“Alright team! Line up!” Kikwang yells, instructing his teammates.

 The team lines up shoulder to shoulder, Kikwang standing in front of them.

 “We have one week until our first game so you all better show up to practice every day next week.” He says sternly, looking at each member.

 “Yes sir!” The team replies in unison enthusiastically.

 “Okay, practice is over. I’ll see you all next week, have a great weekend.” Kikwang says smiling.

“Thanks captain!” They say before heading to the locker room to change.

 After taking their showers, Yul and Taeng go to their lockers to put on their spare clothes.

“Where did Yoona say to meet?” Taeng asks as he places his towel on the bench.

“The Steak House, you need to give their steak another try.” Yul teases, putting on his shirt.

“Aigoo, sorry about that by the way.” Taeng replies sighing.

He was feeling guilty his mood ruined the dinner; he kept constantly apologizing to them saying he wasn’t in the mood. They all then decided to take him their again seeing Taeng was happier than before.

Yul pats his back, “Don’t be sorry. I understand what you’re going through.”

 Taeng smiles, “Thanks man.”

They finish changing and pack their things in their duffel bag, carrying it out as they exit the locker room.

Yul groans, “It’s the same thing every day.”

Taeng looks at Tiffany and Donghae talking, smiling affectionately at each other. Both oblivious to Yul and Taeng’s presence.

“Come on, let’s go.” Taeng says, looking at them before he diverts his attention to the door.

“She’s been doing this every day for almost 3 weeks now! I’m getting tired of seeing her there.” Yul says sighing.

Taeng was a bit annoyed too, for the past 3 weeks Tiffany has not contacted or hung out with them. Taeng couldn’t even remember the last time Tiffany was with them. Every day she was always with Donghae, waiting for him for practice to be over.

Taeng chuckles bitterly, “Hey don’t say that.”

Even though Tiffany has been dejecting her friends, he doesn’t appreciate anyone talking bad about her.

Yul shakes his head, “Sorry. I forgot you were in love with her.”

Taeng takes a deep breath and smiles sadly, “Yeah…”

Yul pats his shoulder as they walk down the street, “I think you should move on.”

 Taeng looks at the latter, “Why do you say that?”

 “Come on Taeng, she didn’t remember you when you came here. She doesn’t remember a single thing about you. She doesn’t know your feelings about her because she’s oblivious and she’s pretty much dating Donghae.” Yul says softly, not wanting to upset Taeng.

Taeng sighs, “It’s difficult.” He shoves his hands in his pockets “I fell hard for her.”

Yul’s face softens, “I know it’ll be hard but…just think about it okay?”

Taeng smiles wryly, “I will. Thanks Yul.”

Yul changes the subject into a livelier one, wanting Taeng to stop thinking about his love life. They make their way into The Steak House, seeing Yoona and the others gathered in a booth.

“Hey guys.” Yoona greets as Yul and Taeng slide in the booth.

“How was practice?” Sunny asks smiling.

 “It was good; our first game is in a week.” Taeng says smiling.

“Oh! We’ll be there!” Sooyoung says in excitement.

“We’ll be on the sidelines cheering you on.” Hyoyeon says smiling.

Taeng and Yul smile sheepishly, “Thank you.” They both say in unison.

 “We already ordered for you guys.” Yoona says chuckling, “Pretty much, we ordered steak. It would be weird not to order steak at ‘The Steak House.’”

Taeng chuckles, “Darn I wanted a vegetarian burger.”

The group laughs at Taeng’s joke.

“Taeng did you pick up your uniform yet?” Yul asks, as the food was being served to them.

 “No I actually forgot,  Kikwang told me to pick mine up from Coach So but I keep forgetting to get it.” Taeng replies chuckling as his plate was placed in front of him.

 “You can get it on game day, it’s easier that way.” Yul says as he starts to cut his steak.

“Okay, do we get to pick our numbers?” Taeng asks, wiping his utensils.

The latter nods, “Yeah depending if another member doesn’t have it already.”

Taeng nods his head, “Anybody have the number 22?”

 Yul thinks, chewing in process “No, I don’t think so.”

Taeng smiles, “Sweet, I want that number.”

Yul laughs, “Alright I’m sure they’ll have that.”

Jessica looks at Taeng, “Is that your favorite number?”

Taeng nods, Jessica smiles “That’s cool! I hope you get that number.”

“Thanks Jessica.” He replies dorkily smiling.

The group eats their steak in peace, enjoying every last bite of it.

Taeng rubs his stomach, “Aish. I’m so full.”

Sunny chuckles “See! It’s delicious right?!”

Taeng nods while smiling, “I’m glad I gave this place another try.”

After talking with his friends for a while, they all pay their bills and head out, bidding goodbye to each other.

Taeng starts his way home, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets. He liked the feeling of the cool wind; it kept him calm and reserved. He watches the leaves wrestle with each other on the ground, twirling around in a circle until they fall lifelessly on the ground. Taeng walks in silence, enjoying the serenity and the atmosphere.

 “Tae?”

He freezes in his spot; he looks over from the corner of his eye and sees Tiffany sitting on a bench on the other side of the street. She was smiling and waving at him, his heart was beginning to pound irrationally.

 He wasn’t sure if he should keep walking and pretend he didn’t hear her or approach her. Taeng slowly keeps walking, trying to ignore the calls of Tiffany.

 “Tae I know you can hear me!” She yells, waving her arms frantically in the air.

Taeng sighs, giving up on his effort and turns to look at Tiffany.

She gestures him to join her on the bench, Taeng crosses the street and sits a distance from her.

 “What do you want?” Taeng asks bluntly.

“I just wanted to talk.” Tiffany says softly, her eyes looking at her lap.

Taeng stares ahead, seeing the clear blue waters “About?”

“Nothing in particular.” She replies, twirling a piece of her hair.

Taeng looks at the girl he loves, his heart weakening at her very sight.

“Donghae confessed to me today.” Tiffany says softly, staring at the concrete.

 *Crack*

At that moment Taeng’s heart was shattered into a million pieces. The earth stood still and Taeng felt like he stopped breathing. He softly places his hand over his heart, clutching it to stop it from hurting even more. But it was no use; it was aching, crying because of the pain.

 Taeng looks at Tiffany, a defeated look on his face “Oh…How was that?”

 Tiffany smiles, not looking at Taeng “It was…surreal. When he confessed, I knew I felt the same way. I couldn’t reply though, the words couldn’t come out.”

Taeng cringes in pain, his heart couldn’t take any more of this. He felt as if everything he did for her was useless.

 He was crushed.

 He hides his pain, forcing a smile on his face “That’s great…”

Tiffany scoots closer to Taeng, resting her head on his shoulder.

Taeng sighs, even though at this moment he wanted to yell at Tiffany he couldn’t bear to do it. She was his vulnerability, his weakness, his kryptonite. He couldn’t stand seeing Tiffany cry because of him, he loved her too much to do that. But to her, she just wanted him to play the role of a best friend. To do everything but love her. The one thing Taeng wanted to do most.

Silence was lingering in the air between the two; Tiffany’s head was still on his shoulder. Taeng’s heart was pumping erratically, the silence was deafening.

Tiffany sighs, “I’m glad I have a friend like you Taeng.”

Taeng’s face falls, his heart now completely hollow.

Just like that.

 Friendzoned.