Thunder’s p.o.v

“Aish, my back is killing me.” I complained to myself rubbing my spine. My stomach growled furiously, I ignored like I was forced to most days. “Omma I’m heading to the shop, then the grocery and maybe the junk yard if I have time. Take care, I’m going!” She wasn’t awake but I still liked to at least tell her where I was going.

                She was right, all the leaves had fallen but I went to check the shop to see with the manager said. He scratched his head when I showed up. “How’s your mom?” He asked looking at me intensely.

“She’s been better” I replied. The shop manager couldn’t do much but look at me with saddened eyes.

“Aish, I’m sure you must have worked all night raking those leaves, I know you wouldn’t lie about that but” It was coming “I can’t give you much since all there’s tons back on the ground now. I’m going to give you something for your work, I understand your situation.” He understood my situation but he didn’t compensate for that. Ten bucks, all he could give me was ten bucks and half of it wasn’t even fairly mine. That man with the video camera did most of the work. I owed him if I saw him again.

I bowed to the shop owner. It wasn’t actually a shop the man looked over the park and all park activities I was nothing to him but another kid trying to make a few bucks. I guess if my situation wasn’t so bad he wouldn’t have paid me at all. It was even cooler out than the day before. “Can I expect you to rake a bit for me today? I’ll pay you in advance.” I nodded gratefully. “I have to go see about another job but I’ll hurry back to get started.” I jogged off to the grocery store then to the junk yard but both overseers told me the same thing. “If I could sign a liability warranty on you Cheondoong I would. But with your condition I can’t hire you here.”

Everyone in town took my “condition” much more seriously than I did. I felt fine, I just needed work and no one would give it to me. I resigned back to Jung Byunghee’s home to borrow the rake and spent $2.95 on some cheap garbage bags. It didn’t help that kids were playing around in the leaves creating piles and jumping into them crushing them into smaller almost impossible to rake bits. I just waited for them to go home.

Joon’s p.o.v

It seems like I get scolded everyday now, I have nothing to show my professor I can’t help that. All the stress is causing me to pull my hair out every day. School . Just other day walking through the park to get home, I saw him shivering on a park bench watching children play. Just how often does this kid spend raking? Doesn’t he have anything else to do with his life, he has to be in school or maybe have a girlfriend? He looked blue in the face and after the heat I received in school I wasn’t in the mood to try and scout him as my model. I brushed right past him. I saw his long body spring up when I passed. “Oh mister!”

Mister? What?!

“Yah! Don’t call me mister, hyung, I’m hyung if anything at all. What do you want?” He looked down and forced his hand into his jean pocket. He held some crumbled bills out to me. “I owe you half of what I was paid.” He dropped the money into my hand. “This is half of your pay? For all the work you did, freezing half to death out here? Keep it I don’t want it I didn’t help you to get a cut of your money. I hardly did anything anyway.” I shrugged stuffing the bills back into his pants pocket. I looked back up into his almost purple face. “Are you alright?” He was shivering fiercely and I noticed that he had changed clothes from yesterday. In fact he looked exactly the same, aside from the change in his skin color, he looked like he hadn’t even undressed when he reached home. “Hey don-don’t you ever change clothes?” He shook his head. I didn’t want to ask anymore.

                “Hey, I’ll help you with the leaves again later let’s go somewhere warm and get you something warm to drink. Hot chocolate, Americano, what do you want I’ll buy it for you.” He pried. But he just looked at the ground. “Um, mist-I mean hyung. If you didn’t want my money why did you help me?”

I scoffed at the question. “What? Does everyone that helps you want something in return? Well I do but I really just helped because I thought you’d die from shock in this weather.” He shied away a bit. “They’d have to burry you with that rake because it’d be frozen to your hands.”

I had no idea what I was doing. I was far from social or caring but whenever I got near this kid I was helping and asking about his situation like I actually cared. I knew I didn’t I just wanted him to be in my movie.  

“Let’s go, I’ll make you ramen, your face is all sunken in too.”

“I can- I can’t go with you sir, hyung, I don’t even know your name and earlier you asked to film me and now you’re here again trying to buy things for me. I’m not sure that I can trust you.” He mumbled.

“What? Look kid I’m not some type of , I really just wanted to film you for project. And I’m only trying to buy you things because you looks like you need them. I’ve never done anything for anyone in my life so…that’s all it is. You already said you didn’t want to be in the presentation so I’m giving up on that.”

                I really wasn’t, but if he thought I was maybe he’d feel bad. He looked like he wanted to decline my offer but I could hear his stomach rumble and his eyes became half lidded. He looked at his watch for a few seconds, squinting as if he couldn’t see the dials. “Can you tell time?” I teased. “How old are you?” “Twenty-three.” He replied. Ah so I am hyung. “Do you promise?” He questioned suddenly after taking his eyes off of his watch. The battery appeared to be dead. “Promise what? That I’m not a ert? Wahh you really are something. What would my promise mean to you if you don’t trust me…not that I blame you.” He shrugged.

