Bianca took her mother’s advice and pretty much didn’t mention a lot about Jake. And for some reason, she had been avoiding Bahiyyih as well. As strange as it might sound, the girl wanted to move on, but she couldn’t. She thought that Jake was the right one for her.
It was while she was sitting alone…again…when she saw Yang Jungwon again. But she then frowned. Jungwon softly smiled.
“Sad again, aren’t we?” he asked.
Bianca only nodded her head without saying a single word. She did not want to tell anyone what she was feeling. But she also did not want to hurt Bahiyyih’s feelings as well!
“It’s a struggle,” said Jungwon, “But those things are sometimes easy to get through, even if your partner is cold-hearted but still a little soft. Sometimes I get jealous when Nishimura Riki leaves Korea to go to Japan for the rest of the Summer. But that was easy to get through, because I knew it was almost time for me to go there too.”
Bianca knew that Jungwon was trying to cheer her up. What he was trying to say is even though Bahiyyih and Jake are supposedly together, Bianca will begin dating one day and it takes time for the right guy to come. But this made her completely frustrated.
“But I don’t understand! How is it that Jake is into her and not me?!”
“Cause he probably thinks that she looks older than you, even though she is a freshman? Sort of?” Jungwon laughed nervously.
Bianca Scowled.
“Oh, you!!” shouted Bianca.
For the remainder of lunchtime, Bianca shouted and cursed at Jungwon, for not letting her know about Jake’s reason for liking Bahiyyih. Somehow, both Bahiyyih and Jake were standing right where Jungwon and Bianca were at.
After the fight, Bianca stormed away to Kim Namjoon’s classroom.
“Your girlfriend is mad at you, I’m guessing?” asked Jake, crossing his arms.
“Yup,” said Jungwon, “She is not happy that I told her I’m going to Japan this Summer.”
The next day, Jake and Bahiyyih were walking together down the locker room. But then, the students were rumoring about their relationship. How were they going to tell them the truth? How were they going to tell Bianca the truth?
Bianca passed by, but ignored the two that were right in front of her. This was how angry she was at the two.
During Namjoon’s class, Bianca was already busy doing her work. Usually at this time, she would daydream about Jake. But even Namjoon was concerned about the relationship between her and Jake. That was the problem: she and Jake are not at all in a relationship!
“I take it that my advice didn’t work yet?” asked Namjoon, sitting right beside Bianca.
“I’m waiting for it to function. It’s taking a while, though.”
Namjoon sighed, “I see. Well, it’s either waiting a bit more, or maybe just…move on.”
Bianca rolled her eyes.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” she said, “I’m trying to move on. But there is something inside of me that is just not letting me!”
“Could it be that Jake is hard to let go?”
“Why is it always Jake?”
Namjoon chuckled when Bianca reacted.
“You know,” he said, “I used to act like that a lot when I was younger. My mom would always tease me about having a crush and falling in love. In a good way. And when I was in high school, I would have a crush on this classmate in my grade. She was pretty and nice. But sadly, she was bullied a lot. She was the only foreigner in school and no one would appreciate it. Everyday when those mean kids stepped in I would tell them to leave them alone, and that she was my friend. And that was how it had been. To this day, she is still my girlfriend.”
“You know, you do share lots of personal things,” said Bianca, cringing at Namjoon's story.
“I tend to be open about these things. I’m already twenty-eight and I feel like I’m still in college.”
“I’m fifteen and I feel like I’m still ten.”
“You know, that’s what happens. You’re getting a lot older, but you feel younger by the day. It’s actually good to feel young. You have fun that way.”
“But for some reason…I just feel like my childhood got ruined.”
“Why would it be ruined?”
Bianca didn’t answer after that. She did not want to tell him about the incidents in the SIJH. It would just make her feel sick to the stomach.
“When we moved to Korea,” she said, “I thought I was going to have a new life here. But then, when I was put in school, I felt as if the schools were a joke. This is what I don’t like about Korea. The traditional culture I could bear, but the modern culture is just too much and I believe, as a foreigner, there is a need to adjust to some of the laws. Including the schools’ curriculum.”
“I know how you feel,” said Namjoon, “To be the bearer of good news, however, there are going to be some changes in the schools’ curriculum. They will be more carefree, but still a little strict, and there were matters, like you mentioned, that needed to be adjusted a little. So actually, there could be a bit of hope for this country.”
