Chp.25| Pretty Face


“There’s going to be a contest!”Soo Jin shouted in excitement, throwing an arm around my shoulder at lunchtime while I sat in the cafeteria.

“What contest?”

“The students will have a chance to vote for the prettiest Uhljjang(best face) in the school!”

I rolled my eyes, unperturbed by it. “Last year and the year before that, we had that. What’s going to change this year?”

I never truly understood these pointless contests. All it did was increase your popularity and make you go around thinking your better than anyone else. Worst of all, that stupid Kim Tae Woo keeps winning.

Soo Jin sat down beside me, snatching the orange from my tray. “Well the winners are going to organize this year’s school dance. They get to choose the theme.”

“That seems like a lot of work. Why are you telling me this for?”

She started peeling the orange. “Because your name is on the nomination list.”

I went rigid. “What?!”

“Yes. It says on the site. Your name is up there.”

“Who the hell put my name up there?” I asked, in spite of the unavoidable giddiness feeling inside. To be honest, I was more than flattered to be nominated.

The juice squirted into Soo Jin’s eye while she was peeling it. “Wah! My eyes!”

“Rub it.”

She rubbed at her eyes with the back of her arm. "That's why I hate peeling oranges," she complained.

“So back to the point,” I reminded her.

She went on peeling the orange again. “These judges unanimously vote for those who are qualified in the school. These judges are said to be past winners who have to keep their names unidentified. I heard Kim Kyung Rok oppa is one of the judges this year. Anyway, guess who else made the list as one of the top uhljjangs?”

I started to feel the butterflies in my stomach when I said, “Err…my cousin Yoon Tae?”

“What? That Yoon Tae oppa? No one in the school knows he exists except for the girls.”

“Who then?”

Soo Jin’s brows rose. “Your loveable PingPongBoy of course.”

“Park Jung Sang made it?!” I asked in shock. What would Park Jung Sang do once he found out? I know. Most likely, he'll track down the judges one by one and beat the living sh*t out of them.

“Of course he did. Ever since you erased his darkness and made him come into limelight, everyone has been noticing how good-looking he is.”

“Those stupid dummies. All they see is looks.”

“And ever since he’s dating you, everyone has been saying how stupid he is.”

I felt insulted, but I didn’t really care.

“So he’s up against that Kim Tae Woo?”

“Why don’t you call him Tae Woo oppa like everyone else? It’s only right.”

“He’s not my oppa.”

“He’s not mine and I still call him that.”

“You call every guy oppa, even if the guy is younger than you,” I argued.

“Oh yeah. You’re dating Jung Sang oppa and you don’t even call him oppa,” she countered in return.

Soo Jin was never good at arguing.

“Why are you defending Tae Woo?”

“Because...I have a crush on him.”

I poked at her forehead. “Yah! You’re just like all of them stupid girls. I’ve always thought you’d see him the same way as I do. That he’s an arrogant er.”

She raised her half-peeled orange as if she was ready to strike at me with it. “Shut up. You’re just angry because you haven’t been kissed!”

This was the best counter strike Soo Jin has ever used against me.

She said that loud enough to catch the attention of the girls sitting near us.

I would have reached out to smack those cheeks of hers, but I held myself back and decided to step on her toes instead.

The next thing I knew, Yoon Tae showed up beside me, sitting on the table. He had a habit of not sitting on the chairs. He thought it made him look cooler if he sat on the table. This guy wanted to look hot in everything that he does. “You haven’t been kissed yet, Ji Won?”

But then again, Yoon Tae always had a habit of sticking his nose into people’s business too.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him.

“We need to talk.”

I glanced around to see the sneering curious eyes of some of the girls who sat around us. “Now?”

“Yes, but not here.”

“Then where?”

Before he could answer me, an orange struck him in the face and dropped to the floor with a weird plopping sound. For a moment, Yoon Tae just sat there with his eyes closed while slowly wiping away the juice that stained his face. Then he stood up abruptly and shouted, “YAH!! WHO THE JUST THREW THAT?!”

I turned back, thinking it was Soo Jin. But it wasn’t.

Soo Jin who was being pushed around by the girls who had sat near us. She was holding on a piece of paper behind her.

“Yah! Chubby-face, who told you to insult us?” The tall girl with the ponytail shouted.

“You insulted my friend first!”

Poor Soo Jin. She had to be defending me that was why she was being pushed around. I strode up to them and put myself bravely in front of Soo Jin. “What is going on?”

The girl with ponytail raised her eyes to look at me. “None of your business, b*tch.”

Aigoo! Like I’ve mentioned before, I hated to be called a b*tch. Especially coming from someone who looked like she could stomp on me. I recognized her immediately. She was also one of the tough girls in school.

Soo Jin held out the paper in front of my face. “They printed this from the site and drew over your face and then they changed your profile. Look at what it says under your future goal.”

To as many guys as I can.

Yoon Tae was suddenly beside me, looking down at the paper. “Sh*t, Ji Won. These girls crossed the line.”

I felt my face burn with embarrassment and anger. I bunched the paper up and tossed it at the girl’s face. “Are you looking for trouble?”

All the students had already gathered in a circle around us. They were probably more excited to see the tough girl beat the sh*t out of pretty Lee Ji Won.

She shoved me roughly on the shoulder. “Are you looking for a fight?”

Yoon Tae wanted to intervene when I held him back. I gave him one look and he understood what it meant.

“Are you jealous?” I asked the girl.

“Of what? You being a ? Why would I be jealous over that?”

Most of the girls laughed at her remark.

