Author's Notes: Once again, I have to thank another webpage, the Trigonometry Tutorial, for helping me understand math once again.
The Chronicles of Obsession: Innocence
Chapter 5 - Feelings
Hwoarang walked along the sidewalks in the massive city of Tokyo, sealing off his thoughts. So many questions came to his mind, about his mother and himself. The question that slammed him the most was the one Steve yelled at him. Hwoarang stopped in the mist of his tracks, letting the words slice in his mind.
“Would she be happy with the way I become?” he asked himself, afraid to answer truthfully. Hwoarang knew he had changed so much since he was a child. He use to be forgiving, compassionate, and trusting, but… the path he had taken to adulthood, like most others, threw him into a corrupted world and the outcome had left him cold. Things were not they were when one was a child. He learned that quickly, shortly after he arrived in Japan. One thing he learned about human beings was that they were selfish who used and lied to others for their own personal benefits. Hell, he even did it with his friends when they would do Fake Fights. The more he thought about human nature, the more his nightmares began to surface. He shook his head violently, clearing his mind of any thoughts and continued walking.
I should call Ling, he mentioned to himself, Not right though. The Korean was a little too shaken up to engage in a lively, upbeat conversation. Hwoarang glanced up from the sidewalk to see he was back home, the one he lived at since he was sixteen years old. He had reached the quiet, desolate part of Tokyo, which was barely near the center of the city. He passed around an abandoned building and stood right in front of isolated factory. Like the other buildings in this area, it had been deserted a long time ago. It was a rice mill that had a towering storage mill, a classic watchtower to keep an eye out for trespassers, and a huge rectangular, metal structure that was the factory itself. A tall, wired fence surrounded the entire compound with barbwire on top. Hwoarang was before the entrance that was the watchtower and strolled along the fence, looking for the cuts him and his friends made when they first came here. He found the long slit in the fence and pushed his way through, ending up on the other. The Korean stretched a little and took a deep breath… he was home.
“I wonder if any of the guys still hang out here,” he pondered as he paced towards the old factory until he was in front of it. He was before a towering door that was used for loading the trucks, which he and his gang hardly used unless they were making a two wheeler course. Hwoarang went to the left side of the building and went through the normal, human size door. He stopped once he was inside and observed the entire place. Nothing had changed about the “bachelor pad”, there were still 4 different levels and better yet, still standing. The building was organized and leveled rather strangely.
Hwoarang and his friends use to joke, saying that this place was designed by a pimp. It looked more like a party house than a factory. On the right side against the middle of the wall was a wide fifteen-foot, metal walkway that was ten feet up in the air. That area was claimed by Tomo, which was fine since the only way up there was a ladder. In the upper right corner, the floor reached up twenty feet in the air and stood against the east and north wall. The edges of that area were surrounded by two poles that acted as a fence and luckily, a secure staircase that ran along poles of Tomo’s pad lead up to that plot of concrete. That floor belonged to Keisuke, who later was able to hang stolen tapestries from the beams, sealing him off from the room. Then in the upper left corner was the office that had the walls reach up to the beams and was twenty-eight feet in the air, on the 3rd floor was where Hwoarang lived. The great thing about the office was the entire south wall was made with three glass panels that stood side by side. Hwoarang had to beat the crap out of his friends in order to claim that domain, but it was worth it. That left poor Neko with the small walkway that was 12 feet below and in front of Hwoarang’s room, but they were able break through Hwoarang’s south wall and create a door way to the 2nd floor. The rest of the floor that was on ground level was their living room slash kitchen. It was also was their playground.
Hwoarang smiled brightly and headed for his room. He walked underneath Neko’s walkway and entered the section of the building through the opening. He climbed up the stairs, passing by Neko’s floor and realized all of his stuff was still there. Hwoarang wondered a while, trying to figure out where they could have gone at this time of the night. Him and his friends usually chilled at the “pimp pad”, playing games and eating. He shrugged and continued on his way until he came upon his door. He inhaled deeply and turned the knob, hoping no one took it over while he was gone. He pushed the door open, clenching his eyes shut and stepped into his old room. He flipped his eyes open to see that nothing had changed, everything was exactly the way he left it. His king size bed was still in the upper right hand corner and his mahogany dresser remained against the east wall. The punching bag suspended from the beams in the room in the lower left-hand corner with a beanbag lying on the floor. Hwoarang tossed his heavy bag on the floor and collapsed on his bed, which made the floor creak. The Korean paused and turned on his side to look at the floor.
“Shit, is this side gonna cave in, too?” Hwoarang asked himself. He thought about it for a few seconds then disregard it.
“I don’t think I’m gonna be trying to push it through the floor like last time.” He said chuckling to himself. He glanced over to the hole in the floor in the other upper corner. He smirked to himself, remembering that day. It was the first time he saw Ling so pissed off at him and it was the first time in three years since he was at school.
Ling waited impatiently outside in her school uniform, leaning against the men’s bathroom in the park. She frowned, pouting her lips as she tried to watch the Sakura blooming, hoping that more time would pass if she paid attention to something else. She grunted as her patience disappeared and walked over to the other side of the brick wall. She stood in front of the bathroom with her legs apart and her fists clenched to her side. She pounded on the door with her hands until she heard something from the other side.
“WHAT, GODDAMN IT?! Hwoarang shouted through the door.
“Are you done yet?!” she yelled with her eyebrows arched downwards. She heard his feet scuffling around the room and banged the door with her foot, demanding a reply.
“NO!” She exhaled heavily and leaned against the door, looking at the watch on her wrist. She growled when she realized the time and turned around to face the door again. The door faced her wrath once more as she thundered against the metal door with her fists.
“Are you done now!?” she growled. Hwoarang swung the door open and leaned his right hand on the doorway. He stood in the doorway wearing a white, button up collar shirt that draped over his toned body. His shirt wasn’t tucked in and hung slightly away from his smooth abdomen. The cuffs on the shirt remained unbutton, exposing his sleek wrists. His black dress pants stretched nicely over his muscular legs and his crimson hair dangling in his eyes. Ling stood before the handsome Korean gaping.
