Note: This story was originally started in Feb 2007. The dates have been changed for scrolling purposes
"Hey," Chang Min yelled, waving at her.
Da Hae smiled and ran up the stairs to meet her boyfriend. Even though he shared his name with one member of DBSK, he looked more like Yun Ho with more than a dash of Jae Joong… although he did have Chang Min's height. But some would argue that it was a Jae Joong, Jun Su and Micky mix but as far as she was concerned, those people needed to get their eyes checked. Regardless of the combination, it all added up to him being hot. As in sizzling. As in so hot the Sun wished it could be that hot.
In addition to being all kinds of sexy, he was also a top player on the basketball team even though he wasn't a final year student. So naturally, it made sense that they were dating, after all, even though her haters grudgingly admitted that she was the prettiest girl in her year, everyone else said she was probably the prettiest in the entire neighborhood. She'd stopped fighting the title for a few years and just figured that it had something to do with her huge brown eyes, pert nose and petite chin.
She smiled and lifted her cheek to him. Chang Min promptly did as expected and dropped a light kiss on it. She was about to link arms with him when her cousin coughed.
"Do I have to watch this?" Soo Hyun asked, slightly out of breath. "It's bad enough that I had run up the stairs for him but do you also have to assault my eyes?" She looked away from them in disgust.
Da Hae laughed. Their mothers were sisters and because their births had only been three weeks apart, they'd grown up together. Even though her cousin annoyed her at times, she'd long since realized that she will always be her best friend.
"Ready to go in?" Chang Min asked, nodding at the school doors.
"Soo Hyun ah, ready to go? Soo Hyun! Hey, what are you looking at?" Da Hae asked, following her cousin's gaze to a group of people standing near the school gate.
"I see a new student."
"So?"
Soo Hyun turned to her and grinned. "I think it's time for me to do my civic duty and show him around, don't you think?"
Da Hae rolled her eyes. It always baffled her how boy-crazy her cousin was. And considering she was yet to go on a single date, she couldn't figure out why she kept up with her antics. She sighed. "Can you even tell what he looks like from this distance?"
She nodded. It had only taken about two years but she'd already perfected the skill of separating the wheat from the chaff from over a hundred meters away. "Unless my eyes are deceiving me, I think it's fair to say that he's hot."
***
And her eyes weren't deceiving her. He seemed to get hotter with every foot she got closer to him. He was tall, but in an attractive way i.e. he wasn't an overgrown oaf like Chang Min. She always felt that anything over 6'0 was a waste and from what she could see, the new guy was about an inch or so shy of that.
He looked up in her direction and she felt a flutter. Okay. So not only was he hot, he had eyes that pierced her soul. She giggled at her silliness and picked up her pace. Okay, so nice height, lovely shoulders, piercing eyes, a nice manly nose – not too broad, not too pointy - full, uneven lips that were made for kissing… Yep, she'd hit the jackpot.
"Hey," she called when he was within earshot. "You look lost."
She saw him smile in relief and instantly knew she'd made the right decision. There was nothing better than having a hot guy feel indebted to you. She wondered if she could wrangle three dates out of this good deed.
"Hello, my name is Soo Hyun," she said, stretching her hand out. "What's your name?"
"Sung Joo." He took her hand and shook it.
"Sung Joo, hmm?" she thought as she mentally did a quick compatibility test.
Soo Hyun
------------
Sung Joo
With four letters left, according to the FLAME code, 4 = M which stood for marriage. Her heart flipped with glee. "Here comes the bride," she sang in her mind.
"Can you show me where the school bookstore is?"
Sung Joo's rich voice interrupted her fantasy, which was a good thing because she was already picturing herself in white chiffon. And she hated chiffon. Oh and okay, his voice really wasn't that rich, but since she'd long since decided that her fantasy man would have a rich voice, she was going to pretend that it was. In fact, she was sure that if she concentrated hard enough, it would be.
She beamed at him and asked, "Which books do you need? What classes are you taking this year?"
He handed her his schedule and she skimmed through it. It was like the stars had finally aligned. She couldn't believe that she was in over half of his classes. She looked up at him. "Why don't I take you there?"
He raised his brow. "I really don't want you to go out of your way. You can just give me directions."
Yeah, right. So that some heifer could snatch him while he was there? Not in this lifetime. "It's no bother," she said, as she led the way. She returned his schedule to him and waited for him to walk in step with her. "It's not too far from here."
He glanced at her and smiled. "This is my fourth school in three years and this is the first time someone has actually offered to help me on my first day in school."
Soo Hyun looked him over. "Were they boys' schools?"
He was slightly taken aback. "The last two were. How did you know?"
She smiled. "It was just a wild guess."
***
Da Hae looked at her watch. "Oppa, it's time for me to leave."
"Really?" He looked at his watch. "Your Mom really should let you stay out later. There's no reason a high school student can't stay out later than 9pm."
She rolled her eyes on hearing his usual rant. It would have been sweet if he at least moved the words around from time to time. Maybe, "9pm is too early for a high school student." Or, "Students in high school should be allowed to stay later than 9." Heck, even "Student high 9 out pm school out," would be better. She picked her bag up and zipped it up.
"You're leaving now?" Joo Ye Jin said as she jumped off her seat. "I wish you weren't leaving," she cried, bouncing up and down.
Da Hae would have been touched if she didn't know that all that enthusiasm wasn't for her own sake but to bring attention to Ye Jin's breasts. Even though they were all middle-class, she was sure that the girl could afford at least one bra. But of course, she refused to wear one because she was constantly on the prowl. She was a pretty, popular girl but Da Hae knew that if she turned her back to her for a second, Ye Jin would be all over Chang Min like a bad rash.
Chang Min handed her jacket to her and as they left the bowling alley, Da Hae was sure that she saw some of the guys winking at them. Okay...?
***
Chang Min parked the car a few meters from Da Hae's house and turned the engine off. "Did you have fun today?"
Da Hae nodded. "It's always fun hanging out with the gang." She didn't even have to look at him to tell that he already had that look in his eyes. "I can't believe you keep driving without a license and like a dummy, I keep riding with you," she said, hoping to steer his mind in a different direction.
He moved closer to her. "You do it because you like me. And I like you. So how about a good night kiss?"
Da Hae sighed. Kissing was nice. Kissing and a little touching was nice. In fact, she was comfortable in second base but the problem was the base he wanted to take them next. She considered herself to be pretty open and easy going and even though she was yet to try it, she didn't think she had any hang ups about sex. But she did want to at least wait for love. And if love didn't come, at least deep like. And from what she could tell, they still had at least six more months to get their feelings to that level.
She turned to him and kissed him for a few minutes. She even let his fingers roam over her for a few more minutes. But when he started to try his luck, she pushed him off her.
"Are you honestly trying to have sex with me in a car parked a few feet from my house?"
He shook his head and laughed. "I knew nothing was going to happen."
"Then stop trying," she said as she opened the car door. "I'll see you in school tomorrow, okay?"
***
Da Hae ran into a toilet stall. "I shouldn't have drunk so much this morning. I thought I was going to pee in Mr. Chu's class."
Soo Hyun giggled from the stall next to hers. "Serves you right. ARGH!" she yelled as she furiously pulled toilet paper off the roll. "You'd think that the school would invest in toilet seat covers. I always have to line the seat with almost a toilet roll worth of sheets so that I don't catch an infection."
"Or you could just not sit like the rest of us. Hey, Soo Hyun, if you're going to do a #2, tell me quickly so that I can go to a different toilet."
"Just shut up and pee. If I—"
She was interrupted by the sound of some girls entering the restroom.
"... No way! Are you serious? They had sex last night?" one of the girls asked.
"Yep. Unnie told me that they went to a hotel before he dropped her at home," a squeaky voiced girl replied.
"Wow. I wouldn't have thought. I mean, I can believe that Hong Chang Min has sex because, hello, look how hot he is. But then again, maybe we shouldn't say anything about her. It must be pretty hard to resist him."
"Hard, my foot. I'm sure there was no resisting going on. She probably begged for it. I know all of you were fooled but I've always known that Nam Da Hae was a slut."
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Chapter 2
"Who told you that?" Da Hae yelled from the toilet stall. She so badly wanted to open the door and confront the girls but she was already mid-pee. "Who's out there?"
She heard some shrieks and the scrambling of feet as the girls ran out of the bathroom.
"Hey, don't leave… argh, stupid pee!" Since she'd been holding it for a while, it was one of those pees that seemed to go on forever. When she was done, she ran out to the hallway with unwashed hands but all she saw was the usual crowd of people roaming around.
***
"Do you think Chang Min's been going around spreading this rumor?" Soo Hyun asked. It wasn't like he was her favorite person but she wouldn't have predicted he'd turn out to be such a slime ball.
Da Hae shrugged. "I don't know. But why today? Why not last week? We've been 'not having sex' for a while so why the sudden need to spread lies?" She pulled out her phone. "We only have a few minutes till the next class so I'll just text him to meet me as soon as class is over."
"No need," Soo Hyun said, pointing at the other end of the hallway. "He's over there."
It was only when Da Hae looked up that she noticed the hundreds of eyes trained on her. If they'd been staring at her all morning, how come she was only just noticing? She called her boyfriend but her voice couldn't carry over all the noise so was walked briskly to him.
He was standing and smiling with one of his teammates and as far as Da Hae was concerned, he looked far too relaxed for someone who was the current subject of the school's rumor mill.
"… you're so crazy," she heard him say.
"Whatever. Oh, speaking of which, I heard you had an interesting night," the friend said, patting his arm.
"Hey, you know how I do. You know you can trust me," Chang Min replied before giving him a hi-five. "I get what I want." He was literally beaming with pride.
What? "Really?" Da Hae interrupted. "What did you get?" She suddenly felt rage building up inside of her. Did she really hear what she thought she heard?
A surprised Chang Min turned to her and smiled. "Hey, babe,"
"Don't 'hey babe' me. You had an interesting night, huh?" She could already feel her eyes rolling into the back to her head. He had an interesting night?!?!
He looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Oh, did you overhear us?"
"Yes," she said with her fists placed firmly on her hips. "Can you tell me about it? Because I was with you last night and I don't remember anything interesting happening." From the corner of her eye, she saw his friend, Jin Hee, retreating from them although he didn't go too far before he stopped and continued to watch the scene unfold.
"Hey," Chang Min said in a soothing voice. He reached for her shoulder but she brushed him off. "What's your problem?" His eyebrows knitted in a frown as he waited for her reply.
"What's my problem? Are you going around spreading rumors about us?"
His frown deepened. "What rumors?"
"Rumors that we slept together last night?"
"What? Hell no!"
"Really? Then what were you just saying to Jin Hee a minute ago? You get what you want? What did you get? What exactly happened last night?"
He looked away from her. "W-W-Well--"
"W-W-Well," she mimicked. "Why are you stammering?" When he didn't say anything, she continued. "What the fcuk is this, Oppa? I mean, are you so pathetic that you have to make things up about us? We didn't have sex last night. We've never had sex!" she screamed then looked around at the crowd that had formed. "Yeah, you heard me. We've never had sex, okay?" She looked over at Jin Hee. "Did you hear that? So you can spread it around to all your loser friends. And," she said, turning her attention back to Chang Min, "it's obvious that we never will. Oh, and if this isn't clear enough, we're through!"
****
"So I was looking at the dating tips and it looks like I've already fcuked things up with me and Sung Joon."
"Yeah?" Da Hae said, piling her plate with food she knew she wasn't going to eat. Even though she had every right to be pissed, as always, she'd overreacted ever so slightly after all, she didn't really have any solid proof. Plus her little performance had only helped to further ignite the rumor mill. It seemed like her school had suddenly transformed into a whole bunch of corners filled with people whispering about her. She looked over at her cousin. "So what did you do wrong?"
Soo Hyun waited for her to finish with the potatoes then took the spoon and put some in her plate. "Apparently, you're not supposed to be so eager and give the guy your phone number immediately. And I told you how I gave him mine without him even asking." She pouted. "Maybe that's why he hasn't called."
"Probably."
Soo Hyun stopped walking. "What?"
Da Hae laughed. "I'm only kidding. But in all seriousness, it's only been a day." Da Hae lifted her tray and waited for Soo Hyun to finish serving herself then they walked away from the buffet table. As she did ever other school day, she turned the corner towards her usual lunch table but this time, instead of her friends smiling and yelling at her from the table, they all looked away as if they didn't want her to join them. She pretended not to notice the hint and walked over anyway. She dropped her tray on the table and sat down. Her cousin slid in next to her.
"Eh, Nam Da Hae, why are you here?" Bo Ra, Jin Hee's girlfriend asked.
"What?" she looked up at her, hoping that her face expressed the intense boredom she was feeling. Hadn't she already had enough drama for one day?
"I repeat: why are you here? Why would you want to eat with losers?"
Losers? Da He sighed. Oh…. She looked over at Jin Hee then back at his girlfriend. "Can we not do this? I'm kind of hungry."
Bo Ra hissed then stood up and picked up her tray. "I have no desire to sit with someone who thinks I'm a loser, okay?" She walked away from the table and the rest of her 'friends' followed suit.
Da Hae sighed then picked up her apple and bit into it. Did she really have the energy to deal with all this bullshit? She shouldn't have called them losers but she'd been very pissed at the time. She decided to give them a few days to cool off before apologizing. She put the apple back on the tray.
Soo Hyun nudged her. "Wow, that was intense."
"Yeah… but whatever men. I am hungry." She picked up her plastic fork and wiped it clean. "Let's change the subject. So, you were talking about some dating tips earlier. Where did you get them from?"
Soo Hyun glanced at her cousin's face then took a sip of her Diet Coke. Over the years, Da Hae had tried to adopt this stance where nothing was ever a big deal but she knew that she still sometimes got hurt really deeply. But she could tell that she didn't want to talk about anything so she decided to just go to the flow. "Well," she said dramatically, "I got it from www.datingtips.com. Duh! Oh… oh… look, it's my Oppa, Sung Joon. Isn't he so cute? Oh my God, he's going to sit over there," she gushed as she discreetly pointed at him walking over to a table not too far from theirs. "How do I look?"
Da Hae glanced at her then got back at her food. "You look like crap."
Soo Hyun rolled her eyes then turned her attention back to Sung Joon. She sat up and stared hard at him, attempting to telepathically make him look at her and a few seconds later, it seemed to have worked because he looked in her direction. And smiled.
"OH MY GOD, he's looking at me," she said, trying her best not to move her lips so he couldn't read them. She tapped Da Hae from under the table. "Look! LOOK! He's looking at me."
Da Hae looked up. "Yeah, he's looking at you." She giggled. He really wasn't half bad. "But please, don't have a heart attack, okay? Because since this is the day from hell, no one will rush you to the hospital and you might end up dying in the cafeteria. Do you want the last thing you see to be ants crawling on the floor?"
Soo Hyun wasn't listening to her cousin. Instead, she was staring dreamingly at him and imagining what it would be like to have those lips kiss her cheek. She was limiting the fantasy to just her cheek because if she imagined him on her lips… She was still smiling at him when the blood gradually drained from her face as she noticed his eyes slowly move to the left and settle on her cousin. Hell no! "Oh, you bi.tch!" she yelled, shoving her cousin violently.
Da Hae watched her in shock. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What? I am so sick of the fact that I only get to kiss guys when they are wearing their beer goggles." Argh! Not again! She glared at a confused Sung Joon till he averted his eyes.
"What?" Da Hae was doing her best to dodge her cousin's attacks but she was so strong. "You're hurting me! Stop hitting me."
Soo Hyun shoved her one last time then folded her arms. "This is so not fair! When I'm alone, I'm fine. Guys notice me, they say hello and all that great stuff but when they see you, I suddenly disappear into the background. How the hell is that fair? You suck! I hate you. If we keep hanging out together, I'm going to die a virgin."
Da Hae covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Gosh, why was she so dramatic? "Just chill."
