Flowers for Boys: The Art of War
Summary: AU - What if Geum Jan Di isn't the first girl to challenge Gu Jun Pyo? Enter: Jab Cho.
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Author's Note:
Jab Cho is the real word for weed, as Jan Di means lawn grass. I wanted to create a character that I felt would have fit Jun Pyo's character more as well as be excessivel strong to the point where it causes problems. Jab Cho or sometimes I will just say Cho, is a girl with quite a bit of anger as well as the ability to say extremely hurtful words. Her family has a lot of issues with both Jun Pyo's family and Ji Hoo's family and this is the main reason for their conflicts. My only problem is how to make it seem like they really fall in love since Jun Pyo and her will have a lot of problems to start with.
I've read the original manga three times, seen Meteor Garden three times, seen Hana Yori Dango once and seen Boys Over Flowers three times. Each different version has its strengths and weaknesses. I want to create an alternative universe in which Jan Di never meets Jun Pyo and instead, a polar opposite is forced into conflict with F4. I also want to reveal more of his sister and his father as they are hardly seen in the drama.
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Chapter 1
To The Stars
Richard Clayderman's piece, Mariage d'Amour reverberated through the halls of a desolate home. Tears will fall, just as it surely did when that armless man played it on China's Got Talent.
"Home," I told no one in particular. My brother, Shin, age twelve, came walking out from the direction of his room. His dark eyes and pale skin glimmered as the sun from behind him signaled his figure. Weaker by the years...how miserable life must be for him. Why wasn't it I instead to receive aplastic anemia?
"Welcome home," he greeted me with melancholy eyes.
"They're gambling again?" I asked.
"Yes...of course," his stomach growled.
"I'll make you something to eat," I patted his head. "Go lay down. You look like you're going to faint."
His eyes furrowed, "I'm not tired." Defiance?
"Come sit down then and talk to me in the kitchen," I walked into our small dirty kitchen. My feet felt the squishiness of the alcohol before my nose did. Drinking... again...
I turned to look at my brother, "Promise me something."
"Yes?" he looked up with surprise.
"Promise me that alcohol will never pass your lips. That you will never inhale the smoke of a cigarette, a cigar or any drug. You will never inject yourself with poison. Promise me that you will never count cards or gamble," I waited for his confirmation. My beautifuly younger brother nodded his head.
"Of course, yes," he replied.
"Even if... you lose me, you...never mind. Sit down over there," I pointed at a chair. I cleaned up after my parent's mess again. Shin hummed to the tune of the song.
Shin laid down in bed after our dinner.
He looked up at me with solemn eyes. "Tell me a story."
I touched his forehead and rubbed it gently. "Once upon a time, in another world where nature has died and men destroy for their ideas, there was a girl who would do anything for her older brother. She loved him dearly and one day, her wish came true. Her brother was dying slowly, but he wanted to see the stars, the stars that he read about in books so old, the tattered pages would break at a touch. He dreamt of new worlds and people not of their world. In their world, where pollution covers everything, even the moon, he could only dream of escaping reality."
"I will fulfill your dreams brother, she told him. I will make a new world... a new home so that the two of us may live in happiness. Don't worry."
"She studied every day so that she could make him a spaceship, a new home big enough for them to travel the universe and leave their world. When she completed her dream of making a spaceship, she went to the hospital and sat down next to her brother."
"Brother... I have fulfilled your dreams...we will see the stars everyday, begin a new journey and reach happiness, the girl said to her brother."
"What happened next? Did they go to a new world?" my brother's eager eyes pleaded.
"They did... and they lived happily ever after," I kissed his head.
"Maybe sister... I will fulfill your dreams, just as that girl. One day, I will be strong enough to protect you," he smiled at me.
"You are strong enough. Now, it's time to go to sleep," I played with his hair. I laid down next to him and closed the lamp next to our bed. He hugged me as a baby would its mother and I hummed Mariage d'Amour for a couple of hours. I thought about that story and my lies to protect Shin. I closed my eyes and feared for our futures.
"Brother... I have fulfilled your dreams...we will see the stars everyday, begin a new journey and reach happiness, the girl said to her brother."
The brother turned to his sister and smiled and he stayed smiling like that even at his burial. The sister cried and cried for days until her body could no longer produce tears. Impulsively, she undug his body and brought his rotting body onto the spaceship she created for him. They went into space where she cried even harder. She wanted to launch him and herself into space, to keep him floating in a sea of stars forever. She tied their hands together so that they could never part and opened the door to the stars. She died from lack of oxygen and suffered but she mirrored his smiling face. Their bodies now float forever together.
If someone were to look into Jab Cho's room shared with her brother, they would notice the extreme OCD-ness of the residents. As it were, sunlight streamed into Jab Cho's room and onto the respective heads of the siblings. The 5:00AM alarm went off, "Good morning! Wake Up, Jab Cho! Wake Up!"
I stabbed the alarm button as my eyes opened to view the ceiling.
"Is it time?" my brother yawned.
