Chapter Three: Almost Kicked Out

          Yong Jun-hyung. First, he turned away many L-ements; next he showed the world that he is on the same level of our sparkling, L oppa. Now, he’s spoiling the beautiful sunset in front of me.

          Jun-hyung was standing in front of a record bar. He seemed so bored as he looked through the glass window, partially scratching his head and messing up his hair in the process. “No…no way,” I said.

          “But Mae, if there’s anyone from the guitar department who can really help you, it will be him,” Gette said. I knew she was right, but whenever I look at that Jun-hyung, I just couldn’t stop myself from having that weird feeling. I think I’m scared of him.

          “Do you think I should try to approach him?” I asked, and Gette gave me a determined nod. “You asked for a person from GD, there he is,” she said.

          I was about to approach him when suddenly he went inside the shop. I looked back to Gette.  What should I do? “Follow him!” Gette mouthed. I hesitated for a bit but after I took a deep breath and remembered about L, I decided to go in and talk to him.

          “Are you hard working?” I heard the sales man say when I got in the shop. It seemed like he was talking to Jun-hyung, so I decided to wait for them to finish.

          “Yes manager, I am, although I might look like otherwise,” Jun-hyung said. The manager eyed him for a while before sighing and giving him a small nod. “Fine, when do you want to start?”

          “I can start right now,” Jun-hyung said.

          “Great!” the manager said. “Here, wear this ID so that people will know that you’re working here. I’ll assign you to the records over there. Take good care of them, okay? I’m counting on you.”

          “Yes sir!”

          “And, by the way,” the manager took something on the drawer, “here, comb your hair when you have time, will you?”

---o0o---

          “So? What did he say?” Gette asked right after I stepped out of the store.

          “I wasn’t able to talk to him,” I said.

          “What?!” Gette said. “Mae! He’s your only ace!”

          “I know,” I said. “I’ll just talk to him tomorrow.” Of course my friend asked why. “Gette, he’s working.”

          “Then go buy a CD!” Gette turned me around and pushed me back inside the record store.

          “Good afternoon ma’am, welcome to our store!” Jun-hyung cheerfully said as soon as I came in. I slightly bowed my head to him as I greet him back before heading towards the CD rack. “What are you looking for ma’am?”

          “Uh, I don’t really know,” I said, “Do you have a suggestion?” He looked at me from head to toe, which kind of made me feel a bit conscious.

          “From what department are you?” he asked.

          “Piano,” I said, “but I’m not really here to get CD’s of piano compositions… I’m looking for guitar compositions.”

          “You’re transferring?” he said.

          “No!” I said. “I just want to do some more studying.” Jun-hyung nodded after that.

          “What genre of music do you like? If you’re going to study, I would suggest you explore the music you already enjoy listening to. In that way, you enjoy while you learn.”

          “Ah,” I slowly nodded. I really should take that in mind. “I like pop.”

          “Pop?” he said with a hint of disbelief.

          “Yeah, why?” I said.

          “Nothing… I was actually waiting for you to say a classic name,” Jun-hyung said, “but if it is pop, then I might recommend this.” He handed me a CD album. “Jung Sung-ha?”

          “Yeah, he’s probably around the same age like us, but he’s really good when it comes to modern pop songs. Look,” he turned the CD around and showed me the track list.

          “Whoa! Really? He did When September Ends?” I said in disbelief. “I love Greenday!”

          “Really? Me too! And,” he said. Then he pointed on a line written on the lower left corner of the album. There was a line written, “Signed album.” “Surely you’ll fall in love with the renditions of this kid,” Jun-hyung said, “When you already do, you won’t have to worry about how to obtain his autograph, because he already did sign this album.”

          “So, are you going to buy it?” he said. He was not so bright, but his aura is better than his aura at school. “Yeah,” I said. So I paid for the CD and the manager in the front of the cashier thanked me. But then I remembered the real reason I was there.

          “Uh, Jun-hyung sshi?” I said, “Actually, there’s something else that I want to tell you.”

---o0o---

          “So?” Gette said while we walk back home. It was already six o’clock. I never thought I’d spend an hour and a half inside a record bar. “How did it go?”

          “He said no,” I said.

          “What?! Why?” Gette said.

          “He just said no!” I said. “He said he has no time to teach me and that he has a lot of work to do. But then he told me to continue studying. Aish, I thought he’s bright and friendly. Apparently he’s just doing that because I was a customer.”

          “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” Gette told me before we separated our ways.

          The next day, I went to school as early as possible, wanting to see two people in particular: L because he brightens my day, and Jun-hyung, because I need him to help me in my studies.

          “Gette, do you know which music theory class Yong Jun-hyung belong to?” I asked.

          “Are you serious?”

          “Yeah, I’m dead serious.”

          “Yong Jun-hyung takes his Music Theory in class 3A,” she said, which surprised me a lot. “He’s our classmate?”

          “Yup… in this class only though,” Gette told me. Suddenly a familiar voice called our name.

          “He’s our classmate too?”  I said as soon as my eyes laid to Woo-hyun who was sitting behind L, throwing an eye blink to the two of us. Gette smiled before nodding a little. “You know, you should start paying attention to the people around you, and not just to L.”

          “If you still don’t know, aside from Myung-soo and Woo-hyun, Sung-yeol and Hoya also attend this class with us. Dong-woo and Sung-gyu becomes our classmate in Music History while Sung-jong is also our classmate not only in this class but in the other classes as well.”

          “Yeah, I know,” but I knew that I had no idea. It is really true that this is a small world. Suddenly our teacher came in, but instead of the beautiful smile that he usually have, he looked angry. “So much for that class, so much for that,” he said. Say what?