“NO.” Hwoarang replied firmly. In an instant, Ling jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck with a joyful smile on her face.
“KAWAII DESU YO!!” (YOU ARE SO CUTE!!) She exclaimed, nuzzling against him. Hwoarang struggled to pull her arms off him and stared down at her.
“Why are you in a hurry?” Ling blinked, remembering the time and let out a scream.
“I’m gonna be late for school!” she cried, bouncing up and down. Hwoarang sighed tiredly and grab his clothes.
“All right, let’s go,” he said, closing the door. Upon hearing those words, Ling happily skipped off to the motorcycle and hopped on. Hwoarang walked over to his vehicle and tossed his clothes in one of the bags he had hanging on the side of the seat. The Korean tucked in his shirt and plopped onto the seat.
“How much time do we have?” he asked, popping the kickstand off the ground. Ling glanced at her watched again and placed her hands on his side.
“10 minutes.” Hwoarang skimmed around at the roads and saw there was a traffic jam.
“Shit,” he murmured to himself and looked across the three mile park where the school was by, “Screw it,” he started the engine and gave it a few pumps, making the motorcycle thunder like a storm.
“Hang on!” He yelled over his shoulder as he peeled across the park’s parking lot. Ling wrapped her arms around just in time just before Hwoarang drove over the curb that led into the park. The Korean speeded across the grass through the park at nearly sixty miles per hour, ignoring all the outraged people. The Chinese girl rested her chin on Hwoarang’s shoulder, trying to ask him a question.
“Do the clothes fit you?” she hollered into his ear, hoping her voice was loud enough against the wind.
“They fit fine!” He shouted back and laughed a little, “You should steal more often!” Ling grinned and closed her eyes, snuggling against him.
“And to think it was my first time!” she replied happily, tighten her grip around his waist. Ling peered over Hwoarang’s shoulder and saw that they were almost out of the park. She also noticed that they were headed for an intersection at the corner of the park. She let a squeal as Hwoarang darted off the grass and through the intersection, dodging cars left and right. Cars honked their horns while others veered out of their way until the Korean drove along the middle yellow line, between the cars. He saw the turnoff for the school and skidded the motorcycle to make a sharp right, squeezing between several jam-packed cars. He zoomed through the school’s entrance and roared through the parking lot until he was right in front of the school. Several high school students stared at the stunning Korean as he parked against the red line curb, kicking out the stand.
“Hey, does your school give parking tickets or do they tow the vehicle?” He inquired turning around to face her. Ling slide off the bike and let a laugh, hopping around.
“That was fun!” She exclaimed, not answering his question. Hwoarang snapped his fingers at the highly active girl, trying to get her attention.
“Hey, focus! Does your school tow or give tickets?” he said as he turned off the engine. Ling stood still for a moment and pondered as he got off the bike.
“They give tickets!” she finally figured out, holding a finger in the air. Hwoarang rummaged around in his bike’s bags looking for Ling’s belongings while she came to another realization. “What a minute, are you going to park here?” Hwoarang pulled out her backpack and handed it to her.
“No, I thought we’d have a picnic before going to class.” He said sarcastically. Ling frowned at his comment as she clenched the bag to her chest.
“But that’s 20,000-en fine!” she stated as Hwoarang buttoned up the cuffs on his wrist.
“That’s no problem. I yanked the license plate off a car last night so they couldn’t make me pay if they wanted to.” He replied, pulling out the school jacket Ling stole from the store. The hyper girl shrugged and tossed the bag onto her back, waiting for Hwoarang to start walking. The Korean held the jacket on his right arm and turned to grinning Ling.
“You happy?” he said with a crooked smile. Ling nodded and started hopping alternating on each foot.
“Of course! I finally get to show you off at my school!” she replied with closed eyes and a bright smile. Hwoarang laughed and started walking towards the school doors.
“You make it sound like a “Show and Tell” thing.” He commented, he didn’t know how she talked him into this, but there was nothing to do except go back to school. Ling skipped to the Korean’s left side and tag along with him like a puppy. Along their walk, the Chinese girl noticed all the girls had their eyes glued to her friend. Some girls waved their hands in front of their face trying to cool themselves while others tittered wildly. Ling growled like a dog whose territory was being invaded and grabbed Hwoarang’s hand with hers. She wrapped her other hand around his arm and stuck her tongue out at the staring audience. The red head looked down to see that his left arm had gained some luggage and tried to shake her off, but she a death grip on him. He gave up after a while and just strolled into the school building. Ling led them nearby to the visitors’ office and finally released Hwoarang’s arm. The Korean glared at the jacket in his hand; loathing the moment he would have to where it. All of sudden, the Chinese girl smacked Hwoarang in the side.
“Put it on!” she demanded. Hwoarang let out a breath of air as he slipped his arms into the jacket.
“God, I’m gonna look so preppy.” Ling watched as he pulled the jacket over his shoulders and started snorting some laughs when he looked up.
“NERD!” she cried, pointing at him, “You look like a Catholic school boy!” Hwoarang glared at her evilly.
“Shut up!” he replied.
“Xiaoyu-san? Is that you?” a voice asked from a window in the wall. Ling’s attention snapped towards the voice when she recognized who it was.
“Sukame-chan!” the Chinese girl replied happily and skittered over to the visitors’ window while dragging Hwoarang by the arm, “Sukame-chan, this is my friend, Hwoarangy! He’s gonna be going to school with me today!” A woman dressed in a white outfit with light brown hair sat behind the window.
“Oh, so, you’re Hwoarang. Aren’t you a strapping, young gentleman.” She said in kind voice with a gentle smile. Ling stiffed a laugh at the thought of Hwoarang being a “gentleman”.
