The next couple of days fell into a similar pattern. Chorong was everywhere but was never around when they went to practice. Chorong was getting frustrated. The tones of her text messages were getting more sinister, the glint in her eyes as she watched Bomi leave the dance studio was more intense and, sometimes, Bomi thought Chorong was just going to knock her out and lock her in her car.

… She didn't, just watched her with burning eyes.

On the fourth day when Eunji and Bomi arrive at the football field, there are cars in the parking lot, so they move cautiously. The girls are almost on the field when they see the cheerleaders.

Surprisingly, among the black and red with white stripes uniformed cheerleaders, there is Park Chorong- and Naeun and Namjoo-. Of course! Naeun told her the three of them did the try-outs last April, to cheer up (quite literally) Chorong and to distract her with many more activities that the black-haired girl almost couldn’t handle them.

But the way Chorong looks on that tight uniform- which shouldn’t be like that because they’re schoolgirls, - Bomi is sure she has never been that hypnotized in her life.

They duck under the bleachers just as the cheerleaders’ coach, Kwon Yuri, picks up her megaphone and starts yelling. "One more lap before we call it quits. Maybe the next time you can all make it on time and we won't have to stay late to make up for your tardiness. Now, when is practice, ladies?"

A chorus of pained voices reply. "11:45 to 1:35."

"Exactly. Chorong-sshi, Namjoo-sshi, lead the lap."

Bomi and Eunji exchange a glance. Their friends must be that good to be leading summer practice.

"Well, that explains why Chorong is never there to follow us." Bomi seems to not be able to close .

Eunji chuckles.  "God, she'd throw a fit if she knew exactly how close she was to finding us."

"Do you think they'll leave soon?"

The singer shrugs distractedly.

They squat down as the cheerleaders run by them. Her heart is beating double time. A sweaty Chorong was second only to an angry Chorong on Bomi's scale of y. She shifts.

Eunji nudges her. "Damn, did you see Naeun?"

"I wasn't really paying attention." Her eyes seem to be glued to Chorong’s body.

"Well you missed it. She looks so hot on that uniform. Classy hot."

Bomi snorts. "I don’t think that exists Eunji-ah, and I wasn't looking."

Eunji smirks. "Only because you were too busy eye ing Chorong."

"Did you not just see Chorong? How is it possible not to look at her?" Bomi defends herself.

Eunji pats her on the back. "Hey, since you're already kind of girlfriends, I think you're allowed to leer."

Bomi smacks her arm.

Bomi and Eunji wait an extra fifteen minutes after the cheerleading team leaves before they go out of their hiding place and begin their own practice.

Bomi runs through the course, zigging and zagging just out of Eunji's reach. She hesitates a second too long and Eunji clips her by the waist, getting off the ground for a few inches in a giant heap, doing a full spin. They fall with a loud thud.

"That was luck, Meungji." Bomi gasps, still on her stomach.

"You mean skill. Now who's the champion, Bomi-ah?" Eunji sits up grinning.

Bomi rolls her eyes and pushes herself up onto her knees. Suddenly, Eunji scrambles away from her, her eyes wide. "Eunji-ah?”

She almost screams when someone jerks her upwards and she finds herself faced with a very pale Park Chorong. Chorong jerks her closer and Bomi stumbles, steadying herself by grabbing onto Chorong's waist.

"Bomi," Chorong's eyes are darker than normal as they flick over Bomi's face. Bomi can’t even distinguish the emotions flickering through them because they are changing so quickly.

Chorong frowns before reaching up and undoing Bomi's chinstrap. She pulls the helmet off the auburn-haired girl and lets it drop on the ground. She quickly runs her fingers over Bomi's face and gently tilts the dancer’s head from side to side, searching for injuries. Finally, after delicately Bomi's hair, she rests her hands on the other girl's flushed cheeks. Bomi isn’t sure how she’s still breathing.

"Are you hurt?" Chorong's voice is soft and filled with worry. It makes Bomi want to kiss her.

Instead, the dancer removes her mouthpiece so she can respond.

"I'm fine, Rong. How did you find us?"

"I left my bag."

The black-haired girl is still looking at her as if she is going to fall over.

"Rong, I'm okay."

Chorong's eyes narrow, "You sure?"

Bomi nods confidently.

Chorong lets her hands drop and takes a step back. Bomi almost takes a step forward, but she stops herself.

Instead she glances behind her and sees Eunji standing a few feet away, holding onto her helmet, eyeing Chorong warily. Bomi turns back in time to see Chorong taking a breath, closing her eyes, and releasing it quickly. She lunges for the singer like a bullet.

