New Beginnings

Today is the day I start school and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I wake up nice and early, have a shower and put on my school uniform. The uniform is more comfortable then I thought it’d be but I honestly would prefer to wear trousers then a skirt. I take out some food Ahjumma packed for me from last night but I’m just too nervous to eat anything. Instead I pace around the house waiting for Woohyun to come. I think of yesterday, telling Woohyun about my past. I wish I never said anything; one reason why I agreed to going abroad was so that no one would know about what happened. I just wanted to be treated normally but when he asked I just couldn’t lie to him and truthfully deep down I think I wanted him to know. Having dinner with Ahjumma and Woohyun yesterday was simply amazing. I really enjoyed myself. There’s more to Woohyun then he shows. It makes me want to know him more, to understand him. Speaking to him I feel at ease, I was worried at first but I know now that I can trust him, there’s something about him that’s makes me feel safe.

‘Ding’. The doorbell rings, he’s finally here. I run to the door and grab my school bag. I put my shoes on and walk towards the gates. Woohyun’s standing there, his back leaning on the wall. He has his school bang over one shoulder and one knee bent allowing his foot to lean back against the wall for support.

‘Wow, you’re always right on time’ I say impressed.

‘Time is very precious, it’s more important to us then we’ll ever know,’ he replies looking so handsome.

Mysterious I think to myself, he’s definitely very mysterious.

‘Oh, here’s you’re money for yesterday’. He looks at the money and groans. I quickly say ‘please don’t argue with me, just take it’. He nods and stretches out his hand.

We decided to go to school a little early so Woohyun could show me around.

‘You ready?’ He asks.

‘Ye’ I reply.

We walk to the bus stop in silence. I remember this route its pretty simple really. Just straight down the stairs and pass the busy street, then a left and after a couple more minutes of walking you’re at the bus stop.

‘Are you nervous?’ Woohyun asks while we stand waiting for the bus.

‘Ye’ I reply lowering my head. ‘I don’t want to talk about it, it’ll just make me more nervous’ I say trying to change the subject.

‘Araso’ he says while stretching out his arm for the bus to stop. ‘This is our bus’ he says motioning me to come over.

‘What are the people like at school?’ I say getting on the bus.

‘I thought you didn’t want to talk about school’, he replies sitting down.

‘It’s just that…I remember you said you don’t like the girls at our high school, why is that?’

‘Ah, you remember that?’ He looks me in the eye with half a smile. ‘School here in Korea is different then in England. These long hours mean school is like our second home. We only have each other and that’s not always good. It can get very tough.’

Now I’m worried. I look down at my lap regretting getting on the bus. I’m so tempted to run off but Woohyun pulls out his phone and asks for my number.

‘Ye?’ I say confused.

‘Your number?’ He repeats. ‘If anything happens or if you need someone then just call me straight away and I’ll be there’. I look at him and he’s eyes are twinkling again. I pull out my phone and give him my number. He gives my phone a call and I begin to save his details.

‘Andewe! -Don’t!’ He yells. I look at him surprised.

‘Wae? -Why?’ I say. ‘Aish, you scared me! What is it?’

‘My name’ he replies. ‘I told you to call me oppa’.

I can’t help but smile. ‘Pft’ I say typing in oppa. ‘Here, see, satisfied?’ I say showing him my phone.

‘Ye’ he says teasing. ‘But you must call me oppa from now, all the girls in school will be jealous of you’.

‘Won’t that put me in trouble then?’ I ask. ‘Do you want me to get hurt?’

‘Yah how can you say that? I already told you that I’d protect you. Don’t you have any faith in me?’

I look at him and he’s serious. I was only joking with him but he obviously doesn’t understand.

‘Plus the only way for me to protect you is if you call me oppa. When they see you’re with me they won’t touch you.’ He says this so proudly and I pray he’s right.
‘So the girls get obsessive?’ I ask (my knowledge from the kdramas).

‘Ye you can say that. You come to school and you’re with the same people for over 10 hours so you become closer with people and protective, every individual is different just like you and me. Some people you’ll find are really shy, some are kind, some are bullies and others think they rule the whole school; they’re usually the reach kids’. He says pulling a face and then continues. ‘Everyone is working so hard to become the best graduate and to make their parents proud so they take out their frustrations in different ways and most of the time its by hurting someone else so they can feel big and inferior.’

