twenty-four

—

n.

It was a Saturday... And Taek Woon is getting so frustrated. 

He couldn't quite grasp the fact that the big day is actually today. Right now. 

He kept on walking back and forth in front of me. So I grabbed him. "Jung Taek Woon! Calm down! I'm getting dizzy more than you would!" I shook him. "I get it! I get it!" He took a deep breath and sighed. But then, sooner or later... "Agh! What if we lose!?" He paced again. "Get a grip! It hasn't even started! Don't think of losing! Just... If you start to thinking of negative things it will eventually come true!" I lectured the poor, nervous boy. "You wouldn't want that to happen, would you?" He silently shook his head. "Good!" I raised my fist in the air.

"Are you a man or a schnitzel!?" I asked.

Taek Woon faced at me with rounded eyes.

"If you are a man, then let us win this! Fighting!" I shouted so loud I bet his mother heard me.

"...Are you trying to comfort me?" Taek Woon batted his eyes with his mouth gaped open.

"Er... Yeah?" I grinned with so much satisfaction. "First of all, there's no "us" in this. Second, I'm gonna ask again... Are you trying to comfort me? Because if you are, it's not working." He gave me my usual dose of poker face. "I'm doing my best here, geez Taek Woon you never appreciate me..." I did my best to act like I was disappointed. I scoffed and crossed my arms, with my back facing him. "The only person you appreciate is Soo Ah!"

"Shut up!" He shouted behind my back. His ears were probably red by now. "Never mind. Just win this so I could go to the after-party. Deal?"

—

ji eun.

"...What's she doing here?" 

I stared at a familiar sunbae. We were in the stadium, and it was filled with a lot of people all from different schools. We were on our designated spots on the bleachers, when we suddenly noticed that something was off. "Who?" Soo Ah, who was sitting right beside me, asked. Everyone's eyes were all on her, except for me, that is. I was darting at that sunbae who "confessed" at Taek Woon earlier. "...Isn't she a third year?" I asked Soo Ah and pointed at the girl. She was five seats away from us. Talk about distance!

"I think so." Soo Ah looked at her too. "That's odd. The third years are way over there." The two of us looked back. At the very back filled with tall third years. "...You know what it is." Soo Ah whispered to my ear, "Leave it be."

"Can't do. If she's here to cheer for Taek Woon, then she could do it up there. It's not like Taek Woon couldn't see her waving that huge banner." I stared at her big banner with disgust. "Ji Eun..." Soo Ah sighed at me. "I told you, don't mind it. She hasn't done anything wrong... And besides, she's cheering on him. It's a good thing, right?" She patted my shoulder. This is the Soo Ah I know... I could feel that she's a little irritated inside, but her good traits never fail to get the best of her. 

"If you say so..." I smiled at her and she did the same. "Where's Hak Yeon-ssi?" 

"He's with his class."

"Oh~" I nodded and pursed my lips. Suddenly, the crowd roared, but there was an even louder roar just right by us.

"TAEK WOON! TAEK WOON! GO!"

Everyone looked at the same direction.

—

leo.

We missed the shot.

It's down by 2:3.

The whole team was already tired and worried. It's the start of the 2nd half, and if we don't get this point, then we'll obviously lose. I've been replaced by a substitute because of an injury. I was really cranky... My ankle twisted a bit. Even if it was a minor injury, it did quite hurt a lot. While I was sitting on the bench - wiping my sweat with a towel - I hoped that we could win this match. If we do, we would be in the qualifying rounds for the national level. Quite a big dream, huh?

As I carefully watched all my teammates, I heard a loud uproar from above us. "Taek Woon!" I heard my name, so I looked up, and I saw that sunbae again. If I could recall, her name was Choi Hye Jin. I stood up. She was waving a really big banner around with the words: TAEK WOON-AH! FIGHTING!!!

She noticed that I was reading her banner. Sunbae-nim beamed and chanted even louder. Everyone's eyes were on her, and I felt really embarrassed. I looked by the side and covered my head with the towel. Oh God... It's true that there's someone even worse than Hak Yeon. We had a deal that if he stayed quiet the whole match and we won, he could go to the after party. That's why all he could do right now was smile and wave. Smile and wave. 

But that wasn't the problem right now. I needed to focus on the game. Once I sat back down, something entered my mind.

Soo Ah.

I searched for her figure. I ran my eyes across the whole stadium until it stopped just right by Hye Jin sunbae. 

We locked eyes.

—