will be eight.”

“Eight? I have to be go back by nine.”

“That early? Can you ask for an extension?”

“I can't. If I do, my boss will be mad at me.”

“What else can we do then?”

“I don't know.”

“I'll ask my boss if I could get off early.”

“Okay.”

And so he does, but he got yelled at instead.

“How can you ask to go early when no one is barely here,” his boss asks.

“I have a friend who wants to meet me. It's been awhile, and I wanted to meet her too.”

“You'll leave when I say so.”

Won Sik didn't know what to do. He stayed and helped cater to the guest. When the time is eight, he receives a text from Youn Mi.

“I'll be at Water's Park waiting for you,” he reads.

The time is 8:30, and his boss will still not let him go. 8:35. Won Sik rushes to his car and drives off. He parks his car at the curb of the road, and looks around for Youn Mi. He finds her sitting at a bench.

“Youn Mi,” he shouts.

She turns her head and sees him running over to her.

“Sorry I'm late,” he says out of breath. Won Sik sits beside Youn Mi. “My boss kept me 35 minutes later than usual.”

“That's okay. How did it go,” Youn Mi asks.

“It went fine. Nothing special. He was just another customer to me.”

“Well, it's almost nine. I have to get going.”

“Of course. I'll drive you there.”

He stands up and leads her to his car.

“I'm sorry I couldn't spend the day with you,” Won Sik says as he drives down the road.

“It's not your fault,” she replies. “You couldn't help it.”

“What did you do all day?”

“I spent my day with my parents.”

“How nice.”

They continue to talk until they arrive at her company.

“We're here already,” Won Sik says sadly.

“Yeah,” Youn Mi replies.

“I'm sorry we couldn't spend more time together.”

“It's okay.”

“I promise that I'll make time for you next time.”

She smiles.

“Is it okay if you're late,” Won Sik asks.

They look at the time. 9:13 pm.

“That should be fine,” Youn Mi answers.

Won Sik holds onto her hand.

“I had a great time with you. Even though the time spent with you was short.”

He leans in to give her a kiss, but she puts her hand on his shoulder.

“I should get going. It's already past curfew,” she says.

“Oh. Yeah.” He leans away. “I shouldn't keep you for any longer than this.”

She unbuckles her seatbelt.

“Goodbye,” Won Sik says.

“Bye.”

She climbs out of the car and heads inside the company without looking back.

Won Sik parks his car in the driveway and heads home. He closes the door behind him.

“Where have you been,” his mom asks stern.

“I took Youn Mi back to her company,” Won Sik answers.

“You're still with her? I told you to break up with her did I not?”

“Mom,”

“Why don't you ever listen,” she asks disrupting him. She walks up to him and hits him on the head. “Why don't you ever listen!” She hits him again.

“Why are you hitting me,” Won Sik bursts. “Can’t I date the woman that I love?”

“Why are you yelling at me,” his mom asks taken aback. “Why are you yelling at your mother? I’m only telling you what is right and what is wrong.”

“How do you know that Youn Mi is wrong?”

“How dare you talk back to me?”

Won Sik puts his head down.

“I’m your mother. I want you to show me respect. Don’t go yelling and glaring at me just because you go to school and educated,” his mom continues. “All I want is for you to grow up to have a stable job and have a wife. I don’t want you to bring home a pile of money for me.”

Won Sik heads to his room, not wanting to listen anymore. He feels hurt. If his mom wants him to be a good person, why is she always hitting him. Why can’t she just tell him nicely like other parents?

The next day at school, in business class, the professor assigns them a project and assigns them partners. Won Sik and Ra Eun happen to be paired up.

“How do you want to do this,” Ra Eun asks. “Should we split it, and then come back together later or should we do it together?”

“I think we should do it together,” Won Sik says. “It’ll be easier that way.”

“Sounds good. Let’s head to the library then.”

“Okay.”

They sit at a table and start to do research. While doing so, Won Sik receives a text from Youn Mi. He picks up his phone and replies to her.

“Who are you texting,” Ra Eun asks as she fixes her glasses.

“My girlfriend,” he replies.

“You have a girlfriend?”

“I do.”

They continue to work until dark, and finally head home.

A few months has past. Won Sik is still living with his mother, and she still hits him occasionally, but she was only doing it, so he would learn from his mistakes. At least, that's what she keeps telling him. Won Sik is still dating Youn Mi. He has a feeling that his mom knows, but he just doesn’t bring it up.

One day, Youn Mi informs Won Sik that she has another free day, so he takes off everything to spend time with her. For the entire day, they were together.

Won Sik loves every second of it, and he notices that Youn Mi was acting a little weird. He asks her if she is okay, but she tells him everything is fine. Of course he is suspicious, but since she wouldn’t tell him, he would just shrug it off.

At the end of the day, Won Sik takes Youn Mi to dinner. They’re sitting in the middle of the restaurant eating steak. Won Sik is eating away, while Youn Mi is poking at her food like she is bored.

“Is something wrong,” he asks her.

“No,” she replies.

