Wonpil likes to call herself a good girl.

She makes sure to always be polite and help people wherever she can – be it helping an old lady carry her heavy grocery bag or buying a crying kid a new ice cream cone because the previous one fell down. She tries to show her parents how thankful she is and how much she loves them, holds the promises dear she makes with her friends and gives her best at school.

This is why she knows for sure that Kang Younghyun is a bad boy.

He skips almost all of their classes, and if he does show up he’s late and won’t really pay attention to the rest of it. There’s nearly always a bruise somewhere on his face and Wonpil wonders if it comes from fighting or if he’s maybe just clumsy like her. (She tries not to listen to all the rumors of his bruises clearly coming from fights. She is a good girl after all.)

She knows he’s bad news by the cold way he acts and his attitude towards teachers and other schoolmates. How he didn’t even return her apologies when they bumped shoulders in the hallway and just gave her a cold up-and-down before locking eyes with her, even though it had clearly been him who pushed her to the side.

Yet her heart couldn’t help the small skip it made.

Jaehyung had ushered her away with a dirty look thrown over his shoulder at Younghyun and asked her if she was alright – one of the few times he openly showed affection and care towards her. Back then she didn’t really know how to answer him and just nodded.

The encounter left her breathless and very confused.

 

 

The next time she gets to interact with Younghyun, the other isn’t even awake for it. It’s Tuesday afternoon, the sky is painted in a bright orange-red and it’s her turn for class duty. She’s supposed to do it together with Younghyun but the elder didn’t turn up for class again today - she doesn’t have high hopes of him returning to help her clean up. So to say she’s mildy surprised when she sees him sleeping at his table in the far back corner of the classroom after she returned from bringing out the trash might be an understatement.

He’s sleeping with his head laid on his folded arms facing the classroom and Wonpil is slightly overwhelmed with what to do. On one hand she could let him be and clean up on her own. On the other she could wake him up and demand that he help her like he’s supposed to – but then again, he would probably just glare at her before leaving.

Biting her underlip to surpress a distressed whine, she moves the tables and chairs as carefully as possible, making as little sound as she can as to not wake him up.

She’s attentively moping the ground at the back near where Younghyun’s sitting when she peeks a glance at his sleeping face. Younghyun is handsome, Wonpil might even call him pretty, and she notes that if it weren’t for his permanent scowl and cold attitude that he would probably have the attention of a lot of girls (but as it is, he likes to lash out at their classmates and therefor all the girls’ attention is kept on Dowoon).
When her gaze moves down from his long lashes and prominent cheekbones she belatedly notices his split lip. The cut looks fresh and judging by the crusted blood around it also unattended.

Wonpil worries her bottom-lip with her teeth for a few seconds before she carefully puts the mop back into the supply closett and gets her bag. She silently pulls out one of the pink band-aids (they have the same pattern as her favorite sweater) that she always keeps with her because of her own tendency to injure herself and puts it next to Younghyun’s hand on the table. She quickly scurries off after with a rapidly beating heart and red cheeks. She doesn’t notice the now opened pair of eyes watching her leave.

The day after in the short break between math and literature she’s goofing around with Jaehyung like usual, the elder teasing her and trying to avoid her small angry fists, when the door to the classroom suddenly bangs open.
Wonpil turns her head in shock and is even more surprised when she sees Younghyun striding in. He sneers at the girls crowding around Dowoon’s sleeping figure like usual as he makes his way to his table in the corner next to Dowoon’s.

At her side Jae lets out a noise of surprise at actually seeing Younghyun come to a lesson on time but it quickly turns into a snort when said male once again gets into an argument with Dowoon’s admireres. Wonpil wonders how the younger always manages to sleep through the commotion.

She only notices that she’s been starring when she suddenly locks gazes with Younghyun and her breath catches before she quickly whips around in her seat with wide eyes. Jaehyung mockingly asks her why her face is so red, but she ignores him in favour of trying to calm her beating heart before she carefully chances another peek over her shoulder.

Younghyun is now leaned back in his seat looking out the window with a bored expression.
With his head tilted to the side Wonpil notices the band-aid at his lip with a fluttering heart, only for it to deflate again whe she sees that it’s not the one she left him. Honestly, she doesn’t know what she was expecting, he probably didn’t even see it yesterday or just ignored it.
Wonpil turns back around with a sullen expression and tells herself that she is not disappointed, she is not.

She is.

 

 

It’s not unusual that Wonpil runs out of band-aids, she is after all rather clumsy and tends to injure herself.

What is unusual though, is her special choice of band-aids.

They’re a bright pink with the same pattern as her favorite sweater and Jaehyung hates them just as much as he hates the sweater. Which honesty, only spurrs Wonpil on to keep buying them. So once in a while Wonpil will walk down the streets towards the only convenience store that sells them by the main road to restock on band-aids.

