Chapter 5

Like a Child

중2병

(2nd Year Middle-School Disease)

“Ugh, they think they’re so cool,” Soo-Young scoffed, silently cursing the group of popular boys eyeing the three of them a few tables away. They were one of the hottest boys’ clicks in the entire school. “Why are they always staring this way?”

Though they may not be in the same tier as the most popular kids in their school, being seniors, Seulgi and Wendy had a few admirers as well. After performing at a few school fairs, dancing with so much charisma, Seulgi earned a bit of fame for herself. Wendy, on the other hand, was the angelic lead soprano for the school choir and the top student in the entire school. If some students have never talked to them in person, they probably have heard of them.

Soo-Young, however, stared down all their admirers like a watch dog with a glare promising to pulverize anyone who dare come close. It did not even matter if the intent of approach was pure or not. Seulgi and Wendy were hers. She was overprotective and slightly possessive like that.

“Ignore them. They’re harmless,” Seulgi mumbled with full. “I don’t know why you’re always bothered by them.”

“They could be checking you out! They can’t do that! Who knows what they could be doing to you in their imaginations!” Soo-Young said, obviously implying something dirty.

“They’re probably staring at Krystal and Sulli over there... I mean, I’d stare too. They’re really pretty,” nonchalantly Seulgi spoke with full. Then after a sudden thought, she stopped chewing on her kimbap. “What would they be doing in their imaginations?”

“Oh, you know—”

“Gosh, Soo-Young, stop,” Wendy said before Soo-Young could scar Seulgi for life. “Why would those guys look at us? We’re literally losers. We might as well bury ourselves in a hole and let the world run without our existence, because we are such failures!”

“Well, that went overboard,” Soo-Young mumbled after sipping a bit of her banana milk.

There was a seemingly sour vibe in the air—Wendy’s air, to be exact. Wendy was very nice and always thought of everyone’s well being, but Soo-Young somehow got the drift that she tried too hard sometimes. She knew Wendy was sensitive to failure for some reason. She knew Wendy’s tendency to lose composure upon failing to please everyone—or someone.

“So, how did it go with Yeri yesterday?” Soo-Young asked, assuming that this sudden act was about Yeri.

“Ah, I’m not sure,” Wendy said with a sigh.

“They fought for some time in two languages, and I had a horrible time concentrating,” Seulgi complained. “Next time they study together, I’ll probably have to leave the house. Maybe go to the library again.”

Soo-Young ruffled Seulgi’s hair and affectionately clung to her arm. “Aw, poor Seulgi Unnie.”

“Dealing with your cousin is too frustrating!” Wendy began. “She does NOT listen to me, she does NOT want to do anything...”

“Believe it or not, most middle schoolers are like that. I mean, Yeri is still convinced that she’s a magician on the road for Hogwarts. Sometimes, she thinks she’s a vampire. Her ‘2nd year middle-school sickness’ is pretty bad,” Soo-Young said in a not-so-consoling tone, even if it was meant to console her. “It’s the ‘by-product of nature’. Don’t stress it too much.”

“Sickness? What the heck are you even talking about? She’s not sick! She’s perfectly fine!” Growing up in Canada meant Wendy didn’t understand certain expressions. 2nd year middle-school sickness (중이병) is a slang term in Korea that refers to the rebellious know-it-all behaviour adolescents display, usually during the beginning of teenage years. It can also involve being too invested in fantasy worlds and acting like a “protagonist” of some sort. It is mostly a derogatory term to say to adults, implying that they are immature.

The following Friday evening, Yeri came back to the Kang Family’s house for another English lesson. This time, Soo-Young was there loafing around with Seulgi, watching a music show on television. It was a time for them to watch pretty and handsome faces dressed in ostentatious stage outfits, performing pretentious choreographies and singing the newest K-pop releases. Soo-Young was not here just for the music show though. She was here to observe Wendy’s teaching methods—something she did not get to do the last few sessions.

