Jjung and Ssul: Age 7

“Hey, could you give me back my ball?” yelled someone from behind me.

I turned around to see whom it was that the ball belonged to. There was a kid running towards me really fast and the next thing I knew, I fell to the ground. I flinched in pain and when I opened my eyes again, the kid who was running towards me was laying on top of me. “Oww! Get off!” I shouted as I pushed the kid off of me.

“Oh, sorry unni! But that’s my ball…” she explained.

Oh, it’s a girl… why does she look like a boy? Wait, why is she calling me unni? “Hey, I’m not a girl! Why are you calling me unni?” I said in annoyance.

“Oh, sorry. Oppa! But you look like a girl, why do you have long hair?” she asked cheerily as if it wasn’t a strange question at all.

“What?! I look like a girl? What about you?! You look like a boy with your short hair!” I barked. Can this girl be any more annoying? “Anyway, why did you jump on me?”

“It was an accident. I was just trying to get my ball back.”

I shoved the ball at her. “Here, take it.”

“Oppa, you want to play?” she asked with a cheerful smile.

I thought it was weird that she was being so friendly. I don’t even know her. “I don’t play with girls,” I snorted.

She squinted her eyes at me and her smile faded. “Why? You scared that a girl will beat you?” she mocked.

This girl really knew how to push my buttons. “Tch! Never! There’s no way you would beat me.” I replied confidently.

“Fine. Then let’s play. If I win, you have to call me noona from now on.”

“And if I win?”

“If you win… I will give you my ball.”

“Call!”

We made the bet and I was so sure that I wouldn’t lose. But I did. The least to say, I was completely embarrassed. I had lost to a girl. Is this girl a curse or something?

“So let’s hear it,” she gloated, a grin plastered on her face.

“No way!” I couldn’t, I was too proud.

“You agreed!”

I hesitated then sighed. I had to admit that I lost. “You win… noona…” I said softly, unable to speak up from humiliation.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you…”

“I said YOU WIN NOONA!” I yelled at her.

She smirked then giggled. “Don’t be mad, you started it. You shouldn’t have mocked me.”

I thought this girl was getting stranger and stranger. She was definitely different from all the other girls, and she was the first girl who beat me at anything. I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it either. I was still too humiliated to say anything, so I just stood there and stared at her.

“Something wrong?” she asked since I said nothing.

“No,” I just pouted.

“Uhm… anyway my name is Choi Sulli but everyone calls me Ssul.”

After all that I didn’t even realize that we didn’t even know each other’s name. I hated my name and I really didn’t want to tell her. “You can just call me Jjung.”

“Jjung what? You’re not going to tell your noona?” she teased again.

Why is this girl torturing me? “My name is… Jung…” I trailed off.

She raised one of her eyebrow. “Yes…?”

“It’s Jung Soojung, okay? You happy now?” I blurted.

She burst into laughter. “Are you sure you’re not a girl? You have such a pretty name to match your pretty face.”

I blushed. “Yes, I’m sure! Stop laughing! I hate my name! My mother gave me that name because I looked like a girl when I was born.”

She forced herself to stop laughing. “Well I like it. It suits you. By the way, how old are you actually?”

“I’m 7.”

“Oh, we’re actually the same age. We’re friends!” she said excitedly. She grabbed my hands and started jumping up and down.

I was surprised at myself because I actually let her. I didn’t pull away. In a way, she was kind of cute.

She stopped and pointed her finger at me. “You still have to call me noona though! A bet is a bet and you promised.”

“That’s not fair, we’re the same age,” I protested.

“Hmm… how about this, you only have to call me noona when we are alone. In front of other people you can call me Ssul.”

I paused for a thought. “Fine. Only between the two of us,” I agreed.

“Good. Anyway, I have to go now. My mother will be looking for me soon. I’ll see you around.” She started to walk away.

“Oh… uhm… okay, bye,” I waved awkwardly.

“Bye, who?” she called back. She turned around and walked back up to me. “Here, you can keep this for now.” She handed me the ball and ruffled my hair.

I took the ball and stared at it. Even as she was leaving she still had to tease me. “Bye… noona,” I responded. How does she already have this control over me? The funny thing was, I was already getting used to it.