http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g6OO36VEng

2Eyes: Winter Love

=============================================

As the week progressed, Jongsuk continued to be sweet to Minjoo. He ate lunch with her, partnered up with her during physical education class, and protected her from Hyunseok. On one hand, Minjoo was grateful for his kindness, but on the other hand, she was distrustful.

Why exactly was he being nice to her? She couldn’t help but be paranoid that he was doing this for a hidden reason.

Maybe he was in a secret team with Hyunseok and his friends to humiliate her.

Maybe he just wanted to gain her dependence and then yank out the carpet of trust underneath her.

Or maybe he was doing this solely out of pity.

He felt sorry for her pitiful life. He wanted to do charity work. He wanted to write about this woeful experience in his personal statement for college.

Minjoo tapped the end of her pen against her paper as she thought about all of this.

“Good morning,” A voice pulled her back to reality.

Minjoo looked up to see Jongsuk sweeping into the classroom. He placed his backpack on the ground and then sat beside her. He crossed one leg over the other and then looked at her. He was able to read the insecurities in her mind. “How are you?” He asked. Why are you being so nice to me? What is your motive? Minjoo wondered. Slowly, she nodded to indicate that she was good. Liar. You don’t trust me, Jongsuk thought.

During science, the class went to the lab to build their individual trebuchets. Minjoo tapped her finger against her lower lip and looked at the instructions in confusion. She was never keen on building objects. In fact, physics was her worst subject. She had loved biology, and she had taken an interest in chemistry, but physics always gave her a massive migraine.

Jongsuk finished building his trebuchet in less than the hour given and turned his head to check on Minjoo. She looked vexed. He slightly pinched his eyes together to get a look into her mind. This is so complicated. How do you build this? I’m never going to finish at this rate. Jongsuk walked over and grasped the wooden beam. Minjoo looked up at him, and her eyes widened. He’s helping me again? He’s like a superhero who appears out of nowhere.

“You need to put this beam between these two wedges first.” Jongsuk put a pair of goggles on, grasped the tool, and drilled holes into the wedges in order to slip the beam between them. He took a hammer and nailed the beam between the wedges. “Now, you have to drill a hole into the end to insert the sling. You try it.” Jongsuk held out the drilling machine.

Minjoo took the object that looked like a gun and pressed the trigger. She jumped and dropped it when it made a shrieking noise.

Jongsuk picked up the driller and placed it on the table. “You need to wear your goggles first.” He picked up her goggles, came behind her, and fitted them over her eyes. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she flushed crimson. His fingers brushed her cheek, and her ears turned red. Jongsuk put the driller in her hands and nodded encouragingly towards her unfinished project. “Drill.”

Minjoo swallowed hard. She stepped towards the trebuchet, put the tip against the wood, and pressed on the trigger. Her hands vibrated at once, and she found it hard to control the heavy gadget. A pair or arms wound around her and took her by surprise. Jongsuk wrapped his hands over hers and steadied her. Her heart beat madly, and she grew weak at the knees by his mere proximity. Jongsuk focused on creating the hole with her, but his mind wavered when he could smell her scent. She smelled like spring rain: pure, natural, and heavenly, which were also the exact adjectives he would use to describe her.

Jongsuk stopped drilling and turned his head to look at her. Minjoo felt his eyes on her and slowly lifted her head to meet eyes with him. Why is he looking at me like that? Is there something on my face? I feel so embarrassed. I wish he would look away. As requested, Jongsuk turned his head away and reluctantly released her. “If you put the sling on, I’ll help you test your trebuchet.” Minjoo nodded and began to do her part.

Jongsuk watched her and smiled. He seemed to be doing that a lot more nowadays.

Lunch came, and Minjoo came outside with her food. She found herself looking forward for Jongsuk to appear. When he finally did, she looked down and pretended to have not been waiting for him. Jongsuk sat beside her and began to eat right away. Minjoo paused eating and studied his handsome face. I really want to know. Why are you being nice to me? Is it because we’re alike…or different?

“Hey, dummy!” Hyunseok came by with his cronies. Minjoo put her chopsticks down as Jongsuk regarded the boys warily. “You know there’s an oral presentation in history class, right?” Hyunseok asked.

Minjoo said nothing. She knew what he was up to.

“What are you presenting on? Oh, that’s right! I almost forgot! You can’t SPEAK like the rest of us!” Sungmin laughed behind him. The other guys glanced at each other with vile smirks that contained no mercy. Jongsuk studied their eyes and grew tense. Bastards. They really enjoy playing with her. They feel no guilt at all.

Hyunseok lifted his leg and rested his foot on the bench as he leaned down towards Minjoo. She kept her eyes on the ground. “You’re fortunate in a way. You can’t speak so you don’t have to do a damn presentation in front of the class. What is the teacher going to make you do? Write your presentation on the chalkboard?” Hyunseok taunted.

“Or maybe you can use sign language, if you know it.” Sungmin mocked her, and his friends cracked up.

I don’t know sign language. What use is sign language if no one else around me knows it? Minjoo swallowed hard and bit her lower lip.

“You know next time there’s a group oral presentation, why don’t you be in our group? We may be excused from speaking because of a disabled mute like you. Huh? Huh?” Hyunseok poked her shoulder.

Jongsuk couldn’t stand it any longer. He stood up and walked up to Hyunseok with unfriendly eyes. “You should pick on someone your size. It really sickens me when you harass others.”

Hyunseok slowly straightened up and stared at Jongsuk right in the eye. This damn bastard irks me. How dare he try to go against me. Hyunseok smirked. “What? Is she your girlfriend or something? You know, you two would make a good couple. You both are outsiders. You both are FREAKS.”

Minjoo turned bright red and squeezed her hands together. She swallowed the growing lump in and tried not to shed any tears.

Jongsuk gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. “You should shut your mouth before I do it for you.”

“Awww, are you that worried about your little mute girl toy? I know why you chose her instead of all the other girls at this school. She’s easy. She’s vulnerable. You can play with her and toss her away afterwards, and she won’t say one bad thing about you,” Hyunseok stated.

“Why didn’t I think of that before?! I should have played with her then!” Sungmin boldly declared.

Minjoo closed her eyes as tears cascaded down her face.

The sight hurt Jongsuk, and he grabbed Hyunseok by his collar. “It’s not like that.”

Hyunseok smirked. “Oh, but it is. Why else would you be with her? Come on, Lee Jongsuk. You’re a guy like us. You just want her for her goodies. Too bad when you bring her to bed, she won’t be able to moan-“

Jongsuk rammed his fist into Hyunseok’s face. “Hyunseok! You okay?” His friends cried out.

Mi