April

Working part-time at a convenience store isn’t unusual for high school students in Korea, and I’m part of that 4.6 percent. My aunt, Soo Hee, owns the store, and we manage it together—she takes the day shift, and I handle the nights. As my shift ended, I packed up my things and walked to the door, only to find it pouring outside. heavily pouring actually. That’s when I realized I’d forgotten my umbrella. “Great! When do you "ever" remember your umbrella?” I mumble to myself, frustrated. The rain had just started, and it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. I let out a cold breath and returned to the counter. I figured I could use the time to finish my murder mystery novel. It was eerily quiet as I immersed myself in the story. The killer was about to be revealed, the puzzle was nearly solved, and my heart raced with suspense. I was completely absorbed when someone suddenly slammed their hand down on the counter! “Oh, come on!” I shouted, clutching my chest in shock. I quickly looked up, ready to defend myself, when I saw him, a tall guy, ridiculously tall, wearing a motorcycle helmet. He had slammed a box of band-aids onto the counter. “Jesus Christ!” I exhaled, trying to calm my nerves as I stood up to ring him up. He had a strong, athletic build, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. Clearly, the guy worked out. But the helmet? That was odd. I told him the total, but when he pulled out a card, I pointed to the sign that read “Cash Only” He froze for a moment, then started searching for cash. That’s when I noticed his hands were trembling and, bleeding. Small drops of blood dripped from his jacket sleeves onto the counter and I got a little concerned. “Hey... are you okay? Do you need help?” I asked, my concern growing. He hesitated before meeting my gaze when I noticed his stormy grey eyes. he didn't respond so I wondered if he was deaf, but he just responded to me on billing, does he not understand English? off course, I'm still working on my Korean so I signed the words, “Do you need help?” using the little sign language I’d learned from an app. He didn’t respond right away, but a few more drops of blood fell from his hands. I had to grab his hand and make him sit so i could give him the first-aid kit since he could not understand.

As I bandaged his arm, I noticed how tall he was, even while sitting.

“All done!” I said, standing up. He followed suit, putting his jacket back on and reaching for cash again.

“It’s fine, you can pay me next time,” I said, stopping him. he responded to it and then went off quickly. oh well, a thank you would be nice!

What an awkward meeting that was! I exhaled and went to sit down on my chair thinking, Although I’m half Korean and have lived here since I was 11, I’m still not entirely familiar with all the Korean etiquette. I wondered if he even understood my English. Just when I was thinking about my not-so-cool, poorly Korean roots. Surprisingly, the rain had stopped, so I packed my things and headed home.

The next morning, I was trying to catch up on sleep in my classroom desk, when Ha Ri’s piercing voice interrupted me.

“April... have you decided which university you want to go to?”

I groaned but didn’t answer. She knocked on the desk repeatedly until I had no choice but to lift my head.

“What?” I practically shouted.

She gave me a weird look and said, “Jeez, what’s your problem?”

“You! Obviously,” I snapped, and she gave me that triumphant look like she had won the "Annoy April" contest.

“Come on, you look like you need a recharge. Let’s go to the roof” she said, grabbing my hand and dragging me upstairs, and I moved along as the next class was surely going to be literature. Suddenly, we heard a commotion, and students were rushing toward the gymnasium.

Curious me and Ha ri looked at each other, Ha Ri stopped a boy by collar and asked what was going on?

“Seo Joon,” he said before running off.

“Park Seo Joon again?” I groaned.

“I bet it’s another fight over a girl,” Ha Ri muttered, rolling her eyes. We watched the fight from the stairwell, and I spotted the back of the guy Seo Joon was fighting with. Seo Joon seemed to be adding extra drama with all the shouting. In his usual style.

“Who’s that?” I asked, inquiring about the guy Seo Joon was fighting with. He doesn’t seem like an old student here, is he new? 

“I don’t know, but he’s hot,” Ha Ri replied, her voice dripping with infatuation.

