Today's a Wednesday. That means I get to watch Soonyoung play in the field. We handed in our Music project today and Ms Han was quite impressed, if i say so myself. She listened to it and praised us for "thinking out of the box". Anyway, I  sat on the bleachers as I did up my posters for the school elections, occasionally looking up to the field to see what Soonyoung was doing. Mingyu wasn't free this afternoon, he said he had some band stuff to do and went away whispering to Jihoon and Mingming about some special performance?? I had wanted to go home too because I'd be alone and I still had to prepare for elections but Soonyoung asked me to stay. 

 

This morning, Soonyoung came by my locker and asked, "Jeong Minji, can you please stay to watch my soccer practice?"

 

I thought for a while, "Sure thing, Kwon Soonyoung," I could do my posters while waiting. 

 

The soccer players ran rounds first before playing a few games. Soonyoung was serious as always, pointing out the mistakes other players made, ruffling his hair when he got frustrated. It was a habit of his to do that when he felt like he messed up or when something was wrong. At around the end of the practice, he got a little jumpy, hands fiddling with the hem of his shirt. That meant that he was nervous. I watched as he walked up to his coach and asked something, holding his palms out in prayer position, using his puppy dog eyes. The coach sighed, then nodded slowly. Soonyoung lit up and he looked up at me, nodding his head the way boys greet each other. I waved back, weirded out. He then made the whole team assemble and they made a small circle in the middle of the large field. They talked for a while, Seokmin pointing out something and then getting smacked in the head by the other members. A few of them then scurried towards the lockers, Soonyoung rushing to the back of the small stage infront of the field. The stage was for the principals to stand on during the morning announcements. I got up on my feet and looked around, completely puzzled. They didn't usually do this.  

 

Soon, the boys who went into the locker room came out onto the field holding big pieces of paper. They positioned themselves on the stage in a straight line facing their back to me. What is going on? Before I could think, Dongjin started up the stairs of the bleachers and took my arm, bringing me to the front of the stage. I turned to look at the coach but he shrugged, grinning. I asked Dongjin what was going on and he said, "You'll see," I was prepared to walk right up to the backstage to ask Soonyoung what was going on but the boys on stage started to move. 

 

"WILL" Hansol turned around, smiling from ear to ear as he held a big board with the word "Will" written on it. "YOU" Seunggwan jumped to face me holding up his board, winking. I raised an eyebrow. "GO" This time Doyoon turned around, using one hand to hold the board and the other to wave at me. I half waved back. "OUT" Seungcheol yelled as he slowly turned around too. "WITH" Chan and Junhui spun around, holding the card together. "ME" Seokmin hopped up and down excitedly. I would have thought that Seokmin was asking me out until Soonyoung came out from backstage, dressed in a button down shirt and jeans, holding a pink tulip in one hand and a board on the other. The board read, "MAYBE?" His eyes found mine and he smiled, hopeful. He walked down the steps of the stage. Soon, he was face to face with me. I just stood there awkwardly, taking it all in. So, the star goalie just asked me out. Star goalie. Me? 

 

"So whaddaya say?" Soonyoung handed me the tulip. I took it and stared at him, speechless. This was by far the sweetest thing someone has done for me. 

 

I guess I must have been staring too long because he waved his palm in front of my face saying, "Is that a no?" 

 

I snapped out of it, clearing my throat, "No, of course. I mean no as in not a no but of course- I mean yes. Yes, I'd love to," My hands were flailing all over the place as I explained myself. A smile spread across Soonyoung's countenance and before I knew it I was being spun around by him. I could hear the other boys cheering and Seokmin yelling, "KISS KISS KISS" Soonyoung took care of him by throwing his board at his face. 

 

-----

 

After his practice, he took me out for dinner. We walked side by side, talking about anything under the sun. That was the thing about Soonyoung, he never stopped talking which was good because then we didn't have any awkward silences. Not that being around Soonyoung felt awkward. We soon reached our dinner destination. 

 

"Here?" I asked, pointing towards the small cafe we were infront of.

 

"Yes here," Soonyoung held open the door and I walked into a fancy looking Italian food place. The place wasn't considered a restaurant but it wasn't considered as a street food stall too. It had many paintings of pasta and pizza around it and the store was decorated like the streets of Italy.

 

"Hey, Soonyoung," A short waiter came by. He had on a snapback and big black spectacles. His name tag read: Youngmin. 

 

"Heyy," Soonyoung brofisted him and continued, "Table for 2, please," Youngmin nodded before taking us to a table by the window. I looked at the menu which thankfully was in English. I browsed through it and decided on what to get. 

 

"I'll have seafood carbonara," Soonyoung and I both looked at each other and said at the same time. 

 

"JINX YOU OWE ME BUBBLE TEA" I quickly added and pointed at him, laughing. He sighed, stumped. 

