“Oy, Farmer Bang!”

Chulyong looked up as he heard snickers ripple through the classroom. 

Choi Ilsung, a known delinquent, beckoned him to his seat.  His friends were huddled around his desk; all of them snickering as the watched.

Gritting his teeth, Chulyong plastered a smile onto his face and walked over.  Whatever they wanted, it wasn’t going to be good for him.

“I’m thirsty,” Ilsung smirked, nodding at his friends, “Go get me a drink.”

Forcing his face into a smile, Chulyong replied, “What did you want?”  He suppressed the anger that bubbled inside of him.  It won’t help to get into a fight, he kept thinking.  He didn’t move out on his own so that he could shame his parents by getting kicked out of school.  He needed to keep himself in line… these phrases became his mantra as he dealt with school every day.

“I’ll take an iced tea,” he said smugly, turning to his friends, “What about you guys?”

His friends laughed as they started shouting out orders.

“Orange juice!”

“Cola.”

“Coffee!”

Chulyong nodded before turning on his heels and leaving the classroom before his temper became unrestrained.  Taking a deep breath, he heard laughter from his classroom as he made his way down to the vending machines.

He felt his temper flare as he pushed coins into the vending machine.  Ever since he’d moved to the city, he’d been treated like a fool by his classmates.  Being from the countryside, many looked down on him and used him like a gofer.  It had crushed his hopes of fitting in and frustrated him to know that there was little he could do.

Although his parents were considered well-off in the countryside, city schooling was expensive and costing his parents a fortune.  Chulyong had insisted on getting his high school education in the city after watching his seniors get trapped into a life in the countryside.  He had been determined to make something of himself in the city and had begged his parents to let him study there. 

After having almost cost him his relationship with his father, he was finally allowed to come to the city.  He had no idea that his high school life would consist of running errands for delinquents and spending his food money on their drinks.  He lived off of ramyun and water because that was all he could afford after errands like the one he was doing now.

He sighed as he picked up the bottles from the machine.  He could have stood his ground the very first time this happened.  But, since he was timid by nature, he hadn’t, thinking it was a one-time thing.  And as things escalated, he quickly lost control and was labeled a gofer.  There were times, like this time, where he wanted to throw caution to the wind and get into a good fist fight.  But his reason often won the argument because he knew he’d lose miserably.  He had always been terrible at fist fights in the countryside… it would only be worse in the city.

“At it again huh?” someone said behind him.

Turning around, Chulyong looked at his new friend Cheondoong as the latter pushed a few coins in and got a coffee. 

“I…” Chulyong started to defend himself before he realized there was really nothing he could say.  Closing his mouth, he looked at the ground and frowned.  His own timid nature frustrated him so much…

“You could’ve just said no,” Cheondoong said as he sipped his coffee.

“It’s… it’s not that simple,” Chulyong sighed,  “I don’t want to get into a fight and get in trouble.”

Cheondoong looked at him briefly before he asked, “So your pride isn’t worth the trouble?”

Chulyong looked at him, his mouth agape.  “That… that’s not what I said,” he replied defensively, hugging the bottles in his arms.  “I just…” he said, “I can’t afford to get in trouble.”

Cheondoong threw back the rest of his coffee and crushed the can.  “Right,” he said, “Let me know how that works out for you.”  Tossing the can into the recycle bin, he walked away.

Chulyong fumed as he watched the retreating back of Cheondoong.  Why didn’t he understand?  If everything could be solved by standing up for himself then he would have done it a long time ago.  It was easy for him to say things like that; he didn’t have to deal with the constant bullying or the aftermath of a confrontation. 

His mood darker than ever, Chulyong made his way back to his classroom.  As he approached the door, he yelped in surprise as a girl suddenly rushed out of the room and ran right into him.  The drinks went flying as the girl bounced back and fell on her .  He staggered backwards and regained his balance.

