Eun Ji

My alarm was ringing.

Ring ring

I slowly brought out my hand and searched for my phone. I got up and looked at the time. It was 6am. I rubbed my eyes to get the sleep away. I got up and shook Jae Rim and Tae Woo to wake up.

“Eun Ji ah, leave me alone” Tae Woo mumbled. I was at least successful in waking up Jae Rim.

“Jae Rim, wake up your brother and go take a shower. I’ll go fix breakfast” I said getting up.

“Eun Ji, why did you wake us up so early?” She asked, shaking Tae Woo to get up.

“You guys are going back to school” I said.

“Really?” Tae Woo shot up.

“Yeah, really. Now go get ready” I walked out, towards the kitchen. I opened the fridge and peered inside, hoping that there would magically be a ton of food in there. But to my disappointment, I found a loaf of bread, half a carton of milk, and 7 eggs just sitting there. Well, this will have to do. I got out all 7 eggs and made scrambled eggs. I then toasted the bread and warmed the milk. By the time I was done, it was already 7:10am. I needed to get ready or else we will be late. I quickly ran to our bedroom to see Jae Rim already dressed up getting a school backpack while Tae Woo was still trying to figure out how to tie his tie.

“Noona, I don’t know how to do this” Tae Woo said, looking at me.

“It’s ok, you guys go eat. If Zico comes, make sure to open it for him.  I’ll come and help you when I’m done” I said, gently pushing them out the door. I layed out my school uniform (black skirt, white dress shirt, and a black blazer with school id, white socks, and old tennis shoes). I quickly took a shower with the remaining hot water and got dressed. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, and put a little hello kitty hair clip in my hair. I took my remaining hair clip and walked out. I walked to the kitchen to find Zico already sitting there on the floor.

“Eun Ji, Zico did my tie for me, so you don’t have to worry” Tae Woo said, with his mouth full.

“Thanks” I said taking my place at the table. I grabbed 3 slices of bread and ate it with the eggs. After I was done, I drank the remaining milk and told them to go get their bags. Tae Woo being the gentleman that he was brought me my school bag and cell phone.

“Thank you, Tae Woo” I said, bowing.

 We quickly got on our shoes and headed for the car. As we were heading to Incheon School, Jae Rim reached over and the radio.

“Zico, can you be my brother?” Tae Woo asked.

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted a little brother” He said. Tae Woo smiled the whole way to their school. As they were about to get out, Zico stopped them and handed each of them money.

“This is for your lunch. Buy whatever you want” He said, winking.

“Ok. See you after school” Jae Rim said, getting out. They both waved at us as we pulled away.

“You excited about going back to school?” He asked, sneaking a glance at me.

“Yeah” I lied. I hated going to my school. Kids always made fun of me, calling me names like or and made jokes like “How was the last night?” or “Who did you bang this time?” Just because I come to school once in a while gives them the impression that I’m the type of person who sleeps around for money. I was too deep in my thoughts to notice that Zico had already pulled up in front of the school, where because of the car; a lot of kids turned their attention and looked at us. Thank goodness the windows are tinted.

“Give me your phone” Zico demanded, grabbing my phone.

“I just stored my number in here, if you need anything just call” He said, looking at me. He took out his wallet and handed me money for lunch.

“Ok, thanks. I’ll see you after school” I said, getting out of the car.

It was a mistake for me to get out of the car, because as soon as Zico pulled away, it began. As I was walking towards my morning study hall, I could see people staring and whispering behind my back. I tried to ignore it by putting my head down and continued walking.  I went to the 2^nd floor where my morning study hall was located. As I was making my way to room 4B, I felt 5 shadows crowd my vision. I stopped walking and looked up. There stood Miyavi Lee and her friends. They are known us the Queen B’s, being the leaders of our school. Miyavi Lee was a Japanese-korean, whose father( A Zainichi Korean who moved to Korea to raise his children)  donated large sums of money to the school. She was the beauty of the school with shiny black hair,big almond shaped eyes,expensive clothes and to top it off, she had a shiny grey sports car, the spirra. She had it all, but what gave her pleasure was the fact that she had the power to make other people's lives miserable life. Ever since the beginning of year 1(9th grade), she had made it her mission to torments me every day of my school life. She had it all and she got away with bullying others.

"Oh look, the is back" She announced. Everyone in hearing distance turned their attention towards us and a crowd was formed. I ignored her comment and decided to walk pass her but her girls pushed me back.

"So who was it this time? The person seems to be really loaded" 

"What type of job did you have to do this time? Did you his or did you have a three sum?" She asked, coming closer. I flushed red hearing all of this.

"So you really did do it. Wow, you’re such a " She blurted out loud for everyone to hear. i turned around searching for a kind person to look at but all of them just stood there, whispering and pointing at me. I heard comments being thrown around such as "I thought all those rumors were lies, but it turned out to be true" and "Wow, she's that desperate for money"

I closed my eyes to keep the tears from coming, but it came anyways. I opened my eyes again and started walking towards my class. This time the crowd made way for me to pass through.

