STARLIGHT

10.Help!

"What're you going to do now?" Sam Hyuk asked Keya in a unusually high-pitched voice which made Keya stop and look at him strangely.

"I....I....I don't know," she admitted and looked at the kitchen counter, gone, from an orange-green hue to mere.....black!

"Wha....How...ah....Wh...." Sam Hyuk, lost for words, went on and asked, "When are your parents coming home?"

"Uhh...." she checked her watch, "3 hours maybe....but, my sister will be home before them. Oh God! What do I do?"

Panicking, she even hit a china glass on the table and broke it as it hit the ground.

"Now, what did you do? Seriously, can you not get in trouble?" Samhyuk shouted.

"What?! Okay..listen Mister, what I do is none of your business okay? Let me get or not get in trouble. Who are you to question me in my own house? Huh???" Keya screamed back, her temper not failing to control her, as always.

"Hey hey hey, I was just being concerned, okay? You don't want me to help? It's fine! Anyway, I came to tell you I got the receipt. I'll return it later. I'm going," Samhyuk said, going away angrily, "Just so you know, I took a winter course for civil mechanics so these kinds of burn stains would be easy for me to remove. Well, you don't need my help since its 'your' house so...." and he left.

After trying out a brush, cloth, lemon, soap and all sorts of things, "URGHHHHH!!!!!!!! I GIVE UP!!!!"

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A week passed. Practice was on. Preparation still in progress.

"Neori," Saomi called out, "I guess we need to start taking our performance seriously. We need to be ready when Hirasawa Sensei calls us."

"Performance? We have been practising everyday right?"

"Neori?" Saomi said, looking annoyed.

"What?......oh you mean, ah ah, the duet. Yeah sure..."

"Let's start today, alright?" Saomi suggested.

"Yep. After school?"

"Okay. But you think we'll be able to focus in school after classes? The other groups too will be practising then and it'll be pretty noisy."

"Hmmm....you have a point....should we go somewhere else then?" Neori suggested.

"Why not at my house? Can you come?" Saomi said.

"Your house? Is it fine?" Neori asked.

"Yeah sure......I mean, if you come this Saturday, my parents wouldn't be home. Just me and I don't know if my brother will be there. Yeah...its okay. If you're free that is," Saomi said.

"I guess its fine. Okay then....done?" Neori said, all excited.

Saomi nodded and smiled.

"Let's go then, chingu-ah," Neori said, pulling Saomi by the hand.

"Ch....chin....chingu?" Saomi asked, a bit apprehensive.

"Oh...it means friend in...."

""Korean," Saomi cut her off, "I know. How do you?"

"Oh....yeah. I forgot to tell you. So, my Dad recently hired a driver. And this really old guy turns up and asks for a job," Neori explained, walking out to the canteen for lunch, "he just moved to Tokyo and he's pretty poor. So, yeah....he's teaching me a bit of Korean too," she said, smiling, "He's really sweet, you know."

Saomi just smiled.

"Oh, by the way, you never told me you had a brother?" Neori said.

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<Knock knock>

"So......changed your mind?" Sam Hyuk said with a smirk.

"Just........come," Keya said and turned to go back.

Sam Hyuk followed her with a sigh, She's absolutely not the polite kind.

Going in, he suddenly said, "Woah......what on earth did you do after I left?"

"I.....uh....tried scrubbing it off."

"Great.....well, you know what? You've just ruined it," he said, taking some bleach and wiping the counter.

An apologetic and guilty Keya started following whatever he was doing, trying to make up for the mess she made before her family got back.

After a lot of patchwork and bleaching, Sam Hyuk asked for a hair dryer and dried out the whole thing.

"Hmmm......impressive," Keya said when it was finally done.

"So???" Sam Hyuk asked.

"So?"

"No thank you?" he asked, getting irritated.

"Why? Its like returning the favour for the receipt, isn't it?" she said.

"Huh?" he looked so confused at the extent of her irritability.

Keya burst into laughter.

"Of course I need to thank you. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been here," she said.

Sam Hyuk gave a big smile, "You're really something, you know? I don't understand your humour," he said and laughed it off.

That's how their day went and half an hour later, when Keya's sister returned home, not a hint did she get about the once burnt kitchen counter.......nor did her parents!

The two young neighbours had freshly made sandwiches (yes, Sam Hyuk fixed the toaster too!!!) and enjoyed finally getting to know each other better.

It was the first time Sam Hyuk had actually seen Keya this happy ever since he moved here.

She's really............pre... he thought.......Oh my God! Am I staring at her?.........he breathed in a deep breath while Keya went to get more juice, "Kim Sam Hyuk, focus......not Keya. Don't forget Sao......"

"Here's your juice."

***