chapter one.

18.11.11

(07:30 a.m)

            Kim Jongin was sitting at his place, with his earphones providing music to his eardrums, causing him to bang his head lightly in the air, almost synchronized with the beat of the song he was listening to. He was too engrossed performing his most favourite thing to do in the world— that he did not even realize the fact that he was surrounded by girls, which most of them were from other classes, twenty metres from his territory, according to his rule. When the first bell of the day rang, the girls dismissed and everyone moved to their respective seats. He then removed the earphones and threw them into his bag and pulled out his notepad afterwards. When he was in the act of fishing out his mechanical pencil from his pencil case, Eunmi dragged a chair which was placed next to his, manufacturing a screeching sound. He scrunched his face and his muscles relaxed when the sound had dissipated in the air

            “Have you finished the homework Mr Kwang gave us yesterday?” she asked while putting her bag on the floor, next to her table.

            He nodded while scribbling on his notepad, stealing some time before their homeroom teacher walks in and starts the first lesson.

            “Yaa, I’m asking you.”

            “I’ve already nodded just now,” he answered— still scribbling.

            “Oh, really? Haish I haven’t finished mine yet. Was too busy taking care of Eunhye last night. She suddenly got high fever. I didn’t even get to have enough sleep last night. She always cried—”

            “My book’s in my bag,” he cut her off.

            Her face broke into a grin but she was trying her best not to show it to him by pursing her lips.

            “You know, you look ridiculously good looking today. What’d you do?” she asked while slowly walking towards his bag— with the same grin plastered on her face. She then kneeled and searched for his book. When she had succeeded at doing so, she looked up to see him still engrossed in scribbling, and asked,

            “Do you have any plans after school? I want to buy a ticket to Bigbang’s concert. Can you accompany me?”

            “My mom’s already booked me. Sorry.”

            She pouted and she then got up and walked to her place. She took out her book and pencil case from her bag and began to copy his answers, but her eyes were still working diligently during the process, just in case he made any error.

            “Ahh, do you know about that news?”

            “What?” he asked.

            “Uhm Ahjumma and her family are going to immigrate to Thailand. That’s such a waste. I’ve known her and her family for years already. I’m going to miss her a lot. She always buys me things to eat. I’ll never forget that.”

            “Don’t worry. The fat from what she’d bought for you will remain in your body for quite a long time.”

            She turned her face to his direction and scrunched her face.

            “That’s good. At least some memories of her will remain within my body.”

            He nodded and put his mechanical pencil aside. He then lifted his notepad and brought it away from him, admiring his piece. Suddenly, the infamous trio in their class and the whole entire school, Jisuk, Minwoo and Raewon approached her table, distracting her from copying Jongin’s answers. Jongin was distracted for a while but he then stopped minding about their business by scribbling a new piece.

            “Eunmi ah, I’ve got something to tell you,” said Jisuk.

            “What is it? Can you be faster? I haven’t finished my homework yet.”

            “We neither. Just don’t mind about it. That Kwang guy won’t get mad if you don’t get it done,” claimed Raewon.

            “Won’t get mad your ,” she made a face at Raewon. She then jerked her gaze away from Raewon’s face and stared at Jisuk’s right afterwards, “ Yaa, just get to the point. What was it that you wanted to tell me?”

            “Ahh, that. I dreamed of you last night.”

            Eunmi looked up with a disgusted look ghosted over her face.

            “Eww?” she said.

            “Wait, I should’ve been the one to say this to you. Eww,” he paused to make a disgusted face at her and went on, “For your information, no, I didn’t have any wet and wild dream of you, okay?” Jisuk explained further without being asked to.

            “Okay.”

            “No, it’s just that, I dreamed of you dying last night.”

            She looked up again to meet Jisuk’s eyes. She then leaned into her chair and crossed her arms against her chest.

            “How’d I die?” she asked with her right eyebrow raised in anticipation.

