“C’mon. Hand over the money. We don’t have all day,” the lanky sidesick stated with annoyance.
“Yeah, we still have to collect from a lot of other kids. Hurry it up.” The chubby one pulled out a stick of chocolate and started munching on it.
“I can’t give you what I don’t have,” a tiny voice squeaked out. “My mommy packed my lunch. I don’t have any money.”
Bony fingers reached out and yanked the little fifth grade girl by the collar. “Are you freakin kidding me? We all know your parents are loaded.”
“That doesn’t mean I carry cash on me,” she reasoned while trying to loosen the grip around her neck. She was wiggling like a caught worm on a hook. Her efforts were wasted as the boy was stronger than her.
“Fine, just give us what you have and pay the rest tomorrow.”
She stuck out her tongue at her captor and bravely said, “No.”
Her response caused the fat boy to momentarily stopped eating. “What did you say?” Surprise was clearly in his voice.
“I’m not giving you guys anything.”
“Look, I barely had anything to eat today, so I’m not in a very good mood,” he spoke with a mouthful of melted chocolate. “It’s best not to make me mad so early in the morning.”
“I’m sure skipping a couple meals will do wonders for you.” Although clearly scared, her stubborn nature refused to let some punks steal her money. It was a matter of principles.
The skinny guy started chuckling at the tart remark. However, his friend did not find the comment aimed at his weight to be very funny. “Why you puny four-eyed twit!” He roughly shoved her to the ground.
The oversized glasses on her nose fell off and the surrounding instantly turned hazy. Yet she was still able to see a fist coming straight at her. A terrified squeal was released as she squint her eyes shut. She was expecting to be knocked unconscious or at the very least have a bloody nose. However, nothing happened. She peaked out through lowered lids and stared up at an additional fuzzy figure. Without her glasses, she couldn’t make out his features.
He had a tight grip on fat boy’s wrist and yanked him back in an effortless manner. “Still taking advantage of those weaker than you, I see. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size for once?” His voice held a lazy drawl that was vastly addictive to her ears. She felt her heart beat especially fast at the appearance of this faceless savior.
“This has nothing to do with you. Go mind your own business!” the lanky boy snapped.
“What if I want to make this my business?” he asked in a casual tone.
“Is she related to you or something?” Fat boy grimaced at the pressure being exerted on his wrist.
“No, but let’s just say I’m feeling kinda bored and I’ve decided to let you guys entertain me.”
“Get lost or—”
“Or what?” he interrupted. “My fists have been itching today. Why don’t we have a little fun?”
He felt a force approaching from behind and dodged to the side. He managed to escape being knocked down by the leader of the group. An amused smirk curved one side of his mouth. “Ki Joo… always so obliging. I knew I could count on you.”
A brawl quickly ensued with limbs being thrown all over the place. It was three against one, hardly a fair fight, but the new boy was surprisingly holding his own pretty well. He received several punches, but also delivered painful blows to his opponents. As the fight carried on, the little girl was crawling around searching for her glasses. Her hands roamed over the uneven ground. Soft grass blades swept passed her fingers, but no sign of the familiar frames. She slowly moved around in a blurry state while trying to avoid the wrestling figures nearby.
Tubby boy got slammed in the ribs by a powerful knee and landed on the ground choking for air. Not too far away, his skinny friend was nursing a sprained ankle and a bloody nose. Their leader was going one on one with the other guy. Both had incurred bruises along their faces. Their clothes did not escape damage either. Blood stains were splattered on torn shirts and dusty jeans.
After receiving a staggering punch to the chest, Ki Joo wobbled backward. He was tempted to charge forward to continue the fight. He wasn’t losing, but neither was he winning. Finally deciding that it wasn’t worth the trouble, he waved his hand and motioned for the other two to follow. “This isn’t over yet.” With those departing words, the three left.
The girl released a sigh of relief that trouble was finally over. She was rather disappointed that she couldn’t watch the full fight in detail. Her glasses were nowhere to be found. She was still on her hands and knees moving around on the grass. Her head suddenly bumped into a hard kneecap. Rubbing the top of her head, she gazed up at the blurry teenager.
He was holding something in his hands and knelt down beside her. Before she knew it, her glasses were placed back on. She was awestruck at the sight that met her large doe-like eyes. Even with the cuts and bruises on his face, she honestly believed he was the most handsome boy she ever met. The smile he bestowed on her was part mocking, part amusement. She didn’t realize she was gaping at him until he stretched out a lean index finger to close her jaw.
“The name’s Kim Dong Wan. What’s yours?”
“Uh… uh.”
“Well, uh-uh, I’m sure those guys won’t cause any more trouble for you in the future. If they do, just mention my name and they’ll back off.” He stood up to leave.
That was when her brain started to function normally again. “Nikki!" she called out. "My name is Nikki!”
**********
“Nikki!”
