You know, sometimes you want something really bad 
and you work so hard for it, and when you actually earn it 
you realize that none of your efforts were really worth it. 
I remember this time when I was a kid and I really wanted 
one of those Bratz dolls that all the kids had, and my mom 
made me read seven books in one week and write a book 
report for each. I actually did that, and when I ended up 
purchasing the doll I got bored of it in a week and 
realized how stupid I’d been when I worked so hard that 
week to finish seven books.

I guess the first thing that came across my mind 
was that Jaejoong was leaving. I was a little bit, just a 
little bit, disappointed that he’d actually left. I mean, 
he was beginning to grow on me, despite his arrogance and 
the usually annoying things he did. That was what initially 
hit me, but after sitting in the room alone, not moving for 
thirty seconds, I realized that I had to go to school. And 
quite frankly, I had no idea where the hell I was.

“Wait!”

I hurried out the door to find Jaejoong standing on 
the street with a helmet over his head. I guessed he had a 
motorcycle.

“What do you want?” He shouted.

“I need to go to school.”

“Well you can walk there.”

I looked at my watch. “But I’m going to be late. 
And I don’t know where we are.”

“Astonishingly, I don’t give a .”

I guess I could change my mind about the 
disappointment if I’d known he’d be a royal to me.

“Come on! Please?”

“I don’t hear you.”

“Jaejoong, please!”

“You’re not my girlfriend.”

Oh, no. I should have known. He knew all along that 
I’d need a ride to school, or directions, and had waited 
for just the right moment to threaten me. I had to admit, 
he seemed to know a lot about what was going on, and a lot 
more about manipulation.

I sighed. “And if I were your girlfriend would you 
give me a ride?”

“Of course.”

“Fine,” I said. I couldn’t believe what I was about 
to say. “Can I please be your girlfriend?”

“Well, you’d still be my slave.”

“Yes, I know.”

“But I guess I could sometimes go out on dates with 
you and stuff, just so you don’t get all emotional. And I 
figure encouragement helps workers a lot.”

Workers. He had just referred to me as a ‘worker.’ 
“Okay,” I said, “so can we get going now?”

“Sure,” he said, and began to walk towards the back 
of the house.

“You keep your motorcycle there?”

“What motorcycle?”

And I understood what he meant by that when, a 
minute later, I saw him hop onto a bike. Literally, a 
bicycle.

“That’s your ride?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Got a problem with it?”

I looked at the bicycle. Yes, I had a lot of 
problems with it. In fact, I should never have slept over; 
I should never have even made a deal with Jaejoong.

“And even if you do,” he said, “have a problem with 
it, I mean, a deal is a deal. You’re my sla…I mean 
girlfriend until I let you go.”

I sighed. What else could I do but sigh?

***

I asked Jaejoong to drop me off on the back gate of 
the school because who knew what the Rose Club members were 
willing to do to get back at me? I sure wasn’t one of their 
arch enemies (and you wouldn’t want to be) but Strawberry 
seemed very keen on wanting to destroy me the other day. As 
I watched Jaejoong pedal away at his bicycle, I began to 
wonder what kind of a guy he was. Every guy had to have a 
good side. And he’d let me stay over, after all, when he 
could have just kicked me out of the house.

I decided that thinking about the possibilities of 
Jaejoong’s good nature was a waste of time and made my way 
into the school, looking around at the big courtyard where 
kids were still playing soccer, and some were being 
punished for God knows what.

When I walked through the hallway that led to the 
classroom, I saw a crowd of kids standing outside, 
whispering into each others’ ears. When I neared the door 
the whispers began to die and every one of them looked at 
me as if I had done something horrible. I gulped. Could it 
be the Rose Club? Had they sent their members to check on 
me?

“Eun Hye!” It was Yura, rushing out of the door to 
greet me.

“Hey,” I said. “What’s going on?”

She seemed as confused as I did, because all she 
did was drag me to the side, away from the people, and say, 
“what the hell has been going on since Jaejoong came and 
took you?”

I admit, I told Yura everything. But I wasn’t so 
sure that telling her about my agreement with Jaejoong at 
the current time would do much help. “Never mind. I’ll 
explain later. What’s all the fuss about? Are the Rose Club 
members after me?”

“The Rose Club? What—”

“Come on,” I said, and dragged her along as I took 
a peak in the classroom.

It seemed pretty normal, except for all the kids 
who, alongside me, were peering into the room. I realized 
that most of them weren’t even from our class anyway. I 
tried to search for any Rose Club members but I couldn’t 
find any, so decided to step in.

“Wall girl!”

I looked up at the sudden sound and tried to find 
the source. To my astonishment, it was Yunho, sitting on 
the seat next to mine, waving eagerly in my direction. Wall 
girl? Was that…supposed to be me?

“Oh my god, it was you he was waiting for?” Was all 
Yura said.

“Come here! I waited for you all morning.” He 
rummaged for something in his bag. He took out a can of 
coke and some bagels, and gestured them in my direction. 
“Have you had breakfast yet?”

I could feel the silence of the room as everyone 
began to look in my direction. So that’s what they’d all 
been waiting for. They were wondering why a Romeo—and Yunho 
at that—was just sitting in our room as if it was okay.

“Yunho?” I said, “what are you doing here?”

He smiled. “Here, eat.” He passed me the bagels, 
which I took gladly. “I realized I don’t even know your 
name. And I was running, the next thing I know, you’re 
gone!”

“Yeah,” I said. “I think your hand slipped.”

“Which is why I decided to come here and stay with 
you until you forgive me.”

Until I what? Yunho was asking for my forgiveness?

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Yura whispered into 
my ear as she found her way back to her own seat.

I sat next to Yunho and looked him in the face. I 
saw no signs of humor; perhaps he wasn’t joking. I had no 
idea why (and how) he’d decided to come look for me, but I 
was glad, in a way. He was my dream guy.

“Do you like it?” He asked, and only a minute later 
did I realize he was talking about the bagels.

“Yeah,” I said, “they’re really good.”

“I can get them for you tomorrow too, if you want. 
They have a really good bakery right around the corner from 
where I live.”

“No, it’s okay! You don’t have to get any bagels 
for me.”

He smiled. “Do you want to hold my hand?”

What kind of a question was that? I looked at him 
blankly for thirty seconds. Of course I wanted to hold his 
hand. But he couldn’t just ask me like that, and expect me 
to say yes.

“You know what, here. Give me your hand.” He 
stretched a palm towards me, and after a second of 
hesitation I grabbed it. I mean, I might as well take the 
chance that comes once in a lifetime. And Jaejoong had 
seemed to make it pretty clear that even though we were a 
couple on the outside, to no means did that mean we were to 
act like one. So technically, this isn’t cheating, right?

As I began to wonder if this was all a dream, and 
why all of a sudden my life had attracted so much drama, 
Yunho leaned into my ear and whispered, “and this time, 
I’ll never let it go.”

I think he was talking about my hand.