Quinn & King

16 Kidnapped

The next day, I went to school as per usual, except that people were staring at me – again. I sighed. I guess word of what I did must've spread, though I'm not sure of the details.

I vaguely heard them talking about how my uncle is a "is a mere cafe owner" and probably bribed the director and principal with his "meager wage". Little did they know that Uncle was the cafe owner of the popular Ichigoo Mochi and also a successful nightclub owner.

Although, no one needed to know that second job. It would raise too much suspicion. Uncle made sure I did not speak of it as soon as I stepped into Korea years ago.

I was heading to class when someone rammed past my shoulder. I knew this was no accident. There was so much space and I saw him get closer to me instead. I whipped around to see who the culprit was.

"What are you lookin' at?" Beom Seok questioned, his eyes glaring at me.

I matched his gaze and squared my shoulders as well. "You just hit me! Apologize!"

"N. O. No!" He all but shouted.

SMACK

Beom Seok rubbed the back of his head, where Idol Boy had smacked him. He was furious, raging back at Idol boy. They had an intense exchange and I was forgotten. I shook it off and walked away.

Huh. That was weird. Bad breath seemed to be fine. Maybe Uncle hadn't done anything to him yet...

During lunch, Miss Yang wanted to speak to me. I complied only because I was curious as to what she had to say.

"I called you here because I wanted to know how are you? How are you coping?" Miss Yang asked, her hands laced in front of her.

"Er..." that was all she wanted to ask me? "Okay, I guess. Except everyone's staring at me weird again. By the way, what happened yesterday... after I left?"

Miss Yang pursed her lip, sighing, like she had anticipated and dreaded this. "Your uncle didn't tell you?"

I shook my head. "Not in detail, Miss."

"Typical Ken," was what I thought I heard Miss Yang mutter under her breath.

But when I asked her to repeat it, she said it was nothing. I could be mistaken, but it sounded like they were close.

What was with this coincidence? How could my uncle, who runs a mochi cafe by day and booming nightclub by night, be closely-aquainted with two people from Education, the director of the school board and Miss Yang? It was strange indeed. Perhaps both of them were involved in the

"Your uncle," Miss Yang said, leaning forward, "he... negotiated very firmly to clear your records. Unfortunately, it also means that today is the last day for Oh Beom Seok."

Bad Breath?

"He's leaving?" I asked, not hiding the hopeful tone in my voice.

Miss Yang shook her head. "Not leaving. Expelled."

It was silent as she let me dwell on it. Honestly, I couldn't believe it. Expelled? The bad breath was getting expelled?

That was what Uncle meant by taken care of?

I let out a sigh of relief. I was glad it wasn't something... illegal. My uncle was more than capable of that. I was also glad the school did something about it. And my records are clean, at that. However...

"What about Ji Woo?" I asked, genuinely curious. "He can come back to school, right? Now that Beom Seok is gone."

Miss Yang pursed her lips. "That is up to him and the principal. Although, I know Wang Ji Woo has been conscientiously doing his assignments, I'm not sure if they would allow him back so easily when his attendence has been poor."