Hae Mina's body shot three inches above her bed after her brother, Jae-Woo, jumped on it to awaken her. "For heaven's sakes!" she laughed, sitting up against her pillows.
"Come on, we start school today! Hurry, and get ready," his light brown eyes danced with excitement. He crawled off her bed and stood by the door looking expectantly at her. "Oppa, you are the only person in the world who'd be excited about school," she laughed as she tossed a pillow. He caught it with a wink. "Well, it's not every day that you get to start attending the famous Daedoji University. I don't want to be late," he turned around, "so hurry and get dressed," he ordered in a stern tone she knew he had to force. "Well, maybe, I'll just take my time then." He looked over his shoulder and pouted. "Fine, just turn around," she giggled. He did so, and she pulled away from the bed. She pulled on her uniform, ran a brush through her thick russet hair then pulled it up into the necessary bun to complete her school uniform. She made a long pause by her mirror to make sure everything was in order. Her brother stepped behind her. She stared at their likeness. His soft brown eyes matched her eyes, except hers were not holding excitement like his. Their facial structures were the same: small with a slight roundness to it. Even their hair was the same russet color. The only real difference between them was their height because he stood two inches taller than her. She thought about the many times she had been mistaken for her brother because she had placed her hair under a cap. Well, it would not happen this year as they had enrolled in separate Universities. She smiled. "Come on. Stop primping," he prompted as he pulled at her wrist and forced her outside and down the hall. She laughed and pulled away once they reached his car. He darted to his side and was in before she opened the door. She rolled her eyes at his eagerness and lifted the door handle, but before pulling the door open, she paused. Her purse. She had forgotten it. "Go ahead; I have to find my purse." "Can't you just go a day without it?" he whined. "No, I can't," she said but smiled. She waved then headed back inside. Her purse search began under her bed, then traveled to her drawer, closet, bathroom, then in the closet downstairs, and finally the bathroom. When none of those places turned up any results, she searched the kitchen, the living room, the couch, but she still found nothing. Every room came up empty. Once she reached the verge of giving up, she remembered she had left it in her brother's car the day before, so she wouldn't forget it today. She slapped her forehead with her palm and groaned. "Guess I will have to go a day without it." She shrugged her shoulders and made her way through the, now, messy house and out the door. She locked the door then made her way to her university on foot. She could take the bus, but she enjoyed walking. Besides her first class was not till noon and thanks to Hae Jae-Woo, she had three hours. Twenty minutes later, Hae Mina made it over one of the crests of the road, the intersection below coming into view. She came to an abrupt halt and stared in horror at the sight before her. The traffic light's pole pinned several cars in a massive lump in the center of the street. But the fact that seven vehicles, mangled and crushed, sat in the center of the chaos did not cause the blood to drain from her face. No, what caused Hae-Mina to dash down the path towards the incident with no regard to her safety was the fact, she recognized the black Camaro at the base of the broken traffic light pole. She knew the car inside and out and had driven it many times this past season. Jae-Woo! She cried as she ignored the people trying to prevent her from crossing the caution tape. She ducked and dodged people's outstretched hands as she pushed her way to her brother's smashed car. One of the police officers caught her arm and pulled her back. The short round old man held her by the arm, and his black hair was cropped short and hidden, for the most part, beneath a hat. She stared in fear at her brother's car as the workers began to cut the top off, giving little attention to the police officer. "You need to clear the area," the old cop stated formally. She shook her head for she could not get her mouth to cooperate. "Do you know him?" the cop asked as he released her. "My brother," she whimpered as the loud roaring intensified. When the sound ceased, she watched the medics pull Jae-Woo from the car. Blood coated every inch of his body and a metal bar had stabbed through his left leg. Two people lifted him onto a stretcher and carried him to the ambulance. She walked in a daze to the vehicle and looked in at her brother's bloody body. Nausea rose but she forced the urge to get sick away. "Hey, miss, back away," the paramedic warned and pushed her back with his palms to her shoulders, "You need to clear the area." Hae Mina stood grasping the edge of the ambulance and staring with an empty shocked look at her brother's bloody body. "It's her brother; let her go to the hospital with him," the police officer instructed. The paramedic nodded then helped her climb into the back of the ambulance. She fought herself from touching her brother's bloody form. A few minutes later the officer sat beside her. "How are you holding up?" he asked but did not wait for a response. "I'm going to let you know what happened, okay?" he questioned and again he didn't wait for an answer: "According to the witnesses, as your brother was coming into the intersection a kid ran across the street. To avoid the child, your brother entered the wrong lane. An oncoming truck saw him and tried to skid to a halt and your brother slammed into the pole. The truck then slammed into your brother's car. From the east side, another car came to a crashing halt because of the light pole. And it just piled from there. You made it just minutes after the ambulance did. I'm glad you are here to be with your brother. The other people are being put on stretchers and in other ambulances. I hope he makes it out okay. Even though such a disaster occurred, he did save a child's life." With these words, the officer climbed out of the vehicle and a female paramedic replaced him. She slammed the door shut. "He'll be okay, miss," the woman assured. "We're not going to let him leave you." The woman touched Mina's hand and gave a comforting smile. "Let's get this thing moving!" she shouted to the people in the front seat."Miss Hae?" a red-headed nurse asked as she touched Hae Mina's shoulder. She looked up with a tear stained face. "Yes?" "Hae Jae-Woo is able to have visitors now. You may go in." "Thank you," she choked out and followed the nurse. She was led down bright cheery halls that contradicted the truth behind their dark and menacing doors. She hated hospitals. Hospitals were filled with death. Hospitals were where people went when they finally gave up on life and wanted to die and if you were not there to die you were there because your life was about to change forever. Nothing good ever came from hospitals. The nurse held the door open. Hae Mina brushed past her still in a partial daze. So much had changed in a matter of seconds. She continued in, forcing her feet to move. Two other beds sat in the room, but