It just so happens to be one of those evenings when she breezes into the store with the intent to just quickly buy a packet of band-aids and maybe a drink. She doesn’t really spare a glance at the cashier as she walks past with a soft greeting, already set out for the aisle with her intended purchase.

It’s when she’s taking a can of iced tea out of the fridge, pack of band-aids in hand, that she hears some commotion come from the front. Curiosity takes the best of her as she leans back to try and get a better look at what is happening by the cash register.

To her shock she spots Younghyun standing behind it clad with the store’s uniform vest, his shoulders haunched and hands in his pockets. Wonpil wonders how she didn’t notice him when she walked in.

“Yah! Take your hands out of your pockets and stand straight when I’m talking to you!” The man next to Younghyun berates him rather loudly as the younger begrudgingly obliges. The man that must be the store’s manager slams his hand onto the counter and points at the bills in the cash register with an angry face. “The amount doesn’t add up, you must have taken some!”

He reaches out and pinches Younghyun’s ear before the other flinches away from the touch with an annoyed expression. “Look at all these piercings and this attitude! What has become of the youth nowadays?! Of course you stole something, I should have known with your appearance!”

Wonpil is aghast at the man’s groundless accusations and how he just hurt Younghyun like that. Sure, the other male might look like a bit of a ruffian but that doesn’t mean that the manager can just blame him like that without proof.

Wonpil angrily stomps up to the counter and inserts herself between the two, much to their surprise. She doesn’t get to linger long on Younghyun’s wide eyes before she’s already turning to the manager with her best placating smile.

“Sir, there must be a mistake here! I’ve been in this shop for a while and I didn’t notice Younghyun steal anything, he’s been a model employee the whole time!”

The man squints down at her small frame and eyes her suspiciously. “Who are you? His girlfriend? And so what if you didn’t see anything, he probably did it earlier in the day.” Wonpil feel the anger rise in her as she squares up her shoulders but tries to remain calm, she is after all a good girl.

“Can you proof that he’s the one who did it? How do you even know that something got stolen? For all you know there might just not have been a large amount of customers today.”

The manager takes clear offense at her words if the way his nostrils flare is any indication. He sneers at them with clear disdain. “Is this how the youth is these days? With no respect for their superiors and elders!? I don’t negotiate with kids! I wonder why I even hired you!”

She’s honestly tried her best and stayed polite and reasonable but there just doesn’t seem to be any reasoning left with this man. Her cheeks puff up slightly in anger at the older man’s unbelievable attitude.

“Fine! If you don’t want us here then we’ll just leave!”

She takes Younghyun’s hand in hers and angrily walks past the stunned manager and out of the store.

It must say something about how astounded the other is that he just silently follows her and let’s her hold his hand all the way down the streets to the playground near her house, where she let’s go and plops down on one of the swings with an irritated huff.
She let’s out a noise of frustration as she angrily kicks out her legs. Younghyun follows her lead and sits down on the swing next to her as he watchs Wonpil’s small anger tantrum in wonder.

“I can’t believe how he just accused you like that! Aren’t employers supposed to take care of their employees?” She turns to the other with a small pout, her eyebrows drawn into a frown. Younghyun just nods along dazedly before she turns to do punching motions into the air. “He made me so angry! How can someone be so unreasonable! I will never go to that store again!”

She fumes angrily as she continues punching the air but is shaken out of it when she hears a chuckle coming from her side. She turns her head in wonder to see Younghyun smiling at her, his fox-like eyes turning into crecents and that sight is so surreal to her that she is left staring at his handsome face, her heartbeat picking up with every second.

“It might be better that you don’t go back since you just stole something.” Wonpil is still taken back by his smile that it takes her a few seconds for Younghyun’s words to sink in as she blinks at him with wide eyes. “Huh?”

She follows his gaze to where it’s directed at something in her lap, only to see the ice tea and pack of band-aids lying there innocently. She let’s out a loud squeak and almost falls off the swing.
Oh god, did she really just steal something? Is she a criminal now!?

Wonpil quickly stops that train of thought. Honestly, that man had deserved it! She turns to Younghyun with an angry huff to tell him just as much.

“That man deserved it! I don’t feel bad stealing from him.”

In return Younghyun throws his head back in laughter and Wonpil feels her cheeks warm up at how happy and open the other looks right now.

As his laughter slowly dies down, he turns to smile at her in awe. “Not such a good girl after all, huh?”

Wonpil tries to hide her red cheeks by looking at her lap but it doesn’t seem to be working judging by the smile she feels directed at her. Wonpil quickly tries to change the topic to spare her sanity.

“I’m sorry I just dragged you out like that. I probably just cost you your job, oh god.” Horror seeps into her as the realization dawn on her, but Younghyun’s knowing smile reassures her.

