Chp.07| Butterfly Kenji is dead

“Tae Woo, what are you waiting for? This is drama class. You have to kiss her. It’s written in the script,” stated my fat drama teacher whom the students like to call ‘Fat Mama’.

She lets them call her that because she was told that ‘Fat Mama’ meant ‘Beautiful teacher’ in English.

Soo Jin closed her eyes and stood on her tiptoes readying for the kiss by puckering her lips out towards Tae Woo who stared down at her in revulsion.

The girls in the class were in the process of ripping their hair out because they thought themselves unlucky.

I sat in my chair, urging him on. “Yeah! Go for it. Prove to us girls how good of a kisser you are!”

Kim Tae Woo’s mouth twitched as if he wanted to curse me for saying that. He then concentrated on closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and leaned in towards Soo Jin.

He stopped suddenly when their lips were inches apart. “Sh*t,” he cursed.

Soo Jin eyes popped opened. “Sh*t?”

He turned away, cupping a hand over his nose. “Did you eat sh*t for breakfast? Your breath reeks.”

The entire class laughed at Soo Jin who covered her own mouth and turned away in embarrassment. She hung her head low, returned to her seat and said aloud, “I give up.”

The teacher stood up from her seat and roamed her eyes around the class. “Alright. Then we need a replacement.”

The girls all lifted their hands high in the air with eager anticipation. Some were even sitting up on their desk to try and get the teacher’s attention. “Me! Pick me!” they all shouted at once.

Soo Jin nudged me with her elbow. When I turned to meet her, she breathed in my face. “Does it really smell?”

I quickly covered my nose in reaction, moving my head back. Her breath smelled like sour milk. “Yah! What did you eat this morning. Did you even brush your teeth?”

Soo Jin pouted. “I did. I guess I should be going to see my dentist, huh?”

“Lee Ji Won. I pick you since you’re the only one who didn’t volunteer.”

I went rigid in my seat. What the hell was wrong with the teacher? Why couldn’t see that Lee Ji Won was not interested in kissing the cocky-son-of-a-b*tch?

Kim Tae Woo was already smirking at me when I looked at him.

“I don’t want to,” I said, looking away uninterested.

The girls in the class turned to glare at me.

Their hands suddenly went up in the air again. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

My teacher questioned me. “Why don’t you, Ji Won? You know this apart of drama class.”

I made a disgusted face before answering, “I don’t trust his mouth.”

Tae Woo looked at me offensively. “Yah! Say that again!”

I sat up straight. “You probably kissed over a thousand girls already. I don’t want that very same mouth kissing mine.”

"Stupid snot-face Lee Ji Won. Look at her. She thinks she’s better than everyone else.”

“She just insulted him.”

The guys in the class broke into laughter. “Ji Won. You can kiss me instead. My mouth is fresh and clean.”

“Yes, but it never shuts up,” I retorted without bothering to see who had said that because I knew where it came from.

Tae Woo’s friends were all annoying d*ckheads. I hated them. Only because they were the same guys who persisted to ask me out or try to my behind whenever I walk by them.

“Enough. Ji Won. Are you looking to meet with the principal or do you want me to beat you in front of the class,” my drama teacher said, walking over to where I sat.

Oh sh*t. The giant is angry.

I stood up and proclaimed, “I would rather be punished for it. If you want me to kiss him so bad, why don’t you do it yourself!”

My teacher’s face paled in reaction.

“Lee Ji Won!” Tae Woo shouted, growing angry.

“What?!” I burst.

“I won’t kiss you,” he stated.

“You won’t?”

“Not when you’re dating my best friend.”

Damn. Damn, because the entire school still thought us as a couple, including Kim Tae Woo. No one knew what happened the day before. They didn’t know that we ended our fake one-day-relationship.

Kim Tae Woo strode over to the back of the room where PingPongBoy had fallen asleep on his desk with his head buried in his folded arms. Tae Woo kicked at his friend’s desk. “Yah! Park Jung Sang, wake up, you bastard!”

Park Jung Sang lifted his head and yawned shamelessly, rubbing at his eyes, and mumbling, “I told you, Tae Woo. Wake me up when the damn class is over.”