“Oh yeah, today is Girls’ Generation’s comeback!” Yeri exclaimed, rushing to sit with the other two on the sofa. Girls’ Generation is a very popular and talented girl group in Korea with 9 members, and Yeri swore that she was their biggest fan.

Oh great, another distraction, Wendy thought. Every time Yeri came around for an English lesson, the kid always had some sort of excuse to avoid the lesson. It was getting more and more frustrating for Wendy, but she was trying to keep her composure.

Just in time, the popular girl group Girls’ Generation appeared on the flashy screen, and began performing their latest single, “Mr. Mr.” The nine women wore suits and fedora hats as they classily sang and moved along with the playing dance track.

“Women in suits has never looked so y,” Yeri commented as she cuddled a throw pillow.

“They slay so hard,” Soo-Young added while resting her head on Seulgi’s lap.

“How to be them…” Seulgi slurred lifelessly.

Wendy approached them in the living room and said, “Okay, after this, Yeri, you need to study.”

“Shush! Dance break! Dance break!” Yeri said, pointing to the television.

Wendy then sat on the floor and leaned against the sofa to watch the music show with them. “I must say, Girls’ Generation unnies look cool in this new concept.”

“They’re oppas in this concept,” Yeri corrected her. If anyone knew anything about Girls’ Generation, it would be her.

After that performance, Wendy switched-off the television, surprising not just Yeri, but also Seulgi and Soo-Young. She was convinced that having television on was not conducive to a proper learning environment. It did not matter to Yeri though, because she already saw what she needed to see. Soo-Young and Seulgi on the other hand was bothered by this. But what could possibly be more amusing than watching Wendy try to teach a stubborn 13-year-old?

A while later…

“Let’s review grammar. Tenses shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

“I already know all that.”

“Okay, then what about vocabulary? Define—”

“How do you think I read my Harry Potter books? I always underline words I don’t know and memorize their meanings. I do this all the time! What could you possibly teach me? I told you already. I don’t need you to teach me stuff. Let’s just pretend like we went through all of this already. I don’t know why you’re giving yourself a hard time.”

“Okay, so if you don’t want to review grammar and you don’t want to review vocabulary, what the hell do you want to do?” Wendy asked Yeri, who kept texting on her phone. “If you are going to keep chatting with your friend on that thing, you might as well do it in English. I told you, your mother is paying me money, and I don’t want to scam her by not doing anything.”

Yeri didn’t respond. She just giggled while reading her text messages and ignored Wendy. Seulgi and Soo-Young could hear what was going on from the sofa but didn’t do anything about it.

“Who are you messaging anyway?”

“My best friend Saeron,” Yeri replied, not even peeling her eyes off the screen.

“Ugh, this is hopeless,” Wendy said, slipping her hand behind her fringe to rub her forehead. At this point she was no longer sure if there was any other strategy that can end this frustrating war. “If you really don’t want to do anything, suit yourself. I give up. You might as well tell your mom to stop paying me.”

“Good,” Yeri said nonchalantly. “I’ll go tell her that.”

“Ha? You’re both giving up just like that? Already? You’re both not serious, right?” Soo-Young sat up from lying down on Seulgi’s lap.

Although Soo-Young swore she only came here to watch small-scale “World War III” happen, her protective sense for her Wendy Unnie began tingling. She could feel Wendy’s burning nerves from a distance. It irked her. Yeri had no right. Nobody gives Wendy Unnie a horrible time, but me!

“Yerim-ah, what’s wrong with you? Why are you being like this to your unnie? You’re not usually like this. Well, not this bad. I thought you of all people would want to learn English! Now here is a teacher and you’re not even going to listen to her?”

Yeri ignored Soo-Young as well, still staring at her phone.

Seulgi, on the other hand, didn’t say anything, but was rather bothered by the situation too. She hated the idea of Wendy being so distressed that she could not bear the sight of it. So, the pacifist softie just went in her room to avoid the situation. She still had to figure out trigonometry, and she has her own set of English vocabulary to worry about. Regardless, she found it difficult to concentrate every time she thought of Wendy. If she could only help her best friend, she definitely would. If there was some magical crossbow that could cause Wendy and Yeri to get along, Seulgi Bear would have turned into Cupid Bear by now.

