Well Done! (Part 6 of 10)
 

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I looked like this morning. I really do.

I have always liked Tuesdays because I have Literature class and Physical Education. Cool Mr. Han always made his Literature lessons lively and interesting. Physical Education means fun time with Eunhyuk and Donghae. However, today was not my day.

Being stubborn like I sometimes was, I put Starcraft above everything else and played (with headphones plugged in to avoid my mom’s nagging) for some hours (don’t ask me how many, I am not going to tell you). When my eyes started to smart due to the prolonged concentration on my game, I knew I had to stop. I napped for an hour, showered and then had dinner.

After the nine o’clock news, I went back to my room to start on the worksheets. Little did I know that I will need several more hours to somehow finish it. They were much harder than I expected. Starting from page four, most of the problems were unsolved as my brain kind of slowly shut down bit by bit but I knew I had to scribble something down to show that at least I attempted them so I went on to scribble whatever seemingly logical that came to my mind.

I finally went to bed at two in the morning and woke up after four hours for school. I felt drained and lifeless. I seriously heard my bed calling me and I almost walked back towards it if not for the horrific scene that presented itself as I passed my full length mirror. I jerked back to confront the reflection that was supposedly to be my glorious self and saw dark eye circles, red and puffy eyes and worse of all, a zit the size of China on my left cheek. And don’t start on bad hair days. Argh!

“Honey, you looked like this morning. Better take care of that zit.” Mom commented when she saw me at breakfast. I told her I felt like too. “Go easy on your gaming, son. I have never seen you looked so zombified before.” She scolded. I couldn’t be bordered to defend myself so I just nodded. My throat felt dry and all I wanted was something warm to drink... Wait, zombies? My DreamCafe! Damn!

Breakfast lifted my mood a teeny weeny bit. But it plunged again when I saw the rain. It got worse with the overcrowded bus. I got extremely irritated with the sweat-soaked pig in shirt and tie standing behind me holding an overstuffed work bag in one of his hand. As the bus moved through humps and bumps, his bag would suddenly jerked towards the back of my knees causing my legs to fold and my heart to slam against my ribcage. This happened for about five times during the whole ride. I turned my head to glare fireballs at him hoping that he will put more space between us. With his chin lifted and glaring down at me, he puffed out air through his nose. I promptly turned my head back when I saw a disgusting looking blob hanging on his nasal hair. I tried to move away from him lest he adorned that glistening blob on the back of my neck but there was no space to move anywhere. I can only count bus stops. I thanked the Lord nothing rained on me with every stop. Four more to go.

The rain finally stopped and I had managed to squeeze my way out of the damn bus in one piece. As I was walking towards the school, I spotted Eunhyuk loitering near the school gate. He was looking around and when he spotted me, he hurriedly lowered his head.

“Trying hard to be transparent huh?” I smirked wickedly and questioned him as I neared. He blushed. Hard. “Wow, your face is so red. I can imagine the rest of you turning white.” I . “Come on, calm down. There is nothing wrong with waiting for a special friend at the school gate now, is there?” I patted Eunhyuk’s shoulder in mock assurance.

“You don’t look too great yourself either, looking like an undead. Your hair is messy and your shirt isn’t even tucked in. You are always neat. What happened?” Eunhyuk eyed me from head to toe taking in my slightly bloodshot eyes and the windblown hair that I did not bother to tame.

“I know right and it is all Kyuhyun’s fault. I’ll tell you when your Hae is here. Don’t want to repeat myself. I have to conserve my energy for a confrontation with Kyuhyun later at recess.” Before Eunhyuk could protest, we heard Donghae yelled out our pet names like we were deaf - Hyukkie! Minnie!

“Oh look! Your special friend is here!”I beamed uncharacteristically happily to fan the flames of his embarrassment and he went unbelievably redder. This amusing friend of mine is such a shy dork. I felt better already.

