Chp.18| Big Nose and his Racket


“Walk in first,”I told Jung Sang who stood behind us.

He wasn’t even paying attention; he had his eyes fixed on his arm as he rubbed at the soreness. That was all he has been doing since I saw him at school. His arm suffered from something the previous night. I didn’t really suspect him until then. It probably had something to do with Seung Won. “Why should I?” he muttered, still inspecting his arm as he raise his shirt sleeve higher to reveal a dark purple bruise.

Ouch. I suddenly felt sorry for him.

Na-Na who held onto my hand, craned her head enough to glare at her uncle. “You’re supposed to be a gentleman and hold the doors for us ladies,” she reminded him.

He glanced up and commented, “Ladies? I only see a child and a girl.”

On second thought, he deserves that bruise. I was all but a girl to him. Nothing more than that. The bastard probably forgotten what he had done the previous night. In fact, I don’t think he cared. But I did. I cared because I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Na-Na released my arm and pouted as she stomp one foot against the ground. “I want my ice-cream, Park Jung Sang!”

“Then open the door and go and get it,” he retorted in aggravation.

I couldn’t believe the rudeness that was flowing from him. It was his own niece and yet he still treated her no differently from anyone else. I finally stepped up to him. “Go and open that door and hold it for us, if you got any balls---you selfish moron,” I scoffed at him.

He just looked at me, and then shouldered me out of the way to go and hold the door. He made a gesture of his hand for us to enter. When Na-Na was through, he let go, having the door to slam against my back. I took a stumble forward, scraping my knee in the process. I hated that I had chosen a skirt to wear on my day off. It took a moment for me to force down the growing anger. With my hands clenched, I stood up wanting to curse at him. “Yah! You---"

He strode right past me, whistling to himself, acting as if he had done nothing wrong. The bastard didn’t even have the nerve to ask me whether I was okay.

Na-Na went to choose a booth at the far end of the parlor. I went to sit beside her, and Jung Sang sat across from us. “You’re buying,” I chided him.

He just shrugged and then answered, “Eat whatever you want, I don’t like ice-cream.”

“Maybe you should try it. So that the sweetness could melt that cold heart of yours,” I murmured quietly enough so that only Na-Na could hear.

Na-Na covered and giggled.

Jung Sang brows furrowed. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Now, let see here. What should I eat.” I turned to Na-Na. “I think I want the castle sundae. Na-Na, you in on it?”

Na-Na nodded eagerly. “Can we put strawberries on it too?”

I glanced at Jung Sang who was looking at me. “Of course,” I replied.

“Ask for some ice too,” he put in.

“Why?”

“To stop that swelling on the side of your face,” he said, trying to contain his laughter.

My face wasn’t swelling. Jung Sang was being a jerk. It was however; still red and it stung just a little. Seung Won had slapped me hard enough to leave an imprint on my cheek. When I had woken up that morning and took a glimpse in the mirror, I screamed at the top of my lungs. Luckily it was our day off of school; otherwise I’d be mortified to face the students.

“Maybe we could also ask for a cleaver so that I could skin off that expression on your face?” I countered in return.

He looked away when he said, "Ice-cream shops don't carry cleavers, ."

“Whatever, assh0le.”

He blinked twice. "What did you call me?”

“Can we order now?” Na-Na intervened.

Jung Sang grabbed at his bag and said, “Order all you want, Na-Na. I’m leaving.”

“No!” the both of us blurted at the same time.

He paused to look at her. “Why not? You know I got ping-pong practice.”

Na-Na pouted. "Why should you have to practice ping-pong when you're already good at it?"

It was my turn to look away when I murmured, "Because maybe he's not all that great as he makes himself to be."

"Yah! Doesn't your mouth ever stop?" he questioned.

"Not until yours does," I replied, sticking my tongue at him.

He began to move away. “You’re paying,” I added, wanting to stall him.

He reached into his pocket and fished out some bills. “There, satisfied? I gotta run.”

Just as Jung Sang stood up, three guys entered the parlor, spotting him. The guy in the middle who was wearing a cap to the side, shouted out, “Yah! Jung Sang. What the you doin’ in here? We were waiting on your .”

Judging from their sportswear, these guys were probably his sports buddies. “I’m coming,” he said, glancing at us one last time before joining them.

One of the patted him on the shoulder. “Sh*t, Jung Sang. What the hell you do to your hair? Whoa, I never realized that you were this good-looking man.”

The guy received a hard slap to the back of his head.

Na-Na and I looked at each other. She raised her brows mischievously. “Wanna see how he plays?”


---

So yeah, it was wrong for us to follow him, but I just couldn’t stop myself. You can't blame a person for being curious. Na-Na was her ice-cream as we stood with our back pressed against the side of an abandoned building. I peered over the side to see that Jung Sang had joined some other guys.

And then they entered the building.

“They went in, Na-Na,” I told her as gripped her arm. “Why are they acting so suspicious?”

“That’s because they’re playing for money.”

Why should Jung have to play for money? It didn’t make any sense. “So, it’s like that, huh?”

She didn’t answer me, instead she said, “Let’s go closer, Ji Won.”

We went over to stand at the entrance, making sure that we were out of their line of vision. I peered in to see that Jung Sang was stretching his arm, moving it in a circular motion as he stood opposite of his opponent who was examining his ping-pong racket.

“Na-Na, what’s wrong with his arm?”

“He’s been hurting like that since last night. I don’t know what happened but I think he might’ve got into a brawl or something.”

