September 25, 2008
 

The following month consisted of the same schedule: in the mornings Daehyun would be tutored ruthlessly by Ji Eun's straightforwardness with each equation taught. After school Daehyun would try to be the strong gentleman other girls see him as and walk Ji Eun home--only whenever he tried to protect her, she would always end up defending herself, leaving a dare he say flabbergasted Daehyun walking behind. Every Wednesday would he come along with her to buy groceries, and he would try to help carry a couple, but the bags really were much heavier than they seemed.

And every day, during lunch as he promised, Daehyun would treat Ji Eun to a meal, making her eat more than just the bare minimum and even forcing to spoon-feed her if he had to. But little did he know that after each and every meal the two had with each other, more girls began to notice and more girls began to tell other girls and more rumors began to spread.

After another day of Ji Eun being harassed by another man, and her using her own strength and power to protect herself, Daehyun truly began to sulk. He just wished Ji Eun would let him help her from time to time. Or maybe Ji Eun did let Daehyun protect her, but he was just too weak to even make a difference. Yes, that was probably it and understandable, really.

Ji Eun was stronger than anyone he had ever met afterall.

Taemin noticed a change in Daehyun's attitude the day after. He wasn't the same cocky bastard he always knew him to be. And Taemin wanted answers.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or are you just going to keep being a whiny little brat and sulk away in that seat of yours?" Taemin asked, the first to notice anything wrong with the guy.

Daehyun lifted his head up and moved his body back into a proper position.

"Don't make fun of me, okay?"

"I promise."

Then Daehyun finally started to let it out, and pretty soon, just a simple answer became a full-time rant, and Taemin was overwhelmed by the new sudden information. But then it all connected, and pretty soon after that, Taemin made full logic out of the situation even though it took Daehyun months and he still couldn't quite figure it out.

He chuckled. "It seems to me that you have a little crush on Pigtails."

Daehyun's eyes dilated at his friend's outrageous conclusion. 

"Pft," he began to laugh with the small bit of laughter turning into a fit of stomach-turned guffawing. "Taemin, I know you're not the brightest fish in the sea, but you're seriously killing me right now. Do you really think I'd be even slightly interested in such a plain girl like her? Really?"

Taemin slapped Daehyun's back after realizing the fact that he was calling him stupid. When he calmed down, all he did was shrug his shoulders.

"Well then you tell me Daehyun! Why are you spending so much time on a girl who's as "plain" as you say she is?"

The man went back into his slump and laid his head down back on his desk. After all, Taemin was right. Why would he spend so much time on Ji Eun when there wasn't even such a convincing reason to in the first place?

Daehyun began, "I don't know if this makes sense or not, but I have this feeling of wanting to conquer her. Of wanting to win her over. In the past, I've always been pursued by girls. By every girl in this school, and in middle school, and in elementary. Hell, ever since the day I was born, even the nurses were all over me! But Ji Eun. She won't even turn her head towards my direction! She won't even look my way and it just irritates me so much."

"So," Taemin said more as a fact than an actual question, "You're saying you like her?"

"No you damn idiot! I swear to God, it's like you weren't even listening to me. I said I want to win her over, and that's all there is to it. Afterwards, I'll just throw her to the side once I finally get what I want."

And again, Taemin just shrugged. It was obvious that he didn't believe anything his friend was saying, and the both of them knew it as a fact.

"Riiiiiiight," he said.

The following days seemed like Daehyun had been haunted by the question: did he like Ji Eun? He knew for a fact that the answer was definitely a no, but there was a horrible, sick feeling in his gut that kept him from thinking that that wasn't just the case, and that maybe there was more to it than he originally thought.

To make things worse, he was asked a similar question by an classmate many boys sought after and one that girls wished they could be. Her name Chae Won. Kang Chae Won. She wasn't the usual popular girl; she was actually nice, as you could say. She didn't come from a rich family like Daehyun's, but her father was  the owner of a small bakery that was well-known in her neighborhood. And of course, was she pretty. Very pretty. Beautiful, even.