“Nah, I’m glad you did. He had already been a douche to me when I was just a customer there.”

Wonpil her head at that information in puzzlement. “Then why would you start working there?”

“I needed some money.” Is his short answer, and Wonpil almost thinks that’s it but then Younghyun continues, his smile suddenly turning – dare Wonpil say – almost shy. “Also they sell something a person I’m interested in likes to buy. And I kind of hoped I would get to see them.”

Wonpil once again follows his gaze to the pack of band-aids in her lap and she feels her heart almost leap out of her chest with the way it starts beating rapidly. The hand that had been holding onto Younghyun’s hand ealier suddenly feels too warm from where she is holding onto the swing with it.

Maybe Younghyun being a bad boy isn’t such bad news for her after all.

 

 

The first time Younghyun kisses her is under the shade of the tree behind the soccer-field. It’s a warm spring day that she gets her first kiss.

Because of the heat Wonpil has the front part of her hair tied back in a low pony-tail where it flows down with the rest of her untied hair. Younghyun kisses her with a force behinde it like he wants to ingrain the feel of her lips into his memory. But he also cradles her head like she’s something delicate and plays with the hair of her pony-tail after they part like he doesn’t want to stop yet. Her eyes cross as she smiles up at him brightly.

It’s a warm spring day that she gets her first kiss, it’s also the day she gets her first boyfriend.

 

When she excitedly tells Jae about her relationship with Younghyun, his happy expression immediately drops into one of shock, before he congratulates her with a strained smile not quite reaching his eyes. There are no jokes or teasing like there usually would be.
Wonpil expected him to be shocked but something seems to be bothering the elder. She let’s it rest and doesn’t prod, knowing that Jae would need time to ponder over it himself before he could open up to her about it.

 

On their first date Younghyun brings her to the arcade. He shows up at her front door with a helmet under his arm and another one held out for her, there’s a black motorcycle parked behind him.

Wonpil feels like fainting.

He tells her to hold onto him tightly and Wonpil happily obliges, trying not to scream when he starts the engine. She has her eyes closed in fear and wonders if she’s bruising his ribs with how tightly she’s hugging him.
When she cracks one of her eyes open, she realizes that it actually isn’t that scary as they zoom down the roads, that it’s actually fun. Younghyun spares a glance at her over his shoulder and winks. Her eyes curve in her bright smile as answer.

At the arcade he shows her around the games he likes and Wonpil discovers a brand new side to Younghyun. His almost childlike excitement with certain games or when he wins. How competitive he can get and how determined he can become once he sets his goal onto something. It’s how he manages to win her a fox-doll from the crane machine, that she lovingly names after him. In return she lets him win a few rounds at Street Fighter.

At the end of the date he kisses her goodbye at her front door, just as forcefully yet delicately as he did under the shade of the tree.

 

The rest of the student body doesn’t learn of their relationship since Younghyun still skips school regularly and they therefor don’t really get to show skinship at school. Wonpil naturally misses her boyfriend during the school hours, but that’s okay because she has Jae keeping her company who lately seeks more of her attention than usual.

After school though, when almost everyone has gone home, Younghyun will wait for her at the school gates with a helmet held out for her and his motorcycle behind him. They will drive down the road with Wonpil clinging onto him and both of them laughing.

Wonpil doesn’t know where Younghyun vanishes to most days he skips school, doesn’t know what he does to always have some fresh new bruise somewhere on his body. She’s learnt not to ask after she had once tried to get an answer out of her boyfriend about the cut above his eyebrow until Younghyun had snapped at Wonpil to mind her own business.

Wonpil had shrunken back in shock and Younghyun had immediately apologized, his face full of regret as he cradled her close.

But Wonpil was once again reminded that Younghyun is still a bad boy.

So instead of asking and wondering, she has taken to carrying more band-aids and and some salve with her to tend to Younghyun’s constantly resurfacing wounds.

(She tries not to mind how her pink band-aids are always quickly replaced with normal ones. She tries not to be disappointed, tries not to read too much into it.)

 

 

To make up for the lost time that they don’t get to see each other in school and when Younghyun can’t come to pick her up, he promised her after he had snapped at her, to always call her at least once a day. And Wonpil is happy with that, the calls have become the highlight of her day on the ones she doesn’t get to see Younghyun.

Jae just scoffed at her when she told him about it, but Wonpil wasn’t offended anymore, she has come to terms with the fact that Jae and her boyfriend somehow don’t seem to like each other.

Wonpil doesn’t mind that sometimes the calls only last a few minutes because Younghyun is busy with something. Sometimes he doesn’t manage to call at all and it will be Wonpil who has to call him but that’s also okay, because Younghyun always apologizes and tries to somehow make it up to her. Be it a surprise date or an especially long phonecall, he tries and Wonpil appreciates that.