“Hajimemashite, Sukame-san.” (Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sukame)Hwoarang replied in formal Japanese with a humble bow as he kicked Ling in the ankle. The Chinese girl held back a yelp and glared at him with narrows eyes.
“ Hajimemashite,” (Nice to meet you) she said as she lightly placed a clipboard in front of him, “I just need you to fill out your name and write down when you came in, all right?” The red head took the pen from the clipboard and started to fill it out.
“Oh, I don’t have a surname just to let you know.”
“That’s all right. You enjoy your visit here, okay?” she said with a smile. Ling waved a goodbye and started pulling Hwoarang behind her.
“Thank you and it was nice meeting you.” Hwoarang replied in his chivalrous tone as he was being pulled away.
“Your welcome, Hwoarang-san.” She said with a raise of her hand. As soon as they were out of sight of the visitor’s window, Ling lagged behind the Korean then kicked him in the ass. Hwoarang whipped around and glared at her. She grinned as he slipped out of the jacket and tossed in the trash.
“Hey, I stole that for you!” she whined. Hwoarang stretched, feeling free from the school boy jacket.
“Yeah, I don’t care,” He said with smirk, “So, where’s your homeroom?” Ling glanced around, getting her bearings straight before she pointed to the right. Hwoarang followed closely behind and smacked her across the head when he started to walk beside her. Ling scowled at the Korean as she rubbed the back of her head and shoved him into the wall. Students in the hallway watched as the two smacked each other and began to make a way for them, fearing they might get hurt instead. Hwoarang laughed and strolled next to her, constantly bumping his shoulder into her. Ling growled a little and started to use her shoulder to push him back, but she was no near as strong as him so she just placed her foot in front of his path. The Korean tripped over her foot and nearly did a face plant with the tiled floor before he regained his balance.
“You’re such a little shit.” He stated as he wrapped his arm around her neck, giving her noogie. Ling wailed as tried to pull herself out of his grip. Hwoarang observed down the hallway at all doors and kept the little brat in a tight squeeze.
“Hey, which one is your classroom?” he asked lugging her around his arm. Ling finally squirmed out of his arm and stomped on his foot with her heel.
“Ah! God!” he cried and slapped her shoulder, “Are you on the rag or what?!” Ling stuck her tongue at him as she smiled and hopped to her homeroom. Hwoarang caught up with her when she stopped in front of a door labeled “Class A”. She peered through the small window to see if she was late.
“Did we make on time?” the Korean asked as he glimpsed through the glass with her. Hwoarang glanced around the room from desk to desk, seeing if he knew anybody from his elementary days. The Korean’s eyes grew wide when he saw Jin in the right corner of the room, but… it didn’t look like the same Jin he knew. Jin sat at his desk, studying calmly with strands of black hair in his eyes. He wore a cyan blue t-shirt with a white collar that seemed to give him a peaceful state of mind. He wasn’t the same spoil brat strapped down in that weird ass red-black leather type shit. He didn’t have that stuck up snob attitude, but more of a humble, gentle mannerism. Hwoarang didn’t know what to think of the situation. He had always hated Jin for many reasons, but now, they seemed to have drift away. What was it about this Jin that made him different from the other one? Was it because he looked innocent? The Korean looked more closely at the Japanese boy, trying to figure out what it was that was confusing him. Hwoarang study more carefully and started to notice how flawless Jin looked… his eyes were perfect and his body was for a lack of a better word, arousing. Hwoarang’s eyes grew wide and he darted from the door. Hwoarang began to realize that he was attracted to him and it was then, that he noticed there was warm throb in his pants. Ling stared at him with one eye arched.
“What’s with you?” she asked. Hwoarang cleared his head, trying to think of an excuse.
“Y-y-you didn’t tell me Jin was in your class.” He replied quickly. Ling glanced at the ceiling as she made a nervous laugh.
“Oh, right… I forgot about that.” She said trying to laugh it off. Hwoarang had to think of something quick, he was becoming harder with every few seconds that passed.
“Hey, what class is this?” he asked, walking back up to the door, trying to conceal himself.
“Advanced Math or something like that.” She stated as she placed her hand on the doorknob. Hwoarang pulled her back by the shoulder, trying to buy himself some time.
“Do you think I can look at your book so I won’t be lost?” he asked while he screamed “GIVE ME THE GODDAMN BOOK!” in his head.
“Yeah, I’ll give it to you in the classroom.” She smiled as she reached for the doorknob. Hwoarang didn’t release her from his grip, which made it hard for her to grasp the knob.
“NOW.” He demanded. Ling sighed, thinking nothing of it and pulled the book out of her bag. She handed it to him and finally opened the door. The Korean quickly held the book to his left side as he walked in with her. Ling’s teacher glanced up at her from his chair as she came in and smiled.
“Oyasumi, Shaoyu-san.” (Morning, Ms. Xiaoyu) He greeted her with a smile and noticed the newcomer, “Aaa, anata wa dare desu ka?” (Ah, who are you?) He asked as he stood up, holding out his hand to Hwoarang.
“Kare wa boku no tomodachi!” (He’s my friend!) She replied happily. The Korean shook the teacher’s extended hand and bowed his head lightly.
“Hajimemashite. Watashi no onamae wa Houran desu. Doozo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.” (How do you do? My name’s Hwoarang. It’s very nice to meet you.) Hwoarang said in the most polite form in Japanese. The teacher smiled at the Korean’s manners.
“Douzo yoroshiku. Watashi wa Watanabe-san. Anata (w)o jishoukai sasete ni kurasu kudasai.” (I’s nice to meet you. I am Mr. Watanabe. Please… introduce yourself to the class.) He politely requested. Hwoarang nodded respectfully while Ling stared strangely at him, she was having a hard time buying this polite Hwoarang.
“Ohayougozaimasu, minna-san. Jishoukai sasete itadakimasu. Jonan Gakkoo no Houran desu. Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.” (Good morning, everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hwoarang of Jonan High School. It’s nice to meet you.) He said formally, bowing with the book in front of him and keeping his eyes off Jin.
