Chapter 15 - A Bad Feeling

"Aaaargh!"

Kim Jeong Won exclaimed at the pain he felt when Hyeon Seong jumped on his side, pressing his shoulders down.

"Your shoulders hurt?"

"A little."

"Why does it hurt? Did you carry a sack of rice?" Hyeon Seong teased, laughing at him.

He nodded. Yes, he really did.

* * *

"Carry me?"

Son Jin Ae was surprised with what Jeong Won just offered. He said he would carry her.

"You just said a while ago that it's too cheesy to do that," she rolled her eyes. This guy was so hard to spell, she thought.

"But... it's not like we're a couple though," he replied.

Jin Ae's eyes became more rounder with surprise at his remark. The way he said it a matter-of-factly made her blood pressure rose. She rose to her feet.

"Aaahhhh, so that's how you draw the line. You think it's neither sweet nor cheesy to carry me because we are not a couple after all...."

He scratched his head, not knowing what to react. Girls can be so unpredictable.

"....why do I feel like I'm being dumped by you. This is crazy!" Jin Ae scoffed. This boy was getting the best out of her. Never did she feel so rejected.

"Yah, Kim Jeong Won! If there is being dumped here, it is you," she pointed out childishly.

Jeong Won was confused. He was being a gentleman all in all but her reactions made him ponder if he did or said something wrong.

"I just want to help," he said to himself while squinting his eyes from the rays of the sun.

He was so unsuspecting and that was what made Jin Ae more annoyed at that moment. While glaring at him despicably, figuring out what to do with him, she heard a sound and saw a wagon driven by a farmer coming in their direction. Luckily, the farmer was on his way to the market.

Minutes after, they were already inside the wagon along with their bikes, sitting beside some sacks of rice. They were on opposite sides, far from each other. To show their gratitude to the farmer who hitched them, Jin Ae ordered Jeong Won to help the farmer in unloading the sacks of rice from the wagon. Even without her saying, he would have done that of course, but her nagging only made the task heavier to him.

* * *

Kim Jeong Won massaged his left shoulder and let out a deep sigh. The door of the boy's toilet, where they were heading, opened abruptly in front of them and brought two male students out.

"Aish, why did he let us beat him up when he's gonna write it in the first place. He should have saved his body later. Smelly boy!"

One of the students crashed on Jeong Won's shoulder which made him squirm in pain. As he lurched down, he saw a locker key on his feet.

"Excuse me," Jeong Won called out. The two male students looked back at him in antagonizing manner.

"Your key," he said while picking it up.

Park Chul Min, locker 1005.

As if it was a classified thing, the two immediately took the key from him and left with a glare.

"Geez. They won't even say thanks. Those sophomores, really!" Hyeon Seong exclaimed beside him.

Jeong Won just shrugged it off and went inside the toilet. Before he could reach a urinal, he noticed a cubicle left half-opened and heard someone breathing heavily inside. He peeked and was surprised to see a male student sitting on the floor covered with bruises.

"What happened to you?"

He tried to help him but he only nudged him and immediately ran outside.

"Who's that?"

"I think I've seen him before." He was so sure of it but he couldn't place where he had seen him.

After doing their business, Jeong Won and Hyeon Seong went their way back to their classroom. Along the hallway, he saw the two male students from the toilet talking with Lee Myung Soo.

'They seemed suspicious,' he thought.

* * *

Lee Myung Soo made sure Son Jin Ae was alone when he appeared in front of her. There were almost no students in the hallway as the bell rang announcing that the third period was about to start. She came out from the faculty room and was holding a blue folder. A class record may be. Prominent students were trusted with this kind of errand.

Jin Ae shot him a blank glance, not letting him read her expression. She gave a swift glance to her surroundings before she returned her eyes back to him.

"There's no one around so you can stop pretending you don't know me... Noona," he said.

She took a step towards the room just beside her and turned the door handle.

"Follow me," she ordered.

He followed her inside the empty lab and stopped when she faced him, four meters away from him. They were silent for a few minutes. He was waiting for her to speak and it looked like she was waiting for him to speak as well.

"Why the hell did you transferred here?" She crossed her arms in front of her.

He lifted his shoulders as a shrug, "Hmmm. Because this is the best high school in Daegu?"

"Come on, you have something on your sleeve, don't you?" She insisted, dismissing his answer.

"So is that the reason why you pretended not to know me? Coz you think I'm up to something?"

"You know better why."

"Aniya (No). I don't know." He stared at her with pain in his eyes and continued, "All I know and did was to protect you."

Jin Ae dropped her hands in disbelief, "Protect? I hate that word the most...."

Her father's words came back to her like a stream of a cold shower. He said he did that to protect them. But she knew, it was never all about them, it was all about the family's reputation and all. Same with Myung Soo. Hearing that word from him made her stomach pit. She was so done with all the people around her saying they were doing all sorts of things to protect her.

"....you totally don't understand me at all, Myung Soo."

"It's you who don't understand yourself. Why are you being sentimental about things? Why are you still visiting Eun Jung noona's halmeoni, pretending she's you?"

Her eyes squinted from surprise.

"Are you spying on me?"

"I'm just concern."

"I don't need your concern. I don't need anyone's concern!"

"Why? Because you're the leader here? Because you got everyone inside your palm?" Myung Soo's eyes pierced through her.

"Alright.... this time, I guess I couldn't protect you anymore, noona."

He turned around to leave but before he reached the door he turned to face her again.

"That guy.... the one you went with to Eun Jung noona's halmeoni, who is he?"

He heard her heave and her expression turned tense.

"Leave them alone. I'm not seeing them again anyway."

That did not sound like an order but a request. Whether it was because he knew that she went to visit Ham Eun Jung's halmeoni or because he took a special interest in the guy she was with, it was clear that she was obviously alarmed.

"Don't you mess with them, Myung Soo."

* * *

So Jin Ae felt so uncomfortable after her conversation with Lee Myung Soo. Learning he was keeping an eye on her made her sense of danger. She thought it was best to act like she did not know him when she found out that he transferred to her school. They grew up together and he was like a little brother to him even if he was just a year younger, she did not imagine that they would grow far from each other after that incident that happened two years ago.

It wasn't actually his fault, it was her who distanced herself from him... from the people who said they will protect her. At one moment, she felt suffocated, and that incident was a turning point. He was just like her father. They would do anything for her at other people's expense and she didn't want him to be like that. But did she do the right thing? Staring straight to his eyes, she thought otherwise.

"Jin Ae! Something happened!" screamed Do Mi who rushed inside the room which stopped Jin Ae from her thoughts.

In Na, Chul Soo, and Do Kyeom also rushed beside her.

"At the gym! Someone jumped, and who knows, maybe he's dead!"

Do Mi pulled her to join them and take a look. They ran outside on their way to the gym, but before she entered the door, she turned around and looked straight at Chul Soo's eyes.

He was her most trusted friend.

She made a request.