Younghyun promised her that he would be there for the boys’ basketball tournament of their grade and Wonpil promised she would cheer him on the loudest (much to Jae’s dismay that for once, she wouldn’t be cheering for him).

Wonpil cheers and claps with all her might and is easily the loudest person cheering Younghyun on, even if she isn’t nearly as loud as Dowoon’s fanclub. She’s also the only person cheering for Younghyun, but judging by the warm smiles that he sends her way, he doesn’t mind, has always only ever cared for her.
(She is so absorbed in Younghyun that she misses the other pair of eyes watching her.)

Nearing the end of the tournament there is a two vs. two match left with Younghyun and Dowoon against Jae and Sungjin. Wonpil is torn for a short moment for betraying Jae like that but one glance at Younghyun practically glowing from the exercise has her choose her side pretty fast.

She is slightly taken back by how vigorously Sungjin seems to be trying to block Younghyun from being able to shoot, almost like it’s a personal vendetta.

In the end though Dowoon manages to pass to Younghyun and he in return manages to get past Sungjin and jumps to shoot a three-pointer. Wonpil holds her breath as the basketball flies through the air in a perfect arc right through the ring. She jumps up with a loud cheer as Dowoon’s fanclub simultanously goes wild next to her.

They run onto the court to swarm Dowoon to congratulate him, talking rapidly over each other to the exhausted looking boy. On her way through the court she catches his eyes and gives him a small congratulative smile before she spots Jae standing next to Sungjin. She walk over and hits Jae’s back consolingly with a small smile. “Cheer up, you were great!” She then turns to Sungjin to smile at him as well. “You played great, too, Sungjin oppa.”

Before he can answer she’s already turning away, vanishing in the mass of people to run straight into Younghyun’s arms as he catches her with a bright laugh. Amidst the chaos of Dowoon’s fanclub and the other loud basketball teams, the pair tightly embrassing each other in the middle goes unnoticed.

Wonpil only has eyes for her boyfriend as they steal their way through people and out of the gymnasium, giggling the whole way.
(Misses the pair of eyes watching her leave longingly.)

And in those moments it’s perfect, it’s enough for Wonpil.

 

Until it isn’t.

 

 

Their phonecalls become shorter and shorter, and Younghyun’s reasons become more and more vague. The days Wonpil has to call him become more frequent and even then he sometimes doesn’t pick up, doesn’t call back. He doesn’t take her on spontaneous dates anymore and doesn’t wink at her over his shoulder anymore when he drives her home.

Wonpil wonders where it all went wrong.

Now when she kneels down next to him under the shade of the tree to tend to his wounds, Younghyun only takes the band-aids from her and tells her to not bother with it before kissing her to stop any form of protest.

( She tries not to see how he always uses other band-aids the next day, always others, just not hers.)

She’s waiting by the school gate one late afternoon, the sky already orange-red but the last rays of the sun still warm on her skin. She’s waiting, waiting for Younghyun who had promised to pick her up today. She checks her phone to see if maybe he had called or texted her, only to see that he’s already twenty minutes late and that he hasn’t contacted her.

Wonpil let’s out a sad sigh before she dials Younghyun’s number. It rings for a few seconds before he picks up with a rushed “Yeah?” Wonpil can hear laughter and noises in the background and wonders where Younghyun is.

“Oppa? I’ve been waiting for you to pick me up.” On the other side of the line Younghyun let’s out an indistinct chain of curses before he talks into the speaker again.

“, Wonpillie, I’m sorry. I’m kind of held up at the moment.” She hears cheers coming from the background where ever Younghyun is and painfully notes that it isn’t anything serious that’s holding him up from her. “Don’t wait up for me, Wonpillie.”

“Okay, I’ll call you later.”  She quickly adds, but Younghyun only answers with a “Yeah, sure.” sounding distracted.

Wonpil tries not to cry as she walks home. She wonders what happened to their promises. Is she the only one holding on to them?

Wonpil doesn’t call Younghyun that day, or the next day. She isn’t surprised when he doesn’t call her back, either.

 

  

“What’s up, Wonpil? Why did you want to meet here?” Younghyun walks up to where Wonpil was waiting for him under the shade of the tree behind the soccer-field. He reaches out to her and tries to pull her into a kiss, but Wonpil evades his touch and chooses to look at the tips of her shoes as he looks at her in confusion.

“Pillie?”

She tries to steady herself, tries not to cry as she readies herself for her next words.

“Let’s break up.”

Younghyun’s arms drop to his side from where they had been held out reaching for her.

“You want to…. break.. up?”

Wonpil nods her head, still looking down so Younghyun won’t see her glistening eyes.

The sun is just as warm as on the day Younghyun first kissed her under this tree and it feels like it’s mocking Wonpil for having such a fragile heart.

“You’ve been neglecting me for a