Note: Hi readers!! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. So finally we get some progress in the songkim relationship (or no?) with this chapter. In this chapter we will get a cameo appearance by some of the boys of Produce 101, but nothing big so if you are a fan don't get your hopes up, also I was in such a hurry to publish the previous chapter that I forgot to thank Hipsterian who helped me when I was stuck, thank you so much!!! I hope you enjoy!!!

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After 90 minutes of the game we were still tight 0-0, my teammates were betting their life on the field of play, while I was sentenced to be watching from the bench. The pain of not been able to be on the field with them was excruciating, I felt so useless and incompetent, I didn’t know if Jinu hyung was going to forgive me if we lose the game, but I was sure as hell I wasn’t going to be able to forgive myself. After the 3 complementary minutes were over it was decided that we were going to penalty shootouts to decide the winner.

Coach Tablo gather to team to decide the 5 warriors who were going to be carrying the weight of the team on their shoulders. Picking 4 was rather easy, Hanbin, Jiwon, Jinhwan and of course Jinwoo hyung were prepared and had the right state of mind for such a task, but coach was struggling to find the final warrior. If only I wasn’t been punished we wouldn’t be facing such a crossroad, we might even haven’t gotten into this difficult position like the one we were dealing at that moment, maybe we would have won the game before the 90 minutes were over. I was already picturing Jinu’s devastated reaction after losing the game when Hoony offer himself for the role of our fifth shooter. “Are you sure you can do this?” I asked him while he just scoffed at me “Please... Besides, Jinu hyung will never forgive you if we lose the game, you will to thank me later.”

A common strategy for a penalty shootout is to choose your best two players to shoot the first and last penalty, you can’t afford to miss the first one because that’s going to sink your team’s spirit for the rest of the round and then usually the last penalty is the one that decides it all so putting your best player at the end will guarantee that you get that final and sometimes vital point.Coach Tablo decided that we were going with Hanbin for the first penalty, Jinhwan for the second one, Jiwon for the third one, Jinu the fourth one and Hoony was going to take the huge responsibility to shoot the fifth one. At that moment I realized that Hoony was much better that what I have imagined, it shouldn’t come as a surprise, he is our most valuable player after all, now he will prove his worth once again by playing a double role of goalkeeper and shooter.

After flipping the coin it was decided that Cheonggu High School was going to be the first one to shoot. The forward player Kang Euigeon was nervously standing in front of the goal, Hoony’s piercing eyes were staring at the ball and we were standing behind the shooter forming a barrier with our arms around each other, except for Jinu that was holding my hand instead, I could feel his nervousness by how tight he was squeezing my hand.

Then we heard the referee’s whistle and Euigeon shoot so hard that the ball flew over the goal saving us from the first point against us, we all started to celebrated and Jinu hugged me with happiness beyond words and then we prepared ourselves for the next shooter. Hanbin was stretching the muscles of his neck and studying the goal, then the referee’s whistle, he shooted to the goal and the goalkeeper Lai Guan Lin was fooled by his kick and threw himself to wrong side of the box, unfortunately the ball didn’t enter for just 2 centimeters and passed outside of the goal instead. The audience could not believe what was happening at the moment, the most trustworthy shooters on each team had just failed. Hanbin with eyes full of tears came to join us and Jinu hyung hugged him and told him it was fine, we still had 4 more tries.

Cheonggu 0/4 - 0/4 Anmin

It was time for the second shooter on each team, Park Jihoon was all jumpy in front of the goal, then the referee’s whistle was heard and he shoot throwing the ball to the left while Hoony tried to catch it going to the right side instead letting the ball hit the net. At that point you could cut the tension with a knife, then it was Jinhwan’s turn to be in front of the goal, he was murmuring or maybe praying before the referee blow his whistle, then he shooted with so much strength that even though the goalkeeper guessed the trajectory of the ball he couldn’t stop it. At that moment you could hear a huge sigh of relieved among us, we were still alive.

Cheonggu 1/3 - 1/3 Anmin

Now it was the third shooters turn, Lee Daehwi was the type of person that looked innocent outside the court, but at that moment if looks could kill Hoony would be death by now. The referee whistled for him to shoot and the ball burst against the net, Hoony was left with no time to think. Now it was Jiwon against Guan Lin and in the meantime Jinu had his eyes closed because he couldn’t take watching anymore, after the whistle was heard Jiwon shooted and Jinu opened his eyes when he heard us celebrating, we were still breathing.

Cheonggu 2/2 - 2/2 Anmin

The fourth shooter for Cheonggu was Kim Jaehwan and just by looking at his confident posture you could tell how sure he was of himself, the referee blow his whistle and Jaehwan shoot was no joke, the ball diverted its trajectory midway misleading Hoony that was too late to save us. Jinu hyung was standing now in front of the goal and my hand was feeling cold and empty without him, after hearing the whistle he shooted and the ball hit exactly the upper right corner of the net so fast that Guan Lin couldn’t even move to catch it and then we were only two shoots away to know our fate.

