Don't Hate Me
Water Maze
Yoomi's POV
I woke up earlier than usual- half an hour before my alarm rang. Now that I knew Kwangmin went to my school, I felt motivated to go to school early. I jumped in the shower and took my time in the bathroom getting my hair and makeup done perfectly.
I thundered down the stairs and dashed past my little sister, Hyojin. No time for breakfast today for me.
I snatched my sneakers off the shoe rack. “Mom, I’m going! Bye!”
Mom cracked an egg for Hyojin’s breakfast on the skillet. “Okay! Kwangmin’s waiting outside by the way!”
I froze, sneaker half on my foot. “What?”
Hyojin, sleepy at the kitchen table, perked up. “Kwangmin? Who’s he?”
Mom poured a glass of milk. “Her fiancé, remember?” She set the glass in front of Hyojin.
Hyojin’s eyes just about popped out of her sockets. She whipped around in her chair. “Unnie, your what?!” She slapped her hands on her cheeks. “Oh. Em. Gee. Wait, is he still out there waiting for you?” she shrieked.
“Yes, but eat-” Hyojin already hopped off her chair and made her way to the door.
I stuck out my foot to stop her. “Hyojin-”
“Hi, are you Kwangmin?” she said sweetly, flinging the door open.
“Um, yeah,” he smiled.
I shoved my heel into my shoe and pushed her out of the way before she could do any damage. “Hyojin! Go eat your breakfast!”
She pouted and left with crossed arms and a hint of a stomp.
I smiled apologetically. “Sorry,” I said. I grabbed my bag and shut the door behind me.
Kwangmin raised his eyebrow in amusement. “Your sister?”
“Yeah, fifteen year olds… You know how they are.”
He held out his arm for me to take. “We used to be that age not too long ago.”
Hyojin’s face appeared at the window. “Wow unnie, my future brother-in-law is so good looking!”
I smacked the window. “Hyojin!”
She jumped back and my mom’s bellow sounded from the kitchen. The curtains fluttered back to their original place.
I turned to Kwangmin. “So sorry about her.”
“It’s okay, let’s go, shall we?” He offered his arm again. I hooked my arm through and we walked down the street.
“Yoomi, want some bubble tea?”
I tried to suppress a smile. “They sell it this early? Where at?”
He nodded his head toward the park. “Over there.”
“Well then what are we waiting for?” I dragged him over to the shop.
The shop, a tiny little thing, was just the place for me. I wondered how Kwangmin could’ve known about this place, it didn’t seem to be his style.
“This place it so cute!” I gushed. “This will be my go-to from now on,” I told him.
He looked up at the menu. “Yoomi, what do you want?”
“Uh, a regular one.” I reached into my bag and pulled out some money.
“Two regulars please.” He reached into his pocket to get out his money. I shoved the money at him. “What are you doing?” He folded my hand into a fist with my money in it.
I stuck out my tongue. “I’m paying for my drink.”
He chuckled. “Yoomi, my treat.” Before I could protest, he patted my head. “I’d feel bad if I didn’t pay as the guy anyway.” The lady at the counter pushed our cups toward us and Kwangmin handed over his money.
I crossed my arms. “Well next time, my treat.”
“I’ll hold that to you,” he winked and handed me my drink.
“How long did you wait at my house? I hope not too long,” I said as we left the shop.
“Not too long, like five minutes.”
“Good thing I woke up early today,” I smiled and sipped my tea. He smiled back and we continued our walk to school.
It took awhile, but the walk was definitely worth it. Kwangmin walked us over to the trashcans outside the school and threw away our cups. Many students already milled about with ten minutes before class. I could feel people’s stares boring into me, but I ignored them.
We stood by the windows in my classroom. “So where’s Youngmin?”
Kwangmin rolled his eyes. “At home.”
My mouth dropped. “Still?” I glanced at the clock. “It’s 7:15, school starts really soon!”