‘But I’m not Korean, I’m only here for a year, surely they won’t do anything to me?’ I say trying to reassure myself but Woohyun is too frank for my liking.

‘Who knows?’ He says. ‘Some people may accept you, some may not even look in your direction and others may see you as their prey because you’re different or they may be jealous. He breathes out and looks towards a young child sleeping in his mother’s arms.

‘Has anything ever happened to you?’ I ask hoping he’s never had to go through anything like that.

‘No’ he replies. But he doesn’t sound sincere. I wonder if he’s ever been the ‘bully’, surely not. Woohyun isn’t like that. I’m sure he knows what I’m thinking because he looks at me and laughs. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not a oppressor but that’s not to say I’ve never hurt anyone to protect the ones I love’.

‘Love?’ I repeat. ‘Like your girlfriend?’ I ask sounding jealous.

‘No, the girls here get clingy, I can’t date someone I see everyday for over 10 hours and then see them again on the weekend, in school you know people to well. You know what they’re like, there’s nothing left to guess so dating them becomes boring.’

I can see where he’s coming from. I’m glad I have Woohyun with me. I don’t know what I would have done without him. Flirting with him has almost become a habit now, he’s so cheesy but I love him for it.
Before I know it the 45minute bus ride is over. I slowly get of the bus and see that big building again, my school. Woohyun walks in front of me, I quickly run after him.

‘Gwaenchanhayo?’ He says looking down at me.

‘Ye’ I reply back but we both know I’m not.

‘So you already know that this is the school. You can also see the bus stop from here.’ He says pointing to it. ‘It’s the same stop where you get on and off so don’t wonder off anywhere else, I’ll be with you most of the time so don’t worry’. His words give me comfort. ‘This area is pretty much safe’, he continues ‘so don’t be afraid to explore around’. ‘That shop over there’, he points to a coffee shop that has dining seats inside and outside, there’s also a top and bottom floor. It’s already busy with people in suits. ‘That’s my favorite shop, they do the best coffee and because it’s full of older people the students don’t often go in, so I like to escape there and sit at the top floor inside looking down at everyone.’

‘If you want to escape why don’t you go somewhere further?’ I ask curiously.

He looks down at me and smiles, ‘I have many places I like to escape too, it just depends on how I feel’. ‘Come on’ he says walking off into the school doors. ‘We only have half an hour before the students start coming’. We enter through the doors and the school is already busy with people, I feel sick.

‘I thought you said the students won’t be coming until half an hour?’ I say desperate for an answer.

‘This school is massive. The students here right now are nothing. Trust me wait and see’.

I let out a crying sound and he laughs. I look at him mesmerized with how chilled he is. He’s so confident and always happy. I’ve not seen him angry since I’ve met him. He’s always there running around making people happy and wanting to keep them safe. Surely he must feel lonely at times? He must get angry at some point right?

‘Ok let me see your timetable, I’ll drop you off to class’, he says with his hand out.

I pull out my timetable from my bag and hand it over to him.

‘Hmm you are upstairs in room 103..b’, uneasily he says this pausing when saying ‘b’.

‘Wae?’ I say worried. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘Ane-No’ he quickly replies smiling. ‘It’s fine just…just keep your head down in that class and try not to talk to anyone you’re suspicious of’.

‘Suspicious? Why what’s wrong with that class?’ I question. He doesn’t reply and I get angry. ‘Tell me!’ I shout. ‘I’m not a child. I’m going to be in that class and I need to know!’ My face is all red and I feel the heat build up inside me. Why won’t he tell me?

‘Araso’ he says exhaling. ‘You know how I told you some people in this school think they run the place? Well there’s one person in your class who thinks he’s the boss of everyone’. He folds up my timetable and hands it over to me. I put the paper back in my bag and head upstairs to my class following Woohyun.

‘You’ll know who I’m talking about once you see him. Everyone is scared of him and agrees to whatever he says so you don’t want to be on his bad side, like I said just keep your head down and don’t attract attention to yourself’.

‘How can I not attract attention?’ I say annoyed. ‘I’m foreign, of course I’m going to be center of attention’.

