Paperthin Hymn

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

I had punched Jiyong.

     My hands trembled for hours afterwards and that night as I lay in bed I could hardly believe what had happened. Had it all been a dream? The throbbing in my hand told me otherwise.

 The next day it was sore and stiff, and when I curled my fingers they felt jammed. But I didn't care.

     I headed to Lexi's as soon as I was dressed, barely pausing long enough to grab the stuff I had bought her. Walking felt more like floating that day.

     I knocked on her door and to my surprise Lexi, not Mrs. Hwang, answered. She was still in her purple panda-print pajamas and her hair looked like an afro, making me realize that normally she did brush it after all. Her eyes were red and puffy against her unusually pale face, and for the first time I realized that Lexi was...small.

     "Hey," she said, giving me a subdued smile.

     "You're eyes look awful," I blurted. "Gah, what kind of cold do you have?"

     She dropped her gaze and bit her lip, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

     Idiot, I thought. Why? Why say that? "Uh...I mean-"

     "I think it's allergies," she chirped suddenly, sounding more like her usual self. Her normal massive grin was back in place. "Pollen and stuff."

      I nodded, relieved that she seemed unoffended. But didn't allergies happen in Spring? It was almost September.

     She opened the door wider to let me in. "What's in the bag?"

     I kicked off my shoes and flopped onto the couch, holding the bag out to her. "Sick person food."

   She took it from me, glancing inside, and disappeared into the kitchen. She returned with two glasses of ice, a knife and a package of cheese. She sat beside me and began pouring the Sprite into the glasses.

     She was unusually quiet that day, the only noise in the room the soda fizzing. I cleared my throat. "So where is Mrs. Hwang?"

     "At the hospital. She had to work today." She leaned over and sipped the foam from the near-overflowing glass, crinkling her nose as the bubbles ticked it. She handed the cup to me.

     I watched as she poured her own drink, then carefully started cutting the yellow block of cheese into slices. She made no move to speak.

     Might as well cut to the chase. "I saw Jiyong yesterday."

     She turned to me in alarm. "Are you okay? Did he-"

     "You're a great teacher." I nonchalantly nibbled on a cracker, wanting it to seem like no big deal but hoping she would get excited at the same time. "I used that arm lock you showed me and got him against the wall."

     "Really? That's great!" Finally a sparkle was in her eyes. "Did he look scared?"

     I leaned back and rubbed my chin like I was trying to remember. "Yes, I think he did. If he wasn't afraid then, he was after I punched him in the face."

     She blinked. "Wait, you hit him?"

     I nodded triumphantly.

     Her jaw dropped. "Why?!"

    The question caught me off guard. "What do you mean why?"

     "You said he's never actually hurt you before, right?"

     I thought back to the day I had punched the brick wall, when he had strangled me. That counted, right? It didn't leave a mark...or draw blood...

     "Did he try to hit you last night?" she asked. "Or was he just bullying you again?"

     "Well he didn't exactly try to hurt me, but he might have if I hadn't done something." Why was I starting to feel guilty?

    Lexi nodded. "That's true. But if you could've gotten away without hitting him, you should've." She resumed her task. I watched her slim, pretty fingers put the cheese on the crackers as her eyes became distant. "Jiyong reminds me of someone I used to know. And with someone like that...there is always a story behind them. Have you ever wondered why Jiyong does what he does?"

     "Well...no."

     "It's easy to think of him as an animal, just someone who is mean and heartless." Her voice was getting soft, making me wonder what she could be remembering. "But he's not, Top. He's a person with flaws, and I'm sure that he's not completely evil. He must have good points. He has feelings, and he can't be happy the way he is. No one can."

     Silence settled over us once again. I was somewhere between remorse, pity and awe. I had never considered that. Lexi was right; I hadn't thought of Jiyong as a person. To me he was just a demon who loved to torment me. But he wasn't. He had likes and dislikes. I wondered what his favorite food was, if he had any pets.

     Lexi clapped her hands together, startling me from my thoughts. "But maybe hitting him wasn't all bad. You're not afraid of him anymore, are you?"

     I realized suddenly that I wasn't. But it wasn't because I had overcome my adversary. Thinking of him left a bad taste in my mouth and I still wanted to avoid him at all cost, but I wasn't scared. It was because now my enemy was a person, a flesh and blood teenage boy who probably needed help.

     I smiled softly. I had just fallen for her a little more. "No. I'm not."

     She nodded. "Good. Maybe we can solve the mystery of Jiyong soon."

     A pang of sadness suddenly hit my chest. "I don't think we'll be able to do that by tomorrow. Your flight-"

     "See that?" 

     "Huh?" She pointed to the left where a big cardboard box sat on the kitchen table. I looked back at her, confused.

     She drew her knees to her, hugging them to her chest. She gave me a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "In that box is all my stuff."

     I still didn't get it. "And...?"

     "Halmoni registered me for school yesterday. I'm staying."

Hey guys, I know this is really short, but I've decided to write shorter chapters. There is a story I really love, but the chapters were so long that I got really behind and now I've got five or more chapters to read of it so I keep putting it off...so I decided to make shorter chapters from now on. But this means updates will be more often! I hope, haha. Hmm hope nothing seemed too abrupt in this chapter...but Lexi is staying! Woot! We are now moving into the next stage of the story!