8 - Irregardless

“I want the lowdown on what you and jerkface talked about so far.” Dara whispered at Kiko the moment they entered the University Cafeteria. It has been a few days since Jiyong ‘discovered’ that Kiko is Red Lotus.

The girls sat on their usual spot not bothering to get any food. They sat beside each other, facing each other. Kiko seemed quiet but Dara wasn’t able to notice it because she was too preoccupied with wanting to know about Jiyong.

Dara looked at Kiko anxiously. The latter just looked at her unnie and bit her lip. Silence enveloped their table.

“Kiko? What?” Dara asked again.

“Unnie…Jiyong oppa…he seems nice…” Kiko said hesitantly.

“What? Are you out of your mind? That jerkface? Nice? I am telling you, he is anything but nice!!!” Dara looked at Kiko incredulously. She touched Kiko’s forehead, cheeks and neck as if checking if she was okay.

“Are you okay? Did you catch a cold? What did he do to you? I’m seriously worried! We should’ve just left him alone…” Dara asked Kiko worriedly. Kiko gently held Dara’s hands and placed it on her lap. Kiko gave her an assuring smile.

“I’m okay unnie. It’s just…he isn’t really how you describe him to be. I mean he’s not mean to me. He doesn’t tease me or anything. In fact he’s acting like a real gentleman…” Kiko’s voice trailed off. She let her words linger in Dara’s ears. She held her unnie’s gaze. Dara shook her head in disbelief.

“No. It’s not the real him. He’s just pretending. Of course he’ll act nice! He’s trying to get revenge. Remember he swore he’ll destroy Red Lotus. Don’t ever forget that Kiko. Remember to tell me everything you guys do…I need to know his plan.” Dara squeezed Kiko’s hands and looked at her earnestly.

“Okay unnie. I’ll tell you everything…I promise.” Kiko mumbled softly.

Just then, Seung Hyun sat across them, dropping his red backpack.

“Hi Kiko. How are you?” Seung Hyun smiled at Kiko. For a moment, Kiko held her breath. It was as if she was caught in a trance just hearing him call her name. She felt like she was brought up to heaven. But soon enough, she came back to reality because before she could utter a reply, Seung Hyun’s eyes were already on Dara.

“Park, don’t forget our meeting later. I swear if you’ll be late I’ll rat you out.” Seung Hyun slump his shoulders and held his chin with the palm of his hand. He looked like a big cuddly teddy bear.

“What are you talking about?” Dara asked, obviously clueless with what he was talking about. Seung Hyun gasped in surprised. He tapped the table and looked at Dara with feigned contempt.

“I can’t believe you forgot! It’s a good thing I reminded you or I would’ve been waiting for nothing later!!!” Seung Hyun raised his voice, catching the attention of the people around them.

“Settle down Choi. It’s not like I committed a crime! What are we suppose to do later?” Dara hissed, grabbing unto Seung Hyun’s wrist so he would sit back down.

“The University’s Film department has a film showing later. We’re supposed to watch it for our term paper in Film 150. I bought us tickets for Amour by Michael Haneke.” Seung Hyun reminded her. Since Dara was taking up Bachelor of Fine Arts in Screenwriting and Seung Hyun was taking up Bachelor of Fine Arts in Filmmaking, they both have the same minor subjects.

“It totally slipped my mind! I’m sorry!” Dara apologized.

“Whatever. Just don’t be late.” Seung Hyun shrugged.

“Hi Kiko.” The three froze and looked at Jiyong standing beside their table, looking at Kiko awkwardly.

“Hi.” Kiko replied meekly and then looked down. Jiyong slowly sat beside Seung Hyun.

“What’s up hyung? Hey Dara.” Jiyong greeted lazily. Dara grunts in frustration.

“Excuse me, why are you hanging out with us? Why are you even in this table? You’re not welcomed here. You should go away.” Dara replied with a loathsome voice.

“Good morning to you too. Did you wake up in the wrong side of the bed or something?” Jiyong grinned at her, making her all the more annoyed.

“You are irrelevant as far as I am concern.” Dara spat and focused her attention back to Seung Hyun.

“Aren’t we supposed to watch the two other winners at 2012 Cannes Film Festival too? What movie was it? Reality by Matteo Garrone and The Angels’ Share by Ken Loach? Do we have a schedule of those films already?” Dara asked Seung Hyun. He got his phone and scanned through the photos he took of the schedules.

“We have Reality tomorrow 2pm and The Angels’ Share at 6pm. I’m bored with it already.” Seung Hyun sighed and bumped his head against the table a few times.

“Irregardless if we’re bored or not, we still need to watch it.” Dara sighed and bumped her head against the table like Seung Hyun was doing.

“Irregardless is not a word.” Jiyong scoffed. Dara’s head shot up and looked at Jiyong with fiery eyes. She narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. She swore to herself that she’d ignore him and yet she just couldn’t help but correct him.

“It is too.” Dara replied.

“It is not.” Jiyong taunted.

“Irregardless is a word!” Dara stood up, slamming the table with her hands and leaned towards Jiyong.

“It’s not a word. It’s dumb for anyone to think that it’s a word because it means exactly as regardless.” Jiyong replied, standing up to meet Dara’s face. He had that smirk on his face that she hated so much, she just wanted to scratch his face with her nails.

“Are you calling me dumb?” Dara asked in a low menacing voice.

“Hey, I’m not the one who said it.” Jiyong replied mischievously.

“I don’t even know why I’m wasting my time on you. But just so I can enlighten your stupid brain, irregardless is an adverb. Origin is a blend of irrespective and regardless. The word was first used in circa 1912. It’s listed on Merriam-Webster.” Dara said in one breath, taking the smug off of Jiyong’s face.

“I don’t consider nonstandard words as a word. It’s a result of usage by grammatically incorrect people.” Jiyong replied, inching closer to Dara’s face. He noticed how her ears are becoming red. He knows that when she gets really mad, her ears start to go red.

“Nonstandard words get a standard status by continued usage overtime. Words that you commonly use right now were nonstandard words before. So excuse my French but your logic is just plain stupid. Well, what do I expect from a guy who thrives on sleeping around with first class…” Dara clipped her lips and smiled at him mockingly.

“You jealous of the girls I sleep with? If you want to sleep with me, all you had to do is ask.” Dara thought she already had the last laugh but Jiyong got the better of her again.

“No thank you. It’s not my plan to get some ually transmitted disease.” Dara replied.

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. I didn’t know you were this judgmental.” Jiyong shook his head and tipped Dara’s chin upward so she’d meet his piercing gaze. Jiyong didn’t even look offended with Dara’s verbal attacks. In fact, it looked li