            Minutes were stolen as Jisuk took his sweet time to stuff his hands in his pockets, and led three of them to lean towards her. A very serious and worried washed over Jisuk’s face, in a hope that Eunmi would get scared and goose bumps by seeing his expressions.

            “You’re trampled by crazy fans during Bigbang’s concert. Hahahaha,” three of them laughed in unison, annoying her. She rolled her eyes and smacked three of them on the arms.

            “Very funny. Now go. I want to finish my homework,” right after she had done with what she wanted to say, she dismissed them by pushing them away using her arms. Three of them were still laughing when she was trying her best to get rid of them from her sight. When she had succeeded at doing so, she sat on her seat and mumbled,

            “What the hell. Not funny at all.”

            “Maybe it’s a good sign that you shouldn’t go to the concert after all.”

            She turned her head towards his direction— not expecting it to come at all. She then swallowed and said, “I’ve been separated from my husband for a long time already. I’ve had enough. I can’t even survive for a single day without my husband by my side. I can’t. I just can’t.”

            “Shut up. Your fan-girl syndrome is irritating me,” he claimed.

            The ends of curved upwards, forming an obvious smirk before she leaned towards him, putting a few metres between and his left ear, and she then sang,

            “I’m singing my blues~~”

            He scrunched his face in disgust and leaned to the right, moving away from her with his one hand pushing her head away from him. Despite what he was doing, she was still singing the infamous song, sending irritation and annoyance through his veins. She got back to her earlier position with a giggle when their homeroom teacher, Mrs Lee walked into the class, interrupting what she was doing. When her giggle had settled down and she was then concentrating, waiting for her name to be called up during the attendance call, she did not and could not remember him doing this before but when she felt his slender fingers pinching her right cheek— her heart could not take it at all.  

*     *     *

(08:57 p.m)

            “Just put it here.”

            He bent to have a firm grip on the table and brought it to where his mother had instructed him to. Right after he had placed the table where his mother had pointed at earlier, he straightened his posture and forked his fingers through his hair and released a sigh at the same time. He had been helping her mother reorganizing the furniture at their home for almost two hours already and his energy had drained a lot because of this.

            “Wait, that doesn’t look nice. Maybe you should put it here,” said his mother.

            Before he obliged to his mother’s instruction, he released a sigh first and did as what he was told. After he was done with it, this time, he thought that he had finally had enough of it. His body and muscles could not take it any longer. He then lied on the floor and looked up, searching for his mother’s eyes.

            “I surrender. I salute dad for being able to do this for years.”

            A grin was manufactured on his mother’s face. She rested her both hands on her hips and said,

            “Okay. That’s all for today. Thank you for helping. I’ll get the dinner done.”

            With the same grin still visible on her face, she turned around and walked towards the kitchen. He was still lying on the floor, letting the cold floor seeping its coldness through his hot body. He closed his eyes— trying to take a nap, right there— at the exact spot. His mother would have gotten mad if she ever found out about this but he was sure he was safe from being nagged and scolded by her as the sound of things cluttering in the kitchen sounded convincing to him.

            He was pretty sure that by the time he had almost fallen asleep completely, his six year old brother, Jongho suddenly approached him and caused his sleepiness to dissipate into the air almost instantly.

            “Hyung, you have to teach Jongho how to count one to twenty! Jongho really forgot to study last week and Ms So will ask each one of us to read one to twenty out loud in front of the class tomorrow! What to do!” his little brother explained further while shaking his arm.

            He yawned before he got into a seating position. He ruffled Jongho’s hair and smiled when Jongho made a face and shied his hand away from his head. He then lifted his both arms, showing all of his fingers to Jongho.

            “Okay, how many fingers do I have?”

            “I don’t know,” Jongho answered with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

            “Count them, then.”

            “Oh, okay!” Jongho answered in delight. He raised his small index finger and touched each of his fingers as he counted them.

            “You have ten fingers!”

            “How about you?” Jongin asked and he used his mouth to point at Jongho by perking it out.

            “Me?” Jongho asked first before he lifted his both hands in the air, same like how Jongin did.