He felt his temper reach an all-time high when he suddenly realized that the girl was sobbing uncontrollably.  His anger vanishing in a second, Chulyong stared at her as she wiped her eyes furiously.

Unsure of what to say, he reached a hand out and asked awkwardly, “A-Are you okay?”

In a rush, she stood and ran down the hall before turning the corner.  Perplexed, Chulyong stared after her.  What the heck was that?

“Yah, Farmer Bang!  Where the hell is my tea?” Ilsung called from inside the classroom. 

Chulyong heard laughter followed by what sounded like high fives.  Rolling his eyes, he gathered the drinks from the floor and walked into the classroom.  Plastering his fake smile on, he handed them the drinks.

“About time,” Ilsung snickered as he opened his drink and took a sip. 

His friend laughed and opened his cola.  With a yelp, the others jumped back as it started to fizz out of the mouth of the bottle.  Chulyong bit back a laugh as the scrambled away from the drink.  It must’ve gotten shaken up when it was dropped to the ground.

“Yah!” the friend called angrily, staring at Chulyong, “What the ?”

“Ah,” Chulyong said innocently, “It must’ve fizzed up when I dropped it.  I ran into someone just now-”

“Why the didn’t you tell me that?” the friend scowled, shaking his hands, “Go get me some napkins!”

Amused, Chulyong went to the nearby washroom and pulled out some toilet paper.  Wiping the grin from his face as he returned, he handed the towels to the friend.

“Why the hell would you drop this?” the friend muttered as he wiped his pants.

Chulyong felt his eye twitch.  “I told you, I ran into someone-” he said, but was interrupted when another friend spoke up.

“Must’ve been Jinju,” he said, snickering as he drank his orange juice.  “Can’t believe that had the balls to say it’s yours,” he said, talking to Ilsung, “Who knows how many guys she’s ed?”

“Pfft,” Ilsung said, dismissingly, “Whatever, she’s probably going to get an abortion anyways.”

“Yeah, but we need to make sure that broad doesn’t start telling everybody it’s yours,” his friend said defensively, “It’ll damage your reputation.”

Chulyong stayed silent as he eavesdropped on their conversation.  Abortion?  From the sounds of it, that crying girl was pregnant and she thought it was Ilsung’s baby.  Shaking his head, Chulyong sighed and went back to his desk.  He knew the city life was crazy but… a teenage pregnancy?  As he sat down, he wondered if he really made the right decision coming to the big city.

Chulyong stretched as he sipped his water on the roof.  His stomach growled as it protested.  Unfortunately, he had nothing else to appease it having spent all his lunch money on Ilsung’s drinks.  It was another day of having just water for lunch…

He was brought out of his daze as the rooftop door creaked open.  Jumping up from his seat, he quickly hid behind a vent.  The rooftops were forbidden to students but the janitor had no idea the lock was broken.  In fact, Chulyong was pretty sure he was the only one that knew.  He’d been spending his lunch hour up on the roof every day for the past month without anyone bothering him.

He peeked around the vent.  His eyes widened in surprise as the form of a girl walked across the rooftop and paused at the ledge.  His jaw dropped as he recognized the girl; it was the same girl he’d ran into earlier that day outside of the classroom.  He couldn’t see her face, but he was pretty sure she was crying from the shaking of her shoulders.

His heart jumped to his throat as she approached the ledge of the roof.  Jumping up from his spot, Chulyong watched as she neared the ledge.  As she raised one foot to step on the edge, he snapped out of his shock and rushed towards her.

“Yah!” he yelled in panic, “What are you doing?!” 

The girl turned around in surprise as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him hard.  The two of them fell back onto the roof.  Chulyong winced as his elbows scraped against the rough concrete.  The girl fell onto him, yelping as her knees scraped against the ground.

The two of them stayed like that as they tried to calm their racing hearts.  Chulyong felt relief flood through him as he scooted out from underneath her.

