Just a small review of the characters so that it doesn't get too confusing :).
Jan-Di's schoolmates at Seungcheon:
The girls: Han Cho-Hee (the beauty of the school, who traveled to Paris during spring break), Ku Ji-Won (Cho-Hee's best friend), Go Ji-Hyun (a new student, who becomes Jan-Di's friend)
The boys: Gu Jun-Pyo, So Iy-Jung, Kang Ji-Hoo, Lee Woo-Bin
Jan-Di's parents: Moon Se-Gyung and Geum Seung-Jo (they own a tea shop)
Ah-Jong's schoolmates:
The girls: Song Mi-Young (a reasonably smart one), Park Hyun-Jae (cute, likes to do her friends' hair and make-up), Jung Soo-Yun
The boys: Jang Yong-Jun (the fun one, likes Mi-Young), Nam Jun-Ki (the smart and serious one)
Ah-Jong's parents: Choi Sun-Hee (owns a small art school teaching piano, drawing and painting) and Oh Shi-Wan (owns a stunt company)
For the last Sunday of March, Ah-Jong's parents took her and Jan-Di on a mountain bike ride.
All through Saturday till almost morning, both girls had worked hard to finish Jan-Di's history project, so that she could spend most of the next day out. It was a model of the Battle of Amiens, which had begun the Hundred Days Offensive of the Allies in the First World War. Tens of painted clay pellets were displaying the deployment of the parties, and the girls added tanks and vehicles made from pieces of wood. On Monday, Jan-Di had to take the model to school, but because it was too heavy and bulky, Ah-Jong had offered to bring it in the evening, by car, with the help of one of her father's employees. Jan-Di had accepted because she knew that her friend was curious to see Seungcheon. This was a perfect opportunity to show it to her.
Early on Sunday morning, Ah-Jong and her parents drove to Jan-Di's house to pick her up. Oh Shi-Wan, Ah-Jong's father, took Jan-Di's bike and mounted it securely on the roof of the car, while his daughter was jumping up and down with excitement and hugging her friend.
"I'm glad you're coming with us, Jan-Di," said Choi Sun-Hee. "I hope this trip will give you energy for next week."
"I'm sure it will! And I'm very grateful," she said warmly, watching them all with a wide smile. "If not for you, I would bury myself in books and not even know that spring was here."
"Work always seems to go much better after you've had a bit of fun, doesn't it," said Sun-Hee. "Relaxation is a vital safety procedure and should be compulsory for all hard-working students."
"I'm all for this procedure," declared Ah-Jong.
"I have already noticed how cautious you are, sweetheart," replied Sun-Hee, smiling and putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders.
Jan-Di thought that her friend looked a little ashamed, probably thinking that she was not that hard-working, and that relaxation was the order of the day for her. In truth, Ah-Jong hadn't managed to take care of her school work as planned. The popularity of her trinkets was on the rise, but her grades were still at ground level.
"Ah-Jong has already improved her studying habits, which is great," she said encouragingly, not knowing how else to react.
"I know she did," said Sun-Hee. "You'll do good, Ah-Jong. I trust you."
Ah-Jong only smiled, and Jan-Di thought that she was even more ashamed by her mother's declaration.
When all was prepared, they said good bye to Jan-Di's parents, with assurances that their daughter would be brought back home safe and sound.
The one hour drive seemed to go fast, with Sun-Hee and Ah-Jong chirping merrily. Ah-Jong always seemed to have some news up her sleeve, or some subject on which to make funny, silly, half-serious comments. But Jan-Di also loved to talk to her friend's mother. Sun-Hee managed to be at ease with any person, from her daughter's teenage friends to her husband's action stunt men, to her own little pupils, their parents, or the diversity of people who wanted short escapes from their busy lives and were coming to her amateur classes.
She also liked many subjects that Jan-Di was fond of. For the daughter of a small shop owner, she had received a surprisingly good education. She had been to art school, but knew things not only about fine arts and music, which she also taught at Raw Imagination. She seemed equally comfortable with history, fashion, or business. To Jan-Di's awe, Sun-Hee could even understand politics.
And she liked to read, which was one of Jan-Di's passions as well. There weren't many people with whom she could talk about books like she could with Choi Sun-Hee.
On the other hand, Oh Shi-Wan was silent most of the way, except for when he was prompted by his daughter to share news or anecdotes from the media companies and film sets. Though he wasn't in the habit of talking a lot, Jan-Di enjoyed his company as well. She thought him a very perceptive person, with a talent for sensing people's feelings. Sometimes, nobody was better than him at helping her understand herself or others, except maybe his daughter, who had inherited this quality.