“Douzo yoroshiku!” (Nice to meet you!) The class replied in unison.
“Doumoarigatou, Houran-san.” (Thank you, Mr. Hwoarang) The teacher said sitting back in his chair. Ling yawned and skipped over to her chair in the back row while Hwoarang tagged along. Xiaoyu plopped down in her seat and tried to make herself comfortable for an eighty-minute class. Hwoarang slipped in a chair to the right of Ling and slightly slouched in his seat, keeping the book on top of his lap. He didn’t know how he was going to get through the class with a hard-on. He just prayed it would go away in a few minutes and kept his vision steered clear of Jin Kazama. He sighed, keeping his left hand on the book and plopped his chin in the other hand, which was supported by his elbow on the desk.
The teacher opened his book and was ready to talk away, but there was a knock at the door. He went to the door and conversed with the person then turned to his class.
“Sumimasen, minna-san. Matte kudasai.” (Excuse me, everyone. Please wait.) He asked kindly as he exited the room. The classroom started to fill with conversations and gossip as the students began to appreciate their extra free time. Ling looked around her desk, trying to figure out what she did with her math book. She pulled her backpack into her lap and searched through, pulling out some books. She glanced once more at the three books in her bag and flipped through the four that were on her desk. She leaned back confused about the situation.
“What did I do with my book?” she whispered to herself. She held her head in her left hand and stared at the floor. In the corner of her eye she saw her math book… on the Korean’s lap. Hwoarang continued to try to think of something to get his mind off the aching between legs and sighed heavily in frustration. At that moment, he heard several books falling to the floor from Ling’s desk and looked over to see Ling Xiaoyu standing over him with a backpack filled with books suspended over her head in her hands.
“HENTAAAIIIIII!!” (PERVERT!!!)She screamed as she slammed the books on his head with all her might. Several more books fell from her bag and dropped to the ground. Hwoarang growled angrily at her and snatched her backpack away from her.
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!” he yelled in English. Ling slammed her fists on his desk and got in his face.
“Anata wa hentaaaaiiiii!!” (You are a pervert!) She roared in his face. Hwoarang pulled her down, grabbing her neck in his arm and covered her mouth with the other to prevent her from yelling any more obscenities, knowing that everyone was watching them. He turned to face the audience and made an uneasy smile.
“Gomennesai, minna-san. Konojo (w)o yurusu kudasai. Konojo wa chotto duranku desu.” (I’m sorry, everyone. Please forgive her. She’s a little drunk.) He said with a small laugh and turned back to her, “What the hell did I do to get called a pervert in front of your entire class?!” He fiercely whispered to her, letting go of her mouth for a reply.
“Hentai!” she shouted with the opportunity that was given to her. He covered her mouth and tried to prevent himself strangling her.
“Could you embarrass me anymore, Ling Xiaoyu?! Now give me a good reason or I’m gonna have to throw you in the school swimming pool!” he exclaimed as he pointed out the window, letting his hand off her mouth one more time.
“Shi` wo`’ shu-be`’n!” (My book!) She yelled in Chinese as she whipped her math book away from Hwoarang’s violating crotch. Hwoarang’s eye twitched at her response.
“Zhu` Ko`’u!” (Shut up!) The Korean commanded. Ling replied with blowing a raspberry at him and hopped back up to her chair. She held her book in the corner touching as little as possible with her thumb and finger as she inspected it, making sure it was safe. She looked over and took a quick sniff, deeming it secured. Hwoarang watched, holding his head in his hands as he thanked God that no else knew Chinese.
After the outburst, the teacher came back into the room and resumed to his desk. He continued the lecture and preceded to write a foreign language all over the chalkboard, that was called math. Hwoarang became intrigued with some of the math equations and leaned over to Ling.
“Hey, Ling, can I borrow a pen and paper?” he asked quietly, making sure the teacher wouldn’t hear him.
“I’ll think about it.” Ling replied, not even looking up from her book. The Korean groaned as he leaned back into his chair and continued to watch the teacher jot on the board. Before a minute had passed, Ling placed a paper and pen on his desk. Hwoarang smiled and nodded a “thank you” to her then whisked the pen into his hand. However, when he saw the image on the paper, the pen dropped out of his hand. It was a chibi picture of Hwoarang smiling uneasily with a book in front of him. The book had limbs and a mouth that was screaming, trying to pull itself away from Hwoarang’s crotch. The Korean growled and tried to ignore it while writing down some of the equations. About half way through the class, Hwoarang ended up getting really into it. He was writing down problems and solving them left and right. When the Korean came across a problem he couldn’t figure out, it was driving him insane. What am I doing wrong?, he asked himself. There was only one way he was going to figure it out and that was through Ling’s book. He leaned over to her again and took a deep breath.
“Ling, I really need your book, can I borrow it?” he asked desperately. Ling slowly turned her head, glaring at him.
“I don’t know, let me ask my book to see if it’s okay with him!” She hissed back as she faced the book towards her, keeping it slightly closed, “Book, do you want to see Hwoarangy again?”
“No, Ling, no!” Ling said in a squeaky voice pretending to be the book as she was flapping the book’s cover to mouth her words, “He’ll molest me again! He’s a bad man!” Hwoarang’s eye twitched as Ling’s performance as he gripped the edge of his seat, digging his fingernails into the plastic.
“Ling, quit being a brat!” he lightly shouted, not knowing he got the attention of the teacher. The Chinese girl stuck her tongue at him, mouthing her book to the sound of her “Nah”.
“Xiaoyu, you are so dead when we get out of-”Hwoarang started to declare when he was interrupted.
“HOURAN-SAN!” the teacher hollered at the other end of the classroom. Hwoarang whipped around to face the teacher.
“YES, SIR! I mean, uh, gomen, dah, uh, Hai, Watanabe-san!” (Uh, sorry, dah, uh, Yes, Mr. Watanabe!) He stammered, cleaning up his posture. The teacher slipped off his glasses calmly and placed them in his breast pocket.