"How can I--"
Her sentence was cut short by the sound of someone laughing behind them. Both girls turned around to see a tall, brown-haired guy laughing and pointing at them.
"What do you want?" Da Hae asked. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with Yoo Dong Gun, who'd had been her number one stalker for pretty much all of 6th-8th grades.
"Oh, it looks like you've been banished from Wonderland," he observed in the deep voice that didn't quite match his preppy look.
"What?" Da Hae tilted her head up and eyed him.
"Actually, it looks like you've been banished to Wonderland but because you're here, everyone else has left." He kept laughing.
"Wow, you're so funny," Soo Hyun said dryly.
But Dong Gun ignored her and kept laughing. "So this is the punishment you get for punching Chang Min in the face?" He was still laughing. "I would have so loved to see that."
"Gosh, Dong Gun, what the hell are you talking about? I didn't punch him, you retard. And why are you talking to me? I thought I'd gotten rid of you for good." And she'd been vicious – she'd posted his Valentine's card to her on the school notice board and made him the subject of ridicule. But at that moment, as she listened to him laughing like a hyena, she no longer regretted it. "Why can't you just stay lost?"
"Are you sure you want that? Am I not the only person talking to you now? Shouldn't be you grateful? No friends, no boyfriend… how does it feel to be a nobody?" He slid onto the bench and sat next to her.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Tell me something. How does it feel to finally be put in your rightful place as a loser?" He laughed. "You're no longer popular, huh? I bet you couldn't even buy a date now."
She looked at him incredulously. "I can't get a date? Have you seen…?" She stopped herself before finishing the sentence with 'me' because she knew it would make her sound like a conceited bit.ch. But it was the unfortunate reality. All she had to do was snap her fingers and 5 guys would come running. It was the way it was and the way it would be till she lost her looks. She cleared her throat. "We both know that's bullshit."
He pretended to think about it then he shook his head. "No. I bet you can't. Not now that you're no longer with the 'in crowd.' Not now that you no longer have any power. No… I don't think you can."
She scoffed. "In your dreams." She studied him carefully. Although he was being extremely annoying, it was somewhat refreshing that he hadn't tied her 'power' to her looks. She didn't know why but she was a little grateful for that. She turned around to make sure that none of her 'friends' were within earshot then she turned back to him. "I'm pretty sure I'm the same person I always was. I don't need them for that."
He shook his head. "Of course you do."
"No, I don't."
He moved his face closer to hers. "Then prove it."
"Are you trying to kiss her?" Soo Hyun asked laughing.
Da Hae looked into his small eyes and moved her face closer to his. Who did he think he was trying to intimidate? "Prove what?" she whispered.
"Prove that your reign isn't over. Prove that you're still someone. Prove that you can still get anyone you want."
She heard some shrieks and the scrambling of feet as the girls ran out of the bathroom.
"Hey, don't leave… argh, stupid pee!" Since she'd been holding it for a while, it was one of those pees that seemed to go on forever. When she was done, she ran out to the hallway with unwashed hands but all she saw was the usual crowd of people roaming around.
***
"Do you think Chang Min's been going around spreading this rumor?" Soo Hyun asked. It wasn't like he was her favorite person but she wouldn't have predicted he'd turn out to be such a slime ball.
Da Hae shrugged. "I don't know. But why today? Why not last week? We've been 'not having sex' for a while so why the sudden need to spread lies?" She pulled out her phone. "We only have a few minutes till the next class so I'll just text him to meet me as soon as class is over."
"No need," Soo Hyun said, pointing at the other end of the hallway. "He's over there."
It was only when Da Hae looked up that she noticed the hundreds of eyes trained on her. If they'd been staring at her all morning, how come she was only just noticing? She called her boyfriend but her voice couldn't carry over all the noise so was walked briskly to him.
He was standing and smiling with one of his teammates and as far as Da Hae was concerned, he looked far too relaxed for someone who was the current subject of the school's rumor mill.
"… you're so crazy," she heard him say.
"Whatever. Oh, speaking of which, I heard you had an interesting night," the friend said, patting his arm.
"Hey, you know how I do. You know you can trust me," Chang Min replied before giving him a hi-five. "I get what I want." He was literally beaming with pride.
What? "Really?" Da Hae interrupted. "What did you get?" She suddenly felt rage building up inside of her. Did she really hear what she thought she heard?
A surprised Chang Min turned to her and smiled. "Hey, babe,"
"Don't 'hey babe' me. You had an interesting night, huh?" She could already feel her eyes rolling into the back to her head. He had an interesting night?!?!
He looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Oh, did you overhear us?"
"Yes," she said with her fists placed firmly on her hips. "Can you tell me about it? Because I was with you last night and I don't remember anything interesting happening." From the corner of her eye, she saw his friend, Jin Hee, retreating from them although he didn't go too far before he stopped and continued to watch the scene unfold.
"Hey," Chang Min said in a soothing voice. He reached for her shoulder but she brushed him off. "What's your problem?" His eyebrows knitted in a frown as he waited for her reply.
"What's my problem? Are you going around spreading rumors about us?"
His frown deepened. "What rumors?"
"Rumors that we slept together last night?"
"What? Hell no!"
"Really? Then what were you just saying to Jin Hee a minute ago? You get what you want? What did you get? What exactly happened last night?"
He looked away from her. "W-W-Well--"
"W-W-Well," she mimicked. "Why are you stammering?" When he didn't say anything, she continued. "What the fcuk is this, Oppa? I mean, are you so pathetic that you have to make things up about us? We didn't have sex last night. We've never had sex!" she screamed then looked around at the crowd that had formed. "Yeah, you heard me. We've never had sex, okay?" She looked over at Jin Hee. "Did you hear that? So you can spread it around to all your loser friends. And," she said, turning her attention back to Chang Min, "it's obvious that we never will. Oh, and if this isn't clear enough, we're through!"
****
"So I was looking at the dating tips and it looks like I've already fcuked things up with me and Sung Joon."
"Yeah?" Da Hae said, piling her plate with food she knew she wasn't going to eat. Even though she had every right to be pissed, as always, she'd overreacted ever so slightly after all, she didn't really have any solid proof. Plus her little performance had only helped to further ignite the rumor mill. It seemed like her school had suddenly transformed into a whole bunch of corners filled with people whispering about her. She looked over at her cousin. "So what did you do wrong?"
Soo Hyun waited for her to finish with the potatoes then took the spoon and put some in her plate. "Apparently, you're not supposed to be so eager and give the guy your phone number immediately. And I told you how I gave him mine without him even asking." She pouted. "Maybe that's why he hasn't called."
"Probably."
Soo Hyun stopped walking. "What?"
Da Hae laughed. "I'm only kidding. But in all seriousness, it's only been a day." Da Hae lifted her tray and waited for Soo Hyun to finish serving herself then they walked away from the buffet table. As she did ever other school day, she turned the corner towards her usual lunch table but this time, instead of her friends smiling and yelling at her from the table, they all looked away as if they didn't want her to join them. She pretended not to notice the hint and walked over anyway. She dropped her tray on the table and sat down. Her cousin slid in next to her.
"Eh, Nam Da Hae, why are you here?" Bo Ra, Jin Hee's girlfriend asked.
"What?" she looked up at her, hoping that her face expressed the intense boredom she was feeling. Hadn't she already had enough drama for one day?
"I repeat: why are you here? Why would you want to eat with losers?"
Losers? Da He sighed. Oh…. She looked over at Jin Hee then back at his girlfriend. "Can we not do this? I'm kind of hungry."
Bo Ra hissed then stood up and picked up her tray. "I have no desire to sit with someone who thinks I'm a loser, okay?" She walked away from the table and the rest of her 'friends' followed suit.
Da Hae sighed then picked up her apple and bit into it. Did she really have the energy to deal with all this bullshit? She shouldn't have called them losers but she'd been very pissed at the time. She decided to give them a few days to cool off before apologizing. She put the apple back on the tray.
Soo Hyun nudged her. "Wow, that was intense."
"Yeah… but whatever men. I am hungry." She picked up her plastic fork and wiped it clean. "Let's change the subject. So, you were talking about some dating tips earlier. Where did you get them from?"
Soo Hyun glanced at her cousin's face then took a sip of her Diet Coke. Over the years, Da Hae had tried to adopt this stance where nothing was ever a big deal but she knew that she still sometimes got hurt really deeply. But she could tell that she didn't want to talk about anything so she decided to just go to the flow. "Well," she said dramatically, "I got it from www.datingtips.com. Duh! Oh… oh… look, it's my Oppa, Sung Joon. Isn't he so cute? Oh my God, he's going to sit over there," she gushed as she discreetly pointed at him walking over to a table not too far from theirs. "How do I look?"
Da Hae glanced at her then got back at her food. "You look like crap."
Soo Hyun rolled her eyes then turned her attention back to Sung Joon. She sat up and stared hard at him, attempting to telepathically make him look at her and a few seconds later, it seemed to have worked because he looked in her direction. And smiled.
"OH MY GOD, he's looking at me," she said, trying her best not to move her lips so he couldn't read them. She tapped Da Hae from under the table. "Look! LOOK! He's looking at me."
Da Hae looked up. "Yeah, he's looking at you." She giggled. He really wasn't half bad. "But please, don't have a heart attack, okay? Because since this is the day from hell, no one will rush you to the hospital and you might end up dying in the cafeteria. Do you want the last thing you see to be ants crawling on the floor?"
Soo Hyun wasn't listening to her cousin. Instead, she was staring dreamingly at him and imagining what it would be like to have those lips kiss her cheek. She was limiting the fantasy to just her cheek because if she imagined him on her lips… She was still smiling at him when the blood gradually drained from her face as she noticed his eyes slowly move to the left and settle on her cousin. Hell no! "Oh, you bi.tch!" she yelled, shoving her cousin violently.
Da Hae watched her in shock. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What? I am so sick of the fact that I only get to kiss guys when they are wearing their beer goggles." Argh! Not again! She glared at a confused Sung Joon till he averted his eyes.
"What?" Da Hae was doing her best to dodge her cousin's attacks but she was so strong. "You're hurting me! Stop hitting me."
Soo Hyun shoved her one last time then folded her arms. "This is so not fair! When I'm alone, I'm fine. Guys notice me, they say hello and all that great stuff but when they see you, I suddenly disappear into the background. How the hell is that fair? You suck! I hate you. If we keep hanging out together, I'm going to die a virgin."
Da Hae covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Gosh, why was she so dramatic? "Just chill."
"How can I--"
Her sentence was cut short by the sound of someone laughing behind them. Both girls turned around to see a tall, brown-haired guy laughing and pointing at them.
"What do you want?" Da Hae asked. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with Yoo Dong Gun, who'd had been her number one stalker for pretty much all of 6th-8th grades.
"Oh, it looks like you've been banished from Wonderland," he observed in the deep voice that didn't quite match his preppy look.
"What?" Da Hae tilted her head up and eyed him.
"Actually, it looks like you've been banished to Wonderland but because you're here, everyone else has left." He kept laughing.
"Wow, you're so funny," Soo Hyun said dryly.
But Dong Gun ignored her and kept laughing. "So this is the punishment you get for punching Chang Min in the face?" He was still laughing. "I would have so loved to see that."
"Gosh, Dong Gun, what the hell are you talking about? I didn't punch him, you retard. And why are you talking to me? I thought I'd gotten rid of you for good." And she'd been vicious – she'd posted his Valentine's card to her on the school notice board and made him the subject of ridicule. But at that moment, as she listened to him laughing like a hyena, she no longer regretted it. "Why can't you just stay lost?"
"Are you sure you want that? Am I not the only person talking to you now? Shouldn't be you grateful? No friends, no boyfriend… how does it feel to be a nobody?" He slid onto the bench and sat next to her.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Tell me something. How does it feel to finally be put in your rightful place as a loser?" He laughed. "You're no longer popular, huh? I bet you couldn't even buy a date now."
She looked at him incredulously. "I can't get a date? Have you seen…?" She stopped herself before finishing the sentence with 'me' because she knew it would make her sound like a conceited bit.ch. But it was the unfortunate reality. All she had to do was snap her fingers and 5 guys would come running. It was the way it was and the way it would be till she lost her looks. She cleared her throat. "We both know that's bullshit."
He pretended to think about it then he shook his head. "No. I bet you can't. Not now that you're no longer with the 'in crowd.' Not now that you no longer have any power. No… I don't think you can."
She scoffed. "In your dreams." She studied him carefully. Although he was being extremely annoying, it was somewhat refreshing that he hadn't tied her 'power' to her looks. She didn't know why but she was a little grateful for that. She turned around to make sure that none of her 'friends' were within earshot then she turned back to him. "I'm pretty sure I'm the same person I always was. I don't need them for that."
He shook his head. "Of course you do."
"No, I don't."
He moved his face closer to hers. "Then prove it."
"Are you trying to kiss her?" Soo Hyun asked laughing.
Da Hae looked into his small eyes and moved her face closer to his. Who did he think he was trying to intimidate? "Prove what?" she whispered.
"Prove that your reign isn't over. Prove that you're still someone. Prove that you can still get anyone you want."
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Chapter 3
Da Hae edged away from Dong Gun. "I don't have to prove anything to you. Who are you to me?"
He pursed his lips. "Okay, let's sweeten the pot. Let's make it a bet. Name the one thing you want from me."
She frowned. "I want you to get lost."
"Sounds fair," he said, nodding. "And what will I get from her when I win?" he asked himself, stroking his chin.
"Dude, I said I want you to get lost meaning that there's no bet. Meaning you need to buzz off," she gestured with her hands for extra emphasis.
He leaned back but kept his eyes on her face. "Are you really that scared?"
"You," Soo Hyun said to him from behind her cousin. "Why do you want to get into this? You know you're going to lose. Yeah, I know you're a loser… hmm, actually, I guess it makes sense. Carry on."
As usual, he ignored her. "Da Hae, if you think it's going to be so easy, why not do it so that you can get your wish?"
"I've had my wish for almost three years now. Why the sudden need to start bugging me again? Besides, I don't have to bet for you to disappear– I just have to ignore you."
***
Da Hae walked through the school gates and immediately waved at Chang Min, who as usual, was already in school. It was only when he looked through her that she remembered that they were no longer together. Her heart sank a little. "Soo Hyun ah, do you think I made a mistake by dumping Chang Min?"
She shrugged as she walked with her towards their building. "If he started the rumor then you shouldn't be with him."
"But I'm not sure he did." Had she been too quick to judge?
Soo Hyun rolled her eyes. She had better things to think about than someone else's love life. "If you want to get back with him, then do it."
Da Hae shoved her. "You're no help at all." She looked over at Chang Min wistfully. She missed hugging that tall, beautiful body. "Maybe I just miss having a boyfriend."
"Just smile at some random guy and you'll have a new man. The end."
Da Hae turned to her. "Jeez. Why are you so cranky today?"
"I'm not cranky but I barely got any sleep last night. As usual, my Dad brought over unexpected guests so I spent the whole evening playing housemaid. Then I had to stay up to finish my homework. That man annoys me."
"Are you serious?" She was rummaging through her bag to find her phone so that she could turn it off. If, for some reason, her phone went off in Mr. Kim's class, she knew she'd be in big trouble. "That sucks."
"No, you suck," a male voice from behind said.
She slowly turned around and frowned at Dong Gun. As always, his highlights shone in the early morning sunlight and for some reason, that only pissed her off more. "What do you want?"
He laughed mockingly. "Is this the way you ignore me? It doesn't seem to be working."
She rolled her eyes and turned back around. "God, you are such a pest. Disappear!"
"Dong Gun, surely, bugging my cousin isn't your only life's goal. Why can't you just get lost?"
"Arashi, who are you? Mind your business."
"What?"
He refocused on Da Hae and kept following her. "I overheard you say something about needing a boyfriend."
"Why were you eavesdropping on our conversation?"
"Actually, I didn't overhear you, I just guessed since you reek of desperation."