“Are you crazy?” he said, breathless, “Oh that surprised me.”  He looked at the girl and frowned heavily.  “I just don’t understand you city kids,” he muttered, “How the hell is jumping off a roof going to help?”  When the girl didn’t reply, Chulyong bit his lips and wondered if he’d said too much.  Clearing his throat, he said less confidently, “Are you okay?”

The girl looked up at him and nodded.  Her knees were scraped but other than that, she didn’t seem to be hurt anywhere else.

Chulyong’s eyes widened as he finally got a good look at her.  He wasn’t able to properly see her face the first time she’d ran into him but now, with the wind blowing back her long hair, her pretty face was finally visible.  Her eyes weren’t large, and her nose wasn’t beautiful.  Her lips were also just average.  But all those features put together somehow made her seem breathtakingly beautiful.  Her heart-shaped face was framed with long locks of black hair.  Her lips trembled and her eyes were b with fresh tears as she looked at Chulyong.

With a loud sob, she collapsed towards Chulyong’s chest and began crying her heart out.  Frozen stiff, Chulyong blinked in awkwardness as the girl buried her face into the crook of his neck.  He felt his uniform soak up her tears as her body was wracked with heavy sobs.  Unsure of what to do, he patted her back stiffly.  It didn’t seem to help, however.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed louder. 

Chulyong wasn’t sure what to think as he sat there and let the girl cry on his shoulder.  Could she really be pregnant?  Was that why she was crying so hard?  It must’ve been something bad enough that she’d wanted to die…

Unconsciously, he began soothing her by rubbing his hand across her back.  Gently, he rocked back and forth as she became cradled in his lap.  Slowly but surely, her sobs quieted.  After what seemed like hours, she lifted her head from his shoulder and sniffed.  She wiped her arm across her eyes and looked down in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, “Your shirt’s all wet.”

Chulyong offered her a smile and said, “I didn’t like the uniforms here much anyways.” 

The girl let out a soft laugh as she wiped her face again with her arm.  She took deep breaths and tried to control her uneven breathing.

“So um…” Chulyong said, scratching his head awkwardly, “What’s your name?”

The girl looked at him in surprise.  Sniffling, she said softly, “Son Jinju… I’m in the class next to yours.”  She looked at him shyly before her eyes fell on his scraped elbows.  “Oh…” she murmured, taking his arm, “I’m sorry.”

“Hm?” Chulyong said, looking at his elbows.  He grimaced at the bloodied and ripped skin.  He hadn’t noticed how bad it was until she took his arm.  He glanced at her knees; they were in a similar state.  “We should go to the nurse,” he said, standing up and brushing off his pants.  He smiled and offered her a hand. 

Gingerly, she took it and stood.  She winced at the pain but didn’t complain.  Together, they headed down stairs towards the health room. 

On their way, Chulyong almost walked right into Cheondoong as he turned the corner.  Surprised, Cheondoong glanced at him and then Jinju.  He took in the injuries and raised his eyebrows.  Without saying a word, he walked away, making Chulyong frown.  Shaking his head, he led the way to the nurses office.  Knocking gingerly, Chulyong peeked inside. 

“Come in,” the nurse called, looking up from her computer.  She raised her eyebrows as the two shuffled in.  “What happened here?” she asked, tsk-ing as she walked over to them.

“Um,” Chulyong glanced at Jinju quickly before he said, “We… fell.”

The nurse gave him a deadpan expression.  “You fell,” she repeated, looking between the two of them. 

Chulyong nodded fervently, avoiding her gaze.  It wasn’t exactly a lie… they did fall.  He just didn’t want to tell her the circumstances behind the fall.  Besides, it wasn’t his story to tell…

The nurse sighed and pointed to an open bed.  “Sit,” she ordered as she walked over to the cabinets.  As Chulyong and Jinju walked over and took a seat, she muttered, “Kids.”  She began rummaging through the cabinets before she sighed and said, “I’m out of peroxide.  Hang tight, I’ll be right back.”  With that, she walked out of the office and closed the door behind her.

