Choi Young Do started eating the cup noodles he bought at the convenience store.

He frequented convenience stores because these were the only places where it was not odd for someone to be eating by himself. He liked that he could eat instant noodles and not be bothered that he was eating alone, that he was alone.

He looked at the window and there he saw Cha Eun Sang walking by herself. Hands in her pocket, headset on her ears.

He almost jolted when their eyes met through the glass window of the convenience store.

He saw her walk towards the entrance.

She did not look at him; instead she directly went to look for something. And paid as soon as she found whatever stuff she looked to buy.

He stuck his foot out to trip her, she shrieked. “what the hell?”

He saved her with a hand grab. “Am I invisible? Didn’t you see me?”

She eyed at him sharply and jerked her hand away from his.

He tsked three times. “What a way to thank me for saving you from falling face down.”

She took her headphones off her ears and snarled at him, “you tripped me, jerk.”

She looked around, sat on the chair from the table across his and started chewing her noodles down.

He frowned. “What are you doing? I was here first.”

She did not look up and continued eating as if she didn’t hear him.

“Hey!” He tried to catch her attention, but, she put her headset back on; determined not to hear him and to treat him like he was the invisible man.

“Hey, Cha Eun Sang!” He threw a crumpled paper towards her and it landed on her noodles. She violently jerked the headphones off her ears and stood with hands on her waist.

“Did you know how much I paid for this?” she asked, referring to her ramen.

He knew she was fighting the urge to hit him with a chair, but, he just shrugged it off.

She walked towards him and kicked him hard on the leg.

“Ouch!” he cried out in pain.

She eyed at him sharply. “You may think that you’re the god at Jeguk High, but, this is not Jeguk High!”

“This is not your empire, Your Highness,” she added sarcastically.

He his hurt leg, “I’m gonna sue you for this!”

She laughed. “Oh yeah? On what ground?” She paused, “physical injury?”

She laughed again. She made a hand gesture as if she was reporting a news. “Choi Young Do files a lawsuit against Cha Eun Sang because the latter kicked him so hard he couldn’t move for days!”

Insulted, he snarled at her, “hey!”

She snarled back at him. “Don’t you hey me. Pay me for the food that I wasn’t able to finish up!” she held out her hand towards him.

He laughed. “Why should I?”

She rolled her eyes in frustration. She kicked him again. This time, she kicked so hard she almost went out of balance.

“Ouch!” he cried out in pain. “What the hell?”

She held out her hand the way one would expect a payment. “Pay me.”

He pushed her hand aside. “Do you know who you’re talking to, charity case?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. She looked down and she saw his ID on the table. Without any second thoughts, she grabbed his ID and made a run for the door.

 “Hey!”

He almost fell off his chair trying to stand up and run after her.

“Hey, Cha Eun Sang!” He called out as soon as he went out the convenience store and saw her running towards the bus stop.

He was almost out of breath when he reached her. He saw her clutched his ID tighter. “Give me that back,” he held out his hand.

“Cha Eun Sang!” She almost jumped at the sound of Choi Young Do’s voice.

 She was surprised by how angry he sounded. “No, this isn’t the time to be surprised. This freak is always angry anyway, so it doesn’t matter,” she comforted herself.

She looked at him and held out her left hand clutching his ID. He made a move to get it.

“Oops! Not so fast, Mister!” She put his ID on the back pocket of her jeans. She looked at him and said, “I’ll be keeping this as a collateral until you pay me for that cup noodles.”

She couldn’t keep herself from smiling when she saw the look on his face.

“Serves you right,” she thought.

Choi Young Do let out a frustrated sigh. “Cha Eun Sang, give me my ID back."

He breathed deeply, “Give it back while I’m asking nicely.”

She smirked. "Nice doesn't suit you."

He glared at her, she glared back. “You’re rich. You can pay. That ramen costs not more than a dollar,’ she pointed out unflustered.

“Exactly! That ramen is just a dollar so why are you making such a fuss about it?” he snapped.

 She felt a sudden wave of anger at his words. “Well, that dollar is a big deal for poor people like me!”

  “But you don’t and won’t understand that because you just go around spending money that you don’t even work hard for,” she added.

 She walked away from him.  She breathed deeply. Huh! How dare he?

He ran after her and he grabbed her arm so hard that she was forced to face him. “Just what did you mean by that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You tell me,” she eyed at him sharply and jerked her arm back. “And, it’s just an ID! Why are you making such a big fuss about it?”

They both knew that wasn’t true. It wasn’t just an ID.

No student could enter Jeguk High without an ID, not even Choi Young Do. The guards were really strict about the No ID, No Entry policy.

If he showed up at school with no ID, he could get in trouble not only with the principal but also with his father. And he wouldn’t want that, would he? Given the number of troubles he’d put himself in, his father might just be the one to kick him out of his own school.

She smiled at the thought. “Eat dirt, Choi Young Do,” she said to herself. She saw him clenched his jaw.

Under different circumstances and if Choi Young Do were a different person, she would have found him interesting. She liked it when guys get angry and their jaw does the thing.

She noticed he couldn’t hide the anger in his voice. “You’re definitely asking for it, aren’t you? You don’t know who you’re messing with!”

“Oh, I know what you are, Choi Young Do.” And with that, she left.

“This is pointless,” she thought as she walked away from him. “There’s no point arguing with him.”

“You wouldn’t be so confident if you really knew who I am!” he shouted back from behind her.

She didn’t bother looking back and continued to walk away from him.

“You don’t know me!”

She gasped at the sound of his voice.

How was he able to catch up with her and how in the Earth did she not feel him falling into a step with her?

She abruptly stopped walking, so did he. She faced him.

“I know people like you,” she said calmly.  “People who do whatever they want just because they can and they hide behind their social status. You’re no better than a monster.”

She was surprised by the look on his face. She thought she saw a flicker of pain cross his eyes but it was gone as soon as she saw it.

“A monster, you say?”

Well, it looked like she just imagined that hurt look after all.

“Well, until you can pay me, I’ll keep this ID. I’ll see you in school! Have fun negotiating with the guards!”

She walked away from him. And with a triumphant smile displayed on her lips, she put her headphones back on.

Strike two.