The Mess She Left Behind

“I’ve had enough. I think it’s time you go back school. I’m sick of seeing you so upset and moping around the house. It’s been months, Min. You should’ve pulled yourself together long ago”

Months? 3 months and 2 days to be exact. 

“Everyone is expecting to hear an official statement about you dropping out, but I won’t have that. You can’t make me look bad, Min. Bad happens. Stop embarrassing me and get over it. You’ll start your last junior year semester with all the other normal students. I should’ve never allowed your father to hire you that useless tutor. It was just an excuse to not face things”

Was it?

The bedroom door slammed shut, but Min didn’t move until she heard the clanking of heels disappear. Her small hand tightened around the mechanical pencil and then slammed it on her desk. She hunched over, her hair falling over the essay her useless tutor had assigned her and began to tear it up. “You’ve had enough?” Min said through clenched teeth. She slammed her hands on the desk before pushing her chair back and standing up. She began to pace her room, hugging herself and shutting her eyes tight 

“I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go back”, She mumbled under her breath. Her long hair continuously fell forward, prickling her face and she continued to pace as she irritatingly brushed it back. “Oh god dammit!” She hissed, stopping her pacing and walked back to her desk, immediately grabbing her scissors. She wrapped a bundle of hair around her hand and pulled it, placing it between the two blades. Without hesitation she snipped away her long locks. When she was done, she dropped the scissors on the floor and began to run her hands through her new short hair. She knew it was probably uneven, but in that moment she didn’t give a damn. 

Min closed her eyes and began to take some deep breaths. When she opened them, she felt her previous anxiety dissipate and glanced over to her nightstand where her car keys sat. She reached for her jacket decorating her lounge chair and grabbed the keys, then swiftly made her way out of her room. 

“…Oh I know! Completely tacky and such a horrible c-, Min, where the hell do you think you’re going?” Min ignored her mother’s question as she passed through the hall. “Min!....Oh nothing. Just this girl giving me headaches…her father returned her all messed-” Min made sure to slam the front door extra hard. Am I some sort of package? She thought, getting into her car and slamming her car door hard as well. She the engine and backed out of the driveway, not failing to notice that her mother hadn’t even bothered to come out to stop her. 

Min drove without a destination in mind. She stopped at a red light and glanced to her left, seeing the café she would visit often with her friends. She looked away and stared straight ahead, but when the light turned green, instead of continuing forward, she turned into the parking lot across the a café. 

After getting out of the car she walked over to the curb clenching her hands inside her pockets as she waited for the light to turn green. She kept her stare on the coffee shop, remembering the many times she would come here to listen to the live music and laugh with her best friends. When the little green man appeared, Min hastily crossed the street. When she was standing in front of the café, she placed her small hand on the handle, but didn’t turn it right away. After taking a deep breath she pushed opened the door and stepped into the beautifully scented café. She rubbed her nervous hands together as she made her way to the counter.

“Min?” Min glanced up and saw one of her closest friend, Nicole standing there in her work uniform. “It is you,” She said, her widened eyes slowly going back to normal. “It’s me”, Min said, offering her a weak smile. She noticed Nicole glance at her hair, but she didn’t say anything and simply smiled back. “It’s good to see you”, She said, leaning over the counter to give her a tight hug. “Same” Min told her when she pulled back. Nicole nodded and seemed to recall that she worked there. “Right. What would you like?” She said in a sincere friendly tone. It wasn’t forced like the one she used with difficult and rude customers and it made Min smile when she thought back of the way she would go on and on about how disgustingly impolite people were. 

“I mean, I’m honestly surprised they haven’t gotten punched in the face with those comments” “Maybe they have, but just got used to it and the syndrome is simply incurable”

Min’s smile quickly disappeared when she recalled who had added to Nicole’s conversation. 

“Just coffee. No, wait. Um, just green tea. Medium.” Nicole nodded and punched in the order. “No sugar?” “No” Min answered, taking out some dollars from her pockets, that she honestly didn’t know she had. After paying she went to sit down near the pick-up counter and that’s when she noticed that there was someone familiar playing music on the small stage. 

