Pandora's Box | kim mingyu & jeon wonwoo

12

I was already halfway towards Nayoung's classroom before I fully realized what I was doing. Ever since Wonwoo's heart-to-heart with me, an unsettling sensation had begun nagging at me. No matter how hard I tried to push it away and get it to leave me alone, it would not.

In the end, I figured I needed to do something about it, or I would end up doing something crazy.

All of the students were busy packing up and preparing to go home or to their respective cram schools; club activities had been canceled for the day. I too had hurriedly shoved all of my belongings into my bag before I set off. As I walked into Nayoung's classroom, I quickly noted that the room was far from empty. But I did not care.

I made a beeline straight for Nayoung, and from the way she looked at me, it was clear I had startled her; her reaction, however, did not stop me.

I was right in front of her, damn near face-to-face when she interrupted me and said, "hey Mingyu, what brings you-"

"What gave you the right?" I cut her off. The force of my voice alone was enough to wipe her fake smile off her face and get her to step back. Already, some of her classmates around her stopped what they were doing and snapped their attention towards me.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Who the fuck do you think you are?" I said, taking one step closer to her and closing the distance between her face and mine; already, my neck was starting to hurt. "I always knew you were a bitch," I said, looking her up and down. not bothering to hide my disgust, "but I didn't know you were a cold bitch, too."

She stepped back again. Her back pressed to the wall. Her expression was that of confusion, but already I could see her fists begin to ball up. Nayoung stared at me intensely, her eyes dry and strong, and asked, "what are you talking about? why are you doing this?"

My eyebrows shot upward at that. It was like my brain refused to believe that she was dumb enough to think I didn't know what she had done. But I was all too willing to burst her little bubble.

"Wonwoo."

Saying his name was enough to calm me down a bit. All of my other words had come out of my mouth in an angry spiral, but it seemed that even in my maddened state, I was not mad enough to speak his name in such a tone. Wonwoo was a name that warranted care and delicacy.

And even though his name had calmed me down for a second, just looking at her face was enough to ignite all the rage I was feeling all over again. "Do you think you're too good for Wonwoo? Do you think that highly of yourself? Are you that fucking deluded? You're nothing Nayoung. You were never anything but a pretty face with nothing to say, and you should feel lucky for having someone like Wonwoo even look at you.

"I don't even care that you don't feel the same way, the least you could have done is be nice about it. But that's my bad for expecting a piece of shit like you to be decent, even for a second," I spat. "Oh! but that wasn't all! On top of that, you had the gall to tell me about your feelings for me a day earlier! You might as well stick those 'feelings' up your fucking ass because I would never, and I will never, ever, have feelings for a bratty piece of shit like-" Suddenly, my right cheek began to sting.

I quickly pieced together what happened and straightened my head to face her straight on. Her hand was still up and it was clear what she had done. "Did you just slap me?" I stupidly asked. I think I was more offended than anything else. I refused to recognize that she had put her hands on me. The thought alone was enough for my fist to ball up.

Instead of answering she simply pulled her hand down and back to her side. Still, she insisted on staring at me intently. I waited for her to say something else but she didn't. Finally, she simply pushed me aside and bolted out the door. I reached out to grab her, and it was my full intention to deliver a blow of my own. I missed, and that inflamed me even more. I was so ticked off by the sight of her, and I was so ticked off by her cowardness that I considered chasing her. When she was well out of the classroom and out of my sight, I couldn't believe what had just gone down. What she had done. Still frustrated and with no outlet, I turned and punched the wall.

It was counter-intuitive, of course. I was no fighter, and almost immediately, a gash opened on my hand. I was too annoyed to go to the infirmary, and I was ready to go straight home then and there. The only reason I didn't, was because I suddenly remembered that we had an audience.

Just like that, I slowly turned my head around and glanced at my classmates. As I stood there, frozen at the spot I had just confronted Nayoung in, some of her peers just stared, also unable to move. Some of them had their mouths agape in shock. Others looked horrified and scared. Very few looked amused. I considered for a moment what I could do to get out of this situation and not look like a complete dumbass, but I ended up falling short. Instead, I settled for a quick bow of the head and quickly walked out.

Never in my life had I done something like that. I had never treated another person like that. I had never gotten in someone's face like that. I felt that it should have bothered me more or that it should have upset me in some way.

It did not.

And as I made my way home, I couldn't help a sense of satisfaction blooming in my chest.