“Hello, Cha Eun Sang. Enjoyed your date with Kim Tan?”

Cha Eun Sang whipped around at the voice. She saw Choi Young Do leaning against the wall just beside their school’s entrance.

She smirked, “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were waiting for me.”

Choi Young Do walked away from the gate and started to walk beside her. “I was waiting for you,” he confirmed.

She looked at him and frowned, “why?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. I was just gonna give you this,” he handed her a brown envelope.

She wondered, “what is this?”

He urged her to go check it and she did.

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF MARIN

Choi Young Do

Plaintiff

Vs

Cha Eun Sang

Defendant

Complain for: Theft

1. Plaintiff Choi Young Do (hereinafter “Plaintiff”), makes the following allegations

against Defendant Cha Eun Sang (hereinafter “Defendant”).

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

2. This Court has jurisdiction over all causes of action asserted herein pursuant to

the California Constitution, Article VI, Section 10, because this case is a cause not given by statute to other trial courts.

She did not finish reading; she had an idea what was going on.

She fought the urge to crumple the paper, so she waved it at him. “What is this?”

“A complaint,” he said casually.

She fumed. “I know it’s a complaint, dummy! But theft?! Just what did I steal from you?”

He acted innocent and unknowing. “Oh, my. Did you forget how you stole my ID that time in the convenience store?”

“You are a total psycho!” She exclaimed exasperatedly.

“I have a copy of the CCTV in there,” he said, indicating the brown envelope. “The video is so clear. Why, you’re even telegenic,” he added, sounding amused.

Enraged, she kicked him hard on the shins.

“Ouch! What did you do that for?” Choi Young Do cried out in pain.

“It wasn’t stealing, you idiot!”

She kicked him again, but, this time he anticipated it so she missed. “You are despicable! Much more despicable than Hitler!”

He laughed, “wow! It’s such an honor to be at par with Hitler.”

Irked, she smacked the paper against his chest. “I may be poor, but, I am not a thief.”

She could tell that he was surprised by the rage in her voice more so in her eyes.

“You’re the thief here. You steal opportunities from scholars like me who are even barely  making it,” she added.

He took the paper then looked at her intently. “Relax, I will drop the law suit,” he declared.

She was so tempted to throw her bag right at his face, but, she decided against it; she did not want to hurt the bag. Besides, the bag contains her books and they’re expensive.

She smirked. “This is all just a game to you, isn’t it?”

She fumed when she saw him look so casual, like it wasn’t a big deal.

He raised both of his hands, like he was surrendering. “I will drop the law suit, so just rel—”

“If you tell me to relax one more time, I will stab you in the neck with a pen,” she screamed, sounding frustrated.

She frowned when she saw him laugh whole-heartedly.

“This guy is a total pyscho,” she thought. “How could he even laugh at a serious matter like this?”

“Really,” he added when she eyed him suspiciously. “I will drop the law suit.”

“I can hear a but or an if,” she supplied.

“But you have to eat lunch with me,” he said casually.

She laughed hysterically. “You’re kidding.”

He looked serious. “No, I’m not.”

She abruptly stopped laughing.  She frowned, “Really? Just like that?”

He shrugged. “Yes, just like that.”

She thought about it. It would be a huge financial and emotional blow if Choi Young Do decided to proceed with the lawsuit. Besides, it’s just lunch. Also, she had a lot of stuff to attend to: her part-time job, her scholarship, her mother. Her mother is just barely making money working as a masseuse, she didn’t want to make her worry some more by engaging herself in a complicated legal process.

She would most likely lose, anyway. How could she dispute that when she couldn’t even afford a lawyer? And even if there were pro bono lawyers, she still wouldn’t want to go through all that. Her scholarship grant might be forfeited.

“No big deal,” she thought. Besides, what’s the worst thing that could happen?

“Okay. Lunch, tomorrow,” she said then started to walk away from him.

He caught up to her. “I didn’t mean just one lunch.”

She turned around to face him. “What?”

“Eat lunch with me,” he declared. “For two weeks.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Two weeks? Are you crazy?”

She eyed at him, waiting for a reply. “No! Absolutely, not! Not two weeks,” she protested.

She violently shook her head.

 “How can I afford to buy two lunch meals when I can barely buy a meal for myself?” she thought.

“Don’t worry. It’s on me. I’ll pay for everything,” he said, as if he was able to read her mind.

She looked at him, surprised. “Why would you do that?”

He shrugged, “because I have the money and you don’t.”

He walked away from her, she caught up to him and grabbed his shirt sleeve. “Why? Doesn’t it defeat your purpose?”

He looked down at her hand that grabbed his sleeve.

Embarrassed, she removed her hand away from his right sleeve. She tried to look preoccupied by tucking loose hair strands behind her ears.

“What purpose?”

“Ah, uh…”  She cursed inwardly. Why was she stuttering?  

She cleared . “Your purpose was to make me pay for making you look stupid on that convenien—”

She decided against saying what she wanted to say when she saw the look on his face. “I mean, why would you pay for those lunch meals?”

He put his right hand on the right side of the front pocket of his jeans. “Who told you that I intend to make you pay for the lunch meal and everything besides that?”

She scratched her head for lack of anything to say. She frowned at him, “You’re really bat- crazy.”

She frowned when she remembered something. “Why would you do that?”

He looked at her funny. “I already told you. I have the money and you don’t.”

She shook her head. “No, not that,” she looked at him.

“Why did you ask me to eat lunch with you just so you could drop the lawsuit? Why didn’t you ask me to leave this school just like what you did to…” she stopped talking when she saw him look at her sharply.

“So, you'd rather leave Jeguk High than to eat lunch with me?” he asked, a trace of hurt in his voice. Or did she just imagine it?

“That’s not what I meant—”

“Okay, then. Leave this school by Monday, then I’ll drop the lawsuit,” he walked away from her fast.

She had to run to catch up to him. “Choi Young Do! Hey, Choi Young Do!”

She grabbed him by the arm. “What is wrong with you? I agreed to having lunch with you so you’ll drop the lawsuit, didn’t I?”

She saw his face lit up. “Okay. See you for lunch tomorrow, then.”

“How do I know you won’t back out on your word?”

He smiled at her, and she was taken aback. She let go of his arm. For a few fleeting seconds, she felt uneasy. It must be because she did not expect him to smile at her. Not that way. The sweet kind.

“You can trust me. I never back out on my word, Cha Eun Sang,” he said then made a turn around the corner.

She stood there on the sidewalk, mouth agape in incredulity.

She watched him walk away, not realizing that she had her right hand formed into a fist against her chest.