With Me

•3•

"If only you could fight back" Sanghyuk says in frustration. "Then maybe we would leave you alone."

I am seated on a lark bench out the front of the school. Sanghyuk stands before me with Wonshik on his right.

He tosses an apple in his right hand as he speaks. Hongbin is no where to be found and neither is Hakyeon or Krystal.

The three disappeared after lunch.

Jin has gone home. It's after school and all I can do is sit and listen to these two.

"Look at me" Sanghyuk suddenly snaps noticing my gaze is focused on the ground.

I look up at him and he takes a bite from his apple. "Your friends screwed up. 97%." It takes me a while to realise he is talking about his maths homework.

"What did Hongbin and Wonshik get?" I ask him quietly and he scoffs at me.

"Hongbin got 98% and Wonshik got-"

"100%" Wonshik cuts in.

I let out a sigh of relief. They won't punish me for Jin and Hakyeon's mistakes will they? Even if they do at least that takes one hit of the bat.

"Give me those" Sanghyuk steps forward and takes my glasses. I squint as I try to adjust to my new vision. Everything is slightly blurred, my clear vision is gone.

"Look at him squinty. Not so cool without your glasses huh?" Sanghyuk elbows Wonshik playfully and chuckles.

Wonshik takes the glasses and examines the build of them. "How much were they? $20? $5?"

"Give them back. They are the only pair I have" I try to sound confident but my voice breaks halfway through the sentence.

"Okay" Wonshik extends the glasses towards me. I go to take them but he lets go. I wince as I hear them shatter on the ground.

"Oops" is all he says. I hear him mutter something to Sanghyuk before their blurry figures walk away.

I feel tears welling in my eyes as I kneel down and pick up the glasses. I place the frame on my head and am not surprised when I see the glass is gone.

It's just a hollow frame. This is the third pair in the past two months that those idiots have broken.

Mother would be so upset if she found out. I pick up my bag and begin my journey home.

Walking in the front door I can only hope that she won't be able to tell that my glasses are broken.

"Jaehwan? Is that you?" I hear her frail voice call out as I close the front door behind me.

"Yes" I yell and take my shoes off. I walk down the hallway to the kitchen where she slowly dices an onion.

"How was school?" she asks me. I smile and place a hand on her shoulder.

"It was great mother. I got 100% on my maths homework."

"Good job Jaehwan. The day you get a bad mark will be the day that the world ends" she exclaims and I chuckle softly.

She slips on the chopping board and curses as the knife slides across the bench. I lean across the marble surface and grab the sharp object.

"Be careful. You won't be able to cut onions without your fingers" I grab her hand and gently wrap her fingers around the handle.

She smiles and thanks me before chopping once more. I sigh and head upstairs to my room.

My mother isn't poor but she certainly isn't rich. She probably sits somewhere in the middle.