[sooyun]

“Since you came all the way… I promise that I’ll win this match for you!” Karam proclaimed proudly and slapped his hand on his chest. He leaned over the metal fence and smiled up at me. “Oh, I have something for you.” Karam winked and quickly pecked me lightly on the cheek.

I almost fell over from the sudden kiss, but swiftly composed myself. I laughed and flapped my hand at him. “T-thanks for that, um, present.”

“That was nothing.” Karam maneuvered himself and managed to grasp my hand. “Thanks for coming today.” He said with a genuine smile.

Such a sweet gentleman he was. I wiped away a mental tear from my eye. Karam was such a great guy, he was kind and caring, put you first and remembered all the things that you’d think he wouldn’t. Sometimes you’d find all this commitment to you a bit creepy, but in the end, I guess, it was very nice of him.

One thing that I couldn’t get used to is all the hugs, kisses and sweet nothings. Sure, someone can be affectionate, but Karam liked to randomly surprise you and shower you with lots and lots of loving.

“It’s alright.” I beamed at him. “I don’t mind, urh, sports. In fact, I used to play table tennis in school.” I stated, holding my head high.

Karam chuckled and it sounded like the music of the angels. “That’s great. I love athletic girls!” He said with a wide smile, in all his soccer glory. He was clad in his team’s uniform – white jersey with black outlines – and his World Cup physique that you’d never expect a face like his to have.

Last Sunday, Karam had asked me to watch him play soccer in the hot, sunny afternoon. Usually, I’d ditch any sort of physical activity and even avoid watching it but he had pleaded with his puppy-dog-eyes and I couldn’t refuse him.

I let out an awkward laugh. I’m not athletic, Karam. I’m really not.

“There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

“Is he good-looking?” I asked with a wide smile.

Karam narrowed his eyes and then laughed. He pushed up his headband and hollered over to the tall, slender man doing stretches. “Minho-ah!” The said man looked up and started to approach us. This friend of Karam’s had cropped raven hair and he was skinny, yet fit and lean. He was like a thin piece of beef that was tough to chew.

“Hi,” I waved at him as he got closer and received a small smile in return.

“This is Minho, he’s one of the best players on our team.” Karam hung his arm around his friend’s shoulder, gesturing towards him with his other hand. “This is my girlfriend, Sooyun.”

Minho scratched his head and nodded at me in acknowledgement. “How are you enjoying it so far?”

That would have been a reasonable question if the game had started. “It’s great!” I gave him thumbs up for emphasis.

A whistle sounded and Karam turned to look at the middle of the oval and the people that started gathering at its center. “The match is about to start.”

“Go on.” I got up off the bench and, gently, pushed his shoulder. “I think they’re waiting for you.” Both teams had gathered in the middle of the field and were now staring at us with a fire burning in their eyes.

“Okay. Wish me luck!” Karam gave my hand another squeeze, patted Minho on the shoulder and ran away to the mob of people that were mouthing how much they were going to beat his team by.

A few moments later they blew the whistle again and they started to kick the ball. Minho had the ball and was dribbling it player-through-player, he was fully in control and led his team towards the their goal. Karam followed behind, evading the opposing players that tried to block him and was soon right beside Minho. He was intent and ready for whenever he needed to pass the ball.

When the whistle blew again to signal that someone had scored a goal, I found myself furiously pounding the buttons of my PFP. Somehow, during the game, I had switched from real soccer to virtual soccer without me knowing it.

“Hello, beautiful.” It was a strikingly familiar voice.

I lifted my gaze from the gaming screen and met eyes with the one and only, “K-Key?” I swiftly shoved my PFP into my backpack, even though it was still on, hoping that he hadn’t seen me playing. “What brings you here?”

“I like soccer.” He settled down beside me and eyed me suspiciously zipping my bag close.

“D-do you now?” I stuttered, afraid that Key would tell Karam that I didn’t really like soccer. “I thought that water-skiing was the only sport for you.”

“I’m not playing soccer. I’m just watching them.” Key grinned.

“Uh-huh.” I raised an eyebrow at him. I found my sudden uneasiness was gone and felt as if I wasn’t trying to hide something from him. Even after a month, it was still the same. Whenever Key was around I would drop my guard and couldn’t help but feel at home in his presence.

We sat there in silence for a while, watching the guys fight with their feet for the ball. For the first time in awhile, Key wasn’t trying to pry into any openings that would give him the chance to convince me to come back to him.

“This is nice.” I said while watching Karam pass the ball to another player.

Key nodded, “Yeah it is.”

Just then the whistle was blown for the end of the half.

“I’m gonna go somewhere. I’ll be back.” He stood up and waved at me as he began walking away. After a few casual steps, Key picked up the pace and started jogging down the stairs to the field.

