BCF: Wish Upon A Star (Namjin)

Dirty Skin: 유나

YOONA HEARD LOUD footsteps coming from the hallway as she sat anxiously in the principal's office. Upon hearing the steps, Principal Gu sat up straight in her seat.

Her father entered the room and first acknowledged Yoona. He kneeled at her side and held her hand. Suspecting that he'd assume the worst of her, she began to cry.

His eyes were gentle as he said, "Hey, Princess. I heard you got into a fight with one of the other girls."

Principal spoke. "Mr. Kim, please have a seat."

He regarded her with disdain. "I'll be with you in a second, but I want my daughter to plead her case." He looked back at Yoona softly. "Tell me what happened baby. It's okay."

Yoona rubbed her eyes. "Joo Hee was being mean to me. She called me a nigger and said I was dirty because of my skin and she pushed me. So I pushed her back and pulled her hair."

She avoided eye contact for fear of her father showing any sign of disappointment in his face. She watched his knees straighten into a stand before going over to the seat and sitting down.

"Mr. Kim," she heard the principal say, "regardless of what happened, we do not condone any kind of physical violence."

"But you condone verbal abuse and racial slurs. Correct?" Her father's voice was loud and intimidating.

She looked up at the two. Principal Gu frowned deeply at the rage expressed on his face.

"Mr. Kim, I understand that you're still a young father—"

That set him off. "Excuse me? Are you calling me a bad father because I'm young? Are you seriously pulling the age card on me in order to excuse your poor consistency with the violence at this school? Listen, I have been having a problem with you guys not protecting my daughter from bullies. She told me that she's reported the bullying various times. She comes home in tears, not wanting to go to school the next day and you're blaming me?"

"Please don't misunderstand," she tried. "No one is blaming you."

"Well I'm blaming you. And, yes, I told my daughter that if that little girl put her hands on her again, she has my full permission to sock her in the face. She takes taekwondo classes and knows self defense. I put her there so that she knows how to protect herself. So that the same thing that happened to me doesn't happen to her. She did exactly as she was told. She reported the abuse and when nothing was done, she took matters into her own hands. And it's not like she struck first either. You heard her. She was provoked."

"And we have talked with that girl's family already, but the little girl has a bloody lip. Yoona doesn't have any injures."

Her father looked at Principal Gu incredulously. "I'm sorry. You're saying my daughter didn't get hurt like that's a bad thing. She popped that little girl in the mouth as she should. Racist little shit. Talking about my daughter like that."

"Mr. Kim—"

"We're done here." Yoona's father stood up and took Yoona's hand before exiting the principal's office despite her protests. "Let's go get some ice cream."

At the sound of ice cream, Yoona blinked away what was left of her tears and smiled widely the rest of the way home.

THREE WEEKS LATER

As always after school, Yoona walked home with her friends Jandi and Taeil.

Jandi was trying to re-tie a ponytail that had come loose. "Yoona, have your dad's come home yet?"

Yoona shook her head. "No. They're still touring America. Aunt Geong Min will be taking care of me."

Taeil bit off a piece of his fruit roll-up. "How much longer will your parents be gone for again?"

"My daddy said two weeks." Yoona looked down at her shoes, wishing her parents weren't away so often.

"Do you miss them?" Asked Jandi.

Yoona nodded again. "But I get to watch my daddies and uncles on TV so it's okay."

Taeil touched her shoulder. "Sometimes my daddy goes on business trips for months."

At the sound of tires, Yoona looked up at a black dodger pulling up. The window to the back of the dodger rolled down, revealing a thin man with a crooked smile and a stitch on his upper lip.

"Yoona, right?" Asked the man. "I'm a friend of your daddy's. He asked me to pick you up. Your aunt won't be home. So I'm going to take you to my house until she does, okay?"

Yoona folded her arms. "My daddy tells me not to get into a car with a stranger."

He chuckled. "You're daddy taught you well. My name is Officer Yoon. Does that ring a bell?"

Yoona pursed her lips, admitting to herself that she had heard of her dad mentioning Officer Yoon and referring to him as a friend. She looked over at her friends, who seemed to be just as clueless.

Coming to a decision, she bid her friends farewell before getting into the backseat.