“I’m going to the park with my mommy! Going to the park with my mommy!” the little boy chanted excitedly.

The boy couldn’t be happier at the thought of strolling in the park with his mom. His mother is a workaholic and barely spends time with him that’s why he was all smiles when his mother finally agreed to go to the park with him.

The woman, who was driving, looked through the rearview mirror and chuckled at the sight of her son’s bouncing figure at the back seat.

The boy undid his seatbelt and started jumping up and down on the seat. His mother’s eyes widen as she saw this.

“What are you doing? Sit down! Put your seatbelt back on!” his mom demanded. Although it her voice was stern, it still sounded worried.

The boy sat back down and frowned, “I’m sorry, mom. I’m just excited.”

She sighed. As soon as the car stopped at the traffic light, his mom unbuckled her seatbelt and reached out to her son in the back seat to buckle his.

“Don’t ever remove your seatbelt while we’re still in the car, okay?” she to her son in a very soft but authoritative voice.

The boy nodded in understanding. She kissed him on the forehead and ruffled his hair. The car behind her honked, startling her. She looked up to the traffic light and saw it was green and started to drive forward. The boy decided to look out of the car window instead and observe cars and people passing by. He watched as a man in suit, and a woman hand in hand with her daughter dressed casually crossing the street. The boy thought the mother and daughter must be spending time together too. Suddenly, he heard a loud screech. His head turned to his mother whose eyes widen in terror. A truck was coming straight towards them in high speed. She swerved to the right to try to avoid the truck but—

**

I woke up in a cold sweat. It was that damned dream again. I glanced at the clock that sat on the table beside my bed. It read 6:04am. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep so I got up and walked towards the bathroom. After a shower, I went over to my closet and took my uniform. I heard the alarm clock went off indicating that it’s 6:45am. I turned it off and dressed myself slowly, taking my time. I made my bed and grabbed my bag then took off for school.

Taking the bus to school will only take 5 minutes of my time but I preferred to walk. Why waste money to take the bus when the school is just walking distance away? Besides, walking is also an exercise for me.

I arrived in school in approximately 10 minutes. I looked at the watch on my wrist and it said 7:10am. As I was walking the school corridor, an arm suddenly slung over my shoulder.

It was Lee Seunghyun who preffered to be called Seungri.

“Good morning, Ji!” my friend greeted, wearing a big grin on his face.

I eyed him suspiciously. “What’s wrong with you?”

“She talked to me…” His eyes twinkling as he spoke.

I rolled my eyes at him. I decided not to ask about it but I saw the look on his face in the corner of my eye. He was waiting for me to probe.

“How did it happen?” I asked half-heartedly.

His grin grew bigger. “You see,” he began excitedly, “last night I went to the CD store. I was checking if Victory, you know, my favorite singer, album is out. I was looking through everything and then I heard a very sweet voice ask ‘Hi, Seungri. Can I help you?’” he tried to imitate a girl’s voice then continued, “I was so shocked! I didn’t know she was working there. We talked for a while. I didn’t want that moment to end! But then she had to go back to work and I had to go home...”

I grimaced at him. I couldn’t believe that he was telling me something girls only talk about. “You didn't go there because you knew she was there, did you?”

“I already said I didn’t!" He said, blushing a little. "It must be fate. It MUST be! Fate is helping me!”

“Whatever,”

Seungri gave me a disbelieving look. “Is that all you can say?”

“Do you expect me to squeal and say, ‘I’m happy for you’? Don’t joke with me,” I uttered in disgust.

There is no way I will say something like that. I’m not the type who likes to talk about mushy stuff, especially about girls.

I hate them.

Seungri should already know that.

He frowned at me and removed his arm from my shoulder. “Alright, alright.”

Neither of us spoke as we made our way to the classroom. When we entered the room, I walked over my seat which was on the fourth row next to the window. I sat down and hung my bag to the hook on the side of my table. Seungri did the same thing on the seat next to me.

I remained silent, resting my head on my hand, while Seungri started to talk with the girl seated in front of him.

“Hey, guys. Good morning!”

I looked up to see Kang Daesung with a cheeky smile on his face.

“’Mornin,” I mumbled.

Seungri greeted him back and continued chatting with his front seat mate.

“Bommie!” a sweet voice called.

Everyone turned their heads to the door. Seungri jerked slightly in his seat when he saw who it was.

“Darong!” Park Bom, the girl Seungri was talking with, said, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the tiny girl with brown hair up in a ponytail.

“Good morning, Dara!” Almost everyone in the room greeted her.

Sandara Park, she was called.

“Good morning,” she greeted back with an angelic smile as she walked her way towards Bom. They all blushed. Following behind her was a tall girl who has black, straight hair.

