Hyomin

Chapter Five;
Hyomin

joohee

“Injung, I got a sixty two. How can I possibly go on anymore? My life is ruined. Ruined I say.”

“But this is the best mark you’ve ever gotten. It’s nearly a twenty percent improvement,” she told me weakly.

“Yeah,” I scowled. “And it’s still not good enough. This dance is the only thing I care about. It’s my only chance for Byunghun to somewhat understand my feelings toward him and I can’t even pass a stupid semester.”

“Joohee, you did your best and that’s all that matters,” she said somewhat harshly. “Now stop complaining; there will be other chances.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Not like this,” I mumbled.

Injung sighed and waved me off, gesturing for me to go play and release some of my energy and stress.

I bounded toward the forest path, excited to explore. Now was my chance to investigate the forest further. But as I ran faster, I felt a strange feeling washing over me. Cold sweat trickled down my face as I ran deeper into the forest. I blinked several times before I could determine if my senses were telling the truth.

Frantic, I spun around aimless in search of a familiar landmark. But none were to be seen. I was lost.

“Injung,” I called out but she didn’t hear me.

My eyes widened and I jerked my head every which way in search of something. Anything.

All of the sudden I tripped and fell head-first into brown slushy mud. I spat out a mouthful of wet dirt and sat up, attempting to pull some of the gross muck from my hair.

When I looked up, my gaze immediately landed on a beautiful pool of water. The sunlight forced it’s way through the clouds to gracefully beam upon the subtle surface. Rain drops carefully fell from the lofty sky to land on the face ever so lightly.

“Since when was it raining?” I mumbled to myself.

I stepped out of the muck and closer to the small body of water. I squinted my eyes at the medium oval-shaped pool and I was shocked as I saw a being emerge from it.

With long brown hair and a lean body, she stepped towards me. She had on a neat blue dress that went no further than her mid-thighs and there were assorted objects in her hair. Seashells, I thought as she neared. That’s odd.

“Joohee,” she cooed and my head instantly jerked up at the sound of my name being called. “So this is the lovely lady he’s been talking about.” Her lips curved upwards into an eerily beautiful smirk. Her face was appealing, but her eyes looked cheerless.

Who is ‘he’?

“Such a beauty, and with a heart of gold too. What a wonderful catch.” The rain drops landed on her flawless skin and soaked into it, making it glow even more. Some of them rested on the girl’s long dark eyelashes, as if they were gems sparkling in the endangered sunlight. Her hand drew closer, meeting my right cheek that was still touched with muck.

I attempted to recall if we had met before but as Injung told me, my memory seemed to fail me quite often. “Do I know you?” I asked, giving up.

“Oh yes,” she quickly snatched her hand away. “I’m Hyomin, the dance representative.” She extended a hand. “I was just out for a quick swim,” she explained.

“Ah,” I acknowledged, not sure what to say in this situation.

My eyes drifted away from hers but Hyomin’s gaze stayed firmly upon mine. “I heard your grade was not high enough to pass into the dance,” she told me.

How did she know? It was only not so long ago that I knew. How could she possibly know?

“. . . And I was wondering if you would possibly be up for me sneaking you in.”

Well she is the Dance Representative, I reasoned with myself.

My eyes bulged when I eventually stopped focusing on my thoughts and processed what Hyomin had just offered. “Really? You would do that for me?” Nervous butterflies formed in my core and I silently prayed that this was not a trap.

“Of course,” she smiled emptily.

I closed my eyes and jumped up and down, squealing. “I’m going to the dance. I’m going to the dance,” I chanted.

Tears of happiness welled in my recently damp eyes. “Thank you so much, Hyomin. How could I ever repay you?” I felt a strong need to give something back to her, as she had granted me my dream that had meant so much to me.

Her thin lips formed a mischievous grin. “Listen to what I say,” she said sneakily.

I could only do so much as to trust her. “Of course,” I replied, eager.

“Take this.” She handed me a small rectangular card that had my name, picture, and “average” on it, supposedly to grant me access to the dance. “I guess I’ll see you at the dance then.” Quickly Hyomin sped off and away from where I was standing in the middle of the forest.

I hurried back the way that I thought I came, and soon enough I saw the familiar landmarks that I had seen all too much on my previous expeditions.

“Injung,” I called as my vision began to break through the trees to see the familiar playground and set of benches. “Hey Injung!”

She stood up from the bench, from the exact same place that I had left her at. “Oh, it’s you.” Her familiar dark eyes met mine and I walked towards her and closer still.

“Sorry I took so long, I was lost,” I admitted.

“It’s dark already?” She asked, dazed.

I checked my illuminated watch. “Yeah, it’s 9:35 pm already.”

Injung’s emotionless facial expression remained. “Where did the time go?” She wondered, as if to herself, and began to lead me down the long tangling path back towards our dorm.

I strode up confidently to Byunghun, after fooling myself into believing that the time was right. Sensing my approaching presence, Byunghun averted his gaze from his music device and up towards me.

The morning sunshine shone brightly and glimmered upon the joyful waves which rolled along with the frosty immature breeze. The water of the fish pools had just melted and it was still too early in the year to watch the koi fish jump and flip in happiness.

Hesitantly, I took a step backwards and then forwards again. You can do it, Joohee! I silently encouraged myself. In attempt to regain my confidence, I scrunched up my small face and forced myself closer.

Raising my finger in the air, I opened my mouth. “Byunghun,” I was about to say before another girl beat me to it.

“Byunghun oppa,” she cooed. “Will you go to the dance with me?”

He didn’t even seem to have to think about her proposal. “Sorry, but I’m not going to the dance,” he replied, his voice toneless and steady.

“Oh,” was all she said before both her and I had disappeared from sight.