Chapter 5

Book Version

Kim Ji-Hoon tiredly made his way to Seo-Hyun and Hyun-Woo's elementary school. Upon arrival, he flopped down on the stairs in front of the school. The kids were driving him to the brink of insanity with all the trouble they were giving him. He openly admitted his failure to work with kids and cursed himself for even trying to watch them in the first place. And to add to his annoyance, he couldn't keep Saku Hana out of his head.

He let out a heavy sigh, "I'm a top student even with 2 hours of sleep on my head... how crazy that sounds to me... almost like I have a damn I.Q. of 200 of something..." Ji-Hoon dropped his head into his hands, "I can't keep going like this... and... why am I always worrying?!"

When the bell rang, Kim Ji-Hoon forced his body to move so that he could wait for the kids where most of the parents usually did. Ji-Hoon yawned as he impatiently waited for his cousins to come out, searching for them through the crowd of children that came filing out of the building followed by many teachers.

When they finally came towards him, he groaned, "Why did you have too take so long!!! Come on lets go..."

Before he could even move, Seo-Hyun grabbed his jeans, "Waait!!! Oppa, I wanted to talk to you about something new going on after school!!"

Ji-Hoon let out a long, irritated sigh, "What is it Seo-Hyun?"

Seo-Hyun handed him a paper and Ji-Hoon began to read the contents outloud:

"Starting From Today: Lessons on Dancing, Piano, Violin, and Japanese Koto will be available to those who wish to attend..." skimming through, "The first lesson will be free..." skimming, "If your son/daughter wishes to continue..." skimming, "The pay is $20 a day?! For just 3 measly hours after school?!"

Kim Ji-Hoon glared down at Seo-Hyun, "What do you want to learn anyway that I couldn't possibly teach you?!"

"You're a terrible dancer..." She shrugged.

Kim Ji-Hoon's eye twitched slightly at the comment of his weakness and a scowl spread across his face. But before he could even comment, an accident occured. Parents and children ran out of the way of a crazy driven car as it swerved through the people, the driver most likely drunk. And to Kim Ji-Hoon's surprise, he spotted none other than Saku Hana pushing through the crowd, helping people to escape to safety. Kim Ji-Hoon picked up his cousins, one in each arm, and ran them quickly to the school where they would be safe, "Stay here!!!!" he didn't leave until Seo-Hyun clung to her brother's arm and the two nodded.

Ji-Hoon looked back in time to see the car swerve again... in Saku's direction. Without thinking, he sprinted off to her rescue. Suddenly, it seemed like the car tipped slightly and the driver lost control of the car. Kim Ji-Hoon stopped in his tracks and tried to pick up on the car's sudden direction change, which was going in the direction of a child who was being herded by his mother to safety. The mother quickly picked up on the car's direction and pushed her child to safety, waiting for the sudden impact... Time suddenly seemed to slow as Kim Ji-Hoon watched Saku shove the mother out of the way and she took the blow of the car. The car tipped on it's side... Ji-Hoon heard sirens coming closer... but it was like listening from behind a glass wall... He was frozen as he stared at Saku's limp body on the ground. When somebody suddenly bumped into him on their way to see Saku, his senses kicked in and Kim Ji-Hoon raced to Saku's body and basically skid on his knees to reach her, "Saku!! Saku please!!" Ji-Hoon gently picked her up and leaned her against him and basically whispered, "Saku... Why the hell were you here!!"

"OPPA!!!! HYUNG!!!!" Ji-Hoon lifted his head up when he heard his cousins coming towards him. Seo-Hyun, lead by Hyun-Woo, ran up to Kim Ji-Hoon and skid to a halt when they saw Saku... bleeding and crumpled basically... in his arms...

 

When the ambulence came to take Saku and the drunken driver to the hospital, Kim Ji-Hoon called Amai. Ji-Hoon took the kids back home and waited for Amai to arrive. Upon his arrival, Amai asked no questions and nodded his approval, basically saying he knew Ji-Hoon had a damn good reason for leaving so urgently and leaving two troublesome kids in his hands; Ji-Hoon quickly made his way to the hospital. He was unable to see Saku right away, which was to be expected, so he had no choice but to go to the waiting room. He constantly paced... constantly wiggled in his chair... paced again... Kim Ji-Hoon couldn't sit still in the waiting room.

At one point, a nurse actually came out and sat down with him, picking up on his rising distress, "You must be extremely worried about your girlfriend..."

"... What?"

"Your girlfriend... she is the one who got hit by that drunk driver?"

Ji-Hoon held his head and slowly comprehended what the nurse said, "... um... she isn't... my girlfriend... just... I'm just aquainted with her..."

"Really? I would have guessed she was extremely close to you, the way you're acting and all... but don't worry... I'm sure everything will be okay..." and with that she left.

After another period of waiting, Ji-Hoon can't take it much longer. To ease his sufering, he makes his way to the bathroom. Inside, Kim Ji-Hoon makes his way to a sink and runs the water, splashing some onto his face. He glances at himself in the mirror, scoffing at his horrid reflection, "This damn Drama Queen has my whole damn life twisted up!! First it was the apology... now its the aftermath!! She won't leave my mind and everywhere she is she causes some kind of accident!!!"

When Ji-Hoon finally exits the bathroom, he is greeted by a doctor. He bows in respect and stands tall as the doctor began to speak, "Are you the young man who came with Miss Saku Hana?"

"Yes sir... Is... is she..."

"She is alive... but... the damage is unbelievable..."

Ji-Hoon stiffened at the word 'unbelievable' and managese to ask, "How bad is she?!"

"Well... fortunately there isn't any internal bleeding, but we will keep up with the tests on that... she has a few broken bones... a fractured rib bone... bruises and cuts..."

Ji-Hoon held his head and let out a deep sigh... only a handful of injuries...

The doctor continued to speak, "... Where are her parents? I should inform them of their daughter and figure out a way to pay the bill."

Ji-Hoon could feel the irritation leaking from his pores...

 

"The Damn Doctor Only Thinks About Money?! Aren't they supposed to like... not care about money until the patient is okay?!"

 

Kim Ji-Hoon swallowed his retort and miraculously answered coldly, "Her parents are deceased... and she lives on her own."

"Well then, who are you to her?"

 

"The hell should I tell him?! I'm barely involved with her!! Who else is acquainted with her?!"

 

"... Acquaintance... friend... can I see her?"

"She is out cold but yes... you can see her."

Ji-Hoon stiffly bowed to the doctor and rushed off to see Saku. Just like the doctor said, Saku Hana was out cold. Ji-Hoon moved to the side of the bed and observed her injuries: Her leg and right arm was in a cast, her cheek was bruised and cut, and her other arm was scraped and cut up due to contact with the ground. Her breathing was labored and all Ji-Hoon could do was watch, "She saved that mother... and look where she is..."

He began to pay more attention to her features... looking past the bruises and cuts, "Why are you so troublesome?!"

When a lock of hair fell in front of Saku's eyes, Kim Ji-Hoon reached down and moved the lock of hair from her face to behind her ear... then... he slid his finger down the side of her face... outlined the shape of her lips... He froze when he picked up on his actions, "Drama Queen... what did you do to me? What did you do to get me to act like this?"