The sun burst in through the wooden panes in his bedroom window and hit him right in the face, forcing him to turn to the other side. He began running through his mental list of excuses, that he constantly added to, to not go to school in the mornings even though he knew his father would push him out of bed and make him go in his pajamas if he had to. With that thought in mind, he forced himself out of his bed cover cocoon, and up to his feet stretching his arms over his head as he yawned. With his eyes half open he shuffled into the bathroom holding his towel and toothbrush and yawning as he walked. In his dull state he almost tripped getting in and out of the bathtub, and almost poked out his eye when he was going to brush his teeth.
What idiots invented school? he thought to himself as he turned to the mirror.
His reflection was somehow unpleasant today, perhaps because the thought of school was casting a dark cloud over his outlook. He normally admired his looks. He wasn’t vain about it; he thought he was pretty average; he just admired how much he looked like his late mother. He had her hair, her eyes and her smile. His father would often jokingly state how he would never need to look at his wife’s pictures when he could just look at his son in the morning. As if he was worth looking at in the morning! His hair was still a mess, looking as if he had spent all night wrestling with a brush and lost, and his eyes were still puffy and tired looking. Maybe he could get away with that “too sick for school” excuse after all. Just then his father poked his head in and said: “Hurry up or I’m leaving without you!”
Oh well, so much for that excuse. He hurriedly ran his comb through his hair a few times, rushed to his room to put on his uniform and grabbed his knapsack while pushing his feet into his shoes.
“I’m leaving!” yelled his father from the front door.
“I’m coming, I’m coming” his son said as he rushed out to him “Okay I’m here, let’s go” he said.
His father put an arm around his son and grinned. “If you don’t learn to wake up on time, you’ll have trouble keeping a job one day”
“If I get a job” his son replied “I don’t think anyone will hire me, with my personality”
His father turned the key in the lock, and then turned it again, and again. He cursed under his breath and muttered to himself that he should get a new lock, something he always said whenever the lock refused to co-operate with him but he never actually changed it. As if he ever remembered to, unless he was trying to open it or close it. And anyway, he couldn’t afford it with everything they were already paying for including their run down, fourth floor apartment in the worst part of town to catch a bus to school (and with time already running short he was definitely going to be late for school again). His father grunted as he turned the lock again and this time it turned fully around but the key refused to come back out. The son laughed at his father’s predicament and his father threw him a scowl then laughed as well.
“Perhaps you should leave me here or else you’ll never get to school” he said to his son.
“No no. I can stay”
“Go. Now”
He rolled his eyes and blew out sharply. “Fine I’ll go. But only because you said so”
He saddled his bag and headed downstairs, thinking to himself how long it would take for his father to leave and then he could sneak back inside and go back to sleep. Maybe he could go to the arcade. But he was in uniform so he had to get his change of clothes from school. Crap. Maybe math class wouldn’t be so bad today (and maybe he could sleep through it without his teacher knowing).

“Jangil –ah!” the knock at the door became louder “Jangil-ah!”
Jang-il fixed his tie properly and pushed it into his sweater vest. He looked himself over in the mirror; to be sure he was perfect enough to open the door. The door banged again.
“Jangil-ah!” called the voice again.
With a final hair touch-up, he turned away from the glass and went calmly to the door and opened it. His mother looked him over from head to foot then nodded approvingly.
“Perfect” she said then kissed him on the forehead “Now come along the car is ready” she said. He smiled at her then scowled when she turned away and wiped her kiss from his forehead. His sister passed him by in the hallway, shaking her head.
“Go away Ji-soo” he said bluntly and went back into his room for his pack. Next to it was his drawing pad, half empty due to the lack of drive and inspiration that had once been all too accessible and had filled his room with so many papers that his mother took the initiative to clear them out and ‘clean’ his work space. To help him feel better about losing his beloved art she explained that they weren’t very valuable anyway and drawing was just a recreational activity he could do anytime he wanted. Inspiration seemingly had nothing to do with it.
“Would you rather be a poor, starving artist on the street with no steady job or self-respect?” she asked. He said nothing because with her she always had the last word and she was always right.
Jang-il took up his pack, looking away from the pad, and solemnly walked out to meet his mother at the base of the grand staircase where she was closing the band on her new gold watch. She had just gotten it from his father who was still abroad and she couldn’t wait to show it off to her co-workers at the head office. He hated all this show of vanity and sometimes wished he could be a poor, starving artist on the street. At least then he could be happy at last.
“Ji-soo! Aren’t you ready?” his mother yelled up the stairs.