We reach upstairs and walk down yet another corridor. The school smells nice and clean and with the sun shining through the windows it actually looks rather nice. I see some beds where people stay overnight for when they’re too tired to go home.

‘You’ll be fine, they’ll be curious about you but if you stay out of his way that’ll be even better. He won’t really pay any attention to you. He keeps to himself and doesn’t socialize with anyone unless he has to’.

We reach my classroom and I look up to Woohyun. ‘How do you know so much about him?’ I ask.

He hesitates and I feel uneasy. ‘I…I told you, we all know a lot about each other’.
He’s lying I know he is. I breathe out and smile. ‘Ok, I’ll try not to talk to anyone and will avoid him in particular, ah what’s his name?’ In all this worry I forget the most important question. His name.

‘Sunggyu’ he replies looking me in the eye, ‘Kim Sunggyu’.

‘Kim Sunggyu’ I repeat turning towards my classroom sneaking a look through the window. Woohyun was right the school was beginning to get more and more full with students yawning or gossiping away. ‘If I get on his bad side what will happen?’ I ask Woohyun curious.

‘With Sunggyu you never know. There are so many rumors about him you don’t know what’s the truth and what’s a lie.’ He leans over the windowsill looking into the class. ‘But what I do know is that he’s someone you don’t mess with, he can hurt you if he really wants and it can be for no reason’. He then turns towards me and places a hand on my shoulder and smiles. ‘So stay away from him ok?’ He nods then walks down the corridor. I watch him walk away not wanting to let him go. Why do I have the worst guy in the school in my class? Woohyun turns around and shouts ‘I’ll come after lesson so you stay here and we’ll go to lunch together’. I nod back to embarrassed to shout back, he has already drawn enough attention to me. I look at the people staring and begin to turn away. ‘Remember’ he yells ‘oppa’s going to come here’ I turn around red and shocked with what he just said. He smiles that player smile of his and walks towards the doors leading to the third floor. I can hear girls behind me whispering about what just happened. I put my head down and close my eyes waiting to enter the classroom.

‘Annyeonghaseyo’ a voice says behind me. I slowly turn and see a tall boy in front of me. He looks really smart in his school uniform and his hair brushed forward yet slightly parted to the right. This must be the school rep. I was told to report to him when I start so he could help introduce me to the class.

‘Annyeonghaseyo’ I reply and slightly bow. ‘I’m-’

‘Rachel-shi’ He interrupts. ‘I know, I’ve been told all about you. I’m Kim Myungsoo, your class rep. If you have any problems or questions come straight to me and I’ll be happy to help’. He smiles at me with his mouth closed not baring his teeth. He too has a sharp jawline but not as dominate as Woohyuns. Why are all the boys here so hot? He’s tall, clever and really really handsome. I’m sure I’m in heaven. I’m tempted to ask him about Sunggyu but I remember what Woohyun said about drawing attention to myself so I keep quite and follow him into the class.

It literally takes the class a couple of minutes to settle down. I stand at the front with Myungsoo watching people walk in. I try to see if there’s anyone I can potentially make friends with but every time I look up all I see are eyes staring back at me.

The teacher walks into the class and Myungsoo announces, ‘everyone stand’, they all stand, ‘bow’ and they all bow while saying their greetings. The pupils then sit in their chairs and make no noise. This is totally different to England. There’s no standing, bowing or greeting the teachers. The class would be running wild like caged animals.

‘Ah is this our transfer student?’ The teacher asks. She’s a short woman with what seems like humongous high heels. She wears trousers and a blazer and her hair simply tied back with a clip. She looks strict but doesn’t sound it. In her hand she carries a stick, which looks like she hits kids with. Wait, they don’t hit kids here right?

‘Ye’ Myungsoo replies. ‘This is Rachel, she’s from the UK and doesn’t understand Korean’, he says to the class.

‘If she doesn’t understand Korean why is she here?’ One of the student shouts across the room. A sudden laughter arises.

‘SHUT UP!’ The teacher yells startling me. I look at her and she smiles back.

