Chapter 10: Our Loves

[Jae Wook’s POV]

“So…” Si Won nudged me in the middle of our lesson, “you and Sierra are dating?”

Why did he want to know?

“Erm… I guess,” I mumbled.

“Come on,” he said. “You’re the guy. You should at least know where you stand.”

“I don’t like to discuss about my private life,” I said.

“I see… you’re being mysterious now,” he laughed softly. “Well, you’re lucky to still have a private life. Kids like Sierra and I, our live have been media spectacles since we came to age. Enjoy yourself while you still have your privacy. The moment you took her hand, you’re supposed to have given that up.”

“Isn’t that a little farfetched?” I asked him.

The way he described the whole scenario, you would think I’d dated some equivalent of Angelina Jolie.

“Just wait and see,” he smiled, and turned to pay attention to the teacher.

School had just ended. Sierra and I had different classes for the last period, and I was walking over to the lab to meet her.

“Yaaaa!!!” someone yelled like a madman.

Music: TVXQ – Dangerous Mind

The throng of students in front of me parted, and through the parted space charged Ee Teuk. He was in his aikido uniform, a red bandanna tied around his forehead and in his hand, an aiki-jo (short staff used in aikido). As he neared me, he raised the aiki-jo up and brought it down on me. I moved away just in time, before the aiki-jo hit my head.

“Ya! Myowa?” I yelled as I whirled around and he tried to charge again.

“Yaaaa!!!” he yelled and I tried to jump aside to avoid him again.

“Why are you attacking me?” I yelled as I ran behind a pillar for cover.

“Chugo!!!” he yelled like a deranged ape.

“I got that already,” I shouted at him, and ducking to avoid his next swing. “Why do you want me dead?”

“You took her from me! You took her from me!” he ranted.

“Oi!” Hee Chul shouted as he pushed through the crowd.

I’ve never heard him sound so manly before.

“Stay out of this, Kim Hee Chul,” Ee Teuk snarled.

“What are you doing?” Sung Min exclaimed in his babyish whine.

“He took my Sierra!” Ee Teuk yelled, failing his arms as he did.

“Your Sierra?” I remarked.

“Mine!” he bared his teeth at me.

“Calm down,” Hee Chul said.

“No!” Ee Teuk yelled.

“Pin him down,” Hee Chul ordered.

“Don’t you dare,” he said, pointing his aiki-jo at the guys who were advancing against him.

“Pin him down,” Hee Chul repeated, and everyone pounced on him.

“No! Let me go! You’re all gonna pay when my father finds out,” he struggled and yelled.

“Ignore him,” Hee Chul came and slung his arm on my shoulder.

“Why is he so livid? Was he dating Sierra?” I asked Hee Chul as he lead me away; Sung Min trailed behind us.

“Keep him there for the next 15 minutes,” Hee Chul turned around and instructed before turning back to me.

“Answer me,” I said impatiently.

“He’s delusional,” Hee Chul said. “He’s always thought that he and Sierra were the perfect match.”

“Thinking is one thing, but actually treating me as if I’d taken his girlfriend. That guy’s a nut!”

“That’s Ee Teuk for you. We blame his dad for his over-puffed ego. His father is worse than he is.”

“I cannot imagine someone more delusional than Ee Teuk,” I laughed. “His father must be a real work of art.”

“You bet,” Hee Chul winked and clicked his tongue, and I suddenly lost sight of his manliness.

“Jae Wook,” Sierra called out as she sprinted towards me.

“Sierra!” Sung Min squealed before I could call out her name myself.

“Kwaench’ana?” she practically grabbed my face when she got to me.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“What happened? I heard Ee Teuk tried to attack you,” she said, the concern in her voice touching my heart.

“He was just acting up again. Just like he always does whenever you get a boyfriend,” Hee Chul said.

“Yea. But he’s never actually tried to attack them. He usually threatens them,” she said.

“Well, those guys were mostly trying to get a date. Jae Wook here is already dating you,” Hee Chul pointed out.

“You mean you’ve never dated a guy before?” I asked Sierra.

“What do you take me for?” she exclaimed and smacked me on the arm. “Of course I have!”

“How many of them actually survived Ee Teuk’s threats?” I asked.

“Well… there were the seniors, Kim Jeong Hoon and Park Choong Jae, both have graduated.” Sung Min started counting. “And that junior, Kim Hyun Joong…”

“Wow… you had so many?” I laughed and she made a face at me.

“And there’s that freaky Han Kyung,” Sung Min blurted out, then covered his mouth, as if he had just revealed some deep buried secret.

“Sung Min,” Hee Chul sighed, and shook his head.

“Oops…” he squeaked.

“Han Kyung?” I said as I looked at Sierra. “That thug who knocked the lights out of me?”

“That was my biggest mistake,” Sierra said, almost looking remorseful.

[Han Kyung’s POV]

I picked up the photo book; our photo book. She’d made it when we first started out.

Music: Super Junior - So I

“What’s this for?” I’d asked her.

“To document every day we spend together,” she said.

We took a Polaroid every day. Whenever we met up and when we were doing something she felt memorable, she’d take a picture with her pearl blue Polaroid camera, and paste the photo in the book.

When we were together, I did things I would never have done with any other girl. I did almost anything she wanted me to. Most of the girls I knew just fawned around me and followed me wherever I went. They did whatever I wanted to do, they ate whatever I wanted to eat; they were more like pets than girlfriends. I guess I have to blame it on my social status.

I was the illegitimate son of Ahn Sung Ki, the leader of the largest mob in Seoul. My mother, a Chinese actress, died when I was 5, and my father, having no male heir from his legal marriage, decided to officially bring me back into the fold. My surname, ‘Han’, was my mother’s name. I had refused to have it changed to Ahn, in her memory. My father consented.

I grew up watching my father at work and learning to come to the power that would be mine someday. By the time I was in high school, I was already actively involved in my father’s businesses, and it was during my sophomore year that I met Sierra.

We met under the most unlikely circumstances. My father was often invited to high society balls and social gatherings. While my father was viewed as riffraff among high society, their fear of his power ensured that they turned a blind eye to his unsavory businesses and treated him like they would any respectable head of a conglomerate. I met Sierra at one such social gathering.

Music: TVXQ – Whatever They Say

“Sierra,” the host called out to a slim girl in a short, filmy dress. “I’d like you to meet Han Kyung, the godson of Chairman Ahn.”

In polite society, I was often referred to as my father’s godson, even though everyone knew the truth.

“Han Kyung-imnida,” I bowed.

“Sierra-imnida,” she bowed in return.

“Sierra’s the daughter of Chairman Hwang,” the host proceeded with the introduction.

“It’s a pleasure meeting you,” I said.

“Likewise,” she replied.

“I’ll let you two youngsters enjoy each other’s company,” the host smiled and walked off.

We, or actually, I stood there awkwardly for awhile, and it was Sierra who finally broke the ice.

“So…” Sierra said. “Wanna get out of here?”