Chp.21| To Kiss, or Not to Kiss?

“Table Tennis,”a tall guy, holding onto a glass of champagne corrected Jung Sang when he mentioned the word ping-pong to a couple of his friends in the lounge.

Fair in skin, nice hair. Clean cut and a remarkable smile, I would think that this guy would have no relation to Jung Sang. But I learned that he was some long distant cousin of Jung Sang who attends college in the United States.

The guy stuck his nose in the air, indicating a gesture of pure arrogance. He walked around thinking his sh*t doesn’t stink.

After the cutting of the cake, the dining and the exchange of speeches, Jung Sang and I took a browse around the house. When we stopped to chat with some people, this cousin of Jung Sang stood two feet away, pretending to converse with some others. But I knew he was following us. For whatever reason, I truly don’t know. Perhaps he had some personal agenda against Jung Sang?

I thought we managed to escape him when we entered the lounge where all the younger people gathered. We spotted Tae Woo in the corner; surrounded by the girls whom were watching and listening to him playing the piano as he tried mimicking KangTa’s Polaris. He was doing a poor job at it too. The girls didn’t see it that way. They were probably too focused on trying to strip him with their eyes. I expected Shin Hye Min to be at his side; however, she was nowhere to be found. The last I seen her, she had mascara running down her face and whining about how terrible she looked in front of her friends.

Jung Sang craned his head to finally acknowledge his stalker cousin. “What was that, James?” he questioned the tall guy, trying his best to pronounce the name in English.

The tall guy with the American name, cleared his throat and then answered, “Table tennis is the updated term now. Not ping-pong.”

“Ping-pong is ping-pong. It’ll always be ping-pong no matter the name. You Americans know nothing of ping-pong, that’s why you change the name to suit your own interest and claim that you know the game,” Jung Sang argued, shifting his body around to confront James.

James was a couple of inches taller and his shoulder was a tad bit wider, so he thought he could appear intimidating. He drank his champagne in a single gulp and then handed the empty glass to me since I was standing closest to him. I took it from him and watched as he moved closer to Jung Sang. “Jung Sang, since when did you get so defensive with ping-pong? I don’t recall you being this obsessive,” he mocked intentionally.

If it weren’t for Jung Sang acting as gentleman for the night, I would have told him to deck him in the face.

When I looked at him then, I noticed how hard he was trying to contain his anger. With his hands balled and his jaws tightening, he was itching to do it. Of course, seeing that this might result into a fight, I took my chance to intervene. Placing a hand on his arm, I said, “Jung Sang, oppa. It’s getting a bit stuffy in here. Can we go get some fresh air?”

He relaxed under my touch and then he smirked, still looking at James. “It’s stuffy because someone has on too much cologne.”

“I know how much you’re wanting to hurt me, Jung Sang. How about we settle this here and now. I’m not the same person I used to be,” he boasted, taking off his outer jacket and handing it to me.

I caught Tae Woo eyeing us now. He stopped playing the piano.

I never realized how many enemies Jung Sang had until then. I reckoned James had a bad past with Jung Sang.

I took the jacket from him, nearly dropping the glass. Jung Sang looked down at my hands and said, “Drop it. You don’t know him so don’t bother carrying his things for him.”

Because Jung Sang ordered me to do it, I did.

The glass shattered against the floor. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to focus their attention upon us. “Oops,” I said in embarrassment, forgetting that I held onto the empty champagne glass along with the jacket.

“Is that how you treat your girl, Jung Sang? Like a b*tch? Does she always bark on your command?”

It wasn’t Jung Sang who attacked James. It was I. My nails clawed at his face and then I yanked hard on his hair and got him howling out, “Ow, my hair! My hair!!”

Jung Sang was the one dragging me away from James until he was certain I wasn’t going to run back and beat the arrogance out of him.

We were outside in the veranda when Jung Sang decided to knock a clay pot of morning glories over with a kick of his foot. “Why did I do that, Ji Won? Why did I let him insult me like that? Why didn’t I just beat his face in?”