"Go back to sleep," I put the covers back on him as I climbed out of bed. My feet straddled across the floors and out of the room into the hallway. My hand turned the knob of the bathroom door and climbed inside to get ready for the day. I left the bathroom after washing up and entered my mother's room... and found it empty. I sighed as I turned to leave to start making breakfast and lunch for Shin.
Years ago... was it years ago? Maybe a decade or more... yes, that seems more fitting, we used to be rich and well off. That's how both Shin and I got into Shinhwa. Our grandfather was a business man who was extremely good friends with Shinhwa's ex-President and the Republic of Korea's ex-President. However, the business dipped when my father...well... isn't that the mystery? to this day, no one really knows why our company was destroyed besides those involved or why the two ex-Presidents did nothing to help us.
I remember my grandfather's funeral well, full of debt collectors and so called friends. I knew their faces... the faces of their children very well. It didn't take a day for them to start hounding us for money we didn't have. My father committed suicide the next day and now my mother is remarried to a drunkard gambler.
"Noona Cho," my brother said.
"Yes? You're awake?" I smiled at him.
"Can you iron my uniform?" he asked.
"Of course. In a moment," I closed the lid to the bento box.
We rode the bus to Shinhwa. I dropped my brother off at his class and gave him his lunchbox. "Have a good day," I told him. "I'll meet you up for lunch."
Perhaps it is my anger at those who know no shame...or the fact that I blamed them partially for my grandfather's heart attack and my father's suicide but it has passed onto Shin, who seems to hate the rich with a passion...or maybe it's simply because we can't afford nice things like them. Jealousy... perhaps. We are both together loners in a absolutist prison, who know that the only way to success is through this school. We understand very well the need for vengeance against those who caused the deaths of our father and grandfather.
I entered Shinhwa High's campus and the main building. No more than a minute into their, as I stood to the side, I saw the daily "magnificent" F4 enter with their annoying street clothes and condescending air.
Gu Jun Pyo: heir to the Shinhwa company and the grandson of my hated enemy, he was a textbook example of antisocial personality disorder but more than that... he was a complete moron. Shinhwa would only die in his hands.
Yoo Ji Hoo: the former president's grandson, another child of a hated enemy, he suffered from autism and was often in a daze. He was unthreatening, unlike Jun Pyo.
Song Woo Bin: the son and heir to a mafia runned "real-estate" company, he could be just as violent as Jun Pyo and just as resourceful
So Yi Jung: the heir to a family focused on the arts, he was a Casanova who preferred to play rather than deal in business politics
They began to walk forward but Gu Jun Pyo suddenly stopped. He looked to his left at a young boy, who appeared to be wearing the same shirt as him. I don't hear the exchange but I understand the complete fear in the young boy's quivering body. Wasn't he bragging earlier that only he and Jun Pyo had that shirt?
Woo Bin hands Gu Jun Pyo his juice, in which Jun Pyo spills it completely down the poor boy's shirt. A gasp trembles throughout the crowd. F4 leaves the scene as if such an act was nothing. The boy begins to cry and I sigh as I head over to my class. Such drama...for what? A shirt? Stupid.
The boy deserved it. I felt that sometimes, Jun Pyo's was a creature sent from the gods in punishment of the rich students who went to Shinhwa. Jun Pyo suffered from no form of guilty conscience of what he did; perhaps simply being a monster was a punishment enough. One day, he'd end up killing someone maybe. I could only hope to see it through.
When it was lunchtime, I went to go and meet Shin as our usual habit. We ate lunch quickly, as we didn't chew often. When we were done, we realized we still had at least fifteen minutes left. We stood up and walked past by the cafeteria's table of food. The dessert served for today was ice cream. My brother looked at it with sad eyes. I looked at the ice cream and the chef. I opened my wallet and sighed as I pulled out money for a cone.
"Here," I handed it to Shin.
He laughed as he took it. I felt satisfaction, even though I knew it would be taken out of several of my lunch meals.
"Let's walk around a little bit, don't you think?" I asked him. He nodded happily and we left the cafeteria to the back of the school where it was usually empty. Laughing at me, he ran forward and tripped backwards on the stairs. He fell to the green grass and his ice cream landed on the shoes of someone. Shin and I looked up into the face of Gu Jun Pyo.
My brother stood up immediately and bowed politely, "I'm sorry. Forgive me."
"If everything works out by saying sorry, then would there be laws and police in the world?" he replied.
My brother looked up at Jun Pyo with raised eyes while still bowing, "Should you kill me instead then? Go ahead and kill me then. Call your lawyer. Call the police if you want to. I've said all I could."
"Yah... this kid, you think I won't resort to that?" Gu Jun Pyo's laughter was as hollow as his soul.
My short twelve year old brother straightened up and stared Jun Pyo straight in the eyes. His words lacked formality and respect, "Kill me then, over a pair of expensive shoes. Your family has killed for less after all. A bunch of thieves and cons willing to sell their own daughters and son for a bit of cash. Isn't that so, Jun Pyo? After all... look at your sister, just a whore isn't she?"