            “One, two, three….”

            Jongin waited his little brother to finish the counting by observing him and humming to his favourite song.

            “I also have ten!” Jongho remarked with a big smile plastered on his face.

            “That’s good. Okay, so now,” he paused to set himself in a new seating position, where his long legs were sprawling out on the floor. He then pointed his index finger towards their direction and said,

            “How many toes do I have?”

            Jongho’s eyes followed suit to where he was pointing at with his mouth gap opened. After he had fully digested Jongin’s question, he inched closer to Jongin’s toes by sliding his knees on the floor and proceeded with the counting right afterwards. After he was done with it, he turned and stared into his elder brother’s eyes and said,

            “Hyung, you have ten toes.”

            “Now, count yours.”

            Jongho did as what he was told to and when he had obtained the answer, he informed his elder brother the answer.

            “Okay, so, why don’t you start counting both your fingers and toes?”

            “Ohh, okay.”

            Jongho counted diligently and Jongin could not help but smile seeing how cute his younger brother looked like when he was engrossed in studying.

            “Omo, hyung!” Jongho suddenly remarked.

            “What?”

            “Twenty! I have twenty fingers and toes!” Jongho remarked with his eyes bulging out in surprise.

            “It’s easy, isn’t it? Tomorrow, just count one to twenty by using your fingers and toes.”

            “But, hyung—”

            “What?”

            “I’ll be wearing socks. How can I see my toes?”

            “Just wiggle them.”

            “What? Hyung, what’s wiggle?” Jongho asked with his head tilted to the right, indicating how curious he was to know the answer.

            Jongin scratched his head, contemplating of his usage of words. He would be a dead meat if Jongho ever told about this to his both parents.

            “Nothing. Just take them off before you count.”

            “Can I really do that?”

            “Why not?”

            “But Ms So might scold me if I do that.”

            “No she won’t. If she does, tell her hyung will come and scold her.”

            “But, she’s scary hyung! No one has ever scolded her before.”

            “I’ll be the first one, then.”

            “Really?”

            Jongin patted his brother’s head with a smile and said, “Of course. I’m your hyung, right?”

            Jongho formed a big smile on his face before he leaned forward and gave a hug to Jongin.

            “Thank you hyung!”

            Suddenly, their house phone rang and broke the hug they were sharing at the time. Jongho immediately drew back and claimed,

            “I’ll get it!”

            Jongin set his eyes on Jongho’s little back when he was running to get the phone call with his both hands rested on his each side, keeping his body balanced. Then, he closed his eyes, trying to rest his heavy eyes.

            “Hyung, this call is for you!”

            He unveiled his eyes almost instantly when he heard Jongho’s scream. He made sure to let out a sigh and fork his fingers through his hair before he got up and started towards where their house phone was located at. He took the phone from Jongho and placed it on his ear.

            “Hello?”

            “Jongin? Is that you?”

            “Yes, it’s me.” Who else could have it been? He asked himself, starting to feel annoyed.

            “It’s me. Aunty.”

            “Oh, Aunty. Hello.”

            “Is Eunmi with you right now?”

            “No. I haven’t seen her after I got back from school,” he answered truthfully.

            “I wonder where she is now. She hasn’t gone back and it’s night already. I can’t help but feel worried.”

            Remembering what she had told him this morning, he then informed her mother, “Earlier, she told me that she’s planning to buy a ticket to Bigbang’s concert. Have you called her cell phone?”

            “I already did and I have lost the count. She will never pick up and I don’t understand why,” she paused, as if she was giving Jongin some space and time to think. She then resumed, “She’s never acted like this. If she ever calls you, can you inform me?”

            “Yes, of course,” he answered.

            “Thank you, Jongin.”

            With that, she ended the call and he remained there, with the phone still placed on his ear, trying to digest everything which he found too hard to be happening. Like what her mother said, she had never acted like this. At least, throughout the period he had known her, her mother had never called him at this hour and asked him about this.

            “Who’s that?”

