Sunday night, 08:00 PM

 

‘Mari, come downstairs, dinner is ready,’ Mrs. Park called her only daughter.

 

‘In a minute!’ Mari yelled from her room.

 

What dinner in 8 PM? Wfftttt … but Mari could not complaint either, today, her mother was home late and Mari was already had her dinner actually but if she refused to go down and having dinner it just gave her much trouble and of course she did not want to, enough dealing with her Uncle this week, yeah that was enough, indeed.

 

‘Mari!!!’ another shouted had been heard.

 

‘I’m here Mum,’ Mari leaned down through the balcony rails, gave her mother a slight view that she was on her way.

 

Mari raised her eyebrows when she saw a define figure she did not want to see. Mari sighed and questioned herself, would he stay for dinner? And she hurriedly hung up her phone-call before he gave Mari another trouble.

 

‘What take you so long?’ Mrs. Park nagged.

 

Mari pouted, ‘I was studying Mum,’ and Mari could swear she saw devilish smirk from the man sitting next to her but she tried to ignore him. ‘I’ve got C+ for my Math today,’

 

‘And what are you doing?’ Mrs. Park glared at her only daughter, ‘C+? What score is that?’

 

Mari rolled her eyes, her spoon was suspended in the air,

 

‘I was studying ‘till you disturb me Mum!’ Mari retorted.

 

Mrs. Park glared again by Mari’s raised voice but Mari shrugged it off.

 

‘Don’t tell me I’ve to work with those numbers in the future Mum, ‘cause my brain can’t handle it. I don’t think math will do good in my future life.’ She continued.

 

The man next to Mari cuckled hard and Mrs. Park glared to her daughter again.

 

‘Yes, just continue to write your story and I bet you’ll be struggling to count your money then,’ Mrs. Park mocked sarcastically.

 

‘Don’t worry Noona, she’ll do everything necessary and you can count on me to watch over her on school,’ the man said and winked wickedly to Mari only to receive death glare from her. For sure, Mari needed to suppress the temptation to kick her only Uncle very hard.

 

Yes, he is Mari’s uncle. Mrs. Park’s younger brother in law also Mari’s literary teacher. Mari and Mr. Jung relationship is just like “Tom and Jerry” bickering in every chance they meet, even at the dinner today.

 

Mari had every right to be mad toward her uncle because her uncle made Mari spent whole weekend in front of her laptop, writing stories to make up her detention because of her coming late shool last Monday.

 

Well, that was not Mari’s first time coming late to school because she is almost late everyday! Mari really hates to wake up early, her schoolife is always depend on alarm live. And the worst one was the last Monday. She barely arrived at school about 15 minutes before Mr. Jung’s class ended.

 

Mari was still fully remember how Mr. Jung’s voice beautifully welcoming her that morning.

 

‘Oh, you come Miss. Park.’ He said that day and Mari was anticipating what will happen next. ‘Ah you have 15 minutes to write me 2 stories, 10 pages each,’

 

Mari knew that it would be happenned and nothing she could do but get out from the class. It was stupid to try to write now because no matter she try she would not make it to write 20 pages in 15 minutes let alone she had to think what to write.

 

Mari sighed.

 

Cursing with her sleepyhead state, Mari sat down in front of Mr. Jung’s desk in his office. Yes Mari was waiting for him at his office, waiting for her detention although she was almost sure she knew what her punishment would be.

 

Mari’s head hung low when she made her way into her class for her next class. Mr. Jung’s announcement was really cool, 2 stories a day means 12 stories a week and 120 pages.

 

‘How cool my life is,’ Mari muttered.

 

Being as jerk as he was, Mr. Jung was also Mari’s only place to run away from her mother. Mari hated to admit but her uncle was good at keeping secret. Although lately Mari suspected that it was not for helping her but to threat her.

 

 

***

 

 

Mari was sitting next to her uncle in bubble tea shop after school. As much as Mari did not want to seek help from the wickest man on earth — at least for Mari — but she had to. And Jung Yonghwa was there, sitting all silent, did not trouble himself to ask or start the conversation.

 

‘I need your help,’ Mari said at last, maybe she realized it was her who needed something from the man sitting next to her.

 

The man did not seem interested and just sipping his tea once in a while.

 

‘Uncle,’ Mari called.

 

The Uncle was staying still.

 

‘Yonghwa!’

 

‘What did you call me?’ just then the man paid attention to her and his eyes widened.

 

‘I’m asking for help,’ Mari said but clearly she restrained herself not to yell as usual.