I have to do something; I don’t want them to think I’m dumb.
‘Anneyeonghaseyo’ I say and bow. ‘My name is Rachel and I’m from the UK. My Korean is weak so I ask you all to please understand and to help me out. I’ll be staying in your class for a year so I hope we all get along well with each other’. I breathe out and turn to Myungsoo. The class claps and Myungsoo whispers in my ear ‘impressive’ he says with a smirk. I can’t help but bite my lower lip feeling his breath just inches away from my ear.

‘Nice to meet you Rachel’ says the teacher. ‘Your Korean is really good’.

‘Thank you’ I reply. She nods back and picks out a seat for me.

‘You can sit there at the back, it’s been an empty seat for so long’.

I bow to the teacher following Myungsoo’s actions and walk over to my seat. I’m happy being at the back, I guess this way I’d be out of everyone’s way. As I get to my seat I can see students turning around and whispering. It makes me feel anxious but I guess like Woohyun said they’d be curious about me.

Myungsoo then does what I assume is the register and hands it over to the teacher.

She looks at the list and says ‘No Sunggyu again?’

‘He’ll probably come in late.’ Myungsoo replies.

‘Like always’ the teacher mutters.

She begins her lesson and everyone sits there quietly listening attentively. I take out my book from my bag and write down notes. It isn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. Woohyun was overacting; I actually really like my class. It’s now 15 minutes into the lesson and someone knocks on the class door. Everyone’s head shoots round to the back of the class where the door is like they were waiting for a distraction.

‘Come in’, the teacher announces looking down at her textbook.

The door opens and in comes a tall-milked skin boy. He’s probably an inch taller then Woohyun. He has brown orangey hair messily brushed forward across his forehead and small eyes that look like they hold the burden of the world. His lips are thin but his shoulders are nice and broad, he must be hard working.

‘Do you hate me Sunggyu?’ the teacher says sarcastically looking at him while gently hitting the stick in her hand. The class starts to giggle but Sunggyu doesn’t reply instead he roles his eyes.

So this is Sunggyu, the guy I’m to stay away from, the guy who has power over everyone, this is Kim Sunggyu.

‘No’ he mutters while yawning. That’s the rudest I’ve seen anyone be to the teachers and he seems to have gotten away with it. It looks like not only are the students scared of him but the teachers too.

‘Then why are you always late? Huh. Without fail you are always late!’ She now begins to raise her voice. I can see the frustration getting to her. ‘Just go and sit down but I’m warning you if you’re late again you’re going to be in big trouble. Do you understand?’

He walks in and closes the door behind him. ’I understand’ he says walking towards my direction. I can’t help myself but to look at him, for some reason I’m fascinated by his attitude. The way he walks is so gentle and sly I understand why everyone is afraid of him. I must admit; he’s defiantly good looking. As he approaches he catches me looking, my eyes weaver and I try to act calm quickly putting my head down pretending to write. My heart begins to beat fast but I don’t know if it’s out of fear or something else. He sits at the desk next to mine that resides near the window. He puts his bag down on the floor and slouches in his chair relaxing his head back so the sunlight shines on his face. I look over at him; he doesn’t look like a bully to me, just someone who’s really lazy. He looks so delicate and at ease yet something about him troubles me. I see people looking and whispering, and now I know why the teacher said this seat has been empty, just one word, one name, Kim Sunggyu.

---

'Ding dong ding' the bell rings and the teacher begins to pack away her things. I thought everyone would rush for dinner and ‘freedom’ but they're all quite casual. To not stand out anymore then I all ready do I pack away slowly. Students begin to leave the class and others come in meeting up with their friends, I look out the window for Woohyun but he's not there.

I text.

“Where are you? I'm waiting in class, to lazy to stand outside and wait”.

I put my phone away and glance over at the spot Sunggyu sat, he has already left and I didn't even know, those silent steps. All of a sudden the girls begin to rush around and whisper to each other, I see some retouching their makeup and others shortening their skirts or unbuttoning their tops. Their voices get louder as the people they are surrounding come closer to the class. I'm not really sure what's going on and my stomach begins to growl again, I wish I had someone to talk to but everyone seems fascinated with the people outside. I look over too Myungsoo’s seat but he's also gone. I take my phone out and text Woohyun again.

“Woohyun, I'm really hungry, please be quick, something’s happening and I'm not sure what but all the girls have gone mad”.

