Chapter 21 Walking down memory lane

"Uh.. Um..."

Joon-Woo flinched "Oops! Sorry! I didn't mean to keep staring." - "No.. I just wanted to ask if you want one..." she handed him a chocolate bar. "Really?! Just one then!"

"Sure... Here." 'He must have been starving!'

Joon-Woo was very grateful. "Good job everyone. Don't forget your homework and the vocabulary, okay? End of class."

He glanced at her as he was chewing the food he just received. 'I think we go to the same school.'

'At that time, I instinctively knew...'

'I never saw her at school.'

'...That Yuri is what we call an outsider.'

"Hey! You go to Dae Jae middle school, right?" Joon-Woo was standing next to Yuri who was currently packing her things. "I go there too. It's nice to meet someone from the same school here."

'So I talked to her first. I didn't know if it was out of thankfulness or pity.'

She nervously fiddled with her hands "Oh... Really? It's my first time seing someone from our school, too."

"Yeah! I'm Joon-Woo Choi. I live in Nakwon-Gu, what about you?"

"Oh.. I... I live in Nakwon-Gu too."

He put his hands on the desk and leaned in "That's great! I hated going home alone everyday. Let's go together!" - "Huh?"

They went home together. "Damn, you saw it too?! I couldn't watch thrillers after that!"

"True. It's such a masterpiece compared to the other boring ones."

'Ironically, Yuri and I got along pretty well.'

"Anton Sekur's role was pretty good", Joon-Woo stated. "How did you even watch that when you're not 19?" - "Shut up, you did too."

"Hey... Even though I'm not 19..." she began talking and Joon-Woo looked at her. 'She speaks fine when we're alone' he thought.

'Honestly though, I hoped no one recognized me in the street.'

"I have the sensitivity of an adult, so I can understand. But you are..." - "Oh, please. Shut up" he grinned.

'But I thought Yuri would be a good friend.'

Coincidentally Tae Yang walked down the street and heard their chatter from behind. "Joon-Woo! You're here!"

He and Yuri approached Tae Yang, though it was unexpected. "Yo, why're you here? Didn't you go to the internet cafe?

'Out of all the days..'

Tae Yang laughed and put his arm around his friend's shoulder. "The internet cafe is right next door, so I waited for you. Haha."

"Haha... When I told you to come before you didn't come at all."

"You shit. Do you know how much my time is worth?" he noticed Yuri Lee. "Huh?"

With a confident expression he introduced himself. "Are you his cram school friend? You also go to Dae Jae? I'm Tae Yang Lee from class six. It's nice to meet you."

She turned her shoulders inward and tried to hide her red face a little. "Huh? Oh... Um... I- I'm Yuri from class two."

'She probably liked him since back then.'

"It's hard being Joon-Woo's friend right? Hahahaha!"

Her heart was beating louder and every idiot would be able to see how nervous she was. "O... No, not at all."

"Well, anyhow", Tae Yang smiled. "Great meeting you! We should hang out sometime! A friend's friend is a friend of mine!"

'I thought it was a relief we bumped into Tae Yang. Nothing happened that day... But ever since that day, Yuri...'

"Joon-Woo, is Tae Yang always so loyal? Honestly, you can tell just by his looks he's manly."

'The next day...'

"What kind of food does Tae Yang like? He probably likes spicy food, right? Does he like games? I like them these days, too."

'And the next day.'

"Why doesn't Tae Yang come by anymore? Call him up sometime. Isn't he your friend?"

'And day after day all she talked about was Tae Yang!'

He began trembling. "Hey!!" he growled at her, "If you like Tae Yang that much just ask me to introduce him!! Everyday all I hear is Tae Yang here, Tae Yang there. It's freaking me out!! Do you want me to call him right now?"

She stayed pretty calm "What? No!" Until she realized what he just said and started stuttering. "W- What... Are you talking about? I- I'm not interested in Tae Yang, I'm just curious. Stop assuming things! Really."

Joon-Woo looked like he just witnessed the greatest lie of all time. 'Does she really think I wouldn't know?! She's so obvious about it!'