Fortunately, James hadn’t seen her. His eyes were closed and he was solely focused on playing his instrument. Min watched him with admiration. She had always loved seeing him play. She loved seeing the passion in his music and the passion he exhibited when he played it. It made him look a thousands times more handsome. 

“It’s his own song apparently” Min jumped slightly, startled by the voice next to her and for a split second fearing she had said her thoughts out loud. But Nicole was calmly putting on the cap on her drink, “I thought Moon wrote the songs” “Yeah, well, I guess so does James” Nicole said, sliding the drink to Min. “There you go” “Thanks” Nicole nodded to him, “You going to go talk to him?” Min looked away from James and shook her head. “No. I should probably get going. It’s late and my mother isn’t exactly happy with me right now” She noticed the disappointment in Nicole’s eyes. “Oh? So soon? Well, all right. I guess I’ll…” She trailed off awkwardly. “See you soon” Min finished for her with a smile. “I’m going back to school, so I’ll definitely be seeing you” Nicole grinned, “That’s great! Then I’ll see you tomorrow” Min nodded and waved. “Goodnight” “Goodnight!” 

Min waved again before stepping out into the cold and then took a long sip of her drink that warmed her up instantly. “Yeah. Back to school. Great.” She mumbled under her breath then leaned her head against the concrete pole as she waited for the light to change. She didn’t want to think about it. 

“Hey” Min looked over her shoulder and was surprised to see James standing next to her, adjusting his guitar over his shoulder. “Hi” Min answered, keeping her gaze on him and wondering if he had seen her and tried to catch up to her or was genuinely done playing.

James had always been a good-looking guy, freakishly tall, but hands down model status. He, along with his two bad members, are popular at their school and are even loved by the students of neighboring schools as well. They play small gigs and are constantly working with their music. If it weren’t because they promised their parents they would graduate high school, they would probably be out touring in their beat up van this instant. 

James glanced down at her and faced forward again. “Nice hair” Min’s gaze fell and slowly began to face forward. Even half an hour later, she didn’t regret cutting it, in fact, she honestly felt better with her short hair, but she couldn’t help feel embarrass that she had done it in the moment of an emotional breakdown. She let her mother get to her again. 

“Thanks” She said quietly, taking a step forward when the light went green. When she got to the other side, she headed to her car, but James spoke up. “I wasn’t making fun of you” Min stopped walking and turned around to look at him. He shrugged lightly, “I meant it” He gave her a small smile, “Short hair looks good on you” Min stared at him, trying to find a glimpse of deceit, but he was being sincere. He had always been sincere with her. 

Min mustered up another weak smile, “Thanks. I’ll see you at school” She her heel. “So you’re coming back?” Min ran a hand through her hair and sighed, “Unfortunately” She said quietly, not waiting to see if he had heard her or not. 

Once in her car she let out a long breath and drove back home. As she passed through the hallway, she saw her mother passed out on the couch, with two alcohol bottles and her phone near by. Min rolled her eyes and headed straight to her room. She locked her door and grabbed her scissors again, then headed to the bathroom. She ruffled her hair and began to fix it the best she could. For now her mind was on her hair and not on Hyoyeon. 

▲

Min stared out her window, her chin on the top of the steering wheel and her hands clutching the bottom part tightly.

BEEP! 

“Jesus gosh darn Christ!” Min cried out, her wide eyes shifting to the person who had tapped on her window. The loud taps had startled her and caused her hand to press down on the horn, evoking the loud, frightening sound. The blonde guy standing outside her door watched her with an amused smile on his face. Min released a long sigh before cutting the engine and grabbing her backpack.

“Moon, I almost died of fright”, She said, closing her door. Moon chuckled and ruffled her hair, “Sorry kid” Min waved him off and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She circled her hand around her backpack strap and looked at the school in front of them. “It’s not going to eat you” Moon told her when he saw her fearful eyes. “So you say” She whispered, but shook off the fear and bravely took a few steps forward. She stopped and peeked over her shoulder and saw Moon still standing there with his treasured guitar on his back. “You coming?” Min asked nervously, making Moon chuckle and nod. “Yeah, sure. I’ll walk you to your locker” Min gave him a bashful smile and waited for him to catch up before walking into the school together.