“I could have clawed his face out!” I shouted at him. “Why did you drag me away?”

He was pacing back and forth, trying to calm his nerves while I was seated on one of the stone benches, contemplating on how I was going to get James back for implying that I was Jung Sang’s b*tch. Then I realized that being angry wasn’t going to resolve anything. Using violence was never my thing. I couldn’t be like Jung Sang so I said, “Because today is your parent’s anniversary and you’re supposed to behave---"

“ all that bullsh*t. I’m sick of hearing that gentleman word.”

I really didn’t like his tone or the fact that he was transforming back into his ugly horse personality. “Then you’re a woman,” I murmured low enough so that he couldn’t hear me.

He frowned. “What was that?”

I stood up from the bench. “You’re a woman, if you’re not a gentleman. That makes you a woman!”

His frowned deepened when he asked, “The is wrong with you?”

“If you find it so difficult to be a gentleman. Or just being a man, then don’t be! No one is forcing you. Go get your changed or grow your long hair back, no one is gonna care!” I took a deep breath and continued, “You know what you need, Jung Sang? What you need is anger management therapy!” I yelled, feeling my anger fuming. “And you know what else? I think James might be right. Maybe you are treating me like I’m your b*tch. I don’t like the fact that you command everything that I do around you!!”

He took a step toward me, glancing both ways. “Yah! Why are you yelling so loud for? Are you trying to embarrass us? And if you hate it so much, why do you listen?”

“I never knew you were even capable of being embarrassed!”

“I’m not like you, I don’t do stupid things to get embarrassed!”

“Shut up!” I snapped, not knowing what else to yell back at him.

“You’re a nuisance, that’s what you are.”

“Oh yeah? You’re obnoxious and rude---and crippled!”

“Crippled?”

“Ha ha! One-arm man. How does it feel to have one arm?” I mocked, swinging my arm back and forth.

He took another step toward me. “Oh yeah? You’re a twitcher!”

“What?” I burst, surprised that he knew about my twitching habit.

“Your leg twitches whenever you get too excited.”

“Shut up!”

Okay, so we were back to square one. I don’t know why I always get into senseless arguments with Jung Sang. Maybe because I liked seeing him angry or maybe because I just wanted to win over him? Heck, if I know.

A moment of silence wedged its way between us, leaving me to calm down again until Jung Sang tilted his head to get a closer look at my face. “You’re not crying?”

“Why? Should I cry?”

He smiled, showing off his white teeth. “That’s what you’re good at.”

“Why? Would you have had a handkerchief ready to wipe my tears away?” Before he could answer, I added, “Oh wait---you’re no gentleman. Why did I even bother asking?”

“Alright, enough of the insults.”

“What? You get offended when I say you’re no gentleman? For a guy who doesn’t want to be a gentleman---"

He interrupted me. “Could you shut your mouth for once?”

“No.”

He slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Sh*t. Here it goes again.”

Don’t ask me why I was being uncooperative. This was the kind of effect Jung Sang had on me. For every action there was a reaction. “If you wanted me to shut up then why did you ask me to shut it? You could have just told me to shut up since that’s what you’re so good at.”

“For Christ sakes, just kiss each other already!” someone shouted from behind one of the brushes.

Jung Sang spun around to the brushes behind him. “Yah! What the hell you doin’ behind there?”

“That’s none of your business!” came the direct reply.

Jung Sang strode over to part the brushes aside, finding a couple in the middle of a make-out session. He slapped the guy in the back of his head, causing him to bump his head with his girl. “This isn’t a motel, go find one. Get outta here before I rip your tongue out.”

“Aish! Don’t gotta be all rude about,” the guy said, pulling his girlfriend along with him.

“Wait! One more thing. The neighbor’s dog comes and sh*ts here once in a while. You might want to check the bottom of your shoe before you enter the house again.”

