Chapter 17

"Jessica, what are you doing?"

Jessica jolted in her place and turned around only to see Yuri staring back at her.

“What the…!” Instinctively Jessica punched Yuri’s arm. Immediately after doing so she realized what she had done and apologized.

“…Oh my God. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to… I mean my reflex… I really d-don’t like being c-crept up on like that” Jessica stuttered till she ran out of things to stutter on and just quietly bowed her head

“Wrong locker, Jessica. That’s mine.” Yuri said as he gestured towards the locker behind Jessica.

Jessica then again apologized and kept her head down.

“Didn’t they give you your locker number?” Yuri asks.

“They did, I was assigned to locker number 20 which I thought was this one. There aren’t any numbers on any of the lockers so I assumed it’s this one.” Jessica answered

All of the lockers on the first floor were already taken. When a locker has not yet been assigned to anyone, instead of the student’s name plastered at the top, it would have a number plate instead. In Yuri’s case, he doesn’t remember ever removing the number plate on his locker when he went there before but when he looked at it earlier, the number plate was nowhere to be seen. He found it strange but then shrugged it off.

Yuri raised his eyebrows and then shook his head. Without much thought, he grabbed Jessica’s hand and gently pulled her towards the other side of the hall. He looked at locker that was directly across from his. That one didn’t have a name or a number plate.

“This is locker number 20, mine was number 40. The counting always starts at the right side.”  Yuri explained.

When he was done talking he noticed Jessica’s shocked expression. He then looked down at their hands and understood why she had such an expression.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to. Anyways, I’m sure this one is yours. Try opening it with the default code they gave you.” Yuri said as he let go of Jessica’s hand.

Jessica shyly nodded. She did what she was told and just like how Yuri said, it indeed was her locker. Jessica felt stupid and embarrassed at the same time. She hung her head low and proceeded taking out her books. Seeing this, Yuri went back to his locker and did the same. The hall was practically empty except for the two of them. The sounds that could be heard were only coming from the two rummaging through their lockers. Yuri was finished getting his books, he turned around to see the brown-haired girl still going through her locker. When Jessica was done she closed her locker and turned around as well, only to see Yuri staring at her with his ‘normal’ expression.  

The two stared at each other long enough to forget that their next class starts in 10 minutes. No words were exchanged but both had something on their minds for the other. For a moment the two were transported into some other world were only they existed and everything else was just void. Unspoken words and silence surrounded them but like most things it didn’t last long.

Yuri walked away first and left Jessica to see his slowly disappearing figure. Jessica was now left all alone with regret and her books that she held closely to where her heart was placed, tightening her grip as Yuri faded away from her sight.

--

Back at the classroom, almost everyone was already in. Yuri went to his seat placed his books on top of his desk. His chest felt a sense of relief once he got out of that hall. There was an enormous amount of pressure on it back there and he knew the reason why. It was because he was yet again alone in the presence of Jessica. Yuri let out a sigh and decided to not think about it anymore since nothing would come out of it anyway. Jessica arrived just in time. She went to her new seat which was in front, beside Taeyeon who smiled at her she walked through the door.

Jessica’s eyes searched for Yuri, they found him in his usual trance of staring at the nothingness outside through the window. This brown-haired girl harbored yet another ounce of regret. She clearly had a chance back there to talk to him but no words came out from her or him. Maybe another time, Jessica thought. Another time, another place and another chance would surely come for her to talk and clear things between her and Yuri, Jessica convinced herself.

--

(Meanwhile)

Kwon Soon Il, Yuri’s father, sat down in his office with his hands clasped together.  He knew that his mistakes from the past would one day haunt him and it seems like that time has now come.

“It’s her. I have no doubt about it…” Soon Il muttered

“Our investigation has proven otherwise, sir.”

“No. It’s her, I’m sure of it.”

“Sir, if I may, it would not make sense for her to show herself to you. If I was her and I knew you would recognize me the minute you lay your eyes on me then it’d be very disadvantageous for me.”

Soon Il stood up from his seat and turned to the window. He looked up at the dark skies and got reminded of a certain night where the skies shared the same look.

“That's not how it works. She knows that I can’t touch her because if I do, it’s game over.”

“What should we do now, sir?”

That was the million dollar question. Was there even something Soon Il could do? Right now, his options were limited and there was no assurance that he would eventually have more.

“Just make sure Yuri does not find out any of this.”

-

(Back at Whimoon)

The day was done for most of Whimoon’s students. Yuri’s day was far from over. He still had training in which he was tasked to observe Kris to see if he had anything to contribute to the soccer team. The bell rang signaling the end of their class. Yuri packed his stuff and looked over to his right, towards Kris’ direction. The latter was talking to Taecyeon. Yuri did not call his attention but instead headed towards the door.