Even though Min had her small share of fellow junior friends, she was also close to some of the seniors at her school, but mainly because of her cousin, Hyoyeon. Unlike most older siblings or older family members, Hyo loved having Min around and they grew up being best friends. Min got along with some of Hyoyeon’s friends and Hyo got along with pretty much all of Min’s friends, which in returned formed into a big group of friends at their high school. It helped that most of them even knew each other since they were in elementary and middle school. 

But even though Min was one of Hyo’s best friends, Hyo still had friends in her grade that Min wasn’t exactly on good terms with. Hyo was a friendly girl, could be feisty, but liked being part of the crowd and sometimes followed the “popular girls” Min never liked. They were the typical mean girls. Rude, cocky and spoiled like hell. Still, Hyoyeon loved to go to parties and exclusive clubs with them and they seemed to accept Hyoyeon as well. Even if they didn’t like Min and Min didn’t like them, she was at least glad they weren’t faking their friendship with Hyo. 

“Here it is”, Min said, looking down at the piece of paper in her hand then at the locker in front of her. “And you made it without losing an arm. Congrats” Moon teased as he ruffled her hair again. “Thanks” She mumbled, patting down her messed up hair. Moon waved his hand and continued down the hall. Min turned to her locker and quickly opened it up. She organized her notebooks and textbooks inside and left the books she would need for her first two classes in her backpack. After zipping up her backpack, she stumbled forward as her palms collided with the lockers.

“You shouldn’t have come back, murderer” Min looked over her shoulder and saw Gina walking away, not bothering to even glace at her. She swallowed, watching as the tall beauty walked out of the building. She immediately took notice of the glances some of the students were throwing her from their lockers and quickly straightened up and headed to her first class. She didn’t care if she was early, just as long as she was out of sight.

“Woah, there” Min felt two hands on her shoulders after she turned the corner and almost collided with the tall senior. “Sorry” Min said, stepping back and letting James hands fall from her shoulders. She side stepped him and continued her way. “What? No hello?” She heard him call out, but Min didn’t stop. Once she reached her classroom she let out a sigh of relief and slid down the wall to wait for her teacher to open the door. She reached into her bag and took out her headphones, pushing play and leaning her head back. She listened to her music in peace, trying to calm her nerves. There were two people she wanted to avoid at school, especially on her first day back: Gina and James. Yet classes hadn’t even started and she had already seen both of them. 

Something soft brush against her shoulder and her eyes shot open. She turned her head and saw a blonde boy with a fedora hat listening to his music next to her. “What is it with your group and trying to kill me?” She said, feeling her muscles relax. Soo-Yoon chuckled and removed his headphones completely. “Really?” Min mimicked his move and let her headphones drop around her neck. “Well, Moon almost gave me a heart attack, I almost collided to my death on freakishly tall James and you followed your leaders move to make my heart jump out of my chest” Soo-Yoon made a face, “Sorry, but you’re usually not so jumpy” Min sighed, “I’m a nervous wreck” She mumbled. Soo-Yoon nodded in understanding. “Yeah. I bet” “I saw Gina” Soo-Yoon gave her a concern look, “Did she do anything to you?” Min shook her head, “Just said something”, Min whispered. 

“Listen Min, a lot of the students that…that did that to you, they do regret it. Especially after finding out the real reason as to why you crashed. They need to apologize to you, no doubt, but it won’t be like before. They’re ashamed to even look at you” “Doesn’t seem like Gina regrets it. She still blames me” “She’s stupid” Min shrugged lightly. “What happened wasn’t your-” Min held up a hand, stopping Soo-Yoon. “I know, I just don’t want to hear it right now. Please” Soo-Yoon nodded. “Okay” Min dropped her hand and put on her headphones again, a clear indication that she didn’t want to talk. Soo-Yoon did the same and they sat there quietly waiting for the door to open. 