Hae Mina gazed in awe at the tall and long campus. The stones looked ancient, but the building was new. Everything was clean: the gardens, the sidewalks, the benches and even the walls. Everything. Where she now stood, two large willow trees, one to her left and one to her right, towered above her and created a magnificent shade that hid her from those she observed. So, this was Daedoji University. It stretched further up than she imagined and according to the map in her hand the University conquered seven blocks to the north and seven blocks to the west, not counting the park across the street that was also owned by the Naiting family. She continued to gaze at the beauty around her, a brief moment of distraction, but as a young man dressed in the school's uniform passed and gave her a confused look, she released a puff of air. It was time. Before she took a step further she rushed through the questions that were bound t
Hae Jae-Woo watched Chang Minsu walk off. 'Nice guy. It's too bad he's afraid of social standards.' Hae Jae-Woo stood up, tray in hand, and crossed the room to the garbage can. He dumped his remaining food and placed the tray on the counter. Once he turned, an array of voices began to chant, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and a wave of people darted toward the bathroom. Hae Mina wanted to go see, and since both she and her brother loved to watch a good fight, she hurried to the center of the fast-growing ring of people. Hae Jae-Woo squeezed, ducked, shoved and dodged the massive number of boys to get near the center of the semi-circle, but once there, he found another semi-circle created by the members of Nightide, who were blocking most of the view of the fight. Hae Jae-Woo squeezed through a few more people and came out on the side where the smallest member, the nerd, stood, blocking people.&n
Hae Jae-Woo lay the bottle down and crossed his arms. Cass jerked up in shock and gasped in anger. He shook his head like a wet dog drying off. "Why you little," Cass began to threaten. Hae Jae-Woo stood his ground. "If you don't want to end up unconscious like Jiho, I suggest you sit back down." "Cass, you should have known better; just because he lost his memory, does not mean he lost his personality. Sit down," Rhee Min-Jun stated with a sigh. Hae Mina almost said something about Hae Jae-Woo acting like her, but knew to keep her mouth shut, so she continued to stand firm. However, the fact that Hae Jae-Woo had ever acted in the way she had, just now, upset her. He had better control of his temper than she did, and he knew doing such a stupid thing could get him in trouble. At least she had the excuse of a memory loss, what had he had? They must really like
Hae Mina jerked awake and although the nightmare faded, the fear remained. It was a fear that crept slowly until it devoured her heart. It sunk deeply into her skin and made her want to scrub it away, so she ventured down the steps and entered the bathroom. A shower was what she needed, so a shower she took. Meanwhile, out in the University's soccer field, Jeremy and the others finished their game. "Well, I'm exhausted," Jeremy said, before dropping to the grass. He slid a piece of gum from his pocket and began to chew it. "We should shower," Duskin suggested, "then we can practice our music for a little while." "A shower sounds great, and practice sounds good, too, especially since Hae Jae-Woo doesn't remember anything," Jeremy pointed out. "A shower does sou—" a repeating beep interrupted Cass. He fished out his touch phone
Jeremy grabbed his bags then continued inside the room. He shut the door with his foot. When he lifted his eyes, Hae Jae-Woo stood before him in nothing but a knee length white towel. But to Jeremy's shock, Hae Jae-Woo was obviously not a boy. Her long wet russet hair hung down the front of her body. He jumped back at Hae Jae-Woo's short girlish scream, tripped over his bag, which burst and sent his clothes sprawling about the floor, and landed on the ground trying to hide his eyes. Since when was Hae Jae-Woo a girl? He heard the bathroom door slam shut. He stood slowly and gaped at the dark brown door. If this Hae Jae-Woo is a girl, what happened to the real Jae-Woo? And who is this this? Jeremy stood and began to debate on whether he should leave and tell the others or if he should stay. As he stood there, he heard a sob. He stepped to the door but paused when her breathing caught. He couldn't tell the others. If sh
Cass led Jeremy and Hae Jae-Woo to the parking lot while complaining about his sister Chin-Sun. "I really wish she would stop calling me to babysit Hae-Won. I mean the kid is cute, but it's getting irritating." He paused by an extremely expensive looking red vehicle and Yang Dae-Su's voice called out. "Hey, who is driving Jae-Woo to the restaurant?" Cass paused, "Ah, that's right, you totaled yours, Jae-Woo." He shook his head. "I'll drive him," Jeremy offered. Hae Mina was not sure why, but the fact that Jeremy owned a car was a bit of a surprise. Most of the rich families she knew of had chauffeurs. Cass liked to be flashy so for him to own one made sense, but Jeremy seemed to be gentle and causal. "Fine by me," Cass shrugged. "You want a ride?" he asked Yang Dae-Su. "No, thanks. I'll drive mine. Your driving i
Later that evening Hae Jae-Woo changed upstairs relieved that the day was over. His loose clothes floated about him as he dropped onto the bed and stared at the white ceiling. Moments later, Jeremy appeared at the top of the steps. He paused and frowned as his eyes scanned over Hae Jae-Woo. "I wouldn't wear that if I was you," Jeremy whispered pointed to Hae Jae-Woo's white shirt. "Why not?" Hae Jae-Woo sat up and gave a puzzled look. "It's white," Jeremy muttered, but the statement didn't seem to phase Hae Jae-Woo, so Jeremy continued. "Cass and Jiho want revenge on you and knowing them, you'll end up drenched by morning. That top is white and somewhat thin. If it gets wet..." a blush touched his cheeks. Hae Jae-Woo crossed his arms over his torso. "I'll change," he whispered. Jeremy stood up and sat on the top step. "I'll stay here and ma