JR

I get out of the shower at school after working out at the school’s exercise room. I towel dry my hair and body before getting dressed in the spare school uniform I always keep in my school locker. After I’m done, I grab my backpack and car key. I leave school and head for home without any interruptions from anyone. I open the door to my room as soon as I get home and toss my backpack onto my bed. I take off my shirt and blazer only wearing trousers with my upper body exposed. I crash onto the bed. I reach down and remove my shoes before going under the covers of my daffodil blankets.

 “JR” Someone calls out my name while shaking me, I swat the hand away and turn on my side, thinking the person will stop but I’m wrong.

“JR, wake up. You need to eat” The female voice says again. I open my eyes and turn around, annoyed. I immediately jump back after seeing who the person was. It’s MinKi

“Get out of my room right now” I calmly say, pulling the blanket up to cover my exposed chest.

“I didn’t mean to startle you but your mom wants you to come downstairs and have dinner with her” he turns around to leave but I call out his name.

He turns around with a confused looked.

“Ah….ummm…..have you began researching for our project?”

“Yeah I began last week. I have gotten the important facts and dates of events. Have you started researching yet?” he asks, avoiding eye contact.

“No. I actually don’t know where to start. I was wondering if you could help me with my part” I look behind him, at the white door.

“Ah…sure. If you want, after you’re done with dinner we can get started on it”

“Okay. Tell my mom that I’m coming”

He nods his head and leaves them. I grab my cell phone from my pocket and look at the time. 7:34pm.

I stagger to my feet and walk to the bathroom. I rinse my mouth and wash my face before going to the closet to get a t-shirt and boxer shorts. I change and go out, descending down the stairs to the dining room. When I get there, mom is already sitting at the table drinking what I think is juice.

“Hi mom” I take the seat next to her’s before looking at the table. There’s the usual food (Kimchi, sticky white rice, boiled chicken and tofu soup).

“Hi JongHyunnie. How was school?”

“School was okay. Nothing new though” I grab some chicken and stuff it into my mouth before eating some of the rice.

“How was your day, mom?”

“Very good. I watched some Japanese dramas today and discovered some of their artists”

“Really? Like who?”

“Well I discovered this handsome Japanese musician called Matsua Yuya”

“Oh I’ve never heard of him before” we sit in silence, occasionally stopping to drink water.

“You should listen to his song when you get the time” Mom says before drinking water. I nod my head and put my utensils down.

“I need to borrow MinKi. We have a project to do for school” I get up and walk to the kitchen, where I find MinKi moping the floor while the other maids are wiping the counters. I stand there watching for a while before knock on the door. All of them stop what they’re doing and look my way.

“I need to borrow MinKi. We have a project that we need to do for school” I say. MinKi gets up and washes his hands before approaching me.

“Okay, let’s go” I say, walking ahead.

“Wait; let me go get my backpack. I’ll meet you upstairs” he dashes away before I even have a chance to say anything. I go upstairs to my room and sit on the bed. I look at my cell phone. 8:00pm. I place the phone beside and get up from the bed. I start up my laptop and go back to my bed. I look at my phone again. 8:02pm. Where is he?

“Sorry it took me a while finding my backpack” MinKi says, coming inside the room.

“Close the door”

He closes the door and stands there as if waiting for an order.

“Aren’t you going to sit? Or are you just going to just stand there?” I get up and walk to the desk where the laptop is placed. MinKi takes the seat next to me and rummages through her backpack. I watch him as he pulls out a battered notebook and a pink pen.

He opens it up and I’m shocked. So many writing and informations.

“I’ve gotten this so far. But we’re missing a few things though” He says, as he pushes back his bangs.

“Where did you get all of your information?”

“Classroom time that we get and the school library” He places his pen and notebook on the desk and crosses his legs.

“So where do you wanna get started?”

“I don’t know” I confess.

“Okay…ummm… can I use your laptop? The internet has a lot of information that books may not have”

I push the laptop towards him and watch as he types some words. The great amount of concentration written on his face as his eyes scans whatever is on the screen.

“I’ll create a document for you on Microsoft titled ‘The Great Joseon Era’.  Is that okay with you?” He asks, finally looking at me. I avert eye contact and nod my head in agreement.

He continues typing away as I start picking at my nails. I turn my hand over and inspect the lines in my palm.

“Hey look at this” He says. I look up to see him scooting his chair next to mine. He pulls the laptop along so I’m able to see what’s on the screen. All I’m able to see are links to websites and sentences.

“These are links that I found from government organization websites and organization (.org) websites.” He points while explaining the links.

“When we’re finally done, we can think about how we’re going to bring our information together.”

“Oh okay, thank you” I bow slightly, truly thankful. I go to my bed and retrieve my phone. The time now is 8:26pm. I go back to the desk and fumble with my phone, unsure of what to say.

“Do you need help with anything else?” MinKi asks.

“Yeah but let’s continue tomorrow” I answer finally looking up.

“Okay then I’ll go and finish my job” He starts walking towards the door.

“Wait….How’s…H-How’s BaekHo doing?” I ask the question that’s been eating me up all day long. MinKi turns around and stared at me, a hint of suspension playing out on his face.