'Yuri really thought I wouldn't know.'

"Haha... Really, how funny... That I... Tae Yang..."

No comment on that one, they continued walking home.

"Besides... How can someone like me ever like anyone?"

Joon-Woo stared at her.

"It's a nuisance for someone like me to like anybody. I wouldn't even like someone like me."

"...!"

Her gaze shifted to the ground. "Pretty girls have it good. You're lucky if you're pretty. I wish I had that kind of luck... Then I would have the right to like someone..."

"Have you ever seen a three-leaf clover? People know about about the four-leaf clover being lucky but they don't know about the three-leaf clover. You probably know the four-leaf clover means you'll be lucky. And the three-leaf clover means happiness. Why do you think that is?" He had enough of her sad talk and decided to tell her this story. "Four-leaf clovers are rare because they're mutations. There's mostly three-leaf clovers, but all people want to find are four-leafs. So while they're looking for one, they're stepping on three-leaf clovers. Many people step on happiness in hopes of finding luck. That's why the three-leaf clover means happiness. Sometimes, it's good to appreciate the things you have."

He smiled at her. "Just wanted to tell you that."

'I don't know what Yuri thought about that at the moment. But, then...'

"You're right. Thanks. I'll try my best."

'I should've known more about Yuri..'

"Hahaha, crazy",

"Troll coming through",

"Damn. Isn't that like harmful for your eyes?"

The students made fun of Yuri who walked down the school hallway and went into class.

"I might lose in a staring contest."

"Oh, shit. That scared me, I'm friggin awake now."

"Yo, did you see? It's a sequal to the conjuring."

'What is this? Are they talking about me?' She decided to wear makeup today, although she didn't really put it on her face the "correct" way... 'Everybody wears makeup like this.. I saw it on UTube.'

She girls from her class gathered around her. "OMG! She wears makeup! She has the nerve to wear makeup, keke."

"Hahaha! Shit's funny. My eyes, my eyes."

'They're talking about me. Well, these two are always like that.'

"Hahaha! She actually bought makeup?" - "She probably followed UTube channels, oh my god! Haha, no way. Maybe Yuri likes someone?" - "No way. How disgusting, haha!"

Now they got on her nerves. "Stop it. I can hear you." But they just laughed at her again. "Pfft! StOp I cAn HeAr yOu, friggin dumbass bitch." - "I said it so you can hear. What, you got ears now? Haha!"

Yuri stood up and turned around. "What? You gonna hit us now?" Bumping into them she ran away. "Ow!"

"Dude, she really bumped into us. Yo bitch get back here!" - "Just let her go, keke" one of her bullies grinned evily. "That bitch is friggin dead now. She's gonna get her ass beaten up now."

Yuri took off her glasses in the bathroom and washed the makeup off her face. 'Look at what you have?' Tears were streaming down her face. 'Fuck! What do I look at when I don't have anything to look at?!'

"Really", she faked her sobbing, "I'm so upset." It was the girl from before. "So... She hit you first without any reason?" Smoke rose up to the sky. Cigarette smoke. "Yeah, my shoulder hurts! I'm so pissed!"

He stub out the cigarette and spit on it. "Does she know I'm your boyfriend?" - "No!" she tried her hardest to let out tears. "She doesn't! So she probably thinks I'm an easy target! I feel so wronged that I don't even want to go to school!"

Her boyfriend grinded his teeth when he listened to the made up story. "Hey! What's her name again? Yuri? Ahri? Whatever... Bring that bitch right now."

The whole gang was there. Taewon Kim, Young Yoon Shin, and Sung-Wook Jung. The fact they were Joon-Woo's and Tae Yang's friends made it even worse.

'The situation grew without my knowing.'

Joon-Woo was walking through school, listening to all the other kids talking about Young Yoon and Yuri. "Young Yoon is looking for her." - "Nah, they dragged her away already."

"Young Yoon might lose. Did you see her shoulders?"

"Haha, that's crazy. She's dead now."

Having to witness all this, angered Joon-Woo ran as fast as he could, searching for Yuri Lee in order to rescue her.

~Chapter 21, end.

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