1. First Love
Summer of 2009 (16 years earlier)
She heard her peers murmur about her, behind her back, "See, Baek Su Jeong's studying again. So annoying!"
"Yeah, what's with her? She already got accepted into Hanguk University, right?" She heard another say. They must've thought she couldn't hear because of the earphones. But she just decided to ignore them.
Just then, the class monitor announced that it was time to go home. She sighed and glanced towards the window. The rain was pouring like cats and dogs. She packed her things and went to the bucket to pick up her umbrella. It was a second later that she saw the words marked on them. "Annoying Baek Su Jeong." She was infuriated. How dare they?
"Was that too much? She won't say anything, will she?" She heard her earlier peers whispering again, gauging at her reaction.
"What can she do? She has no money or connections. She has no mother either!" The other one giggled back in response. She scoffed in rage. She walked up to them and gathered all their notes from their desk. "You have both money and a mom, too. What's the issue then?" She asked them and then suddenly flung their notes out of the window.
"Hey!" The first one screamed at her in anger. "Are you crazy?" She asked, reaching for her.
Su Jeong just swatted her hand away and coolly replied, "Don't mess with me. You can't mess with me."
Her peer reached out to hit her again. "Hey, you little -"
She non-chalantly pushed her back again and smirked, "I said you can't beat me. Weren't those notes from expensive tutors anyway? You need to go pick them up. They'll get soaked." Saying this, she turned around and left, leaving them in priceless reactions of annoyance.
She stood under the roof, contemplating her choices. Should she run, or does she really have to use the umbrella. But the rain was too harsh. It'll have to be the umbrella.
She reluctantly but confidently walked out with her umbrella. The raindrops pattered at her clothes, through the holes in it. The words marked on them shone to the passerbys. They whispered and judged, but she walked with her head held high. Back then, she was strong even while holding a torn umbrella over her head, but she desperately wanted to believe in the fact that someone she could rely on and someone who could walk in this rain with her would be existing somewhere in this world. A first love, perhaps. She had imagined her boyfriend coming to pick her up, greeting her with his warm smiles countless times. She so desperately wished for it to become real...
She snapped out of her world as the rain came down harder and sighed and ran all the way home with a heartwarming hope in her mind.
She reached home and dried her hair with a towel. Their house wasn't much but enough for her, her brother, and her dad to survive. It was cozy, and so it was fine.
Her brother, a middle schooler, as always, was sitting on the computer with his headphones on, screaming, "Go! Go!" , probably determined to kill some monsters today and clear some levels in the game.
"Baek Su bin, are you behind on your lunch payment? Your homeroom teacher called." Su Jeong asked him.
"I forgot." He replied, his attention still on the game.
"How can you forget such an important thing?" She scolded him. "Anyway, I've wired your money, so tell her that, okay?"
"Okay!" He replied, his hands still moving over the keyboard and mouse. She sighed at his irresponsible behavior.
"Aren't you embarrassed? I told you to tell me all this stuff since Dad is so busy." She asked him as She cleaned up the mess of clothes he had left on the sofa.
"Then, give me money for my supplies. Dad forgot." He said, not looking up from the computer.
"Hey, why would you tell me that now?!" She screamed at him, shocked by his impertinence. "Anyway, just use this for now." She said, handing him her pocket money. "And don't leave stuff on the dining table after eating!" She scolded him again, seeing the used vessels discarded on the dirty dining table. Su Jeong cleaned everything up, waiting for his answer
Did I mention that he's still playing.? "Aren't you going to answer me?" She called out to him. He just muttered an okay in irritation and went back to playing. She sighed, thinking he's hopeless.
She gets into bed after finishing her chores, staring at the study motivation posters on her wall. Her brother was still screaming and playing. Su Jeong sighed and drifted into sleep.
_________
"No!" She sat up in her bed with a start when she heard the scream. She quickly put on her slippers and spectacles and padded to the hall.
"Seriously, die!" Her brother was still screaming at the computer, headphones on, fingers desperate on the mouse. Her lip curled in anger. She quickly pushed his headphones off and hurled him by his collar.
"You die! You idiot! You stayed up all night playing a video game?! Can you afford the electricity bill?" She screamed at him while pulling his hair
"Ouch. Okay, stop that! Stop that!" Her brother groaned in pain. Their father came out of his room on hearing the commotion.
