Chp. 05| Meet Ahn Na-Na(Ice-cream addict)


“Park Jung Sang. You are late as always, you ugly teddy bear!!!”

Oh my.

Just looking at her, I wanted to reach out and pinch her chubby cheeks until she bled. Spoil little brat had a face of an angel. She looked no older than nine. She was seated on the swing, glowering at Jung Sang and avoiding any possible eye contact with me.

“Aish! Na-Na don’t call me that in front of other people,” PingPongBoy said as he went over to help carry her bag. I watched in silent as he knelt down in front of her and said, “You wanted to meet her, right? That’s her behind me," I heard him whisper.

What? Do I sense embarrassment from the shameless PingPongBoy?

“Her?” Na-Na pointed out without sparing a glance in my direction.

He dragged me all the way here so I could meet with his angelic little snot of a sister? I had to pretend to be his girlfriend for what? For this little girl?

Aiiie!!! Ji Won, what ever happened to your normal life?

Slowly and hesitantly she lifted her eyes to look over Jung Sang’s shoulder and settled them onto me. I suddenly felt self-conscious. I never had anyone looked so coldly at me before.

Wahhhh! Her eyes were scarier than Sadako from The Ring.

A sneer suddenly crossed her face. “She’s ugly,” she stated meekly.

Shocked, stunned, humiliated and insulted at the same time, I couldn’t speak. My hands spoke for me as I pointed at her, with widened eyes.

Park Jung Sang burst into a fit of laughter and then managed to calm himself down when he realized that the little snot was still glowering at him. He cleared his throat and asked, “Why is she ugly to you?”

The little girl answered, “Because she’s too pretty.”

What? I did not understand why she had said that. I was getting confused by the second. First she called me ugly and now she was saying that I was pretty? Could it be that the little girl had a split personality?

Jung Sang ruffled her hair playfully. “You can’t be ugly and pretty at the same time, Na-Na.”

“Yes, you can. Just take a look at yourself, Jung Sang. You can be pretty but you always hide yourself behind your ugly personality.”

That got Jung Sang angry. He stood up, dropped her backpack, retorting, “Yah! Why are you calling me pretty? I’m not a fagg0t!”

PUHAAHHAHAHA!! FAGG0T!!

They both turned to glower at me. That’s when I realized I had laughed out loud. I cleared my throat and quickly lowered my eyes in embarrassment.

“This is what I mean by ugly personality. You don’t know how to control your anger,” the little girl said as she got off the swing and picked up her backpack, dusting the dirt from it.

My goodness. Why does she behave like she was a twenty-year old woman? And my goodness, I found myself growing fond of her because she was daring enough to go against PingPongBoy. Although it did make me curious in why she hadn’t called him ‘oppa’.

She then approached me with a smile on her face. She had one of those banana-eyes smile and her dimples shown through her cheeks. “Are you really his girlfriend, or are you just someone he dragged over here to try and impress me?”

“Uh…to be honest…” I looked at PingPongBoy who nodded, urging me to answer her. I forced a smile on my face and said, “No. I’m not his girlfriend. Yes, he did force me. I never really agreed to it either. I didn’t really have a choice and---"

She sighed, interrupting me. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I understand. Park Jung Sang will never find a girlfriend. All because of his ugliness.”

“She is my girlfriend!!” Jung Sang argued.

“No. I’m not!”

He glared murderously at me. “What the is wrong with you?!”

“What the is wrong with you?!” I countered. “Why would you lie to a little girl? Look at her sweet innocent-pinchable face!”

“Are you in’ cheating on me, is that why you’re denying it now?” he exploded.

My goodness. Much props to his disconcerting dramatic act. If he continued to lie like this, I just might start believing him too. “Cheating on you? How can I cheat on you when we were never together in the first place, you in’ retard!!”

“Don’t swear in front of her!!”

“You started it, you bastard!!”

“I’m allowed. You’re not. And if you ever call me a bastard again, I’ll slap you until you’re ugly!”

“Abusive bastard!”

He snorted, unable to come up with anything else.

I win.

I looked at Na-Na to discover she had disappeared.

My gaze met with Jung Sang. He pointed an accusing finger at me. “If something happens to her, you’ll die.”


---


“It’s all your damn fault!” I shouted at him. “Why didn’t you tell me, you were babysitting her? Gosh, and I thought she was your sister,” I scolded him down the street.

For the past ten minutes, Jung Sang was looking through the glass windows of some random shops and restaurants, hoping too find his niece.

