ChangMin wasn't surprised when he saw EunMi walking down to the track behind the school during their next class, which was physical education. For their mid-term exam, they were just running 1.5 km on the track, which was no challenge for ChangMin at all.

Halfway through, ChangMin was fifteen meters ahead of every other student, and he had hardly broken a sweat. Just as he was about to take on a third lap, a blur sped past him, which ChangMin recognized as Choi EunMi.

"What the...?" was all that came out of ChangMin's mouth before he immediately broke out into a sprint, quickly regaining distance that was never lost in the first place. But as soon as he passed EunMi, she quickened her pace, passing him once more. The cycle repeated endlessly, and the two had soon overlapped the other students.

Twice.

It was the last lap, and both were giving everything they had. By now, the only reason they were still able to run was because of their sheer will. Five meters from the finish line, they lengthened their strides, practically shoulder-to-shoulder, fighting for the inside of the track.

And just like that, their 1.5 km race was over.

They both slowed to a jog, then walked off the track, catching their breath. Between pants, EunMi looked at ChangMin and said,

"Wow... You're really good...you know?"

Exhausted himself, ChangMin only glanced at the girl next to him. As she sat on the ground to stretch out her legs, ChangMin wondered how such a small girl could have kept up with him. He, himself, was 185 cm tall, so his speed was reasonable.

But her speed was just insane.

"Coach," ChangMin called, turning to their P.E. instructor. "What was my time?"

The coach looked at his stopwatch, then back to ChangMin, saying, "Three minutes, twenty-eight seconds."

'A new school record,' ChangMin congratulated himself, then asked aloud, nodding towards EunMi, "And hers?"

"Same," the coach simply replied.

"What?!" ChangMin yelled, forgetting about his current fatigue. "Are you sure?!"

The coach nodded, smiling happily and answered, "Absolutely. You crossed the line at the same time. I'm proud of you two."

ChangMin bit his lip and turned to glare at EunMi, but she wasn't there. Confused, ChangMin looked at the track and spotted her jogging next to another student.

"What is she doing?" he asked himself, frowning a little.

"EunMi-sshi, you don't have to run with me... You must be exhausted. You really should rest," SoonLi urged, knowing EunMi probably thought she was too slow. But EunMi kept jogging at her side, encouraging her,

"It's okay. I have loads of energy!"

"That you do," SoonLi laughed, suddenly feeling she could finish the remainder of this exam.

SoonLi managed to achieve a new personal record of eight minutes and thirty-five seconds, thanking EunMi for helping her do so. EunMi shook her head and said, "No, no! You did it all on your own!"

EunMi was unaware, however, of the glare pointed at her by none other than Shim ChangMin.

 'She thinks she's all that... Well, she's not. She's annoying, she's stupid, and she smiles too much.'

ChangMin's thoughts were cut short when the coach told the class they would be playing a game of soccer for the rest of the class. After the teams were divided by last name, ChangMin walked up to the center of the field, since no one else wanted to take charge of the kick-off. ChangMin was about to consider going easy on the other team, but immediately destroyed the thought when EunMi also came to the center-field--smiling. The coach felt a strange vibe rising in the atmosphere, and he glanced between the two students before asking,

"Heads or t--?"

"Heads," ChangMin cut the coach off, not moving his glare from EunMi.

"All right," the coach replied, "EunMi, you're tails."

He flipped the coin and caught it with ease, telling the two,

"Tails. The game starts on your mark, EunMi."

ChangMin narrowed his gaze even more, and the already-cold winter air suddenly took a dive in the temperature. EunMi took the ball under the sole of her right foot and kicked it up a few centimeters, bouncing it on the top of her shoe, and not once did she take her eyes off her opponent. Suddenly, she kicked the ball up in the air and made a roundhouse kick with her left foot, sending it to the other end of the field, barely missing ChangMin's ear. But ChangMin didn't flinch, and EunMi just continued smiling at him.

But it wasn't a friendly smile.

It seemed that in no time, EunMi had caught up to where the ball landed, and was now dribbling it towards the goal. ChangMin was close behind, and he was about to steal when EunMi made a smooth backpass to SoonLi, who was surprised when the ball made contact with her foot. Feeling all eyes on her, SoonLi clumsily dribbled the ball downfield, trying to avoid oncoming players from the other team. When two of them were about to close in on her, a voice rang loudly,

"SoonLi-sshi, pass it to me!"

SoonLi scanned the field and found EunMi waving her arms around. But she was on the other side of the field, so how could she possibly make the pass?

As if reading her mind, EunMi yelled, "It's all right! Just trust me!"

A student on the other team slid on the ground in an attempt to take the ball, but SoonLi hastily kicked it away, hoping it would reach EunMi. Luckily, the ball was heading towards her, but a gust of wind suddenly swept the ball up in mid-air--going straight to ChangMin.

ChangMin jumped up to trap the ball, but out of nowhere, EunMi came cart-wheeling by, tapping the ball and trapping it with her other foot, landing on her feet with the utmost grace. In one swift motion, she kicked the ball to a student named Kim HeeChul and yelled,

"HeeChul-sshi, take the shot!"

Noticing there was a game going on, HeeChul looked down to find the soccer ball at his feet, and lazily tapped it, making it roll ever-so-slightly into the goal post. EunMi clapped, giving the aloof boy a thumbs up, and then went to SoonLi, complimenting her on what a good pass she had made.

ChangMin, however, was furious. He stomped over to the goalkeeper by the name of Lee JinKi, and shouted,

"What the heck was that?! He was standing right there, and you didn't even try to stop him!"

"I'm sorry!" JinKi apologized, wincing at the other's tone. But ChangMin would have none of it.

"If you were really sorry, you would've stopped that idiot excuse of a student from making such a pathetic shot that managed to get past you!"

"It's just a game..." JinKi whispered, immediately regretting it.

"This is not just a game!" ChangMin quickly spat, then turned around, heading back to the center-field.

By the end of the class, EunMi's team had scored seven goals with their teamwork--administered by herself, of course--and ChangMin's team had decided to give up long ago. They had let their "leader" go into a fit of insanity and just watched him run around by himself in an attempt to steal the soccer ball as if all his pride were in it.

ChangMin was frustrated. He was annoyed. He was angry. He was confused.

How could all his hard work be put to waste in one day? He was the best. He had always been the best.

So what if no one wanted to be his friend? They'd all be kissing his feet when he was at the top of the world in the future anyway.

So what if he'd only been getting three hours of sleep since the sixth grade? He still got perfect scores.

Everything was perfect until Choi EunMi showed up. He was the smartest student in the entire school until she came along, proving she was equal to ChangMin in everything. For so long, ChangMin was the only student in his school to have straight, perfect scores in every class. For so long, everyone paled in comparison to ChangMin. For so long, ChangMin had been at the top of the mountain, but now he had to share it with someone else.

EunMi didn't take away ChangMin's pride.

She took away his identity.

Ah, I feel terrible now. This is a bad ending, but it gets better in chapter three. I promise!

My favourite part here is how the start of the game is tense and every minute needs so much attention, but after the first goal, the rest of the game passes by like it was nothing at all. Hahaha. I feel bad for making ChangMin suffer in this chapter.

Special thank you to:

anonimgirl
minniebubble12

Thank you so much for subscribing! And I've decided to reply to your comments here~

@anonimgirl: Thank you very much! I hope you liked this chapter! ^^

@minniebubble12: Pahaha! Your comment made me laugh so much! If I did own ChangMin, I'd definitely lend him to you. Hahaha. As long as you return him! In good condition, like you said~ LOL

Please look forward to the next chapter! ♥