Later that night, as they were getting ready for bed, Wendy went into a rant about Yeri again. Since she did not want to blow up on Yeri, she began taking it all out on Seulgi in the form of ranting.

Unexpectedly, Seulgi said in all seriousness, but in the least offensive way, “Look, Wendy, I know Yeri gave you a difficult time, but can you please stop complaining about it for now? Hearing you get mad like this stresses me out. I wish I can help you, but I’m just really tired right now. You should sleep too.”

Wendy grew quiet upon hearing those words. Never has Seulgi ever told her to shut up about anything. Whenever Wendy talked, Seulgi was always the type to listen. Seulgi had always been very understanding, but tonight she was just not in the mood to put up with Wendy’s excess baggage. The bear had her own burdens weighing down her shoulders.

After that drop of silence, Wendy asked in a low, soft voice, “Seulgi, do you ever think I’m over-bearing? Am I, perhaps, annoying?”

Seulgi sat up from her bed and gently scratched both of her eyes before answering. She did not want to lie, but she did not want to tell her the honest truth either, for fear of offending her friend. So then, Seulgi went with what she thought was the safe answer: “I’d be lying if I said you’ve never annoyed me even at least once.”

“So, you do find me annoying,” Wendy mumbled dejectedly. “I’m a naturally annoying person, aren’t I? I nag all the time... That’s probably why Yeri doesn’t listen to me. I can’t help it though. I want her to think of me as a good unnie, and I just want what’s best for her… Well then, you must be tired of listening to me ramble all the time. Goodnight, Seulgi.”

Seulgi watched as Wendy switched off the lights in their bedroom and head off to the bed at the other side of the room. Without speaking any further, Wendy took off her round glasses, undid her bun, and silently pulled up her sheets to cover her face.

“I didn’t mean it that way...,” Seulgi uttered in a soft, sorry voice. The last thing she wanted was to offend her best friend right now. “I don’t find you annoying all the time. I didn’t find you annoying at all today. It’s just that—”

“I know. Don’t feel bad about what you said,” Wendy replied with a sigh. “Sleep tight, Sluggie Bear.”

Seulgi lay back down and stared at the dark ceiling with her eyes wide open. What was that?! What did I just do?!

The next morning when Wendy came to the bakery, she greeted Joohyun and got down to business. However, today, she had a lot of things in her mind about Yeri and their disaster of a study session. Because of this, she didn’t seem to be the same enthusiastic rookie baker that she was last week. When Wendy finished setting up with Joohyun before shop opening hour, she went into the kitchen and took out her vexations on a slab of dough, punching it with her fists with as much force as she could muster.

“Um, you okay?” Joohyun had noticed Wendy’s sudden austere mood. She wanted to just brush it off at first, but she figured she had to ask her about it.

Wendy shot one tough punch on the dough with a loud bam, hurting herself in the process. Shaking her hand while silently cursing at herself, she knew she had to stop. Then she faced Joohyun and whined, “Oh, Unnie…”

Joohyun approached Wendy and affectionately held Wendy’s reddened hand. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m such a failure,” Wendy whimpered.

Seeing Wendy upset also brought a frown on Joohyun’s face. “Why? Why would you say that?”

“Yeri—my student—she hates me!”

“That cute li’l kid who came into the shop last week? Why’d you think she hates you? She didn’t seem to hate you then…”

“I don’t know… I really want to teach her well but she doesn’t like listening to me for some reason.” Then Wendy uttered in a rather bitter tone, “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

Joohyun didn’t know how to respond to this. She barely knew Yeri. She barely knew the entire situation. Not knowing what else to do, the older girl just gave Wendy a warm, comforting hug. Joohyun held nothing back, pressing her warmth against the distressed young girl. Her gentle hand lightly patted Wendy’s back, as if she was calming a disturbed child. “There, there…”

Wendy did not expect this. She did not expect Joohyun to just hold her so tenderly. She had no idea why, but the soothing comfort of Joohyun’s little frame wrapped around her was too heart-warming. She didn’t want to let go. She never knew she would be moved by such a feeling—to be held so intimately like that.