"Please, buzz off." She picked up her pace.
"I don't see why this doesn't appeal to you. You get the chance to kill two birds with one stone. You can get a boyfriend while getting rid of me."
"Hey, Da Hae, I'll see you later," Soo Hyun suddenly said then she turned to walk in a different direction.
Da Hae stopped and looked at her. "Don't you have class?"
"Yeah. I'll see you at lunch."
Da Hae looked around and saw Sung Joo walking not too far from where they were. Oh, so that's what it was. She smiled. "Alright, Soo Hyun ah. I'll see you at lunch. And as for you, Dong Gun, please, don't follow me to class!"
***
"Hey, Sung Joo, what's up?" Soo Hyun called, walking up to him.
He responded to the sound of his name and smiled at her. "Nothing much, just going to class. What about you?" He stopped walking so that she could catch up with him.
"I'm fine." She readjusted her bag to keep her from staring at his face. Why did he have to be so goddamn hot? "Have you got Chemistry now?"
He nodded. Since she was already standing beside him, he started walking again. "So I guess I'll see you in class."
"Oh, are you going somewhere now?" Was he blowing her off?
He shook his head. "No. I'm going to class."
"Me too. Let's go together, then." If he wanted to get rid of her, he'd have to try harder. She wondered if she could get some tips from Dong Gun. Then she felt her body tremble at the thought. She'd die before she became that annoying.
"Cool. So let's walk together."
They walked in awkward silence for a few minutes before Soo Hyun said, "So what do you think of our town so far? Do you like our school?"
He shrugged. "It's cool. Coming from Incheon, I guess I thought it would be a little strange but it feels pretty normal."
"Yeah." She wished she could have said something sexy but she was drawing a blank. "Seoul is pretty normal and it's not that far from Incheon anyway."
He nodded.
They climbed up the steps in silence and walked for a few more moments before Sung Joo said, "I've been meaning to call you since you gave me your number."
"Yeah?" She almost smiled till she remembered one of the dating tips: Don't seem too eager. She straightened her face and adopted what she hoped was a smoky, deep voice. "Then why haven't you?"
He looked away. "I wasn't sure we'd have anything to talk about."
She laughed. "That's what talking is for, right? Getting to know one another?"
"Really?" he asked animatedly. Then he laughed. "Oh, do you know I just got a job at the McDonald's down the street?" He opened the door to the building and let her go through. "It's only a block from the mall."
How random. "Cool."
"I work there from 6-9 on weekdays." He looked at her expectantly, as if he was waiting for her to say something.
"Great."
He smiled. "If you come over, I can give you a discount."
"Discounted fries, huh? I hope those aren't the ones that have fallen on the floor."
He laughed. "Wow, I thought that was a well kept secret. Don't worry – I'll brush them clean for you.
***
"So you think he was asking me to stop by his job?"
Da Hae playfully poked her temple. "Yes, you dummy."
"Wow." Did that mean she might finally get to kiss a guy who wasn't drunk?
"Look, we'll really like our table back," an irritated voice from behind them said, interrupting their conversation.
Da Hae and Soo Hyun turned around to find Bo Ra, Ye Jin and some of the other girls glaring at them.
Da Hae stood up and smiled warily at them. "Look, I've already apologized to you but I'll do it again. I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I only said it because I was angry. I obviously didn't mean it."
"Yeah, right," Bo Ra scoffed. "Anger brings out the truth, so you can stuff your apology up your ass. You'd better find another table to sit at, okay? Starting from tomorrow, we are taking our table back," she said before storming off with the other girls in tow.
"I guess she's pissed," Soo Hyun said.
"I don't know what her problem is. I'm sure she's called me worse behind my back." She picked up her fork and stabbed her chicken in frustration. The whole crap was supposed to have blown over by now.
"Hey, hey, I didn't know you were a cannibal! Cluck, cluck…"
Da Hae growled. She just didn't need more bullshit! And to make things worse, she'd already begun to recognize that voice. Without looking back she said, "Yoo Dong Gun, I'm really not in the mood today. Just leave me alone."
"You know what you have to do," he said what had apparently become his mantra.
She suddenly got flashbacks of him following her around for all those years. The FBI probably had nothing on him when it came to being a pest. She looked at him. "All I have to do is get some guy and you'll disappear for good? That's it?"
"Pretty simple, huh?"
"And even though it's never going to happen, what do you get if you win?"
"You have to bid and win me at this year's date auction."
Soo Hyun and Da Hae burst out laughing.
"Oh my God, you're so sad," Soo Hyun said between cackles. "Oh my God!"
Da Hae was laughing so hard that tears had begun to form in her eyes. She hit the table and kept laughing. "I can't believe you're still not over what happened last year. Now you're, ha ha ha ha, now you're trying to force someone to bid on you? Jesus, save me now!"
Dong Gun wasn't amused. "Does this mean that you agree?"
Da Hae hit her chest repeatedly to try to calm herself down. She waved to show her disagreement. "Yours involves money, so my terms have to include money as well. I need some new shoes anyway."
"How much?"
She thought about it. This was going to be the easiest money she'd ever made. "How about 150,000 Won?"
He shrugged. "Why not just make it a cool 200,000 Won? You're not going to win anyway."
Oh, even better. She could get shoes and a bag. She didn't know what his problem was, nor did she care but 200,000 Won sounded fabulous. She scanned the cafeteria. "So I can just pick any guy?"
"Hell no! How do I know you're not going to pick some guy who already has a crush on you?'
"I thought I was no one and had no power. What difference would it make?"
"Whatever. I'll pick the guy."
She shrugged. "Makes no difference to me…." She was going to end the conversation there till she saw the weird smile that had crept on his face. "You're not going to pick a gay guy, right?" She wasn't that cute.
"Of course not."
She narrowed her eyes. "And you're not going to sabotage it or anything."
He shook his head. "I've got integrity. I'll even help you out."
"You helping me? I don't think so." She rubbed her palms together. "So who's the guy?"
He smiled. "This is going to be fun. Let me think about it. I'll let you know tomorrow."
***
"Yoo Dong Gun, please come to the stage."
On hearing his name, he looked around the ballroom. Surely, there was someone else called 'Yoo Dong Gun' because he was sure he'd have remembered volunteering for the date auction.
"Hey, they are calling you," someone said to him.
He looked around and saw that everyone was staring at him so he didn't even realize that he'd walked onto the stage until the bright lights shone in his eyes.
"Let's start the bidding at the minimum of 20,000 Won!"
Dong Gun's heartbeats quickened as he waited for someone to say anything. But nothing. No hand in the air. No sounds. Not even the sound of crickets chirping.
"No one?"
Still nothing. He looked desperately around the room praying that someone, anyone that had anything resembling breasts would say something. Heck, he wouldn't even have minded if the person had man boobs.
"Okay, how about 15,000 Won?"
Someone suddenly burst out laughing and when he looked up, he saw Da Hae and Soo Hyun laughing uncontrollably.
The teacher looked at him sadly then turned back to the crowd. "No one for 15,000 Won? He's a good, handsome boy. Come on, ladies. 15,000 Won."
"Me, me!" a voice screamed.
Dong Gun looked at the direction the voice was coming from and saw one of his classmates, Eun Hee, jumping up and down. She wasn't his type but at that moment he wanted to kiss her.
"Going for 15,000 Won, going…"
"20,000 Won!" Eun Hee screamed.
"Eun Hee, you're bidding against yourself. No one else is bidding so you don't have to increase the price."
"Really? I can get him for less than 20,000 Won? In that case, can you reduce it to 10,000 Won?"
"That's too funny," Jong Won, Dong Gun's cousin said while laughing his ass off.
"So do you see why I have to get her back?"
They were in Jong Won's room watching television.
"She's the same one that put the Valentine's card on the notice board, right?" He picked up the remote control and started flipping through channels.
"Yeah, we were in 8th grade then so I can let that go. But this happened last year. It's just too ridiculous - I have to get her back."
"Are you sure she volunteered you for that auction?"
"Who else would it be? And you should have been there –it was so obvious. Hey," he said, pointing at the television. "Leave it here – I've been waiting to watch this video."
Jong Won put the remote control down. "Alright. Now back to this girl. So your plan is to get her back by humiliating her at this year's auction?"
He shrugged. "One bad turn deserves another, Hyung."
"Hmm… what does she look like?"
Dong Gun pulled out his phone. "I took a picture of her today." He scrolled through his photos till he landed on the one he wanted then zoomed in. "Here you go," he said, handing it to his cousin.
He whistled. "Dang, she's hot. Can you let me go out with her? We can get back at her that way," he teased.
"I'm serious."
"I know," he said, still looking at her photograph. "Men, this school has so many hot girls. Why didn't I transfer sooner?"
Dong Gun rolled his eyes. Hot girls he'd never have a chance with because Nam Da Hae had completely ruined his reputation. "So Hyung, are you going to help me?"
He nodded. "Definitely."
He pursed his lips. "Okay, let's sweeten the pot. Let's make it a bet. Name the one thing you want from me."
She frowned. "I want you to get lost."
"Sounds fair," he said, nodding. "And what will I get from her when I win?" he asked himself, stroking his chin.
"Dude, I said I want you to get lost meaning that there's no bet. Meaning you need to buzz off," she gestured with her hands for extra emphasis.
He leaned back but kept his eyes on her face. "Are you really that scared?"
"You," Soo Hyun said to him from behind her cousin. "Why do you want to get into this? You know you're going to lose. Yeah, I know you're a loser… hmm, actually, I guess it makes sense. Carry on."
As usual, he ignored her. "Da Hae, if you think it's going to be so easy, why not do it so that you can get your wish?"
"I've had my wish for almost three years now. Why the sudden need to start bugging me again? Besides, I don't have to bet for you to disappear– I just have to ignore you."
***
Da Hae walked through the school gates and immediately waved at Chang Min, who as usual, was already in school. It was only when he looked through her that she remembered that they were no longer together. Her heart sank a little. "Soo Hyun ah, do you think I made a mistake by dumping Chang Min?"
She shrugged as she walked with her towards their building. "If he started the rumor then you shouldn't be with him."
"But I'm not sure he did." Had she been too quick to judge?
Soo Hyun rolled her eyes. She had better things to think about than someone else's love life. "If you want to get back with him, then do it."
Da Hae shoved her. "You're no help at all." She looked over at Chang Min wistfully. She missed hugging that tall, beautiful body. "Maybe I just miss having a boyfriend."
"Just smile at some random guy and you'll have a new man. The end."
Da Hae turned to her. "Jeez. Why are you so cranky today?"
"I'm not cranky but I barely got any sleep last night. As usual, my Dad brought over unexpected guests so I spent the whole evening playing housemaid. Then I had to stay up to finish my homework. That man annoys me."
"Are you serious?" She was rummaging through her bag to find her phone so that she could turn it off. If, for some reason, her phone went off in Mr. Kim's class, she knew she'd be in big trouble. "That sucks."
"No, you suck," a male voice from behind said.
She slowly turned around and frowned at Dong Gun. As always, his highlights shone in the early morning sunlight and for some reason, that only pissed her off more. "What do you want?"
He laughed mockingly. "Is this the way you ignore me? It doesn't seem to be working."
She rolled her eyes and turned back around. "God, you are such a pest. Disappear!"
"Dong Gun, surely, bugging my cousin isn't your only life's goal. Why can't you just get lost?"
"Arashi, who are you? Mind your business."
"What?"
He refocused on Da Hae and kept following her. "I overheard you say something about needing a boyfriend."
"Why were you eavesdropping on our conversation?"
"Actually, I didn't overhear you, I just guessed since you reek of desperation."
"Please, buzz off." She picked up her pace.
"I don't see why this doesn't appeal to you. You get the chance to kill two birds with one stone. You can get a boyfriend while getting rid of me."
"Hey, Da Hae, I'll see you later," Soo Hyun suddenly said then she turned to walk in a different direction.
Da Hae stopped and looked at her. "Don't you have class?"
"Yeah. I'll see you at lunch."
Da Hae looked around and saw Sung Joo walking not too far from where they were. Oh, so that's what it was. She smiled. "Alright, Soo Hyun ah. I'll see you at lunch. And as for you, Dong Gun, please, don't follow me to class!"
***
"Hey, Sung Joo, what's up?" Soo Hyun called, walking up to him.
He responded to the sound of his name and smiled at her. "Nothing much, just going to class. What about you?" He stopped walking so that she could catch up with him.
"I'm fine." She readjusted her bag to keep her from staring at his face. Why did he have to be so goddamn hot? "Have you got Chemistry now?"
He nodded. Since she was already standing beside him, he started walking again. "So I guess I'll see you in class."
"Oh, are you going somewhere now?" Was he blowing her off?
He shook his head. "No. I'm going to class."
"Me too. Let's go together, then." If he wanted to get rid of her, he'd have to try harder. She wondered if she could get some tips from Dong Gun. Then she felt her body tremble at the thought. She'd die before she became that annoying.
"Cool. So let's walk together."
They walked in awkward silence for a few minutes before Soo Hyun said, "So what do you think of our town so far? Do you like our school?"
He shrugged. "It's cool. Coming from Incheon, I guess I thought it would be a little strange but it feels pretty normal."
"Yeah." She wished she could have said something sexy but she was drawing a blank. "Seoul is pretty normal and it's not that far from Incheon anyway."
He nodded.
They climbed up the steps in silence and walked for a few more moments before Sung Joo said, "I've been meaning to call you since you gave me your number."
"Yeah?" She almost smiled till she remembered one of the dating tips: Don't seem too eager. She straightened her face and adopted what she hoped was a smoky, deep voice. "Then why haven't you?"
He looked away. "I wasn't sure we'd have anything to talk about."
She laughed. "That's what talking is for, right? Getting to know one another?"
"Really?" he asked animatedly. Then he laughed. "Oh, do you know I just got a job at the McDonald's down the street?" He opened the door to the building and let her go through. "It's only a block from the mall."
How random. "Cool."
"I work there from 6-9 on weekdays." He looked at her expectantly, as if he was waiting for her to say something.
"Great."
He smiled. "If you come over, I can give you a discount."
"Discounted fries, huh? I hope those aren't the ones that have fallen on the floor."
He laughed. "Wow, I thought that was a well kept secret. Don't worry – I'll brush them clean for you.
***
"So you think he was asking me to stop by his job?"
Da Hae playfully poked her temple. "Yes, you dummy."
"Wow." Did that mean she might finally get to kiss a guy who wasn't drunk?
"Look, we'll really like our table back," an irritated voice from behind them said, interrupting their conversation.
Da Hae and Soo Hyun turned around to find Bo Ra, Ye Jin and some of the other girls glaring at them.
Da Hae stood up and smiled warily at them. "Look, I've already apologized to you but I'll do it again. I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I only said it because I was angry. I obviously didn't mean it."
"Yeah, right," Bo Ra scoffed. "Anger brings out the truth, so you can stuff your apology up your ass. You'd better find another table to sit at, okay? Starting from tomorrow, we are taking our table back," she said before storming off with the other girls in tow.
"I guess she's pissed," Soo Hyun said.
"I don't know what her problem is. I'm sure she's called me worse behind my back." She picked up her fork and stabbed her chicken in frustration. The whole crap was supposed to have blown over by now.
"Hey, hey, I didn't know you were a cannibal! Cluck, cluck…"
Da Hae growled. She just didn't need more bullshit! And to make things worse, she'd already begun to recognize that voice. Without looking back she said, "Yoo Dong Gun, I'm really not in the mood today. Just leave me alone."
"You know what you have to do," he said what had apparently become his mantra.
She suddenly got flashbacks of him following her around for all those years. The FBI probably had nothing on him when it came to being a pest. She looked at him. "All I have to do is get some guy and you'll disappear for good? That's it?"
"Pretty simple, huh?"
"And even though it's never going to happen, what do you get if you win?"
"You have to bid and win me at this year's date auction."
Soo Hyun and Da Hae burst out laughing.