Whispers filled the room.

“She greeted back!” one boy whispered.

“I think I just melted….” Another said.

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t understand why she was so popular.

As soon as Dara was close enough to Bom, Bom quickly wrapped her arms around Dara’s neck tightly in a hug. They were in that position for quite some time. It looked as if Bom didn’t plan letting go of Dara at all. The tall girl, who had a look of annoyance in her face, pulled Bom away from Dara.

Bom pouted and faced her, “You’re such a meanie, Joohyun. You’re just jealous...”

“What?” Seo Joohyun chuckled. “Why would I be? I’m in the same class as Dara, remember? If there’s anyone jealous that would be you.”

“Darong!” She sniffed. “Did you hear that? Joohyun is so mean to me!”

Dara giggled. “I’m sure Joohyun didn’t mean that,” she said soothingly. It was the kind of tone a mother uses to console her upset child.

I huffed and leaned back in my chair with my arms folded over my chest. I couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated at the scene I was witnessing. I didn’t even know why I was paying attention to it.

Heads turned towards me.

“Is there a problem, Kwon?” Joohyun demanded.

My gaze turned to her and I said in a nonchalant manner, “None at all.”

“I wonder why I’m not convinced,” she answered sarcastically.

 “Like I care if you’re convinced or not.” I smirked as I saw the look of annoyance on her face.

Sensing the danger, a voice interrupted, “Joohyun, I think we should go back to our classroom. The bell will ring any time now.”

“You’re leaving already? But you just got here!” Bom whined.

I heard Joohyun gave a small ‘hmph’ then nodded to the tiny girl next to her. My eyes diverted in her direction only to see her looking at me. She flashed me a smile before turning away. My brow furrowed slightly.

That smile... She always gives me that smile whenever our eyes meet. It’s annoying.

As if on cue, the bell for the first period rang.

Dara and Joohyun swiftly walked out of the room as soon as Dara apologized to Bom. In the corner of my eye, I saw Seungri sighed. It was probably because he wasn’t able to bring himself to greet Dara.

Idiot.

Time passed by quickly. Before I knew it, classes were over. I was in the middle of fixing my things when Daesung came up to me, “Ji, there’s someone who wants to talk to you.”

He pointed to a girl who was standing by the door with her head lowered while fidgeting her fingers.

Seungri’s jaw dropped. “Again?! That’s the 24^th time this month and it’s just the first week!”

Daesung gave him a weird look. “24^th? Why the hell are you keeping track?”

“Whatever. I don’t care. I don’t have time for crap. I have soccer practice,” I said as I took my bag and began walking away.

“Oppa?” I heard the girl call as I walked past her without glancing at her.

“That’s a little mean, Ji. The poor girl just wants to talk to you,” Seungri said as he and Daesung caught up to me.

“If you really feel sorry then you go talk to her,” I muttered darkly.

He sighed and whispered to Daesung, “I don’t get how he hates girls and still get a lot of admirers. Do you think I should change and start hating girls too?”

“If there’s anything to change about you, it should be your face.”

Daesung chuckled.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY, KWON JIYONG?!”

“See you!” I said quickly, completely ignoring Seungri’s outburst, then jogged my way to the locker room to change.

Suddenly, I felt someone bumped into me from behind.

“What the hell!” I yelled angrily.

The person who bumped into me spoke, “I’m sorry, Jiyong.”

I felt my body stiffen when I recognized the owner of that voice.

She continued, “I was in a hurry and didn’t clearly see where I was going. Are you alright?”

I looked over my shoulder to see Dara with an apologetic expression on her face.

“What kind of excuse is that? It’s pathetic. What if I got injured because of that?” My voice was cold and emotionless.

She blinked at me.

What? Is she offended? I smirked inside my head. Suddenly, taking me by surprise, she burst out laughing.

What the hell?!

“No way! You’re exaggerating, Jiyong! There’s no way it will happen!” she said in between laughs. My eyebrows furrowed at her. “But…” she said after laughing in her cheerful voice, “if something like that were to happen, I will take you to the clinic! Okay?”

What?! What is she playing at?

For what it seemed like the first time in a very long time, I was speechless.

She glanced at her watch. Panic instantly shot across her face, “Eek! I really have to go now, Jiyong. I’m really sorry! I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye!”

She waved at me before walking hastily from me until I could no longer see her. I remained standing there, dumbfounded.

Usually whenever I yell or talk to a girl that way, she would either cry or get mad but she did neither. Instead, this girl still had the guts to laugh and smile at me. Just the thought of it annoys the hell out of me.

Pfft.

I hate girls like her the most.