“Don’t answer if you don’t want to. I know he wouldn’t want me to know about his health after what I did” I look down at the screen of my phone.

“He’s doing really well. To tell you the truth the look on his face whenever he sees you is the look of sadness. Because he’s lost such a good friend all because of a foolish disagreement” He answers.  I keep looking at my phone screen feeling regretful and touched. I still love BaekHo as one of my brothers.

“Do whatever you want JR” I look up to see MinKi walking towards the door. he gripes the dull gray door knob, his knuckles turning white. He stands there for a while before opening the door and exiting. I watch as the door closes behind him wondering why it took him so long just to leave. I look at the time again and it’s 8:36pm. I look in the drawers of my desk and pull out my family’s photo album. I stare at the baby blue cover for a while before opening the book.

The first page has a little note written on it. My mom must have written it while she was still pregnant with me.

♦Note♦

JongHyunnie, even though I’m not holding you now I know I love you very much! Mommy loves you♥ ^^

♦End of Note♦

I trace the handwritten words down to the heart. I turn the page and look at the picture of my father, my mother, older and I when I was a newborn. I look down at my father’s smiling face. I flip the page and look at the next picture. Me at my 1^st birthday with cake on my face. Mom and older sister are standing to my left while my father is standing on my right. All of them smiling. I look at my parents, trying to figure out when their marriage began to disintegrate. *Was it before I was born or after?* I close the book and put it back.

I take out my phone and check the time. 8:50pm. I put the phone back inside my pocket and walk towards the door. I open the door and quietly close it behind me before stuffing my hands deep inside the pockets of my shorts. I walk down the hall towards mom’s room. I open the door slightly and take a peek inside. Her small body is curled under the white comforter. I watch for a while before closing the door. I shove my hands back inside the pockets and walk down the hall towards the grand staircase. I walk down the stairs silently until my feet touches the cold marble floor. I walk towards the kitchen.

“Hi Mr. Kim” Su Bin, one of the maids greets me. She quickly gets off the floor and bows.

“Where are the others?” I ask, dismissing her.

“They’re around the house cleaning” She answers, getting back to scrubbing the corners of the island.

“Hmmm” I look around again before heading for the fridge. I open the fridge and pull out a bottle of multi-v vitamin water. I open the bottle and take a long swig of the sweet tasting water. I close the bottle and kick the fridge door lightly with my feet to close it.

“So Mr. Kim, how do you know MinKi?” Su Bin questions, setting the dirty rag down on the floor. She walks towards the sink and turns on the faucet. She runs her hands under the automatic liquid soap dispenser before washing her hands under the water. I walk towards the island and grab a clean dish towel. I toss it her way before answering her question.

“MinKi and I go to the same school. We’ve known each other for a very long time but she’s not my friend. I mean I see her here and there. We have a project in class that we’ve got to work on together since the teacher paired us together. That’s it” I answer.

“Oh okay, I thought there was more between you guys” She says, holding the wet towels.

“I actually don’t like her. I don’t think I’ll ever like her. She’s feral and gross” I bite my tongue, regretting what I’ve said. But I can’t help myself but dislike him for some unknown reason.

“Yeah me too! I don’t like her either and I just don’t understand why your mother even likes her. I find MinKi to be very weird and not normal” Su Bin snarls, clearly disgusted.

Ding Dong

“I’ll be right back” Su Bin walks away towards the back door. She opens it and stands there.

“Who are you?” She asks.

“I’m looking for MinKi. Isn’t this the house she works at?” I hear the voice of Chunji ask. I walk towards the door out of curiosity of it really being Chunji. And to my correct assumption, I find Chunji standing in front of us with his hands in his pockets.

“Oh hey JR. Do you live here? MinKi never told me she worked for your family” he chatters away.

“Su Bin, go and call MinKi” I order her.

“Hey can I come in?”

I walk away leaving the door opened. I sit on one of the stools by the island and take a sip of the flavored water.

“Wow JR, your house is huge!!!” Chunji exclaims as he approaches me. As I’m about to say something, Su Bin and MinKi enter the kitchen.

“Oh hey Chunji” MinKi greets with a small wave.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah, let me just go and get my bag” MinKi says before running down the hall.

“So how do you know MinKi?” Su Bin asks. *Thank goodness she asked*

“MinKi is my friend. At least that’s what I think we are”

“So there’s nothing going on between you guys?”  I ask, wanting to know.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business what’s between MinKi and I.” Chunji answers, slipping his hands in his pockets.

“Whatever” I grab my water and open the bottle. I look inside it, at the white color of the water.

“Hey I’m ready!” I jerk my head up to the sound of MinKi’s voice. He’s stands at the entrance, with his school bag at his back.

“Okay, let’s go!” An over excited Chunji says. I watch as MinKi walks toward Chunji. He grabs MinKi’s hand  before waving goodbye and leaving.

Su Bin closes the door after their departure and I’m left sitting there, bewildered.

“How can someone like MinKi get such an attractive guy like him” Su Bin gibes as she walks away.

“Yeah how could he?” I question myself under my breathe.