The field was huge. Not as big as the field at Nationals, but bigger than any field at a school that I’ve seen before. I was looking at the field from the top of a set of bleachers that looked over it, they ran the whole length of the field. I inhaled deeply and jogged down the bleachers, tip toeing so I wouldn’t trip.

As I reached the bottom, I threw the ball to the ground and kicked it forward, chasing after it and kicking it again. I continued to dribble the ball and as I did, my skill came back to me. I started to dance around the ball as I dribbled, gliding across the field with the ball never more than a metre ahead of me. I tapped the ball with the insides and outside of my feet and I knew that my body was starting to perform my special move without my command.

~~~I was the Black Butterfly. In Canada, I had created a special move on the Nationals team that scored the winning goal and got us the gold medal. I would start by dribbling the ball, then I would begin to glide around the ball as I dribbled, making it impossible for an opponent to steal the ball from me. Just as I am in shooting distance of the net, I would roll the ball back quickly into the air behind me, and flip backwards, sending my foot hurling into the air to kick the ball before it hits the ground. The move was described by my friend Katie as a “360-moonwalk- soccer-ball-orbit-high-kick-flippy-”, and that wasn’t actually too far from what it looked like.

I looked like I was floating above the ground as I dribbled, which earned me the “butterfly” title, the “black” part was because my hair is long and black, and fell in long curls around me as I performed my special move. I watched a video of it once, and the title “Black Butterfly” was a fitting title. I looked breathtaking as I executed each movement.~~~

As I began to glide around the ball, I relaxed and became more comfortable with the movements, gaining more confidence as I continued towards the net. The net continued to get closer and I contemplated the perfect moment to flip. Without a moment’s notice, I sent the ball into the air and threw my weight backwards. My foot soared high and hit the ball mid-air, sending it like a bullet into the net.

I looked at the stars as I heard the satisfying swoosh of the net, telling me I had made a goal. I giggled into the night and stared at the stars in awe, admiring the millions of lights above me.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

I heard somebody clapping behind me and I jumped to my feet to see somebody standing in the bleachers, “Uncle Min?” I started to jog towards the bleachers and the person stepped down into the field. Once the moonlight hit his face, I saw that it wasn’t Min, but it was the boy with the cleats from the cafeteria, staring at me in awe.

I took a few steps back, surprised to see a boy I’d never met before. He matched my steps and moved forward, keeping the same distance between us. I couldn’t help but think it was funny the way my first instinct was to back up, and how he was keeping the distance even. I let out a small laugh and stopped moving, and he stopped too. I couldn’t hold in the string of laughter that escaped my lungs and I held my stomach as I controlled my laughter. The boy looked at me curiously and was trying not to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, his head tilted to the side as he smiled down at me.

To be honest, I didn’t even know why I laughed, I presumed it was just my nerves, “I really don’t know, I just…. Felt like laughing,” I hugged my elbows as a restrained giggle left my mouth. The boy looked at the ground and chuckled, taking one more step towards me.

“So, funny girl, what was that move you just did there? I’ve seen it before, and I was wondering where you learned it…” the boy looked extremely curious and intrigued, he seemed genuinely interested in the “black butterfly”.

“It’s… um… a move I made in a game a while ago,” his eyes widened and he smiled from ear to ear. He laughed a little bit to himself then took another step towards me.

“So… That’s your jersey? Like, you didn’t get it online or anything?” he looked like a little boy in a candy store, I wasn’t sure why he was so interested in my jersey.

“My jersey? No I didn’t get it online, it’s mine from my team in Canada,” my mood was spoiled a little, I missed my team. I didn’t want to leave in the middle of the season, but I had no choice. Without any relatives in Canada, I had to move to Seoul after my mother had her accident.

The boy smiled (he was already smiling.. so he just smiled bigger) and leaned forward slightly, “Can you teach it to me?” the boy looked so excited, almost like he was a toddler being handed a new toy. I didn’t know why I was comparing him to a little boy, considering he looked older than me by a year or two.

“T-teach you? The black butterfly?’ he nodded eagerly and I continued to stutter, “I-I-I don’t really know how I do it…. I just… do it,” I looked to the ground, slightly ashamed that I couldn’t help the boy, he seemed so nice.

The boy didn’t look disappointed at all, though. In fact, he still seemed extremely happy. He laughed again to himself, jeez, he laughs a lot, and scratched the back of his neck. His eyes squinted shut from his huge smile, causing two upside-down crescent moons to form on his face. He has really nice eyes….. SHUT UP what are you thinking?!  He opened his eyes and looked back up at me, “Do wanna play then? I love soccer, and it seems that nobody here is enough of a challenge for me, but if I was playing against you my money would be on you 100%! Plus, we’re both wearing the same cleats,” I looked down at my cleats, surprised that he even noticed, “so it would be a waste if we didn’t play just one game,” he continued to smile brightly down at me as we stood in the middle of the empty field.