Bianca then seemed to smile.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Bianca was still saddened. The thought of Jake with another girl was unsatisfying to hear and see. To her it’s a sign of one trying to mess with her heart. She did not want to end up with a playboy.
No one can mess with me! Not even Jake or Bahiyyih! No one is allowed to play with my delicate feelings!
But then, Jungwon caught Bianca mumbling about their relationship. He then snickered.
“Still mad about Jake, huh?” he taunted.
Bianca scowled and said, “How do people even know that I am even crushing on him? I’m not! Certainly, he doesn’t even know I exist!”
Jake suddenly turned at the two. Bianca noticed. She then scowled at Jungwon.
“I’ll leave you to it, then!” she hissed.
And then, she stormed away. Jake then advanced to his friend. He then put his hands on his hips.
“What was that about?” he confronted Jungwon, “Why does she still think I’m in some sort of relationship with my own cousin?”
“I don’t know,” said Jungwon, “She is experiencing a bit of jealousy. You two have been spending a lot of time together and she has been crushing on you for two whole months. She stopped because of this. I hope you can try to understand this.”
He then walked away to find Bianca. Jake was left speechless. He just wanted to be close to Bianca more than he wanted to be closer to Bahiyyih. But Bianca never knew that they were close relatives. No one ever bothered to tell her that she still had a chance to befriend Jake!
That night, he knew he had to get in contact with the girl first. Although he was seventeen, he wanted to be with her. And Bianca was not yet sixteen! And so, through the school website, he called her by her phone number.
Meanwhile, Bianca’s phone rang. At first, she did not know that it was Jake’s phone number.
She then answered and said, “Hello?”
Jake was quiet for some time.
“Bianca?” he asked.
“Yeah,” said Bianca, “This is me. How did you get my phone number?”
“It’s on the school website. Just like everyone else’s phone numbers are.”
“Yeah…I know.”
Silence was displayed.
“Uh…”
“Okay?”
But Jake was not going to end it all so quickly. He was not going to let anything stop their conversation.
“So…I’ve heard what had happened at school. You know, while you were speaking with Jungwon.”
“But how, though?” asked Bianca, “I was only angry because my crush has a girlfriend already. But I shouldn’t be.”
“I see…I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, really. I’m not actually supposed to get a boyfriend just yet. I have to wait until senior year, so I’ve been told.”
Bianca then sighed.
“Well…I would gladly be your boyfriend. But first, can you please answer this? Were you the one that wore the pink ribbons in the other school?”
Suddenly, Bianca had a flashback. She remembered the days that she was horribly beaten by the school and even the students. All because it was a sin to wear jewelry and to have nice hair ties.
She then said, “Yes, I was. And you sound like the boy that said something about those pink ribbons. My mum was not happy about it.”
“I could tell. But…please…will you be my girlfriend, if it is alright with your crush?”
“Jake…you were my crush. And, also…I’ll think about it.”
*~*~*~*~*~*
After school, the next day, Yang Jungwon looked all around for Bianca. But at first, he did not even seem to see her. Bianca was busy editing the photos that she had taken from before. The thought of Jake filled her lungs, where she was unable to breathe.
“Sometimes, I really wish he would notice what is actually happening. It just angers me that Jake wants to be my boyfriend after I saw him hanging out with another girl. It breaks my heart!”
Eventually, Jungwon entered.
“There you are!” he said, “I was looking for you! Your mom said that you had to come down right away!”
“Did she really say that?”
“Yup!”
On the car ride home, Bianca thought of Jake a bunch more. She pictured his face. She then rolled her eyes and sighed in her annoyance.
“Why the long face?” asked Mother, concerningly, “I take it that something happened at school?”
Bianca took some time to answer. She could not express her jealousy between Bahiyyih and Jake. Not only was it a difficult thing to do, but it was also a confusing thing to explain, since her mother never expressed any other feelings like Bianca.
So, she said, “Nothing really much happened at school today. It was the same old, same old, pretty much. It was not-so boring.”
The car ride home was as soothing as the phone call the other night. But she still frowned. Not only was it such a rough day for her to believe that Bahiyyih and Jake were dating, but it was hard to believe that Jungwon actually showed signs of feelings for her.