Maybe it was because of pure frustration or something else—it was difficult even for Wendy to tell—but at that moment, she softly sobbed onto the nook of Joohyun’s neck like a helpless child. Although she never thought of her “Yeri problem” as a crying matter, Joohyun’s loving embrace somehow moved her to tears. As Wendy held onto Joohyun’s warmth, past memories started coming back to her of the time before she came to Korea... but she shook her head. No. She did not want to remember. The harder she fought it, the more tears flowed down from her eyes.

“You had a hard time, didn’t you?” Joohyun whispered as if she knew what Wendy was going through. Although she could not read minds, she could definitely read emotions, and she saw through the girl’s hidden pain immediately. She then let go from the very embrace she gave just to wipe Wendy’s tears with a napkin. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Realizing what she just did, Wendy pulled herself together and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me for a second there. I don’t usually cry like that.”

Joohyun met Wendy’s gaze as she lifted the girl’s downcast head. “It’s alright.”

After staring at Joohyun’s beautiful, hypnotizing eyes, Wendy realized that she probably looked like a hot mess at the moment. She averted her gaze in embarrassment and continued dabbing a napkin on her wet cheeks and blowing her nose.

When Wendy finally stopped crying, she stared at the dough and said, “Sometimes, I just wonder if I’m being a good unnie to Yeri. I wonder if I’m giving Soo-Young enough attention. I wonder if I’m being a good friend to Seulgi. I’m trying my best, but…”

“Oh, come on,” Joohyun suddenly said in a loud, assertive voice that Wendy has never heard from her before. It almost sounded like she was reprimanding her. Joohyun had always been so soft spoken, but this time it was different. “You said it yourself that you’re givin’ it your all. I think your effort is enough to prove how well you’re doin’. Did you forget seein’ them here last week? They came out to support you. They all seem to like you very, very much too. Whatever it is you been doin’ for them, sure it’s more than enough. You’re doin’ well, Wendy. You’re doin’ unmistakably well. Your friends are lucky to have you, as much as you’re lucky to have them.”

“Y-you really think so?”

“Of course,” Joohyun said with a firm nod. She then softened up again and said, “If anything, I’m a bit jealous. I wish I can have close friends like you.”

“What do you mean? Don’t you have friends?” As a child in Canada, Wendy had good friends. And when she arrived in Korea, Seulgi had become her best friend. To Wendy, having no friends seemed like such a foreign thought.

“I do, but not very close. The close ones I once had, haven’t seen them in...um... a while.” Joohyun’s gaze started to look distant. Then she said to Wendy with a smile, “You should cherish your friends, even if you think they’re ‘nuts.’”

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe she remembered me saying that last week. So embarrassing… Wendy thought in between sniffs. “Do you have any advice concerning the thirteen-year-old who doesn’t want to listen to me? I don’t want to fight with her at all. I want her to like me. Truly.”

Although Joohyun didn’t know Yeri very well, she has dealt with younger kids before. With her soft voice back, Joohyun suggested, “Try talkin’ to her again. Ask her why she doesn’t want to listen to you.”

“I already did that, but she shot me down, saying she does not need me to teach her things, because she thinks she is so clever.”

“Then maybe try askin’ her a different question.”

“A different question?” Wendy had never really thought of that before. “What kind of question?”

“Don’t know. It depends,” Joohyun shrugged. “You’re a clever girl. You’d probably know better than I do.”

A different question, huh? Before Joohyun left the kitchen to get back to her work, Wendy quickly grabbed Joohyun and pulled her in for another tight hug. It wasn’t as comforting as Joohyun’s hug (maybe just constricting), but she just had to.

“Ack!” Joohyun yelped in surprise.

Then Wendy said as she held Joohyun tightly, “I think I know what you mean. Thank you so much for the advice. You’re the best!”