“So… you’re trying to tell me… you want to play against me because you think it’s destiny and you want to lose?” I was starting to think he was a fun guy, pretty goofy, but definitely fun.

He scoffed and crossed his arms, “Who said I want to lose? I just said it would be a fair match,” his smile had become contagious and was now forming on my own lips.

“I do recall you saying if you played against me, you’d bet on me,” I’d had my arms crossed too, and it turned into a playful standoff between the strange boy and myself.

“Well,” he said, “I’ll put my money where my mouth is. Since I think you’re going to win.. Winner buys the loser ramen… Deal?” He laughed and threw his head back as he chuckled.

I playfully punched his shoulder and looked at him with mock disapproval, “Aniyo aniyo aniyo, the loser buys the winner ramen!” I was surprising myself with how comfortable I felt with him, I’ve never warmed up to a stranger so quickly. I was normally really weary with new people. Maybe he’s just a really good guy, is this the universe’s way of telling me we’re gonna be friends?  

The boy laughed again and nodded, “Okay then, loser buys ramen,” he reached forward and held his hand out to me and I took it. With a firm shake, the boy introduced himself, “I’m Cha Eun Gyeol, what’s your name?” his smile seemed to literally glow, the moonlight bounced off his white teeth, distracting me from his words. He nodded slightly to get my attention and I snapped out of it.

“Oh!” I laughed slightly and gave his hand another shake, “I’m Brooke, or,” I pronounced my name in a Korean accent, “ Byon Beul Euk,” my name was English, but I was able to change my name slightly so I could still be called ‘Brooke’ without messing up anything on the papers when I transferred.

Eungyeol laughed and took his hand back, scratching the back of his head and looked around at the field before jumping slightly, like he just remembered something important, “Oh! Right!” he reached into his pocket and took out a cell phone. I wondered if he was texting somebody, but instead he lifted the phone up high, showing that he had the camera open, and positioned his arm so we would both be in the picture. He smiled brightly and childishly at the phone, and I tried to smile as brightly as he did, but I was sure it was impossible to look as happy as he did. He took the photo and brought his arm back down, typing something.

“What are you writing?”I leaned over his shoulder to read the status he was making with the photo; Friends can be found anywhere, even on the field! Never be afraid to say hello! He posted the photo and I saw that the photo actually looked really good, we both looked really happy, “You’ll have to send me that photo, it’s really good!” I laughed a bit and ran towards the net to grab the soccer ball, I turned around to see Eungyeol already in the middle of the field, bending down and touching his toes. I guess I should’ve stretched before I started playing… Oh well my run was enough of a warm-up!

I threw the ball to the ground and lightly jogged towards him, dribbling the ball between my feet, “You ready?” I asked once I had gotten within a few metres of him.

He smirked and stretched his arms in front of his body and took an offensive position, Ha! His mistake! I tapped the ball to the left causing him to spring forward, but I immediately threw my weight the other way and swept the ball towards me, taking off in a sprint towards the other net. I could hear him laughing behind me and his laughing got closer, so I started the ‘Black Butterfly’, gliding around the ball as Eungyeol tried to find a way to steal the ball. I focused on my movements, on the slide of my foot, the turn of my ankle, each time my foot came in contact with the ball. I was nearing the net and prepared for the kick. I brought the ball between my ankles and flipped it up, turning my body, using the momentum of my turn to launch myself in the air and kick the ball.

Hitting the ground with a loud thud I realized that Eungyeol had stopped a little ways back and was staring at me again, smiling that dorky smile of his.

“Cha Eun Gyeol!” I called to him, after paying attention to my movements during the ‘Black Butterfly’, I was almost positive I understood how to teach it. I must’ve sounded a lot more urgent cuz he sprinted towards me and fell to the ground beside me.

“Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?” he scanned his eyes over my body worriedly, looking for any injuries and I just laughed at his concern.

“What? What’s so funny? You know, you laugh a lot! I hardly can tell if something is actually funny or if it’s just a habit of yours!” he fell back and sat cross-legged watching me curiously.

I continued laughing, “It’s a bit of both, actually. But I didn’t call you over cuz I’m hurt,” I smirked at him, excited to tell him that I figured out the ‘Black Butterfly’, he just continued to look at me curiously, “I called you over because…” he leaned forward slightly in anticipation, “I think I figured out the ‘Black Butterfly’”

Another excited smile played on his face and I smiled too, excited to try to teach my move for the first time.