I hold my phone in my hands waiting for a reply. I stand up determined to leave class but the doorway is packed. I stand on my tiptoes to have a look and see the girls flirting with some handsome boys who seem to be enjoying every moment. I walk towards the window to see whatever it is Sunggyu looks at all lesson but there’s nothing interesting apart from the front of our school. I see kids going out to eat lunch, some walking and others getting picked up in expensive cars. Thankfully I have Woohyun to catch the bus with but not sure how reliable he is now. Just as I'm about to turn away I see a black figure in the corner of my eye, it's Sunggyu. He too is standing next to an expensive car but someone is there with him dressed in black. They look like they're having a serious conversation hiding in the corner. The man next to Sunggyu hands something over to him and just like that he’s gone. As he drives down the street Sunggyu looks down at his hands and places whatever he was given into his pocket.

‘Awww he’s so cute’, ‘wow look at his figure’, ‘he’s so tall’ I wonder which prey these girls have insight now. ‘He never comes here, why is he here?’ one girl says to her friends as they rush towards the door. I turn around and see someone trying to come into the class, its Woohyun.

‘Aish, chincha! Move!’ He shouts frustrated. He slowly walks over smiling like none of those girls exist. I look at him, then them and to him again. I slowly move towards my seat and pick up my bag.

‘So this is where you sit?’ He asks sternly looking at Sunggyu’s seat.

‘Where were you? I’ve been waiting for so long!’ I say trying to act normal while all these girls watch us.

‘I told you if you call ‘oppa’ he’ll come running but if you call ‘Woohyun’ he’ll take his time’, as he says this that player smile of his appears on his face. The girls around begin to squirm.

‘Stop it’. I say playfully hitting him on his arm and smiling at the same time. I don’t mind flirting with him but not in front of other people.

‘Come on, oppa will eat with you’. He says pulling me out of the classroom. The girls make way while jealously looking and giving me dirty looks. As we finally escape I hear a couple of girls says, ‘its probably because she foreign and is easy’, they begin to laugh. I feel sick, half of me want to turn around and hit them and the other half just wants to run away. Before I know it Woohyun’s in their faces.

‘WHAT DID I HEAR YOU JUST SAY? HUH! DON’T YOU EVER SPEAK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT AGAIN!’

I’ve never and I mean never seen Woohyun this angry. His fists are clenched tightly and there’s nothing but hatred in his eyes. I’m actually scared about what he might do. I pull his arm and tell him its fine, everyone’s watching now.

‘Ane’ he says looking at me then tuning to the girls. ‘Rachel is with me so no one bothers her. If I find out anyone has hurt her you’ll have me to deal with’. Everyone stands and listen. I’m so embarrassed I just want to vanish into thin air. Woohyun grabs my arms and begins to walk off; he turns back around and says,

‘Look at you and look at her, who’s the easy one?’ He gives them a dirty look and with that we were gone down the hallway into the cafeteria.

---

‘So how’s your day so far?’ He says smiling.

We line up to get food, I’m not sure if we should talk about what just happened or ignore it, I know he wants to but I just cant.

‘Woohyun’ I say looking at him eat. He puts his chopsticks down and looks up at me. ‘I’m sorry for what happened before but next time please don’t do that. If I walk away then you should too, I don’t care what they say to me. What you said to those girls was horrible and they really like you so they must be hurt. You also threatened them, because of me! I don’t want that’. I don’t want you to have trouble in this school because of me. People will really think there’s something going on between us…’ I trail off and see he’s just sitting back in his chair with his arms folded and smiling lightly.

‘What?’ I say annoyed.

‘Nothing…its just no one has cared for me before while also being mad at me, they’re either just mad with me or thankful, never both’.

This mysterious boy always happens to surprise me. For some reason I just want to put my arms around him to console him but I don’t. I sit there looking back.

‘You’ve made things worse, now they’re really going to hate me’.

‘Maybe but they won’t hurt you’.

‘They didn’t hurt me anyway’.

‘You never know they just might’.

‘Stop saying that. I like my class, they’re students not killers but now because of you they really just might kill me’. I say raising my eyebrows trying to show Woohyun how dangerous words can be.

‘No, don’t say that’ he looks down and then back into my eyes ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think, I just lost it. What they said to you it wasn’t right or fair, they don’t even know you’.