Cheonggu 3/1 - 3/1 Anmin

Now this moment was the defining moment, we needed for Cheonggu High School to fail its next shoot and for us to shoot to the goal, at that moment our team wasn’t strong enough to handle five more penalties, so it was now or never. Ong Seongwoo was now having a staring battle with Hoony, then the referee blow his whistle and he seemed to have shooted to the right but Hoony read his intentions and predicted the trajectory of the ball was going to the left instead making him able to catch it with both hands and stop it before it could enter the goal. Now we were at just one shoot to goal away from semifinals, Hoony quickly change his position and put himself in the place of the shooter, our fifth and final shooter, then he shooted and the ball was so fast that you could barely follow it with your eyes, he didn’t trick the goalkeeper, Guan Lin knew exactly where the ball was going, but Hoony’s kick was so strong that Guan Lin didn’t have enough strength to stop it and they both flew to the net like in the scene of a manga.

Hoony came running to us and we started to celebrate together, the whole team was dancing our victory dance, among the hugs and cheers suddenly I felt Jinu’s lips against my cheek and when I turned to him surprised he was shyly smiling at me with a reddening face, we stopped staring at each other when we heard the entire team laughing hysterically, now that the match was over and the uniform rules didn’t apply anymore Hoony had removed his shirt and was now parading in front of the cameras showing off the t shirt he had designed himself, it had a big “I love you” with a cheesy font and the picture of his loved one, his italian greyhound dog Haute.

Cheonggu 3 - 4 Anmin

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After we learned that we had classified to semi finals the week went by in the blink of an eye and now Jinu and I were already laying on his bed watching movies and wearing pajamas.Unfortunately, I was been distracted by Hoon’s nonstop text messages with encouraging words like “Grow a pair and confess already” or “Are you waiting to get old?”, but, I don’t know, it just seemed kind of inappropriate to do it while we were all alone at his mother’s house and on top of his bed.

Hoony also scolded me saying I had many times to confess during the week that I wasted, but it also didn’t seemed right at that moment, in my mind Jinu hyung deserved a grand gesture, a confession ceremony like the ones you see in the movies, it seemed unsuitable to declare my love to him inside of a boring classroom, or on the dirty benches of the soccer court, or the bus fill with passengers. It might take time but I had to come up with something special to declare my feelings for him.

- Who are you texting with? - asked me Jinu all of a sudden.

- Is just Hoony sending me some lame jokes and memes.

- Show me. - he said with a huge grin.

- They are in chinese, you wouldn’t understand. - I answered him nervously.

- Translate it for me then.

- I can’t show you, its too vulgar. - I told him running out of options.

- I still want to see. - he pouted at me.

- No, I won’t show you. - I said hiding my phone under my .

- So mean! - he whined.

- Ask me to do anything but that.

- Really? - he asked incredulously.

- As long as it’s not a large sum of money. - I joked with him.

- Araso, then come with me to pick a bag for my mother. - He said excited. - Her birthday is next week and I being saving money to buy her a nice present. I saved about 250,000.00 krw, but I have lousy taste and you have a great sense of fashion so I need your help.

- Absolutely, I can go with you.

- Okay, then let’s go this Sunday since we don’t have a game this week and we can hang out after.

- Cool!! - I said thrilled, this was the opportunity I was looking for and Jinu himself gave it to me on a silver platter.

- It’s a date then. - he said to me and we pinky promise to seal the deal.

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I had butterflies on my stomach when I saw him, he looked so perfect, he was wearing a black turtleneck long sleeve shirt with a red scarf and skinny jeans while I was wearing the motorcycle jacket that still smelled like him over a black t shirt and ripped jeans. Our first stop was one of the best boutiques in the city trying to find the finest bag that fitted his budget, I have some experiences going shopping with women, because my mom and my sister always forced me to go with them, so I was familiar with those type of places.

Then my patient was being tested when the sales assistant was blatantly flirting with Jinwoo and he didn’t even seemed to notice, I politely rejected her help so she could leave us alone and the shameless witch rolled her eyes at me. I was starting to think how hard was going to be in a relationship with him and keep all the flies away, when my eyes landed on the perfect bag, it was a COACH pebble leather shoulder bag with snake details, it was on sale so it costed around 190,000 krw, it was perfect for Jinu’s budget. I also bought her a matching double flap wallet in the same colorblock leather that costed me around 128,000 krw without telling him the price so he wouldn’t oppose to the idea, so at the end we walked out of the store feeling happy and satisfied with our shopping venture.

