“Choi! Focus!” Coach Kwak yelled, jolting Seunghyun back to the task at hand.

They were doing their warm-ups, and though generally everyone sort of did their own thing during these times, Seunghyun suddenly realized that instead of practicing what he needed to work on for the night’s game, he was standing still, dribbling one of the basketball’s in place.

“Sorry, Coach,” Seunghyun told his coach as he ran to the baskets to practice his three-point shots.

There was a crowd already starting to form on the school’s bleachers, and Seunghyun scanned the faces as he shot. The crowd was growing quickly. It wasn’t their first home game, but it was their first game against their main rivals, the nearest international school, so a lot of people were expected to come.

Seunghyun tried to focus more on the game as the minutes passed, bringing him closer to the beginning of the game, but he still continued to scan the crowd.

He saw his mom, who waved. Even after four years, his mom came to every game, and would wave at him no matter what point of the game it was. She even once waved to him when he was shooting free throws, which did not go over very well with the coach, who was a very competitive person, despite it only being high school basketball.

It wasn’t until just before the game started, as he was getting himself into position on the court that he saw her; Gwen.

She was sitting on a middle row bleacher, away from the student section, who were already exchanging calls with the other school’s student section on the other side of the gym.

Sitting next to her was a woman Seunghyun recognized to be Gwen’s mom. Even from this distance, Seunghyun could tell she looked more tired than ever. He watched the man next to Gwen’s mom lean over and say something in Gwen’s mom’s ear, so Seunghyun made the assumption that the man was Gwen’s dad.

He didn’t look a lot like Gwen, but genes can be weird. He was large, and even as Seunghyun thought the word, he knew it was an understatement. The guy was huge. He was very tall; tall enough that the person sitting on the bleacher behind him was having trouble finding a good view, and Seunghyun assumed his body was all muscle, as the t shirt he was wearing (despite it being winter), was stretching around his biceps.

For some reason, Seunghyun was shocked. The few interactions he had had with Gwen’s mom had lead him to think of her as a gentle person. He would never have thought that she would be married to a guy that looked like that.

But Gwen had told him he had been a wrestler, so maybe it was just the appearance he was used to giving off with his profession.

Just before the referee came onto the court with the ball, Gwen looked up and saw Seunghyun looking at her. Too embarrassed to do anything else, she nodded and waved slightly at him.

Watching her wave at him, even though she didn’t smile, made Seunghyun grin. She looked cute when she did that, unlike his mom, who was literally jumping out of her seat waving at him.

-           -           -           -

After the game, Seunghyun showered and dressed, his mind going over the game.

Over all, it had been good. They had ended up winning, but it had been hard for Seunghyun to focus at the beginning, resulting in a few turnovers. After the second turnover, he realized that he had been trying to do too much, because Gwen was watching. After his realization--and a sit on the bench, thanks to his coach--Seunghyun refocused and played well.

Sighing, he stood and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. As usual, he was the last to leave. Even the coach had left, so he was the one who turned the locker room lights off.

He didn’t walk to the parking lot, as this was another time when he had always enjoyed walking. His mom had already left, driving home.

After games, Seunghyun liked to walk home. It gave him more time to reflect on the game, and to let the adrenaline run out of his system.

He walked towards the school entrance, wrapping himself in his coat.

“I figured you would walk,” a voice said from just outside the entrance, startling Seunghyun.

Gwen stepped into the light of a street lamp and Seunghyun smiled. “Yeah. It gives me time to cool down, you know.”

“Oh,” Gwen said, stopping her approach towards hi. “Well, I don’t want to disturb you, and your cool down, so…” She started walking past him, prepared to leave him to his thoughts.

As she walked past, Seunghyun grabbed her arm. “No, it’s fine,” he said. “Walk with me.” When she didn’t say anything, only looked at him, he added, “Please.”

“As long as I won’t bother you,” she said, settling into a pace next to him.

“You won’t,” Seunghyun reassured.

They walked silently for a little while, then Gwen said, “You played well.” She kicked at the ground a little.

“Thank you,” Seunghyun bowed his head a little. “Our whole team did.”

Gwen nodded her head slowly. “Do you like it?” she asked.

Seunghyun shrugged. “I suppose. I like the game, and I like the people, but I don’t like how much time it consumes.”

“I understand that,” Gwen said, and when Seunghyun looked over, she was smiling.

“I saw that your dad came to the game,” Seunghyun said, trying to create a conversation. He felt her tense, but she certainly wasn’t as uncomfortable as she had been a few weeks ago.

“Yeah…” she sighed.

Seunghyun heard the sadness in her voice and his patience broke. “Is everything okay?” he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder to make her stop walking. “Anytime I mention your dad, you seem sad. I don’t mean to pry,” he added quickly. “I can just tell something’s wrong, and as your friend, I want to help.”

Gwen looked up at Seunghyun, and she could tell that he really did want to help.

“He’s not my actual dad,” Gwen finally said. “He’s my step-dad.”

Suddenly a lot made more sense to Seunghyun. “Oh…” he vocalized. They started walking again. After about ten steps, he asked, “How long have your mom and your step-dad been together?”

There was a long pause from Gwen, and then she said, “Since before we moved here?”

Seunghyun nodded, prodding her to continue.

“Six months.”

Thanks for reading/subscribing~!

Also, there are about five more chapters left. I have nineteen planned!