That got me laughing again.

Jung Sang turned to look at me. “What?”

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“What?”

“Broke them apart like that.”

“They were kissing, so what?”

“Would you like it if you were kissing…” Once I realized what I was saying to him, I trailed off and quickly changed the subject. I lifted my head up to stare up at the sky. “Wow, a full moon.”

A full moon. So not good. The setting was too perfect.

The music from inside started to play, fitting perfectly with the romantic atmosphere. It was like in the movies. Everything about it was romantic. I stood there, awkwardly side-glancing at Jung Sang who had his eyes fixed on his injured arm.

Look up. Look up at me, you dummy!

As if reading my mind, he looked up and fixed his gaze on me. And then he inched closer with his one arm slowly gliding across my back. “Ji Won…”

His breath grazed gently across my cheeks as he turned me to face him.

“Yes?” I replied, staring directly into his handsome face, setting my eyes on his lips.

My heart fluttered in excitement. This was it. The moment I’ve anticipated for way too long. This was going to be Lee Ji Won’s first official kiss ever! Yes people, I’m telling the truth.

“Would you mind if---"

I didn’t even wait for him to finish asking me. “No, not at all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

He reached out to brush something off my ear. “You have frosting on your ear.”

The color in my cheeks immediately lost its color. My heart no longer fluttered. I was back to being disappointed and embarrassed again. I blurted out, “Why didn’t you just tell me? Why did you have to be so---"

He left brow rose. “Seductive?”

I quickly lowered my eyes without an answer.

“It’s fun teasing you,” he answered followed by chuckle. And then he sighed. “If you want me to kiss you, Ji Won. Just tell me.”

“Really?” I paused, “Wait---why should I have to tell you?”

“Like, I said. Just tell me.”

When I thought deeply into it, I realized what he meant. He wouldn’t hesitate to kiss me if I just told him to do it. Did that mean---he wanted to kiss me too? Ugh, I don’t like getting confused. And I was very confused at that moment.

I opened my mouth to speak, but then I stopped short, remaining indescisive.

“Is it so hard to tell me, Ji Won?”

“Yes. Yes it is.”

“That means you don’t really want me to kiss you.”

“I do---I meant---I don’t know.”

“Have you ever been kissed?”

“Yes,” I lied.

“Liar.”

“How do you---"

“Because then you would be the one initiating the kiss by now.”

“And how would I be doing that?”

He took hold of my hand and placed it around his neck. “You’d place your hand here. And then I’d have no choice but to,” he placed his hand around my waist, “place my hand like this. And then you’d be on your tiptoes and you’d tell me ‘Kiss me, Jung Sang.’” He puckered out his lips and closed his eyes.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his change of attitude. It was nice seeing the playful side of him. “You look retarded like that.”

He lowered his eyes momentarily before meeting my gaze again. “Did…did I tell you yet that uh…you look beautiful tonight?”

Gosh, could he make me feel anymore uncomfortable? “A compliment? Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself. You look good. I really like this new look on you.”

That made him smile. All I could say was that the smile was genuine. “To be honest, I’ve never smiled this much before, Ji Won. I don’t remember the last time I smiled this much.”

“What do you mean?”

“The last time I ever smiled this much was when my grandfather had handed me my first ping-pong racket.”

“Why? Do you hate to smile?”

He looked past me and answered, “I tried smiling for someone once. That person told me never to smile again because I’d only scare everyone off.”

I felt angry on his behalf. “Was it the same b*tch who called you ugly?”

He didn’t answer me; instead he drew me closer until my chin rested on his shoulder. “What if told you that I don’t want to pretend anymore? What if I told you that I want this to be real this time, Ji Won? What would your answer be?”

I knew what he meant. I understood it very well. I opened my mouth to answer him. “Yes. My answer would be yes.”

“PARK JUNG SANG! LET HER GO, YOU SON-OF-A-B*TCH!!”

Ah, yes. That stupid person just had to ruin it for us.