“Are you sure? You’re not yourself this evening.”

“Everything’s fine.”

Won Sik is taken aback by her voice, but he tries to make the atmosphere good again.

“The steak is really good, why don’t you have some more,” Won Sik offers.

“I don’t have a big appetite,” she replies.

“Should we go somewhere else?”

“No,” she says annoyed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I told you nothing is wrong.”

He knows something is up, but she didn’t want to tell him, so he shrugs it off.

“It’ll be our third anniversary soon,” Won Sik says trying to keep the conversation going. “Is there anything that you want?”

“No,” she says bluntly.

“Should I surprise you?”

“You shouldn’t do anything.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want anything.” She starts to get annoyed again.

“Usually when you say that, you want a surprise, so,”

“Can you stop?”

“What,” he asks shocked.

“I said stop.”

“Youn Mi, what's wrong? Tell me.”

“Just stop talking.” She angrily pokes at her food.

“Alright. I'm sorry that I made you mad.”

They eat in silence.

“Let's stop this,” Youn Mi says.

“What,” he asks confused.

“I said let's stop this.”

“Stop what?”

“Everything. This.” She motions her hand to him and to her.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you stupid? I'm breaking up with you!”

Won Sik sits there in distress. “You're breaking up with me,” he asks. “Why?”

She sighs. “I can't do this anymore. All I do is model. I barely have time for myself. I can't make time for you anymore.”

“That's it? We can make this work out,” Won Sik says desperately.

“I can't make this work out anymore. I'm tired. I want to stop.”

“Is that really the reason why you're breaking up with me?”

“Fine,” she says after a pause. Youn Mi drops her fork, and throws the napkin on her lap onto the table. “You really want to know? I'll tell you. You're annoying.”

He looks at her with disbelief.

“Your presence is annoying. Your face is annoying. Everything about you is annoying. I'm sick of you. Happy?”

She stands up and walks out of the restaurant.

Won Sik sits there shock. He never thought that Youn Mi will say such things about him. He always thought they were deeply in love.

He quickly stands up and pays the bill before he runs outside. He looks around and finds Youn Mi walking down the sidewalk, so he races toward her and grabs her arm.

“What is this,” Youn Mi asks annoyed.

“Wait,” Won Sik says turning her around. “Let's talk this out.”

“There is nothing to talk about,” she says yanking her arm out of his grip.

“Tell me. What part of me is annoying.”

“Are you stupid? You don't even know?”

“No. I don't know, so tell me so I know,” he says desperately.

“That face. Your voice. Everything about you is annoying and embarrassing.”

“How can you even say that?”

“I gave you signals, but you missed every single one of them. I wanted to break up with you a long time ago. I even told myself to get used to you, but I couldn't. I hate it. You're like a little kid who always want attention. I guess this is what I get for dating someone younger than me. I just hate being with you.”

That stabbed Won Sik in the heart. His heart is shattered everywhere.

“Pretend like you don't know me when we bump into each other,” she says before leaving.

Won Sik is speechless. He's standing there watching as her silhouette gets further away from him.

 

Won Sik closes the front door and walks to the kitchen. He pours himself a cup of water, but accidently hits it off the counter with his hand. Won Sik sighs.

“What was that,” he hears his mom yell.

He already knows that his mom is going to hit him. He’s not even surprised or scared anymore.

“What did you do,” his mom asks. She walks in to see the spilled water. “Why did you spill the water?” She hits Won Sik on the head. “Is this how I taught you!”

Won Sik is on the verge to cry, but he holds it in. He cleans up the mess he made, and as he is doing so, he holds in his tears.

His mom comes and gives him another whack on the head.

His breath hitches. Won Sik throws the paper towel away and walks to his room.

His mom is still nagging at him.

Won Sik walks into his room and closes the door behind him. He locks the door and falls to the ground. Tears start to fall, and he finally breaks down. His heart is shattered. It’s been shattered a long time ago, but he did nothing about it. Youn Mi came in and fixed his heart, but she shattered it as well, and his mother just stepped all over it He thought that Youn Mi was going to be with him forever, he trusted her, but she was just like his mother. When he began to trust her, she abused him not with her hands, but with her words.

Won Sik didn’t want to go anywhere the next day. He wanted to stay in bed all day, but he had to go to school that day, and he didn’t want to stay to listen to his mom nagging at him, so he drags himself up and heads to school.

Won Sik sits in class hoping for class to end. He didn’t want to be there. He wanted to go back to bed.

“Is something wrong,” Ra Eun asks.

“Huh,” Won Sik asks. “Y. Yeah. I'm fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“Class has been over for five minutes.”

Won Sik looks around and everyone is gone. He becomes embarrassed and starts packing up.

“What are you still doing here,” Won Sik asks.

“I wanted to finish up the homework before I leave,” she replies and fixes her glasses.

“Did you finish?”

“I did.” She starts packing up too.

He zips his backpack and walks away without even saying goodbye to her.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

A/N: First update! Hope everyone liked it! Sorry if it is a little too long. Thanks for stopping by!! ^^