A gasp was heard from the other F4 members. Even if I was a bit surprised at Shin's ruthless description... but wasn't he taking my words? I suppose it didn't sound harsh until someone else said it besides yourself.
Jun Pyo's eyes blazed as he stepped foward into Shin's personal space as if he were going to beat him up.
"Won't you stop?" I stepped down from my position on the stairs and onto the green grass. I pushed Shin behind me and stared into the face of a monster. "Did he fall because he wanted to? If he apologized, then that's enough."
"What's this? Hey kids, American style is restricted here. Your words are a little short, aren't they?" Jun Pyo came to stand closer to me, trying to intimidate me with his size. Woo Bin whispered into his ears.
"Ah, is that so? So you're that genius girl who just recently won an award, didn't you? What a total disappointment that you're too stupid to not know your place and mind others' business. Why do you step into the affairs of others?" he asked. His fists were tight and ready to strike Shin. My protective instincts took over again. I needed him to direct that anger elsewhere.
"He's not a stranger. He's my younger brother. In a wealthy person's dictionary, I'm assuming they don't carry words like family, do they? I mean... look at your parent's marriage and their willingness to sell your sister for money. If that's not a whore... I don't know what is."
Jun Pyo's fist came from nowhere. I was on the floor faster than I could imagine.
"Jun Pyo!" his friends yelled as they pulled him back. My face was numb, blood trickled down from my lips but it felt satisfying for once to hurt those who have taken away everything from us.
"AH!" he yelled as they dragged him back. He pushed them back and stood, breathing through his lips like a fire canon ready to launch again. My brother came to kneel next to me protectively.
Laughter escaped from my lips, "Gu Jun Pyo...how long do you think it'll be before your mother sells you like a prostitute? I don't even think you know what the meaning of love and family is, do you? What a pity," I stood up.
"It's easy to hit someone for you, isn't it? It's easy to make others do your dirty work and bully others, but are you so dumb that you can't even win a war of words? As dumb as you are, you'll probably just give me a red card or something childish." I smiled at the enemy. "You can hit me... you can kill me but you can never make us take away our words because they've already been said. As rich as you are, you can't buy time. Come on, Shin, let's go," I grabbed my brother's arm, squeezed it and left the area.
I sent Shin home. I went to work. I came back. We ate dinner in silence. We went to bed in silence. We were preparing for his next move. We woke up and unable to handle the silence anymore, began to argue about yesterday's incident.
"You shouldn't have said anything after you apologized," I told Shin.
Shin's round eyes looked up at me, "He was pissing me off."
"So... because of that emotional outburst, we have to deal with red card now. Do you think it's worth it to get bullied for a few words?" I yelled. "Have I taught you nothing?"
"Yes, I think it's worth it. Besides you backed up what I said, which I learned directly from you!" he stood up.
"Yes, those were my words you threw and yes I backed up but do you know why? I didn't want you to get beat up for words I taught you!" I yelled.
"Noona Cho... you have to let me be a man. Y-you should have never stepped in," he sat down.
"Do you honestly think I'd let Gu Jun Pyo touch you? When we are older, you will carry on our father's last name. I can't let Gu Jun Pyo touch you, even remember who you are until we're ready to strike. But now..." I sighed. "This should have never happened."
"I'm sorry, Noona... I shouldn't have got emotional," he looked down.
"It doesn't matter. You won't be going to school for this week. I've already collected homework from all of your teachers and expressed that you are highly ill..." I stood up. It would almost be time to go to school.
"Is that why you only prepared one lunchbox?" he asked with solemn eyes.
"I can't risk you getting hurt, Shin. I'll see you when I get home. I prepared enough food for the day already," she said.
"Noona! I want to go... I can't let you get hurt," he stood up again.
"No. Let this be a lesson to you: your mistakes won't really hurt you, only those you love most. Learn that every scar and beating I get is your fault," I turned to leave the room and the house. I locked the door behind me and began walking to the bus stop. I knew my words were harsh. I knew the lesson was harsh but he would need to learn these things to be a strong enough person to take on Shinhwa when we got older.
I went to school, where I could feel the eyes of students on me. So be it... I opened my locker and a Red Card appeared before me. A hollering of laughter and amusement echoed through the halls. Let the games begin then.
I went to my first hour class in Class A. My desk was missing. Seriously? How childish. My book laid on the floor where it cried for help. Whatever. I sat on the floor near the door. I didn't need my desk. I didn't need my book either. Were these students so stupid they didn't realize we didn't use that book at all and that you could get it free at the library? Pathetic. They seemed perplexed as to why I was't reaching for my book or looking for my desk. The teacher didn't ask anything, perhaps already knowing what was going on, and went on the lecture. The students seemed disappointed, the idiots.
After class, students began to chase me down. They hunted me down until we were out in the front yard. A few students to the side, perhaps the better ones, ignored us. The other students, so willing to do Jun Pyo's bidding, surrounded me. They threw eggs. They threw balloons. Flour somehow got on me. They made a joke about squashed pancakes.