“Coming mother!” Ji-soo yelled on her way down. She had done a last minute makeup check in the mirror before running downstairs, but in her haste she hadn’t finished buttoning her jacket and her mother threw her a disapproving glare. Before she could chew out her youngest however Jang-il spoke up and reminded his mother that time was running out and he couldn’t be late for his math class as they were moving on to a new topic today. She conceded and ushered her children out to the expensive European car idling in the driveway that his classmates ogled at whenever he came to school. To Jang-il it was a prisoner transport vehicle taking him to from one prison to the next every day over and over again for as long as he lived with his family. If only people knew that cushy leather seating and a whisper quiet interior didn’t make it any better than a jail car, only a more comfortable one.
As the car pulled up to the school building Jang-il’s mother smoothed down his hair and gave him one last check before he could open the door. He wanted to shrug her off but she was his mother so what could he do but take it? His sister couldn’t help but chuckle at him and jeered under her breath: “momma’s boy”. He couldn’t get outside fast enough, but just as he began to walk away his mother called out to him: “Jang-il-ah”.
With a sigh, he turned around and saw her smile pleasantly at him then she blew him a kiss. “I love you” she said. He smiled back at her, he couldn’t help it. True she was overbearing, but she meant well and no matter what she would always be his mother and she would always love him.
“Mamma’s boy” Ji-soo coughed out as she came up to him.
Jang-il turned away from the car, his expression hardening again. “Shut-up Ji-soo” he said as he walked off to his class.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Class had already started thirty minutes ago and at his current pace it may as well had passed for the next thirty. He didn’t care. But he came to the door eventually and slid it open, much to the annoyance of the teacher who developed a hatred for him over the past month and had sent him to the office so often he became tired of doing it.
“Sun-woo. You’re late again” the teacher growled.
Sun-woo gave a small bow and went to his seat, half expecting the teacher to call him to the front, but instead the teacher turned back to his blackboard and continued to teach the class. Sun-woo didn’t bother to take out his notebook, he just sat back and listened hoping his teacher’s droning would put him back to sleep. As he looked around, he spotted a white paper next to him. Jang-il held it just under his desk and Sun-woo grabbed it before the teacher could see it.
You’re late.
Sun-woo laughed to himself and wrote a note back to him.
I know.
Jang-il glanced at him, smiling and Sun-woo smiled back at him. It was hard to believe they weren’t friends before this year. In fact, they had been every class for the past three years ever since Sun-woo first moved here and they barely knew that the other existed before the year began.
When class was over, Jang-il waited for Sun-woo outside the classroom while the spoke to him about his tardiness, again. Sun-woo came out and Jang-il asked: “Well?”
Sun-woo shrugged “It’s no big deal. I have to do some extra work, but no problem” he said then put an arm around his friend “So how about we hit the arcade?”
“What?” Jang-il’s eyes widened.
“You heard me. C’mon you’ve been working hard all month; you need a break” Sun-woo said “So how about it?”
Jang-il looked down at the ground and dug at the earth with his sneaker. He couldn’t leave. What if his teachers reported him? What if his mother found out?
“I can’t” he said “But you go on ahead. I’ll see you later”
Sun-woo jabbed his friend in the ribs “C’mon it’ll be fun!” he said.
Jang-il shook his head, still looking at the ground. “Sorry, I can’t. I – I have my violin lessons today remember? I need more practice” he added hastily.
Sun-woo was disappointed but shrugged. “Arasso. But tomorrow we need to hang out, get some soju, pick up some girls…” he said then Jang-il looked at him as if he were crazy, at which Sun-woo laughed “You know I’m just kidding! Your mom would throw a fit if she smelt alcohol on you. But we can still find a girl for you”
Jang-il burst out laughing and Sun-woo laughed with him as they walked down the hall to the recreational room where Sun-woo kept his duffel bag with his spare clothes. Sun-woo never used to leave school in fact he was a straight A student before this year. But he began thinking lately how little good a high school education would do him if he was going to end up in a minimum wage low class job anyway. And the odds of him getting a college scholarship were very slim.
Jang-il glanced at his watch. “I have to get to class” he said “I’ll come over after class ok? Anneyong”
“Anneyong”
Jang-il left his friend and walked on to his next class, feeling a bit sad at not being able to go with him. Just another personal sacrifice he had to make to please his mother (and boy was he regretting it). Sun-woo changed in the bathroom and snuck off the grounds, hurrying to the bus stop. He wished Jang-il had come with him; it wouldn’t be as fun without him even if he was a little bit of a killjoy, but it wasn’t his fault. He was a sheltered child and it was completely obvious, especially to the school bullies. But Sun-woo had promised to protect him because after all he was his only friend.