 

Soonyoung called Youngmin over and said our orders, "We'll have ze 2 zeafood a la carbonara, please. And 2 ice tea." I snorted at his failed attempt of speaking Italian. Youngmin shook his head and walked away. 

 

"So, you excited for your first performance on Saturday?" I leaned in to the table. 

 

Soonyoung nodded, "I'm a little nervous though. What if I forget my lyrics? Or what if I get a voice crack," He rambled on and on. 

 

"You won't," I continued, "And aren't you all supposed to do 2 performances? Why did you practice only 1 song?" I stared at the plate of food coming our way instead of Soonyoung. 

 

"Dinner is served," Youngmin placed our orders on the table and bowed before skipping away. That is fast service right there. 

 

Soonyoung took a bite of his pasta before saying, "I don't know? Mingyu has something planned or something. He told me to leave when they were going to practice for it so I did," I've been hearing a lot about this "something" lately and it was getting on my nerves. So, the whole dinner consisted of me making small talk and then getting on to trying to pry out information from Soonyoung but he always changed the topic saying he didn't know and then going on talking about how Seokmin slipped on the floor and hurt his bum. 

 

~

 

"Such a nice day out," I breathed in the fresh air, looking around at the flora around us. Soonyoung came close to me blocking the beautiful daisies on the side of the pavement. 

 

"Hey, you're blocking my view," I pushed him out of the way. 

 

He jumped back in, "Psh, i AM the view," He wriggled his eyebrows. I was about to make a clever comeback but he pulled me towards a playground. I groaned.

 

He ran towards the tiny slide, hopping up the steps. He smiled at me before positioning himself on the slide, ready to slide down. I rolled my eyes, looking at the cute children playing at the sand pit.

 

"Oh !-" Soonyoung yelped. In response, concerned parents gasped at his foul launguage and I whipped my head back to look at him. He was stuck. Of course. I stomped towards him, pulling his long body down. He struggled a bit before coming out. 

 

"So much for 'safest playground in the neighbourhood'," Soonyoung read the sign beside the slide. I tsk-ed, pulling him back to the pavement. 

 

"Oh my gosh! A SWING, MINJI A SWING," He started towards a swing set not far from the playground. I liked swings so I followed him. He started touching the swing set, the poles and the seat, then he stared back at me amused like a little kid. 

 

"Have you not been on a swing before?" I asked, getting on one of the seats. I started to push myself up and down and up and down. 

 

"OH MY GOSH YOU'RE FLYING. TEACH ME TEACH ME," Soonyoung bounced on his soles. I laughed at this adorable kid. I told him to sit on the seat and then to swing back first with his legs bent backwards and legs stretched out when he was swinging forward. He tried and soon was swining very high. He let out tiny squeals when he got to the highest point. 

 

"THIS IS MY COUP DE TAAAAAT," He sang-shouted. 

 

"GOING UP," He flew up, "GOING DOWN," He reached the ground. 

 

~

 

We were now sitting on the park bench, the sun setting in the distance. We ate $1 ice cream from plastic cups. 

 

"Today was fun," I poked on my ice cream, "Thank you," 

 

Soonyoung smiled, looking at the sun set, "Are you tired?" I nodded, yawning. He shifted in closer to me and offered his shoulder. I leaned against his shoulder and closed my eyes. 

 

The moment would have ben perfect if not for the loud, "AYY WHAT'S UP MINJI.. and soonyoung?" We both turned back to look. We found ourselves face to face with Ninth Line, Mingming and Jihoon carrying their guitars. I waved back. I could feel Mingyu's piercing stare but Soonyoung patted me on the back and I relaxed. I stood up to greet them and Soonyoung followed suit. 

 

"Ice cream?" I held out my ice cream cup awkwardly towards them. Mingming politely declined but Jihoon ate a mouthful. Mingyu didn't take his eyes off me. 

 

Jihoon handed me back my now empty plastic cup and I went to throw it away. I'd do anything to get out of this awkward atmosphere so I idled at the bin for a while, staring at the cigarette on the ash tray on the bin. 

 

"Are you both?" Jihoon asked Soonyoung, confused. 

 

Soonyoung said, "Not yet," 

 

Mingyu stepped up and moved slowly towards Soonyoung causing him to move back, hitting the park bench. 

 

"Hey, I'm warning you not to mess around with Minji. I won't let you," Mingyu whispered slowly so that his words could register in Soonyoung's head.

 

"I'm not," Soonyoung raised his hands in surrender, "I really like Minji," 

 

"But still you better not," Mingyu stared straight into Soonyoung's soul. 

 

Soonyoung laughed, "Do you like her too?" 

 

"No. Our relationship isn't like that," Mingyu quickly said. 

 

Soonyoung nodded and then patted his back before going towards the bin. 

 

"Damn it," Mingyu mumbled.