New nom de plume...

Hi! Konnichiwa! Hope you guys are doing great! ^^

Just finish a oh-my-head-is -so-blur computer programming lecture that lasts for 2 hours...I kind of having a grasp of it here and there...but overall it is still toooo confusing! Going to go through the notes again after this..*sigh* Have to be strong though! Gambatte!!! ^^

Some of you might have realized it but I got myself a new address for this blog! ^^ h-e-i-j-i-hatsutori is kind of toooo long...isn't it? So I've changed it to heijihatsutori43171! I originally want it to be heijihatsutori only but it is not available...so I added 43171 at the end of it! ^^ BTW, nom de plume is French for nickname, or nama samaran...^^ I kind of positive it's French...just go through the dictionary and found it...hee~

So..what does 43171 stands for? That...is for me to know...and for you to find out! haha! Do drop some comments and tell me what do you think it means! It's quite easy actually you know...no presents for those who get it right though! But a token of ultimate appreciation will do...ok? haha! ^^


I'll post the rest of chapter 1 maybe next week...for the story is in my out-of-service-due-to-repair laptop...but rest assure that I'll definitely post it a.s.a.p! Currently thinking of ideas for the next chapter...and find myself excited already! ^^ Really...am I weird? heh!

Feel free to leave comments on the story! I am a newbie in this writing business so really need help in order to improve myself! Especially my English...if you happen to found any mistakes that I did, do point it out! I'll be appreciating it to the max! ^^ Hontouni...arigatou gozaimasu! *bows*

Till then, do take care everyone! ^^

P/S: my sisters school is closed for quarantine due to H1N1...things are getting worrisome now, don't they? Do take care of your health wherever you are! ^^

CHAPTER 1: THE DAY OUR WORLD DISAPPEAR -PART 5-

That answer leaves not just me, but also Mr. Lee in shock. Seul-ri put a hand in a pocket, taking out two folded paper, open it and shoves it to Mr. Lee, clear enough for me to see. There is an article with a picture of a man in mid-forties beside it, and another paper with a rough sketched face of a man that looks just like Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee’s face changes all of the sudden.

“That is the real president of this branch. Lee Sung Hwan. Apparently he was missing since about 2 years ago.”
“Yes, that’s true...I’m taking over for the time being.”
“I’m not finished, yet. According to the inside information, this man...”

Seul-ri’s finger now is on Mr. Lee’s sketched face.

“....once accused for fraud at the Southern-area a few years back and the culprit is still roaming free now. Just because this is not a big city don’t think you can get away that easy.”
“I…I don’t know anything about this. You must have been mistaken....”
“Oh, really? Think you could got us, didn’t you? We’re not that stupid, you know. Any other idiot in this world would think this offer is suspicious, so I made a research a bit, on this company, on the president, and so on. Unfortunately for you, internet got it all. All. It also helps that I have my own means in finding the information.”

Mr. Lee turns even paler. I find myself lost for words. So Seul-ri really finds it suspicious after all. I feel bad for regretting that I asked yesterday. I do not know what will happen if I did not.

“You could be arrested for swindle-attempt, you know. I bet you’re a novice in this area. Any professional would not do this kind of mistake. Too bad for you, you’re in jail after this.”

Seul-ri takes out a cell phone, and start dialing the numbers. Police.

“Go on, dial it.”

Seul-ri stops. There is a grin on Mr. Lee’s face.

“You have no proof; besides, the police won’t believe punks like you guys anyway. I can say that you try to trick me, and get you on the jail instead.”

There is a wider grin now. He really sounds confident. Indeed we have no proof. Or so I think.

“Oh, really? You just underestimate me, you know.”

This time it is Seul-ri that is grinning.

“Do you know that cell phones have lots of functions these days?”

Mr. Lee lost his grin instantly.

“You have no proof; besides, the police won’t believe punks like you guys anyway. I can say that you try to trick me, and get you on the jail instead.”

“I just record every single thing that you said just now. Every single thing, you know. This is a whole lot of proof already. Too bad, you’re no match to me.”

The grin widens. I could not help but to smile too. Seul-ri is just too good.

“Look, we need to talk.”

“Oh?”
“You guys want money right? That’s why you’re here at first place. I could give you money, a million? No, two millions, I give you two millions each. The total is four millions. How is it?”
“Oh dear, now you try to bribe us, huh?”
“No! This is not bribing, we exchange things, I give you money, and you delete the recording, how is it?”
“It still sounds like bribing for me.”

Mr. Lee looks like he is losing for words. He tries a little too hard to calm himself down. His hand is all over the place and his eyes keep on wandering the room, avoiding Seul-ri’s. In a split second though, I can see his eyes meets the guards’ behind us and gives out some sort of signal to him. The guard moves forward all of the sudden, trying to attack Seul-ri.

