At the end of school, I tried to stop Youngmin, or catch up to him, but he remained allusive.  He vanished out of sight before I could reach him.  I returned home disappointed, but I plastered on a happy face for my mom.  After giving her a recap of my day (excluding the nasty details) and forcing a snack down my throat at her insistence, I rushed upstairs to my room.  I pulled out my sewing machine and fabric I had bought specifically for this project.  I added a large rectangular piece of material to the top of the skirt, tucking the seams under.  When I finished, the skirt actually looked adorable.  To complete the look, I sewed two buttons on the left side of the skirt.  Holding up the item, I admired my work.

                After hanging my uniform up I opened my sketch book, allowing myself a bit of time.  I drew a pair of smiling eyes and dimpled cheeks inside a heart shaped face.  Next, a swarm of abstract angry faces filled a corner of the page.  After that came Youngmin’s face again, this time instead of smiling, his eyebrows were pulled downward and his mouth set into a scowl.  Sighing, I laid my pencil down.  Why had I gotten so mad with Youngmin?  He was right, I should be thanking him, not shouting at him.  I was angry with those girls and I had unleashed that fury onto some boy I barely knew.  No, that was only part of the reason.  A part of me really had been irritated with Youngmin for some reason, but why?  Even if he had acted like a jerk earlier with putting his arm around me, he had saved me…

                My eyes widened in realization.  I had been annoyed that he had to come to my rescue, that I couldn’t do it myself.  Ashamed, my face fell into my hands.  Now I really needed to apologize.  I hoped that he would still listen to me, in spite of my actions.

                I ate dinner with my parents and finished my homework.  When I was done, I turned out the light, a new resolve formed inside my head.

The walk to school felt lonely without Youngmin’s company.  I searched for him among the throngs of students walking to school, but to no avail.  On campus, I received more stares, some angry, some curious still, some awed.  As I avoided the perturbing gazes, I didn’t notice Ara Cha run up to me, nearly knocking me over when we collided.

“Oh, Jin Haneul!” the girl cried, clearly upset.  “Mianhaeyo!  I didn’t know- I should have- I’m such a babo!”

“Ara Cha, what’s wrong?  You are not a babo.  What would ever make you think that?” I asked tenderly.

She sniffed.  “I heard what happened yesterday, what those girls did and were going to do.  I should have been there for you.  I am not a very good friend.”

I hugged the girl tight.  “You are a wonderful friend.  And I am glad that you weren’t there.  If you had been, then you could have gotten hurt.  Besides, I’m fine, see?”  I opened my arms wide.  “Thanks to Youngmin anyway,” I added.  “Do you know where he is?”

Ara Cha shook her head.  “Nan molla, mianhae.  But class will start soon.”  She tugged on my hand and I followed her.

“I heard you defied Young Min’s fan group,” Ara Cha chattered as we walked.  “You are very brave.  Those girls can get really scary when they want to be.”

Remembering the dark scowls, I shuddered.  “You’re right, they can be,” I said.

Together, we walked into the classroom.  Upon entering, more students surrounded us.  More questions regarding the day before were fired at me, including exaggerated tales of what they had heard.  I set all of them straight, explaining the situation wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

“In fact, thanks to Youngmin, a brawl was avoided,” I add, giving credit where it was due.

“Yah, Youngmin, is that true?” one boy asked, looking over my shoulder.

Heart thumping wildly, I looked over my shoulder.  Youngmin leaned against the doorframe as Kwangmin and Hyesoo walked into the room.  His eyes were trained on me, curious.

Slowly, he nodded.  “Yeah, that’s what happened.  I hate bullies and those girls needed to grow up.”

He sauntered over to our desk, sitting down.  The bell rang and the other kids scrambled to their respective seats.  As I sat down, I looked at Youngmin.  His focus was set on Mr. Lee who was greeting us.  Feeling my stare, he glanced over, meeting my eyes.

“What?” he mouthed.

Shaking my head, I looked away.

