Kikwang turned off the engine to his beat-up 1987 Cadillac and sent a text to his girlfriend before being bombarded with screams and shouts coming from the field. The lights were bright, illuminating the new turf at TS High School. Hyosung wanted him to keep her company at the first home game of the season, and he was interested in seeing the boys play. Kikwang kept up with professional soccer, so he would actually pay attention tonight. At least that’s what he told himself, until he saw Hyosung.

“Hey, beautiful.” He kissed Hyosung, who was next to Jieun, Hana, and Sunhwa. The game was going to start in a few minutes and the captains of the respective teams were called up by the referee to start the coin toss. Yongguk jogged over to Kikwang.

“I’m glad you could make it, we’ll try to put on a show for you guys tonight.” Yongguk quickly glanced at Jieun. She gave him a small smile.

“Yongguk?”

Kikwang noticed that her voice was squeakier than usual. It sounded higher-pitched. The girls looked surprised. Oh yeah, Kikwang almost forgot that Yongguk and Jieun “hated” each other. Or did they? It didn’t seem like it from the way they were acting.

“Good luck.” She flashed him two thumbs up, but he rolled his eyes. That was more like it.

“That’s all you have to say?” It was almost daring, taunting.

Jieun sighed. “Fine. Go kick out there or don’t come back home! Was that what you wanted?”

He smirked. “Yes, ma’am. I wanted encouragement.” Yongguk ran back to the field when the referee blew the whistle.

Kikwang put his arm around Hyosung, but he was pushed away. “What was that about?” Hyosung and Hana said at the same time. They looked rabid.

“What do you mean?” Jieun flashed them an innocent smile.

“That thing. That thing with Yongguk. You two were more than awkwardly civil for the first time ever.” Hyosung said.

Jieun shrugged. “It was nothing.”

“That was something. It was major, Jieun! I’m so glad you guys are finally getting along!” Hana clapped enthusiastically. It was like she turned into Hyosung.

“Oh, please. We aren’t, like, best friends or anything. Don’t get ahead of yourselves.” Jieun thought her friends were being ridiculous. She eyed Yongguk, who changed shirts right before the game was going to begin. He looked…

“Wow.” Jieun thought out loud.

“Hm?” Hana nudged her. Jieun shook her head, looking away, and her cheeks turned tomato-red.

All of a sudden, Sunhwa snapped at them, “Can all of you shut up for once?” They all turned silent.

Sunhwa fumed. “I’m trying to watch a game here, try to be more respectful of others, okay?”

A few seconds passed before Hana burst out laughing. Kikwang was horrified.

“She’s just trying to concentrate on what happens in the game so she can impress her lover boy.” Hana informed Kikwang, who was obviously out of the loop.

“May I ask who this is?” Kikwang gently asked Sunhwa.

“It’s Hwang Kwanghee. He’s our classmate and Sunhwa has tried everything to get him to like her, but he never returns her feelings. She’s totally in love with him.” Hana explained.

Sunhwa frowned. “He never notices me, or if he has, he chooses to ignore it.”

Jieun squinted at the field. She felt like she could only see Yongguk since he had the ball majority of the time, but then she spotted Kwanghee. He was in a couple of her classes, but she never noticed him until Sunhwa pointed him out. She didn’t know what Sunhwa saw in him, in fact, he looked like a girl, to be honest.

She supposed that he was good-looking in a feminine way. Kwanghee’s appearance just screamed “flower-boy,” so he must’ve had many girls that liked him.

“He’s stupid if he doesn’t notice you. You’re Han Sunhwa!” Jieun cheered her up. Kwanghee had to be crazy not to see how pretty and sweet Sunhwa was.

“We’ll keep trying to set you two up, don’t worry. We’ll make him fall head over heels in love with you, okay?” Hyosung provided comfort.

Sunhwa pouted. They all returned to watching the game, well, Jieun couldn’t stop herself from staring at Yongguk, Kikwang and Hyosung cuddled, and Hana had to listen to Sunhwa complain about how Kwanghee shouldn’t be on the bench, but rather on the field the entire 90 minutes because he was just so much better than everyone else.

The next thing she knew, Yongguk had scored a goal. It happened so fast that Jieun didn’t realize it until everyone was jumping up and down, cheering for him. She politely clapped, but she didn’t stand. It just seemed like too much.

Yongguk saw Jieun in the stands and she looked absolutely miserable. He wasn’t exactly thrilled. Shouldn’t she be cheering him on, showing some school spirit?