By the time Bomi reacts, Eunji is flat on her back trying to protect her face and Chorong is nagging at her.

"What did I tell you, Eunji-ah?!"

"Bomi, help me!"

Bomi pulls Chorong off Eunji with some difficulty, wrapping her arms around her waist.

Eunji scrambles to her feet and puts her helmet back on. "Wow, RongRongCho, have you ever thought of joining us? You're a natural. With a defender like you, no one would mess with us." She can put into a well use Chorong's five second rage. 

The black-haired girl struggles against the dancer. "Dammit, Bomi-ah, let me go!"

"Chorong, please, calm down. Chorong. Chorong! Stop it!"

The body in her arms stills. Bomi can feel Chorong's chest heaving.

She loses her grip slightly.

"Stop it?" Chorong asks, her voice quiet, "I asked you to stop it and you didn't."

"It's not the same thing.”

Chorong whirls around in her arms, "Yes it is!"

"You scare me like this."

Chorong leans closer, "You scare me like this! Do you know what it was like to see you on the ground?"

"Chorong…"

"No, Bomi. I'm not going to stop until you do."

Bomi steps back, briefly thinking about how she already misses the warm of Chorong’s body, but her patience had drained. She crosses her arms over her chest.

"Why are you being so childish and out of control? This is not like you at all. I appreciate your concern, but it really is none of your business." Bomi takes a breath. “I’ve been trying to reach you, to tell you that I’m past whatever it was the fight that night, but you wouldn’t respond to any of my texts or talk to me unless you thought I was hurt."

"This is me responding, Bomi-ah, okay? Now just take those pads off and—"

"No! God, Chorong,” her body seems to not be able to be still, all of pent-up frustration coming out, “I was hurt even more by your indifference to me after what you thought it was something unforgivable. It was not. It just was something unbelievable but somehow it explained many things. Nothing more. What if you weren’t honest with me for a while? Before it, I wasn’t honest to you either and treated you horribly. I knew you were being truthful about how you felt and that was all that mattere—"

"Bomi." The black-haired girl's eyes are burning with tears, the scenario practically resembling the night when they split up.

She looks up and squares her shoulders. "Yes, it hurt more for you to act like the time we were together never existed. I did you wrong before. You did me wrong then. We’re even now."

Chorong takes a step back, head down. She turns on her heel and walks away like she can’t get away from Bomi fast enough.

Eunji puts her hand on Bomi’s shoulder, squeezing it and gives her a half smile.

"You did well, Bomi-ah. Chorong can lock herself on her own mind so hard that you were never going to get anything out of her unless you did just what happened."

"I guess so."

Bomi feels totally disappointed.

Later at night, there is a knock on her door.

"Come in."

Eunji walks in with a pack of Binggrae’s banana flavoured milk boxes, smiling sheepishly.

"We need to talk and we agreed there would be alcohol involved the next time we talked about emotional ."

Bomi looks at her friend questionably. "Yeah, then why are you carrying milk?"

"Your mom shook me down at the door. I think she was going to let me up here with the contraband but then you dad walked around the corner and took everything out and gave me these instead."

Bomi chuckles. "Only you would show up to the house of a police officer with beer, Meungji.”

Her friend sits on the bed. She hands her a bottle of milk and they drink quietly.

The auburn-haired girl sighs. "I don't know what to say except that I feel kind of stupid. The whole situation is stupid. It hurts, and I'm trying to move on."

The singer flails her arms signalising she does not agree.

"Badass girls like us, when we want something, we go all in. You went all in and you feel like you went bust, of course you feel like . But, I don't think you should give up."

“I always thought I was stubborn but Chorong is ridiculous. I guess it makes sense she’s like that, she’s one of the first ranked students after all.” She mumbles.

Eunji takes another milk out. She’s gulping them down like they were actual beers. “I think you just surprised her. Emotional overload or whatever. But she was on her way of getting out of her shell. Did you not notice how she was touching you?"

"Of course I did. I felt it. She was so close and I wanted to kiss her. To have her like we used to." Bomi signals Eunji to pass her another banana milk.

"Well, she was looking at you the same way." Eunji shoots her a motherly smile, the signature smile of hers. The eye smiling girl nudges her once again. "Just promise you won’t give up on that fool, okay?” She looks at her drink with a sarcastic smile. “And people dare to call us dumb.”

“Actually, dumb and dumber.” Bomi adds laughingly and then stops abruptly. She turns to Eunji flabbergasted. “Out of the two of us, who do they think is the dumber one?”

Eunji chokes on her milk.

"If you need to ask, you have your answer.” Eunji says with eyes full of mirth and avoids Bomi’s offended gestures, giggling.