The day went similarly to yesterday.  By the time we started on English, my concentration started crumbling.  I took out a notebook and started drawing.  The net-less basketball hoop turned into an outside court which settled next to a playground.  The picture wasn’t great –I had focused most of my attention and talent on the basketball hoop– but I still liked it.

English was the last subject before lunch.  Relieved for the break, I followed Ara Cha to the cafeteria.  It was packed.  Uncomfortably waiting in line, I attempted to slow my racing heart while keeping up a conversation with Ara Cha.  We got our food and sat down at a table with a few other girls.  I stayed quiet, picking up on the slang and lingo.  Eating quickly, I rose from my chair five minutes later, needing to talk to Youngmin.

“Ara Cha, I’m done eating.  I’ll leave first,”  I said as I pushed away from the table.

“Oh, I’ll come with you,” she offered.

I shook my head at her.  “No, you stay.  I need to go find someone anyway,” I told.

She grinned knowingly.  “Youngmin is usually on the roof with Kwangmin and Hyesoo.”

Blushing, I murmured my thanks, making a speedy get-away.

After asking for directions, it was rather easy to get to the roof.  I came through the door and heard voices.  Peering around, I saw the trio chattering amiably off to one side.  Timidly, I started over.  Hyesoo and Kwangmin looked up as I approached.  Kwangmin offered me a small smile while Hyesoo practically beamed at me, a knowing look in her eyes.  Youngmin’s back was to me.

I stopped a few paces away, unsure about what to do.  Here I was, just like I wanted, but I was terrified.  Youngmin, who had been talking, stopped mid-sentence.

“Mwo?  What is it?”  He turned around, eyes widening in surprise when he saw me.

“What do you want?”  His voice sounded uncaring, as if the answer didn’t really matter to him.

I gulped.  “Mianhaeyo,” I murmured, “about yesterday.  You helped me and I was ungrateful.  I am sorry for getting angry, I was out of line.  Thank you for what you did.”

His expression softened and he stood up.  He faced me, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Come here, follow me,” he ordered, gently tugging at my elbow.  I followed.

He led me back into the school and started down stairwells.  I easily kept pace.  We reached the ground floor and he still kept going.  He took me outside and we started away from the school.

Curiosity finally getting the best of me, I asked, “Where are we going?”

Peering over his shoulder, he said, “It’s a surprise, but we don’t have much time.  Just trust me, okay?”

Slightly nervous by the excited glint in his eyes, I nodded.  “Okay.”

It wasn’t long before I realized where we were headed.  We turned a corner and behind the school stood a large glass building.  Youngmin slowed our pace as we neared the structure.

“The greenhouse?”  My curious eyes bore into his back.

“Just come on,” he urged.

Complying, I followed him inside.

I gasped as I slowly turned around, taking everything in.  Plants of every sort filled the interior.  Flowering vines hung from rods along the walls.  Roses and chrysanthemums and hibiscuses scented the air.  Vegetables grew in the soil beds taking up the middle.  Potted plants hug from the ceiling and even a few small trees grew throughout the confines of the greenhouse. 

“It’s beautiful,” I breathed.

Youngmin smirked, amused by my reaction.  “This is one of my favorite places,” he said.

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked quietly, not wanting to break the still air.

“So we can talk.”  He pulled out a stool for me and turned a bucket upside down for himself. 

Sitting down, I said, “We could have talked on the roof, or somewhere else in the school.”

“But I wanted privacy.  There are a few questions I want to ask you.”

My stomach fluttered nervously.  “What questions?”

“Just a few things that need clearing up,” he said.  I waited patiently, allowing him to speak first.  “What did those girls want?”

“I already told you,” I answered quietly.  “They told me to stay away from you.”

He still seemed dubious.  “They didn’t want anything else?”

I shook my head.  “No, that’s all.  Who are they?  Ex-girlfriends?  Ara Cha told me they were your fan club.  What does that even mean?  Who has a fan club?”