“GOOOOOO YONGUKKIE!” A distinct shrill scream made Jieun cover her ears. What was that horrid, almost inhuman sound coming from?

It was Yongguk’s girlfriend again. She almost forgot about her, and that Yongguk had a girlfriend in the first place. It put things in perspective for her.

The woman was clad in her trademark oversized sunglasses and high heels. Hana rolled her eyes. “This better know she’s at a high school, not getting ready to walk the red carpet.” Sunhwa had to hold in her laughter, while Hyosung gripped Kikwang tighter.

Kikwang shrugged her off. “Don’t worry, she’s not even my type.”

“What’s your type, then?”

“You.” He kissed her sweetly on the tip of her nose. Jieun sighed. Times like these made her wish that Yoseob was still in Korea. If he was here right now, he’d hold her like that.

Deep down, she knew otherwise. Sometimes, she questioned her sanity. She knew damn well that she tended to deny the dark side of her relationship with Yoseob most of the time. Jieun chose to forget the problems.

It was just easier that way.

“Yongguk! Yongguk! Yongguk!” Gina yelled. Yongguk turned around to smile and wave at Gina when she blew him a kiss. He rolled his eyes when she wasn’t looking, catching Jieun’s attention.

She let out a little giggle, then immediately stopped herself. He had a girlfriend. Bang Yongguk was happily taken, she was sure. Besides, she had Yoseob.

Or so she thought.

Yongguk shook hands with the referee at the end, wiping his perspiration with the collar of his jersey. It was a great game to start off his last season, as everyone played pretty well.

Gina tugged at the hem of his shirt like a needy, spoiled girl. “Can we get out of here already? It’s humid and all these bugs are out.” She swatted gnats in the air furiously.

Yongguk saw Daehyun run up to Jieun and envelope her in a sweaty hug. Jieun laughed loudly. Yongguk’s eyes narrowed in annoyance, seeing Daehyun touch Jieun like that. Gina followed his stare.

“Who’s that, Yongukkie? That’s Daehyun’s girlfriend, right?” Her smile was tight, it was fake.

Yongguk shook his head slowly. “She’s a friend of ours. Don’t mind her.”

“Then why do you keep looking at her?” Gina grabbed Yongguk’s arm tighter.

“I’m not looking at her.”

“I don’t want you looking at her.” Gina commanded him.

Yongguk grew more irritated. Since when did Gina have the right to boss him around? They weren’t even dating. He could do whatever the hell he wanted.

“I can do whatever I want. Don’t boss me around, Gina.” He snapped at her. Gina’s eyes widened in surprise. He had never been this annoyed with her before.

“You should leave. I want to hang out with my friends tonight. You need to work, anyway.” He coldly stated.

“You can’t just leave me!” Gina shrieked desperately. She was becoming loud enough that the others turned around and grew quiet.

That sent him over the edge. If she wanted to fight in public, then she was going to get it. “Oh, yes I can! We’re not even together, Gina. Stop treating me like I’m your boyfriend.”

“I… I thought we were unofficial!” She countered.

Yongguk saw Jieun observe them. Her face was attentive.

“Look, Gina. We’re nothing. Nothing. If we want to be brutally honest with ourselves, we just use each other! We use each other for !” Yongguk smirked. Suddenly, the air grew cold and hostile. Gina’s eyes narrowed.

Refusing to let Yongguk win this fight in front of a bunch of teenagers, Gina sniffed and adjusted her sunglasses. “We’ll talk about this later.” All the playfulness was gone from her voice. Jieun subconsciously noted that her cadence was a female version of Yongguk.

They remained silent until someone tapped Sunhwa’s shoulder. Hana and Hyosung’s eyes were about to fall out of their sockets when Hwang Kwanghee held out Sunhwa’s forgotten blanket.

“Is this yours?” Kwanghee asked Sunhwa.

“Um, yes. I must’ve just dropped it. Thanks.” Sunhwa wanted to slap herself for being so boring in front of Kwanghee.

Kwanghee raised an eyebrow at how flustered she soon became in front of him. “I’m Kwanghee. And you are?”

Sunhwa locked eyes with him, remembering she was in the near-sacred presence of her crush. She gave him an eye-smile. “I’m Han Sunhwa.”

Kwanghee nodded and looked at everyone else. “I had no idea you’re friends with Yongguk. I’m surprised we haven’t met earlier. We’re already seniors, after all.”