He turned back to me and said, “You didn’t ask. I didn’t tell. You only asked where I was taking you and that's the only thing I wouldn't tell you.”

He was right. If I had inquired about it earlier, he might have told me. However, I have come to discover a few interesting tidbits regarding his character. Park Jung Sang’s part-time job was to baby-sit his niece. He had a priority to drop her off and pick her up after school.

“Can I ask you something else?”

He shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“Why did she call me ugly?”

“She uses that term with everyone. If she sense some kind of flaw in your personality, she calls you ugly.”

“But I didn’t say anything. Why did she call me ugly?”

“Behaving like a stuck-up snob without introducing yourself. That makes you ugly to her.”

I don’t think I’ll ever come to understand PingPongBoy or anybody else who’s related to him.

“Ugh, it’s so hot. How long are we going to look for her? She’s your niece right? I have nothing to do with this. I can go home, right?”

For a moment his brows creased in confusion and then it was quickly replaced with his usual irritated expression. “Yah! Who told you to follow me anyway? Leave for all I care. It’s over between us. I’ve realized now that you’re just some dumb b*tch like all of them self-centered b*tches out there.”

If there was one person who was good at insulting me in front of my face and making me cry, that person had to be PingPongBoy. He just called me a dumb b*tch. How come it hurt more, knowing that he might be right about the selfish part. Was I that self-centered? And what the hell, did I hear him right? Over between us?!

“Why the are you crying for. Sh*t, you’re such an embarrassment, go away before they really start to think we’re together!” he said, shoving me aside as if he had said nothing wrong.

I quickly wiped at my eyes. “I am nothing like them!”

“The why the are you crying for then?” he asked, taking a step toward me. I took a step back. “What? You think I’m gonna wipe your eyes for you and apologize? Sorry to disappoint you, I’m not Prince Charming and I never will be. Now get lost.”

“I said I am nothing like them because I will go searching for Na-Na. And I’m not doing this for your retarded . I’m doing this to prove to you that I’m not a self-centered b*tch you say I am. Now, tell me, what does Na-Na loves most?”


---

“I got bored listening to the two of you argue, that’s why I left,” Na-Na said, spooning the creamy strawberry ice cream into her small mouth.

My stomach growled loudly at the sight of it. They both looked at me.

“Jung Sang, why don’t you buy her some?” Na-Na said. “I don’t like sharing.”

I still had to get used to the fact that Na-Na didn’t like using the courtesy terms with her elders, of course, with the exception of her parents.

This young girl behaved like ‘walking away and disappearing’ was no big deal to her. I more surprised to see that PingPongBoy had kept quiet when he saw her. I expected him to throw a fit and tossed her around like some rag doll but I was wrong.

Now he was just sitting there, tapping his index finger against the table with his mind drifting off into la-la land. “Why should I?”

Stupid bastard. If only he knew I loved ice cream too. I would have bought myself some but being broke doesn’t help at all.

“Isn’t she supposed to be your girlfriend?”

“Not anymore. She cheated on me,” he answered without lifting his eyes from the table.

“Did you really?” Na-Na inquired.

I’ll play along with your game. You just watch, Jung Sang. “No. How can I cheat on such a loveable boyfriend?” I said in a sarcastic tone. “I get scared just lookin’ at other guys, especially when I know my boyfriend will come after me with a chainsaw and cut me into a thousand pieces and make stew out of me and then chew on me with his mouth wide opened and then spit me back out and let the vultures have their way with me.”

Na-Na frowned at me. “I don’t get it. Are you being sarcastic? You two are a strange couple.” She resumed to eating her ice cream.

Jung Sang shifted in his seat and said, “Look here, Na-Na. It’s time to go home.”

“I don’t want to go!”

“Why not?”

“Because today is my birthday and I want to eat all the ice-cream I can.”

“What? Today is your birthday and this is how your uncle treats you?!”

Na-Na pouted. “See, I told you he’s ugly.”

“No cake? Or presents? No candles?!” I burst, glaring at Jung Sang. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

He sat there unmoved.

“I don’t like cakes. I like ice cream. Jung Sang’s present to me is meeting you. Candles? Who needs candles on ice cream?” Na-Na interjected as if she wanted to defend Jung Sang.

Ah, so the reason why PingPongBoy was in desperate need of a girlfriend was because of his niece. But why would his niece want that of him? Too many damn questions.

I would say that it was sweet of him, but then I’d be liking him and I don’t like him. Or do I?

Wahhh!!! What is happening to me?!!!