“Join the botany club!”

“Sign up for theatre here!” You ducked quickly so as not to be hit by the clipboard that was in your face. The boy advertising the club apologized but started yelling again after you were out of range. You grimaced at the way the whole gym was crowded with students, leaving little to no personal space.

You had been here less than half an hour and you wanted to escape the madness that was full of teenage hormones. You had to make quick work of preventing collisions since the students you’ve come across so far were so excited and in their own worlds to not pay attention to their surroundings. Your hands were starting to hurt from clenching them so hard as your irritation mounted. The shouting added on to your annoyance.

Another thing that bothered you was the atmosphere where students of both genders are exposed to each other all in one location where they’re free to ‘socialize’ in order to find the ‘right’ club. This only meant clumps of girls walking around giggling loudly and boys leaning against the walls or sitting in the bleachers giggling on their own. From what you’ve seen, you were one of the few who have chosen to walk around solo.

You felt a pang somewhere inside you at that thought. It was a little weird because there was a moment when you had thought you would be sharing the misery of being in such a congested place with a specific someone.

Your eyes traveled to the special corner in the gym dedicated to the school sponsored sports and your attention landed on the bright sign showcasing the soccer team. There was a large clump of students there where boys congregated at that table with girls orbiting around that focal point. You rolled your eyes before turning your attention back to the table you were standing in front of.

It had caught your eyes from a distance with the reserved lettering. You picked up the simple flyer and looked at the list of books that this club would be reading. The person manning this table slyly laid down their sign-up sheet in your vision in a way that was inviting but pressuring. You snuck a look at the girl and she pretended to be oblivious with a smile at you. You looked back down at the flyer and went through the whole list of books one more time but put the paper down before bowing. You didn’t miss the way the girl’s smile disappeared when you turned your back to the table and left.

You already read more than half of the books on that list and you weren’t about to re-read them for that club as good as they might have been.

The astronomy club was the next club that you were going to go to but you bypassed that one after seeing all of the pick-up lines related to the stars and whatnot that littered their table and posters. And to make you walk by quicker, the club members were shouting those pick-up lines at random girls and boys alike with a cardboard cut-out of the two leading characters of the popular drama, “You Who Came from the Stars,” on either side of their table. 

You found where the teachers, who weren’t doing their jobs at chaperoning, near the future achievers club. You surprisingly ran into Yoohyuk at the gardening table but pretended you didn’t see him and his red face. You had to dodge the photography club and their cameras as they took pictures of anything that moved in their vicinity. Before you knew it, you were in sports club territory after going around the gym. Up until now, you had been avoiding coming in this direction for a reason.

You were about to slip behind the Joseon Dynasty club’s table but you mistakenly looked someone in the eye at the table you had been adamantly avoiding. The person zeroed in on you and immediately stood up from their chair.

You were about to pretend that didn’t happen but your name was being shouted over the din of the crowd. You knew you were frowning but arranged your face into a neutral expression as you slowly turned to face the person who beckoned you to them.

“I was waiting for you to stop by Mikyung-ssi,” your arm was leeched on and you were dragged to the volleyball table. Lee Yunhwa had been dropping hints at you about joining the volleyball team since the competition where she had suggested this option in the first place. You always gave a non-committed response whenever this topic was breached but she was very persistent. And she was a sunbae.

Not a good combination for you.

“Girls, this is the one I was talking about,” she announced to the girls who were lounging in the chairs behind the table. There were five of them and they did the once over on you.

One of them stood up, “She’s pretty tall,” she walked around the table and walked right up to you. You eyed her suspiciously and when she was so close to you, you could see the small mole on her chin. She was about the same height as you and you felt her brush your hair at the top of your head. You finally realized she was comparing your height with hers and relaxed a little but remained on your guard. “She could even be a middle blocker if she jumps as high as I remember.”

“I’m the blocker,” one of the other girls looked affronted at that remark.

