Well it's midnight and I just finished writing the first chapter but I had an idea for this one so here I am. Oops
Chapter Two: The Bully
"Oh Ju-Eun!" The yell was very carefully enunciated, every syllable of my full name imbued with rage. Full nagging power had activated.
Ordinarily it took me a while to wake up properly, but I was up from my nap on the couch like a shot. I had fallen asleep next to the scene of the crime- never a smart move.
However, being behind a couch when an angry Kim Seokjin comes for you... now that's a very smart move.
I couldn't even remain scared. Peals of laughter fell from my lips as I once again admired my handiwork, the scribbled on unmentionables that adorned my oppa's face. One or two were smeared, it was only eyeliner (my Mother's) but in his rage he'd left them mostly in tact, in favour of quickly throttling the life out of me. My laughing only further fuelled the fire that was his anger.
He attempted to catch me by running around the sofa, but I just moved to the other side. I could have happily continued this game of cat and mouse all day... but Seokjin had other plans.
I squealed as he lunged over the couch, vaulting it, becoming uncharacteristically smooth and in control of his long limbs in his fuming. Ordinarily he was a clumsy oaf. In a lot of ways, he reminded me of a bear.
"Oh Ju-eun!" He yelled as I scrambled up the stairs, "I'm going to get you!"
He was gaining on me fast- I may be sporty but he was muscular and had much longer legs than me. And flat ground was a lot easier to traverse with speed than stairs. Why did we have so many stairs? "You'll never catch me, old man!" Why? Why did I further antagonise him?"
"I'm not old!! I'm 23!" I could feel him right behind me now.
"Shit!" I vaulted up the last step.
"Watch your language!" He was still nagging me, even though he was this mad. That was so him. I flung myself into my bedroom and locked the door, managing to escape him for now. He didn't bang on the door, didn't even shout. Instead, it fell silent. Suspiciously so.
Cut to me, ten minutes later, sat in the famously painful seiza position with some books on my knees and my arms above my head. Even with my endurance, my arms and legs were killing me.
I may know Seokjin-oppa well... but he knows me too. Of course when it went silent I wouldn't be able to resist poking my head out to see what was going on. As soon as I did so, he appeared, an evil apparition in the light of the hallway, and jammed his foot in my door before I could slam it shut again. Damn it.
He'd since washed his face, and was back to his usual plump-lipped, smooth skinned self. Plus a great deal of annoyance. "Why must you always pull stuff like that? You're such a child."
"I am a child." I said, and he twitched.
"No, you're not. You're turning 19 very soon." I just scowled, smooshing my lips up on my face.
"Bleegghhh." Who wanted to be an adult? Being all stern and serious. Having to work. Being away from home all the time, the people that need you around... ah. I shook my head. "Even if I am an adult, I can still have fun. I'm not going to become all boring."
His arms stayed stubbornly crossed for a moment... then dropped to his sides. He sat on the floor in front of me. "You can relax now."
I immediately dropped my arms and slumped into a more comfortable position. "Getting into college is going to be hard if you won't take things seriously, Ju-eunnie." He said softly, pushing some of my hair back behind my ear. I frowned at him, then sighed.
"I am studying! I just... I want to enjoy what's left of high school, too..." I didn't want to graduate. As soon as I graduated I'd have to grow up, start taking responsibility for my life, and... and give up the one thing that made me happy. "I don't want..."
My eyes were suddenly full of tears thinking about it. I glared stubbornly at the floor, refusing to wipe them but also willing them not to fall. Was it possible to suck tears back into your eyes through sheer willpower? I hated people seeing me cry.
Oppa pulled me into a hug. There was the slight smell of cologne, and a stronger scent of fried chicken. I remained tense, willing myself not to cry. "I know it's not what you want, Ju-eunnie... but..." he trailed off, obviously unsure of what else to say. What was there to say? He couldn't encourage me to follow my dreams. He definitely felt that it wasn't his place to say. My parents did pay his wages, after all.
And in any case, I couldn't exactly turn around and say to my parents "by the way, I'm not going to university, I want to pursue my volleyball career. You know, that thing that was meant to be a hobby to look good on my resumé?". I'm sure that would go down super well. Last time I even breached the subject they went insane. I didn't think I could handle defying them.
So, I had applied to the nearest university, and was studying to try and get in. And this upcoming volleyball tournament would be my last.
I shuffled to wipe my eyes while still trapped in the hug, then pushed away. His eyes were big and brown and full of concern.
