Chapter 18

Sweet potato milk.

Min laughed when she heard this was the secret to acquiring tall height believed by Kikwang a long time ago. It was told to her by him when they went grocery shopping together one night. This was during the time period of them dating, of course. Kikwang said that when he was younger, a person he was close to had persuaded him to perform a ritual that consisted of drinking one cup of sweet potato milk, humming the tune to the “Three Little Bears” song, and skipping on his right foot in a circle three times. He did this ritual every day for a year but did not grow any taller.

Min called Kikwang a babo but she wanted to buy the sweet potato milk to drink anyway. She also bought chips and ingredients for a stew her grandma likes to make. Kikwang bought his usual pack of skinless chicken s and an assortment of fruit before they headed to the check-out counter at the entrance.

Earlier, Kikwang and Min were reading the latest polls for celebrities in a magazine. Kikwang and Min were both voted as shortest celebrities in one of the polls. It was then that Kikwang told Min about the belief he used to have about sweet potato milk and its consumption combined with certain other actions being the answer to ridding his petite stature.

Before Kikwang started this year-long habit involving sweet potato milk, he would put inserts inside his shoes to add a couple of inches to his height. He was twelve-years-old and at an age where he started noticing girls as more than creatures of the opposite gender. He grew fond of one girl ,in particular. She was in his class at school.

One day, at the school playground, he walked up to her and revealed a clasped hand, his right hand. The girl asked what was in his hand and Kikwang loosened his fingers and spread his palm to reveal a tiny snail. He did not know why he brought a snail to show the girl and felt some regret at the moment. She probably feels revolted by the insect, he thought.

However, to Kikwang's surprise, she shouted “cool!” in excitement. She asked if Kikwang named the snail already and if her knew whether it was female or male. He shook his head.

“Hmm, we can sit in the grass over there and think of a name together for the little guy or girl,” The girl stated.

“By the way, my name is Kang Sujin. What's yours?,” She asked.

“Lee Kikwang”, Kikwang told her.

Sujin and Kikwang sat by the grass that afternoon for an hour before deciding on a gender-neutral name for the snail. Eun-chan was the name they decided. Afterwards, they thought about sharing Eun-Chan as a pet. In the end, they felt it best to set Eun-Chan free to live the natural life of a snail instead of the domesticated existance of a pet.

Sujin and Kikwang became fast friends since their conversation on the school playground. They often walked to school together and exchanged the lunches their parents gave them. They spent a lot of time together and Kikwang soon began daydreaming about kissing Sujin and holding her hand. He kept these daydreams to himself but could not help the bright smile on his face whenever Sujin was around him.

One Saturday, Sujin called Kikwang on the phone and said she had something to confess to him. She told him to meet her at the bookstore near his house in the afternoon. Kikwang wondered if Sujin was calling to meet him to tell him that he made her smile as greatly as she made him smile.

Kikwang took his time getting ready. He put on his favorite crew-neck shirt and pulled his best khaki pants out of his closet to wear. His father was at work so he briefly went into his parents' room and dabbed a bit of dad's cologne on his neck and face. Instead of cooking her usual kimchi stew, Kikwang's mom made pasta as she called it. She saw the recipe for the pasta on a cooking show. Kikwang made sure to be neat while eating his lunch and thanked his mom for the meal.

Kikwang told her that he was going to the bookstore and went outside where to where his bike was. He rode his bike a couple of blocks to the bookstore and found Sujin standing outside. She looked nervous and was fidgeting with her hands. She smiled and greeted Kikwang. They went inside the store and found a small table and seats by the shelves of books for pre-teens.

Kikwang and Sujin sat down and she offered him a cookie she brought from home. Kikwang shook his head and told Sujin to go ahead and eat it. Sujin started to munch on her cookie and Kikwang's anticipation grew restless.

“Sujin, is there something you want to tell me”, Kikwang finally asked.

“There is. But now that you're here, I'm nervous, “ Sujin replied.

Kikwang reassured her not to be nervous and to relax. He told her that she should just say what she has to say. Sujin nodded and started her confession.

“Well there's this boy... He's new to the school. I met him a couple of days ago while you were playing soccer at your practices.

Sujin paused to finish her cookie and continued, “ He's really tall and he is a year older than us. He plays basketball and I really like him!”

Sujin touched her cheeks with her fingers as they were turning flushed.

Meanwhile, Kikwang was crestfallen at this news. He really thought Sujin would confess to liking him and not to this other boy. However, he smiled and told Sujin that what she said was fantastic. He told her that he was happy for her.

For the next few days after Sujin confessed to Kikwang about liking a boy when they were at the bookstore, Kikwang found it unbearable to be Sujin's friend and be around her. Kikwang discovered that the boy's name was Ji Joon. He was also told by Sujin that Ji Joon liked to wear baseball caps and his favorite color was green. Ji Joon was very tall for his age and played on the basketball team.

Kikwang remembers the conversation vividly when Sujin told him that Ji Joon played basketball. She stated that his height helped him in playing the sport and that he was unusuallly tall for a Korean boy his age. Then, she continued and told Kikwang that she will tell him Ji Joon's secret. The secret of Ji Joon that she disclosed to Kikwang was that the reason he was so tall is that he drank sweet potato milk every day. So, she told the ritual that Ji Joon did to Kikwang which was the one that Kikwang recited to Min.

Over the next few days, Kikwang began a ritual of drinking sweet potato milk and humming the “three bears” tune. Afterwards, he would skip on his leg three times. However, there was no change. In addition, Sujin began spending more and more time with Ji Joon. This seemed to bring an inexplicable stabbing pain towards Kikwang's insides. He dealt with this excruciating sensation by turning to soccer.

He may be too short to play basketball but Kikwang was a natural at soccer. He made goals from far away with his powerful kicks. He played a great offense and did well in defense too. He would be on the soccer field late after his game practices still training and playing. It would be quite dark and his mom would call him to ride his bike home.

One time, when he was staying on the soccer field after all his teammates left since practice was over, he saw two shadows coming towards him. The shadows belonged to Sujin and Ji Joon.

Sujin yelled at him from across the field, “ Yah! Kikwang! Have you been ignoring me?”

Kikwang thought to himself about what she said and scoffed. I'm the one who was ignoring her? She's got some nerve...

He sighed and tried to smile as she saw the pair walking towards him. What will happen next, he wondered.

Author's note: Short chapter. Wanted to update before I get too busy. Sorry for mistakes. Will proofread later. Another flashback chapter. It will continue in the next chapter as well.