The two sat in silence as they waited.  Chulyong shifted uncomfortably as Jinju stared at her hands.  He was curious as to why she had wanted to jump… but he wasn’t sure if he should ask.  After all, he didn’t know her prior to this…

“I’m… pregnant,” Jinju said softly, interrupting his thoughts. 

Chulyong stared at her with a dumbfounded expression.  He hadn’t expected her to voluntarily share this information with a stranger.  He fixed his shocked expression and waited for her to continue.

Jinju’s lips trembled as she gripped her hands tightly.  “It… I didn’t mean for this to happen.  It was my first time,” she whispered, tears flooding her eyes again, “I thought it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t have a with him.  He said that once was practically impossible to get pregnant.”  Fresh tears flowed down her cheeks as she sniffed.  Wiping them away furiously, she frowned.  “I was such a fool,” she said angrily, “It’s nobody’s fault but my own.”

Chulyong watched as Jinju wiped her tears in frustration.  She seemed so… fragile.  Her frame was quite small when compared to his and she exuded innocence.  Without thinking, he asked, “Was it Ilsung?”

She looked at him in surprise, her eyes wide.  She searched his face for signs of something as her lips trembled again.  “I’m not a ,” she said, her voice cracking, “He’s lying.”  More tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away furiously.  “He’s the only one I’ve ever been with,” she said bitterly, “I’ll regret that decision for the rest of my life.”  Sniffling, she frowned and clenched her fists in frustration.  “I thought he really liked me,” she said softly, “I thought I could change him.”

Chulyong looked at his hands as he listened to her.  Wasn’t that how it usually went in his manhwas?  An innocent girl falls in love with a bad boy thinking she can change him.  And although they get hurt many times throughout the process, they eventually help the bad boy change.  The only difference between manhwas and real was that the sad truth.  So many girls got hurt believe they could change a bad boy… it was truly sad.  Jinju was no different.

“He won’t admit it,” she said bitterly, “He’ll tell everyone in school that I slept around.  At the end of the day, I wasn’t even his girlfriend…”

The door slid open as the nurse walked in.  Jinju quickly wiped her tears away and hid her face with her hair.  The nurse didn’t seem to notice as she grabbed some cotton swabs and bandages.  Sighing, she sat across from Jinju and started cleaning her leg.  She glanced up at the girl before returning her attention to her knees.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” she said, surprising them with her gentle tone.  It was very different from the one she had before she’d left to get more peroxide.  “Pain is temporary, dear,” she said, gingerly cleaning the wound, “It’s what you decided to do with it that counts.”  Jinju looked at her in surprise as the nurse finished cleaning her wound.  “Alright, you’re done young lady.  I’ll write you a note.  Go home for today,” the nurse said, walking over to her desk and scribbling a note. 

Jinju took the note and bowed.  “Thank you,” she said softly before making her way to the door.  Before she left, she turned to Chulyong and said, “Thank you too…”  Chulyong nodded in response.  Gently Jinju closed the door behind her. 

The nurse sighed as she came over to Chulyong and started to clean out his elbows.  “A guy shouldn’t make a girl cry,” the nurse said.

Chulyong looked at her in surprise and frowned.  “I didn’t-” he started but she interrupted him.

“Lies are harder to keep up than truths,” she said, dabbing the wound in more peroxide.

Chulyong winced as his elbow stung.  He frowned some more and said, “I’m not lying, I didn’t-”

“All it takes is one confession,” she interrupted again, “To stop her crying.”  Putting the finishing touches on her bandages, she patted Chulyong’s knees and said, “You’re done, boy.  Now scoot.”

Chulyong looked at her in confusion as she put away the peroxide.  What the hell was she going on about?  Was their nurse always this crazy?  He walked out of the nurses office perplexed.  Why were city people so damn weird??