"Dad! Will you let him play video games all night? Kick him out or disown him!" She pleaded to their dad, her hands still full of Su bins's hair.
"Su jeong, let go of him." Her had said to her, but she paid no heed, dragging him by his hair. " Oh stop, you're plucking my hair!" Her brother screamed.
Su jeong let go of him and found a few strands in her fist. "Uh oh" their dad took his chance to escape back to his room.
"What the hell? You seriously plucked them! Will you be responsible if I go bald!" Her brother shouted in rage. Then, his attention went back to his computer. "Good lord, now I have to start all over again. I have to reach the top level!"
" What's the point of that? Are they giving you food or something? A student should be studying." Su Jeong muttered under her breadth, defeated.
"All my friends have already reached the top level. They look down on me for being low level!" Su bin whined. That got to her. Su jeong stood up straight. "They bully you? How dare they look down on you! Let me help you. It couldn't be so hard!" Su jeong happily agreed to play the game for the sake of her brother's reputation.
Su bin, confused at the sudden change in her, finally relented, and Su jeong settled herself on the computer. Since then, Su Jeong was the one who sat at the computer day and night.
"What should I do? Why did I choose to be a healer? I can't even kill a simple dragon. Do you have any strategy?" She asked her brother one day.
"I told you to play in a party and not solo!" Su bin replied, raising an eyebrow in annoyance.
"There's no one strong enough for it." Su jeong sighed. "You just wait. I'll make you top level in three days," saying this, she went back to the game
Inside the game.
Su jeong(strawberry), dressed as a male healer, struts around completing simple quests. There is an important one. "Get rid of the wolves to protect the villagers." She read from the bulletin. Suddenly, there is a rush of wolves coming at her. Just as she raised her fan to attack it, another person, a warrior perhaps, entered with his sword and flew through the air and killed some, saving her life. Not that it mattered to her. What did matter was that he stole her points! His identity read, "Black Dragon, level 77" His sword gleamed at her in the dusky forest. "Huh," She thought.
"Excuse me, what are you doing in my spot" She asked him. "Are you talking to me?" The guy typed back.
Su jeong scoffed. "Do you see anyone else here?" She asked him. "This is my spot." She announced.
"How silly! You claim this property?" The masked man in black asked her.
"Yes. And you can't share it with me. You have no business ethics. How can you play this game? Get out of my way now!" She replied.
"What if I don't want to?" He asked her.
"Don't you have any manners? How old are you to talk down to me?" She replied to his question with a question, annoyed as hell. This was her chance to level up, and she definitely wasn't letting it go.
The warrior was irritated, too. "Shouldn't you reveal your own age first if you're curious?" He asked.
Su jeong seethed in anger. "I'm 19." She told him. "You're in elementary, aren't you? Since you don't understand.." She went in
"Uh oh" the warrior thought,"She's older than me. But I must save my pride." "I'm 22" He replied after a minute. "I'm 22 years old. Happy now?" He replied with more firmness.
Su jeong was shocked. But she played it cool. "I don't believe you. Give me your phone number. Let's play in real life...." It was then she noticed the next round of wolves gathering around them.
"How pathetic! Get out of my way, low level, I'm busy." Saying this, he moved away with lightning speed and whipped his Sword around, killing many. Su jeong too started to fight but couldn't gain may points due to her character being a healer. "Gosh, I can't do any damage." She decided to accept her energy potion and gain power
Black Dragon reached for his own potion but found his supply dwindling, and the healer was accepting hers! "What will she do of all that energy? She can't even do anything." He grumbled to himself. The new wolves appeared, and Black Dragon decided to play till his energy got depleted. They fought side by side, with all their might. Black Dragon almost collapsed and lost a life, but Su jeong gave him power (She was a healer, yk). Black Dragon stood in surprise, seeing how Su jeong had helped him. He then saw another wolf approaching and swiftly grabbed her, moving her to safety. With renewed powers, they fought together and completed the assignment. They were both top levels now.
"You're stronger than I thought. " he said to her. 'You control well too."
"You too" She replied. "You aren't bad either. All though you're rude." She added with a taunt.