“Perhaps you would like to lead the class in solving a problem I was sharing with them.” He said, gesturing with his hands. Hwoarang’s eyes nearly went into shock.
“I-I really don’t know-” Hwoarang said, trying to talk his way out of it.
“Oh, come now. Surely, if you can interrupt the class, you can at least help with a problem.” He said softly, motioning with his hand for Hwoarang to come up. The Korean groaned quietly and pulled himself out of his seat, walking up the isle of desks. The teacher handed Hwoarang a piece of chalk and jotted an equation on the board. The red head looked at the equation… three years of doing shit, came back and bit him in the ass. The teacher watched the Korean’s movement as he sat down on the desk. Ling looked at the equation on the board and tried to find one similar to it, but she couldn’t. The equation that was written on the board was far more advance than anything in that section they were studying, in the whole chapter actually.
“You’re not going to find it in the first 200 pages.” Jin whispered to Ling. A shocked look came across her face as she looked over to Jin.
“What? Why not?” she cried.
“We’re barely studying cos and sin, it’s only the 1st semester. That equation is something you would come across in the 2nd semester. Unless he’s taking a trigonometry course, there’s no way he can solve it.” Jin explained. Ling glanced up at Hwoarang, he hadn’t made a single attempt to make the first step.
“Are we allowed to use calculators?” The Korean asked with nervous laugh.
“I tend to frown at that, I don’t like students depending on a machine.” He replied coldly. Hwoarang stared at the board, trying to recall his secondary school days.
“Take your time, Mr. Hwoarang. We won’t leave until you figure it out. Be sure to show your work.” Watanabe said discouragingly. Ling jumped up at her teacher’s remark.
“You can’t do that! We’ll be here forever!” she whined.
“Then I suggest you get comfortable.” The teacher retorted harshly. Ling slammed her hands down on her desk in disagreement.
“No way! I have other classes! Hwoarang, you dumbass! Apologize to him!” The Chinese girl demanded. Hwoarang turned around, scowling her.
“Hey, this is your fault! If you had given me the book like I asked, none of this would have happened!” The Korean growled back.
“Don’t yell at me because you dropped out of school! You’re just mad at me because you’re too stupid to figure it out for yourself!” Ling yelled back, trying to defend herself. The teacher watched them argue with amusement as he pulled out a calculator.
“STUPID?!” Hwoarang said with his lips curling a roar, “I’ll show you fucking stupid!” he screamed facing the board.
“2 sin^2 + cos x = 1 ; which must be greater than 0, less than 360!” Hwoarang said reading the equation of the board.
“You can use a calculator, if you absolutely have to.” Watanabe commented, holding out the calculator to Hwoarang.
“I DON’T NEED IT!” The Korean roared with a mad gleam in his eyes and continued to figure out the equation, “The only you can solve it is by having only sin or cos, not both! So, you use the Pythagoras’ relation, which is sin raised to the second power times x plus cos raised to the second power times x equals to one. You substitute sin for cos in equation, which is one minus cos raised to the first power x!” he yelled as he madly jotted on the board.
“You expand the brackets, which equals to 2 minus 2 cos raised to the 2nd power times x plus cos times x equals to 1! Then, you rearrange it into quadratic form which moves the left side to the right and that gives you 2 cos raised to the 2nd power times x minus cos times x minus 1! Once you get that, put it into lower terms, in other words, factorize it and you should get 2 cos times x plus 1 in parenthesis times cos x minus 1 in parenthesis equal to 0!” he continued, driving the chalk into the blackboard. By this time, he had all the students gawking at the scribbles on the board while they tried to comprehend what he saying.
“This means cos x equals to -1/2 and 1. Since 1 equals to 0 and 360 in cos, you disregard it. 1/2 in cos is 60 degrees. So in this situation, it’s -60 degrees, which means there’s two answers in the 2nd and 3rd quadrant and that 120 degrees and 240 degrees! So, your answer to the equation 2 sin raised to the 2nd power plus cos x equals to 1 between 0 and 360 degrees is 120 degrees and 240 degrees!” The Korean finished with a roar, slamming the chalk on the metal tray and walking back to his seat.
The students cheered and clapped as Hwoarang walked down the isle, whistling at his achievement. Words of praise were hollered at him while girls swooned over him as he plopped back in his seat. The teacher gaped at the all the work that was jotted on the board, he was stunned that the Korean didn’t use a calculator. Watanabe lied about his students not using calculators, he was just trying to teach the kid a lesson, but what this Korean did was something most of his students couldn’t do. The teacher just stood there in amazement, glancing over the shown work.
Pythagoras’ relation sin^2 x + cos^2 x = 1
2sin^2 x + cos x = 1 ; 0 2(1- cos ^2 x) + cos x = 1
2 – 2cos^2 x + cos x = 1
2cos^2 x –
cos^2x – 1 = 0
(2 cos x +1)(cos x - 1) = 0
cos x = - ½, 1
degrees must be greater than 1, lesser than 360
cos 1 = 0 and 360, no
good
cos ½ = 60 cos -½ = -60
180-60 = 120
180+60 = 240
x = 120, 240
The teacher coughed, trying to regain his breath and placed the calculator back in the drawer. Ling sat there dumbfounded, she didn’t know how she was going to apologize to Hwoarang.
“Well, hontou ni domouarigatougozaimasu, Houran-san.” (Well, thank you very much, Mr. Hwoarang) Watanabe said with a light bow, still trying recovering from the Koran’s excellent performance. The teacher resumed teaching the class once more, explaining that the equation Hwoarang had completely was something they would be able to do at the beginning of the 3rd semester and that they didn’t have to worry about for the mean time. Hwoarang remained silent at his desk, creating equations and solving them much like the way he did before while Ling was trying to find the right words to say to Hwoarang. Eventually, class ended and the students gathered their stuff to leave. After a minute had passed, the only ones left in the room was the teacher, Hwoarang, Ling, and Jin. The Chinese girl finally summoned enough courage and walked over to Hworang, holding her backpack to her chest.