I pointed at one of the students, "Your name is Shin In Jung. Your parents own an automobile company. Your father cheated on your mother with a prostitute named Yuki in the southern part of Seoul. He's carried a disease to your mother and then they had you. Do you want me to reveal more?"
All I heard was a scream and running.
"Kwan Min Jo, you adore your little sister. Your sister walks alone on the same street every day and attends Shinhwa Middle School. It would be sad... to see her suffer, wouldn't it?"
"Don't you dare threaten my sister!" he yelled.
I smirked, "Continue what you're doing. I'll cut off her fingers, one for every balloon you threw at me. You don't know who you're talking to, do you? I'm not a person who's willing to stand here silently. I know everything about everyone at this school. What have you guys been doing since kindergarten anyhow? Just listening blindly to Jun Pyo?" He began to run away.
"You there. Your grandmother gave you a precious heirloom didn't she? But your company is being ruined and your family is falling apart. Your grandmother would just die, wouldn't she, if she learned you sold it to keep up appearances at school," I pointed at the girl. "Maybe I should tell her. Maybe she'll get a heartattack and I'll just stand there and watch."
"Stop it!" the girl screamed.
I pointed at another person, "Your boyfriend... wouldn't it be sad if he learned you were cheating?" I looked over at the boyfriend and my lips curled.
"Cheating?" he glared down at his girlfriend.
"She's also positive for an STI," I smiled at them.
I was about to point at another person, but people quickly began running away. I sighed and was relieved. It could have been worst. Suddenly, I began to walk towards the high school when I realized that I needed to pick something up in Shin's locker. Walking over to the middle school, I heard immense laughter and then utter silence.
I walked towards the crowd of younger children and saw that in the middle laid a bleeding Shin.
Crying out, I ran towards him, "Shin! You idiot!" Someone kicked his head, even while I kneeled next to him and my worst nightmare came true. Shin began to seize, right there. His body began to shake and foam began forming at his lips. I stared up at the faces of the pre-teens, memorizing all of them. For once, I didn't hold back my hatred.
"Don't think I'll forget all of you," I grabbed the one who kicked him in the head by the collar and grinned, "Give me your cellphone, Lee Bae."
"Eh... here," he handed me his phone.
I called 411 and explained the situation. Within two minutes, they were here. I went into the ambulance while they tried to calm Shin down. They kept him on his side and gave him something soft between his teeth. All I could do was watch and think.
We entered the emergency room, where I paced for fifteen minutes. The doctor came out of the emergency room. We walked into his office where we sat down and began to talk of Shin's condition.
"His seizures have stopped. However, do you know what caused it?" the doctor asked.
"Someone kicked him in the head," I stared at the floor.
"I see... well, we've done several tests on him. With his record of having aplastic anemia, we weren't surprised to find low cell types. However, we'll keep him here overnight, just in case. Other than that, everything seems normal," the doctor smiled at me.
"Yes... can I see him now?" I asked.
"Of course, he's in Room 103," he replied.
"Thank you, doctor," I bowed and left the office.
I went to Room 103 and opened the door. I held my breath as I realized just how pale Shin looked in the bed. I grabbed a chair and sat next to the bed. I grabbed his hand and rubbed it tenderly, "You idiot... you weren't supposed to come to school."
I sat there for seven hours and Shin refused to moved.
"A coma?" I asked.
"Yes. We tried to wake up after two hours but he wouldn't wake. You were there. We even tried to apply painful stimuli... if after six hours, they don't wake, it's termed a coma. We didn't expect this," the doctor explained.
"Well... when will he wake?" I squeezed his hand.
"We don't know. I'm sorry, Miss," the doctor bowed.
"No. You've done all you could. Thank you doctor. Good night, I'll have to be going," I left the room.
I went to the department store and bought some rope, some gloves and bleach. I went home and took out a camera and my father's old piece, the same one that he killed himself with. I brought a box of bullets with me and began walking towards the bus stop.
Lee Bae...twelve years old, second son, failing in school. He lived not that far from Shinhwa Elementary Campus. I got off the bus and stared at Shinhwa. This was my fault, I knew. I had failed as a mother and teacher to Shin, to teach him to hate so much.
If I had never taught him hatred, he wouldn't have provoked Jun Pyo. If Jun Pyo would have never been provoked, there would be no red card... and no red card meant no bullying and no bullying would have meant no seizure and thus no coma.
Yet even though I knew this, I also knew Lee Bae chose to kick my brother in the head.
Lee Bae was sleeping soundly when I climbed through his open window. He would have screamed if I didn't forcibly throw the barrel of my gun into his mouth. Pointing my gun at him, he disabled the security of the house. We left the house, with my gun pointed in his side. I hugged him to my side to make it less suspicious to others who might see us. They ignored us. We walked until we were at a secluded park a mile or two away from Shinhwa and his house.
"Strip," I told him.
"W-what?" he said.
"Strip," I smiled.
He stripped until only his underwear was left.
"Kneel," I ordered.