Donghae approached us with bright eyes and a sunny smile. “Are the both of you waiting for me? Aww, you shouldn’t hav....” How could someone be that cheerful in the morning, I wondered.

“Oh really? Okay then, come on Hyukkie, let’s go.” I interrupted and linked arms with Eunhyuk and pulled him into the school compound. “Hae doesn’t want us to wait.” I smiled mischievously with my back to Donghae. He must be pouting now and I chuckled. Eunhyuk kept turning his head around to look at Donghae. One word from Donghae Hyukkieee got Eunhyuk to disentangle from me and rocketed to his side faster than you can say flash. Traitor.

Donghae was happy again. I pouted. However, his expression changed when he scrutinised me. “Wow, aren’t you pretty today, new style?” Donghae said sarcastically and wrinkled his nose before moving an index finger towards my zit. I covered the blemish with one hand and swatted his hand away with the other.

I sighed a long sigh and was about to launch into my sob story when I heard Eunhyuk telling us that Kyuhyun was looking in our direction, specifically at me. Did he want my homework now? Was he going to pile more on me? I sneaked a peek at him. True enough, he was blatantly staring at me. For no reason, I felt scared and quickly averted my gaze. Then I hastily pulled my friends along towards the assembly area.

With my confidence now waned, I dreaded the confrontation that I once looked forward to.

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Recess came too soon. For once, I wished that I had accepted my mom’s offer of a lunchbox this morning.
I briefly told my two friends what happened during the morning assembly. Eunhyuk sympathised while Donghae sneered.

“It is his way of getting closer to you.” He said. I refused to agree of course. “With the way he was looking at you, I bet he would have swoon if you so much as blew him a kiss.” Donghae teased as the three of us walked towards the canteen with the worksheets clutched in my hand. I would have avoided going there if not for my growling stomach.

“Swoon my .” I muttered and smacked Donghae’s head with the papers.

We ate Nasi Lemak today, a Malay fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf served with anchovies, peanuts, egg, lamb curry, vegetables, and sambal belacan. Delicious!

We were talking about the programs of our next get together while eating when I felt someone plonked down close beside me. Our shoulders brushed. Half of my mind told me that it was him but the other half refused to admit. Well, someone’s got to look. True enough, it was Kyu. In fact, he was leaning against my side with his eyes looking over at my tray of food. I was shocked to see him so close to me and was about to scoot away from him when he reached out a hand to grab some of my peanuts to eat. Both Eunhyuk and Donghae looked on with dumbfounded expressions.

That’s it. No one steals my nuts.

“You sneaky bastard! That was my food! Give it back!” I dropped my eating utensils and yelled at him, at the same time made a grab for his shirt and shook him vigorously with my two hands. He chortled away gleefully instead seemingly unfazed. People nearby were laughing at our dramatic display.

Kyuhyun held on to my wrists with his hands to ease my grip but was weak due to all the cackling.

“What’s so funny?!” I was angry and shook him with more vigour.

“Take it then.” He stopped laughing and stuck out his tongue showing the crushed pile of peanuts on it and moved his face nearer to mine aiming his tongue at my mouth. My friends were merrily giggling away.

“Eek!” I felt appalled and pushed him away from me. “Here, take this and go away!” I said and shoved the worksheets onto his chest. With my food tray in hand, I scooted to the other end of the table to avoid him.

Kyuhyun remained in his seat and was flipping through the worksheets while munching on the crushed peanuts. His brows furrowed and when he was done flipping, he asked, “What is this?”

“Too much homework, that’s what it is.” I replied defiantly with a stuffed mouth. To hell with manners.

“This is crap.” He waved the papers in my direction. “None of the answers is correct not to mention that some were unsolved and incomplete. How much time did you spend on this?” He asked sternly.

“I spent four ing hours on it, don’t you dare say I slacked!” I was guilty as hell but I had to put up with the act of being offended. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You gave me problems that were impossible to solve for my standard, right?” I challenged. Eunhyuk and Donghae still did not utter a single word. They appeared satisfied munching on their food and watching us.