The classroom was empty as he walked in.  The rest of the class had gone outside for gym class; he had missed the bell whilst waiting for the nurse.  Sighing, he sat down at his desk and looked out the open window.  Their classroom was on the second storey and the soccer field was perfectly visible from his seat at the window.  He watched as his classmates ran laps.  He should probably change and join them but… he just didn’t feel like it.

“… tells somebody…”

Chulyong blinked as he heard someone talking.  He turned to look around the class but there was clearly no one around.

“… nobody… believe her…”

Turning back to the window, Chulyong peeked his head outside the window and looked down.  His jaw dropped as he spotted Ilsung and two of his lackeys hanging out by the wall.  They seemed to be discussing something.  Chulyong strained his ears to hear what they were saying.

“… Jinju…”

Chulyong raised his eyebrows when he heard the name.  Now wasn’t this interesting…?

Cheondoong yawned as he shuffled into class.  He’d stayed up all night again thinking about his conversation with Hyunwoo.  He still couldn’t figure out what he had meant… it just didn’t make sense.  Sighing, he sat down at his desk and glanced out the windows. 

A figure caught his eye; it was the girl with Chulyong yesterday when he’d ran into them.  He’d heard some nasty rumours spreading around about a girl in first year getting pregnant.  If he wasn’t mistaken, that was the girl… Son something.  Was she a friend of Chulyong?  It was hard to imagine the kid having a female friend, much less a girlfriend.  Chulyong seemed like the type that would be too needy towards a girl to keep her around for long. 

Sighing, Cheondoong turned his attention to the daily announcements that was being broadcasted over the PA speakers.  As usual, the media club announced news pertaining to the school as well as any upcoming events held by the student council.  They’d end off with a cheesy joke and a funny song before classes would begin for the day. 

Today, however, there seemed to be excitement in the announcer’s voice.  He whizzed through the news and upcoming events in just a fraction of the usual time before he announced in excitement, “I got a special request today.  Wait until you guys hear this…”

The PA buzzed briefly before silence fell.  The chattering class also fell silent as everyone looked at the PA speakers with curiosity.  Soon, small tidbits of what seemed like a conversation started playing throughout the school.

“… can tell all the people in the world and no one’s going to believe her.”

“How do you know that for sure though, hyung?”

“Who’s going to believe I’d ever sleep with an ugly broad like that?”

Cheondoong raised his eyebrows as several people in the room gasped.  Some of them started chuckling in surprise as others started mumbling excitedly.

“…what if she goes and gets one of those DNA tests at the hospital?  Aren’t those things dangerous?”

More gasps circulated the room as murmuring spread like wildfire. 

“Even if she does, they can’t make me do one.  And I’ll never do one.  There’s no way in hell I’m admitting that kid’s mine.”

“Yeah but hyung-”

“Besides, Jinju’s a ing .  She’d probably go kill herself before she’d go get a paternity test.”

Cheondoong’s eyes widened.  Whoever these guys were, they were talking about this Jinju girl like she was trash. 

The class jumped when a loud voice yelled over the voices in the speaker.  It was the voice of their gym teacher.

“Yah!  Choi Ilsung!  What the hell are you guys doing over there?  Get back over here and finish your laps!”

Several students let out surprised exclamations as they stared at the speakers.

“Yes…” came Choi Ilsung’s voice as they heard rustling before the audio cut off. 

As soon as silence fell over the speakers, the class erupted in chatter.  Students became excited as they talked animatedly about what they’d just heard.

Cheondoong mused over the conversation that had played out over the speakers.  If he’d guessed correctly, the girl that was with Chulyong yesterday was this Son Jinju girl that everyone was rumouring about.  Whoever this Ilsung was, he was now in deep .  

But what the hell did Chulyong have to do with anything?

Chulyong gasped as he felt Ilsung’s fist connect with his cheek.  He fell back against the wall as Ilsung and his four friends advanced on him.

“You little er,” Ilsung hissed, “I’m going to ing kill you!”

