♪ hateful person

“So you remember what to do, correct?” Aejin questioned as she and Minwoo stood on the sidewalk across from his school.

Minwoo glanced up at her and nodded. She could tell he was a tad bit nervous because he held onto her hand more tightly while the other one coiled securely around the strap of his backpack. Aejin smiled softly to herself before she crouched down in front of him and held onto his shoulders. “It will work, just trust noona, arasso?”

“B-but what if he finds out?” Minwoo fibbed as he stared at the cemented sidewalk.

Aejin sighed and tilted his chin up so that he would look into her eyes. “He won’t know unless you tell him. Now, if you don’t want me to tell your teacher you have to give him the copy and act like you normally do. It’s the only way to teach a bully like Eunshin a lesson. Then when your teacher asks for your homework, you hand in the one you’ve done correctly. That’s it. If you still feel scared, I’ll hide around those bushes over there and wait.”

Minwoo’s face brightened up, “Will you really, noona?”

She chuckled and nodded immediately, “I won’t let him hit you or Miyoung, scout’s honor.”

“But you said you were never a girl scout,” he pointed out as he blinked repeatedly, confused as much as a five year old could possibly be in a situation like this.

“Aigoo, you know what I mean.” she mumbled gruffly. “Just come on would you, I have to go to classes after.” Aejin stood up and then held out her hand for Minwoo to take. He accepted, still befuddled before they crossed the street.

Kids and parents were all flooding in and as Minwoo searched the area, his eyes widened when he spotted a group of boys all staring at them. His body tensed and he took a step back as Eunshin made eye-contact with him. The child was on the hefty side of the spectrum and was currently sporting a mean poker-face. Aejin noticed Minwoo’s eyes were fixated strongly somewhere. So as she traced his gaze she was rather surprised to see the posse of little boys dogging the duo down like there was no tomorrow.

However, when they noticed she was looking at them, they broke their glares and scowls and glanced away. Aejin studied each of their faces diligently and figured out who the ringleader of the circus was. She was able to point out Minwoo’s bully easily because he was standing at the center of the boys and the smug smile on his face said it all. It also looked like Eunshin was chomping down on something which Aejin guessed to be gum. Because if he was chewing on tobacco, that would just be unheard of and crazy for someone his age.

“That’s him, isn’t it?” she muttered discreetly, never removing her eyes from them.

“Mhm,” Minwoo muffled out nervously.

“Now I see why you find him—intimidating.” she commented as she released his hand. “But I’ll be here when you give him the worksheet, I promise.” After she bent down and gave him a quick peck on the forehead.

Her reassurance did ease the tension in his body and Minwoo mustered every bit of courage in his tiny being and regained his composure. “Bye, omma.” he declared out loud so that Eunshin would be able to hear.

On cue, Aejin smiled and spun around on her heels. She checked the street before crossing back over. With one last peer over the shoulder, she pretended to depart. Aejin had made sure she was out of sight as she scurried back over to the side the school was located on. Most of the parents had evacuated the vicinity and students had already started filing into the building.

Trying to be as quiet as she could, Aejin tip-toed over to the family of bushes she had told Minwoo she would be concealing herself behind. When she reached them, she peeked over the hedges and found the group of boys walking up to Minwoo. They had encircled him and it took a lot of restraint for Aejin not to jump out there and scold them right on the spot. Her fists were clenching while her jaw was rotating.

“Where’s my homework?” Eunshin sneered as he spat out his saliva filled gum in front of Minwoo.

The little boys’ face contorted in utter disgust and from where she was stationed, Aejin was able to notice Minwoo’s trembling hands as he slowly removed his backpack. “Hurry up!” Eunshin demanded as he stepped in closer. Aejin gritted her teeth and was reconsidering the idea of reporting the consistent incidents to the administrators but Minwoo looked at her quickly and subtly shook his head.

Finally, he retrieved the copy intended for Eunshin and handed it to him withou