That night she was in her bedroom, pouting. She had never pouted this much in her life. She then crossed both of her arms and laid down. She never felt this angry in her life either. It was then bedtime. She put her phone to charge, plugged in her earpods…and a song played on repeat.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Bianca woke up to find her phone fully charged and the music still on repeat. It was morning. But it was not an ordinary morning, though. It was Friday, October 29, 2021. Bianca struggled to open her eyes. She rubbed on them continuously. No one could ever tell how sleepy she was.
“Bianca!” shouted Mother, “Nearly time for school! Your breakfast shall be cold if you won’t come down!”
“I’m coming down soon!”
A sleepy Bianca came down the steps. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she brushed her hair and turned it into a ponytail.
“What’s with that high ponytail? You don’t do much with your hair.”
“I really want to try something much different. I’ve always had it down.”
“I’m not too sure about that,” said Mother, “I heard you were talking with your friend the other day. There were two buns up in your hair.”
Bianca felt embarrassed. She never put an updo in her hair, since after the incidents in SIJH. She felt as if this school did not approve of any hair styles. But Independence Academy was much more different than any other traditional Korean school. And since education feeds were severely high, they had to keep it westernized. Otherwise, they would end up hurting their students. No one wanted that to happen!
Bianca was still sad. She frowned. On that day, when she was walking down the locker room, she noticed that most of the students had a best friend or a group of best friends. She felt lonely. She missed England. She missed having the close remedy of having friends. But it was not to be, as she left for Korea.
It was while she was heading for Namjoon’s classroom, she overheard the conversation between Bahiyyih and Jake. But she got an unexpected result!
“I don’t know if Bianca will ever be friends with me again. We haven’t spoken for two months.”
“I’m sure she is busy with the club assignments you have sent out to everyone, including the photography competition that you have been mentioning to everyone.”
“Yeah! But still…Bianca still believes we’re dating. What do we do?”
“She doesn’t know that you are my cousin. But when I see her, if I have the chance, I will explain everything.”
This sparked Bianca. But she still did not believe it! She still had to let it go. Yet it made her feel a somber feeling.
*~*~*~*~*~*
During Bianca’s photography club meeting, Bahiyyih announced the information for the upcoming photography competition.
“Make sure you bring your best photos that you have taken all year around, it’s going to be the biggest one yet, I may be a freshman, but Jungwon has been doing this for two whole years!”
I guess this thing means a lot to him, Bianca thought, But I’m not sure the pictures I have taken are acceptable, especially since I’ve taken the photos of Jake.
And then, Bianca sighed.
Namjoon then entered the scene. He seemed to have that disappointed frown on his lips. But Bianca did not notice her own teacher. She was zoning out, and from there, she envisioned the photos of Jake Shim, playing his violin. Others say it’s still a rumor that he was really a child prodigy. But Bianca never agreed to these phrases or comments.
Namjoon sat next to Bianca.
“I’m not sure if this is correct, but you seem to be… disappointed?” he said, gently.
Bianca didn’t make eye-contact, but nodded her head. She still frowned. Jake was the only crush she had at that school. No one else.
Namjoon then had to ask, “Do you like Sunghoon?”
Bianca shook her head.
“Do you like Jongseong?”
This time, Bianca shot her head at Namjoon.
“Who is he?” asked Bianca.
But it didn’t take long for the girl to look at the seat in front of her. She then blushed.
“Oops.” she said, silently.
“Do you like Jungwon?”
Yang Jungwon was the boy that was deeply closer to Bianca than Jake. She might not have romantic feelings for him, but she does admire him as such a friend.
So, Bianca nodded her head.
“Then…” said Namjoon, clearing his throat, “Do you like Jake?”
Bianca didn’t answer again. She then sat and thought. But she saw how disappointed Namjoon was when he kept seeing her not sitting, talking, or even hanging out with Jake everytime at school. She couldn’t dare say no.
She then nodded her head.
“I thought so,” said Namjoon, “I might as well tell you the truth. The thing is, Bahiyyih and Jake are not a couple. In fact, they are not even dating at all!”
“What are you saying?” asked Bianca.
“Well…” said Namjoon, “Bahiyyih and Jake…are actually cousins!”