How To Kiss A Boy//Kim Jun Kyu

4

To say he was shocked was an understatement. He was totally bewildered of the fact that his father brought in the boy who kissed him into the practice room, claiming that they should enroll him. Kim Junkyu only sat quietly in the corner though, his teeth seething at the sight of the by who played innocent. 

"You good? You look like you're gonna kill someone," a hand patted Junkyu's knee. Yedam's eyes followed Junkyu's gaze, a knowing look expressed on his face as he connected two and two together. He could only shake his head and sigh at how his friend grew upset at the feminine looking boy taking the unscheduled audition. "Don't be too harsh on him, he might be new to the school. You just gotta survive a whole year with him and then you graduate."

"A whole year..." Junkyu muttered to himself, his eyes following Insoo's every movement as she danced to Crush's Woo Ah. "Maybe I can shorten it." Yedam rolled his eyes at his friends' statement, but decided against on telling him off. When Junkyu has a grudge against someone he'll do anything to get them back and Yedam didn't want to be a part of it. 

Insoo's audition wrapped up quickly, the staff who judged her told her to wait for their email. The judges left the room, leaving the students and Insoo sit in the silent room together. She could only nod her head, tired from the many dances they had her do. She took a seat in the opposite corner of Junkyu, pretending to be oblivious of his glares. As she unscrewed her water bottle cap, she was able to see her phone screen light up from her bag. Her eyes red the notification as she drank the water bottle. 

'35 missed calls from Auntie' dropped down as a new notification appeared. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as she read the message. 'Insoo-ah, your mom overdosed again. I'm not sure how she found the pills but she didn't take in enough to kill her. She's in the hospital right now, do there so I can go to work without any worries. I need to pay for the bill by tomorrow and I need a bit more money to do so. Get there safe, I love you.' 

She dropped her water bottle, not caring if she made a mess. Her hand looped under her bags straps before throwing it over her shoulder, forgetting that the zipper was open and not noticing her phone flying out from it. Not staying to here it hit the hardware floor, she sprinted out of the room. 

Her heart pounded against her chest as all she could think was her mother. The only person she could think of was her mother, because she knew that her mother was the only one that missed her brother and father as much as she did. 

Her breaths grew short when she finally reached the bus stop, bending down and setting her hands on her knees. She watched her breath appear in the air repeatedly, soon dissolving into nothing. She didn't waste any time to see her mom. 

Junkyu watched her as she dropped her water bottle, all the water spilling everywhere on the ground. The boys seemed to be watching her too. When her phone flung out of her backpack, Yeongue was the one to catch it. She rushed out of the room as if she was being chased by a serial killer, but Junkyu didn't care. He could only look at the phone that sat in Yeongue's hands. 

"Hey, Yeongue," Yeongue turned to look at Junkyu, the unfamiliar phone was gripped tightly by him. "Toss me the phone." With slight hesitation, Yeongue tossed the phone over, which Junkyu caught swiftly. 

He looked down at the notifications, but they were all cleared. She didn't have any. "Her social life is dryer than me when Lee Eunbi tried flirting with me," Junkyu snorted, earning a slight shove from Hyunsuk. 

"Why is the floor wet?" Junhee questioned, staring at the wet floor and the opened water bottle. "And where's Insoo?" 

"Is that his name?" Yeongue asked himself, not expecting a reply. "He ran off after dropping his water bottle. It seemed like someone urgent happened." Yeongue left out the part about Insoo leaving her phone. He didn't want Junkyu to get in trouble. They all knew how Junkyu's father was, so they decided against doing anything that would get him mad or upset. 

Insoo swung open the door open, panting heavily as she looked at her mother that laid on the hospital bed. The loud beeping noise filled the room, matching the beat of Insoo's pants. She shut the door quietly behind herself as she looked at her aunt, watching her slowly stand up from the chair that sat beside the hospital bed. 

"Aunt Areum," Insoo started, watching as her Aunt slowly walk towards her. "What happened-" The eerie sound lingered in the air, Insoo's worried and sad face slowly morphed into a dead expression. Her cheek was red, burning bright red when she turned to face her aunt again. Another hand came into contact with her other cheek, both now stinging and bright red. 

"I told you to stop telling her that you're her daughter!" Insoo looked back at her Aunt, her body limp and weak and she listened  Areum scolding her. "You're the one that left the pills out, you shouldn't have done that! Look at your mother and tell me that she is pitiful! LOOK AT HER!" Areum's words blurred out from Insoo's ears, her own thoughts filling in. 

Insoo was always amazed by the way brains worked, and how powerful they are. It always intrigued her how someone could lie to themselves everyday that they actually begin to believe the lie. She was surrounded by people who do that everyday. 

"Aunt Areum," Insoo spoke up, not caring if she would get hit again. "You were the one that picked up the pills today while I was at work. She ran out of pills three days ago."