          “Yong Jun-hyung sshi, return it to me, now,” he said in a deadly tone. Jun-hyung looked around before saying, “what do you mean, sir?”

          “Don’t act as if you don’t know what I’m talking about,” our teacher said, but Jun-hyung just looked at him. “Fine, if you insist that you don’t know, then let me help you remember the wallet you took from my bag!”

          “Sir! I would never do that!” Jun-hyung said.

          “Oh, yeah, to think that you had to apply for the scholarship and contribute nothing to our school, not a single penny,” the teacher said. I looked around, and my classmates’ brows went up because of his statement. They started to not like what he’s saying.

          “Sir, I don’t think it is rightful to use a person’s social status to accuse him of a crime he didn’t do,” L said.

          “Shut up! I don’t need anybody’s help!” Jun-hyung said which startled the whole class, except L. “I’m not helping you,” L said, “I’m just making sure the people who are supposed to teach us and be examples of how to uphold the law does their work.”

          “Fine then!” the teacher said, “Do you want to lead the investigation team? Huh? Kim Myung-soo sshi?”

          “Sure,” L said before turning to our classmates. “Can one of you call for the principal to complete our jury?”

          “Oh! Let me do that!” Woo-hyun said before quickly going out of our classroom. After a short while he returned together with the principal. “Just make sure I’ll be entertained,” the principal muttered before taking a seat beside Woo-hyun. He must have told the principal a different reason.

          “May I start by asking how you were able to pinpoint Jun-hyung as the thief?” L said.

          “He was the last one to go out of our class yesterday!” the teacher said.

          “Can anyone back that up? Please raise your hand,” L said. I looked around. No one was raising their hands. Suddenly someone spoke behind me. “I can back that up,” Gette told me.

          “Will you tell us what happened?” L said.

          “Yesterday, when Mae and I are about to go home she told me that she need to find someone to help her study, I went back to our classroom to find someone who can help. I saw Jun-hyung talking to someone on his phone, but teacher was still here when that happened. Then you left your things here, and Jun-hyung finished the call after a while, but he never got close to your things.”

          “I never touched, your things, sir,” Jun-hyung said. Our principal, on the other hand, just watched and nodded his head every now and then.

          “Then he must have returned and got it after,” the teacher said.

          “That’s impossible,” Jun-hyung said.

          “Jun-hyung, where did you go after left the room?” L asked him.

          “I went to the day care center to pick up the child I was taking care of. He wanted to play some more so I let him play for and then I brought him home after that.” Jun-hyung said.

          “Did you take the bus?” L asked. What’s the connection? “No,” Jun-hyung said, “I carried the boy on my back and I walked him home. After that I walked back to the record store not far from here.”

          “What was the time when you got to the record store?” L asked.

          “Four-thirty,” Jun-hyun said, “I know because when I timed out at 8:30, he gave me four hours pay.”

          “Then he must have returned to school before he went to the record store!” the teacher said. No, he wasn’t from the school. “Can I ask something from Jun-hyung?” I said after L recognized me raising my hand. “Where does the child live?” I asked.

          “Fisher’s apartment, 405,” he said.

          “Sir, he didn’t come back to the school,” I told him. “At four thirty, Gette and I were walking home from school, and we saw him walking from the opposite direction before stopping in front of the record store. After that, I bought a CD from the store and left after an hour and a half.”

          “So?” the teacher said.

          “Aish, the Fisher’s Apartment is at least five kilometers west of the school,” I said, “The record store is three bus stops away, so it is at least three kilometers away from school. If Jun-hyung arrived at the record bar by 4:30, and walked back or got into a bus to school at 6 pm, he can’t possibly get your wallet since the school closes all gates at exactly 6 pm.”

          The teacher wasn’t able to react anymore. “Sir, is that the same bag you used?” L asked. The teacher nodded. “Can I have a look at its contents?” The teacher handed him the bag, and in an instant. L emptied it by shaking it upside down over the teacher’s table. “See?” the teacher said, “it’s… not there.”

          “Sir, it is here,” L said. “How many years have you been using this bag?”

          “Three,” the teacher said. L then took out the linings and shook the bag a little harder. Suddenly, a brown wallet fell. “You should have checked under the linings first before accusing a student,” L said before taking his seat.

          “Well, Professor, we have a long talk to do in my office,” The principal said before standing up and beckoning the teacher to follow him to his office.

          “Wow, does that mean we’ll never have a Music theory class anymore?” Woo-hyun said.

          “Nope, just until they found a new teacher,” Sung-jong said. When did he arrive?

          “Hey L,” all eyes averted to Jun-hyung. L stood up and faced him. “Yes, Jun-hyung sshi?” Suddenly Jun-hyung held out his right hand. “I may look cold, but I know how to show gratitude.” Jun-hyung said.

          L smiled before taking the hand and shaking it firmly. “You’re welcome,” he said, “but don’t thank me so much. If not because of the witnesses you were able to produce, I couldn’t have protected you that much.” Witnesses? L looked at me and so was Jun-hyung.

          “Well, I think you’re right,” Jun-hyung said, “thanks again.” Jun-hyung took his bag from his chair and walked towards me. “You are…?”

          “Mae,” I said and Jun-hyung looked to my friend, “she’s Gette.”

          “Mae sshi, and Gette sshi, thank you very much for becoming my witnesses,” Jun-hyung said. “I can’t imagine what could have happened to me if you didn’t speak up. Thank you.” Then he left the room after that. Wait, that’s it? I quickly followed him outside.

          “Yah! Jun-hyung sshi!” I said. He stopped and looked back, so I was able to talk to him. “About yesterday,” I started, but then he said, “I’m really thankful for what you did, but I still can’t possibly teach you…”

          And that moment, my world fell apart.