“You have a lot to learn. I’ll be at your house at four today for extra lesson.” Kyuhyun decided without even discussing it with me. I gaped. “Your mom gave me the green light yesterday.” I told you I smell conspiracy and I was right!

“No! I have something up with Eunhyuk and Donghae after school today so, No!” I reiterated and looked at the two of them for backup. They understood and nodded their heads. I was expecting Kyuhyun to give up but instead he simply said I’ll be there at four. Be ready.

And then he reached over to ruffle my hair with one hand and walked away with my worksheets in another. I glared at him. I have been glaring an awful lot lately. Argh! Did I see him smirk again?

I fumed and pouted and sulked but I was not strong enough to go against my mom. Having lost my appetite, I pushed my food tray away and slumped in my seat in defeat. Eunhyuk and Donghae moved nearer to me and tried to smooth my ruffled feathers by promising to buy me a whole pint of chocolate ice cream tomorrow. They knew that going against my mom meant going against their own moms too since they were best pals so they stayed away from suggesting anything remotely foolish.

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Mom wasn’t home when I got back. Instead, I found a note from her saying that she had gone grocery shopping and that my lunch was kept warm in the oven.

Smart move mom but you can’t stay away forever.

I ate the fried noodle grudgingly. Maybe a stomach ache would get Kyuhyun off my back today so I ate ice cream right after. Nothing like that happen though. I was well and alive. Sighs.

I had a Literature assignment today so I fished out my books and stationeries from my school bag and started working on it. Time flew. I knew it was four o’clock when the door bell rang.

I took my own sweet time going downstairs, stopping for a glass of orange juice at the kitchen, looked through the stack of mails placed on the TV console. Before getting the key to unlock the door, I thought that I had forgotten to close the door to the refrigerator and headed back leisurely to make sure. It was closed. Oh, what a waste of time. I giggled.

The incessant ringing of the door bell was music to my ears. I finally took hold the key, stretched myself a little and opened the door. A perspiring Kyuhyun greeted me at my doorstep. I smiled broadly and said, “Hot day, isn’t it?” He grunted and stepped into my house wiping away at his persperation.

“Where is Mrs. Lee?” Kyuhyun asked looking around not finding her anywhere.

“Hiding.” I answered flatly as I locked the door.

“Huh?” He had the cheek to look innocent.

“Don’t pretend.” I accused. He maintained his innocent look. “She went shopping for groceries. And it had been two hours already. Hmm, I wonder if she went shopping at the other side of the country” I tapped my chin and wondered aloud sarcastically.

“I’m sure she had more than grocery shopping to do.” Kyuhyun reasoned. “I need a cold drink.” He proceeded to raid my refrigerator and found the last can of diet coke that I was saving for later. I was too late in rescuing my drink. He already had his damn lips on the lid of the can when I reached him.

“That is mine!” I fisted my hands in an attempt to resist pushing the can upwards for the fizzy liquid to flood his stupid face.

“Mine now.” He smiled sweetly. I growled menacingly and stormed up the stairs with Kyuhyun following me.

I so wanted to slam the door in his face. He seemed to know my intention and quickly slipped passed me into my room before I could do anything. With no one around, I did not even bother closing the door. What I saw next had me rooted to the ground – he was helping himself to my high-back leather chair at my desk. I huffed, crossed my arms across my chest and cleared my throat loudly. Any normal person would have gotten the message and scoot but not him. Instead, he pointed to the folded plastic chair leaning against the wall indicating that that was my seat today.

“Either you get out of my chair or out of my house. Your choice.” I declared as calmly as possible.

“None of the above.” Kyuhyun replied. “Let me give you another option.” He pointed to his lap with a sleazy grin.

“No ing way!” I narrowed my eyes and was mentally cursing him all sorts of colourful phrases. I then pulled the plastic chair over, unfolded it and sat down but kept a distance away from him. He noticed the gap and pulled himself nearer by rolling my chair with his on it over.

