Youngmin caught up to me and we raced back to the school.  My skirt whipped about my legs and I was grateful that I had lengthened it.  Both of us took the stairs two at a time and arrived at the classroom, disheveled and breathing hard.  Moving quickly, we sat in our seats just as the bell rang.

Sighing in relief, I ran my fingers through my hair, attempting to fix it.  My eyes met with Ara Cha.  She stared at me, surprised and curious.  Smiling, I gave her an I’ll-tell-you-later gesture.  I turned my head back to the front of the classroom, aware of the other stares surrounding me.  I locked eyes with Youngmin and we both smiled, laughing silently.  Our mirth was interrupted when Mr. Lee walked in, officially starting class.

I still struggled with the Korean writing, but a few things were becoming clearer.  It didn’t help that my concentration was all over the place, thinking about Youngmin.  I felt silly for checking the clock, counting down the minutes before school got out, until I caught Youngmin checking his phone just as often.

Don’t let it get to your head, I warned myself.  Everybody wants to go home.

Just when I thought this day would drag on forever, the bell rang.  I jumped out of my seat, knocking a few of my books onto the floor.  I bent down to pick them up, but another pair of hands beat me to it.  I straightened up, smiling embarrassedly.

“Thanks,” I said, trying to find the grateful part of me. 

Young Min grinned.  “Oh, yeah, you don’t like help,” he teased.

I rolled my eyes.  “I’ll let it slide this time.”

“Oh, good.”  He reached out and took my bag, carefully fitting in the books.

“I can do that,” I protested, trying to grab it.

He easily held it out of my reach, laughing at my feeble attempts.  “You’re cute when you’re annoyed,” he said.

I blushed.  “Youngmin,” I whined, “give it back to me.  Now.”

Smiling victoriously, he finished putting all of my supplies away.  He then slung the strap onto his shoulder, looking as if he wasn’t going to return it any time soon.

“Yah, Youngmin, give it here!” I demanded.

“Ooh, scary,” he mocked.

Frowning, my hand darted out, stealing his phone out of his jacket pocket.

“I’ll just hold onto this, then,” I said smugly.  I began walking toward the door.

“Yah!  Jin, that’s not fair!”

Heart fluttering at the endearing shortening of my name, I smiled, still moving.

Yah, Youngmin,” I heard Kwangmin call out.  “What are you doing?”

I looked over my shoulder and shrieked.  Youngmin jumped at me and I darted out of the way.  Aware of the stares, I slipped out the door, bounding down the stairs, Youngmin close on my heels.  I made it to the ground floor and out onto the front steps before he grabbed me from behind.  Squealing, I held the phone way, hopefully out of his reach.  Unfortunately, his arms were longer than mine and I realized this when he nearly nabbed the item.  I retracted my arm, holding the mobile to my chest.  We struggled with each other, him trying to recover his phone, me trying to keep it from him.

Just when he wrapped his hand around the cell and started to pull it from my grasp, someone shoved against us, knocking both of us over.  Youngmin fell to the ground but an arm reached out and caught me before I followed.  Straightening up, I found that my rescuer was Hye Soo.  Kwangmin, who stood beside her, glowered down at his brother disdainfully.

“Youngmin, stop acting so childish.  You are causing a scene.”

Looking around, I found that Kwangmin was right.  Since we had headed outside, we had a larger audience, not to mention those we had attracted with our race down the stairs.  My heart rate escalated.  Too many eyes focused on me.  I had to get away from there.

I held out my hand to Youngmin who then took it graciously.  I helped him up, giving his phone back in the process.  He handed me my bag.  Meeting each other’s eyes, we started laughing again.

“Geez, you’re fast!” Youngmin commented, hardly able to get the sentence out.

“And you are so stubborn,” I shot back, giggles bubbling in my throat.

“Oh, come one.”  Hye Soo linked arms with me and we headed down the walkway.  Youngmin and Kwangmin followed.

“What were you two doing?” Kwangmin demanded.

“She took my phone!” Youngmin said indignantly.