He kneeled and then I began to tie him up with my gun to his head. I tied his hands and feet first. I then tied them together in front of him. I began to beat him until he was bloody, until bruises began to yellow and turn purple. We stayed up several hours. I began to take pictures of his tears and his humiliation.
He was covered in his own piss. It felt... unsatisfying. I kicked his head over and over.
"If you tell anyone of this, I'll tell your mother that you're gay," I smiled. "You will be shunned for the piece of shit you are."
He whimpered and cried, "I won't tell. Please... don't tell anyone I'm gay!"
I untied him. "If you tell anyone, understand that I'll hurt you even more."
"Go home!" I yelled. He began to walk home in his lack of clothes. He would reach home before his parents woke up.
I wiped the blood from the grass with his clothes and bleach. I began to walk home myself. I entered the doors of my house and went to my laptop immediately, looking at the pictures. I stripped myself of my clothes, which was still fulll of egg and flour from today's earlier bullying. I burnt Lee Bae's clothing and sent mine to the washer. Sighing, I planned my next move, laying in bed naked.
I marched to F4's hang out area eight days later. The Casanovas were playing pool. Ji Hoo was playing Tarot cards by himself. Jun Pyo was playing video games.
"You're still around?" he looked up at me with cold eyes.
I smiled and handed him a stack of photos, "You don't really keep track of your minions, do you, Jun Pyo?"
His eyes widened at the steps I took, "Are you crazy?" He stood up and threw the pictures to the flew. The images of tortured naked girls and boys, piss and blood covered with tears and mucus flying down their faces scattered around the floor. The disgusted faces of the other F4 members wasn't satisying enough, not yet. He stood up and stared at me.
"Only as crazy as you are, you bastard. You hunt anyone you deem annoying, torture them just as much as I do, except you send two dozen students after them. You even sent someone to rape me? At least I do my own dirty work and own up to it! I want you to look at these pictures very well, Gu Ju Pyo! You're even worst than me, do you know why? Because I offer them a deal as long as they stop bullying completely. My intentions are for the greater good. I do it out of love! You do it out of selfish pride!" I sent a fist flying at him.
His stunned expression was worth it.
"I was going to endure things quietly. However, my brother is in the hospital, thanks to you. Now your minions know how it feels to be tortured and bullied and humiliated. If you aren't careful, you'll end up as one of them," I smirked. I left the room.
"What is that!" Gu Jun Pyo screamed.
"It looks like... we've found someone just as evil as Jun Pyo," Yi Jung replied as he picked up one of the pictures.
"Maybe even worst?" Woo Bin picked up another picture.
"How can a girl do this?" Ji Hoo came to pick a picture as well.
"According to her, Jun Pyo is worst though... and if you think about it, he is. She's willing to go to extreme measures to show him this though," Yi Jung sighed as he stood up.
"You sent someone to rape her?" Ji Hoo asked.
Jun Pyo remained silent as he stood up from the floor and then sat up in his chair.
Yi Jung began to laugh, "Do you actually feel remorse for your crimes? Are you sick? Or did that punch really knock you out your senses?"
Ju Pyo glared at Yi Jung, "They called my sister a whore, a prostitute! Do you think I wouldn't try to hurt her after saying that?"
"Her brother's in the hospital though. I heard he went into a coma," Woo Bin commented.
"So what! Who are they for me to owe them anything?" Jun Pyo yelled.
"Doesn't she remind you of someone though? It's prickling at me," Yi Jung began.
"They shouldn't have called her that... but I learned something about their family," Woo Bin sat down. All of F4 sat down to listen.
"They used to be best friends with Gu Ju Pyo's grandfather and Ji Hoo's grandfather until their grandfather mysteriously died and their company was bought out by Shinhwa. I learned that it's one of the ways your family became so powerful, due to buying that company. Without it, Shinhwa would have never been what Shinhwa is today. Her grandfather shortly died soon after and her father committed suicide the next day," Woo Bin began.
"So what you're saying is... that she and her brother hold a grudge against Jun Pyo?" Ji Hoo asked.
"Yes. It only makes sense. Why would a twelve year old boy and a short nerd challege Jun Pyo as well as attack his sister's honor? Any other student would have simply apologized until his head fell off, but they took it as a personal attack and their hatred against the Shinhwa family showed," Yi Jung said.
"I don't care if we ruined their family or not," Jun Pyo huffed.
"Yes, we understand that you don't care, but it helps us understand why she's so extreme in dealing with Jun Pyo. She blames your family for the death of both her grandfather and father and now for putting her brother in a coma. I'm surprised she hasn't directly attacked you more," Woo Bin shrugged.
"That weed! It doesn't matter. I'll expel her," Jun Pyo muttered.
"He's not listening," Woo Bin told Yi Jung, who only smiled.
"Aren't things more interesting now though?" Yi Jung shrugged.
"We'll see," Ji Hoo replied.
Two days have passed since my encouter with Ju Pyo. No has dared to touch me since then, especially since their pictures were found scattered across the school. Fear is a wonderful tool to possess and it feels like school is returning to the time before I challenged Gu Jun Pyo, except that Shin wasn't by my side. However... after my punch, I expected him to do something... anything.
