Twenty five years ago… (1983)

Two boys are chasing each other down a crowded market road in the small village of hapceon. The first boy, the boy being chased, wears glasses and has a bowl hair cut, while the boy chasing has small eyes and specks of mud all over his face. A grandmother and a young man pulls out a cart from a side road, blocking off the path, waiting for a gap in the crowd of people currently swarming across the road. The first boy runs behind it as the second boy almost runs into it. They stop, staring at each other across the cart

Boy 1: Ya! Stop chasing already!

Boy 2: Not until you admit that I am faster than you!

Boy 1: Jong Kook, if you were faster than me, you would have already caught me!

Jong Kook: Really? Just watch me! 

Jong Kook jumps up and climbs through the cart, knocking the grandmothers merchandise everywhere, just before he can jump onto the other boy, he speeds of again. Jong Kook’s ears falling deaf on the grandmothers scolding, he continues the chase. But is followed by the young man.

Kim Jong kook chases the boy out of the market place, and along a quieter road, but the man manages to follow them. The boy turns and sees that they are now being chased by another man.

Boy: Ya!! Jong kook who do you think you are? Look what you’ve got us into!

Jong kook turns and sees that he is being followed and swears loudly. He speeds up so that he is almost neck and neck with the first boy.

Jong Kook: Chunhee-ya! Lets split up, we’ll meet by the secret place

Chunhee: Which one!?

Jong Kook: The empty house, idiot!

The boys come to a fork in the road, Jong Kook goes left and Chunhee goes right. The man follows straight after Jong Kook. This street is another busy one; Jong Kook turns round a bend in the road and hides down a small alley. The man turns round the bend seconds too late to see Jong Kook disappear off the road, speeds up of the road looking helplessly for the trouble maker. As soon as he is out of sight Jong Kook runs back up the road, and goes down the fork that Chunhee previously went down. He goes past three closed gates and pauses at the fourth. Next to the fourth house there is a small side alley that Jong Kook slips down. Half way down the empty alleyway there is a pile of bricks, using them to stand on, Jong kook lifts himself over the alley wall and into the courtyard of a big old fashioned Korean home. Upon lowering himself into the garden he hears a shout.

Girl: An accomplice! You said that you were alone!

Jong Kook turns around to see a girl in a fairy dressing up costume, who couldn’t of been older than five, she had chubby cheeks, big eyes and had her hair tied in two long plaits. She was standing in front of Chunhee who had been tied to a plastic pink chair with a skipping rope.

Chenhee: he’s not anything to do with me! I dunno where he came from!

Girl: Don’t lie to me! He came in the same way you did.

Girl and Jong Kook at the same time: Who are you!?

Girl and Jong Kook at the same time: I asked first!

Girl and Jong Kook at the same time: Ya! What are you doing here!

Girl and Jong Kook at the same time: STOP IT!

Chunhee: Hyung! Get me out of this chair!

Jong Kook: Oh! So now I’m your hyung now am I Chunhee?

Chunhee: Jong Kook!!!

Girl: Ya! Shut up or I will gag you as well! You still haven’t told me who you are or why you are in my house!

Jong Kook: Your house? This is our secret hideout! If you want one too then you can go find somewhere else!

Girl: I don’t want a hideout, I just want the house that my parents bought with their own money!

Jong Kook suddenly realises that there is a new cooking pot by the fire and new slippers lined up by the open door. Through the huge sliding windows he could see that furniture had been placed haphazardly around the house and boxes had been piled up by the front gate.

Jong Kook: You just moved in? (The girl nods) Ahh well that changes things (Jong Kook looks around) Then I guess I will just have to take my friend and leave…

Jong Kook walks towards Chunhee to untie him but the girl steps in the way.

Girl: You have just broken into my home, I could press charges!

Jong Kook: Like what! Little girl move out of the way, only adults can do stuff like that!

The girl pushes Jong Kook back and he falls onto the floor.

Girl: Little girl? Aren’t you younger than me! You are so short!

Jong Kook: Younger than you! You look no older than 4!

Girl: I’m 5!

Jong Kook: I’m 7, now get out of the way!

Girl: No! If you try to get past me one more time I will call for my parents!

Jong Kook stopped and thought for a minute, this house was one of the biggest and most expensive in the whole village, hence why it had been empty for so long. Her parents were likely to be powerful people.

Jong Kook: Ok! Um Chunhee it looks like I will come back and get you sometime, I better go!

Jong Kook turns and runs towards the small ladder to climb back across the wall, but the girl gets there first and kicks the step ladder breaking it. Jong Kook looks at the girl in horror.

Girl: If you want to earn your freedom, then you will have to become my friend first.

The girl smiled a wide grin at them and walks towards Chunhee. Jong Kook just scowled at her.

Girl: He said your name was Jong Kook, yes? Well I will call you Jong Kookie! You will be like my own pet! I’m called Lee Hyori, I think we will be good friends.

Jong Kook: Why do you want to be my friend?

Hyori: Because I’ve left all my old friends behind!

Jong Kook: what if I said I’m not interested in friendship?

Hyori: Then if you want your friend back you will have to fight me!

Hyori jumped onto Jong kook and pulled his hair, retaliating Jong kook pushed her off him and into the mud, but instead of crying, she laughed, jumped up and threw a handful of wet mud at Jong kooks face. Soon mud was flying everywhere, Hyori and Jong Kook looked at each other and laughed as they both looked ridiculous.

Two hours later Hyori pushed them out of the house. Although Jong Kook was originally mad at lee Hyori for breaking his ladder and as far as he was concerned, ruining his secret hideout, he was beginning to soften her, she wasn’t like the other girls in the town. Although she still wore dresses, liked the colour pink and secretly hated bugs; she didn’t mind playing in the mud, she actually liked it a lot. Chunhee sat watching his new friend and his old friend playing together while he was tied up laughing and they had all agreed to meet up again tomorrow.

This unfortunately never happened because Jong Kooks mother found out about the grandmothers cart and didn’t let Jong Kook out to play for a month. So instead every day for a month Chunhee and Hyori would sneak into Jong Kooks back garden and play.