“Seul-ri, behind…”

It all happens too fast. I can see Seul-ri’s left leg on the air and hit the guard right on the upper chest, knocking him down unconscious, instantly.

“…you.”

I do not even get to finish my sentence. This person’s reflexes are still the best.

“Man that was close. Trying to play dirty, huh? Attack from behind? I’m lucky Yong-jae notice it quickly enough. Thanks pal!”

I can only smile at those words. Seriously, I am sure Seul-ri already notices the attack and the signal, for that black eye never leaves Mr. Lee’s face.

“First you try to swindle us, then you try to bribe us, and now you try…no, you already attack me. Seriously, you can be charge with three offenses! That’s one brave guy for you. Oh, by the way, did I tell you that all this are still recorded?”

My eyes widen upon hearing those words while Mr. Lee’s jaw drops.

“No way…you have got to be kidding me!”
“This is a new model. It can record things for a long time, you know. Technology is very cool.”

Seul-ri loves playing the opponent very much, and it seems like this person is enjoying the situation to the fullest right now.

“Let me tell you one thing, I love money, so much, but, I earn it. Even if you offer all the money in this world, I will never take it. Never. It’s because people like you exists in this world that people like us will never be free. I despise this very, very much.”

Seul-ri’s voice and face changed. It is more serious now.

“I won’t be happy if I don’t punch you now.”

Seul-ri put the cell phone back into the pocket. Holding both fists together, Seul-ri is ready to attack.

“Seul-ri, wait!”

Seul-ri stops, turning back to me.

“What?”
“I want to ask him something.”

Mr. Lee got his attention to me. So do Seul-ri. Upon meeting my eye, Mr. Lee smiles. Somehow, he manages to calm himself down.

“How do you know me? This is our first meeting together, but you are completely sure that I am Kim Yong-jae. Sorry, Seul-ri, I couldn’t help but to ask, it’s been bothering me.”
“It’s fine. Hey, I don’t even think of that! You really keep your composure, didn’t you?”
“I leave the anger thing to you. You’re better than me in it anyway.”
“That’s right. It’s just so true! Man, you really know me.”
“I take that as a compliment. Thanks!”
“Yeah, whatever. I won’t try to act all funny if I were you, Lee.”

Mr. Lee was just trying to walk away from the table, as he and Seul-ri are separated just by it. He has both his hands on his back as if he is holding something.

“What’s on your hand?”
“Nothing! See?”

Indeed, there is nothing at all. Seul-ri still feels suspicious maybe, for now this person is already standing next to Mr. Lee, one hand on his collar.

“You asked me how I know you, right. Kim Yong-jae.”
“Yes.”
“You have something we want.”
“And what is that?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”

Mr. Lee grins, and his elbow hit Seul-ri on the chest, trying to break free. Seul-ri balances the body from falling with one leg, while the other one find its way straight to Mr. Lee’s face, knocking him down.

“NOW!”

CHAPTER 1: THE DAY OUR WORLD DISAPPEAR -PART 4-

It’s almost 3PM on my watch. My heart just keeps on pounding hard. I really had a bad feeling about this. Seul-ri is still not here, and that adds to my nervousness. I try to calm down by taking a deep breath and close my eyes, focusing on myself. My late mother used to do this to calm herself down, and she said that it worked well on her. Somehow, I used to do it too, especially after she died 2 years ago. I am well alone now in this world, and Seul-ri is the only person I had. I could not imagine how it will be without the-exercise-loving person.

I open my eyes slowly and see Seul-ri coming from afar, heads shaking hard, what with the hand movement and all, like some kind of a dance or something. It might sound weird enough, but Seul-ri can fight or ‘exercise’ better with music, that sometimes it looks more like a dance battle rather than a fight. Indeed, it looked cool enough.

Today, Seul-ri wears an all-blue-and-black outfit, from the head to toe. My mother once said that Seul-ri is a cool kid with the cap on, yet would be very pretty without it. I bet that was why the cap never leaves the head. I myself never really see that face properly without the cap on, except if it dropped when Seul-ri ‘exercise’. I think that is some sort of comfort for Seul-ri, who has been alone in this world for many years before we met. This person has no family, they are all died in an accident, and Seul-ri is the only one who survived. The owner of the dojo near their home took Seul-ri in, and seeing the potential probably, teach some self defense, and become really strong indeed. The kind man passed away a few years ago, and Seul-ri moved out from the dojo, leave alone ever since, for the truth is that person is kicked out by the family, afraid Seul-ri might took over the dojo. Seriously, how can you expect a person like Seul-ri to take over a dojo? This person is too laidback to do such a job. Unless the job is promising enough, with money of course, then maybe Seul-ri will be interested. This person really loves money so much, that I prayed hard this friend of mine would not become a mafia or something, although the potential is there. Seul-ri had fought one of them before, and wins, for God’s sake, that I wonder how this person manages to come back alive. If you asked, there will be no answer, just the usual mysterious grin, and it really can make you feel cold all of the sudden. That is Seul-ri for you.