"Oh my God, you're so sad," Soo Hyun said between cackles. "Oh my God!"
Da Hae was laughing so hard that tears had begun to form in her eyes. She hit the table and kept laughing. "I can't believe you're still not over what happened last year. Now you're, ha ha ha ha, now you're trying to force someone to bid on you? Jesus, save me now!"
Dong Gun wasn't amused. "Does this mean that you agree?"
Da Hae hit her chest repeatedly to try to calm herself down. She waved to show her disagreement. "Yours involves money, so my terms have to include money as well. I need some new shoes anyway."
"How much?"
She thought about it. This was going to be the easiest money she'd ever made. "How about 150,000 Won?"
He shrugged. "Why not just make it a cool 200,000 Won? You're not going to win anyway."
Oh, even better. She could get shoes and a bag. She didn't know what his problem was, nor did she care but 200,000 Won sounded fabulous. She scanned the cafeteria. "So I can just pick any guy?"
"Hell no! How do I know you're not going to pick some guy who already has a crush on you?'
"I thought I was no one and had no power. What difference would it make?"
"Whatever. I'll pick the guy."
She shrugged. "Makes no difference to me…." She was going to end the conversation there till she saw the weird smile that had crept on his face. "You're not going to pick a gay guy, right?" She wasn't that cute.
"Of course not."
She narrowed her eyes. "And you're not going to sabotage it or anything."
He shook his head. "I've got integrity. I'll even help you out."
"You helping me? I don't think so." She rubbed her palms together. "So who's the guy?"
He smiled. "This is going to be fun. Let me think about it. I'll let you know tomorrow."
***
"Yoo Dong Gun, please come to the stage."
On hearing his name, he looked around the ballroom. Surely, there was someone else called 'Yoo Dong Gun' because he was sure he'd have remembered volunteering for the date auction.
"Hey, they are calling you," someone said to him.
He looked around and saw that everyone was staring at him so he didn't even realize that he'd walked onto the stage until the bright lights shone in his eyes.
"Let's start the bidding at the minimum of 20,000 Won!"
Dong Gun's heartbeats quickened as he waited for someone to say anything. But nothing. No hand in the air. No sounds. Not even the sound of crickets chirping.
"No one?"
Still nothing. He looked desperately around the room praying that someone, anyone that had anything resembling breasts would say something. Heck, he wouldn't even have minded if the person had man boobs.
"Okay, how about 15,000 Won?"
Someone suddenly burst out laughing and when he looked up, he saw Da Hae and Soo Hyun laughing uncontrollably.
The teacher looked at him sadly then turned back to the crowd. "No one for 15,000 Won? He's a good, handsome boy. Come on, ladies. 15,000 Won."
"Me, me!" a voice screamed.
Dong Gun looked at the direction the voice was coming from and saw one of his classmates, Eun Hee, jumping up and down. She wasn't his type but at that moment he wanted to kiss her.
"Going for 15,000 Won, going…"
"20,000 Won!" Eun Hee screamed.
"Eun Hee, you're bidding against yourself. No one else is bidding so you don't have to increase the price."
"Really? I can get him for less than 20,000 Won? In that case, can you reduce it to 10,000 Won?"
"That's too funny," Jong Won, Dong Gun's cousin said while laughing his ass off.
"So do you see why I have to get her back?"
They were in Jong Won's room watching television.
"She's the same one that put the Valentine's card on the notice board, right?" He picked up the remote control and started flipping through channels.
"Yeah, we were in 8th grade then so I can let that go. But this happened last year. It's just too ridiculous - I have to get her back."
"Are you sure she volunteered you for that auction?"
"Who else would it be? And you should have been there –it was so obvious. Hey," he said, pointing at the television. "Leave it here – I've been waiting to watch this video."
Jong Won put the remote control down. "Alright. Now back to this girl. So your plan is to get her back by humiliating her at this year's auction?"
He shrugged. "One bad turn deserves another, Hyung."
"Hmm… what does she look like?"
Dong Gun pulled out his phone. "I took a picture of her today." He scrolled through his photos till he landed on the one he wanted then zoomed in. "Here you go," he said, handing it to his cousin.
He whistled. "Dang, she's hot. Can you let me go out with her? We can get back at her that way," he teased.
"I'm serious."
"I know," he said, still looking at her photograph. "Men, this school has so many hot girls. Why didn't I transfer sooner?"
Dong Gun rolled his eyes. Hot girls he'd never have a chance with because Nam Da Hae had completely ruined his reputation. "So Hyung, are you going to help me?"
He nodded. "Definitely."
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Chapter 4
"Hey," he said, sitting at the desk next to her. He showed her his already flipped open phone. "This is the guy."
Da Hae glanced at him then took it from him.
Dong Gun felt her fingers brushed against his and mentally admonished himself for noticing it.
"You took a photo of him? Why does that seem gay?" She peered at the screen and moved the phone around in order to get the best angle to see the picture. "He's actually not bad looking. I thought you were going to find me the ugliest guy you could think of but this guy is actually cute." She put the phone on the table and looked at Dong Gun. "I really think this might be fun," she said, grinning. "He really is cute. But…," she said, bending her head and squinting at the photograph, "there's actually something familiar about his face." She scratched her head. "Maybe I've met him before? How tall is he? Where did you find him?"
Dong Gun stretched his hand out, gesturing for her to return his phone. "He's a new student."
She shut his phone and handed it back to him. "A noob? He's not a freshman, I hope."
Dong Gun chuckled. Why didn't he think of that? "He's a final year."
"Cool."
"I thought a new student would be best since I don't want you using any residual power," he explained.
She raised her left brow. "Residual power?"
"You know, just in case he doesn't realize that you no longer have your friends."
Da Hae rolled her eyes. "Whatever. What's his name?"
Dong Gun told her and answered all the other questions she had about him.
"Okay. And all I have to do is get him to ask me out?"
He nodded. "Yes. You can't ask him out. You can't give him hints. You can't show you're interested."
She eyed him. "What?" Wasn't that the whole point?
"Look, most red-blooded guys would go out with any girl if she threw herself at him, okay?" And he wasn't sure his cousin would have the willpower to withstand her if she come on strong. "So you can't do that. He's got to introduce himself to you. He has to take the initiative. He has to ask you out. And you have to go out with him."
She frowned. "I have to go out with him? So I actually have to date him?" She smirked. "Do I also have to sleep with him?" she asked sarcastically.
"That's up to you."
She turned away so that she was sitting properly in her seat then reached into her bag and pulled out the books she needed for the class and started leafing through a textbook.
When she didn't say anything for about two minutes, Dong Gun asked, "So are we clear on the rules?"
She slammed her book shut and looked at him. "You're obviously not serious. I'm not going to actually date a guy just because of a bet."
He laughed. "You're already contemplating losing?"
She hissed. "No. But it's still dumb. I can only agree to these rules if you agree to change schools if I win."
He almost wanted to agree to that but he knew that would raise all sorts of red flags. "Okay, you win. He asks you out and you just have to show up for the first date. It can be anything or anywhere but it can't be a group date. It has to be clear that he wants to go out with only you."
***
Da Hae straightened her skirt when she saw him. He was in the parking lot pacing around and talking on his cell phone – just as Dong Gun had told her. Well, he hadn't mentioned the cell phone part but nonetheless, he was standing there as expected. Dong Gun had been unable to come up with a reasonable explanation for why he normally hung around the parking lot after school so she hoped he wasn't a drug dealer.
From what she could see, he was at least 6'3 which made him slightly taller than Chang Min. She didn't know what it was but just like some girls had a thing for guys in glasses, she had a thing for tall men and the taller the better. She was 5'6 on the days she lied but there was something about long male arms wrapped around her body that made her feel safe.
As she got closer to him, she got a better view of his face and was slightly disappointed. Who'd have thought that some people were so photogenic that the quality even carried over to crappy camera phones? He was still cute but the Hyun Bin comparisons no longer applied as they had earlier in the day.
She took a deep breath in and dove into her plan. In her experience, all she had to do was walk past a guy to get his attention but this time, since he was on his phone, she decided to add a little oomph to her walk. She sent him a sultry look as she sashayed past him but to her surprise, he didn't say anything to her. Irritated, she turned around and saw that he was still on his phone. Okay, what the heck? She retraced her steps but still got no reaction. Back at her original spot, she tried to assess the situation. It really made no sense to go back and walk in the adjacent direction after all, she'd be walking towards barbed wire but what else could she do?
About two minutes later, she was standing at the barbed wire and he still hadn't looked up at her. Was he blind?
"Hey, Da Hae ssi, what are you doing there?"
She looked ahead and saw In Ho, the cook's son, waving at her. "What's up?"
He looked around the virtually empty parking lot then back at her. "Aren't you going home? Do you need a ride or something?" he yelled.
"No, I'm fine, In Ho ssi," she called back.
He looked at her curiously then at Jong Won who hadn't even lifted his head once.
She wondered if Jong Won would notice if his car suddenly caught fire. She was glad she hadn't brought matches otherwise, she just might have been tempted to find out.
"Alright, Da Hae ssi," In Ho said. "I'll see you later."
She waved at him then turned her attention back at the statue on the phone. She sighed and tried to come up with a new plan. Surely, she couldn't give up so easily. Besides, if he thought he could ignore her, he had another think coming!
She thought back to all the romantic movies she'd ever seen to try to come up with the best way to make him acknowledge her. The image of J.Lo tugging at her shoe in the middle of San Francisco came to mind. She sighed. She was very familiar with the weak women's mantra -when in need, act like a damsel in distress- but a day earlier, she wouldn't have imagined resorting to that level of shamelessness. But when in need…. Besides, she knew that nothing gave a man a hard-on like appearing macho in front of a weak woman. She frowned at him and mentally prepared herself for the task ahead. If it didn't work with him, she planned to take that as confirmation that he was really a female cross-dresser and Dong Gun would owe her 200,000 Won.
After a quick glance at him, she started to limp and when she was standing directly in front of him, she yelped like she was in pain. She watched his face and when he didn't even flinch, she fell to the ground and started screaming and calling for her mother. She'd screamed for at least thirty seconds before he looked over at her.
Finally, she thought. A second longer and she'd have lost her voice.
Jong Gun looked her over. He didn't even rush over like a normal person would when they found someone in crisis. No. He simply walked over and looked down at her. "Do you need help?"
Da Hae wiped away nonexistent tears and stretched her hand out to him. "I think I stepped on a nail or something."
He looked down at her thick shoes. "Really?"
She nodded. "Can you please help me up?"
He took her hand and lifted her up. "Are you okay now?"
"My foot still hurts," she said, limping for effect, "but thank you so much for helping me out." He looked like he was already turning away so she sent him her most dazzling smile and stretched her hand out. "My name is Nam Da Hae."
"Cool."
From the look on his face, Da Hae wondered if instead of introducing herself, she'd somehow told him where to get a barium enema.
"Take care, then," he said before walking back to his car and driving off.
***
Da Hae plopped herself in the seat next to Dong Gun's. After spending a sleepless night wondering why she'd received such a harsh brush off from Jong Won, she'd arrived at one conclusion. "He's gay, isn't he?"
"Nope," he said, looking up from his book and turning to her. The tortured look on her face brought him so much joy that he didn't bother to hide his satisfaction. When her frown deepened, he burst into laughter. Welcome to the real world, baby!
Da Hae glanced at him then took it from him.
Dong Gun felt her fingers brushed against his and mentally admonished himself for noticing it.
"You took a photo of him? Why does that seem gay?" She peered at the screen and moved the phone around in order to get the best angle to see the picture. "He's actually not bad looking. I thought you were going to find me the ugliest guy you could think of but this guy is actually cute." She put the phone on the table and looked at Dong Gun. "I really think this might be fun," she said, grinning. "He really is cute. But…," she said, bending her head and squinting at the photograph, "there's actually something familiar about his face." She scratched her head. "Maybe I've met him before? How tall is he? Where did you find him?"
Dong Gun stretched his hand out, gesturing for her to return his phone. "He's a new student."
She shut his phone and handed it back to him. "A noob? He's not a freshman, I hope."
Dong Gun chuckled. Why didn't he think of that? "He's a final year."
"Cool."
"I thought a new student would be best since I don't want you using any residual power," he explained.
She raised her left brow. "Residual power?"
"You know, just in case he doesn't realize that you no longer have your friends."
Da Hae rolled her eyes. "Whatever. What's his name?"
Dong Gun told her and answered all the other questions she had about him.
"Okay. And all I have to do is get him to ask me out?"
He nodded. "Yes. You can't ask him out. You can't give him hints. You can't show you're interested."
She eyed him. "What?" Wasn't that the whole point?
"Look, most red-blooded guys would go out with any girl if she threw herself at him, okay?" And he wasn't sure his cousin would have the willpower to withstand her if she come on strong. "So you can't do that. He's got to introduce himself to you. He has to take the initiative. He has to ask you out. And you have to go out with him."
She frowned. "I have to go out with him? So I actually have to date him?" She smirked. "Do I also have to sleep with him?" she asked sarcastically.
"That's up to you."
She turned away so that she was sitting properly in her seat then reached into her bag and pulled out the books she needed for the class and started leafing through a textbook.
When she didn't say anything for about two minutes, Dong Gun asked, "So are we clear on the rules?"
She slammed her book shut and looked at him. "You're obviously not serious. I'm not going to actually date a guy just because of a bet."
He laughed. "You're already contemplating losing?"
She hissed. "No. But it's still dumb. I can only agree to these rules if you agree to change schools if I win."
He almost wanted to agree to that but he knew that would raise all sorts of red flags. "Okay, you win. He asks you out and you just have to show up for the first date. It can be anything or anywhere but it can't be a group date. It has to be clear that he wants to go out with only you."
***
Da Hae straightened her skirt when she saw him. He was in the parking lot pacing around and talking on his cell phone – just as Dong Gun had told her. Well, he hadn't mentioned the cell phone part but nonetheless, he was standing there as expected. Dong Gun had been unable to come up with a reasonable explanation for why he normally hung around the parking lot after school so she hoped he wasn't a drug dealer.
From what she could see, he was at least 6'3 which made him slightly taller than Chang Min. She didn't know what it was but just like some girls had a thing for guys in glasses, she had a thing for tall men and the taller the better. She was 5'6 on the days she lied but there was something about long male arms wrapped around her body that made her feel safe.
As she got closer to him, she got a better view of his face and was slightly disappointed. Who'd have thought that some people were so photogenic that the quality even carried over to crappy camera phones? He was still cute but the Hyun Bin comparisons no longer applied as they had earlier in the day.
She took a deep breath in and dove into her plan. In her experience, all she had to do was walk past a guy to get his attention but this time, since he was on his phone, she decided to add a little oomph to her walk. She sent him a sultry look as she sashayed past him but to her surprise, he didn't say anything to her. Irritated, she turned around and saw that he was still on his phone. Okay, what the heck? She retraced her steps but still got no reaction. Back at her original spot, she tried to assess the situation. It really made no sense to go back and walk in the adjacent direction after all, she'd be walking towards barbed wire but what else could she do?
About two minutes later, she was standing at the barbed wire and he still hadn't looked up at her. Was he blind?
"Hey, Da Hae ssi, what are you doing there?"
She looked ahead and saw In Ho, the cook's son, waving at her. "What's up?"
He looked around the virtually empty parking lot then back at her. "Aren't you going home? Do you need a ride or something?" he yelled.
"No, I'm fine, In Ho ssi," she called back.
He looked at her curiously then at Jong Won who hadn't even lifted his head once.
She wondered if Jong Won would notice if his car suddenly caught fire. She was glad she hadn't brought matches otherwise, she just might have been tempted to find out.
"Alright, Da Hae ssi," In Ho said. "I'll see you later."
She waved at him then turned her attention back at the statue on the phone. She sighed and tried to come up with a new plan. Surely, she couldn't give up so easily. Besides, if he thought he could ignore her, he had another think coming!