He shrugged. “He always gets here on time, so I guess whatever works for him.”
I heard my best friend’s voice ring across the room. “Yoomi!”
I turned around. “Oh Hwayoung!” I waved to her. She beamed and made her way over. “Hwayoung, I want to introduce you to my friend, this is-”
She cut me off. “Kwangmin!” She waved. Kwangmin smiled and waved back.
“How did you know?”
“Because of their parents and their good looks, they’re like the F4 of Seoul Performing Arts… but two. This is why I’m the more social one,” she teased and pushed my shoulder.
“Really?” I looked up at Kwangmin.
He nodded. “I guess you could say that,” he said sheepishly.
I looked around. “Why didn’t you tell me? No wonder people keep staring at me,” I said.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it mattered,” he apologized.
I waved my hand. “Forget it, it’s cool! I don’t mind, I was just shocked.” I smiled reassuringly at him.
He looked up at the clock. “Ah, it’s time for class! I’ll see you later then.” He hugged me, the top of my head reaching barely over his armpits, and left.
I watched him leave the room with a smile on my face. I turned to see Hwayoung tapping her foot, arms crossed.
“Kwangmin Jo at your side? You got some explaining to do, Yoomi Jung!”
I told her the whole story from last night.
“Fiancé?” she screamed.
“Shhh, do you want those girls to kill me?” I hissed.
Hwayoung lowered her voice. “Sorry, but ya, Yoomi, you’re so lucky to have such a hot fiancé,” she grinned.
“Calm down, we’re just friends… Well for now.” In the corner of my eye, I saw a group of girls walking toward us.
“Uh, Hwayoung, we got company…”
“Hey you!” They surrounded us.
I stood up taller. “Yes?”
The blonde one popped her gum. “Who are you to think you can actually hang out with Kwangmin?”
“She’s just someone that’s cool enough to hang out with him, why, jealous?” Hwayoung glared. “Who are you anyway?”
The four girls that accompanied the blonde all gasped and their hands met their chests in surprise. “Uh, she is Kwangmin’s girlfriend,” one of them snapped. “How dare you talk to her like that!” She bent her knee, showing off her long legs in her short shorts. “Who are you?”
“I’m just someone that is cool enough to hang out with the girl right here who’s Kwangmin’s fia-” I clapped my hand to before she finished her thought. Her eyes looked at me apologetically.
“We’re just friends,” I said.
“Uh, friends? Do friends pat girls on the heads nowadays, girls?” They shook their heads in unison. She raised her voice. “Walking you to class, really, you’re just friends?”
I looked at her like she was crazy. “Uh, yeah, friends can do that… I can pat her head right now and still be friends, we walk together to class and we’re friends.” I patted Hwayoung’s head to prove my point.
“Whatever, just stay away from him, he’s mine.” The blonde one left, the others following.
After they were gone for sure, I looked at Hwayoung, annoyed.
She held her hands up. “Sorry, didn’t mean to!”
“You almost slipped… Those girls would kill me if they knew I’m his fiancée.” I sank to my chair.
“I wonder if he even knows who they are,” she giggled.
I tried not to laugh. “True.”
Her face became serious again. “They’ll know soon anyway, you can’t hide it forever,” she said.
“Well the longer they don’t know about it, the less grief they give us,” I said as the teacher walked in the room, arms stacked with papers. End of the year exam. Ugh. I wondered if Youngmin made it to class on time.
Three and a half hours later, the bell rang to release us. Thankfully the time went by quickly.
Hwayoung stretched her arms over her head. “Ya, that was hard!”
I made a face. “I didn’t know most of the answers.”
“Ya, isn’t Kwangmin good at social studies? Maybe you can get him to tutor you,” she elbowed me and winked.
“Oh I don’t know…”
Kwangmin stood at the door with a smile. “Hey Yoomi, hi Hwayoung,” he waved.
We collected our books and walked out with him.