“Mwo?  You started it.”  I turned to Hye Soo.  “He stole my bag.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kwangmin shake his head.  “Honestly, Young Min, you can be so childish sometimes.”  He then turned to me.  “I apologize for my brother’s actions.  I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”  Kwangmin gave the other boy a pointed look.  “It won’t happen again, right Young Min?”

I was embarrassed that Youngmin was the only one being reprimanded.  “It wasn’t all Youngmin’s fault,” I defended.  “I retaliated, egged him on.  I should be the one apologizing.”  I stopped, turning to face Youngmin, and bowed.  “Mianhaeyo!” I said.  “It won’t happen again.”

The boy’s face colored slightly.  “Eh, me too.  I’m sorry for taking your bag.  I was trying to help, but sometimes I can be too playful.”

I grinned.  “Playful isn’t bad, but don’t take my things.  If you do, I can’t be held responsible for any injuries you might suffer in the process of getting my stuff back.”

The others laughed and Youngmin mussed my hair.  I puffed my cheeks out in indignation.  We continued down the street and Young Min spoke up.

“So, I still have a few questions that need to be answered.”

I groaned.  “Now?”

“You promised,” he reminded smugly.

“Ugh!  Fine, next question,” I relented.

“You told me that you don’t like help.  But what if there is something you physically cannot do?  Like getting an item from a high shelf.  What do you do then?”

“I try to use my wits,” I answered.  “I’d first try to find something to stand on or climb onto in order to get what I need.  It all depends on my surroundings and what is available to me.”

He thought about his bit of information.  “What if,” he started.

“If this is some sort of ridiculous scenario where I am stranded on an island and the only source of food are coconuts high in a tree and I can’t reach them and I can’t climb the tree, forget it,” I interrupted.  “I don’t answer stupid what if questions.”

Youngmin seemed amused.  “Okay, fine, no stupid scenarios.  So now I know things that you don’t like, what do you like?”

Not sure how to reply, I said, “Random question…”

H shrugged casually.  “Just answer it.”

I folded my arms across my chest.  “Why are you so inquisitive?” I asked, suspicious.

Kwangmin answered.  “He’s always like that.  Loves to get into other people’s business.”

Youngmin glared at his twin.

Sighing, I said, “I like sweet things.  I also really like running.  Back at my old school, I ran varsity for cross country and track.”

“No wonder you’re so fast!” Youngmin exclaimed.

I shrugged modestly.  “I have a question for you.  I talked to Mr. Lee about running and he said you guys don’t have a cross country team, but your varsity track team runs all year.  How can I make it to varsity?”

Hye Soo smiled.  “You want to run all year?  Just talk to the coach.  He’ll probably time you and see if you qualify.”

Excited, I asked, “When can I see him?”

Kwangmin spoke up.  “Youngmin and I can take you to see him after school tomorrow if that works for you.”

Grinning, I thanked them profusely.  I couldn’t wait to get back on the track.

“Do I wear the school’s gym uniform or can I wear whatever I want?” I asked.

“I think you can wear whatever you want,” informed Youngmin.

I nodded, pleased.  “Who has the fastest time?” I asked, curious.

The twins looked at each other, amused.  “When you say the fastest time,” Youngmin started, “do you mean for the guys or the girls?”

“The girls of course,” I clarified.  “Unless everyone runs together.  How does track work here?”

Kwangmin laughed.  “The boys and girls run separately.”

“Then why did you…?  Never mind, just tell me who has the fastest time for the girls,” I said, exasperated with their antics.

“I think Chung Ae has the fastest time for the mile,” Youngmin informed.  He turned to his brother.  “Do you know what it is?”

Kwangmin thought about it.  “I believe her time was 5:37 or something like that.”

I chewed my bottom lip, contemplating the numbers.

“You look nervous,” observed Youngmin.

“Do I?” I hedged.

“Don’t worry,” he consoled, “that’s the fastest time.  You don’t have to beat that.”

Carefully keeping my expression neutral, I said, “And I can see the coach tomorrow?”

Youngmin nodded.  “Yep, if you’re ready.”

I smiled.  “Oh, I’m ready.”

Stopping in front of my apartment complex, I bid my new friends farewell, thanking them for walking with me and answering my questions.   Then, I rushed through the door, excited to tell my mom about my day.