She thought back to all the romantic movies she'd ever seen to try to come up with the best way to make him acknowledge her. The image of J.Lo tugging at her shoe in the middle of San Francisco came to mind. She sighed. She was very familiar with the weak women's mantra -when in need, act like a damsel in distress- but a day earlier, she wouldn't have imagined resorting to that level of shamelessness. But when in need…. Besides, she knew that nothing gave a man a hard-on like appearing macho in front of a weak woman. She frowned at him and mentally prepared herself for the task ahead. If it didn't work with him, she planned to take that as confirmation that he was really a female cross-dresser and Dong Gun would owe her 200,000 Won.
After a quick glance at him, she started to limp and when she was standing directly in front of him, she yelped like she was in pain. She watched his face and when he didn't even flinch, she fell to the ground and started screaming and calling for her mother. She'd screamed for at least thirty seconds before he looked over at her.
Finally, she thought. A second longer and she'd have lost her voice.
Jong Gun looked her over. He didn't even rush over like a normal person would when they found someone in crisis. No. He simply walked over and looked down at her. "Do you need help?"
Da Hae wiped away nonexistent tears and stretched her hand out to him. "I think I stepped on a nail or something."
He looked down at her thick shoes. "Really?"
She nodded. "Can you please help me up?"
He took her hand and lifted her up. "Are you okay now?"
"My foot still hurts," she said, limping for effect, "but thank you so much for helping me out." He looked like he was already turning away so she sent him her most dazzling smile and stretched her hand out. "My name is Nam Da Hae."
"Cool."
From the look on his face, Da Hae wondered if instead of introducing herself, she'd somehow told him where to get a barium enema.
"Take care, then," he said before walking back to his car and driving off.
***
Da Hae plopped herself in the seat next to Dong Gun's. After spending a sleepless night wondering why she'd received such a harsh brush off from Jong Won, she'd arrived at one conclusion. "He's gay, isn't he?"
"Nope," he said, looking up from his book and turning to her. The tortured look on her face brought him so much joy that he didn't bother to hide his satisfaction. When her frown deepened, he burst into laughter. Welcome to the real world, baby!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Chapter 5
Da Hae narrowed her eyes but kept staring at the space in front of her. "You're sure he's not gay?"
He kept laughing. "Your conceit is pathetic. You think the only reason a guy wouldn't be interested in you is because he's gay?"
"It's not like I think I'm the most attractive girl on this planet but come on!" she said, under her breath. It wasn't even about him not being attracted to her – it was the fact that he didn't even seem to see her. What the hell?
Dong Gun abruptly stopped laughing and said, "Now you know how it feels."
She rolled her head to him. "What?"
"Now you're on the other side. I'm sure that everyday, you walk by so many people you don't even see. I bet there are people you've gone to school with since the first grade that you don't even know their names. Heck, I doubt you'd be able to recognize their faces."
She shook her head vehemently. "That's not true." He was making her sound self-involved and that wasn't who she was.
"Yes, it is. You've spent your life being part of the popular clique so nameless, faceless people you couldn't care two shi.ts about know you. But you don't know them."
"That's not fair. Besides, it's easier for everyone to know one person than one person to know everyone."
He nodded. "True. But now, since Jong Won Hyung is new, you're part of 'everyone' and not 'one person.'"
She groaned. What exactly was he trying to say? That she was less attractive than she thought she was? That if her popularity wasn't attached to it, she was just average? She'd always thought she was popular because she was supposedly beautiful. But was it that she was considered beautiful because she was popular? And was Jong Won the man to clarify this?
She sighed. "Other than the parking lot, where else does your friend hang out?"
"Well, I'm having lunch with him today so you can come and sit with us. From the way you're acting, it seems like things didn't go too well in the parking lot. Maybe you'll have better luck today. I'll even help you," he finished with a grin.
The fact that he was helping her because he was so confident that she couldn't get Jong Won really pissed her off. Why was he so confident? "Are you sure you're not sabotaging this for me?" Was he telling him tall tales about her?
"I am not." He lifted his three middle fingers up. "Scout's honor."
Whatever. "And if he's a new student, how come you're already so close to him?"
He shrugged. He'd already anticipated this question so he was well prepared with an answer. "I have to keep tabs on you. Since he's a guy, he'll definitely brag if you hit on him or anything. So to keep tabs on you I have to keep tabs on him."
She shook her head in pity. "You sure are an expert on stalking."
He frowned. "Stalking is different from friendship."
She nodded slowly. "Definitely. I mean, take us for example. We aren't even friends but sitting here side by side and talking is soooooo much better than opening your locker and finding a poem from someone you've never really spoken to."
He winced at the memory. The first one he'd given to her had taken him a week to write but later on, he'd gotten so much practice, that he could easily whip a poem out during their lunch break. "Let's not rehash the past."
She laughed. "Yeah, let's not. It's funny to talk about it now but back then, it was really annoying and scary."
***
"Hey, we're not sitting over there," Da Hae said to keep her cousin from walking to their usual table.
Soo Hyun looked at her inquisitively. "Are we really going to stop sitting there because of what Bo Ra and her crew said the other day?"
She shook her head. "It's the stupid bet with Dong Gun. I'm going to eat lunch with them today so help me find them."
As Soo Hyun looked around, even though she found a little satisfaction in the fact that her cousin didn't have the power to attract every man, she couldn't help but feel that there was something fishy about the whole arrangement. For him to completely ignore her? It made no sense. "Hey," she said, the moment she spotted Dong Gun. "They are over there." She pointed at them.
Da Hae looked over and took a deep breath in. "Thanks," she said as she walked over to them. She sat next to Dong Gun while Soo Hyun sat next to her. "Hey," she whispered to him. "What's the topic?"
Dong Gun glanced at her. "They are talking about something that happened in their class this morning."
"Ah. Speaking of class, I can't believe Mr. Kim gave us a pop quiz this morning."
"He's random like that – you have to be prepared at all times."
She picked up her fork. "Yeah, like I don't have a life. I can't be constantly studying just in case he decides to give us a quiz." She paused for a moment. "But I'm sure it was great for you. Weren't you first last year?"
He shook his head. "No. I actually finished fourth," he said in a pained voice he tried to mask with a cough.
She frowned. "Really? I could have sworn they announced your name at assembly."
He was surprised that she even remembered. "Yeah, I was first for the first term."
"Oh.
"So yeah, it wasn't a good year but this year will be different," he said confidently. "What about you?"
She shrugged. "Thirty-something, I think. I did better than about seventy percent of the class and that's good enough for me. Anyway, enough of this, I do have a bet to win, after all." She cleared her throat and leaned into the table so that everyone could see her. "So what are you guys doing this weekend?" Da Hae asked loudly.
Her question had interrupted their conversation so they all stopped talking and turned to her. Da Hae planted a smile on her face and finally understood what the metaphor, 'pregnant silence' meant.
"Who are you?" Jong Won asked.
Okay, so that question swiftly stunned her out of the metaphor deciphering she'd been engaging in. "Er… w-we met yesterday?"
"This guy is a total idiot," Soo Hyun whispered.
"Really? We did?" Jong Won asked pointing at her then at himself.
She nodded too hard. Okay, so was he deranged or something? What the...? "Yeah. Yes… in the parking lot?"
His mask of confusion was still firmly on his face. "I see. And did I invite you to lunch or something? Why are you h--?"
"Hyung," Dong Gun quickly interrupted. Jong Won was overdoing it a bit. The idea was to ignore her but that didn't include being unnecessarily rude. If he went over the top, there was no way that Da Hae wouldn't figure it all out. "She's my friend –that's why she's here. I asked her to join us for lunch."
Jong Won's face suddenly brightened up. "You're a friend of Dong Gun's? You should have said that from the beginning. He's been so great since I moved here. One of the best people I know. Very helpful and wonderful. He's--"
"Hey," Dong Gun cut in, "quit it."
He laughed. "See? He's so modest. So Dong Gun's friend--"
She smiled at him. "Da Hae. My name is Da Hae."
"Alright, Da Hae ssi, we're going bowling this evening. Would you like to join us?"
Phew! They were finally getting somewhere. She discreetly gave Dong Gun a victory elbow in his side. "I'd love to."
***
Soo Hyun walked into the restaurant and stood at Sung Joo's line. She'd spent an hour at Da Hae's getting her hair and make up done just for this meeting. She knew it was ridiculous but no one ever got a hot guy while looking ugly… well, outside of Korean Dramas. She looked over at him. So not all uniforms were created equal but Soo Hyun didn't look too bad. She was only in line for a few minutes when she got to the counter.
"Hey," he said, smiling at her. "What's up?"
"I'm here for my discounted fries."
He laughed then glanced at the wall clock. "I get a break in about 10 minutes. Do you mind waiting?"
She shook her head and pointed at an empty table. "I'll be over there."
She'd been sitting for about five minutes when someone said, "Excuse me, Arashi, would you mind if I cleaned this table?'
She looked up to find her former biology lab partner, Hee Chul, smiling down at her.
She grinned. "Hey, you, I didn't know you worked here." They'd barely seen each other since the class ended but she only had pleasant memories of their class together.
He nodded grimly. "I do. Now I want to know why you're taking up valuable restaurant space without ordering."
Since the restaurant was half-empty, she laughed at his joke. "Whatever."
"So what are you doing here… wait a minute. Wait a minute!"
"What?"
He frowned. "Don't tell me you're here to meet Mr. Universe over there," he said, pointing at Sung Joo.
She rolled her eyes. Hee Chul was king when it came to coming up with lame analogies.
"No, you're really not here for him, are you?" He folded his arms. "I always thought you were smarter than that."
She sucked her teeth. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He bent over conspiratorially. "This place has become like PMS Central since he arrived. Look over there." He pointed at a table full of girls. "They're all here for him. Every five minutes, one of them gets up to ask him for salt, or a napkin or ketchup or whatever, which would make sense if the counter with all the condiments wasn't right next to their table."
Soo Hyun would have laughed if she didn't understand its implication. There were other girls vying for her oppa's attention? She stared at the table. "Well, it's different for me. He asked me to come."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, then. See you later."
Soo Hyun was contemplating walking over to the table of desperate girls and making them buzz off when Sung Joo approached her. "Hey, I hope you didn't wait long. I'm going outside for some air – do you want to come?" he asked, gesturing for her to follow him. "And here are your fries. They are on the house."
"Wow, you're so generous," she said, taking the fries from him then getting up and following him through the back door.
A few moments later, he was leaning with his back against the rough wall and smiling at her. "The fresh air feels so good."
She laughed. "I guess it must be hot in there. I thought you were coming out to smoke."
"Me?" He shook his head. "I don't smoke. So… how do you like the fries?"
She picked one up and bit into it. "They taste just like regular fries – I guess you did a good job wiping them." "Flirt, don't leer," was Dating Tip #12. She hoped she was doing it justice. She picked up another fry and smiled at him.
He smiled back but didn't say anything. Even though they weren't speaking, it wasn't awkward. She walked over to him and leaned against the wall, mimicking his stance.
"You look different," he observed.
She touched her hair self-consciously." I do? I don't why that might be."
"Oh, I think it's because you're wearing make-up."
"Yeah?" What the heck? What was the point of having the 'natural look' if people could still tell that you are painted?
"It looks good on you. You should wear it more often."
She turned her face to hide a grimace. Was that a compliment or an insult?
"So, Soo Hyun, what do you normally do at this time of the day? You know, when you're not at McDonald's?"
"I'm usually at Burger King," she said with a straight face.
His forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Oh… you don't have dinner at home?"
She shook her head. "I'm just kidding." She looked at her watch. "How long is your break?"
He sighed. "Just 15 minutes. I'll have to get back soon. Oh," he said, hitting his head like he'd suddenly remembered something. "So I haven't seen a movie since I've been here. I was wondering if you could show me where to watch one."
She put her hands on her waist and looked up and down the road. "You know something? There's actually one not too far from here," she said before giving him directions.
He looked down and smiled. "I was hoping you could show it to me."
Ah… why did his smile have to send all sorts of currents down her spine? She'd show him the Taj Mahal if he just smiled at her. Ah, what great, white teeth! She glanced at her watch again. "I don't think we'll have enough time today but what about during lunch tomorrow?"
He shook his head and chuckled. Then he looked up and directly into her eyes. "I mean that maybe you could show it to me and we can watch a movie together."
"Oh."
***
Da Hae got off the bus and walked carefully to the bowling alley. She'd taken extra care with her hair and make-up so she really didn't need the wind to do its business and mess things up. As she turned the corner towards the bowling alley, other than the people walking up and down the street and those entering the building, all she saw was a lone figure of a guy standing with his hands in his pocket. Where was everyone? Was she early?
As she got closer, she made out the features of the only person waiting.
"Hey, Dong Gun, where's everyone?" she called. When he turned to her, she saw a very familiar look in his eye. She smiled. It looked like all the time she'd spent getting ready would be worth it. So she was looking hot, huh? Surely, Jong Won would notice her now. "How come you're alone?"
"They decided then didn't want to bowl anymore so they've gone to play miniature golf."
She frowned. The closest minigolf course was at least five blocks away. "How come no one called me?" If she'd known earlier, she'd have gotten off at a different bus stop. Plus it sucked that they couldn't even be bothered to wait for her. "You should have called me."
"No one has your number," he said plainly.
"Oh…," she said, reaching for her phone. "What's your number? Let me call it, that way you can save it in your phone."
He didn't make any attempts to retrieve his phone. "Are you sure that's necessary?"
She rolled her eyes. "We don't want this to happen again, do we? I'm sure you don't want to spend all your time waiting for me."
After exchanging numbers, they started walking to the place.
"So Dong Gun, I've been thinking about what you said earlier today."
"About?"
The stupid wind had started blowing so Da Hae placed her hands on her head to keep it in place.
Dong Gun glanced at her and bit his lip to keep from laughing. She really did look like a monkey.
"Well," she continued, "we attended the same middle school and now we're at the same high school but I really don't know that much about you."
Unfortunately, he couldn't say that same about her.
"So tell me something. Anything you like… anything that won't make you a nameless, faceless person to me."
When he'd made his comments earlier in the day, he'd expected them to go into one ear and come out of the other. He couldn't believe that she'd actually taken them to heart. "What do you want to know?"
"Ah… where should I start? Okay, how many brothers and sisters do you have?"
"Watch where you're going," he cautioned. The road had begun to slope downwards.
She laughed. "My hands aren't exactly blocking my view. Answer the question."
"I have a younger brother."
They stood at the traffic lights and waited for them to change so they could cross the street.
"I have an older brother. And your parents? What do they do?"
Dong Gun's jacket had begun to blow in the wind so he zipped it up. "My mother stays at home but she used to be newscaster."
"I think I knew that, didn't I?" The light changed so they began to cross the street. Da Hae noticed one of the drivers leering at her but she ignored him. "Why did she stop?"
He'd already reached the other side of the road since he didn't have high heels to contend with. When she caught up with him, he said, "She quit about four or five years ago."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Family stuff." They'd begun to walk in step again.
"Ah… I see. And your father?"
"He's a pharmacist."
"Ah, good!" She clapped her hands in excitement. "It's a good thing I asked you. You see, the problem is that I sometimes get this pain at the back of my neck when I…"
He groaned in exasperation. "Are you kidding me?"
She giggled. "Whaaaat?" she said with a sing-song tone. "Don't be like that. Ask your father to recommend the best OTC painkiller for that."
He rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you see a doctor?"
"Sure. So that he can charge me 100,000 Won to tell me what pills to take? It's not that serious so just do me a favor and ask your father."
They finally arrived at the minigolf course. "Whatever, I'm going in."
She looked up at the building's sign and hesitated. "You know what? Why don't you go ahead? I just need to make a quick phone call."
Dong Gun watched her walk over to a corner before entering the building. He really hoped Jong Won would be up to it tonight.
He kept laughing. "Your conceit is pathetic. You think the only reason a guy wouldn't be interested in you is because he's gay?"