 

‘If it’s about the judo boy, then nope,’ Yonghwa shrugged.

 

Mari knew it would be coming this way, and she sighed. Yes, the judo boy was the only reason she was sitting here right now. The judo boy, her first love and her first boyfried.

 

‘He’s worth it,’ Mari tried to convince him and he was just staring at her with question look. ‘Oh please don’t fool me, I know you’ve been observed him,’ Yonghwa smirked. ‘Okay, I have a deal, if any one of us down graded, you can tell Mum,’

 

Yonghwa still seemed to be uninterested with the deal and Mari had nothing to do either, her Mum is very strict especially when it comes to relationship with opposite gender. Mari agreed to follow her mother’s rule for not being in the relationship before she graduated from high school but who knows that love was just greeting her?

 

‘Alright, just like what you said. Make sure you won’t mess up your promise,’ he finally approved.

 

‘Thank you!!! Have I ever told you that I love you?’ and Yongwa chuckled upon hearing that.

 

***

 

 

‘I’m done,’ Mari announced and she processed leaving the dinner room.

 

‘And where you’ll be going?’ her Mum questioned her.

 

‘Your beloved and only brother make your only daughter suffering in front of her notebook Mum, where do you think I’ll be going?’ said Mari sarcastically and the man sitting next to her was just snickering.

 

‘Watch your language Mari, you’re not supposed to talk about your Uncle like that,’

 

Mari sighed and Yonghwa snickered – again − and all Mari could do was glaring.

 

Truth to be told, Mari was not going anywhere on pupose, she was just wandering around the city she lives at, trying to catch herself with some ideas for her story. She sure needed a lot of story especially when her detention was coming almost every week with all her habit of being late.

 

I should really learn how to wake up early.

 

Sighed.

 

 

***

 

 

Sunday 10 PM

 

 

Mari groaned and cursed her mother, she just left for couple of hours and her mother left her alone in the house.

 

“Dear, be a good girl Mum will sleep over at Granny’s, she’s feeling unwell, I love you”

 

That’s all. The sticky note she found at the fridge door.

 

Mari sighed and made her way to her room, throwing herself into the matress. It took her minutes to try to close her eyes but unfortunately those ideas of new story messing up her brain. Many characters were yelling and screaming at each other and that driving her insane.

 

Mari reached out her laptop and started to write, word by word and Mari was too immersed on her doing when she caught of shock, it was 4 o’clock in the morning.

 

‘Dammit!’ she cursed once she shut down her laptop and threw a blanket over her body.

 

 

***

 

 

Monday 6 AM

 

Kriiiiiiing, kriiiiiiiing, kriiiiiiiiiiing

 

No movement.

 

Ten minutes later, the cocoon was still the same, lying asleep in dead state.

 

After the first ten minutes.

 

 

Kriiiiiing, kriiiiiiiiing, kriiiiiiiiiing

 

A hand reached out the square table clock and shutted the alarm. The cocoon rolled to the other side of the bed, and sleepily sat up. The state did not last until five minutes because then her heavy head surrender and fell back to the pillow again.

 

Another interruption messed up with Mari’s nice sleep when chorus of Come On rang louder in her room. Mari reached out her cell phone and was about to snap to whoever who speak on the other line when her ear soothed by an innocent voice there.

 

‘Mari, where are you? Are you not coming to school? —’ it was Jungshin, her boyfriend and Mari’s eyes shot open immediately.

 

Mari no longer paid attention on Jungshin’s another words as she dreadfully saw the clock and it was already 8 AM!

 

 

Crap!

 

 

 

 

School was just started and the first subject every Monday is Literary.

 

 

 

 

 

Great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indeed.

 

With all her might, Mari tried to catch her breath and arrive at school as soon as possible.  And she was success to cut an hour of driving to be half an hour. Once she stepped out from the cab — yes Mari hailed a cab instead of waiting for her bus — she run to get pass the security gate. It took some time for her to be finally allowed to go inside the school building.

 

Mari could imagine what would happen once she openned the class door but she shook the ideas away, nervously she straighten herself  before knocked the door.

 

The devil with angel’s look named Mr. Jung Yonghwa, the almighty Literary teacher was there, sitting and smiling beautifully to her as he welcomed her to the class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Good morning Miss. Park, you have 25 minutes to write me two stories, ten pages each.’

 

 

 

Happy belated brithday Yonghwa :)))

the book this story featured entitled In Between read here for more another story who also featured in the book entitled Sweet Holiday