And she was, one could say, a representative of the girls. If they had to choose any girl who was suitable in dating Daehyun, they would choose her in a heartbeat.

"About you and Lee Ji Eun: are the rumors true?"

Daehyun cocked his head to the side. He couldn't quite understand what Chae Won was trying to get at here.

"Me and Ji Eun. Rumors? What rumors?" He basically repeated the same question she just asked.

"That you're dating! An item, if you must."

Daehyun brought his hands up to face level and desperately waved them side to side as a no. He couldn't believe that others would think of them as a pair, and to think that it would even become a rumor at this point. The expression on his face was just uncomprehendable.

"Listen, Chae Won," he meaningfully looked into her eyes as if in search for some type of answer, "How can you possible come up with such an absurd answer?"

Chae Won turned her head to the side and blushed, wondering if her question really was that crazy.

"You two are just always together nowadays! And you always buy her lunch. You never treat any of the other girls this way." She began to sulk.

It struck Daehyun that the girl was right in some sorts. He really did treat Ji Eun better than the other girls in school, and he should've been more careful about it. But since the rumors already got this far, there was no point in helping it. 

So he told Chae Won every single thought that could possible come to mind when thinking about Ji Eun.

"Tell all of your friends not to worry, okay?" He smiled a very convincing smile on his part. "Me And Ji Eun are just impossible, impossible I tell ya'. She's not a girl, or matter of fact, not even human! Well biologically, she is, but at the same time, she isn't. Does that make sense? I've never pictured her as a girl in my mind. I mean, I don't think I can ever picture someone who can lift twelve kilograms of rice with one hand and can seriously beat the crap out of a man trying to harass her as a girl. So as I said earlier, there is no need to worry about such a trivial thing."

Chae Won's face had immediately lightened up at every single word that flew out of Daehyun's mouth. Her eyes had creased into a charming smile, although Daehyun took note of how quickly her expression changed. If she really was as nice as the rumors had said about her, she would've stuck up for Ji Eun, even if she was a sort of "rival".

'A fake,' Daehyun thought, 'That's what she is.'

But he had to admit that she was cute. The type that he should really be going for if he must. A real girl.

After his talk with Chae Won, Daehyun ran his way back to the front gates where Ji Eun was waiting for him to arrive. She too became used to the two of them walking home together. It just became a usual thing, and she didn't really have anything to complain about. It was actually nice walking home with Daehyun, having someone to talk to, really.

It took a few minutes, but Ji Eun finally noticed eyes bearing into her skin from behind her.

"Please stop staring at me," she said, though it sounded more like an order.

Daehyun took note of her expressionless eyes. Though her voice sounded different, her eyes were still the same, and that's what really mattered. It was always the same, and Daehyun wondered if it was because of him. If he could make her react with one expression only, and if he really was that boring. Then he ruffled his hair in frustration, massaging his temples as he started to feel a migrain coming.

"Anyways, Mom's birthday is coming." With that sentence, her eyes softened and he noticed how her cheeks grew all rosy with admiration.

Whenever she talked about her mom, she always looked this way. More approachable to others, and he was glad that he was the only one who's ever seen this side of her, as selfish as it sounded.

Daehyun noticed Ji Eun's bag rumbling and the faint sound of a phone ringing. He reminded her to pick it up before the call ended. Ji Eun flipped her phone and eyed at the caller ID. It was her aunt, and it confused her because her aunt never really took the time to ever talk with her on the phone.

"Hello?" she asked.

She nodded her head slowly after each passing second, and Daehyun could see the way her each response was so forcefully said, the way her eyes were undoubtedly larger than usual, the way was agape, and the way her legs wobbled, strained, and seemed as though they could snap in two at any second.

"Ji Eun?" he called out her name carefully after she hung up on the phone. He was prepared for anything.

"My mom... She's in the hospital."

But he wasn't prepared for this.

I think it's safe to say that Daehyun's developed a lot through the story, and he still cannot get his feelings straight.

Which . But here's another chapter! I hope you all enjoy it. :)