Sunhwa felt a twinge of sadness. She knew Kwanghee had never paid attention to her, but she had no idea he didn’t even know of her existence.

Hyosung cleared , dragging Kikwang away. Hyosung winked at Sunhwa. Sunhwa tugged them back with a blushing face. Kwanghee immediately saw what was going on and an uncomfortable chuckle escaped his lips.

“I guess I’ll see you guys around. Hey, Yongguk—good game, man. Oh, nice meeting you, too Sunhwa. I suppose we’ll be seeing each other more now.” Kwanghee waved to them.

As soon as he said goodbye, Sunhwa buried her head in her hands. “Don’t even speak to me, Hyosung.”

Hyosung gulped, knowing she embarrassed Sunhwa. “I wasn’t that embarrassing, was I?”

Hana shook her head. “Kwanghee got an idea of what was going on.”

“Sunhwa… I’m sorry.” She attempted a small apology, but Sunhwa only groaned and stalked off.

Junhong and Hana only sighed. Suddenly, Junhong realized something odd.

“Hey… where did Yongguk and Jieun go?”

Jieun clutched her stomach, as it hurt from laughing too much. “I can’t believe that’s your girlfriend. She’s so high-maintenance! You two are perfect for each other.” She ran after Yongguk. When they were caught in that awkward situation with Sunhwa and Kwanghee, he and Jieun discreetly slipped away.

They finally reached the boys’ locker room. The school was quiet and dimly-lit at this time at night. Jieun liked it this way.

Yongguk leant against the wall. His roaring laughter died down. “That’s what I used to think. But, do you know what she really is?”

“A spoiled, awful cougar that preys on high school boys?” She giggled.

“That, and she’s also… A e. And, no, I’m not joking around.”

Jieun couldn’t conceal her gasp. Unusually, it made her a bit angry. What was he doing with a e? He could do so much better. He was Bang Yongguk, for crying out loud. Yongguk could have any girl in all of Apgujeong, or even Seoul, for that matter.

“You don’t have to stoop so low. You can anyone you want, you don’t need a hooker to, well, fulfill your needs, per se.” She reckoned.

“I don’t know. I really liked her, Jieun. She seemed… perfect.” Yongguk sounded wistful.

“When did you start losing your feelings for her, then?”

“A few weeks ago.”

“Funny, I met you around that time.” Jieun knew it was just a coincidence. Right?

“Yeah, just a coincidence, I guess.” He shrugged.

Suddenly, Jieun’s phone rang. She fumbled with it in her fingers before answering it. It was an unknown number.

Yongguk took this time while she was distracted to take a good look at her. She was starting to look even better than she had when he first met her. Perhaps it was because she was keeping her promise to not take painkillers anymore. He still had it in his drawer at home.

“Hello?”

“Are you at home, my little doll?” Jieun froze when she heard his voice.

It was unmistakably his voice. Yongguk noticed her face grow pale. They made eye contact, and he mouthed out of concern, “Are you okay?”

She didn’t respond, but only clutched her phone tighter. “Who is this?”

“Do you like the dress?”

“What dress?” She croaked. Yongguk was worried. He wanted to know who she was talking to.

“Ah, you aren’t home, then. I bought you a dress for the ball tomorrow. I hope you like it.”

“What are-“

“I’ll see you there, babe. Goodnight.” He hung up on her.

Jieun was still frozen when Yongguk snatched her phone, looking for the number of the unknown caller.

“Please tell me what just happened. Tell me what’s wrong.” His voice became dangerously low and deeper. His eyes pierced into hers, willing her to meet his gaze

“I… I have to talk to Kikwang.” She grabbed her phone back, and Jieun started to sprint back in the direction of the soccer field.

“Jieun!” He yelled after her. Yongguk was frustrated beyond belief.

Something didn’t seem right, otherwise Jieun wouldn’t have reacted the way she did.

And he was going to get to the bottom of it.

A/N: I’M SO SORRY, GUYS. I haven’t updated in, like, two months. I feel horrible, and I love all of you who still stuck with me through this mini, unexpected hiatus.

The truth is, I got so busy with school, sports, and other things going on in my life, and I lost my passion for writing for a little bit. But, now that it’s summer, I’m ready to write again.

I’m so, so, sooooooo sorry. I’ll try to update sooner. I feel like I really let you all down. :(

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