Bickering Roomies

Autumn came with a plethora of colors. The mountainside school was breathtakingly beautiful with arrays of orange leaves in the trees. The usually cold mountains now sparkled with promise of a new year. The school grounds were cleaned thoroughly and students enjoyed leisurely strolls across the beautiful gardens. 

"It's so beautiful here!" Jade squealed as he tried to catch one of the orange leaves with his paws. 

"It sure is," KJ agreed. "Glad you're enjoying the view." 

"Same cannot be said for your younger self though," Jade said distractedly as he tried to catch another leaf. KJ  sighed as he saw his younger counterpart trying to hoist and throw Ms. Sohee to the ground. 

Jiwon tried very hard to attack but the woman was too darn strong! He tried to lift her over his shoulder but she would not even budge. 

"What did I tell you?" Sohee snapped. "Hold the waist, pull underneath the arms and hoist!" 

"I'm trying, but you're too heavy!" Jiwon panted. His words were met with a flick to the forehead. 

"Are you calling me fat?" Sohee exclaimed. 

"No, just heavy!" 

Another flick. It was a common routine for the student-teacher pair. They bickered back and forth constantly but held immense respect for each other. For the past two years, Sohee had been training the boy every morning without fail. 

Jiwon too kept up with his end of the bargain to train everyday with Ms. Sohee. Even though he was not as strong as her yet, his skills grew considerably over the past two years. He was able to take down opponents double the size of him and yet, defeating Ms. Sohee in a one to one fight had become an aim for him. 

"Another round!" Ms. Sohee ordered. Jiwon nodded, determined to defeat her. Instead he ended up being thrown on the ground every time. 

"You've still got a long way to go, little boy!" Sohee boasted. 

Jiwon cursed himself. Someday, he vowed. Someday. 

….. 

Jiwon finished his morning training and returned to his room. After being tossed and thrown to the ground for two years, his body did not hurt as bad as it used to in the beginning. 

He was still sharing a room with the nerd Hyun Jung. Even after two years of living together, the roommates did not get along. 

Hyun Jung was too focused on his studies and did not bother to keep the room clean. He was mostly alone and kept to himself all the time. He had a one sided rivalry with Jiwon, whom he considered to be a rich brat who took advantage of all the privileges he had. 

Jiwon, on the other hand, hated Hyun Jung's irresponsible behavior towards their room. Since Jiwon has OCD, he had to clean up all the mess by himself. Also, unlike before he was extremely popular in school now. The stigma of getting in through a recommendation slowly washed off as the students and teachers began to admire Jiwon's natural talents. 

He was a gifted musician with the ability to play the piano, guitar, cello and violin. He was also adept in singing and songwriting skills which he honed religiously. Moreover, his daily training with Ms. Sohee also made him good at sports. Sports schools even offered him early placements but he declined them all. Instead he wants to focus on music. 

Ms. Sohee showed no preferential treatment towards him but that was not needed. His teachers praised him in front of her. Even though she never showed it to him, she was proud of how far he had come. 

Hyun Jung was jealous of all the attention Jiwon got. He himself was from a humble background and had to work his way to the top. But Jiwon was so naturally gifted that it was impossible to catch up to him. 

The differences in their personalities caused them to clash many times. Jiwon even wanted to change rooms, but the school authorities said he must remain at the assigned room for two years at least. 

When Jiwon entered the room, Hyun Jung was at his desk. The entire floor was scattered with books. Even his desk was littered with notes and pens. Some of the litter even reached Jiwon's desk. 

"Can't you be tidier?" Jiwon scolded him. Hyun Jung ignored him.

"Hey!" Jiwon shouted at him. "I'm talking to you!"

"I'm studying," Hyun Jung said curtly. "Stop yelling."

"At least keep the room clean!"

"I have a lot of notes to read!" Hyun Jung retorted. "A little mess won't kill you!"

"But you're littering my side of the desk too!" Jiwon shot back. He reached over and shoved away Hyun Jung's books.

"You don't even use the desk!" Hyun Jung cried. "You rarely study!"

"Yeah, but I still prefer to keep my desk clean and my belongings organized," Jiwon argued. "You can't just make a mess out of other people's stuff!"

"Stop nagging!" Hyun Jung pushed him. Jiwon managed to keep steady.

"The hell man?" Jiwon retorted, shoving him back. Hyun Jung stumbled backwards and fell on his back.

The latter got up and charged at Jiwon, attempting to tackle him to the ground but Jiwon was faster. He held Hyun Jung's waist and heaved him over his head, slamming him on the floor. Hyun Jung writhed in pain as he held his arm.

"What is going on here?" a voice bellowed from the entrance. It was Sohee.

She looked from Jiwon to Hyun Jung, who was squirming in pain.

"Ms. Sohee, he attacked me first!" Jiwon said immediately. "I only told him to keep the desk clean and he pushed me and-"

The rest of his words were shut down by Sohee's fiery glare. 

"I don't care who started it," she said dangerously. "But both of you acted like immature brats. I'm putting the two of you in detention. You two will be cleaning the trophy house for the rest of the week after your classes."

"Ma'am I may have broken a bone in my right hand," Hyun Jung said, writhing in pain.

"Use your other hand then!" she snapped. "Go to the hospital wing and get it checked. But that still won't excuse you from detention. I don't want people to say that I'm raising a bunch of immature imbeciles here!"

With one last glare, she left the room, leaving the two boys to inwardly curse each other.

"It's all your fault!" Jiwon exclaimed. "If only you hadn't pushed me!"

"Well, you were the one who started to nitpick on unnecessary things while I was studying!" Hyun Jung fired. "You're so obsessed with cleanliness! It's pathetic."

They kept on bickering till Ms. Sohee returned and increased their punishment to two weeks. Only after that did they stop.

Only one more month, Jiwon fumed. One more month and I will be rid of him for good.