“I’m leaving this sh*t class. You coming?”

If I didn’t know any better, I would think Kim Tae Woo’s ego was bruised because pretty Lee Ji Won refused to kiss him. To be more specific, I not only insulted him but I embarrassed him.

Let me just say, double damn.

I almost forgot that PingPongBoy was there too. He was so good at keeping quiet when he wanted to be. Yes, he was that unnoticeable.

Jung Sang bobbed his head nonchalantly and then got up from his desk, following Kim Tae Woo and two other guys out, ignoring the teacher’s protests.

One moment they were out the door and in the next, PingPongBoy stuck his head back inside and said, “I forgot something.”

He came back inside and strode directly to where I sat, pulled me by my shirt collar, half-dragging and half-carrying me out of class regardless of my kicks and screams.

__


We were standing outside.

Just the two of us.

Kim Tae Woo disappeared somewhere, saying that he would be back soon.

“What are you doing? I thought it was over between us?” I asked, breaking from his grip.

He didn’t look at me when he tucked his hands into his pockets and muttered, “It was over. But I thought really hard about it last night…it would be bad if you and I---it would be bad…” he paused, fumbling for the right words and finally said, “ it. We can’t break up yet.”

“Idiot.”

“What?!”

“I called you an idiot. There’s really nothing between us. What’s the point in pretending?”

“There is,” he argued.

“Like what?” I prodded.

He said nothing.

A smile slowly spread across my face as I said, “I get it. You’re starting to fall for me, huh?”

He snorted. “Keep dreaming.”

I shoved him playfully on the shoulder. “You really, really like me, huh?” I teased.

He eyed me up and down and said, “As of this moment, I really, really liked to twist that pretty head of yours off that stick-like figure. It’s much too big for your body to handle. Not to mention, empty.”

Wah! The nerve of him. Stick-like figure? Big empty head? How many more insults was I going to take from him?

“Psychotic b*tch!” I scoffed back, retreating backward in nervousness. I’ve always been the ‘curse-and-runaway’ type. I don’t like confrontations. But then again, you can’t blame me. Who knows what he was capable of? PingPongBoy frightened me in more ways than I thought. I forced myself not to picture the ghastly scene of him twisting my head off.

“Why are your eyes shut? Afraid to look at me?”

I opened them and saw that Kim Tae Woo and the others were approaching us, along with a few pretty girls who clung to him like glue.

“Let’s go drinking, Jung Sang. At my place. Parents are outta town.”

Park Jung Sang turned to meet his friend. “Not today. I have some stuff to do. And perhaps a few people to beat up.”

We all looked at him in curiosity. He spoke as if it was normal for him to beat up people.

“Some punks here messing with you?” Tae Woo asked.

“Yeah, they killed Butterfly Kenji.”

Confused. So very confused. Was Butterfly Kenji a name of a person?

My gosh, they were killing people now? Oh no. I think PingPongBoy might be involved in a gang.

This was really turning into something like them cliché stories.

“Did they?” Tae Woo beat his fist against his palm. “Those ers are gonna die!”

“Don’t bothering involving yourself, Tae Woo. I’ll take care of it myself.”

“Get them good, Jung Sang. Give them what they deserve,” Tae Woo said as he patted Jung Sang’s shoulder. “I’ll see you later. I’m sorry about Butterfly Kenji”

We watch them go off. At this point I was crying inside, hoping and praying that PingPongBoy wouldn’t be dragging me into his problems.

I slowly turned to look at him.

He looked back at me.

“Who…who is Butterfly Kenji? Someone close to you?” I inquired.

“I hate explaining things to slow people.”

“Tell me. I wanna know.”

“It’s a thing, not a person.”

“A thing called Butterfly Kenji?” Relief washed over me. “I thought Butterfly Kenji was an actual person who got killed.”

He just stared at me, giving me the ‘gosh-you’re-stupid?’ expression. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“To wait for Na-Na so that she doesn’t have to wait for us.”

I held him back by the arm. “Wait a moment. Isn’t it my duty to go and pick her up?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you going?”