"It's not like I think I'm the most attractive girl on this planet but come on!" she said, under her breath. It wasn't even about him not being attracted to her – it was the fact that he didn't even seem to see her. What the hell?
Dong Gun abruptly stopped laughing and said, "Now you know how it feels."
She rolled her head to him. "What?"
"Now you're on the other side. I'm sure that everyday, you walk by so many people you don't even see. I bet there are people you've gone to school with since the first grade that you don't even know their names. Heck, I doubt you'd be able to recognize their faces."
She shook her head vehemently. "That's not true." He was making her sound self-involved and that wasn't who she was.
"Yes, it is. You've spent your life being part of the popular clique so nameless, faceless people you couldn't care two shi.ts about know you. But you don't know them."
"That's not fair. Besides, it's easier for everyone to know one person than one person to know everyone."
He nodded. "True. But now, since Jong Won Hyung is new, you're part of 'everyone' and not 'one person.'"
She groaned. What exactly was he trying to say? That she was less attractive than she thought she was? That if her popularity wasn't attached to it, she was just average? She'd always thought she was popular because she was supposedly beautiful. But was it that she was considered beautiful because she was popular? And was Jong Won the man to clarify this?
She sighed. "Other than the parking lot, where else does your friend hang out?"
"Well, I'm having lunch with him today so you can come and sit with us. From the way you're acting, it seems like things didn't go too well in the parking lot. Maybe you'll have better luck today. I'll even help you," he finished with a grin.
The fact that he was helping her because he was so confident that she couldn't get Jong Won really pissed her off. Why was he so confident? "Are you sure you're not sabotaging this for me?" Was he telling him tall tales about her?
"I am not." He lifted his three middle fingers up. "Scout's honor."
Whatever. "And if he's a new student, how come you're already so close to him?"
He shrugged. He'd already anticipated this question so he was well prepared with an answer. "I have to keep tabs on you. Since he's a guy, he'll definitely brag if you hit on him or anything. So to keep tabs on you I have to keep tabs on him."
She shook her head in pity. "You sure are an expert on stalking."
He frowned. "Stalking is different from friendship."
She nodded slowly. "Definitely. I mean, take us for example. We aren't even friends but sitting here side by side and talking is soooooo much better than opening your locker and finding a poem from someone you've never really spoken to."
He winced at the memory. The first one he'd given to her had taken him a week to write but later on, he'd gotten so much practice, that he could easily whip a poem out during their lunch break. "Let's not rehash the past."
She laughed. "Yeah, let's not. It's funny to talk about it now but back then, it was really annoying and scary."
***
"Hey, we're not sitting over there," Da Hae said to keep her cousin from walking to their usual table.
Soo Hyun looked at her inquisitively. "Are we really going to stop sitting there because of what Bo Ra and her crew said the other day?"
She shook her head. "It's the stupid bet with Dong Gun. I'm going to eat lunch with them today so help me find them."
As Soo Hyun looked around, even though she found a little satisfaction in the fact that her cousin didn't have the power to attract every man, she couldn't help but feel that there was something fishy about the whole arrangement. For him to completely ignore her? It made no sense. "Hey," she said, the moment she spotted Dong Gun. "They are over there." She pointed at them.
Da Hae looked over and took a deep breath in. "Thanks," she said as she walked over to them. She sat next to Dong Gun while Soo Hyun sat next to her. "Hey," she whispered to him. "What's the topic?"
Dong Gun glanced at her. "They are talking about something that happened in their class this morning."
"Ah. Speaking of class, I can't believe Mr. Kim gave us a pop quiz this morning."
"He's random like that – you have to be prepared at all times."
She picked up her fork. "Yeah, like I don't have a life. I can't be constantly studying just in case he decides to give us a quiz." She paused for a moment. "But I'm sure it was great for you. Weren't you first last year?"
He shook his head. "No. I actually finished fourth," he said in a pained voice he tried to mask with a cough.
She frowned. "Really? I could have sworn they announced your name at assembly."
He was surprised that she even remembered. "Yeah, I was first for the first term."
"Oh.
"So yeah, it wasn't a good year but this year will be different," he said confidently. "What about you?"
She shrugged. "Thirty-something, I think. I did better than about seventy percent of the class and that's good enough for me. Anyway, enough of this, I do have a bet to win, after all." She cleared her throat and leaned into the table so that everyone could see her. "So what are you guys doing this weekend?" Da Hae asked loudly.
Her question had interrupted their conversation so they all stopped talking and turned to her. Da Hae planted a smile on her face and finally understood what the metaphor, 'pregnant silence' meant.
"Who are you?" Jong Won asked.
Okay, so that question swiftly stunned her out of the metaphor deciphering she'd been engaging in. "Er… w-we met yesterday?"
"This guy is a total idiot," Soo Hyun whispered.
"Really? We did?" Jong Won asked pointing at her then at himself.
She nodded too hard. Okay, so was he deranged or something? What the...? "Yeah. Yes… in the parking lot?"
His mask of confusion was still firmly on his face. "I see. And did I invite you to lunch or something? Why are you h--?"
"Hyung," Dong Gun quickly interrupted. Jong Won was overdoing it a bit. The idea was to ignore her but that didn't include being unnecessarily rude. If he went over the top, there was no way that Da Hae wouldn't figure it all out. "She's my friend –that's why she's here. I asked her to join us for lunch."
Jong Won's face suddenly brightened up. "You're a friend of Dong Gun's? You should have said that from the beginning. He's been so great since I moved here. One of the best people I know. Very helpful and wonderful. He's--"
"Hey," Dong Gun cut in, "quit it."
He laughed. "See? He's so modest. So Dong Gun's friend--"
She smiled at him. "Da Hae. My name is Da Hae."
"Alright, Da Hae ssi, we're going bowling this evening. Would you like to join us?"
Phew! They were finally getting somewhere. She discreetly gave Dong Gun a victory elbow in his side. "I'd love to."
***
Soo Hyun walked into the restaurant and stood at Sung Joo's line. She'd spent an hour at Da Hae's getting her hair and make up done just for this meeting. She knew it was ridiculous but no one ever got a hot guy while looking ugly… well, outside of Korean Dramas. She looked over at him. So not all uniforms were created equal but Soo Hyun didn't look too bad. She was only in line for a few minutes when she got to the counter.
"Hey," he said, smiling at her. "What's up?"
"I'm here for my discounted fries."
He laughed then glanced at the wall clock. "I get a break in about 10 minutes. Do you mind waiting?"
She shook her head and pointed at an empty table. "I'll be over there."
She'd been sitting for about five minutes when someone said, "Excuse me, Arashi, would you mind if I cleaned this table?'
She looked up to find her former biology lab partner, Hee Chul, smiling down at her.
She grinned. "Hey, you, I didn't know you worked here." They'd barely seen each other since the class ended but she only had pleasant memories of their class together.
He nodded grimly. "I do. Now I want to know why you're taking up valuable restaurant space without ordering."
Since the restaurant was half-empty, she laughed at his joke. "Whatever."
"So what are you doing here… wait a minute. Wait a minute!"
"What?"
He frowned. "Don't tell me you're here to meet Mr. Universe over there," he said, pointing at Sung Joo.
She rolled her eyes. Hee Chul was king when it came to coming up with lame analogies.
"No, you're really not here for him, are you?" He folded his arms. "I always thought you were smarter than that."
She sucked her teeth. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He bent over conspiratorially. "This place has become like PMS Central since he arrived. Look over there." He pointed at a table full of girls. "They're all here for him. Every five minutes, one of them gets up to ask him for salt, or a napkin or ketchup or whatever, which would make sense if the counter with all the condiments wasn't right next to their table."
Soo Hyun would have laughed if she didn't understand its implication. There were other girls vying for her oppa's attention? She stared at the table. "Well, it's different for me. He asked me to come."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, then. See you later."
Soo Hyun was contemplating walking over to the table of desperate girls and making them buzz off when Sung Joo approached her. "Hey, I hope you didn't wait long. I'm going outside for some air – do you want to come?" he asked, gesturing for her to follow him. "And here are your fries. They are on the house."
"Wow, you're so generous," she said, taking the fries from him then getting up and following him through the back door.
A few moments later, he was leaning with his back against the rough wall and smiling at her. "The fresh air feels so good."
She laughed. "I guess it must be hot in there. I thought you were coming out to smoke."
"Me?" He shook his head. "I don't smoke. So… how do you like the fries?"
She picked one up and bit into it. "They taste just like regular fries – I guess you did a good job wiping them." "Flirt, don't leer," was Dating Tip #12. She hoped she was doing it justice. She picked up another fry and smiled at him.
He smiled back but didn't say anything. Even though they weren't speaking, it wasn't awkward. She walked over to him and leaned against the wall, mimicking his stance.
"You look different," he observed.
She touched her hair self-consciously." I do? I don't why that might be."
"Oh, I think it's because you're wearing make-up."
"Yeah?" What the heck? What was the point of having the 'natural look' if people could still tell that you are painted?
"It looks good on you. You should wear it more often."
She turned her face to hide a grimace. Was that a compliment or an insult?
"So, Soo Hyun, what do you normally do at this time of the day? You know, when you're not at McDonald's?"
"I'm usually at Burger King," she said with a straight face.
His forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Oh… you don't have dinner at home?"
She shook her head. "I'm just kidding." She looked at her watch. "How long is your break?"
He sighed. "Just 15 minutes. I'll have to get back soon. Oh," he said, hitting his head like he'd suddenly remembered something. "So I haven't seen a movie since I've been here. I was wondering if you could show me where to watch one."
She put her hands on her waist and looked up and down the road. "You know something? There's actually one not too far from here," she said before giving him directions.
He looked down and smiled. "I was hoping you could show it to me."
Ah… why did his smile have to send all sorts of currents down her spine? She'd show him the Taj Mahal if he just smiled at her. Ah, what great, white teeth! She glanced at her watch again. "I don't think we'll have enough time today but what about during lunch tomorrow?"
He shook his head and chuckled. Then he looked up and directly into her eyes. "I mean that maybe you could show it to me and we can watch a movie together."
"Oh."
***
Da Hae got off the bus and walked carefully to the bowling alley. She'd taken extra care with her hair and make-up so she really didn't need the wind to do its business and mess things up. As she turned the corner towards the bowling alley, other than the people walking up and down the street and those entering the building, all she saw was a lone figure of a guy standing with his hands in his pocket. Where was everyone? Was she early?
As she got closer, she made out the features of the only person waiting.
"Hey, Dong Gun, where's everyone?" she called. When he turned to her, she saw a very familiar look in his eye. She smiled. It looked like all the time she'd spent getting ready would be worth it. So she was looking hot, huh? Surely, Jong Won would notice her now. "How come you're alone?"
"They decided then didn't want to bowl anymore so they've gone to play miniature golf."
She frowned. The closest minigolf course was at least five blocks away. "How come no one called me?" If she'd known earlier, she'd have gotten off at a different bus stop. Plus it sucked that they couldn't even be bothered to wait for her. "You should have called me."
"No one has your number," he said plainly.
"Oh…," she said, reaching for her phone. "What's your number? Let me call it, that way you can save it in your phone."
He didn't make any attempts to retrieve his phone. "Are you sure that's necessary?"
She rolled her eyes. "We don't want this to happen again, do we? I'm sure you don't want to spend all your time waiting for me."
After exchanging numbers, they started walking to the place.
"So Dong Gun, I've been thinking about what you said earlier today."
"About?"
The stupid wind had started blowing so Da Hae placed her hands on her head to keep it in place.
Dong Gun glanced at her and bit his lip to keep from laughing. She really did look like a monkey.
"Well," she continued, "we attended the same middle school and now we're at the same high school but I really don't know that much about you."
Unfortunately, he couldn't say that same about her.
"So tell me something. Anything you like… anything that won't make you a nameless, faceless person to me."
When he'd made his comments earlier in the day, he'd expected them to go into one ear and come out of the other. He couldn't believe that she'd actually taken them to heart. "What do you want to know?"
"Ah… where should I start? Okay, how many brothers and sisters do you have?"
"Watch where you're going," he cautioned. The road had begun to slope downwards.
She laughed. "My hands aren't exactly blocking my view. Answer the question."
"I have a younger brother."
They stood at the traffic lights and waited for them to change so they could cross the street.
"I have an older brother. And your parents? What do they do?"
Dong Gun's jacket had begun to blow in the wind so he zipped it up. "My mother stays at home but she used to be newscaster."
"I think I knew that, didn't I?" The light changed so they began to cross the street. Da Hae noticed one of the drivers leering at her but she ignored him. "Why did she stop?"
He'd already reached the other side of the road since he didn't have high heels to contend with. When she caught up with him, he said, "She quit about four or five years ago."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Family stuff." They'd begun to walk in step again.
"Ah… I see. And your father?"
"He's a pharmacist."
"Ah, good!" She clapped her hands in excitement. "It's a good thing I asked you. You see, the problem is that I sometimes get this pain at the back of my neck when I…"
He groaned in exasperation. "Are you kidding me?"
She giggled. "Whaaaat?" she said with a sing-song tone. "Don't be like that. Ask your father to recommend the best OTC painkiller for that."
He rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you see a doctor?"
"Sure. So that he can charge me 100,000 Won to tell me what pills to take? It's not that serious so just do me a favor and ask your father."
They finally arrived at the minigolf course. "Whatever, I'm going in."
She looked up at the building's sign and hesitated. "You know what? Why don't you go ahead? I just need to make a quick phone call."
Dong Gun watched her walk over to a corner before entering the building. He really hoped Jong Won would be up to it tonight.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Chapter 6
Soo Hyun walked onto the bus in a daze. Oh my God, he asked me out!, she thought. He'd asked her out! He so totally freaking asked her out! Sung Joo asked Soo Hyun out on a date! The second she sat down, she wanted to get up and do cartwheels all over the bus and stick her tongue at all the passengers because Choi Sung Joo had asked Lee Soo Hyun out on a date. He'd asked her and not them. She covered her mouth with her palm and giggled. She couldn't believe it! She was about to have a boyfriend. A boyfriend! Her first real boyfriend. A guy to have her first sober kiss with. And he wasn't some boring guy she'd have to settle with out of desperation. No! He was a friggin hot guy with a smile that could melt a glacier. He was a smoldering hot guy with the body of an Adonis and the face to match. Well, she hadn't seen his body but it only made sense. He was so fine that he could get any girl he wanted and yet, he'd chosen her. She repeated the first part of that sentence and frowned. He really could get any girl he wanted.
A light bulb went off in her head so she picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Hey," Hee Chul said the second he picked up the line. "When I saw your number I suddenly wondered if I had biology homework due tomorrow."
She laughed. "Scary flashbacks, huh?"
"Yeah. I almost ignored the call."
"Ah, so now you confess. So you really had your phone with you all those times you claimed you didn't?"
"No comment. So…?"
"I just have a favor to ask. Can you talk now or are you still at work?"
He told her he was still at work and that he'd call her back in an hour
***
Hee Chul lay on his bed and stared at his phone, just as he'd been doing for the past thirty minutes. He knew he had to call her back but what would he say?
A year earlier, he hadn't really been excited to be partnered with her for biology because he'd assumed she was dumb. How smart could someone who just followed her popular cousin around really be? But when she showed him she meant business the first time they'd met to work, he realized that she was quite book smart. In fact, he doubted he'd have received an A in that class without her.
They'd started off as polite acquaintances who only talked about their assignment but somewhere along the line, they'd become quite comfortable with one another. He wasn't quite sure when he fell for her but he remembered the moment he realized that he had.
It had been just like any other day they'd decided to meet up to do their assignment. They'd been at the school library typing up their report when she looked at him and told him some silly physics joke about jocks not having any potential. When he heard her loud laugh, his heart skipped a beat and that was it.
