14 February 2012

Changcheon Middle School

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Like every kid, I was asked this frequently by an adult. As the home room teacher handed out pamphlets from the nearby high schools, I tuned out. It wasn't for lack of trying, I sighed as I read the prospects each school offered. Neither STEM nor the arts appealed to me.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Hansollie," Joo-yeon held out the prettiest bag of blue muslin.

"Thank you, noona," it was no secret to anyone how much I loved sweets. I leaned against the wall of the greenhouse as I undid the tie and popped one of the chocolate orbs into my mouth. As the confection melted in my tongue, I hoped it wouldn't mess up my braces. "Oh, you put salt in it."

"I had a mix-up with the sugar," she blushed. "Is it that bad? I can get you some water."

"You can barely notice it," I showed her my serious face to convince her. It was odd but I actually preferred this to my usually over-saccharine favourites.

"Are you sure?" my girlfriend bit at her bottom lip uncertainly and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen loose from the scrunchie behind her ear.

"I'd never lie about something as serious as candy to you," I pecked her cheek.

As it was Joo-yeon's last year in middle school, I tried not to cause problems in our relationship. I had no idea of what school she'd be attending yet or if we could make things work out as of next year. What I did know was that I was serious about her and she felt the same way.

"What would you like to do on your birthday?" her question took me out of my serious pondering.

"Maybe hang out at the swimming pool after classes," the weirdest idea popped into my head.

"You just wanna see me in my swimsuit," my girlfriend playfully shoved me.

"Who doesn't?" Joo-yeon was seriously cute and caught the eye of many. She thought that ulzzang was the only standard of beauty but I thought otherwise. The siren buzzed and we ran to our classes.

"Oh my god, oppa, these are so salty," Sofia had stolen one of the chocolates Joo-yeon had given me.

"You're not supposed to say 'oh my god'," I divided the lecture into several points, "and you're not supposed to take stuff belonging to others without asking for permission first."

"But still, your kidneys," my little sister frowned at the bag of candies.

"Kidney function is not a right, it's a privilege," I got her a glass of water anyway. As I opened the tap, I wondered if Sofia or I had caught an illness. There was no way two people could have vastly different opinions of the taste of one confection. When I set the glass on the table in front of her, I slid a hand to her forehead- her temperature was normal. I did the same for myself.

"Is something wrong, oppa?" my little sister seemed concerned now.

"Nope," my skin felt cooler than usual. I'd ask Eomma about it once she came home from lectures. Appa was at Busan, having been commissioned to do a painting there.

"Yes, your temperature is lower than the average person," mum had removed the thermometer from my underarm, "but it's nothing to worry about."

"I'm not sick?" I frowned in confusion.

"No, as you grow older-"

"Yah, I learned about puberty in school," my parents were the last people I wanted to have this conversation with.

"I'm not talking about that," she shook her head and seemed to debate on clarifying what she said. "You're a merboy, Hansol."

"Nice prank, I almost fell for it," my lips thinned. Conservative parents all over wanted kids to stop reading and watching Harry Potter and I guess my family was tired of the Hufflepuff merch plastered all over my room.

"You've been consuming more salt than normal and want to go swimming more often," Eomma didn't ask but stated.

"Sofia told you about that earlier," I hadn't told anyone about Joo-yeon and my plan for Friday.

"I was the same around your age," she didn't answer my unspoken question of how she knew I wanted to swim. "After school on your birthday, we'll be joining your Appa in Busan."

"I already made plans with a friend," I didn't want to postpone so close to the actual planned day.

"Don't worry, we will talk to her parents and convince her to join us for the weekend," she made her way to the door.

"How do you know-" I had only just met Mr and Mrs Sim a month ago and won them over.

"If it were guy friends, you'd have protested less," I was given a knowing smile.