“Got a plaster?”

That was the usual question. I nod. That was the usual answer. Our meeting usually begins with this, especially if Seul-ri just finishes the usual ‘exercise’. There is a slight bruise at the left corner of the lip. Looks like a new one, perhaps. Seul-ri takes the plaster and covers the bruise immediately.

“Thanks.”
“How was it?”
“Awesome. I got to practice a new move.”
“Oh?”
“You know, like this.”

Seul-ri stands on one hand, and kicks the air with both legs, like a break dance movement. I am sure I saw this move somewhere before.

“Remember? It hit the guy right under the chin, causing him to fall instantly. What an awesome finish. I am sure glad! By the way, the song for the day is O from TVXQ.”
“Oh…”
“I learned that move when Junsu dance in one of the shows. It looked so cool when he did that, so I try to copy. Give some credits to him then!”
“No wonder your hand was all over the place when you came. So you were listening to that song just now, right?”
“You got me.”

Seul-ri really loves to copy dance movements and applied them all over while ‘exercising’, and usually the idol groups will be the ‘instructors’, for their dance movements are cool to use, as Seul-ri said. What’s more amazing is that this person can use them all up just after looking at it once! Yet the problem is it only will work when it is ‘exercise’ time, and the presence of music, of course.

The company is not really far from our neighborhood, so we just walk our way there. I wonder if Seul-ri is actually quite tired from the ‘exercise’ but probably the million dollars really manage to give an extra energy. In fact, the more we walk, the healthier this person is! Money really can drive a person for good.

“We’re here.”

I can notice the hint of excitement in Seul-ri’s voice. There are not many people around, probably because it is holiday today.

“A million dollar…boy, that’s a lot!”

What, this person has count it already? Oh dear…

“Come on, let’s go!”

Seul-ri already moves to the entrance happily and shows the guard the letter. He nods a bit and opens the big glass door to the building. The building is quite small than I expected, maybe because this is just a small branch of the company. Besides, there is no use having a big building around, this neighborhood is quite small and already packed with houses.

“Yong-jae, what are you waiting for, come on!”

Seul-ri has already step inside, the guard a few steps ahead, ready to show the way, perhaps. Boy, this person really can hardly wait! I smile a bit at the guard as I got in. He has a strong, well-built body. His face is quite hard, the eyes are dark brown and small. The hair is darker and short, a military cap on top of the head. I guess he is thirty-something, or more. He replies my smile with a friendly one yet somehow, I can notice that his eyes are not actually smiling. The bad feeling came back to me but as I walk on I try to push it away, so that Seul-ri will not notice anything. Too late though.

“What’s wrong?”
“No…nothing at all! Why do you ask?”

I put on a smile and try to act normal, but I momentarily forgot, this person is really good in reading me.

“Don’t acts like a fool; you know your face tells all.”
“Oh…really?”

Seul-ri stops walking and stares at my face, there is something in the pair of black eyes that make me speechless. Somehow, it calms me down. Seul-ri let out a sigh, put an arm on my shoulders, and starts to walk, pushing me along.

“Don’t worry, I’m here.”

There is nothing I could say upon hearing that. Really, I could never win against Seul-ri, be it in study or argument. No need to say fighting, this person is already on a class of its own. Also, this person just has a very good brain. Imagine getting a full mark in Math when you skipping class for 3 months straight or the highest mark in class in History when all you are doing is sleeping soundly when the teacher is teaching in front. Many people doubt it, saying Seul-ri was cheating or something, but try asking some questions and this person will answer it straight away. Yet the teachers are not surprised though, they might already know about this all along. If Seul-ri does not overslept on the last day of the exam, The-Invisible-Han might be the top student in the whole school! Who would have guessed that, seriously? Sometimes I am jealous of Seul-ri; this person got almost everything I wanted in this world, yet I know being jealous would not bring me anywhere, so I just drop it off. Besides, if you look real close, there is no happiness in those black eyes, and it hurts me enough each time I saw it. Seul-ri might be hiding something from me, but I do not mind much. As long as this person is fine, I would not mind anything at all. Anything.