▲

“Got any plans for Valentine’s day?” Nicole asked Min as they stepped out of their 4th period class. “Me?” Min pointed at her herself and raised her eyebrows at Nicole, who rolled her eyes at her reaction. “I’m just making conversation” Min nudged her, “You have any plans?” “Not with, like, someone, but Royal Pirates are having a mini concert at the café that night for all the single people or couples or whatever. They point is they’re performing that day. Do you want to be my date?” Min weighed her options. If she went, that meant a possible face to face with James. Then again, he would probably be too busy with his fans, because Royal Pirates did have their handful of fans. Now on the other hand, she hadn’t hung out with Nicole in a long time and it would be fun. Besides, she missed hanging out with her. Nicole was more important than her need to avoid James. 

“Sure. I’d be an honor to be your date” Nicole grinned and looped her arm through hers. “Great. Make sure to dress up pretty for me” Min would’ve nudged her or rolled her eyes, but she had stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Gina talking to her group of friends near the cafeteria doors. 

“You okay?” Nicole asked concerned about her sudden change of expression and then followed her gaze. “She won’t do anything to you. She doesn’t have the stupid back up she had last time” Nicole said, trying to reassure her, but even with Nicole’s words, Min wasn’t stupid. People may feel bad for shunning her, but Gina ruled the school. Said people would be stupid to go against her click. Not because they were class A bullies that got physical, but because who would be foolish enough to go against the principal’s daughter? 

“Min?” Min swallowed, “I’m not hungry,” She said as she detached herself from Nicole and sped away before Gina saw her. Min knew she was being a coward, but she didn’t want to face Gina yet. Not only did she frighten her, but getting kicked out of the school that would help her get into a good college kept her from saying anything. Her mother had allowed her to enter the arts school, but only if it was a top one and her father was more than willing to pay for it if it meant helping his daughter achieve her dreams of becoming a dancer. She couldn’t disappoint him like that. Sure the principal wasn’t a bad man and was fair with all the students, but Min didn’t want to take the chance. She couldn’t do that to her father and the majority of the students were too scared to take the risk of confronting her as well. 

She rushed down the hall, making a quick turn and colliding with a firm chest. “Woah. Again?” The familiar pair of hands gripped her arms and softly pushed her back. “You okay?” James asked, eyeing the nervous look on her face. Min quickly recovered and pulled back again. “Yeah. I-I forgot my textbook in class,” She said, faking a smile. James opened his mouth to say something, but she sped right past him before he had the chance. 

James messed up his hair in frustration and watched her scurry away. Moon stepped over to James and looked towards the direction Min ran off to. “What’s up with her?” He asked, making James sigh exasperatedly. “She’s been avoiding me all day. Do I look like I’m suffering from the bubonic plague or something?” Moon lifted his hand, “Nope. Must be your face” James yanked his hand away and sneered at his friend, who simply smirked. 

“Hey, have you guys seen Min?” Nicole asked when she spotted the duo. “Yeah, she ran towards her last class” James said, pointing forward. Nicole furrowed her eyebrows, “Our class isn’t that way” “Well she said she left her book in class and ran as fast as she could that way” “What made her run for the hills?” Moon asked noticing Nicole’s worried expression. “Gina” “Did she do something to her?” James asked, immediately turning to look at Nicole. “No. Min just saw her and ran” “She was terrified of coming into the school this morning too” Moon added. “Well after how they treated her…” “Don’t remind me,” James mumbled. 

Getting cornered and getting stuff thrown at you, while the whole school chanted “murderer” around you would scar anyone. 

“I’m going to go find her” Nicole said, “Did you invite her to our performance?” James asked before she walked away. “I did and sorry, she’s my date” Nicole teased, winking at James and waving at Moon. Moon chuckled and waved back, nudging James, who rolled his eyes. “She’s funny” “Hilarious” James said drily. Moon crossed his arms around his chest, “You think there’s anything we can do to help Min out?”

“Yeah. Bring Hyo back” James answered. Moon lowered his eyes and nodded, “Yeah. If only” 

▲

Min leaned her chin on her knee and stared absentminded