chapter 12

I've been here in this room for more than two hours, as I flip the last page of the exam paper, it gave me a huge relief. I stared at the question. It's much different from other questions that I've been answering for the whole entire time...‘ Why should we accept you in the university?'My pen stopped moving. Why do I think I should be in a medical school? Is it because I'm intellectually competitive? Do I have the passion to cure the sick and injured? What was the real reason I wanted to be enrolled in here?I need to stop lying to myself. I know that I'm here because that's what my parents planned fir me since I was born. And I'm close to getting it, I'm too close to make them proud of me!But ofcourse, I cannot write that down here.I deeply breathe and pull away from the paper to loosen up. What should I write?" Last minute students!" The examiner says, making everyone panic.Shit,shit,shit. One last minute and I haven't answered the last and most important question.I take my pen and start writing whatever I felt, not sure if it was going to make me accept into the university or not.•••After taking the entrance exam, I go back to the school only to see Yoongi sitting on the waiting area. He had earphones on both of his ears, his eyes closed. I looked at my wrist watch.It's 4:17 p.m.Damn! He has been waiting for seventeen minutes..." Hey!" I quickly say as I approached him but he didn't budged.I sat beside him while his eyes are still closed. Then, I gave his arm a little shake. He opens his eyes and removes his earphones. " Have you been waiting for long?" I ask." I was here at three."" What?" I ask. " But I told you to meet me here at four..."" I got nothing to do anyway!" He shrugs." Come on let's not waste our time."Our time.He stands up and goes to the exit while I'm still sitting on the bench. Why the hell would he wait here for me fir more than an hour? And knowing him, I know that he's not the most patient person." You're coming?" He asks looking back from his shoulder.•••" It's still as good as last time." I say while munching on the hotteok. I love the way it acts as a warmer for my hands." I don't understand why you like it so much." He takes a bite out of his. " It's just bread with sugar."" Oh shut up!" I glared at him. " This is the second time I'm eating this heaven in my Whole Entire Life."" Jinja ( really)?" He asks. " Now, I understand."I pop the last bite of the hotteok into my mouth and rub my hands vigorously to get rid of the sugar from my hands. I look at his hotteok and more than half of it is still there. What the heck, he eats too slow." What? Do you want mine too?" He asks, covering his hotteok with his other hand." No, I want my Gimbap." I admit. " My mom always made it for me when I was a kid but now she just doesn't have time..."" Oh." He said." I know a place where they sell good Gimbap"He stands up from the food cart stool and pays bills for our hotteoks. I stand up as well, patting away the sugar from my lap.We want in the streets as the sun gradually goes down. This was the same street Yuri and me was walking the other day. The same street where arcade is , where Yoongi works.And soon enough, we happen to pass by it." Umm... Yoongi." I say." Hmm?" He responds." How long have you been working here?"I ask him while we walk through crowds of people." Since last summer." He answers. " So about nine months."" Is it hard?" I ask again." Sometimes, but it kind of helps because I'm inside a costume. No- one's going to know that it's me, no-one's going to be able to judge me, no-one's going to be able to criticize me..." He pauses, realising that he's been talking a lot. " Aish!! Why am I even talking to you about this?"" Sorry." I say while I fidget my fingers. " Is there a reason why are you working so hard?"We were still walking until we reach a technology and gadget shop. A few machines are displayed beneath the glass wall. Yoongi stops walking and stands infront of a specific machine. He caresses the glass with two of his fingers like he's caressing the machine." This is why." He says, still looking dearly at the machine. " When I get this, it will complete my set-up."I stand right beside him, taking a closer look at the machine. It's a square machine with a lot of buttons in it and a few knobs. " What is it? What set- up?" I ask." It's an essential machine in making music." He explains. " If I get this, I'll be able to make the beats on my own."" You make music?" I ask as I gasp." Yeah, but I want to improve. And when I get this, I can be pretty sure that nothing can stop me."I squint my eyes and look for the price tag. My eyes enlarged as I see that it costed three time my monthly allowance. Why is such machine so expensive?" How long have you been saving up for it?" I ask. He turns away and continue to walk, so I follow right beside him." A couple of months. I could have gotten it already but I want to save up more for future." He says. " Though I want to get it by next month so I need to save up crazily."" Crazily?"" Yeah, by skipping school lunches and dinners sometimes..."Everything flashed back in my mind. The cola he's only having when we had lunch together, When he wasn't eating in cafeteria where his all friends were.Everything makes sense now. He was not eating so that he could save up money just so he could but this machine, So that he could make his music. He's suffering in able to do what he wants to do." Dara...uh! Really?" He shakes his head while looking at me. " You don't have to cry for me..."That's when I realise that tears are rolling down my cheeks without me even knowing. I wipe it with the back of my hand, but the tears just keep on coming out." Do you plan on getting dinner tonight?" I ask, looking at his blurry face." Uh...uh, of course."What a bad liar." Then forget about Gimbap." I whisper. I take his hand and hold it, dragging him into the street, " I'm buying you dinner."•••