I wondered if it had anything to do with Seung Won. “Will he be able to play like that?”

“I don’t know. Let’s hope he doesn’t make it worst.”

His opponent, who was a fairly big guy with a big nose, raised his ping-pong racket to show Jung Sang. “I’ll go with this.”

Jung Sang inclined his head in approval. “Fine with me.”

Big nose chuckled. “You were sweating last night, Jung Sang. I guess, you’re starting to lose your touch. How’s your arm by the way?”

Jung Sang went over to pull out his own racket. “My arm is my arm. It has nothing to do with you.”

That caused Big nose to laugh again. This time Big nose let out a big snort. “Once this is all over, you’ll have no use for it. Hahahaha!”

“We’ll see about that,” Jung Sang said as he caught the ball that one of his buddies had tossed at him. “Are you ready?”

Big nose moved to stand in an awkward stance with his one knee in the air and his racket held out in front of him. “Always.”

Na-Na giggled, finishing off her ice-cream. She had ice-cream all around . "It looks like he's getting ready to fart."

"It does, doesn't it?"

Jung Sang bounced his ball three times before tossing it high in the air to serve it.

Na-Na tugged on my arm. “Jung Sang will kill him, just watch,” she bragged.

Big nose didn’t even moved from his position, the ball bounced once and reflected off his racket. Jung Sang returned it with a hard counter-strike, forcing Big nose to break his stance.

Back and forth, the two exchanged strikes at each other like two competitive skill players. I was very impressed with their speed and agility. I was even more surprised to see that Jung Sang never remained still. His feet was always moving and he knew how to counter every shot. At this point, his opponent began to break a sweat.

"It looks like he's constipated, doesn't it, Ji Won?" Na-Na whispered.

I had to choke back a laugh.

They were still going at it, when finally Jung Sang jumped up and gave Big nose a good one. Big nose had expected a fast strike, and swung his racket a tad too early. The ball ended up hitting him square in the nose instead.

Jung Sang smiled in victory. “The game is finished.”

Big nose slammed his racket down and pointed accusingly at Jung Sang. “I’m not done with you, Jung Sang.”

“But I am done with you,” Jung Sang conceded as he used the end of his white polo shirt to wipe his racket clean. “And you know what, I didn’t even break a sweat.”

His buddies who were watching on the sidelines, cheered gleefully.

Big nose let out another snorty laughter. “Like I said, your arm would be useless once this is all over.”

The next thing I knew, someone had shoved me forward. I took another stumble, scraping my knee once again. I wanted to scream in frustration.

I’ll tell you one thing though. There is never a dull moment when you’re around PingPongBoy.

Na-Na wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “Ji Won, we’re in trouble.”

I turned back to see five guys standing with their arms folded in front of their chests. “Who are you?” one of them asked me.

Na-Na rushed toward her uncle. “Jung Sang. Are you gonna beat them up? They made Ji Won scrape her knee. She's bleeding!”

Jung Sang glared at me from under his furrowed brows. “Yah! Who told you to follow me?”

Na-Na mouthed something and shook her head at me. I came up with a lie while pushing to stand. “I was just curious. I wanted to see you play, that’s all.”

“If I didn’t invite you to come along, then don’t come.”

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the beautiful Lee Ji Won. What do you have to offer Jung Sang that you haven’t already offered to us?” Big nose interjected. His people laughed along with him.

I curled my fingers, bit hard on my lower lip to prevent myself from saying something stupid. I didn’t even know idiot and yet he claims he knows me. Gosh, my reputation just gets worse every time.

Next thing I knew, a racket flew in his direction, striking him square in the face. He howled as he went down. Only a person like Jung Sang is capable of catching someone unexpectedly. Jung Sang was already up on the table, leaping down to attack Big nose. His friends were also charging toward the guys behind me and started to attack them too. A big fight ensued.

Na-Na came running towards me. “Ji Won. Are you okay?”

“I think so,” I muttered, sitting up with my head spinning.

More guys ran into the building and started to help Jung Sang’s buddies. Kim Tae Woo walked in with his hands tucked inside his pocket and a cigarette dangling from between his lips. He wore one of them collared shirts with a sweater over top. His streaked hair was styled up and his eyes were covered with a pair of shades. I had to admit, Tae Woo is pretty damn stylish.

He approached me with his hand extended toward me. “Are you okay?”

I brushed the dirt from my knees and stood up without his help. But then I just had to stumble and Kim Tae Woo just had to catch me around the waist. The unlit cigarette fell from his lips as he stared down at me. “Ji Won…”

“Kim Tae Woo! Let her go!!!” Na-Na screamed so loud that forced everyone to stop what they were doing.

Jung Sang kicked Big nose one last time before he came to pull me away from Tae Woo’s grasp. He glared murderously at his friend. I’ve never seen this side of him before. Not towards his own friend. "Who told you to come? I didn’t ask for your help.”

“Heard you were finishing the game. Thought I’d drop by,” Tae Woo replied calmly.

“We’re fine. I’m fine. Thanks for your concern. I’m done.” With that, he drew me along with him, also taking hold of Na-Na’s hand.

Once we were outside, Jung Sang released his hold on us. “Go home, Ji Won. I’ll take Na-Na home. From now on, if you drag my niece with you, you’re gone. Got that?”

Na-Na tried to explain. “But Jung Sang. It wasn’t ---"

“Shut up, Na-Na!” he exploded on her.

Na-Na kicked his shin and ran off.

I watched him hop on one foot and then I decided to kick his other shin. “Good going, you .”