She suddenly felt something hit her head. Turning around, she realized it was a scrunched up paperball. She shot her friend a peevish look as she started to gather her books. The small classroom was empty except for the two of them.
“Gosh, Kimmy, you didn’t have to throw stuffs at me.”
“I kept calling you, but once you’re in one of those daydreaming moods, it’s pretty much a lost cause.” Her eyes shone with keen understanding and there was a mischievous grin on her face. “Thinking of Dong Wan again?”
“Of course not! I have better things to do with my time.” They arrived at the bus stop and stood waiting for their ride home. “Who cares about that callous beast anyway?”
“Hah! You may say that, but your heart is thinking otherwise. Why don’t you just admit the fact that you are completely head over heels for the guy? For God’s sake, it has been seven years.”
To be exact, it was seven years, one month, and two weeks since the fateful day he saved her from those bullies. Not wanting to sound like a truly lovesick fool, she kept the specific time frame to herself. Kimmy was already giving her a hard enough time. Whenever she saw him, her heart would beat extra fast and her mind would turn into mush. At first, she considered it to be a silly infatuation that would go away sooner or later. Unfortunately, her crush had slowly evolved into an obsession. She was helpless to stop these feelings. She mentally sighed at the thought. The worst part was that he only viewed her as a little sister. Always ruffling her hair and calling her kiddo. Kiddo?! She was already seventeen years old.
On multiple occasions, she tried to confess her feelings to him, only to be interrupted by one thing or another. Her courage always faltered at the last minute. It didn’t help matter that he was the most popular guy in school. Being the captain of the school soccer team, a skilled pianist, as well as the student body class president, girls flocked to him like bees to honey. There was constantly a beautiful girl by his side. She glumly knew her chances with him were rather slim and could only settle to being a close friend by his side.
It had been over two years since he graduated and attended Seoul National University. He would call once in a while and even dropped by to visit her when he was on vacation. Lately, the number of emails and phone calls was dwindling down. Her eighteenth birthday was tomorrow and she had not heard a single word from him. With a sad pout, she kicked a small pebble next to the curb and wished it was his head instead. What an insensitive bum! The least he could do was send a card or something. She wasn’t expecting anything extravagant, but it would be nice to know he still remembered her.
A large school bus turned the corner and stopped in front of them. It was a short ride home and she quickly said bye to her friend as she was dropped off first. “Don’t forget to dress up for the dinner party we planned for your birthday. You always wear the sloppiest things.”
“Yeah, yeah, hurry up and get off before the bus starts moving again. You talk too much.” Kimmy was right. She usually preferred comfort over style and those outfits often made her look less than trendy. She knew it would be to her benefit to dress more fashionable, but she just wasn’t that type of person. It was too hard to change.
Her parents were on a business trip, so there was nobody home to greet her. She spent the rest of the day moping around the house. Later, she decided to bust out her collection of sappy chick flicks, which didn’t help improve her mood at all. After changing into her pajamas, she hopped into bed. She fitfully tossed and turned for most of the night before finally dozing off.
The following morning, the ringing of the doorbell woke her up. Her eyes squint against the bright rays of sunlight streaming in through the windows. “Who could that be?” she mumbled while trying to disengage her limbs from the sheets. She stumbled into the living room and opened the door. Glancing around, there was nobody in sight. She scratched her head in wonderment and was about to shut the door. From the corners of her eyes, she noticed something on the porch. She looked down to find a manila envelope lying on the ground. It had her name scribbled on top.
She picked up the envelope and closed the door. It piqued her interest to find a cd inside. Curiosity took over and she popped it into her computer. To her surprise, she realized it was a compiled photo slideshow of her. She watched in amazement as images from years ago to the present flashed on screen. They were all candid shots of her goofing around with friends, making weird expressions, pigging out on food, and even sleeping. Some pictures made her break out into laughter while others where quite sentimental. She never knew these pictures even existed? Who could have taken them? The obvious thoughtfulness that went into making the slideshow impressed and touched her. By the end of the video clip, her eyes grew misty as she read the words that suddenly appeared.
My dearest Nikki. You must be wondering where all these pictures came from. I had taken them when I made sure you weren’t looking. All these years and I could never sum up the courage to tell you my true feelings. At times, you can be silly, bratty, and extremely willful. You’ve given me my fair share of headaches. However, you are also sweet, kind, and absolutely adorable. I love you just the way you are. Will you be my girlfriend? If your answer is yes, please open the front door for me.
–Dong Wan
She immediately rushed to the door and yanked it aside. Sure enough, Dong Wan was standing on her porch with an embarrass grin on his attractive face. “So… what’s your answer?”
He barely had a chance to say another word before she leaped into his arms and tackled him to the ground. Lying on top of him, she gave him a smoldering kiss on the lips and refused to stop until her lungs protested for air. “I’ll take that as a yes then….”
- written by persephone for me.