From that moment on, he'd had to work hard to keep his cool and pretend he felt nothing but friendship for her. He'd wanted to confess his feelings to her on so many occasions but it never felt right. So after they parted ways, he'd resigned himself to the possibility that it was never meant to be. He'd seen her in school, usually with her cousin and their friends and never had the courage to go up to her. But when he'd seen her at work earlier in the day, it seemed like fate had finally intervened.
Hee Chul bounced his phone in his palm and exhaled. Okay, so maybe his initial assessment had been right, otherwise, why would the Soo Hyun he knew be attracted to someone like Sung Joo? He'd never seen her with any guys but surely, she needed someone with more depth. Right?
He looked at his alarm clock and noted the time. If he waited any longer, it would be too late to call and he wanted to keep his promise and call her back. Plus, it had been such a long time since they'd spoken on the phone and he wanted to hear her voice.
He took a sip of water then dialed her number. "What's up?" he asked the second she picked it up.
"Nothing," she said cheerfully. "How are you? How is your life?"
He smiled. She sounded happy. He liked it when she was happy. "Everything's great. How have things been with you? We've barely spoken since last year."
She laughed. "Yeah, I know. I guess we were tired of talking about cells and oscilloscopes."
"I guess so." It was sad to hear her summarize their time together like that. "So what's up?"
"Well…" she said before hesitating.
"Well, what?" he cajoled.
"I know this is a bit weird to ask but, you were talking about girls hanging around Sung Joo?"
What? What the freaking hell? She hadn't spoken to him in months but when she did it was because she wanted to find out about some other guy?
"Hee Chul, are you still there?"
He swallowed hard. "You called me to ask about that?" He'd tried his best but he couldn't hide the edge in his voice. Even though she was unaware of his feelings, she didn't have any right to torture him like that. "Is that why you called?"
"Hey, Hee Chul ah, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have. I just thought that since we are friends, you could help me out or something."
Friends, huh? "What do you want to know?"
She laughed nervously. "Don't worry about it, okay? We'll talk some other time," she said, rushing off the phone. "Good night."
He didn't have the desire to argue nor did he want to spend the evening talking about him. "Good night."
***
So Da Hae had to admit it. When no one was around, she'd taken a quick look at www.datingtips.com for something to help her out. When she scanned the list, almost none of them applied because Jong Won hadn't even given her the chance to be sweet, or flattering, or interesting or anything else for that matter. In fact, the only thing she could be was unavailable.
She'd only had to wait for about 15 minutes before he arrived. "Hey, Oppa, ready for your close up?"
Her neighbor, Yong Ha, rolled his eyes. "Just remember you owe me big," he said before linking his arm with hers and walking into the building.
***
"It took you long enough," Dong Gun said as she approached him. He looked behind her. Were his eyes deceiving him? Who the hell was that guy she was holding?
As if she could read his mind, she said, "Hey, have you met my friend, Choi Yong Ha? Oppa, this is my friend Dong Gun. Say hello."
The very bored looking Yong Ha waved at him. "Hello."
"Did I mention that Oppa is an expert at putt putt?" she asked proudly. "I brought him here to teach you guys a thing or two about losing." She shook her shoulders. "I hope we get to play as couples." She put her hands together and stared up dreamily. Then she looked at Dong Gun. "I hope you find someone to couple with," she said as she moved close to Yong Ha then rested her head on his shoulder.
Dong Gun rolled his eyes. Did she know how retarded she looked? But who was that guy? He watched her glance over the rest of the gang then frown. After about a minute of staring at them, she turned back and moved closer to him, "Who's the girl?"
He glanced at the tall girl sitting next to Jong Won and said, "That's Yuri Noona."
"And who's Yuri? You didn't tell me he had a girlfriend. I don't believe in going after guys who already have girlfriends. I'm--"
"Hey," he interrupted. He could tell she was about to fly off the handle. "Don't give yourself hypertension – she's just a friend."
"Really?" She spun around and watched them for a few moments. "Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly.
He nodded.
"Alright, then," she said loudly. "Sweetie, let's go and show these people how it's done!"
***
About three hours later, Da Hae walked out of the building fuming. What the hell? She'd been loud enough to make him notice her. She'd hugged and kissed Oppa as if he was the most beautiful guy on the planet. She'd been particularly animated, laughing cutely whenever she made a putt. All that and not even one look from Jong Won. Not one. She growled and punched her palm. She was already sick of it. And it wasn't like he was only focusing on Yuri. Nope. He seemed to be nice and friendly to everyone but her. Heck, he'd even smiled at Yong Ha a few times.
"Where did you park? I can't remember anymore," she said, looking around the parking lot.
He pointed to his car and they started walking.
"Hey," Dong Gun yelled from behind her.
She turned around to find him running towards her. "What?"
He stopped in front of them and caught his breath. "You weren't supposed to bring anyone with you," he accused. "You should have told me you were inviting someone else."
She frowned. "How I choose to play the game is my business."
Dong Gun's eyes darted from her face to Yong Ha's then away from them. What was that look in his eye?
"Besides," she continued, "I had to make sure that you weren't lying and that he really wasn't gay." She turned to Yong Ha. "What's the verdict?"
He shook his head. "No one is 100% accurate because there are always some funny ones but I'm right 99% of the time and…," he said, shaking his head from side to side, "he's as straight as a boomerang," he finished with a flourish.
Dong Gun's jaw fell. "What?"
He burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding." He rolled his eyes. "As far as I can tell, he's straight."
"I told you," Dong Gun said with relief. "Da Hae, I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he turned to leave.
Da Hae thought about it. Jong Won wasn't gay and she didn't exist to him. Okay. But did she really have the energy for this bullsh.it? "Hey, hold up, Dong Gun."
"What?" he said, spinning back around.
"Just to be clear, all I have to do is bid on you at the auction, right?" And going from last year's auction, he wasn't exactly going to break the bank. Plus she was sure she could survive an evening with him and the ridicule he was sure to heap on her. But if that was her only option…
A light bulb went off in her head so she picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Hey," Hee Chul said the second he picked up the line. "When I saw your number I suddenly wondered if I had biology homework due tomorrow."
She laughed. "Scary flashbacks, huh?"
"Yeah. I almost ignored the call."
"Ah, so now you confess. So you really had your phone with you all those times you claimed you didn't?"
"No comment. So…?"
"I just have a favor to ask. Can you talk now or are you still at work?"
He told her he was still at work and that he'd call her back in an hour
***
Hee Chul lay on his bed and stared at his phone, just as he'd been doing for the past thirty minutes. He knew he had to call her back but what would he say?
A year earlier, he hadn't really been excited to be partnered with her for biology because he'd assumed she was dumb. How smart could someone who just followed her popular cousin around really be? But when she showed him she meant business the first time they'd met to work, he realized that she was quite book smart. In fact, he doubted he'd have received an A in that class without her.
They'd started off as polite acquaintances who only talked about their assignment but somewhere along the line, they'd become quite comfortable with one another. He wasn't quite sure when he fell for her but he remembered the moment he realized that he had.
It had been just like any other day they'd decided to meet up to do their assignment. They'd been at the school library typing up their report when she looked at him and told him some silly physics joke about jocks not having any potential. When he heard her loud laugh, his heart skipped a beat and that was it.
From that moment on, he'd had to work hard to keep his cool and pretend he felt nothing but friendship for her. He'd wanted to confess his feelings to her on so many occasions but it never felt right. So after they parted ways, he'd resigned himself to the possibility that it was never meant to be. He'd seen her in school, usually with her cousin and their friends and never had the courage to go up to her. But when he'd seen her at work earlier in the day, it seemed like fate had finally intervened.
Hee Chul bounced his phone in his palm and exhaled. Okay, so maybe his initial assessment had been right, otherwise, why would the Soo Hyun he knew be attracted to someone like Sung Joo? He'd never seen her with any guys but surely, she needed someone with more depth. Right?
He looked at his alarm clock and noted the time. If he waited any longer, it would be too late to call and he wanted to keep his promise and call her back. Plus, it had been such a long time since they'd spoken on the phone and he wanted to hear her voice.
He took a sip of water then dialed her number. "What's up?" he asked the second she picked it up.
"Nothing," she said cheerfully. "How are you? How is your life?"
He smiled. She sounded happy. He liked it when she was happy. "Everything's great. How have things been with you? We've barely spoken since last year."
She laughed. "Yeah, I know. I guess we were tired of talking about cells and oscilloscopes."
"I guess so." It was sad to hear her summarize their time together like that. "So what's up?"
"Well…" she said before hesitating.
"Well, what?" he cajoled.
"I know this is a bit weird to ask but, you were talking about girls hanging around Sung Joo?"
What? What the freaking hell? She hadn't spoken to him in months but when she did it was because she wanted to find out about some other guy?
"Hee Chul, are you still there?"
He swallowed hard. "You called me to ask about that?" He'd tried his best but he couldn't hide the edge in his voice. Even though she was unaware of his feelings, she didn't have any right to torture him like that. "Is that why you called?"
"Hey, Hee Chul ah, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have. I just thought that since we are friends, you could help me out or something."
Friends, huh? "What do you want to know?"
She laughed nervously. "Don't worry about it, okay? We'll talk some other time," she said, rushing off the phone. "Good night."
He didn't have the desire to argue nor did he want to spend the evening talking about him. "Good night."
***
So Da Hae had to admit it. When no one was around, she'd taken a quick look at www.datingtips.com for something to help her out. When she scanned the list, almost none of them applied because Jong Won hadn't even given her the chance to be sweet, or flattering, or interesting or anything else for that matter. In fact, the only thing she could be was unavailable.
She'd only had to wait for about 15 minutes before he arrived. "Hey, Oppa, ready for your close up?"
Her neighbor, Yong Ha, rolled his eyes. "Just remember you owe me big," he said before linking his arm with hers and walking into the building.
***
"It took you long enough," Dong Gun said as she approached him. He looked behind her. Were his eyes deceiving him? Who the hell was that guy she was holding?
As if she could read his mind, she said, "Hey, have you met my friend, Choi Yong Ha? Oppa, this is my friend Dong Gun. Say hello."
The very bored looking Yong Ha waved at him. "Hello."
"Did I mention that Oppa is an expert at putt putt?" she asked proudly. "I brought him here to teach you guys a thing or two about losing." She shook her shoulders. "I hope we get to play as couples." She put her hands together and stared up dreamily. Then she looked at Dong Gun. "I hope you find someone to couple with," she said as she moved close to Yong Ha then rested her head on his shoulder.
Dong Gun rolled his eyes. Did she know how retarded she looked? But who was that guy? He watched her glance over the rest of the gang then frown. After about a minute of staring at them, she turned back and moved closer to him, "Who's the girl?"
He glanced at the tall girl sitting next to Jong Won and said, "That's Yuri Noona."
"And who's Yuri? You didn't tell me he had a girlfriend. I don't believe in going after guys who already have girlfriends. I'm--"
"Hey," he interrupted. He could tell she was about to fly off the handle. "Don't give yourself hypertension – she's just a friend."
"Really?" She spun around and watched them for a few moments. "Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly.
He nodded.
"Alright, then," she said loudly. "Sweetie, let's go and show these people how it's done!"
***
About three hours later, Da Hae walked out of the building fuming. What the hell? She'd been loud enough to make him notice her. She'd hugged and kissed Oppa as if he was the most beautiful guy on the planet. She'd been particularly animated, laughing cutely whenever she made a putt. All that and not even one look from Jong Won. Not one. She growled and punched her palm. She was already sick of it. And it wasn't like he was only focusing on Yuri. Nope. He seemed to be nice and friendly to everyone but her. Heck, he'd even smiled at Yong Ha a few times.
"Where did you park? I can't remember anymore," she said, looking around the parking lot.
He pointed to his car and they started walking.
"Hey," Dong Gun yelled from behind her.
She turned around to find him running towards her. "What?"
He stopped in front of them and caught his breath. "You weren't supposed to bring anyone with you," he accused. "You should have told me you were inviting someone else."
She frowned. "How I choose to play the game is my business."
Dong Gun's eyes darted from her face to Yong Ha's then away from them. What was that look in his eye?
"Besides," she continued, "I had to make sure that you weren't lying and that he really wasn't gay." She turned to Yong Ha. "What's the verdict?"
He shook his head. "No one is 100% accurate because there are always some funny ones but I'm right 99% of the time and…," he said, shaking his head from side to side, "he's as straight as a boomerang," he finished with a flourish.
Dong Gun's jaw fell. "What?"
He burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding." He rolled his eyes. "As far as I can tell, he's straight."
"I told you," Dong Gun said with relief. "Da Hae, I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he turned to leave.
Da Hae thought about it. Jong Won wasn't gay and she didn't exist to him. Okay. But did she really have the energy for this bullsh.it? "Hey, hold up, Dong Gun."
"What?" he said, spinning back around.
"Just to be clear, all I have to do is bid on you at the auction, right?" And going from last year's auction, he wasn't exactly going to break the bank. Plus she was sure she could survive an evening with him and the ridicule he was sure to heap on her. But if that was her only option…
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Chapter 7
"Hyung," Dong Gun called as he walked back to the group. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Intrigued, Jong Won followed him to a corner. "What's up?" he asked, grinning impishly. Even though freezing Da Hae out had been difficult, it had also been a little fun.
Dong Gun folded his arms and frowned. "What the hell are you doing? She's ready to give up."
"So?"
He moved closer to him and whispered, "Da Hae is ready to give up," he repeated.
Pleased, Jong Won smiled and patted himself on his shoulder. "Damn, I'm good."
But the frown didn't leave Dong Gun's face. "Don't you understand? She's about to give up."
"Wasn't that the whole plan?"
Dong Gun averted his eyes and shook his head. "No, this is too easy." Then he looked back at him. "She's supposed to be tortured. You're supposed to crush her pride. Her pride is not crushed." It just didn't feel right. Wasn't he supposed to be satisfied? Instead, all he felt was disappointment. "It happened too quickly."
Jong Won smirked. "You're confused. Aren't we doing this just so she bids on you at the auction? Isn't that all we were trying to accomplish?"
Maybe it had started off that way but it had turned into something else. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he wasn't ready for her to give up. She had to understand what it meant to be the butt of all jokes. He looked into his cousin's eyes. "Hyung, just fix it, okay?"
He chuckled. "How?"
"Just call her up and sound interested. She thinks there's no hope that you're ever going to ask her out so just call her up and string her along."
Jong Won rolled his eyes. What had he gotten himself into? "What do you want me to say?"
Dong Gun walked over to the counter and asked the cashier for some paper and a pen. He gestured for Jong Won to join him. "I'll write it down."
***
Da Hae tiptoed around her house and opened the back door. The good thing about have a single mother, or well, a widowed mother was she sometimes went out on dates. And when she did, Da Hae knew that she could get home late without any problems. It also helped that on those days, she usually forwarded the landline to her cell phone on the off chance that her mother would feel the need to check up on her.
She tiptoed through the kitchen and up the stairs and then to her mother's bedroom door and gently placed her ear on it. Her parents had been apart longer than they'd been together, but she still sometimes heard her mother's stifled sobs on those rare times she was up late. Her mother had been dating her current boyfriend for almost two years and Da Hae hoped he'd be the one to finally help her get over her father. Wasn't love supposed to bring you joy? So why had it left her mother in a permanent state of grief? She smiled then walked to her room when she couldn't hear anything because it either meant that her mother was already sleeping soundly or she was still out with her boyfriend.
She pushed off the pillows she'd arranged to make it look like she'd been in bed, kicked her shoes off and jumped on her bed and reflected on her day. Okay, so what was she doing? Sane people didn't risk getting grounded just so that they could attract some guy they didn't even like? Right?
Her lids were already beginning to feel heavy so she jumped off the bed and changed into her pyjamas then ran to the bathroom to wash her make-up off. She'd just turned the tap on when her phone rang.
She ran back and looked at the caller id but didn't recognize the number. She threw her phone down and went back to the bathroom, but the caller was persistent so she finally answered it. "Hello?" she asked gruffly. If the person started speaking Japanese she was going to curse him out.