While Sun-Hee was always polite and diplomatic, Oh Shi-Wan could be quite blunt. If he didn't like somebody, he wasn't bothering to hide it; and if he felt that someone was wrong in some way, he would say it directly. But at the same time, he showed steady care for those who were close to him.
"One day, a few months after we'd met, he got quite upset with me," Sun-Hee had once said to Jan-Di and Ah-Jong. "He told me it was bad enough that I didn't have the will to do the things that were expected of me. But what's worse, he said, was that I neglected even the things I claimed to like. He scolded me for making others and myself unhappy because of my behavior. And immediately after this, he added that he loved me nonetheless, and that he would do anything to see a genuine smile on my face. That was how he made his declaration to me! I instantly started to cry, of course. It was so romantic!"
After they reached the forest, Oh Shi-Wan unloaded the bikes and they were on their way. Soon, the chill and the effort made Jan-Di forget everything that had been worrying her, all her stress and uncertainties. It felt as if she had escaped into a different life in which she felt that she could do anything and become anyone she wanted. As usual in these occasions, she decided to be calmer, less insecure around her schoolmates, focus only on those she loved, and care less about those rich kids who tried to make her feel inferior.
The hours went by quickly as they wound along the forest paths, inhaling the smells and pointing to each other little animals that kept showing up and then quickly disappearing amongst the trees.
Jan-Di felt like only minutes had passed until, tired and with flushed cheeks, but full of energy, they started on a descending path back to the car.
Shi-Wan let his bike go quickly downhill, making it jump over stones and tree roots, and Ah-Jong followed him.
"Be careful!" shouted Sun-Hee.
"Yes!" answered Ah-Jong.
But she had barely said it when her bike stopped short, and she flew over it, landing on a side and rolling over for a couple of meters. The bike did a somersault and almost hit Ah-Jong full in the face, but she had managed to raise her arms to protect herself. Still, her nose was bloody when she uncovered it.
"Ah-Jong!" shouted both Sun-Hee and Jan-Di.
Shi-Wan had stopped, hearing his daughter's cry, and was running uphill towards her. Ah-Jong lifted her head and groaned, her face full of blood.
"Don't get up," said Shi-Wan, calm but firm. "How do you feel?"
"I'm OK..." she muttered. "It just hurts..."
Carefully, her father checked her face and arms, which Ah-Jong said were hurting the most. Thankfully, nothing seemed seriously wrong with her. She had only grazed the skin on her forehead, her nose was bleeding profusely, and her left shoulder, both arms and her left hip were bruised.
"I'm perfectly fine," said Ah-Jong in a stronger voice, that made Jan-Di feel more at ease.
"Yes, you seem to be," replied her father, making her hold her nose tightly between her fingers, "but sit here for a while."
She did as she was told because, as it became apparent when she tried, she wasn't yet able to stand. For fifteen minutes, Jan-Di sat anxiously near her friend, helping her wipe the blood off her face while Ah-Jong kept repeating in a nasal voice that she was fine and only needed a little rest.
Finally, she managed to get up and get back on her bike, and they carefully made the rest of the way to their car.
The next morning, Ah-Jong took a dismayed look at herself in the mirror. Overnight, she had gotten two dark spots under her eyes because of yesterday's hit in the nose.
"Brilliant..." she muttered as she tried to hide them with concealer and managed it only partially.
She applied fresh patches on two of the worst grazes and prepared to go to school.
Her classmates greeted her with a mix of shocked questions and jokes, and she told them the story of the previous day's adventure.
"Ah-Jong, what happened to you again?!"
"I hope the other guy is in much worse condition!"
"You've got yourself a nose job!"
"I took off from my bike, flew like a bird, and crash landed like a badger. Then the bike attacked me. But yes, it looks much worse than I do."
"Ah-Jong, now I feel like in Beauty and the Beast with you."
"You do have princess material, Yong-Jun."
Today, she was going to take Jan-Di's history project to Seungcheon, and she couldn't wait for the evening. The day before, she had hoped to catch a glimpse of some of the students, but now, with her damaged face, she was glad that Jan-Di had proposed a time when the others were likely to be in the study room.
At five, classes ended, and she made an excuse to cut self study. She climbed on a new bike, which she had borrowed from Oh Shi-Wan's company, and half an hour later, she was at The Spring Dreams to pick up the Battle of Amiens model. She met her father's employee there, and he drove her to Seungcheon, where Jan-Di was waiting at the gate. After the bike was taken down from the roof of the car, the girls carried the model inside.
