After school, Teller and Ellie spent a couple of hours getting something to eat at a mom-and-pop restaurant. They got to know each other more and Teller asked a lot of questions involving Ellie’s family, slowly probing. But Ellie had a tendency to give away as little as possible. She pushed back.

“I saw that little moment between you and the Jiyong guy.” Teller leaned forward, amusement clear in her voice.

“What moment?”

“Oh, come on. You were obviously blushing.”

“So?”

“So?  Are you kidding me? How do you feel about him?”

Silence.

“Hey, are you even listening?” Teller waved her hand in front of Ellie’s face. She was listening. She just didn’t want to answer. Her feelings about him were not something she could put into words.

“Tell me about school. I mean the gangs.” She decided to change the subject.

“Well, there are three main ones.” Teller lowered her voice and began, “The third-years are the ones closest to ruling the place entirely. That’s Jiyong’s gang.”

“Details, please.”

“Most of them are just his minions, no one particularly special except for Youngbae and Seunghyun.”
“Lee Seunghyun?”

“No, Choi Seunghyun. He is like a robot ninja or something. His cold vibe creep me out. He used to be an outsider.” She took a sip of coffee and set her cup back down, “The other, Dong Youngbae, has been Jiyong’s best pal since forever. They’ve been through a lot together. Youngbae is a beast.”

“How do you know all of this again?”

“I’ve been to this school countless times before I even enrolled. Lots of kids purchase huge amount of poisons these days, for no good purposes.”

“Okay. Continue.”

“And the second-years and first-years seem to have teamed up, which is a joke.” Teller laughed slightly and sat back in her seat, “And they all follow two guys, that Panda boy and Kang Daesung. They are the ones to be watched.”

“This year should be tiring then.”

“You bet it will.” Teller took another sip of coffee as Ellie looked past her, out into the darkness outside, her heartbeat raising a little. The battles to win over the toughest high school in the city would be worth anticipating.

After ten o’clock, they left the restaurant, covered a few blocks together and parted. Ellie headed home. When she reached the duplex, she didn’t go in through the front door. She clambered up the fire escape ladder and slipped inside her bedroom window like she always did coming home late.

She a light.

Her room had been tidied. The maids had done a good job putting away the music sheets, the drawings, the books, the mess that she’d left scattered on the wooden floorboards.

She dropped her backpack and rolled onto her soft bed, kicked her shoes off. For the last hour, there was only one thing going on in her mind, although she tried to deny it. It was because of him, of course.

I’m looking forward to your victory, Jiyong.

She let out a sigh, just to get it off her chest and reached out for the light switch. She figured she would try to sleep. That way her mind would stop replaying everything that had happened that day.

__________________________________________________________________

The next morning, Jiyong woke up at the sound of the alarms in the juvenile hall that had accomodated him the previous night, feeling depressed. He lifted his head off the bed which sqeaked loudly under his weight, swung his legs off, and rubbed his eyes.

“Breakfast time, you punks.” The ward, a heavyset man, around fifty years of age, came banging on the iron bars. Soon officers joined him, unlocked Jiyong’s cell, handcuffed him once again and pushed him out. The place was filthy, smelt of sweat, urine and god knew what, and was cramped with juvenile delinquent, under-age rapists, thieves and killers.

They led him to the cafeteria and put him down at a table. He rubbed his sore wrists when they’d taken the cuffs off. A bowl of soup, which looked like a messed up mixture of meat and bean, was parked in front of him. The heavy odour made it impossible for him to even pick up the spoon. But somehow, he managed to push the soup down his throat, held his breath and swallowed. At least he could tell himself that it didn’t feel so bad once it had gone into his stomach. The next few spoons, he closed his eyes and finished the bowl. He would live, he thought.

After the meal, he was picked up again, but this time, they didn’t return him to his cell. They ran the paperworks and after an hour, he got his few belongings back. His phone, his belt and his jacket. He was being released. Since the detective, Mr. Lee, was driving carelessly when they almost collided, the charges against him were reliefed.

“If I ever see you back in here again, I’ll make sure you stay here, got it?” The ward questioned, holding Jiyong’s release paper in his hand. Jiyong took hold of one end of the papers while the man gripped the other. They had a small stare-down for a brief moment.

“As if I want to see your ugly face again.” He said flatly and yanked his freedom from the ward’s hands. The man was pissed, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Jiyong had already walked through the heavy iron gates and down the hill.

---

The walk from the juvenile hall to the nearest bus station was long. By the time the sun was well up, Jiyong was still a kilometer away. He didn’t mind walking. School didn’t really matter to him.

But when he heard footsteps behind him, he picked up his pace, his back facing them. He did not like having his back to anyone, but something in his gut very clearly told him not to look over his shoulders. He tried to put a good distance between himself and the mob, but it was not successful. They were practically running after him now.

“Kwon Jiyong! Man up and face us!” One of them shouted, and at the same time, a hand reached Jiyong’s left shoulder, pulling him around.