“I’m sorry!” She forced herself to say, closing her eyes shut.
“I’m sorry, what was that you said? I didn’t quite get that.” Hwoarang teased , holding his hand to his ear.
“I said I’m sorry! You not stupid,” she admitted, “but you’re still dumbass!” she added. Hwoarang laughed and stood up from his seat.
“Well, I should be thanking you, so thank you. If you haven’t called me stupid, I wouldn’t have gotten the motivation I needed.” He confessed with a chuckle, pulling her into his arms for a hug.
“Awww, Hwoarangy!” She said smiling as she melted away in his arms, before she leaped out of them.
“What?” Hwoarang asked confused. She looked at him suspiciously and stared at his crotch with one eye arched, tilting her head.
“You just couldn’t pass up the opportunity, could you?” Hwoarang said as he lightly punched her shoulder. At that moment, the Korean saw Jin step out of his seat and pass by the lined seats.
“Oh, Hwoarang,?” Jin asked, turning around as he reached the front of the room. Hwoarang glanced up at him, waiting for him to continue, “I was impressed by what you did in class today. You did good.” Jin finished. Hwoarang made a slight nod in response and quickly looked away before he could see Jin walk out the door, “I’ll see you Physics, Ling!” The Japanese added.
“Okay, bai-bai, Jin!” (Bye-bye!) Ling replied, hunched over as she waved her hand.
“Bai-bai, Jin!” The Korean said in a high, squeaky voice, mocking Ling as he copied her wave. The Chinese girl growled at his mimicing and smacked her bag in his stomach. While Hwoarang grabbed his stomach, Ling ran off to the hallway before he could do any harm to her and darted behind the door. Hwoarang groaned as he made an attempt to run after her, but gave up after a few steps.
“Fuck it.” He uttered under his breath. The teacher chuckled as he gathered his papers in his bag.
“Oh, Houran-san, I’ve been meaning to ask to you something.” Watanabe stated as he placed his remaining files into his case.
“By all means, go ahead.” Hwoarang gestured as he wandered to the front of the room.
“Did you really dropped of secondary school?” He asked.
“No, I just told her it had been while since I was at school. She assumed I quit.” Hwoarang explained as he peeked between the door hinges from a distance.
“What is your math level? If you don’t mind my asking.” The teacher said, closing his case shut.
“Calculus III. I’ve always consider math a fun subject.” He replied.
“Well, that’s very impressive. Its good to know there’s someone who loves math besides myself.” Watanabe said with a slight smile as he pulled the bag into his hand and walked out the door. Hwoarang bowed his head as the teacher walked by and turned his back to his prey who was cowering behind the door. He strolled up to the door, whistling and pushed it all the way to the wall, imprisoning the Chinese girl. He used his foot as a stopper and leaned against the door, taking his time to stretch his arms. Ling was slamming and kicking the door with all the limbs on her body, but the door didn’t budge.
“Hwoarang, you meanie! Let me out of here!” she yelled as she tried to push it open.
“I’ll think about it.” He covered his mouth as he yawned while an angry Chinese girl fought unrelentlessly towards the door.
“If you don’t let me out of here, I’m gonna tell Jin you had an hard-on in class!” Damn that right twitch in his eye, he was going to have to get that looked at if it keeps happening at this rate. He growled as he stepped away from the door, knowing very well that Ling still had her full weight against the door. The weight of Chinese girl swung the door out of the way and scheduled a diving course into the concrete floor for her. A rather loud thud slammed into the ground while Hwoarang enjoyed the amusement. He leaned over the stiffed body of the school girl as he crossed his arms.
“Happy now?” Ling whipped her body around like a cat thrown into the air and hissed at the Korean.
“You’re paying for that!” Hwoarang shrugged a laugh as he stood looming over her.
“Oh, really?” he asked as he rang his fingers through his hair. The little tiger of a girl grew a smirking grin as she leaned back on her elbows.
“You know, Jin and I both have a computer class this period and we love to send each emails during class.” She said as laid there, smiling evilly at a defenseless Hwoarang. The Korean clenched his teeth together and grabbed her arm, yanking her off the floor.
“This is the last time you use that against me, you hear?” he said, clasping her shoulders in his hands. She nodded in response as he sighed wearily, “All right, what do I have to do?”
The Korean tudged through the hallways of the crowded school with a hyper Chinese girl riding on his back, guiding him the way. While Ling purred contently against his soft back, the Korean was remembering ten different ways he could break a person’s leg, compliments to the army. The rest of the morning classes went smoothly. Ling didn’t mention another word of his embarassment, but who would if they had Hwoarang as their slave for the day? While Ling doodled away in class, the Korean took all the class notes and solved each and every problem no matter what class it was. To Hwoarang, it felt like Lunch would never come, but his patience paid off when the bell tolled freedom. He couldn’t stand to be in one more class with Jin. The thought of Ling being three feet away from the Mishima boy, made him nervous as hell. Besides, he didn’t need a recap of the previous episode this morning. Before he could figure out anything, Ling interrupted him.
“Hey, Hwoarangy, guess what we’re doing for lunch?” she said being her cute, conniving little self. Hwoarang dreaded to answer, thinking of the possibilities that twisted little girl could come up with. She stood hovering behind him, waiting for an answer.
“What?” Ling pounced on him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she giggled.
“We’re going to eat at McDonald’s!” she exclaiming, snuggling into his neck.
“Oh, God, that’s a heart attack waiting to happening.” He said, thinking of all that food that was grease in a solid form. Yes, Hwoarang was a health freak when it came to food. Even though he smoked cigarettes like a chimney and drank liquor as if it was water, he had a huge pet peeve when it came to eating food that tasted like cardboard.