I would have picked my PFP and started playing again, if I hadn’t seen Key approach Karam with awfully suspicious friendliness. He nudged Karam with a joyous smile on his face. I could have assumed that Key was just trying to get along with my new boyfriend, but I highly doubted that. It just wasn’t in Key’s nature to do that.

What were they talking about? They were standing at the sidelines close to the audience podium. I crept over towards them and crawled on the ground, even though families and children made a ruckus as I passed them, when I was sure I would have been spotted.

I peered through the metal fence and saw Key and Karam chatting.

“Still no? What if… I give you money?” Key asked suggestively.

Karam had an incredulous expression; “You think you can buy her from me?”

Key whined. “What can I do? You’re not going to break up with her soon. I know you don’t have it in you to break up with her. Heck, it’s a mistake.” He sighed, but quickly backed himself up, “For me that is, it’ll be fine for you. I’ll give you the money I won from the stock market. It’s quite a lot of money.”

“No.” Karam said as if offended. “You can’t buy her! She’s means a lot to me.”

What the hell are they talking about? This sounded shady. It seemed to me that they were going to purchase people and use them for dirty deeds.

“And she means even more to me.” Key was serious. “Come on. She was my girlfriend first. That’s got to count for something. We just needed some time apart, but I didn’t think that she was going to find some new guy. We didn’t even break up!”

“You did break up! That’s why she’s with me. No way. I’m not going to sell my girlfriend to her ex!” Karam almost shouted, but then kept his voice down. “Unless she loves you, and not me. I won’t leave her.” He hissed, obviously angry.

I think I had an idea what they were talking about. They weren’t talking about buying humans. They were talking about me and exchanging me for money. I nodded, satisfied that I had finally understood their conversation. Then I realized the full extent of their chatter. Key wanted to buy me off Karam?

I was appalled. “Yah!” I shouted from the podium, “You’re trying to buy me?”

Key looked like a deer caught in headlights. His eyes darted around and he bit his lip. He looked up at me with a nervous smile. “W-what are you talking about?”

“I heard the whole thing.” Most of it… “Key, we broke up for a reason.”

“We didn’t!” Key exclaimed and caught a glare from Karam that he just ignored.

“Why won’t you accept it?” I asked, sadden that he was still acting like this. I had thought that he was over that and we could hangout and only be friends.

Key stared at his feet, but his voice was still loud. “Because I love you! I still do!”

I didn’t know what to say. This was something precious. When we were dating, we were never really extremely affectionate. We would hold hands and stuff, but we were the type of couple that avoided ‘the l word’. During those six months, we had only said ‘it’ once and it ended in awkwardness and hugs.

I needed to look at Karam. He looked as if he had stepped into a minefield. He noticed that I was looking and he caught my gaze. He gave me a sad smile.

Key thought that this would sway me. But after our break-up, I had figured out my feelings. I let out a deep gust of breath. “I loved you, I did. But not anymore.”

It felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. And it was a really hard punch. I tried not to let the pain show on my face and kept a stern expression.

“So why did you say if I become a ‘better’ man that you’d take me back? Why did you do that if you didn’t want me to come back, Sooyun?” Key asked. He appeared so sad that it made me feel dreadful inside.

“I… I don’t know.” I looked down, “But I’m sorry. I’m sorry for leading you on.”

He scoffed. Key seemed almost lifeless now. “Yeah, alright.” He couldn’t look at me and I couldn’t bear to look at him either. But I had to; I had to show that I didn’t have those feelings anymore. He forced himself to meet my gaze and he swallowed. “Goodbye, Sooyun.” He said softly, but I heard it clearly.

It hurt like a watching him leave. I didn’t quite understand these feelings within. I felt muddled. Everything inside of me was a mess.

“Are you alright?” Karam asked worriedly, now by my side.

“I’m fine.” I whispered. I put a smile onto my face. “I had to do that.”

Karam didn’t seem relieved at all. If anything, he seemed even more anxious.

“How did the game go?” I asked, trying to feel energized.

“It was… okay.” Karam stated. He was distracted. “You still love him… don’t you?”

Why do all my boyfriends doubt me? Why do they never believe me? “I rejected him, Karam. How did ‘I love you’ come from that?”

“Don’t lie to me. Not to my face.” Now Karam was looking miserable. “I don’t want you to be with me out of obligation. I don’t want you to stay because you don’t want to hurt me. I rather you do it because you like me.”

“But, I do like you.” There were going to be tears soon.

Karam pulled me into a tight embrace and held me close. He made me feel safe and protected, but it wasn’t right. There was something missing. There always was. I wrapped my arms around him. I didn’t know that this would be our last hug. “I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do. All I want is you to be happy. Even if it’s being with him. So I’ll let you go.”

And he really did.

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Why Karam? WHY? That kid is too nice...

Hope you enjoyed this update! Suspenseful aye?

♥JSMPKK - 20/04/11