Right now, I’m in my last year of high school.  Actually, I should be in my last year of high school, but frankly, I don’t think I need it, considering what I’ve planned out for the next few years. Even though I haven’t told my parents about my plans yet, they think that I’ll get into a decent college anyways, so I can do whatever I want right now.

“Hyosung, I need to speak to you!” my mom yelled. Alright, so I may have exaggerated about being able to drop out of high school. My parents think I am smart enough to get a job and go to college, but according to them, ‘it still does not give me an excuse to drop out.’ They want me to use my gifts with honour, and embrace what my bright future holds, whatever that means. Ever since I’ve dropped out of high school, my mom has been bugging me every day about going back to school.

“Yes?” I sighed, walking down the stairs.

“I know the chance of you going back to school is on a fine line, but have you been reconsidering returning for your senior year?” She looked at me with those desperate, pleading eyes. I was already used to them by now, so they didn’t really have an effect on my anymore. My mom isn’t exactly the ‘toughest cookie’ of the bunch.

“Mom, I’m not going back. Please, just let me be,” I said, flashing a smile at her.

“But you don’t realize where you can go in life!” she cried.

“Trust me, everything is planned out.” I assured her. I couldn’t tell her about my plans – not now at least.

“So what are you going to do now, huh? All of your friends studying until late in the afternoon, and you don’t even have a job to keep you busy throughout the day!” She was almost in tears again. It’s almost become a ritual of hers, and it bugs the hell out of me.

“Then I’ll just get a job, calm down,” I replied. I could use the cash anyways. I had a feeling my mom would stop giving me an allowance pretty soon.

“Where? Where are you going to work? You need to make sure it’s a safe place, and would look good on a college application, alright?” she said nervously. “It’s very difficult to find a good job in this area of the city. You don’t want to end up working in a strip club or something.”

“Oh, that sounds like a fun job,” I cooed.

“Jun Hyosung!”

“Relax, I was just joking,” I smirked. “I’ll only take that job if I can’t get a job after my first three tries.”

“Yah, Jun Hyosung!”

“Seriously, you need to know how to take a joke,” I chuckled. “I would never work in a place like that. By now you should know that I have more integrity than that.” My mom gave me a nod and headed back to the kitchen to prepare her lunch. As she turned around, I sighed and walked back to my room to type up a resume. It wasn’t extravagant, but I guess I could get decent job with it.

I rushed downstairs and headed for the door before my mom could start another lecture on school and my future.

“I’m going now, bye!” I shouted.

“Wait, do you want a ride?” my mom asked.

“No, I need the exercise,” I said, just hoping that she wouldn’t call me to come back.

As I slung my bag over my shoulder, I was struck to the ground by a guy that looked about my age. I wondered why he wasn’t in school by this time, but with the way my life was going, I was really in no position to confront him with such a question.

“Sorry,” I said, since he didn’t seem like a big enough person to apologize first.

“Ah, my bad,” he mumbled, “I didn’t see you there.” Hah, I knew he didn’t have the balls to formally apologize.

“Hm, so you’re one of those types of guys.”

“What?” he asked in a cold tone. Did I just somewhat insult him out loud?

“Never mind,” I muttered.

“You look kind of young. Are you late for school or something?” As if it was his business. I answered him anyways.

“Um, not really. School isn’t really on my list of things to stress over,” I shrugged. I figured I had the right to ask him the same question. “Aren’t you late for school?”

“I can’t- er, I mean, I’m not in high school,” he replied. “Anyways, about bumping into you – if you’re late for whatever you need to-“

“You know what, it’s totally fine,” I assured. “I wasn’t really in any hurry.”

“Do you want a ride to wherever you’re going?” he asked. I guess that was his way of apologizing. “I was just going to hitch a ride with my friend, but I’m sure he’d let you tag along.”

“No thank you,” I replied. I had a feeling that his friend wouldn’t appreciate having to drive a stranger in his car anyways. “Just forget about what happened.”

“Alright, well bye-“

“Hyosung,” I interrupted, saving him the trouble of having to ask for my name. He nodded and turned in the opposite direction.

“Wait, aren’t you going to tell me your name?” I called, feeling sort of embarrassed.

“I don’t really want to,” he shrugged. “I mean, I never asked you for your name, so I shouldn’t be obligated to tell you mine.”

So the kid did have some balls. I forced out a little chuckle and flashed a crooked smile, and tried to forget about what just happened. I had to focus on getting a job before my mom started bothering me again. I remembered seeing an advertisement in the paper about a job opening at some small restaurant. I figured that no one else in this town had enough culinary skills to handle the job, let alone the interest in working at what is probably a two-star, tiny restaurant.

I finally arrived at the restaurant, ‘A Little Taste of Originality.’ Not the best name, but I guess it’s hard to be original these days.

“Hello, I’m here to apply for a job working in the kitchen,” I said to the manager. “My name is Jun Hyosung.”

“Oh, hello,” he smiled, “My name is Mr.Choi. You’re just in time. I was going to give the job to another fellow, but I guess I’ll have to test both of you to see who gets the job. We were really in need of a new chef, so it’s great to have more options in deciding who to hire.”

The boy came out and shot a mischievous grin at me.

“This is Lee Kikwang,” Mr.Choi said.

“Ah, what a small world,” he sighed. He seemed somewhat satisfied with his competition.

“Have you two met before?” Mr.Choi asked curiously.

At that moment, I really regretted not getting that ride from my mom.