“There goes the cry baby” I heard somebody say. When that person said that everyone started laughing.  I quietly entered the class room and sat in the desk closet to the door. *I was so happy that we didn’t have assigned seats* I sat down and wiped away the tears with the back of my blazer. I sat there with my head down, waiting for the teacher to come. The final bell rang at 7:55am, and everyone came crowding in. Before they went to find their seats, they looked at me. I zoned out through row call. After that the teacher said that we had 30 minutes of leisure time to do whatever we pleased before 1^st hour started. The teacher left.  I brought my bag up to look through if I hadn’t forgotten anything at home. As I was doing that, I felt a hard slam against my back. I groaned in pain and rubbed my back. I turned around to see Baek Jun Ki, surrounded by his friends. Jun Ki was currently the king of the school below the “Principal”, who in money like a leech on blood. Jun Ki was a very attractive guy with dyed blond hair, nice kind eyes, and a killer smile. He was really nice when no one was there, but a real when all of his friends were around.

“Hey Kermit the frog, I heard you gave a guy a . Is it true?” He asked, getting up. He came and took the seat right behind me. I just sat there and stared at him.

“So is it true or not?” He asked, leaning in.

“No, if you think it’s true then sure it’s true” I said, getting uncomfortable.

“Ok, I think you didn’t do any of those things that their accusing you of doing” He said, getting up.

“Hey , Kermit the frog didn’t do it. You’re a ing liar” He said, walking towards Miyavi and her group of friends. I liked Jun Ki for that. He’ll first ask you to see if it was true before saying anything.

“I don’t tell lies. I saw her coming out of a guy’s car this morning” She said, getting up to challenge him.

“So? It gives you the right to jump to conclusions?” He asked her, getting closer. He put up his hands and shoved Miyavi back.

“Don’t you ever touch me, Jun Ki. You’re going around playing the good guy when we all know that you somebody at a club” She yelled. *What….did….she…..just…..say?* everyone turned and stared at the both of them.

Wah!!!! I couldn’t believe it. Sweet and honest Jun Ki is a .

“I never touched that girl” He said, backing away.

“Well that’s not what she said” Miyavi said, smiling. Jun Ki turned around and punched a desk with his fist. He brought up his hand and I could see it already getting red. He pushed the desk away and stormed out of class. *Poor Jun Ki :’(* this was all my fault. If I had just spoken up when Miyavi was picking on me, none of this would have ever happened. Now the class had switched onto a new topic, talking about Jun Ki being a . I ignored them, knowing that it wasn’t true. I zoned out through the whole day, waiting for 9^th hour to come. I wasn’t too sad that no one wanted to eat lunch with me. I quickly ran out of the class when the bell rang for 9^th hour, where hopefully I’ll get to see Jun Ki.  I took my gym clothes, which was provided by the school and changed in the bathroom away from the general public. I got out and walked to the gym. Everyone was already there by the time I got there. I scanned the place to see if Jun Ki was there, but no he wasn’t there. When the teacher was row calling, the gym door opened with a bang. We all turned to see Jun Ki standing there in his gym clothes.

“Baek Jun Ki, where have you been?” Coach Dong asked.

“Attending some business. Why, you missed me that much?” He asked, taking a seat at the back.

“Don’t be late next time” Dong said as he continued row calling. After we were done he gave us instructions to pick a partner and do stationary exercises. Everyone picked a partner and I was left sitting there. I sat there, playing with my fingers.

“Hey Kermit, you want to partner up?” I heard Jun Ki ask. I turned around and said sure. We went to the only available station left. It was the sit ups. Jun Ki told me to go first so I layed down while he held my feet together. While I was doing it, I could hear our neighbors pointing and looking at us.

“Wow, the and . They make such a cute couple” One of the said, smirking.

“Just ignore them” He said as I came up again. This time I didn’t go back down. I wanted to know the truth.

“Is what they’re saying true?” I asked.

“No, it’s all lies”

“Then why did the girl say that you her?”

“Because….”

“Because?” I asked

“You wouldn’t understand”

“Understand what?”

He leaned in closer and whispered.

“I’m not attracted to women. I don’t feel the same way for women as I do for men” He said, looking at me.

Wow, that’s a shocker. He’s gay.

“And I didn’t want to cheat on my boyfriend. You’re the first person who knows this. It’s okay if you don’t want to be my friend anymore, I’ll try to understand” He said, about to get up.

“No, wait” I said. He sat back down.

“It’s ok if you like men. It’s what makes you unique and I like that” I said.

“Really?” He asked, smiling.

“Yeah really. And I’m so happy that you chose to share this personal information with me. Thank you, Jun Ki” I said, bowing on my knees and hands.

“It’s ok. You have to keep it a secret” He said. I nodded and we went back to exercising. After P.E was over, I took a long shower in the women’s bathroom and got dressed. I waited for everyone to leave before I called Zico to come pick me up. I stood there waiting for about 15 minutes before I saw his car pull up. I got in the car and saw Jae Rim and Tae Woo sitting in the back.

“Hello loves” I said, leaning back to kiss each of them.

“How was your first day of school?” Zico asked as he pulled away.

“It was very interesting” I told him about Jun Ki, but left out the part where I had gotten insulted by Miyavi and about Jun Ki’s secret.

“Wow that’s sounds way more interesting than mine” He said, laughing.

“How was your day, Jae Rim?” I asked.

“It was very good and Tae Woo and I have 2 classes together” She said, smiling.

“Nice” I said.

“Tae woo, how was yours?” I asked.

“Same thing as Jae Rim” He said, also smiling.

“This calls for a celebration to celebrate for the successful first day for the Kim Clan” Zico shouted, laughing.

“Now who’s with me?” He asked.

“We are” We all said in unison.