Chulyong sighed as he massaged his jaw.  So much for not getting into trouble…  He had been so determined to stay out of things that didn’t concern him.  But after accidentally coming across their conversation, he couldn’t help but serve Ilsung a little bit of the justice that he deserved.

He winced as Ilsung grabbed him by the arm and kneed him in the stomach.  He fell to his knees and gasped as the pain spread through his stomach to his lower back.  He tried to catch his breath as Ilsung’s friend kicked across the shoulders.

“I’ll ing kill you,” Ilsung snarled as he threw another punch at him, “My life is ruined because of you.”

Chulyong leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.  “Just yours right?” he said, unable to hold back the irritation, “Screw Jinju right?  Oh wait, you already did that…”  He gasped as Ilsung placed another kick to his stomach.

“It was none of your ing business,” Ilsung spat, cracking his knuckles.

Chulyong laughed as he clutched his stomach.  “Consider it payback for getting your stupid iced tea,” he muttered, wincing at the pain, “What kind of sissy- delinquent drinks iced tea?”

With a growl, Ilsung lunged at him.

“I don’t think kicking the snot out of him is going to help…”

They all turned to the source of the voice in surprise.  Chulyong couldn’t help the chuckle of disbelief when he saw Cheondoong walk towards them, seemingly out of breath.

“You’re in deep already, I doubt this is helping,” Cheondoong said, trying to catch his breath.  

Chulyong sighed and muttered, “Now isn’t this straight out of a manhwa?”

“ off,” Ilsung hissed as his friends walked towards Cheondoong.  

Before Chulyong could watch what transpired next, he felt darkness overcome him.

“Wake up, fool.”

Chulyong groaned as he stirred.  He opened one swollen eye and searched for the sources of the voice. He chuckled in surprise when he spotted Cheondoong lying beside him on the gravel.  They were still near the garbage dump at school where Ilsung had dragged him earlier… the only difference was that Cheondoong had now joined him on the ground, covered in bruises and blood.

“What… I thought you knew how to fight,” Chulyong croaked as he tried to sit up.  He winced as a sharp pain shot through his side.

“What made you think that?” Cheondoong said, rubbing his swollen jaw.

“That’s what usually happens in manhwas,” Chulyong shrugged as he looked at Cheondoong.  His cheek was starting to purple and his nose was bleeding.  It was a strange look on Cheondoong’s usually handsome face.

“You keep saying that,” Cheondoong said, sitting up gingerly, “What are you, a manhwa geek?”

Chulyong nodded sheepishly.  “You’re supposed to be that cool guy that saves the nerd from bullies,” he said, “And kicks the bullies’ asses in a very cool way.”

Cheondoong shook his head in exasperation and sighed.  “I guess the whole can’t-afford-trouble thing was a lie huh?” he said, smirking before he winced in pain.

Chulyong shrugged again.  “Ilsung was a anyways… and Jinju was really pitiful,” he said.

“Jinju, huh?” Cheondoong chuckled, “Bang Chulyong, you’re different from what I thought.”

Chulyong looked at him in surprise.  He watched as Cheondoong stood gingerly and held out a hand.  Taking his hand, Chulyong stood slowly.

As the two walked towards the nurse’s office, Chulyong couldn’t help but say, “This… this is like the ending where the cool kid makes friends with the nerd after they go through hardship.”  He glanced at Cheondoong as the latter groaned and rolled his eyes.  “We’re friends right?” he asked, “Hyung?”

Cheondoong pinched the bridge of his nose as Chulyong looked at him with that look of admiration again.  He nodded gently before he winced in pain.

Chulyong couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.

Author's notes:

manhwa - Korean comic books; the equivalent of Japan's manga

I couldn't help it!  I wanted more Bang Mir haha.  Anyways, I thought a cute side story was in order!  Too much drama going on in JoonHo's life so let the maknae do his job and give us a break!

Btw, did you pick up on who Son Jinju is?  Here's a hint: She exists in real life!  Kekeke!!