"Hi, is this Nam Da Hae?"
"Yes," she replied cautiously.
"Hi, it's Jong Won," he said warmly.
She pinched herself. Was she dreaming? "Yes?"
"Hey, how's it going? I hope I'm not calling too late."
"No." She was still in a state of shock and hoped that it would wear off so that she could stop giving one word answers.
" Da Hae ssi, why did you leave so early? You should have stayed longer so that we could talk."
"What?" He wanted to talk to her? Or a different Nam Da Hae?
"Anyway, let me get to the point since it's so late," he continued cheerfully.
"Okay."
"I got your number from Dong Gun because I wanted to know if you were free tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow. Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Anyway, we're going to see the basketball game so I was wondering if you wanted to come. You can bring anyone you like, even your… boyfriend."
The way he hesitated and said the word 'boyfriend' snapped her out of her trance. She smiled. So he wanted to know if she had a boyfriend, huh? "I don't have a boyfriend."
"Really? I wouldn't have guessed. So will you come?"
Talk about a U-turn. She suddenly pictured herself at a shoe store. "Definitely."
***
"Hey…," Soo Hyun said to Hee Chul as she passed by him. They'd arrived at the basketball game and as luck would have it, they were sitting in the same row. When she was seated, he asked if it was okay to sit next to her and when she agreed, he switched seats. After his cold response the previous night, Soo Hyun was a little taken aback by his friendliness.
Hee Chul offered her some potato chips but she refused them. "I've never seen you at a game before," he said before he bit into a chip.
"Yeah." She studied his face and tried to read him but she just drew a blank. He seemed to be back to his old self. Maybe he's not a night person, she thought. "I've never been to a game but Da Hae begged me to come with her."
"I see. How is she doing?" he whispered. "I heard about her break-up."
Soo Hyun glanced at Da Hae who was sitting next to her. "She's alright."
"I guess she's made new friends," he observed.
If you could call them that. She smiled at him. "Yeah."
After a few moments of silence, Hee Chul said, "I think I might have come off a little cold last night," he said, looking down sheepishly, "but I just wanted you to know that you could ask me anything. Even if it's about Sung Joo."
"Don't worry about that. Forget it."
He shook his head. "No. We're friends, right? You wanted to ask me something. Ask."
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. "So ask."
Soo Hyun sat up straight. Well, he didn't need to ask twice. "So… have any other girls come to see him? I mean, not like the ones who just come to ogle him." She made a disgusted face. "I mean girls he knows. Girls he invited."
He laughed. "Invited? You make it sound like it's his house. I don't know who he's invited or not invited. It's not like I ask them."
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, is there anyone in particular he pays attention to?"
He shrugged. "It's not like I pay that much attention to him."
"Wow, you're really being helpful."
He laughed for a few seconds. "I haven't seen anyone special. But can I ask you a question?
She nodded. "Sure."
"Why do you even like him?"
Other than the fact that he could cause global warming? She pursed her lips and thought about it. "I guess I'll let you know after our date tonight."
He gave her a sidelong look. "A date, huh?"
"Yep," she said dreamily. "We're going to the movies."
***
"I'm really glad you could make it," Jong Won said from beside her.
"Really?" Da Hae said, looking around him and at Yuri who was sitting about three people away from them. From what she could see, the other girl didn't seem the least bit bothered that he was talking to her so maybe Dong Gun was being honest when he said that they were just friends.
"Yeah. Even though I've seen you around, we really haven't had the chance to talk," he said, grinning widely.
She smiled back at him. But whose fault was that? It wasn't like she hadn't tried.
"So," he continued, "I'm glad you came. Oh, the players are getting on the court."
Da Hae looked over and watched them walk on in a single file. In the past, Chang Min normally waved at her the second he walked through the doors but this time, he waved at someone else. Da Hae followed the direction of his smile and saw a girl she didn't recognize sitting amongst her former friends. The girl waved back.
Da Hae looked away and rested into her chair. That boy sure didn't waste any time. It wasn't like she'd expected him to pine for her forever but wasn't it a little quick to already have a new girl? And she didn't even look like she attended their school.
"So do you like basketball?" Jong Won asked, cutting into her thoughts.
She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. My boyfriend…." She started to point at Chang Min then quickly put her hand back down. "I mean my ex is on the team so I usually watch all their games. But even before that, when I was younger, my older brother was on the team so I guess I've always been around it."
He chuckled. "But it seems like you've been around it because of other people. What about you? Do you like it?"
She paused to think about it. It was true that she'd started watching it because of her brother but she did enjoy it. On the surface it appeared to be very simple, after all, it was all about throwing a ball in a net but she'd learned that that was just a façade that hid the complexities that went into playing such a beautiful sport. "I guess I like it." She nodded. "I do like it."
The referee blew the whistle.
"The game is starting," Jong Won said as he turned his attention to the players. "Let's watch."
***
Dong Gun knew that he should have been paying attention to the game so why had he spent almost the entire time trying to discreetly look to the left of him? He gritted his teeth. As far as he understood, neither Jong Won nor Da Hae were comedians so why in the world had they spent so much time laughing and smiling? The last he'd heard, torturing someone didn't include making them laugh. Had he made a mistake by trusting Jong Won?
"Dong Gun, are you listening?" Da Hae asked.
The game had ended with their school beating their opponents by 12 points and they were all filing out of the gym.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"I said," she inched closer to him, "if something happens between Jong Won and me, you're not going say anything about the bet, right?"
"Something like what? What do you mean?"
"I mean," she said, nodding and smiling, "he seems pretty nice and you did talk about two birds with one stone and all that. I am just saying that just in case I like him, if--" She was interrupted by the sound of her cousin calling her. She turned around and mouthed something to her cousin then turned back to him. "Hey, I have to go now. See you."
A few minutes later, Jong Won and his friends had decided to stop at a fast food restaurant after the game so just as they were about to walk into it, Dong Gun pulled him aside.
"What?" he asked as he watched his friends line up at the counter.
"Hyung, what are you doing? I said you should be nice but that doesn't mean you should marry her!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Da Hae. She actually thinks she can win now."
Jong Won groaned. "Wasn't that the plan? To make her think she can win so she doesn't quit?"
"B-But…" Dong Gun frowned. Okay, so he'd got him there. That had been the plan. He put his hands in his pockets and stared at his cousin. "But…."
"But what?"
Dong Gun shrugged. What was wrong with him? Everything was going as planned, yet nothing seemed to be going right. "Forget it."
Jong Won shook his head. "Dude, you need to figure out what you want."
He wanted her to suffer. What more was there for him to figure out?
Intrigued, Jong Won followed him to a corner. "What's up?" he asked, grinning impishly. Even though freezing Da Hae out had been difficult, it had also been a little fun.
Dong Gun folded his arms and frowned. "What the hell are you doing? She's ready to give up."
"So?"
He moved closer to him and whispered, "Da Hae is ready to give up," he repeated.
Pleased, Jong Won smiled and patted himself on his shoulder. "Damn, I'm good."
But the frown didn't leave Dong Gun's face. "Don't you understand? She's about to give up."
"Wasn't that the whole plan?"
Dong Gun averted his eyes and shook his head. "No, this is too easy." Then he looked back at him. "She's supposed to be tortured. You're supposed to crush her pride. Her pride is not crushed." It just didn't feel right. Wasn't he supposed to be satisfied? Instead, all he felt was disappointment. "It happened too quickly."
Jong Won smirked. "You're confused. Aren't we doing this just so she bids on you at the auction? Isn't that all we were trying to accomplish?"
Maybe it had started off that way but it had turned into something else. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he wasn't ready for her to give up. She had to understand what it meant to be the butt of all jokes. He looked into his cousin's eyes. "Hyung, just fix it, okay?"
He chuckled. "How?"
"Just call her up and sound interested. She thinks there's no hope that you're ever going to ask her out so just call her up and string her along."
Jong Won rolled his eyes. What had he gotten himself into? "What do you want me to say?"
Dong Gun walked over to the counter and asked the cashier for some paper and a pen. He gestured for Jong Won to join him. "I'll write it down."
***
Da Hae tiptoed around her house and opened the back door. The good thing about have a single mother, or well, a widowed mother was she sometimes went out on dates. And when she did, Da Hae knew that she could get home late without any problems. It also helped that on those days, she usually forwarded the landline to her cell phone on the off chance that her mother would feel the need to check up on her.
She tiptoed through the kitchen and up the stairs and then to her mother's bedroom door and gently placed her ear on it. Her parents had been apart longer than they'd been together, but she still sometimes heard her mother's stifled sobs on those rare times she was up late. Her mother had been dating her current boyfriend for almost two years and Da Hae hoped he'd be the one to finally help her get over her father. Wasn't love supposed to bring you joy? So why had it left her mother in a permanent state of grief? She smiled then walked to her room when she couldn't hear anything because it either meant that her mother was already sleeping soundly or she was still out with her boyfriend.
She pushed off the pillows she'd arranged to make it look like she'd been in bed, kicked her shoes off and jumped on her bed and reflected on her day. Okay, so what was she doing? Sane people didn't risk getting grounded just so that they could attract some guy they didn't even like? Right?
Her lids were already beginning to feel heavy so she jumped off the bed and changed into her pyjamas then ran to the bathroom to wash her make-up off. She'd just turned the tap on when her phone rang.
She ran back and looked at the caller id but didn't recognize the number. She threw her phone down and went back to the bathroom, but the caller was persistent so she finally answered it. "Hello?" she asked gruffly. If the person started speaking Japanese she was going to curse him out.
"Hi, is this Nam Da Hae?"
"Yes," she replied cautiously.
"Hi, it's Jong Won," he said warmly.
She pinched herself. Was she dreaming? "Yes?"
"Hey, how's it going? I hope I'm not calling too late."
"No." She was still in a state of shock and hoped that it would wear off so that she could stop giving one word answers.
" Da Hae ssi, why did you leave so early? You should have stayed longer so that we could talk."
"What?" He wanted to talk to her? Or a different Nam Da Hae?
"Anyway, let me get to the point since it's so late," he continued cheerfully.
"Okay."
"I got your number from Dong Gun because I wanted to know if you were free tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow. Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Anyway, we're going to see the basketball game so I was wondering if you wanted to come. You can bring anyone you like, even your… boyfriend."
The way he hesitated and said the word 'boyfriend' snapped her out of her trance. She smiled. So he wanted to know if she had a boyfriend, huh? "I don't have a boyfriend."
"Really? I wouldn't have guessed. So will you come?"
Talk about a U-turn. She suddenly pictured herself at a shoe store. "Definitely."
***
"Hey…," Soo Hyun said to Hee Chul as she passed by him. They'd arrived at the basketball game and as luck would have it, they were sitting in the same row. When she was seated, he asked if it was okay to sit next to her and when she agreed, he switched seats. After his cold response the previous night, Soo Hyun was a little taken aback by his friendliness.
Hee Chul offered her some potato chips but she refused them. "I've never seen you at a game before," he said before he bit into a chip.
"Yeah." She studied his face and tried to read him but she just drew a blank. He seemed to be back to his old self. Maybe he's not a night person, she thought. "I've never been to a game but Da Hae begged me to come with her."
"I see. How is she doing?" he whispered. "I heard about her break-up."
Soo Hyun glanced at Da Hae who was sitting next to her. "She's alright."
"I guess she's made new friends," he observed.
If you could call them that. She smiled at him. "Yeah."
After a few moments of silence, Hee Chul said, "I think I might have come off a little cold last night," he said, looking down sheepishly, "but I just wanted you to know that you could ask me anything. Even if it's about Sung Joo."
"Don't worry about that. Forget it."
He shook his head. "No. We're friends, right? You wanted to ask me something. Ask."
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. "So ask."
Soo Hyun sat up straight. Well, he didn't need to ask twice. "So… have any other girls come to see him? I mean, not like the ones who just come to ogle him." She made a disgusted face. "I mean girls he knows. Girls he invited."
He laughed. "Invited? You make it sound like it's his house. I don't know who he's invited or not invited. It's not like I ask them."
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, is there anyone in particular he pays attention to?"
He shrugged. "It's not like I pay that much attention to him."
"Wow, you're really being helpful."
He laughed for a few seconds. "I haven't seen anyone special. But can I ask you a question?
She nodded. "Sure."
"Why do you even like him?"
Other than the fact that he could cause global warming? She pursed her lips and thought about it. "I guess I'll let you know after our date tonight."
He gave her a sidelong look. "A date, huh?"
"Yep," she said dreamily. "We're going to the movies."
***
"I'm really glad you could make it," Jong Won said from beside her.
"Really?" Da Hae said, looking around him and at Yuri who was sitting about three people away from them. From what she could see, the other girl didn't seem the least bit bothered that he was talking to her so maybe Dong Gun was being honest when he said that they were just friends.
"Yeah. Even though I've seen you around, we really haven't had the chance to talk," he said, grinning widely.
She smiled back at him. But whose fault was that? It wasn't like she hadn't tried.
"So," he continued, "I'm glad you came. Oh, the players are getting on the court."
Da Hae looked over and watched them walk on in a single file. In the past, Chang Min normally waved at her the second he walked through the doors but this time, he waved at someone else. Da Hae followed the direction of his smile and saw a girl she didn't recognize sitting amongst her former friends. The girl waved back.
Da Hae looked away and rested into her chair. That boy sure didn't waste any time. It wasn't like she'd expected him to pine for her forever but wasn't it a little quick to already have a new girl? And she didn't even look like she attended their school.
"So do you like basketball?" Jong Won asked, cutting into her thoughts.
She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. My boyfriend…." She started to point at Chang Min then quickly put her hand back down. "I mean my ex is on the team so I usually watch all their games. But even before that, when I was younger, my older brother was on the team so I guess I've always been around it."
He chuckled. "But it seems like you've been around it because of other people. What about you? Do you like it?"
She paused to think about it. It was true that she'd started watching it because of her brother but she did enjoy it. On the surface it appeared to be very simple, after all, it was all about throwing a ball in a net but she'd learned that that was just a façade that hid the complexities that went into playing such a beautiful sport. "I guess I like it." She nodded. "I do like it."
The referee blew the whistle.
"The game is starting," Jong Won said as he turned his attention to the players. "Let's watch."
***
Dong Gun knew that he should have been paying attention to the game so why had he spent almost the entire time trying to discreetly look to the left of him? He gritted his teeth. As far as he understood, neither Jong Won nor Da Hae were comedians so why in the world had they spent so much time laughing and smiling? The last he'd heard, torturing someone didn't include making them laugh. Had he made a mistake by trusting Jong Won?
"Dong Gun, are you listening?" Da Hae asked.
The game had ended with their school beating their opponents by 12 points and they were all filing out of the gym.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"I said," she inched closer to him, "if something happens between Jong Won and me, you're not going say anything about the bet, right?"
"Something like what? What do you mean?"
"I mean," she said, nodding and smiling, "he seems pretty nice and you did talk about two birds with one stone and all that. I am just saying that just in case I like him, if--" She was interrupted by the sound of her cousin calling her. She turned around and mouthed something to her cousin then turned back to him. "Hey, I have to go now. See you."
A few minutes later, Jong Won and his friends had decided to stop at a fast food restaurant after the game so just as they were about to walk into it, Dong Gun pulled him aside.
"What?" he asked as he watched his friends line up at the counter.
"Hyung, what are you doing? I said you should be nice but that doesn't mean you should marry her!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Da Hae. She actually thinks she can win now."
Jong Won groaned. "Wasn't that the plan? To make her think she can win so she doesn't quit?"
"B-But…" Dong Gun frowned. Okay, so he'd got him there. That had been the plan. He put his hands in his pockets and stared at his cousin. "But…."
"But what?"
Dong Gun shrugged. What was wrong with him? Everything was going as planned, yet nothing seemed to be going right. "Forget it."
Jong Won shook his head. "Dude, you need to figure out what you want."
He wanted her to suffer. What more was there for him to figure out?
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