Remember me

chapter three.

Han Ki-Joo

"See you at home, my dear sister?" I place a hand on her shoulder and then enter the classroom to tell Ki-Joo that we can get going but she seems tense at the idea. "Let's go for ice-cream?" I suggest and Ki-Joo looks down at her phone and follows by my side. We pass Lee Sol-Ah who's still standing there in shock.

Once we leave the school, I ask her where she would like to go and she says that she can't go for ice-cream. "My uncle is home. I'm sorry." Ki-Joo look down at the ground and I can tell that she has some questions she wants to ask, however she doesn't ask it. I was always like that. I had so many questions, yet something in my throat stopped me from speaking.

We walk down an alleyway and I realise that people seem to be following us? What's going on? "Let's stop." I say and suddenly the footsteps stop. "Ki-Joo, we have to run." I'm not sure what's following us and why they're doing this but I want to save myself. I curse myself, did I annoy Sol-Ah too much? She's about to say something but I grab her wrist and we start to run.

"Yaa, why are you running?" I hear Min Ga-Ri's voice and it makes me jolt. Ki-Jo looks quite confused and asks why we just ran for 2 seconds and then stopped? "What's going on?" Ki-Joo pants grabbing her water bottle. I turn around to see, Min Ga-Ri, Kim Sung-Chul and Ha Min-Jun and I hold onto my chest, startled by them. Ga-Ri rushes towards us and she seems to want to laugh a lot.

"Did you think we were stalkers? Jun, I told you that we shouldn't have sneaked up on them. Seol, we actually came to see you." Ga-Ri has a smile on her face and the others soon come close. Ga-Ri then turns to Han Ki-Joo and gives out a radiant smile, just like she did when we first met. As if Ki-Jo is her friend. "Hi, I'm Min Ga-Ri, Seol-Hee's friend."

Ki-Joo bows a little bit and introduces herself as Han Ki-Joo. At that moment, Ha Min-Jun glares at the both of us and looks lost. "How was your first day?" Ha Min-Jun folds his arms. "It was okay. We're going to get going now." I say my goodbyes but Ga-Ri tugs on my jumper. "Seol, not fair. We came all the way over here for you and we missed you. If it's because you don't want to leave Han Ki-Joo by herself, of course she can come with us. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine."

She's so nice. I feel bad towards Seol-Hee again. I'm using her again for my advantage. "Yeah, it's okay. Ki-Joo, meet my friends. Do you want to come with us?" Ki-Jo then again says that she has to see her uncle and a moment later, she instantly changes her mind. "It's okay. Let's go."

When we reach our hangout, I sit Ki-Joo down and Ga-Ri says that she'll get takeout. "I'm so hungry. What about you guys?" Sung-Chul grins with his teeth out. "Are you treating us?" Ga-Ri scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Not you or Jun." Ha Min-Jun's eyes widen. "Ga-Ri, what did I did to you?" I sit down beside Ki-Joo and she seems anxious. "Make yourself at home."

"What do you girls want to eat?" Ga-Ri sits between us and I notice that Han Ki-Joo seems reclusive. "Get whatever you want. Can I call your name casually?" Ga-Ri says to Ki-Joo who shakes her head. "My auntie probably made me food. Thank you." Ga-Ri pouts. "Next time, okay? Let's hang out as well, Ki-Joo." Ga-Ri is making an effort to befriend Ki-Joo and my worry from before. She would befriend anyone. I'm glad.

"Let's put some music on!" Ga-Ri squeals and I decide to be the one to flicker through the records. I don't know where they've come from, but I always loved listening to records. "Can we talk?" Min-Jun suddenly approaches me, and from the expression on his face, I hope that nothing is wrong. I nod and follow him out to a swing and we both sit on one. It's awkward between us until he speaks.