I laughed. “Stop drooling over on every tall guy!”

Just then, the crowd fell silent as the guy delivered a knockout kick to Seo Joon. It was impressive—he was definitely a Taekwondo player. He didn't even use his hands and I can still see his posture calm even behind his back. Just as we were admiring his skills, the gym teacher stormed in and sent everyone away, except for the fighters. We all had to be dismissed from our classes and just when the literature lecture started getting interesting, I heard my dear old best friend calling me.

“I need to know who that guy was,” Ha Ri whispered during class later.

“Shut up,” I warned her.

She ignored me, her teeth clenched. “Either you help me skip literature class, or I won’t take the mock test with you.”

I rolled my eyes. “None of that benefits me, so no, I’m not skipping.”

“How can you be so heartless? Don’t you care if I fail?”

“I’ve had enough, Ri,” I said.

“Please, April... pretty please?” she begged, putting on her puppy eyes. I hate that face, Oh I want to punch that face. But what else can I do? She also helped me alot skipping those sword dance classes my aunt forced me into.

“Your obsession with tall guys is going to get us in trouble,” I clenched my teeth and said while slamming the book. But in the name of childhood friendship, I agreed to go along with her. i stood up and slamm the book on Ha Ri's head.

she shouted at her lungs.

"Miss ruby Ha Ri pulled my hair and cursed me in Korean again!" I shouted, showing my best talent.

Ha Ri stood up and cursed me something in Korean which i don't understand and we both acted to pull each other hair.

"Both of You! OUT!" just like that, we pushed ourselves out.

As per Shin Ha Ri’s questionable information, the mysterious guy was being punished for cleaning the music room. We were heading there when the librarian stepped out of the library, and we hid immediately, bumping noses into each other.

“Ouch!” I said, and Ri shushed me.

Once the coast was clear, we snuck towards the music room at the end of the hallway. Ri laid out her ridiculous plan.

“Okay, I’ll go in and talk to him. You stay in the library and keep an eye out. Don’t get lost in those books!”

I wanted to slap her. “And Plan B?”

“Simple. we get caught? I do the moping, you do the sweeping,” she grinned and i smiled grinding my teeth.

“Right" i said "here is my plan, you have five minutes or I'm leaving" I warned.

“Fine!” she huffed. “Do I look good?”

“Yes, just don’t get pregnant,” I muttered.

She headed into the music room while I went into the library. Taking a stroll, browsing the shelves. The smell of books always relaxes me. I've been into books since childhood, guess I inherited the bookworm gene from my father. He was a pharmaceutical scientist. I recall looking at some science books. But, I have always been attracted to what is hidden, Mystery, and dark fantasies. Romance, the characters, and their dominance are what really excite me. A particular book caught my attention. I pulled it down and read the first line.

“‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord,” I whispered. It was a biblical verse I suppose, but why is such a religious verse written in a literature book? 

“Do you like books?” A deep voice behind me made me almost jump and the book fell to the ground. I turned around, and it felt like the air had left my body. It was him—the guy from the convenience store. I would have missed it if not for his eyes. Why was he here? Was he a student? And where was Ha Ri? I guess she is wrong about the music room, he was actually in the library. Damn it!

Before I could gather my thoughts, he stepped closer and picked up the book I had dropped, placing it back on the shelf. He was about to say something when Ha Ri’s voice interrupted us. “April!”

She entered at the speed of light, and the first thing she looked, was Him, and her mouth fell in shock to see him “FUCK!” quickly she dragged me away.

“The librarian’s coming!” she hissed.

“Crap,” I muttered, and we ran down the stairs. Just as we were about to escape, we heard a stern voice behind us.

“Miss Shin Ha Ri and Miss April,” the dreaded Professor Yuri said. “To the office, now.”

We flinched. shit, shit, shit.

“You’re doing the mopping,” I said as we trudged off, knowing exactly how this was going to end. Ha Ri looked devastated at the thought of cleaning the gym floor.