                He really had an innocent image to him sometimes and other times he had a hateful personality. I couldn’t figure him out. I kept staring at his face as it grew darker. “Oh god, fine I promise, can we go now?” I huffed, frustrated. “Um hyung?”

“What is it? What is it now?” He asked my name and I asked his. I guess he felt better having my name or something because he didn’t play tug of war with me anymore he followed me sheepishly. It was kind of cute. “Joonie hyung, you live here?” My eyes widened tenfold then. “Wh-who said you could call me that?!” He just smiled and walked into my apartment without saying a single word.

                Aish this kid jinja.

You’d think he had never been into someone house before he gazed in awe at everything in my small two bedroom apartment. The polished wooden flooring, glass dining table and leather couch in the living room, the marble counters and stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. “Wahh, this is a really nice place hyung you live here all by yourself?” I just nodded I didn’t want to ruin his mood. Color seemed to be returning to his face and he was smiling. “Take your …sweater thing off and I’ll turn up the heat.” He sat down slowly then jumped right into getting completely comfortable, throwing his head back and exhaling heavily with his eyes closed.

What is with this kid? He’s so strange.

He practically inhaled three packs of ramen and drank about a gallon of water before he was back to normal. “Hey, why do you eat like that?”

“Like what?” He said, his voice was a bit muffled by the food he had stuffed in his cheeks. I snatched the chop sticks from his hand “Like you haven’t eaten in weeks.” Thunder chewed thoroughly then swallowed. “Oh I’m not sure that I have eaten in weeks. But don’t tell my doctor that.” He chuckled half-heartedly before grabbing the sticks back in and continuing to eat. I just had to film him but how would I get him to? “Hey, listen. You still don’t look too good how about you go home or stay here and I’ll finish the leaves for you?” Always offering myself to do hard labor I’m such a good person. He looked prepared to decline but he admitted to being tired and he wanted to check on his mother and take her a warm meal. I couldn’t really figure him out. “and tomorrow you can pick up your pay just as before.”

He shook his head. “I already got paid this time. He waved a few bills in my face.” I slapped his hand away. “Yah congratulations. Don’t do that.” I growled and he shrunk back. “Thank you Joon” He said springing up from his chair and heading toward the door “Will I see you again?” He asked with glossy eyes.

“What am I your best friend now? If you keep working in the park I’m likely to keep seeing you. It’s my only way home anyway.”

“So you aren’t stalking me?” I threw a couch cushion at him. “Get out! As if I’d stalk you.”

He just gleamed bowing a full 90 degrees. “Thank you so much Lee Joon hyung. I’m so glad you aren’t a stalking ert.” He joked.

“Get out you kid!” I yelled before he scurried out the door with his hands in his pockets.

Thunder’s p.o.v

It was too late to turn back when I realized that I’d left my sweater at Joon’s place. He was strange to me, even though he said he wasn’t a ert and he really isn’t that nice I wondered why he was so interested in me for his project. What was so great about me? I wondered if he really would rake the leaves and if the shop owner would come after me for the money he’d paid me in advance. I would have turned back but I wanted to get the ramen and some warm tea to my mother before it chilled so I walked quickly home cradling them close to my body to keep it and myself warm. I was in a good mood to say the least.

“Omma, I’m home. Omma I brought food and warm tea for you. I also got paid. It’s a really great day.” I called out. I didn’t hear a reply. I heard slight rustling in the distance and gagging.

“Omma?!” The pot dropped to the floor as I rushed to the bathroom. She’d practically laid her head in the toilet bowl as she threw up violently. “What can I do, mom tell me what I can do.” She was shaking, the skin on her hands had shriveled and most of her hair was breaking off. I hadn’t seen her in such a bad shape. Her eyes were blood shot red with dark circles surrounding them. I’ve never felt so helpless. I just attached to her back as she vomited. “Omma what can I do?” I cried out.

“I need my medicine.” She said in a raspy tone. “Do you want me to go out and buy some for you mom? Will that stop this? I don’t want you to be in pain.”

“Don’t worry about me my son. That medicine is far too expensive” she replied. I was frantic. “What about the ramen do you want some or the tea it’s still warm?”

She shook her head she didn’t want anything. “I have to get that money, I need to get the medicine that will make you better then. Don’t worry omma I’ll cure you.” I said, trying to keep my tears from falling as I sat in the corner of the bathroom watching my mother withering away in front of me.

He said he would pay me to be in his film right? No matter what kind of film it is I need the money. I have to meet Joon. I didn’t work tomorrow but I would wait for him in the park. I can’t let this happen.