“Can’t we just eat normal food like rice? Sushi? Vegetables? Something else that isn’t pure fat on a stick?” He was at the point of begging on his knees and that wasn’t something that didn’t happened everyday, but the situation was starting to call for it.
“Well, we could eat at the cafeteria with Jin. We always sit together and talk about girl stuff,” she replied with a grin, nuzzling into his neck, “Stuff like people getting-“
“All right! I get the point! We’ll eat at Mc-dogs-hell!” He successfully interrupted before she could whisper another word. Ling jumped with rejoice as she gathered her belongings in her bag. Hwoarang groaned as his mind was occupied by the thought of food loaded with enough salt that it could kill an ocean-based creature. He hunched over, bracing himself for Ling’s grasshopper spring as she tossed her bag over her back. Once she was finished with that, she leaped onto the Korean’s back and surrounded his neck with her arms. He took her thighs into his arms and carried her into the hallways. He was getting a little exercise, so he couldn’t really complain. The real bitching wouldn’t start until later, but he didn’t want to think about it. He trotted through the school, keeping his comments on Ling’s weight to himself. He didn’t need to get into more trouble than he already was in. As Hwoarang carried her highness outside of the school building, Ling waved to people with a cheery smile from Hwoarang’s back.
Just a few more feet and this riding pony shit is over, he told himself as his walking pace increased.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” she said with sudden realization as she leaned over the Korean’s shoulder,
“Hwoarangy, are you free tomorrow?” Hwoarang finally made it to his motorcycle and turned around so that the seat was directly underneath Ling. The red head held her as he waited for her to jump off.
“Well, yeah, but I was planning to have a huge party at my place. You know, have a few kegs, play quarters with shots, and end up in a orgy of girls.” He replied jokingly, he knew she didn’t like him drinking or talking about other girls besides herself. He was still waiting for her hop down.
“Yeah, I bet you would enjoy that orgy only to realize when you sober up it was only guys!” she retorted with a big cheesy grin.
“Oh, God, that’s sick, Ling!” He said in disgust as he dropped her onto the motorcycle with a plop. She twittered her life away as she crossed her legs, still wanting a positive answer for her question.
“So, do you want to hang out? We’re going to play Dance Dance Revolution at the arcade.” Her voice had a bit of teasing at the mention of DDR, she knew he couldn’t resist showing off the dancing machine. Hwoarang raised an eyebrow as he turned around to face her slowly.
“DDR, you say?” She nodded her head in response as he continued, “Who’s we?” he asked.
“One of my friends from school, but I don’t know if he can come just yet. So it might be just you and me.” The Korean tapped on his chin with his finger, he already knew he was going to humiliate Ling on the machine.
“Sounds cool, the more the merry though. I’ll do it on one condition.” Hwoarang leaned over Ling with his hands on the opposite sides of her.
“Name it!” she said, pulling her knee to her chest.
“We ditch school and head back to my place for the rest of the day.” The offer intrigued Ling. She’s never seen his home before, but if she missed a day of school, she would be at a lost.
“Come on, I’ll make sure you won’t fall behind in class,” he said encouragingly.
“Deal!” That was all the insurance that she needed and with that, Hwoarang plopped on his ride and started the engine.
“We’re still going to grab something at McDonald’s though!” she hollered over his shoulder. The Korean hung his head at those words and groaned, he had hoped she would have forgotten about it. After he recovered, he zoomed off into the city. It didn’t take long to pick up some grub, but when one drives on the middle lane and on the sidewalk, it doesn’t take long to go anywhere. The pedestrians started to take a hint and stayed clear of the curb. Its amazing that Hwoarang could create a 60mph lane in a jam pack Tokyo.
Once the odd couple got into the dead part of city, the crowds disappeared and the only people in sight were gangs. This was definitely not the place for women to be alone and tourists were the perfect targets for muggers. It couldn’t be explained why this place changed so drastically from being 5 miles from the heart of the Tokyo or why the cops didn’t even make any attempts to patrol the area. The one thing everyone knew was no one, nothing was going to help them in this district of Tokyo. Only the strongest survive.
The Korean had finally reached the factory and flew passed the narrow opening of the fence, screeching to a halt right in front of the huge loading door of the building. The motorcycle kicked up a few pieces of gravel at the metal door and hummed as it rested on the small rocks. Hwoarang switched off the engine and rested his bike on the kickstand as he glanced over at the Chinese girl who clenched a McDonald’s bag in her mouth. She grinned like the Cheshire Cat and swung her leg to the other side, hopping off the ride.
“Hold out your hands.” She demanded, taking the bag out of her mouth. The Korean stood there bewildered for a while and eventually held out his hands, palm up. Ling jumped into his arms, knowing he would catch her. It took the red head by surprise, but thank God for his fast reflexes or else she would have landed on the gravel. He should have figured that Ling would have wanted to be carried like a bride and kicked the door open. Hwoarang stepped into his humble abode and looked around for his fellow roommates. They were all present and accounted for, hanging out in their domains.
“Wow, for a run down place, you turned this into a real bachelor pad!” she said staring in amazement. At the sound of a female’s voice, a figure rolled around in bed on a metal walkway near Hwoarang’s bedroom wall to see the girl.
“WHOA. Is that a woman in your arms, Rang?” Neko asked, peeking from underneath his covers.
“GIRL.” Hwoarang explicitly clarified. At the mention of the word “girl”, Tomo hopped up to his knees on his bed, tossing the magazine aside.
“She looks old enough to me!” Tomo yelled at the red head, which was followed by a wolf whistle. Another figure appeared from behind the huge tapestry of a classic rock star.