I can’t be angry with him; he was just trying to protect me. ‘It’s fine’ I say, ‘I’ll call oppa and he’ll coming running right?’ I smirk at him. He laughs and replies, ‘no matter what’.

---

I pity Woohyun, I really do. Who would have thought being handsome could be hell. I understand everything now when he said he didn’t like the girls in this school. Its must be really hard for him always getting girls throwing themselves at him just as he simply walks down the school corridors. Woohyun is someone who likes to protect people and keep them happy he’s always there trying to make the situation better, he’s not a toy boy or even a player just a BIG flirt.

Lunch ends and we all go back to class. I hate being separated from Woohyun, he’s like my knight in shining armor. I don’t want to rely on him too much; I’m scared these mad girls will do something to him because of me so I try to make friends. Everyone begins to go inside the class and I bump into girl. She’s about the same height as me and has short straight black hair that just about reaches her shoulders. ‘Sorry’ I say in English and then quickly repeat myself in Korean. She laughs and replies.

‘Its ok, you’re Korean seems better then I though it was’.

‘Thank you, I’ve been working hard on perfecting it.’ I reply smiling.

‘My name is Seo yeon, nice to meet you’. She smiles.

‘Nice to meet you too, my name is Rachel’ I reply but before I can go on someone pushes us so we bang into each other. I look up and see Sunggyu has just walked past us. We both enter the class and I look to Seo yeon.

‘Sorry about that’ I say.

‘Its ok, he’s always like that’, she replies nodding her head towards Sunggyu who’s sitting in his chair just staring out the window.

‘I’ve been told to stay away from him’ I reply.

‘Woohyun said that? She asks. I don’t know if I should tell her the truth or just lie. She sees it in my eyes and says, ‘its just earlier on I saw him with you so assumed he told you to stay away…also Woohyun and Sunggyu don’t get a long so it makes sense. Are you guys dating?’

‘What? No! We’re just friends’ I say. ‘Anyway why don’t they get along?’ I ask curiously.

‘I’m not really sure, all I know is they don’t get along, of course there are rumors too but I’m not sure if they’re true’.

I nod back frowning and turn towards my seat but somebody grabs onto my arm. It’s Woohyun.

‘Yah are you a pabo?- An idiot?’ He says sarcastically while raising his eyebrows.

‘What? Pabo’ I say confused.

‘You forgot to pick this up, the principle saw you with me so told me to give it to you.’ He hands over my bus pass, which I was meant to collect at the beginning of school.

‘Ahh I forgot all about that’. I reply taking the card from him.

‘Ahh because you’re a pabo’, he replies smiling and nodding his head.

‘Yahh, go back to your class’ I tease tuning away from him. ‘You could have given me this later, why did you come? Did you miss me?’ I say flirting. I’ve learnt it all from him.

‘Yeah I did he says sarcastically’, but I know it’s not true. He moves to the side and watches Sunggyu.

‘I’ll see you later then’, I say looking at him watch Sunggyu.

‘Ah, ye’ he replies smiling.

I sit down at my desk and notice Sunggyu watching Woohyun leave. I look down at my phone and see Woohyun has just messaged me.

“I’ll see you at the front gates okay?”

I reply back unable to keep my smile in.

“Yah I think you have an admirer”.

“Of course, I have so many, can you not remember before?”

He then texts again before I can reply.

“Why? Are you jealous?”

“Ane! But maybe Sunggyu is.”

“YAH! Have you gone crazy? Do you know what you’re saying right now!?”

“Haha, he was really staring and then when you left the class he watched you leave”.

“He’s known for that.”

“For what? Watching you?”

“Yah stop! ..He’s known for watching everyone.”

I look over at Sunggyu and he’s looking out the window again. Is this what he means by watches everyone? I can’t see Sunggyu being aggressive, he looks so calm but scary. People like him you must always avoid and that’s what I’m planning on doing. Seo yeon turns around and catches me looking over at Sunggyu.

‘Honestly forget him’, she says looking at him then me.

‘I don’t understand he just doesn’t look like the rough bully type’.

‘He’s more of the silent killer’ she laughs and then shakes her shoulders.

‘Silent killer?’ I say expecting her to tell me he’s killed someone.

