Some Kind of Wonderful (Heungsoon Edition)

Chapter 6

Heungsoo washed his hands for the second time but the motor oil and grease still won't come off from under his nails. He shut off the water and gave up. He doesn't know why he keeps trying when the result is always the same.

Even though his back ached a little from all the cleaning, Heungsoo is satisfied. He's glad the owner of the auto repair shop decided to take him in as an apprentice. There's only three months left before high school graduation and Heungsoo is half-relieved and half-nervous. He had shared his plans with Namsoon but his best friend had only been vague about his own. Heungsoo tries to understand that Namsoon's life no longer revolves around him. It remains unbelievable to him really but he can't ignore that Namsoon doesn't really talk much about Ha Kyung. Heungsoo is cut off from that part of Namsoon's life.

Heungsoo stared at the mirror above the sink and a stern-looking 20-year old guy looked back at him. He clenched his jaw like he didn't like what he saw. Actually, he didn't like what he was thinking.

Ha Kyung. Heungsoo snorted. He knew there was a reason he didn't like the girl the first time he saw her. The pampered princess... the stuck-up bitch! Okay, so perhaps Heungsoo wasn't really totally honest with Namsoon when he said he wanted to be friends with Ha Kyung. In his defense, Heungsoo was nice to Ha Kyung before she started being so... annoying! He liked her better when she wasn't going out with Namsoon. This is Heungsoo's true feeling, which he struggles to control because he knows it isn't right. Objectively, he knows he needs to make his promise to Namsoon real. He needs to make a sincere effort in getting along with Ha Kyung. Ah, shit. Heungsoo hung his head, gripping the sink with his oil-stained fingernails.

People and their goddamn preconceptions of what is normal, Jung Ho fumed. You think being happy is normal? Sad is what is normal. Half of the students in school are so sad it's pathetic. The other half of the students are just pretending to be happy and that makes them even more pathetic! Jung Ho kicked an empty soda can across the corridor while he ranted silently in his head. The other students loitering around quickly moved out of his way in fear he'd take out whatever was bothering him on them.

Though Jung Ho had laid low most of the school year, his reputation as the school bully has not been erased. Too many had seen and experienced what it was like to look into his dark and threatening eyes. Yi Kyung and Ji Hoon walked on either side of Jung Ho. It had been a while that they hanged out together. Sometimes, Jung Ho thinks Yi Kyung and Ji Hoon are a bad influence on him. Not that the guys are bad... in fact, both had been handling themselves well without hisbad influence. It's just that being with Yi Kyung and Ji Hoon makes it more likely for Jung Ho to act out his frustrations. Jung Ho feels so comfortable with them that his control on his temper is much more relaxed.

Jung Ho's aggression has always been a way to cover up the bad things that happened in his house. He's been able to avoid his father for months because of his parking toll fee attendant. Every time he'd come home in the wee hours of the morning, his father would be passed out from drinking and wouldn't even twitch until noon time.

But last night... last night, his father was still awake when he got to the shack that they are calling their house. Last night, Jung Ho's father held a knife against his son's throat in his alcohol buzz. It scared Jung Ho pretty badly. Fortunately, he was able to escape. He took refuge in a nearby children's park, hiding in one of the plastic tunnels that kids use for slides. He barely slept a wink. He could have gone to Namsoon's house but he didn't want to. He really hated imposing on other people and he greatly detested it when his predicament is known to others. He didn't want pity.