“Don’t be shy, Minnie.” He said with artificial sweetness.

“I have always wanted to punch your face ever since the day I first met you.” I said matching his sweetness.

“Aww, that’s not nice. Didn’t your mom tell you to be nice to me?” He reminded.

“Yes, unfortunately she did but I didn’t plan on listening when she’s not around.” I hissed and pull out the books required for Math and put away my half done Literature assignment. Better get it over and done with quickly.

With that thought like a mantra in my head, we started the lesson and I found myself listening attentively to Kyuhyun’s teachings. Understanding the logic behind each concept makes application so much easier. With that down in my head, I redid the sloppily done worksheets from yesterday with much ease. Not that it was error free. I was still not there yet. Kyuhyun corrected me a few time along the way. At least he seemed satisfied with my progress.

Kyuhyun went through my paper after I was done to make sure they were correct. I stretched myself and looked at the clock on my desk. It’s almost six in the evening and I wondered why my mom wasn’t home yet.

“You will still have to complete today’s set of worksheets. Those you worked on earlier were yesterday’s.” Kyuhyun reminded as he passed the marked papers back to me.

“Ahhh….” I whined like a girl. “Give me a break can? I still have my Literature assignment to work on and it was only half done.” I said while tugging on Kyuhyun’s shirt sleeve and twisting my body left and right. I widened my eyes cutely at him. He looked stunned. Almost there.

“Alrighttt….” He conceded but his sentence seemed suspiciously incomplete. “….do half then.” I knew he won’t let me off so easily. I gave him a flat look. Better half than everything.

“Fine, but it...” I was about to negotiate further when my mobile phone rang. It was my mom. About time, I thought.

“Helloo mom, did you get lost on your way home?” I asked with mocked concern all the while staring at Kyuhyun accusingly. He chuckled softly.

“No, of course not, don’t be silly baby.” Mom gasped dramatically.” It’s just that I had gone overboard with the shopping and will now need your dad to come fetch me back with all these bags.” She paused and then continued. “So he will be picking me up after work and we will be having dinner outside before returning home.”

“Eh?! What about me?” I lowered my gaze and asked with a hurt expression and a pout.

“Sweetie, please settle dinner on your own. Let me remind you again not to skip meals. Remember, you are anemic.” she warned.

“You know I hate to eat alone. You could have taken a taxi bac….” I whined and was interrupted by her shrill voice saying that my dad had arrived and the rustling of paper bags was heard before the line was cut with a quick bye sweetie, eat well. She hung up on me.

With a heavy sigh, I replaced my phone on my desk. I couldn’t cook to save my life so I would have to go out to get food. Eating with Eunhyuk and Donghae at this time of the day was not an option either as they lived too far away from me. I was moping when I heard a voice beside me saying, “…have to get my own dinner too. Do you want to have dinner with me?”

“Have dinner with you?” I asked and wanted to continue with over my dead body but I held back. Better with him than no one, I figured. “But I’m broke.” I decided to push my luck.

“My treat then.” Kyuhyun beamed. Why was he so happy to have dinner with me? I shrugged it off thinking he was probably making use of me as I was with his company. I briefly wondered if he was a loner. Maybe I should try to get to know him slightly better over dinner later.

“I want a regular Cheesy 7 Bliss pan pizza all to myself with side orders of chicken diplets and tortilla chips. Oh, and iced milo, upsized.” I had wanted to scare him with my appetite but he seemed delighted that I can eat that much. His eyes shined with my choice of food.

“How can you eat so much and keep in shape?” Kyuhyun chuckled and pointed to my slim body.

“Don’t tell you.” I replied childishly. There’s no secret, really. I just don’t get fat no matter how much I eat. Maybe walking ten steps a day helped? “Come on, let’s go already. I’m hungry.” I said urging Kyuhyun to speed up his packing.


~~~~ END OF PART 6 ~~~~