I was walking up the stairs when I realized men clothed in black suits were following me. Was he out to kill me? I took at a dead run. I couldn't die. Not yet. I needed to see Sh -
Someone grabbed me by my arm. I kicked and began to scream. They put a cloth over my mouth. i slowly closed my eyes against my will.
When I opened them, I found myself looking up at a high ceiling and sitting in a comfortable chair. I looked at what I was wearing and realized I was wearing a black dress and pretty high heels. Whose work was it to kidnap someone and give them a makeover?
"You're awake," a voice said. I turned to look at the source and saw a black outline against the bright windows.
"Who are you?" I asked. The figure turned around slowly and my eyes popped out as I realized that it was Gu Jun Pyo.
"You... what are you thinking of doing?" I raised my fist.
"I've done what I wanted to already..." he pointed at me. I looked down at myself and then back up in a heave of confusion. I was expecting to face an axe...not an unneccessary flower decoration.
"So?" I asked him with my still raised fists.
He came forward and instinctively, I threw a punch at his face.
"Aish!" his hands twisted his jaw as he blinked several times.
"Just try touching me, you bastard," I smirked.
He roughly pulled me while I tried to claw his eyes out, "AISH! JUST LOOK AT THE MIRROR!" I poked his eyes and felt satisfaction as he fell back and onto the couch.
"I tried to warn you," I replied.
"Just look at the mirror, you idiot," he rubbed the area around his eyes as he stood up.
"Whatever," I looked at the mirror, seeing an image of a beautiful girl.
"You yourself feel shocked, right? Money can turn even an ugly duckling into a heron," he sounded pleased with himself. It didn't make sense.
"It's a swan, not heron, you fool. But what's the point? Are you going to use me in a sex tape or something?" I raised my fists again. "If you are - "
His cheeks flushed red and I realized that that wasn't his intention at all. I kept my fists raised however, in case he was going to try anything sneaky.
"Hey nerd, if you like me... you should say so," he blinked several times, as if he couldn't believe his own conclusion. The flush of his cheeks didn't disappear at all, but still he stood with his intimidating height.
"Are you some kind of idiot?" my face contorted. "Where the hell did you get such an idea?"
"Nobody's around so you can be open about liking me here. From now on, I'll be willing to make an exception and recognize you outside of school." My face must have revealed my slap in the face shock for he continued his monologue, "Why? Did this explosive proposal scare you silly? Shall I repeat myself? If you do as I say, when nobody's around, I can treat you as the Almighty Gu Ju Pyo's girlfriend. Understand?"
"I understand..." his face revealed instant happiness, like Shin when we were much younger, but I threw that face and thought out of the window, "...that you're crazy! Too much greasy food has addled your brains! Whose girlfriend will I be? What? Forget it! I'm leaving," I yelled. His face fell as I turned around. He ran to stop me from leaving the room. His expression had me questioning the very nature of his true intentions and malicious nature.
"You're the one whose brain has something wrong," he seemed desperate to make me stay.
"Move aside while I'm being nice," I said in a monotone voice. Dealing with the likes of F4 was tiring. Memories of my brother in a coma surfaced. How could I even think to compare a younger Shin and Jun Pyo at all?
"Do you know how much was spent on you from head to toe?" he paused for dramatic effect. "100 million won. Money can buy anything."
"100 million won..." I began to laugh as emotions once again ran rampant inside. My fingers clenched, my nails biting and tearing the flesh of my palm. Blood dripped on the side as I continued to laugh.
"Hey...Kang Jab Cho..." Gu Jun Pyo tried to reach out.
I moved away instantly, violently as I glared at Gu Jun Pyo, a product of the people responsible for my miserable life.
"100 million won? Your family owes my family much more than that. Can 100 million won bring back a dead grandfather, a dead father and a comatose brother?" I came forward and grabbed the collar of Gu Jun Pyo and shook him. "Bring them back, you fool! Try and buy their lives! I'll do whatever you want, whenever you want if you bring them back! Go ahead! See if your money can buy it!"
"Yah!" he pushed me into the chair.
"I hate you..." I began to cry. He moved to closer to touch me.
I immediately snapped my head to glare at him again, "Touch me... see what happens." I couldn't back down, especially during times of emotional instability. He put his hands on my face and wiped away a couple of my tears. I immediately began to hit it away. He held on tight however.
"You can hit me, if it makes you feel better. I can call in a few guards if you feel like beating someone up, too," he offered.
I immediately stopped, "Don't touch me. I want to go home. It's the least you can do for kidnapping me."
He stopped touching me, "I don't know what happened between our grandparents... but we aren't them, are we?"
I stopped and looked up at him, "Are you trying to lecture me at this moment? You, of all people?
He coughed and cleared his throat, "What I mean is... the past is the past. You can't live in it."