Seul-ri take his arm off my shoulders when we arrives at a room, the name on the door says The President, Lee Jung Hwan. Somehow, Seul-ri cannot help but to stare at the name. The guard knocks the door, goes inside for a moment, and come out smiling, opening the door to us. Again, his eyes do not smile at me, but look so cold, that it makes me shivers a bit.

“Finally, I have been expecting you, Kim Yong-jae.”

The president, Mr.Lee extends his hands to me. He is not a tall guy, just a bit taller than me, perhaps. He is quite chubby on the face, with a square spectacle on. The eyes are so small I can hardly see it open when he smiles. Still, with the white shirt and red tie, I can tell he is not one to be taken lightly, he might be just in his mid-thirties. The room is spacious, stacks of papers arranged neatly on the table, and the combination of black, grey, white and brown on the furnitures and the wall gives off a powerful aura of a president. I can feel his presence surrounding us, like the dark colour of the wall, reflecting upon the table, back to man in front. I take the hand and shake it a bit. I wonder though, how did he know I am Yong-jae? Of course I could not ask him that, so I just keep silent.

“Have a seat, both of you.”

The president keeps on smiling that it makes me calm down a bit. He looks like a nice guy, and smart too, with his spectacle on. We both take a seat on the chairs but Seul-ri remains standing, the eyes fix at Mr. Lee. Still smiling, he asks.

“Is there anything wrong, I wonder?”
“Indeed. There is.”

There is something in Seul-ri’s voice that makes both of us exchange looks. It sounds so cold, and it reminds me of our first meeting near the field, the exact same feeling, for it almost left me frozen here on the chair. I saw Seul-ri got angry a lot of times already, but this is different, totally different. For a moment I think I could see a deep anger in the eyes, ready to explode. Why though? I could not think of any reason but I think it has to do somehow with Mr. Lee.

“May I ask what is it, then?”
“Tell me, just who the hell are you?”

That question makes Mr. Lee laugh hard. Indeed, that is a weird one to ask. The look on Seul-ri’s face hardens and suddenly Seul-ri hit the table with a hand, causing a loud noise, and stops Mr. Lee’s laugh.

“Don’t play around. Answer me.”

Mr. Lee leans forward, both elbows on the table, hands supporting the chin, his eyes looking straight into Seul-ri’s.

“I am Lee Jung Hwan, the president for this branch.”
“No, you’re not.”

CHAPTER 1: THE DAY OUR WORLD DISAPPEAR -PART 3-

“Welcome back to the world, Yong-jae.”

I opened my eyes slowly and saw T.I standing beside me, leaning against the wall, hands in the pocket. I was lying on a bed and everything was very white. This is…

“The hospital.”

This person can really read me.

“You faint suddenly after a whole lot of crying. It’s because of stress, and your body can’t hold the pressure. The doctor says this, of course. There’s no way I could come up with the explanation anyway.”

The clock on the wall in front of me shows 9PM. So I had been out of this world for about…5 hours?

“I called your home. I found the number in your wallet. Your mother sounds worried enough. She said she’ll come after work, around 10PM maybe. That’s an hour to go.”

And this person has been here for all this time?

“You got a good punch. I knew it from the very first look. The last one was the best though. It caught me by surprise. I really had underestimated your ability. It’s been a long time since I last felt so excited with a punch-only fight. That’s a great exercise. Thanks a whole lot, Yong-jae. Guess I owe you one then.”

This person…

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Who are you, really?”
“What? You lost your memory or something?”

“This…is the most feared student in this whole school or maybe this whole neighborhood.”
“This person is very, very dangerous.”
“Thus, we are all referring to the owner of this desk as a ‘person’. No he, she, or whatever. It’s ‘a person’ or the name, The-Invisible-Han, or T.I.Han or just T.I., got it?”
“No he, she, or whatever.”
“It’s ‘a person’”
“Stay away from this person.”

“Who are you, really?”
“I better go and call the doctor.”
“No, you don’t understand. I’m fine.”

“No he, she, or whatever.”
“It’s ‘a person’”

“Ok, I got it. I’ll just call the doctor, alright?”

This person…

“Just stay relax, ok? I’ll get the doctor.”

T.I starts to move.

“No he, she, or whatever.”

A person…

“What’s your name?”

T.I turned back.

“What?”

“I said, what’s your name?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“You know mine.”
“So?”
“It’s always good to know your opponent first.”

There was a grin.

“That’s my line.”
“What’s your name then?”
“Is it necessary?”
“It is.”
“And why the hell is that?”
“No reason.”
“No reason yet necessary?”
“Yes.”
“You’re an interesting person, you know that?”
“I had no idea.”

