“Would you stop following me?!” Eun mei said angrily, as if her death glare and her hands on her hips was not clue enough.

“But- but Eun Mei, I need to know the path to your house when I deliver the bike to your home tomorrow! Do you want me to get lost in this dark and dangerous forest?” Kim Jung Hee reasoned.

Eun Mei rolled her eyes. “Oh please, you know where I live since we are in middle school.”

“True,” Jung said smoothly. “But there might not be a path for a bike going there. So I have to check it out.”

“Uh huh,” she said, unconvinced.

After a few days, Jung accompanied Eun Mei home with his new excuse. He is hoping that the girl will get used to him and simply let him escort her every day. Jung never regretted, even for a moment, spending his savings for a bike. But he did hope that something good would come from it.

“So, what makes you like the XPX models better than, say, the MB1 models? Now those babies look so much cooler!”

Eun Mei whipped her head towards Jung and a complicated mixture of annoyance and shock was written on her face. “That MB pukes are cooler than XPX?! What world do you live in? The light aluminum casing alone makes the XPX worlds apart from other model. Do you know that-“

Jung pretended to listen as he smiled at the beautiful girl. A few weeks ago, when Jung and Kwang first visited the bike store, he scanned every bike in the store and noticed the letter and number combination on the side of each bike. He didn’t know that those are the bike models. He only learned about that when Kwang mentioned the model yesterday and with his eidetic memory, he remembered the XPX serial information on a single bike to one side of the store and put two and two together. He only mentioned the MB model now because it is the most numerous model in the store.

To be honest, Jung has no interest in bikes and he is just making conversation when he discovered that Eun Mei was actually a bike enthusiast and surprisingly knew everything about them. That made Jung automatically recall everything he knew about bikes and soaked in the tidbits of information Kwang gave him just because Eun Mei is interested in it and resolved to find out more about the entire bike industry the next time he goes to the library.

The annoyed girl continued to lecture him about the superiority of the XPX model and oblivious to Jung Hee’s manipulation. Sadly, they were already close to Eun Mei’s house, and realizing this, she snapped back to reality.

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“I hope you now know how awesome the XPX model, is so stop talking smack about crap that you don’t know about.”

“I still believe the MB models are superior! You are just lucky that we are now near your home, but next time I’ll explain to you very thoroughly why the MB is so much better than your XPX crap.”

“Oh yeah?! Why, I’ll-“

“Song Eun Mei,” a woman’s gravelly voice cut right through their conversation, and Eun Mei went pale when she turned and faced the owner of the voice.

An older woman stood on the dirt road that led to a tiny house behind her. Her back is ramrod straight, and if you look closely enough, the woman has a certain resemblance to Eun Mei. They both have that severe look in their eyes that could melt unwary people. Jung is used to it on Eun Mei's face and is never really affected by it, but the woman's look was sort of different. Eun Mei's snobbish look always seemed to Jung more of a defensive measure she used all the time, but the haughtiness in the woman in front of him seems to be a part of her soul. There was a world of difference between the two.

“Don’t you dare talk to her. Just bow or wave goodbye and then leave. Now!” Eun Mei’s intense whisper had taken Jung aback. Her vehemence was like an injured animal showing her fangs to an even bigger predator, but everyone could see the fear in her.

“Did you not hear me, daughter?” the older woman said in a quiet but pleasant voice.

“I heard you, mother,” Eun Mei said, her voice tinged with bitter resignation. “I just got here.”

The older woman regarded her for a moment longer, then said, “Go inside and clean up. You still have chores to do.”

Without another word, Eun Mei walked into the house. She didn’t even say goodbye to Jung. Jung watched her go for a moment, then turned to Eun Mei’s mother. There is a sign that the older woman used to be a beauty when she was younger, but the hardened eyes and caved-in cheeks gave her now a more sinister look.

“I’ll be going now, Aunty,” Jung said, giving her a deep bow before turning and walking away.

“What is your name?” Eun Mei’s mother asked.

Jung faced her again and bowed again. “I am Kim Jung hee, 16 years old, at your service, ma’am. I am the only son of Kim Hyusil and Kim Jin ae. I also go to the school-“

The older woman raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re Hyusil’s brat?”

“Aah, yes, ma’am.” Jung detected an undertone of history over that simple statement, but it was fleeting and was gone in a blink of an eye.

She glared at him from head to toe. As if inspecting meat in the market. “My daughter is special,” she said.

Jung smiled at her. You won’t get any arguments from me, Jung hee thought wryly. “I am fully aware of that, madam,” Jung said confidently. “That is why-“

“My daughter is special,” she repeated as if she didn’t hear Jung. As if his words are unimportant. “She understands that she has the responsibility, the very obligation, as a filial daughter, to take care of her family—her parents, me. As such, her being special means that she is not destined for mediocrity.”

Eun Mei’s mother took a few steps towards Jung, who just stood there, unafraid.

“I do not mean to belittle you, young man, but you are mediocre,” she said, her nose slightly upward as she glared down at him. “You are the son of a farmer. By all accounts, you will become a farmer yourself. And then your own children will become farmers as well. That is not a life for my daughter. She deserves better. She is meant for something … more.”

Jung just stared at her.

“Your little infatuation for my daughter is understandable, but it ends here. You must understand that my daughter is destined for someone... more. And you, young man, I’m sure you have your own stories and you work hard for your dreams. But you cannot make my daughter happy. Find someone else. Find someone of your own kind.”

Jung opened his mouth to … to what? Defend himself? Defend his family? Jung realized that the woman wasn’t looking for a debate. She believes in what she said, and there is no way to change her mind.

For a long moment, they simply stared at each other. Both of them not flinching away. Then Jung smiled at her, doing his best to keep it from becoming bitter. Jung silently bowed again to the older woman, then turned and walked away.