"Thanks, Jin-oppa." I sniffled, looking down. "I'm... I'm gonna do my homework now."
"Okay. I'll be downstairs if you need any help." I gave him the best smile I could manage, and then crossed my room to sit at my desk, burying myself in trigonometry.
It wasn't long before I became distracted by my phone. I was scrolling through twitter when I got the phonecall, so, despite already being ready for bed, I opened my window and climbed up onto the roof. I loved this house because the balcony made it super easy to do. And, it was mostly quiet, at night time anyway.
It was pretty late now. Yun-ji was yawning as I talked with her. "Hey, do you want to come over on Saturday? My family's having a bbq."
"Will there be-"
"Yes, there will be chicken." She cut me off, sighing. "Probably not as good as the fried chicken your oppa cooks fo you, though~"
I grimaced, "I wish you wouldn't say it like that. I told you, he's my babysitter." I heard laughter on the other end of the line.
"Yeah, yeah. You should bring him along. I'm dying to see what this guy who calls himself Worldwide Handsome looks like."
"Yeah. No way. Not a chance." Talk about embarrassing. "You are never meeting him, and he is never meeting you. You two are people that will never cross paths. If you were magnets I would make sure both of your north poles were facing so you would repel each other. Never going to happen, Yun-ji."
She just laughed more. "Relax, relax. I'm not after your precious oppa." She ignored my protests of "it's not like that" and continued, just talking through me. "We're having it in the afternoon, so yknow. Usual drill. Mom's complaining she hasn't seen you in a while." I laid back on the roof, exhaling. "How're your muscles? You really pushed it in the second half."
"Tired." I said, groaning a little as I flexed and stretched out my calves, legs in the air. "How about you? You landed pretty hard on your knees trying to catch Won-ah's smash."
"I'm good. Mom patched me up when I got in." There was a pause, and some noises as I assumed she flopped back on her bed. "I fell asleep pretty much straight after dinner though."
I laughed at that. "Me too. I ran home and then ate so much food. I definitely looked like I was in the early stages of pregnancy."
"Eun-ah?"
"Yeah?" She didn't often call me by that nickname, but when she did it was usually important.
"After you go to university... we'll still play volleyball together, right?" I bit my lip. After a brief pause, I decided to play it off.
"Ah, Yun-ah, you trying to ditch me? As if I'd stop coming to beat you into the ground with my explosive serves."
She giggled, and the tense, serious atmosphere dissipated. "Ya, as it I couldn't catch your serves. They're like a snail hit them."
"Oi!" We laughed together for a moment, and I was interrupted by the sound of someone entering my bedroom. "Oof, nagging babysitter alert. Gotta go." He was for sure gonna tell me off when he found me up here again.
"Okay, text you later."
I hung down over the edge of the roof to peer through the window. Ordinarily, thag would be fine... except this time my Oppa had opened the window and stuck his head out at the exact same time.
We were so close we almost bumped foreheads, his eyes ending up staring right into mine. Embarrassed, I reared away. It was only Seokjin-oppa, but still. Embarrassing to be that close to someone.
"Y-ya, Ju-eun, get down hear. It's dangerous." He called to me, after clearing his throat. I hopped down with ease, clambering through the window. His ready-to-catch-me pose was pretty funny looking. As if I'd fall. It was practically muscle memory now. "It's late, you should be going to bed."
"I'm not sleepy." I said, sitting down on my bed and puffing out my cheeks. He put a hand on his hip.
"It's almost midnight and you have school in the morning."
I shrugged, "Oppa was the one that let me nap after dinner..."
He scowled at me. "Yah! Do I look like your mother? Do I control when you sleep?" I covered my ears as he nagged, puffing out my cheeks further. I stood up, walking closer until I stopped just in front of him, hands still covering my ears and expression deadpan. Wordlessly, I bent to headbutt him in the chest softly.
"Fine, I'll be going to bed then. Goodnight." I said, walking past him to go to the bathroom. He was speechless. It was kind of funny to do things that surprised him every now and again. Doing as I was told was definitely surprising.
As I brushed my teeth, I heard him go to his room- the guest room, though it only ever had one guest- and shut the door. I chuckled.
Sometimes he just made me want to bully him.
- - -
Ok. I wrote two chapters and. Now i'm going to bed. My eyelids feel like they're being weighed down.
Ju eun is a cheeky little shit. That is all.