“How was finals?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but the blonde girl from earlier tackled him into a hug from out of nowhere. “Kwangmin oppa, how are you? I missed you so much!”
Kwangmin gave us a confused look. “Um…”
“What the heck? Let go of him you , he doesn’t even know who you are!” Hwayoung snapped.
The girl hugged him tighter. “Go away, wannabe!”
Kwangmin pushed her away gently, but forcefully. “Nohi, what do you want? Let go of me!”
She jumped away like he was radioactive. “Oppa…?”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to come near me?’ he asked, exasperated.
Hwayoung burst out laughing. “He doesn’t even like you and you said you’re his girlfriend, aigoo, my stomach.” She bent over, holding her abs. I elbowed her to stop.
Kwangmin paid no attention to us. “Stop with the girlfriend thing, okay? I never said I was your boyfriend.” He crossed his arms. I hadn’t seen him so serious.
Nohi pouted. “You’ll be mine someday Kwangmin Jo!” She stomped off, trying to be cute.
“Too bad, that won’t happen,” he called after her. He pulled me close.
She couldn’t resist and turned around. “Why?”
“Because she’s my fiancée,” he said proudly. His fingers interlocked with mine. He squeezed my hand tight.
Nohi’s face was perfect. A murderous glint shone in her eye. “Kwangmin, you will be mine!” She flipped her hair and walked away like she was on a catwalk.
“Kwangmin?” I looked up at him.
“Don’t worry, they won’t do anything to you, not as long as I’m still going to this school.” He squeezed my hand for good measure.
“Ya, Kwangmin?”
He smiled. “Yeah?”
“Because of you, my back hurts. Pay back for what you did,” I smiled cheekily.
“How? When? What?”
I jumped on his back. He lost his balance a little, but regained it. “Pay back!” I laughed.
“Ya Yoomi! Really?” he said with a smile. He walked anyway.
“I’ll you two alone then,” Hwayoung winked and walked in the opposite direction.
“Do you even eat Yoomi?” he asked.
We passed the bubble tea shop. “Of course, I eat all the time!”
“You’re too light, eat more!”
I smacked him lightly on the head. “What? No! I’m already fat enough!”
“You’re perfect! Well except I need to make you eat more!”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“I said no!” I flicked his ear.
He squeaked and almost lost his balance. “Okay, okay, you win!”
I smiled as he let me down carefully in front of my house. I fished my keys out from my bag.
He put his hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him. His face was serious. “Yoomi, don’t worry about the girls, okay?” He bent down so our eyes can be the same level. I nodded, feeling my face blush slightly. I looked down and he pushed my chin up gently to look at him again with a small smile. I smiled back and turned around to open the door and hide my reddening face. The door swung open before I put in the key.
“Hyojin! Why are you home so early?”
“It’s the end of the year, unnie, remember?” She popped her head out the door. Her face brightened. “Hi future brother-in-law!”
“Hi Hyojin.” He couldn’t help a smile.
I pushed her “Okay, okay, get in the house!”
She stuck out her tongue. “Okay! Have fun… Kissing!” She disappeared in the house before I could slap her.
I turned to Kwangmin. “Uh… Sorry about that…” I tried not to make eye contact.
He smiled. “It’s okay!” He bent forward and pinched my cheeks.
“So uh, you want to stay here for a while?”
He grinned. “Yeah, sure.”
“Mom, Kwangmin’s here!”
Mom came out of the kitchen and hugged him. He bowed and walked to the couch.
“You want something to drink?” I asked.
“Nah, I’m fine,” he said.
“Alright, wait here, I have to get changed.” I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked up to my room. I changed into my normal clothes and came back to the living room. I thanked everything holy my sister was nowhere to be found.
“Um, I forgot I have to leave and go work at the preschool nearby, wanna come?” I dug through my bag looking for my song folder.
“I’d love to!”
I stood by the door. “Mom, we’re going to the preschool now!”
“Bye, have fun!” she waved to us as I slammed the door.
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