The girl who compared heights scoffed, “You let the other side hit past you so many times I lost count. I wouldn’t call that a blocker.”

Yunhwa nudged you forward so you were standing right in front of the table, “Give her the sign-up sheet.”

You quickly looked at her, caught off guard at her abrupt commanding tone.

Another girl spoke up, “Does she even want to join? Or are you forcing her?” She looked at Yunhwa skeptically.

Yunhwa glared back, “We need another girl, or else the school will cut back on our budget. Or are you forgetting that Rimah-ya?”

“How can I forget? You’ve been so desperate these days.” Rimah snapped back.

“I am doing this for all of us,” Yunhwa’s face was slowly getting pink. “Most of us are in our last years in high school and it wouldn’t hurt if any of one of us was scouted by a college.”

“You mean if you were scouted.”

Yunhwa was full on glaring at the other girl. She was still glaring at her as she addressed you, “Of course it is up to you Mikyung-ssi, if you want to join.”

You let your eyes flicker between the two, feeling a little amused at the tension. Then you remembered the hardcore training your sister put you through just for the competition and felt that practice with these guys would be even worse.

You cleared your throat and Yunhwa broke her glaring contest with Rimah to look at you, “I still haven’t made up my mind if I want to join any sports club,” you began but noticed the sudden pleading in Yunhwa’s eyes. You stared at her a second before turning your eyes away and continuing, “And I still have other things in my schedule I have to straighten up before I make a decision.” You thought of your possible tutoring session with Gunwoo which you had forgotten about.

A group of girls came over to the table at that moment, “Look volleyball!”

“They get to wear those short tights don’t they?”

“In front of all those boys?” they giggled.

Yunhwa glanced at them and rolled her eyes. Like a signal went off, the volleyball team stood up simultaneously if they weren’t already standing. The difference in height between the two groups of girls was an entertaining sight that made the interested party of girls walk off quickly, uninterested.

“We don’t just wear short tights in front of boys,” Rimah called out after them. A few of the girls looked back, “We own them.”

The height comparing girl high fived her as the other girls huffed and left.

You wanted to follow after the girls and leave but Yunhwa suddenly slung an arm around your shoulder, planting you in place. You wanted to sigh but held it in with one of your sunbaes so close. “Just give it a thought, okay?” she whispered in your ear.

You shifted your weight uneasily as she gave your shoulder a squeeze, prompting your response so you nodded. Apparently that wasn’t the response she wanted since she squeezed your shoulder a little tighter, “Ne, sunbaenim.” This time she let you go. You bowed to them all to make your escape and when you were about to take the first step, Yunhwa grabbed your shoulder again and pulled you back to her side.

“Oh, how rude of us,” her arm was back around your shoulder. “We haven’t properly introduced ourselves.” She snapped her fingers to Rimah, “You start first.”

Rimah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Kim Rimah imnida.”

Yunhwa huffed, clearly getting tired of her teammate’s attitude, “Tell her what position you play.”

Rimah looked you in the eye, “I play the setter and I look forward to playing with you soon our future volleyball hoobae.”

Yunhwa nodded along before gesturing to the next girl who was the height comparing girl. This girl smiled at you, “I am Oh Dina and I am our team’s right side hitter.”

“I’m the libero, Kim Gahui. Nice to meet you,” this girl your recognized from the competition.

The blocker bowed to you, “I am the middle blocker who won’t give you my position so easily,” she was cut off by Dina who scoffed once again.

“Tch, all Mikyung-ssi has to do is block one ball and she has the position,” the other girls broke out in laughter.

Dina was pinched in response by the blocker who turned to you with a glare, “I’m Park Joomi, a name you will remember as the blocker who will get another MVP in the upcoming season, unlike some people,” she sent pointed looks to Dina and Gahui who only continued to laugh.

“Your one and only MVP,” Rimah casually commented as she sat down in her chair. “The best MVP of our team.” She was the n