‘Haha yah what are you thinking? I mean he can hurt you and you probably won’t even know it’. I nod back and have one more glance at him. He slowly turns his head around and I quickly face Seo yeon. We both look at each other and begin to laugh.

‘Oh there’s one rumor about him that I know is defiantly true’. Seo yeon says.

‘Really? What’s that?’ I ask excited.

‘He has a 3 second kill stare’.

‘3 second kill stare?’ I repeat.

‘Ne, because doing eye contact with him is really scary, he just looks deep into your soul and no one has been able to look at him for longer then 3 seconds, ohh’.

I begin to laugh and she does too. For the rest of the day Seo yeon and I stay together. She a lovely girl and has helped me learn the names of people in my class and what their personalities are like. We walked to the school gates together and Woohyun meets up with us. I could see she was nervous meeting him but I’m sure she was happy too. A black car came to pick her up and she offered to drop us off but Woohyun said he wanted to take me somewhere.

‘Where are we going?’ I ask Woohyun.

‘Wait and see, its not the best place but it means a lost to me’. He says looking down at me while we cross the road to the bus stop.

‘If it’s special to you then it’ll be special to me’. I say with a grin on my face.

‘Aigoo’ he replies messing my hair up while laughing.

The bus comes and we get on. I want him to ask about Seo yeon. I was excited to tell him about her, I wanted to show him that I won’t just depend on him, I wanted him to be proud of me but he never mentioned her once.

‘Here we are, come on let’s get off’, Woohyun says getting up. The bus ride was shorter then I expected.

I get of the bus and we walk down a secluded big path surrounded by trees on either side. It’s actually really pretty. We reach a bench in the view of the playground and Woohyun sits down. I sit down beside him and ask why we’re here.

‘This place…this place is where my parents used to bring me, it’s the only memory I have of them.’

I figured Woohyun’s parents passed away when I went to his house. There were no family photos not even of him and Ahjumma.

‘You must really miss them, I’ve only been away from mine for just over a month and I find it really hard, I can’t imagine what you’re going through’.

He carries on looking at the playground. I’ve not seen Woohyun like this before, there are so many secrets and I can’t help but let my mind wonder.

‘Even though it’s been years since they’re gone it still hurts.’ He looks over at me ‘but I’m much better then before thanks to halmeoni, you can see what she’s like, she took me in and cared for me’. I nod at him, that’s one of my questions answered; ahjumma isn’t his real halmeoni. I don’t know what to do or how to comfort him, should I talk about his parent’s or not? I look over at the park and then at him, his head hangs down looking at the ground.

‘Woohyun’ I say gently touching his shoulder so he faces me. ‘You’ll always remember your parents no matter what, the pain of losing them won’t go, feeling like this is normal, cry if you want. I promise I won’t tell anyone’. I smile trying to cheer him. A tear roles down his cheek and he puts his head back closing his eyes. Just like Sunggyu. I sit back with him and he lays his head on my shoulders. I want to hug him and tell him it’s ok but I can’t, I’m still not ready to be free with him.

After a while of silently crying Woohyun lifts his head. ‘Thank you’ he says. ‘What for?’ I reply. He stands up and looks down at me ‘just for being there and not asking me anything’. I smile back and he pulls out his hand pulling me up.

‘Lets go home now’, he says looking refreshed.

I smile back and walk along the street of Seoul with him just laughing and joking. No worries no problems just enjoying each other’s company. We finally reach our block and Woohyun stops walking, I look up at him and he stands there frozen like he’s seen a ghost. I turn my head and look straight over to whatever Woohyun is looking at.

It’s Sunggyu.

He’s standing across the road to us, frozen just like Woohyun. They both just stand there looking at each other, I look at Sunggyu and for the first he looks at me or is he looking straight through me? This must be his 3 second kill stare as they call it back in school, but unlike them I stare right back at him it’s the only thing that makes me feel like I’m protecting Woohyun. Out of nowhere two big men come behind Sunggyu and whisper something into his ear, all three then get into a black car and drive away. ‘Gangsters’ I think to myself and look up at Woohyun who just smiles at me. We cross the road and head home not saying a single word. Woohyun drops me off to my door and before he leaves in a low tone voice with the moon shining in his eyes he says, ‘I’ll never hurt you, never'.

Notes