“Well, Rang! I haven’t see a girl in your arms since-”
“SHUT UP!” The Korean roared with his voice lightly vibrating the sheets of metal walls. Ling giggled at the slanders that were attacking Hwoarang as she quietly munched on her chicken nugget. Hwoarang rushed into the 1st floor of the office complex and ran up the stairs like it was nothing. Once he reached the holy land (AKA his room), he kicked the door shut and gently held Ling out to hop out of his arms. Ling stepped onto the floor and squealed at the sight of his room as she pulled the bag off her back. She spazzed a little, not knowing what to fawn over first and finally made the decision. Hwoarang watched the confused little puppy gallop over to his bed and collapsed with her back on the bed. He heard the creak in the floor from its gained weight and wondered if he should tell her about the weakened floor. Ling pulled out a video camera from her schoolbag and turned it on, gazing at the ceiling.
“This is Hwoarang’s room and I’m on his bed!” While the Chinese girl documented her experience, Hwoarang strolled over to his dresser and leaned against it. Ling swung her feet back and forth off the bed and zoomed in on Hwoarang.
“And, here’s another interview with Hwoarangy!” She pulled herself up and got a better shot of the Korean, “So, how are you going to help me with my homework?” Hwoarang shook his head as he slightly rolled his eyes, this camera thing with Ling was starting to happen on a daily basis.
“I think if I can solve trigonometry problems, everything else should be a piece of cake.” He kept his head low, hiding his eyes behind the strands of ruby hair.
“Yeah, about that, how the hell did you figure out the problem on the board if you flunked Secondary School?!” Hwoarang stiffed a laugh and faced the camera.
“I never said I flunked school, I just said its been three years since I was in school.” He explained with a sly smile. Ling peered from behind the video camera with a confused look on her face.
“That doesn’t make any sense! If you did graduated Secondary School, that’s means you finished when you were sixteen!” Wow, the bright girl had figured it out for herself, Hwoarang thought.
“That’s about right, I turned seventeen shortly after school was finished.” The video camera fell out of Ling’s hands.
“NO WAY! There’s no way you could have graduated at sixteen!” She said in denial, “Even if you did, there’s no way you could help me with Physics and-and-and Biology II!” Hwoarang bite his lip and looked away.
“Ling, if I told you something, would you promise not to tell anyone?” Ling nodded her head wildly, dying to what it was.
“That means everyone, Ling.” He restated firmly
“Yes, I know! I promise I won’t tell!” She replied quickly, she loved secrets. And not to mention… telling others about them.
“All right…” The Korean sighed and took a breath before he continued, “I graduated as salutatorian out of a class of two thousand.” Ling sat there with her mouth wide open.
“NO WAY.” There was no way this bad boy Ling knew was the top of his class.
“Yes, way. I wasn’t valedictorian because I made one fucking error on the essay Why I Should Be Valedictorian. It didn’t matter that I had enough college credits to be a sophomore and got nothing, but perfect grades.” Hwoarang was still a little bitter about that.
“What mistake was that?” She asked, crawling on all fours towards the end of the bed.
“I didn’t write my surname.” He growled through his teeth as his fingers dug into the edges of the dresser.
“You don’t have a surname.” Ling said, stating the obvious.
“My point.” The Korean let out a sigh, trying to calm his aggressions. Ling grew puppy dog eyes and pouted her lips.
“Poor Hwoarangy.” She said, trying to comfort him. All of sudden, a light bulb went off in the kid’s head and she stood up on her legs, “I know what can cheer you up!” Hwoarang looked at the sexy grin on her face and his eyes grew wide. Oh, God, Hwoarang hoped she wasn’t implying what he think she was.
“Take me Hwoarangy!” She said giggling with welcome arms as she fell back onto the bed. The floor made another disturbing sound that Hwoarang an idea.
“All right.” He walked casually towards her, adding a sway in his hips that made him more seductive as he crossed his arms. Ling shook her head and did a double take of Hwoarang. Yep, he was definitely walking closer to her. She whimpered a little and started to tense up. She didn’t think he would have a show down with her, but she wasn’t going to cave in first. The Korean slid his hands up beside her as he climbed onto the bed until he was right on top of her.
“You ready?” He whispered into her ear. She swallowed a huge gulp in her throat and griped the sheets, preventing her from leaping off the bed.
“Bring it on!” Ling replied as she clenched her eyes, thinking that maybe she would last longer this way. The Korean climbed to his feet and gripped the metal beams into the palms of his hands. He looked down at the cowering Chinese girl and grinned evilly.
“Here I come!” He declared as he jumped off the bed and slammed all of his weight with his feet onto bed. In an instant, the floor snapped and ripped through the level, taking the bed with it. Hwoarang braced himself between the beams and lifted himself up before the bed fell through the floor, leaving a surprised and pissed off Ling stranded on the mattress. He watched as the Chinese girl disappeared amidst his blankets and heard the bed crash against the 2nd level, which broke through that floor as well. Oh, shit. Hwoarang didn’t think it would go through both floors. He shrugged it off and told himself, Ah, she’ll live. Once the bed had fallen to the ground, a very anger girl struggled out of the blankets. She pulled herself free of the blankets and glared through the dust with a rage in her eyes.
“HWOARANG, YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. The Korean laughed as he peered down at her.
“Consider that payback for all the threats and humiliation you made me go through today!” He yelled with a chuckle. Ling threw the covers away from and crawled to her feet with the video camera in her hand.
“And think of this as revenge for that free ride you gave me! You forgot to tell me turn off the camera when we were talking about you, MS. SALUTATORIAN!!” Hwoarang’s smile dropped at that new nickname.
“DON’T YOU EVEN DARE!” He attempted to threaten her, which was kind of pointless in the situation he was in. Ling cackled and darted off to find his friends. Hwoarang fled down the stairs like a tornado, knowing that every second gave him more time to protect his reputation. Ling and Hwoarang played cat and mouse throughout the house, she was always faster than he was. In the end, the Korean knew he would have to strike another deal with her. When the two finally came to a negotiation, Hwoarang was severely punished. Not only did he add time to his servitude, but he had to eat lunch everyday with Ling and Jin. The Korean didn't know what was in store for in and had no idea that a new relation would begin to grow.