Jang-mi

Fool-Child

"So, what is your plan? Where are you going?" Chan-yeol asked.

"What do you care?"

"I just want to know what to expect."

"Expect to turn around and go back home as soon as I am safely on a boat to Jeju Island."

"Jeju Island? Sounds nice. Perhaps I will join you."

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."

"As I said, I need to keep the others who encounter you safe."

I shook my head, rolled my eyes, and silently plodded on. Chan-yeol, on the other hand, started singing. I would have complained, but his voice was quite nice to listen to.

The smell of saltwater grew stronger as we got closer to the port. We arrived at the crack of dawn. I tried talking with the fishermen to ask if they knew if any of the boats were headed to Jeju Island, but they all ignored me.

"Why do they keep acting like I do not exist?" I grumbled in frustration.

"Because you are a girl. Even worse, you are a foreign girl. They do not want to get involved. As I said, you are dangerous."

"Yes, yes. I get your point." My eyes started to grow wet, but I pushed my tears back. I did not want Chan-yeol of all people to see me as weak. It would be more ammunition for him to spew his nasty insults. Realizing my attempts to hire a boat were futile, I decided to move on to my backup plan.

"Well, then I guess I will head to the mountains, instead." At least in the mountains it would be secluded and I would be difficult to find.

"You just will not give up, will you?!" Chan-yeol shook his head, exasperated. He turned and walked up to one of the men who pointed to another man to talk to. He walked over to him and they spoke for several minutes. Chan-yeol returned with a smile on his face, and if I did not know him any better, I would have thought he was happy for me. But, no. He was happy that he had accomplished what I had not. He got the fishermen to talk to him. "He is leaving for Jeju Island in about 10 minutes and said we can join him."

"Thank you! Thank you, Chan-yeol!" I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. I did not care anymore that he had been cold and demeaning to me. He had helped me secure passage to Jeju Island. I felt him wrap his warm arms around me and it made me tingle, but then he suddenly grabbed my arms and pulled me off of him. "That is enough of that. There is no need to be dramatic." He quickly crushed the glimmer of hope that he was finally warming up to me.

"Sorry. Thank you."

As we got onto the boat, my skirt got snagged on a loose nail. In my attempt to yank it free, I knocked Chan-yeol over causing him to bump his head on the mast.

"Oh! Oh, I am so sorry!"

"Why must you be so clumsy!" he snapped, holding his head. I noticed blood starting to drip down his forehead.

"Oh, no! You are bleeding! Here, let me help you."

"No, thank you. You have helped me enough already."

"I will not take 'No' for an answer." I helped him sit down and get comfortable, then tore some fabric from my underskirt where it had gotten snagged to clean up some of the blood. Luckily, it was just a small cut on his scalp. I pulled out my sewing kit from my bag and trimmed the hair around the cut. I tore off more fabric, then wet it down with some water from my flask to clean the area a little better. I threaded my needle and began to sew the cut shut.

"Are you done yet?" he grumbled.

"There. All done. You might end up with a small scar, but your hair should hide it once it grows back."