The first place they went to was the room where the other projects had already been placed. After that was taken care of, Jan-Di took her friend to see her classroom.
"Wow!" exclaimed Ah-Jong when she saw it. "In this place, even I would pay attention."
"You would, but not because of the classroom. Our teachers are fierce. But how would you like to see the music and the arts rooms now?"
"You don't even have to ask," grinned Ah-Jong.
They headed through the silent school and entered a large space with a grand piano on one side, a couple of cellos, violins, three classic guitars and two electronic ones, a mixer, a drum kit, and several other instruments.
Ah-Jong took a delighted look around and laughed joyfully.
"Mom would love this! A Steinway in flesh and bones," she said, approaching the piano and tenderly running her hand over it.
She sat down, opened the lid and played a few notes from the Harry Potter theme. Jan-Di chuckled.
"Perfect!" Ah-Jong stated. "I don't even need to know how to play. It does the job by itself."
"It doesn't do it for me," laughed Jan-Di.
Ah-Jong got up again and surveyed the room with curiosity and pleasure, trying to stick everything to her memory. She picked up a guitar, sat down on a chair, and caressed its neck.
"I like this guitar," she said, choosing a harmony and lazily striking the chords.
"Put it down!"
Ah-Jong felt her heart give a sudden jerk, and she looked up quickly to meet the cold stare of a boy who had just come in. Had they left the door open? She remained motionless, knowing that she was in trouble and so was Jan-Di.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"I'm sorry." She got up hurriedly and stopped, intimidated, watching as he was approaching her with brisk steps.
This must have been the most handsome guy she had ever met. She could well recall him from the pictures she had seen on the Internet. But in those, he was smiling brightly, and now, he was measuring her with contempt.
He yanked the guitar out of her hand. "Are you stupid?"
"Someone used Ji-Hoo's guitar," said one of the other three boys who had entered the room.
And he gave her a charming smile that, somehow, wasn't a promise of anything charming.
"Don't worry, though," he continued. "We're not going to bite."
Her stomach was aching with mixed emotions. She was not sure what looked more menacing, the cold gaze of the first or the sweet smile of the second boy.
"I... I'm sorry," she stuttered again.
"Who are you?" snapped Ji-Hoo, turning to her after having carefully put the guitar back into its place.
"She's someone who goes to a public school," said the boy with the charming smile, looking her over. "A commoner of the most common kind and as ugly as King Julien on a bad hair day. I can't be looking at girls like you. It's depressing."
"You are depressing Iy-Jung, ugly one," said Ji-Hoo. "He's used to only high class. That's another apology that you owe."
Ah-Jong was not much shorter than him, but somehow, he managed to tower over her. She felt her face burn, and strong sensations – shame? anger? both? – got into the mix. She could find nothing to say. Painfully aware of the patches and grazes on her face, the barely hidden bruises under her eyes, and her public school uniform, she couldn't help but notice the contrast she was making with these boys. She glanced at each of them – all four were even more good looking than in the pictures she had seen on the Internet a little more than a month ago. All were bright and educated, according to Jan-Di. She felt stupid, ugly and coarse.
"She's my friend," said Jan-Di, coming near her. "She came to help me bring my history project. And now we're..."
"So it's your fault that this person is here," replied a third boy, whom Ah-Jong recognized as Gu Jun-Pyo.
"No!" she exclaimed, panicked at the thought of Jan-Di becoming the boys' next victim. "I came... by myself..."
That was stupid...
"She's pretty dumb, isn't she," chuckled Jun-Pyo.
"Her natural stupidity must have been enhanced by her falling on her face," replied Ji-Hoo.
"Her natural ugliness as well," added Iy-Jung.
"Leave her alone!" shouted Jan-Di. "Let's go, Ah-Jong!"
With that, she started to pull Ah-Jong toward the exit, but Iy-Jung and Jun-Pyo blocked their way. The fourth boy, who had just stood and watched the show, closed the door and went to settle comfortably on a chair, with a face that seemed to expect entertainment.
Angry, Jan-Di tried to get past Jun-Pyo, but he stepped in her path every time, assisted by Iy-Jung.
"Let us go," she growled.