            He turned his face to his left and saw his mother staring at him with an apron tied around her body. He placed the house phone at its respective place and answered,

            “Eunmi’s mom.”

            “What’d she want?”

            “She just asked me something.”

            “Oh. Come over to the kitchen. The dinner’s ready.”

            “Okay.”

            His eyes followed his mother’s trail heading to the kitchen and when her mother made a turn in order to step into the kitchen— that was when reality hit him. He made sure to swallow first before he mounted the stairs and headed to his room. He grabbed his phone and called her number right afterwards.   Just like what he did not want to happen, she did not answer his call. He was telling himself that everything would be just fine and he should go downstairs and eat the dinner together with his mother and Jongho but what his heart was telling him at the time made him feel like throwing up.

            He gave a call to her for another time and found himself almost at the verge of throwing his phone right at his wall which had been pasted with various pictures when he found out that his call was not answered by her. He forked his fingers through his hair and released a sigh out of frustration. He was frustrated as he was incapable of knowing what was actually happening.

            “Park Eunmi, please don’t tell me that you’re joking around,” he muttered under his breath.

            He then closed his eyes, contemplating and once they were unveiled, he grabbed his jacket and went downstairs. He walked into the kitchen to see both his mother and Jongho eating dinner together. His mother looked up, meeting his eyes and asked,

            “Where are you going?”

            “I’ve something to do. I’ll be back before 12. Promise.”

            He could see that his mother was about to say something as drew opened, attempting to utter some words but he did not give her enough time to do that as he immediately turned around and started towards the main door while wearing his jacket. He reached for his sneakers and put them on while observing the weather. It was so cold that he could feel the hair at the nape of his neck and arms immediately shot up, giving an instant reaction towards the sudden change of temperature.

            While he was walking, he was not really sure of where he was supposed to begin searching for her. Some locations shoot through his mind but he did not seem like he was planning to head to any of them. He fished out his cell phone and gave another call to her.

            “Damn it!”

            Frustrated, he bit his lips and decided to send a text message to her.

Where the hell are you?

            When a notification appeared, telling him that the text message had been successfully sent to her, that was when he dialled her number again, with a hope that this time, she would really pick up.

            “!”

            He cursed and after that, he searched for outlets which actually sell the tickets to Bigbang’s concert nearby their city using his cell phone. When he had obtained an answer which somehow made sense to him, he quickened his pace, heading towards that place. His tracks immediately stopped when someone gave him a call. Praying that it was her, he quickly fished out his cell phone and looked at the screen almost immediately.

            “Park Eunmi, where the are you?!” he immediately asked right after he accepted her call but all what he heard on the other line was dead silence.

            “Yaa! Park Eunmi!”

            Again, it was all dead silence which he could hear on the other line. At that time, he could sense that he had almost lost his patience.

            “Yaaa!” again, he shouted.

            “Do you want to be a hero?” a voice suddenly appeared on the other line, making him immobile instantly. It was a male’s voice and he knew so well that something not good was happening.

            “Where the hell is Eunmi?! Put her on the phone!”

            “Eunmi?” that person stopped and he could imagine that person turned his face in order to take a look of Eunmi— for whatever she was doing at that moment.

            “What to do? She can’t speak right now.”

            “Who the hell are you?” Jongin asked with his teeth clenching in anger.

            “I’m just one of the guys which have been given a great time by Eunmi. She’s really good, you know. She has such a nice body.”

            “Yaaa!”

            “Ohh, it seems like she wants to talk to you.”

            By that time, Jongin was clenching his fist to tightly that it turned white, bloodless. He was really hoping that this was all prank and not true at all. He was hoping that by the time she speaks to her, she would tell him that it was all a joke and he should chill out and should never plan to avenge her for doing this to him after this. He was really hoping that this was not a nightmare.

            “Jong…..in….”

            His eyes bulged out in surprise and he could feel every muscle in his body went tense right after he heard her voice. It sounded— too real to be fake.

            “Save…..me…”