The enthusiasm for today’s event seemed to be doubled that of the cross country race and volleyball games combined. You could immediately feel the energy exuding from the multiple bodies crammed in front of the school in the courtyard. The shouting and arguments were intense and you had to push your way through a maze of bodies that were well dressed to stay outside all morning today.

You had also dressed prepared to endure the cold weather. The weather was supposed to be a bit better than the day of the race but you weren’t going to take any chances so you donned your winter ensemble that composed of a much thicker jacket, hat, gloves, and thicker socks. Nunji had also lent you her scarf since hers was much better than yours but you were kind of regretting accepting it that morning since the perfume your sister uses was very potent in the scarf.

Like with the volleyball players and cross country runners, you could tell the soccer players apart by their uniforms. However you saw that they all had on shirts of different colors that represented their classes. You frowned, feeling the clear and obvious favoritism the school was showing toward the soccer teams since your volleyball team had been left to wearing their own athletic wear and the cross country team only had armbands to distinguish the classes apart. You saw one of the teams practicing their dribbling and another stretching and you couldn’t hide your dissatisfaction as you walked by them. But the choice in colors showed how cheap the school was in their favoritism as you walked by weird colors and it made you feel a little better.

“Choi Mikyung, good morning.” You pretended you didn’t hear that voice and walked on. You smoothly sidestepped a large group and put as many people you could in between you and wherever that weird person was. You must have succeeded since you didn’t hear him anymore.

However he wasn’t the last person who said something to you. For some reason you drew a few people’s attention as a they took the time to greet you. Not wanting to seem rude, you also returned their greetings although you didn’t know any of them except a few of your old classmates here and there. The majority of them were guys and you didn’t feel very comfortable being around them. Most of them were trying to engage you in some kind of conversation and you took any chance to escape them whether it be someone saying hi to you or slipping into the crowd without them noticing.

After doing this a couple of times, you finally saw a familiar and welcoming face in Hongbin. “Mikyung noona,” he gave you a friendly wave and excused himself from the friends he was with.

You paused to think if you should continue on your way by yourself or wait for him but you thought that if someone was with you, then no one would bother you as much. The awkwardness you still felt with a few of your new acquaintances was something you would rather deal with than random guys hitting on you. So you stopped to wait for him by a classroom window. You looked into the classroom and saw a boy writing on the chalkboards going over any final strategies with his teammates.

When Hongbin walked to you he did a small bow and smiled, “Morning noona,” you smiled a little at him but your eyes were drawn to the bright shirt he was wearing. He noticed where you were staring and shuffled his feet nervously, “I swear I didn’t choose the color.”

You closed your eyes and looked away while rubbing your forehead making him laugh. He had on a neon green shirt and you were actually glad the sun was somewhere behind the clouds otherwise the color would have completely blinded you. Suddenly you thought of what kind of color your class was and your only hope was that it wasn’t a neon color.

You two started to walk into the building and he opened the door for you. You nodded at him and made your way through the front entrance of the school. “You played very well yesterday noona,” he started the conversation with ease once inside. You nodded again at his praise. “I think that’s why you’re getting a lot of attention from the guys.” This made you look at him and he smiled at you. “I overheard a few conversations talking about you and a few other girls that played.”

You sighed, defeated, since that was what you wanted to avoid. Hongbin sent  you a reassuring glance, “Don’t worry noona, you have me, Ravi, Hyuk, our Kenjumma, N hyung and,” he paused, “Leo hyung.” You shot him a look and he only smiled again. “We’ll protect you noona.” He muttered something else under his breath but you didn’t catch what it was so you chose to ignore it.

You two made you way through the crowded hallway and there were a few more guys who said hi and there were also some girls who you kind of recognized from the other teams you played against.

Suddenly you saw a hand grab Hongbin’s shoulder and pull him away. Surprised, you looked behind to see what happened and frowned when you saw Taekwoon. He was glaring at Hongbin who had a small smirk on his face. “Oh, Leo hyung,” he waved. “Hello.” Taekwoon only glared at him before pushing him away.

Hongbin caught himself from falling and only straightened his clothes. His smirk was still there as he said, “Good morning to you too hyung.” Hongbin looked at Leo and took him in. He frowned after a few seconds, making his smirk fade away, “Wait, how come you get to wear black? Is your class color black?” He walked over to him and pulled at his t-shirt and Taekwoon slapped his hands away. Hongbin only pouted.

“Good morning Leo hyung, Mikyung noona, and Hongbin,” Ravi made his presence known as he walked over. Hongbin quickly made his way over to him and ped his jacket. “What? What are you doing Hongbin-ah?” Ravi struggled to move his friend’s hands away from him.

“Stop resisting Ravi. I just want to see something,” Hongbin grunted and you awkwardly looked away.

Taekwoon was now standing next to you and he gestured for you two to continue walking. You shrugged your shoulders and started moving and he followed.

“How come your class gets to wear red!” Hongbin’s cry was heard when you guys were a good distance away from those two and Taekwoon rolled his eyes. You smiled a little and he bumped his shoulder into yours. You looked at him and he was looking the other way. You were back to frowning and quickened your pace. Your classroom was within sight but Taekwoon only had to take bigger strides before he was next to you again. You huffed and went back to your original pace. Taekwoon expected that so he copied you and bumped into you again.

This time you pushed him back and his amusement was clear after your retaliation. You realized you fell into his plan and you stopped walking and glared at him while he smirked back. Automatically you compared his smirk to Hongbin’s and you found yourself preferring Taekwoon’s. Your glare intensified as you grew frustrated where your thoughts took you. You wanted to stomp your foot but restrained yourself from doing so especially since he was watching you for any more reactions. Instead, you took a deep breath and turned away from him to start walking again.

You only focused on your destination which was your classroom’s door but you knew he was walking with you. When he reached to open the door, you hit his hand and opened it for yourself. There were a few of your classmates inside and they all looked at you two and froze. You frowned at their reaction and then you realized that Taekwoon had a hold of your bag. It must have looked like he had his arm around you to them and your glare was back in full force as you shook his hand off before going to your seat. He merely followed you and sat down next to you in Yoohyuk’s empty chair. Both of you didn’t give any thought to your other classmates.

Deciding to ignore him, you kept your eyes on your bag as you reached in to take out your completed homework for the day to go through them one more time. Classes would  start in the afternoon after all of the games were over but there was a chance they would be cancelled if any of the games took longer than usual but you still did them just in case.

You knew Taekwoon was watching you but you didn’t pay him any attention. Feeli