Ah-Jong was desperately trying to think of something. None of her usual reactions to hostility seemed suitable right now. Laughing and running away, smiling and trying to coax her opponent, brazenly lying or playing dumb were all out of the question somehow. Concern about Jan-Di was uppermost in her mind, and she was looking in vain for a reaction that would keep her friend out of trouble.
"Not before we've cleared this up," replied Jun-Pyo. "As you can see, Ji-Hoo's feelings were pretty hurt."
"I apologize," said Ah-Jong, finding her voice. "I know I shouldn't have taken that guit..."
While speaking, she turned towards Ji-Hoo, and what she saw cut her short. Her backpack was on a stool, where she had thrown it before heading for the piano. Now it was open, and her math test result was in the boy's hands.
His face suddenly broke into a smile and he chuckled.
"This one has the mental capacity of a jellyfish."
She almost ran to him and tried to snatch the paper from his hands, but he raised it above his head and held her back with his other arm.
"Has a truck run over your brain?" he asked, looking her straight in the eyes with a contemptuous smirk.
Ah-Jong froze in place, confused. Stupidly, the image of a truck's underside running over her flashed through her mind. Her face must have shown how she felt, because he raised his eyebrows in amused surprise and started to laugh.
"She's priceless!"
Ah-Jong cursed herself for being so dumb as to react like that.
Jun-Pyo and Iy-Jung came closer to also have a look at the test result, while Jan-Di hurried over with a furious face.
"Yah!" she shouted at Ji-Hoo. "Who do you think you are to talk down to everybody like that? And what are you doing searching through other people's things?"
"Jan-Di," said Ah-Jong, scared, "it's OK, I..."
"It's not OK!" interrupted her friend, continuing to face the boy. "Do you know anything about Ah-Jong to talk like that?"
"Of course we know," said Jun-Pyo with a wide grin. "She's King Julien in flesh, bones, though not brain. That's from the jellyfish. But it's OK. People who can clean the streets are also needed."
"You bastard!" Jan-Di raised her fist and flung it to the boy's face, but Ah-Jong's arm shot out and she caught her friend by the wrist. Without a word, she ran to the door, pulling a screaming Jan-Di after her. The last thing she heard from the music room was laughter.
"Jan-Di, forget it. Let's go!" she said in a low voice, making her way through the corridors without loosening the grip on her friend's arm. "You can't hit that guy in the face."
"I'll hit him in any place I can get to," Jan-Di continued to shout. "Somebody should have done it a long time ago. Who do those bastards think they are?"
Five minutes later, they were out of the school grounds and on their bikes. Jan-Di was pedaling furiously and Ah-Jong tried to keep up, feeling on the verge of tears from humiliation and concern, cursing her own stupidity.
"I'm afraid that I got you in trouble," she told her friend.
"Me?! No, you didn't. Those guys have no idea who they're dealing with."
"So these are the famous Four Musketeers."
"Yes. In fact four bastards who think they are superior to everyone else, so they have the right to behave like you saw them."
Ah-Jong didn't say anything. The things they had said about her were still ringing in her ear. She thought they were quite true. She felt so inferior! They were rich and good looking, were offered the best education, had excellent prospects. She was a mere public high school student; of the most common kind, like that boy had said. She was neither beautiful, nor smart. She went to a second rate school, where she was doing miserably at so many subjects. How was she going to end up? Her future was a question with no answer.
"Don't let what they said get to you, Ah-Jong. They're really good at playing with people's heads."
Ah-Jong forced a chuckle, embarrassed and guilty. "I asked for it."
"No, you didn't. What did you do? Touch Ji-Hoo's guitar? Is that a good reason to behave the way they did? They're the ones who weren't civilized persons, not you."
"I shouldn't have visited the school. I'm sorry. I'm afraid these boys won't leave you alone now."
"Please, stop feeling guilty," said Jan-Di, in a softer voice. "I invited you. Besides, I'm glad that I finally said something to them. I was angry with myself for just watching and doing nothing. I was too afraid to do something, but now I did it and come what may. I can take 'em. Right?"
What could Ah-Jong answer? She wished she had thought of something in that music room, but it made no sense to say it. She had no idea what she could have done, anyway. She wanted to find a solution to prevent anything from happening to Jan-Di, but she couldn't say that either. Just the wish was not going to help. And when you say that you wish you could help, but you don't, you are only asking for undeserved thanks. That's what Ah-Jong's father had told her, and she definitely deserved no thanks right now. She was the one who had brought this... whatever this was going to be... on her best friend.
It was only when they were close to The Spring Dreams that Ah-Jong realized her backpack was still in the music room, back at Seungcheon.