“Because it’s my duty as her uncle to see that her baby-sitter is treating her right.”

“You think I’m going to mistreat her?”

“Aish. Why do you think I’m going along, you bird-brain.”


--


“They killed Butterfly Kenji? How sad,” Na-Na said, pouting her lips.

Why was everyone so upset when it came to this thing called Butterfly Kenji? I still didn’t know what it was. To be honest, I don’t think I really cared. Maybe just a tad-bit curious.

“I’ll make sure they pay for it.”

Na-Na beamed. “It’s always good to see you kicking some butts, Jung Sang.” She focused her attention back to me. “Lee Ji Won. You’re here too. Are you here as Jung Sang’s girlfriend or as my new babysitter?”

“Your babysitter.”

She looked from me to Jung Sang. “So you two really broke up?”

“No. No, we haven’t. We were just teasing…” Jung Sang said, elbowing me. “Right, Ji Won?”

“Whatever,” I replied, thinking as to why Jung Sang seem to be acting differently in front of Na-Na.

Na-Na came over to take my hand. “I cried last night.”

I looked down at her. “Why?”

“Because I miss my parents. Because they didn’t get to celebrate my birthday with me. I feel very lonely at times.”

I patted her head. Jung Sang suddenly swiped my hand aside. “Don’t do that to her. She’s not a damn dog.”

“I was her hair,” I defended myself.

“She’s my niece, not some dog where you can just pat on the head or every time you feel sorry for it.”

“I was just---"

He reached out and rubbed hard at my head, messing up my hair. “How would you feel if I patted your head---like that? You like that?“

That damn aggressive bastard. I wonder if he ever had a dog. If he did, then I pity it.

Pushing his hand away, I grabbed at Na-Na so that she would act as a leverage between us.

“Park Jung Sang. Shut your mouth,” Na-Na snapped.

“What?”

“Be quiet for once.”

I was surprised at how well he behaved whenever Na-Na was around.

I stuck my tongue at him.

His eyes widened in reaction. I bet he was just twitching to hurt me.

“Come, Na-Na. Let’s take you home,” I said, leading her away from her uncle.

“I don’t want to go home just yet. Can we go to the park?”

“Yes, we can. I love playing at the park,” I told her.

She smiled. “Cool. Let’s go.”

As she was leading me away, I craned my neck to see that PingPongBoy was following reluctantly behind, sliding a finger across his neck, conveying a silent death message for me.

“Na-Na. Let me ask you one question.”

“What is it?”

“Butterfly Kenji. What is it?”

Na-Na stopped walking. “Butterfly Kenji is Jung Sang’s favorite ping-pong racket. His grandfather gave it to him before he passed away. It was really important to him.” She lowered her eyes. “I feel bad for him. He must be suffering right now.”

I turned my head back to see that Jung Sang had his head lowered like he was in contemplation. And then he lifted his head as if he knew I was looking at him. “Na-Na. I’ll see you at home. I gotta jet.”

“Where are you going?”

He smiled mischievously in return. “To kick some .”

“Can we come to?”

I froze. My goodness. The two were becoming more and more strange. Judging by their interaction, they made me feel like I was some kind of alien. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend what was going on.

He scratched the back of his head in uncertainty. “Nah, it’ll be too violent for you.”

“I watch slasher flicks all the time. This will be no different.”

Slasher flicks? The kid was psychotic. Just like her uncle.

He chuckled in amusement.

There was something about the amusement in his face that made appear more innocent. I didn’t know he was capable of laughing. That got me wondering if he was only like this when he was around his niece.

“Alright. You can come.”

I held her back by her shoulder. “As her babysitter, I won’t allow it.”

“Ji Won, please. We can stand from afar and watch. We don’t have to go near. Please, please, please?”

I didn’t know what to say to her. “Na-Na…”

Before I could say anything more, Jung Sang had already taken his niece’s arm, leading her away.

The bastard was sneaky.

“Jung Sang. I want a piggy-back ride there,” she said.

Jung Sang squatted down, helped his niece onto his back and stood back up, half-turning toward me. “You coming or what?”

I nodded. “I’ve got no choice.”