Jinu was so grateful towards me that he invited me to lunch, we ate the most delicious ramen I ever eaten. After that we went out to walk off our lunch, I wonder if when people see us in the street walking side by side and giggling to each other with our blushing faces, do they think of us as a couple?

- I’m so glad you help me find her the perfect present, she will be so pleased with it.

- Is because you managed to saved all that money that we could find her something that nice.

- Yes I know. I’ve been saving my lunch money for weeks, but I also could do that because of you and your dossirak, you have no idea how thankful and happy I am to have met you. - At that moment I was brushing my fingers with his hand, we were just millimetres away to holding hands like a real couple.

- I’m also happy I met you, you have no idea how much. - we were sincerely and happily smiling to each other at that moment without paying too much attention to the people passing by.

- Oh, look Mino a pet shop!! - he told me and guided me inside of the fluffy shop, it was decorated with animal cartoons and painted in pastel colors.

We started to examine the shop together, we both love animals, especially cats, so been inside of this type of shop was like been on a little piece of heaven. But then we were both glued in front of a cage that had a beautiful munchkin kitten inside, she was soooo pretty, orange and fluffy and she looked so innocent and helpless.

- She is sooo pretty, I want her!!! - I told him already melting because of her cuteness.

- Why don’t you take her, let’s raise her together!!

- I don’t know, I need to ask my aunt first.

- Do it!! - he insisted. - Call her now!!

I dialed my aunt’s phone number and waited for her to answer but it sent me to voice mail instead, so at the end we had to say goodbye to her and we left the shop feeling sad and depressed.

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After the pet shop incident I proposed to rent a couple of bicycles so we could ride them around the Han River, we were having so much fun racing against each other and laughing all the way, the sun was already setting, letting me know that it was time to put my plan in motion. We returned the bikes and then we sat together in one bench gazing at the beautiful view of the Han River reflecting the colors of the sunset in the water, it was the perfect romantic moment I was waiting for.

- I was wondering. - I started shyly looking at my hand in my lap instead of him. - What was your first impression of me when you met me?

- I thought you were really cool. - he said smiling while I was expectant glancing at him with the corner of my eye. - And that it would be really nice if we could be friends. What about you?

- I… from the first moment I saw you. - Then I started to close the distance between us and he didn’t retreat at all, he closed his eyes and I was about to touch his lips with mine when my stupid phone started ringing.

- Answer, it must be your aunt!! - he yelled excited, while I rolled my eyes at the interruption.

- Hi aunt, how is your day going!? - I asked her through the phone. - Good… yes I was just, I wanted to asked you if I could take a kitten home… Yes… Sure… Araso, bye, see you at home.

- What did she said? - he asked eager to know her answer.

- She said yes, as long as I take care of her food and needs myself.

- Daebak!! - he said and hold my hand dragging me hurriedly back to the pet shop.

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We rode in my motorcycle back to my aunt’s apartment, Jinu was adorably carrying Johnny in his arms (yes I named her Johnny because she is soooo pretty), we also bought a sand box, a scratching toy and her bed. My aunt’s was not at home yet when we arrived so we just went to my room to settle all of Johnny’s stuffs. Jinu was sitting on my bed caressing Johnny’s fur and I was arranging her sand box, when Johnny’s got inside of Jinu’s shirt and he started to laugh hysterically. “Wait, no!!! Stop, I’m very ticklish… ahahahah…” I helped him grabbing Johnny taking her out of his shirt and I placed her oon her bed. “You’re really sensitive.” I told him getting closer to him and as some strange hunger got in me I started tickling him, he was laughing hysterically again trying to remove my hands from him “No, stop!” he yelled with laughter mixed in and his face was red as a tomato, but I pinned him on the bed underneath me, pressing him against the mattress with the weight of my body and we just stopped our movements and stare at each other, our breathing in perfect motion, he seemed expectant of my next move but at the same time his eyes were unreadable, I wasn’t sure what to do next, I wasn’t sure if I was courageous enough to take the next step and risk everything we had, but I still did it, I close the distance between us until our lips finally locked, the moment I’ve been waiting for weeks now was finally happening. He smelled like strawberries and his lips were soft and moist, our kiss was small, I was leading and he seemed to not know what to do but he was responding to my kiss, then it grew bigger, I traced the bottom of his lip with my tongue and then I bit his lip to make him open his mouth and when I was about to enter he broke the kiss and pushed me away. He was shocked, his eyes big as saucers, his cheeks all blush and his lips swollen, he got off the bed, covered his lips with his hands and ran away, “What have I done!?” I yelled frustrated, but he was already out of the apartment.

Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffhanger, I will try to publish next chapter before Sunday if possible. After this one we only have 4 more chapters left and it makes me kind of sad. I hope to read your thoughs on today's chapter in the comments if possible, have a great day!!