I felt embarrassed. Any girl would have felt that way if they were being laughed at. “I’m not looking for a fight. I don’t like fighting and I don’t know how to fight. I don’t like sh*t talking nor do I like going around and picking on anyone. Sure, perhaps I do find myself pretty, but I don’t go around thinking I’m better than anyone else. Let me ask you something, how can I be a if I’ve never been kissed?”

“She’s right.” Someone agreed out of nowhere.

The crowd slowly made way for Kim Tae Woo who came towards us. That bastard always knew how to make an entrance. “Every guy knows that they never had a chance with Lee Ji Won. Including myself. So how does that make her a ?”

I had to give him some credit for that.

I felt my cousin slip his hand into mine and said, “Let’s go.”

However, the voice didn’t belong to my cousin and the grip on my hand was way too familiar to be coming from my cousin. When I looked up, all I saw was the back of Jung Sang’s head.

My heart flutters whenever Jung Sang shows up unexpectedly and takes my arm to lead me away.

Next thing I knew, we were standing inside the library between the bookcases. I said to him, “Let go of my arm, Jung Sang. You’re holding on too tight.”

He spun around to face me with an angry expression. “You like that sort of attention, don’t you?”

“What attention?”

“You like it when people talk about you.”

I managed to free my arm. “I don’t. I was defending myself and helping Soo Jin. What’s your problem anyway?”

“Don’t eat in the cafeteria anymore,” he told me. “I don’t like those people.”

“Where should I eat then?”

“Anywhere but there.”

“Where do you eat?”

It was a stupid question to ask Jung Sang. During the lunch hours, Jung Sang went off on his own. I never bother to question him, but seeing that he was supposed to be spending time with me, I had to ask.

“I don’t eat lunch.”

“But where do you go?”

“I go where I want to go.”

“Can I come along with you then?”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

He didn’t answer me.

“Fine. I’ll go eat in the cafeteria then.”

“If you know what’s good for you, you better not go eat in there,” he warned.

“You go wherever you want to. Why can’t I?”

He nearly snorted when he mumbled, “I guess you like being called a .”

“Jung Sang. Don’t make me bite your arm again.”

“Whatever.”

I took his arm and he retreated a step back as if he was afraid I’d bite him for real. That gesture made me laugh. I had to cover my mouth so that I wouldn’t disturb anyone else around us. “You’re such an idiot sometimes. I guess my biting does hurt you.” Glancing down, I took notice of the teeth marks that still hadn’t faded. “Poor arm. I should stop doing that, huh?”

“Quit getting angry then.”

“Stop making me angry.”

“I have no control over your feelings.”

I sighed. “And I have no control over mine.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes I really really want to hurt you. And other times, I really really want to hug you. And most of the times I really really want to kiss you but I can’t because I really really want you to kiss me. So yeah, that’s why I’m always really really angry with you.”

He looked down at me and his lips broke into a smile. “I feel the same way about you.”

My eyes widened in reaction.

He took my arm and drew me closer until our faces were inches apart. “I’m going to kiss you, Ji Won.”

KISS ME DAMMIT!!! I wanted to shout out.

He leaned in.

I leaned back.

Something occurred to me. Call me nervous, but this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. “But---aren’t we supposed to just---feel it in the moment and kiss? I mean---to have you tell me that you’re going to kiss me. It’s just weird, Jung Sang.”

He laughed in my face.

I tried to get him to lower his voice, but he continued to laugh out loud.

Someone showed up.

Lee Ji Hoon stood there looking at us. There was this awkward tension in the air. However there was something wrong with Ji Hoon that day. He had a black eye. That made me curious. “Oh. It’s you two.”

Park Jung Sang hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “Yes, it’s us.”

“Just try to keep quiet,” he said, turning back around to walk in a different direction when Jung Sang stopped him with a question.

“How did you get that black eye, Ji Hoon?”

“Some assh0le thought I was trying to hit on his girlfriend, that’s why.” With that he walked away.

Instantly, I knew who had given Ji Hoon that black eye.

I looked at Jung Sang accusingly. “You brought me here to see that, didn’t you? You wanted me to see what you did to Ji Hoon.”

Jung Sang began to walk away. “No. I didn’t. It was just a coincidence…I guess.”

“Park Jung Sang! Don’t you dare walk away from me!”

“Just you try and stop me.”

I pulled on his arm. “Come here. We need to talk first. Please,” I begged.

Surprisingly, he agreed.

Once we were back to our little corner. I took a deep breath and looked straight into his eyes. “I want to kiss you. So let me kiss you, Jung Sang.”

His left brow rose in question. “You’re being weird.”

“I do. I really do. If I don’t do it now, I don’t think I ever will and I don’t think you ever will.”

He smiled in amusement. “Okay. Kiss me.”

I took another deep breath, forcing myself to do it. “Close your eyes first. You’re making me nervous.”

He complied.

Here it goes. I had to tiptoe to reach his level. And then I leaned in slowly and pressed my lips against his. Immediately I felt his arm go around me, pulling me against him. He kissed me back. I was lost in the moment. To be honest, I was completely lost in that kiss. It was everything I thought it would be and more. So much more.

Lee Ji Won. You lucky b*tch!

However, the real reason why I wanted to kiss him wasn’t because I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to get back at him for what he did to Lee Ji Hoon.

So in the moment of our kiss, I bit him.

I bit Park Jung Sang’s lips.

He pulled back in pain, touching his bleeding lip. “Ji Won…”

“Too bad I was angry while kissing you, Jung Sang. Otherwise it would have been nice, wouldn’t it?” With that, I turned my back on him and walked away.

“Yah! Lee Ji Won. You come back here!”