This time, T.I laughed, a hand smacking the forehead. I wonder what was funny. Yet all I see now is a beautiful stranger, with a grin, looking at me straight in the eye.

“You know what, nobody ever asked me that. So it kind of caught me by surprise. In fact, I never expect that question from anybody. People don’t really want to care what it is anyway.”

This person…is just like me.

“I don’t think you get it. Just forget whatever I said just now.”
“I do.”
“You do?”
“It’s the same as me. Nobody ever asked me that either. I doubt it if anybody ever remember my name at first place. You’re the first to do so.”

There was a look on the face, indescribable.

“No way, what do they call you then?”
“Shrimp, new kid…whatever.”
“To me it’s T.I, a person, devil…whatever.”
“You’re not evil.”
“I said, ‘devil’”
“You’re a nice person.”
“WHAT?!”
“You’re here. When I passed out, you’re here.”
“What, you expect me to leave you just like that? I’m not that heartless, you know.”

“I know. That’s why I’m saying you’re nice.”
“You’re weird.”
“I take that as a compliment. Thanks.”

T.I laughed again. This time it is harder than before, as if the head is going to bang against the door. This person can really laugh.

“You’re funny. Seriously, you are. I haven’t laugh like that for years. You’re making me all human again, for God’s sake.”

Turning back to face me, there is an expression on the face, sincere.

“Thanks.”

T.I faces the door again, ready to move out when suddenly the person stops, and said it.

“Seul-ri. Han Seul-ri.”

The voice sounds shaky enough. There, at the door, stands a person, nobody ever, ever wants to understand and I vow, right there and then, to not be one of them.

“That’s a nice name, Seul-ri. I’ll remember that.”

Seul-ri moves out, without even turning back to me, but I swear I could almost see tears from the eyes hidden under the cap.

I was isolated even more at school after that incident. Somebody must have saw me punching the guy and the presence of The-Invisible-Han must have freaked them all out. Yet it did not affect me as much as before. In fact, I felt at ease, for nobody ever tried to bully me. So I am quite happy with it. I did not see Seul-ri around though. After that last time in the hospital, I did not saw that person anymore. Being The-Invisible-Han, Seul-ri really knows how to disappear. It was not long almost when suddenly everybody at school was reminded again, the legend was never gone.

It was the third period of class that day, and the teacher was called sick, so it was free class for us. Everybody else was busy chatting and having fun. Well, that has nothing to do with me anyway. So I just sat on my desk, finishing the homework when the door opened, and the class fell silent. I looked up to see Seul-ri, standing at the back door; the appearance is just like the way we first met, though the expression is lighter, not really dangerous as before. Ignoring the eyes and everybody else in the class, Seul-ri moves on to me, a little tap on the shoulder, took the seat beside me, and the usual grin on the face, saying,

“Long time no see, Yong-jae.”

That’s just Seul-ri alright.

“Indeed, it’s been quite sometime now, Seul-ri.”

The grin widens.

“Got a plaster?”

I nodded. I found my friend already. No doubt about it. Somehow, I got the feeling that this person next to me also felt the same way.

“So where have you been all this time?”
“I’m doing a bit of exercise with a few guys from the next neighborhood.”
“Fighting?”
“No, no, that sounds bad enough. I’m exercising.”
“Yeah, whatever you say, Seul-ri.”

After a Long Journey~

Hi! How are you guys doing so far? (reminds me of a part before the second verse in Kiss the Baby Sky by TVXQ…haha!) Hope you’ll be doing great! ^^

It's been a loooooong time since I last post here..seriously. Well..can't blame me though...life's hard at the moment...T_T What with the tasks, lack of water, lack of money, and my precious laptop is off for repair!! T_T Still...life must go on...^^

Just so you know, I'm now a university student! (hardly believe it myself, really...haha!) I'm officially a freshman (shouldn't it be freshwoman? LOL.) of Universiti Malaysia Sabah Kampus Antarabangsa Labuan! (UMS-KAL) I'm studying about E-commerce so going to spend more time on computer to study...(yeah, right!) No, I really going to study! *sigh* Guys, do give this poor girl support to study...o_o"

About the story…the title (for now maybe…but might just stick with it) is ‘Literally’. Somehow I really like the word! Literally…for most of the things happening is for real, and the characters mean it, literally. Haha! Seriously, the title itself inspires me much! What do you think? ^^

I'll be posting more updates of Literally soon so do give comments! It'll be great to hear from you! ^^ Pardon my bad English...I really need a total advice to improve it...*sigh*

Till then, hope you guys enjoy the stories, leave up some comments, and wish me luck! May you guys be happy always! Peace!! ^^