Ren’s POV

“Ren?” Su Min says.

“Yes?”

“The bell just rung, we should probably go in.” Her arms loosen from my waist.

“Oh.”  Funny, I didn’t even notice the sound. I look down at our position. My arms are still firmly around her, not wanting to let go. My face heats up and I immediately release her, embarrassed.

I stand up slowly, and extend down, helping her get to her feet. I scratch the back of my head awkwardly. She doesn’t seem to notice my discomfort and tilts her head, observing my cheek. What’s she looking at? I reach up and feel a scar. Oh…

“What happened to you? What did they do to you?”

I shake my head and try laughing it off.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s go in, the teacher’s going to be mad if we’re late.”

She reluctantly nods and we walk into the building. The first person I see in class is Chin Ho. He glares at me. For some reason I’m not scared anymore. I stare back at him. His eyes show a glimpse of fear before turning down.

“Class, take out your textbooks and turn to page 184.” The teacher says. And that’s my cue for nap time.

I wake up to someone prodding my shoulder.

“…Mmm..?” I mumble.

“Ren, class is over.” It’s Su Min.

I nod sleepily and stretch. She giggles.

“…What?” I ask, rubbing my eyes

“Whenever I look at you you’re always asleep. Tsk tsk tsk. Pay attention in class.” She uses a rolled up piece of paper and gently taps my head.

“But I do. Sometime’s when I sleep her words slip into my dreams” I say jokingly. She laughs more, making me smile.

“Uh-huh, sure.  Ahah, let’s go.” I get up.

Wait….today is Tuesday. That means I have work. I face palm. Every Tuesday and Thursday I have to work at this nearby book store from 3:00-5:00 PM. Su Min looks confused.

“I’m sorry, I have work. I can’t walk home with you today.” She nods in understanding.

“Ohh, no, it’s fine.” She smiles.

We part ways and I start heading to my destination. After about a minute of walking I heard footsteps behind me. At first I didn’t think much of it but then they came closer. Someone grabs my shoulder and roughly spins me around so I faced him.

It was Chin Ho. What was he doing here? I can’t help but feel a little bit scared…No, it’s ok. There’s nothing to be scared of. You stood up to him today. I reassure myself. It helps, I stand a bit straighter. I’m at least a good two inches taller than him. Weird, I never knew. He notices this too and steps back a little.

“Hey, pretty boy. What you did today wasn’t very nice.” He mocked. His confidence is back.

I roll my eyes and shake myself out of his grasp and continue walking towards the book store.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” He grabs me again. *sigh, better get this over with quick.

“What?” I ask, slightly annoyed.

He fakes offense. “What? I just wanted to talk...”

I don’t know why I didn’t see coming. He punches me in the stomach and I curl forward. The hit wasn’t strong enough to knock me down. He grabs my shoulders, forcing me up, and looks me in the eye.

“Look, just because you won today doesn’t mean everything’s gonna be all happy go lucky, got it? You’re still the wimpy little weakling and you always will be, pretty boy.”

I don’t respond so he continues. “I don’t know how you escaped today…I had four guys on you. Care to explain?” His grip on my shoulders tightens.  I glare at him then grin at the memory.

“They were weak.” I say simply. He growls and throws me into the ground. I cough as dirt surrounds me.

“Hyo got a black eye, Kyubok has a bloody nose, Mun-Hee got beat in the stomach, and Young is limping. What the hell happened? Did someone help you?” he demands.

I spit out the dirt from my mouth and don’t respond. This isn’t worth my time. I don’t want to be late for work. I get up and continue walking. This angers Chin Ho more.

“If you don’t tell me what happened I’ll finish what I had started with Su Min earlier today!”

I stop in my tracks. My fists tighten. I turn around.

“What did you say?” fury fills my stomach. Chin Ho looks pleased with my reaction. He puts his hands in his pockets and leans up against a nearby wall.

“You know, that fun little scene you walked in on. I can finish it…”

The thought of his filthy hands on Su Min makes me snap. To his surprise I charge over and punch him in the face. The blow throws him to the ground immediately and the corner of his mouth starts bleeding. He stays there, unable to move: mouth open and eyes wide in fear. Suddenly all of the pent up anger I had accumulated towards him in the past filled my mind. I was shaking in hatred. All those times he hit me, punched me, kicked me, made me bleed… and today, how he hurt Su Min…This was my chance to get back at him for all he’s done.  I wanted revenge. I rush over to where he lay and raised my fist, ready to hit him again.

But something was keeping me from doing it. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Something inside me knew that if I punched him, it would make me exactly like him. It would make me a violent, heartless person…someone who took pleasure in paining others. If I hit him, I would become the kind of person that I had hated. The kind of person that Su Min hated… I didn’t want that….

“Please…don’t…” Chin Ho gasped. “I’m begging you…”

Chin Ho has his eyes closed, expecting any second now that my fist make contact with his body. He was shaking in fear, blood flowed from his lip. I suddenly felt disgusted with myself. No, I can’t do this. I can’t…I refuse to sink to Chin Ho’s level. I lower my fist and stand up. His eyes snapped open and looked up at me in confusion.

“I’m not the horrible person you are Chin Ho, remember that. Don’t you dare touch a hair on her head or I’ll kill you.” I threatened. I take out a small pack of tissues.

“Here, take it. For your lip.” I throw it to the ground next to him.

With that I got up and turned to leave.

“So it’s Su Min.” I stop in my tracks. Huh?

“Su Min gives you the power to fight back” he explained. “She was the reason you could defeat all four of those guys…and now me.”

I ponder his theory….what does it even mean?

“Pretty boy, you like her don’t you?” he laughs weakly.

I turn around to him. What? I don’t understand what he’s saying. He sees my expression and laughs even more.

“Hah, you like her! That’s why you get so worked up when I mentioned her…I should have known…”

I’m so confused, what is he getting at? Me like Su min? I’ve never thought of it that way…

“Ren…”  My head snaps back to him. He’s never used my name before. It was always pretty boy or bastard or something.

“I’m sorry……..” he whispers

I feel my mouth drop in bewilderment. Am I dreaming? Did Chin Ho just….apologize…tome? I can’t blink. I can see him start to feel uncomfortable. He picks up the tissues, staggers up and runs away. I’m still standing in the middle of the street. I grin. Things are taking a turn.

I get to the bookstore 15 minutes late. Mr. Cheong scolded me a bit but it wasn’t a big deal.

As I worked I couldn’t forget Chin Ho’s words.

“Pretty boy, you like her don’t you?”

Do I like Su Min? I mean, I know I like her, she’s my friend…but do I like her more than that? I think about how I felt when she treated my wounds, when she linked her arm in mine, when I saw her cry, when I hugged her today….

“Sir? Excuse me, I’d like to purchase this…” a customer says. I snap back to reality.

“Oh, yes, sorry. Here, I’ll check that out for you…”

Don’t think about that, focus, you’re at work! I tell myself, despite the nagging thoughts.

“Thank you for coming, please come again!” I smile and bow. The costumer leaves.

I sigh.

What is Su Min to me…?