"I'll try not to be rude from now on." He texted back. "You should be my partner." He said, sending her a friend request. Su jeong smirked and accepted. This was her first meeting with her first love.
Black Dragon and Su jeong walk in the game market, where some players were shopping for the displayed weapons and tools. He then waved to his teammates. Ultimate Pro (level 80, female), TVXQ Tip (level 68, male), and Bean eating bug (level 78, male) headed towards them.
"Welcome Healer." U Pro said to her. "Team fatal attacks goal is..."
"to win" Black Dragon said as they put their hands together to cheer. Su jeong smiled.
"Cheers!" They said, clicking their (fake) drinks together. "This is what feels like to win!" U Pro exclaimed reading level 99 clearance on Black Dragons's and Su Jeong's info that was displayed over their heads.
"Congratulations on clearing Top level, Black Dragon and..." U Pro read from Su Jeong's ID saying,"Mang Dong Pimp"
"Come on, it's prince, not pimp! " Bean exclaimed, pointing out U Pros's mistake.
"Sorry, sorry, it was a typo," U Pro texted back.
"Prince huh?" Tip asked. "It's too bad. You and Black Dragon played so well together. If you were a woman, he would've married you. But since you-"
"I'm a woman." Su Jeong interrupted. "So stop calling me a prince."
Everyone looked at her in surprise. "But your ID and attire then?" U Pro asked her.
"My brother came up with the ID. He's a bit childish and crazy." Su jeong said, giving a half awkward smile due to embarrassment.
Tip then exclaimed. "Gosh! So it was a princess, not a prince, then!" Su jeong shook her head at him, obviously embarrassed.
Black Dragon teasingly asked her,"Should I call you princess then?"
"No no, I hate that even more," Su jeong said. She told everyone. "Just call me Strawberry. It's my original ID "
"How cute!" Bean exclaimed.
Tip then added,"is this for Better then? You can't get married in the game but in real life..." He poked Black Dragon, saying,"Lovey Dovey. Lovey Dovey." In a teasing manner. Black Dragon just shushed him while Strawberry blushed and giggled. "Come on!" She told him.
Later, Strawberry and Black Dragon stood near the riverside, skipping stones.
BD threw one that only went forward one ripple, but Strawberry's stone went far beyond. , She exclaimed excitedly. BD threw another but couldn't get far. So he pretended that it was a good throw and told Strawberry, "See I can't even see how far it went. "
Strawberry scowled at him. "It fell right in front of you know." She threw another one and smirked as it bounced away. BD felt embarrassed and tried again and again but to no avail. They finally relaxed against a boulder under the bright afternoon glow.
"Why are you playing from your brother's ID?" He asked her, curious.
"Ah well, he used to play before, but I started so as to help him attain top levels so he doesn't get looked down on by his friends." She sighed. "He is kind of..immature."
"Yeah?" BD asked her.
Strawberry continued as he gazed at her. "My mom passed away, and my dad is busy, so as his older sister, I need to take care of him, you know?"
"What about you?" BD asked her.
"Pardon?" Strawberry was confused.
"who takes care of you?" He asked her. "Your mom passed away. Your dad is busy, and your brother is immature. So who cares for you?"
"I..." Strawberry swallowed, her tears threatening to fall. Nobody had asked her that before. "I'm OK." She told him.
"Well, you don't have to be alone here. Even if you're good at doing everything, it's no fun doing it all alone. In here, I'll be there for you." He promised her, meaning every word.
Strawberry smiled. "Thank you. You know I've always wanted a big brother instead of a younger one. Someone who could protect me and someone I can rely on."
BD's heart hitched. "You can rely on me then." He told her, even as he was lying to her about his age.
Strawberry gazed at him in admiration. This warrior didn't know what his words were doing to her heart. "Do you have siblings, BD?" She asked him.
He shook his head in response. "Nope. I'm an only child."
"ah...is that why you know how it is to be lonely?" Strawberry realised.
"Actually, I have no parents. They died when I was young. My grandmother is raising me. But I'm usually on my own, too." He reluctantly admitted to her.
"let's do this then." She said to him. "In here, you rely on me, and I'll rely on you. So we won't be lonely anymore."
"So we won't be lonely anymore?" He repeated, not believing her.
"hmm." She smiled and confirmed. And at that moment, BD found himself falling for her, too.