"Do you know... the original plan between our families?" I chuckled, realizing that Gu Jun Pyo wasn't going to let me leave this place for quite some time. I might as well vent what I can on this poor boy who's delusioned himself into liking me. After all, he only probably was crushing on me because I was so different and hated him. He was unused to undisguised hatred from others, wasn't he? I was new...different and thus worthy to understand until I was too easy and would be let go of. If anything, I should make him understand me and thus lose all sense of the novelty, no?
"What?" he sat down.
"We were supposed to get betrothed. Both of our grandfather's children were supposed to get married but both turned out to be boys. It was left down to the grandchildren to get married," I laughed at the concept of it all. Wasn't it hilarious? Wouldn't Gu Jun Pyo turn away now... that I had brought the word marriage into play? Most boys did, especially due to the fact that we hardly knew each other. I turned to look at his expression and my eyes widened as I realized how horrible this plan was.
His serious expression told all.
"A joke, Jun Pyo," I laughed nervously. "Besides... do you really think I would carry through with it when your family's destroyed mine?" My lips curled in an attempt to look devious. It failed as Gu Jun Pyo stood up. I instinctively moved back but stopped when I realized that Gu Jun Pyo went to the window and stared out into it. A pin drop could practically be heard at this moment. What was going through his head?
"I'm sorry... for your brother. I didn't realize how fragile he was. As for your grandfather and father...there's nothing I could have done about that, but I'm still - " I cut him short.
"Gu Jun Pyo... we'll still be enemies, no matter what you say," I stood up as I realized that this was my chance to leave.
"Maybe...I'll send for a car immediately," he turned and ignored my comment. I went home, feeling the strangest thing: I had lost that battle, even though I had managed to land a few punches and strong lines.
"You're home...you came home in that car?" my mother stared at me.
"Yes," I took off my shoes.
"Dating someone rich from Shinhwa?" my mother's lips curled, hopeful and greedy for what opportunities I could provide.
"No," I was assertive.
"Pity," my mother shrugged as she left the living room. She was hardly human anymore. Not even a "How was your day?" or a "Where's your brother?". I sighed as I realized I would have to pay for the hospital bills myself, again. Sometimes I wondered if it would just be better for me to take Shin away from this house. Then again, how would we live on my meager income, when I still had to pay for his hospital bills?
I got ready for work and left.
When I was done with work, I went over to the hospital to visit Shin.
I didn't get time to see him yesterday. The doctor told me that sometimes talking to comatose patients helped.
"Moved? Where to? Why was I not informed?" I cried when I realized that Shin was no longer in his room.
"He was moved up to the top floor in a private room," the nurse replied. "Room number 3003. He has several of his own doctors. The best in the country. They just came this afternoon," she smiled at me.
"What? I don't understand," my eyes looked back and forth. I was so confused. Why would this happen? I went up the elevator and pressed floor 30. I immediately ran over to room 3003, which I realized was four times the size of his previous room. As it were, floor 30 only had 3 patient rooms. What was going on? What is it this serious that he had to come up here?
Someone else entered the room. I recognized him from a health magazine cover.
"Doctor... do you know why my brother was moved up here? What's the meaning of this? Is his condition worst?" I asked.
The doctor smiled at me, "Your brother is stable. He was moved up here at the command of - "
The next school day, I waited for their entrance into the school. I decided to wait in the shadows, watching Gu Jun Pyo intently. I couldn't sleep all night. I looked horrible, my eyes darker than even usual. My muscles ached and I could feel my heart beating slowly from lack of sleep. They entered their lounge area. I was pacing up and down the hallway outside. I couldn't do this. Maybe the doctor was lying. I took a deep breath and entered the room and all looked up at me, wary perhaps. I came to stand in front of a purposely oblivious Gu Jun Pyo.
"Do you feel thankful? That the Almighty Gu Jun Pyo has come to the rescue?" he grinned up at me.
It was for the sake of my precious brother, who was more like my own son than a brother. This man... I didn't understand him as I thought I did.
"Yes, thank you Gu Jun Pyo. What is it that you want in return?" I clenched my fist, even as I gave a fake smile.
"You shouldn't smile so much... it's not like you," he stared at me in a suspcious manner, as if I were a criminal. The other members of F4 listened intently, even as they carried on their own things. Even I waited with bated breath for Gu Jun Pyo's price. What would he demand? For me to lick his boots?
"The trip to Europe... you'll go?" he smiled at me.
It was everyone's reaction to raise their brows, including mine. "Why?" was my immediate response.
"Why?" he mocked. "Are you that poor? This is why I hate commoners." Jun Pyo sighed. "I'll pay for it. Don't worry about your brother either. He's under the care of the best."
"I don't understand..." I stared at him.
"What isn't there to understand? My family owes your family. I'm trying to right a wrong," he shrugged in an nonchalant manner.
"This doesn't - " I began to protest.
"Change anything, I know," he grinned at me. Too cocky, seriously.
"As you wish, Gu Jun Pyo," I hmphed as I left the room. What an idiot.
I went home and prepared for leaving. I was surprised to find a suitcase and everything I would need to go pass through the airport waiting for me at home. I came to the airport the next day to find two pacing F4 members.