Now it was Youngmin’s turn to shift uncomfortably.  “Um, that’s not important,” he mumbled, then a bit more clearly asked, “So, they were just going to beat you up for talking to me?”

“Well, not exactly,” I hedged.  He motioned for me to continue.  “First, they just warned me to stay away from you, probably hoping to scare me away.”

“But that didn’t work?” he guessed.  I shook my head.  “So what happened?  What did you do?” he asked, his face alight with curiosity.

“I told them to back off, that they had no right in telling me what to do.  I said I could talk to whomever I pleased, that it wasn’t any of their business.

Youngmin laughed out loud at that.  “I’m betting they didn’t appreciate that!” he hooted.

I smiled, laughing a bit myself.  “Of course not.  They were so ticked.”  Then I sobered.  “But then one girl grabbed me.  I twisted my arm like this,” I demonstrated the move, “to get her to let go, but then two more girls tried to grab me, too.  I easily dodged them, but they had me against the wall.  I had very little room to work with.  Then they all started to converge.  I couldn’t hold all of them off.  Besides, I couldn’t fight back.  If I had, I could have been suspended or expelled.”

“But they started it, you were protecting yourself!” Youngmin protested.

I shook my head.  “It doesn’t matter why I did it.  The only thing the administrators would have taken into account is that I attacked them.  Most likely those girls would have made up some sob story about how I had started the fight and then they would rally up supporters as witnesses.  There was no way I could win.”

“But you did win,” Youngmin said quietly.

I gave him a long, silent stare.  “No,” I said at last, “I didn’t win, you did.”

Sighing, I jumped down from the stool, brushing off my skirt.  “Thank you for bringing me here.  It’s very beautiful and splendid.”  I started walking away.  “It was nice to talk to you again, so I could apologize, but we should go.”  I reached the door.

“Wait!”  Youngmin grabbed my arm, stopping me.

I turned back to him, looking up at his face.  Our bodies were close, too close.  I tried to take a step back, but the closed door allowed little room for that.  I stared up into his dark eyes, a color that contrasted with his light hair.  I wondered why he had dyed it in the first place.  What I wouldn’t give to have dark hair, let alone features like his: long dark lashes, almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, full red lips, flawless olive-toned complexion.  It was like staring at a model magazine.  He still held my arm.

“I have one more question.”  His voice brought me back.  “Why were you angry with me?” 

I blushed, looking away, embarrassed.

“We should really go,” I mumbled, reaching for the door handle with my free hand.  He took hold of that, too.

“Answer my question, and we can go.”  His mouth stayed firm, but his dark eyes twinkled mischievously.  He seemed closer than before.

I gulped.  “I wasn’t able to protect myself,” I finally answered.  “You had to come save me, I couldn’t fight them.  I needed help.  I hated it.”

“So you don’t like help?”

“I answered your question,” I grumbled.  “If we don’t leave now, then we will be late for sure.”

“This is a follow up question,” he insisted.  “And it all depends on you on how soon we leave and get back to class.”  I swear, his body moved in further.

“Fine,” I did my best to look exasperated, despite my pounding heart.  “I don’t like help.  I prefer to believe I can do everything myself.”

“But what about other things?  You are pretty small.  What if you need something on a high shelf?”

“I promise, I’ll answer your questions if we go now,” I pleaded.

He eyed me warily.  “You promise?” 

I nodded, aware of the seconds passing by.

“After school?  On the way home?”

I nodded again.

He smirked.  “Okay.”  The boy leaned in, eliminating the small gap of space I’d done my best to preserve.  With our bodies pressed together, my heart stopped completely.  His hand let go of mine and opened the door.

I stumbled back.

He caught me.

I shoved him away.

Youngmin laughed.  “You really don’t like help.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Let’s go!”  I took off across the grass, sprinting. 

So, if any of you guys are reading this, how do you like it so far? Comments are appreciated and encouraged! Especially constructive cristicism.