I turned to Woo Bin, "Why are they pacing?"
"They're waiting for someone," Woo Bin answered. His eyes captured a poster of the popular model, Seo Hyun. A mother, a first love and best friend to Ji Hoo, who suffered from Aspergers. Gu Jun Pyo immediately stopped pacing as he spotted me and his face contorted in anger, halting, he blinked and stood in front of me, he opened his mouth, snapped it shut and then yelled, "Why are you so late?"
It was my time to blink, "You...why do you care so much?" Wasn't he taking this crush thing too seriously? His face flushed again... for what reason, I was unsure. I had done nothing to incur a blush, had I? I looked down at my conservative getup. I was dressed as seriously as a man. Why would...
"Aish, just hurry up and board," he turned and quick-walked from the area.
I turned to study the faces of my school mates. Fear, loathing and disgust lined them acutely. I smirked, deciding not to care. These people weren't worth any more effort, since they avoided me completely now. I turned to look at the still-pacing Ji Hoo. He immediately went to go to Seo Hyun, who just got off her plane. I knew how to deal with Gu Jun Pyo, sorta... how would I deal with the fourth dimension Ji Hoo?
"Hey, nerd, let's go!" Jun Pyo yelled from a distance away.
For Shin, I told myself. Just put up with his foolish antics, for Shin. I prayed that I didn't kill Gu Jun Pyo during this trip with my temper issues.
We boarded the plane, in which everyone talked in excitement. Gu Jun Pyo, I realized... sat next to me. His eyes also kept wandering over to me, to which I ignored completely...for the moment. Why was he not disgusted by my behavior days earlier? Why was he... I snapped my head to glare at him, in which he blinked and quickly looked away...acting like a sick puppy dog, dancing around in the rain? Nothing made sense these days.
Three tarty girls came up to Gu Jun Pyo, "Jun Pyo! Why must you suffer this dreadful plane? Don't you find it distasteful to sit next to that commoner?" I think her name was Ginger asked.
Gu Jun Pyo turned to look up her and was about to say something, probably something rude, before I beat him to it, "Aish... why must I suffer this dreadful plane with these sluts? Such trauma for the nerves, really." I began to open the newspaper and began reading the news.
A snicker and then a cough, Jun Pyo opened his own newspaper and began to read. With a huff, the TrioTarts left the area back to their own seats. I stared up at their retreating forms and for once, Jun Pyo and I shared a couple of chuckles.
Slowly, an hour passed and I find my eyes closing without will. I turned to look at Gu Jun Pyo, who still seemed caught up on whatever was on the newspaper. I couldn't fall asleep. What if he were to do something? What if this has all been a ploy to get back at me? I shook myself in vain for trying to wake up. My eyelids began to fall, for me to only slap myself awake. This was not the time to relax.
"Go to sleep, you're annoying with your ugly eyes," Gu Jun Pyo commanded.
I turn to look at him with sleepy eyes, "You're annoying with your stupid curly hair." Stay awake...God, I'm so tired.
He turned to throw me an irritated eye, "I'm rich, tall, handsome. How can you not like the Almighty Gu Jun Pyo?"
I turned to face my body towards him, "You're also crazy, thoughtless, inconsiderate, and a bully. You put my brother into a coma and your family has caused the deaths of my father and grandfather. Yes, how can I not like the Almighty Gu Jun Pyo?" I snorted to myself.
"You know, sarcasm doesn't really suit you," he said.
"I hate bickering. Just shut up," I turned away to look out the window. I didn't even realize when my eyes were closed.
Gu Jun Pyo's POV
Kang Jab Cho's head slid over to my shoulders. I stiffened immediately in response to the feel of her soft hair on my neck. I ignored it as Yi Jung and Woo Bin sent me startled looks, the same startled looks they've been sending me for several weeks.
"D..Do you like Kang Jab Cho?" Woo Bin asked.
I was laughing as I recorded her reaction to getting vaseline on her hands and trashing the library she loved to hang out at. Ducks and chickens ran rampant between the tall shelves of the library. This was three days after our ice cream encounter. She began to give chase to the unsuspecting and rather fast ducks and chicks.
"What? No. Yah, for such a cold and foul mouth girl, she's so funny to watch when - right there!" I continued to laugh and eat popcorn.
"I've never seen him work so hard at something," Yi Jung replied.
"She'll be here soon. Just watch. Five...four...three...two...two...one!" I pointed and waited.
Laughter erupted from behind me.
I clapped, "She must be too embarrassed and is fixing herself up. Now... five...four...three...t-two...t-two...one?" I pointed at the entrance and still, no one appeared. I scowled immediately as Yi Jung and Woo Bin chuckled. How embarrassing!
I chuckled as I remembered Jab Cho's lack of attendance that day. Yah...she must really like me now, eh.
I pat her head, which was lying on my shoulder and continue playing on my DS. It isn't long however before I begin to get drowsy myself. I'm sure she won't mind if I lay my head on hers, I tell myself. I smile and dream of how our trip in Europe will go.