I told him to wait for me at the field earlier. That should be enough of a reminder.

Yuri got out of the classroom pretty fast as he spared no one his gaze nor attention. Kris and Taecyeon went over to Taeyeon and Jessica.

“You guys go on ahead, I still have some sort of mock-try out for the soccer team. I’ll be training with the team captain, himself.” Kris explained to the group.

“Ooooh. That’d be interesting to watch. Yuri has never trained with anyone except the whole team. By that I mean he either trains alone or with the whole team.”

“The coach told me that they won’t be having field trainings for the rest of the week. I’m not really sure why though.” Kris said

“You guys got anything on for today? Why don’t we watch their training session?” Taeyeon suggested

Jessica was surprised but held her calm expression. Earlier she was thinking of how another chance to talk to Yuri would come and now it’s presenting itself to her.

“I’m okay with it.” Jessica smiled

“Count me in! Good luck buddy!” Taecyeon cheered.

With that settled, all four of them headed out of the classroom and into the field. Kris left the other three to go to the dugout and change clothes. Taecyeon, Taeyeon and Jessica sat themselves on the bleachers and waited for their training session to begin. A few minutes passed and other students came down to the field to watch as well. Most were girls who had a thing for Yuri while others were there for a completely different reason. The amount of people going to the field surprised Taeyeon. She thought the crowd was too big, it was just a mock-try out after all. Spotting someone familiar, a male student approached Taeyeon and the others.

“Taeyeon-noona! Oh and hello sunbae-nims” the male student greeted brightly as he bowed to his seniors.

“Oh hey there, Baekhyun.” Taeyeon greeted back

“…guys this is Baekhyun, he’s part of the soccer team as well. He’s in the year below us.” The former introduced him to Jessica and Taecyeon.

“I guess the word spread fast. You guys are here too.” Baekhyun said, thinking that the trio was there for the same reason he was.

“What do you mean?” Taeyeon asked

“The word is that the new student challenged Yuri-hyung to a one on one match.” Baekhyun explained

The three was caught off guard with Baekhyun’s remark. Here they were thinking that it was some sort of mock-try out for Kris.

“You sure about that? Kris told us it was just some sort of mock-try out.” Jessica couldn’t help but ask. It was so out of Kris’ character to be challenging anyone, let alone Yuri, the captain of the soccer team she thought

“Kris? Oh that must be the name of the new student. Well, that’s what I heard. And I’m sure it’s what the others know too. That’s the only logical reason for these other people to show up.” Baekhyun explained

Indeed there was no other reason for these people to go to the field. It was Monday too, most students would choose to go home immediately but instead they chose to stay behind and see the impending action on the field.

Meanwhile at the dugout, Kris caught up to Yuri. The latter had just finished putting on his cleats and was about to leave the dugout.

“I’ll go on ahead. I’ll wait for you outside.” Yuri left the dugout and proceeded to the field.

As he got outside, he noticed the amount of people on the bleachers. They were slowly filling up the seats.

What the…

While Yuri looked at the growing crowd, Chanyeol took this chance to approach his senior and captain.

“Hyung!” Chanyeol greeted

“Oh hey. Can you tell me why are these people here?” Yuri said

“Word got out that the new student challenged you to a one on one match.” Chanyeol explained to his captain

Yuri could only shake his head. Who in the world would spread that stupid rumor, he thought.

It’s not like I can make them go away anyway.

“That’s not true. I was asked by the coach to let the new guy train with me since he wants to try out.” Yuri countered

Chanyeol could only shrug for he, just like everyone else, could not really pinpoint where the word of Kris challenging Whimoon’s star soccer player came from. Soon, Kris left the dugout and into the field. More than anyone else, he was surprised at the amount of people. There were at least 50 students who came to see them train. Kris went to Yuri’s side who looked nonchalant as always.

“Uh is this a test of some sort?” Kris asked, he was thinking maybe Yuri set this up as a part of some ultra-secret training program he had planned for them today.

“No. Apparently someone went out and told everybody that you challenged me to a one on one match.” Yuri said monotonously.

“What?” Was all Kris could utter as he stared back at the crowd.

“They’re not going anywhere so let’s start.” Yuri said as he went to the center of the field.

The captain started to stretch and did some ball exercises afterwards. Kris followed suit and they did that for a few minutes. After that, Kris helped Yuri set up the cones for more warm up exercises. Back at the crowd, they’ve started to place their bets on who will win.

“Yuri will definitely win. He was chosen as the captain for a reason!” one student said

“Yeah but come on the new guy doesn’t seem too bad himself. I bet he’ll give Yuri a run for his money!” another one countered

“I’m putting my 2 days’ worth of my allowance on Yuri.”

More students were on Yuri’s side than on Kris. Everyone on team Yuri had the same reason. They have seen how Yuri plays and up to this day no one has come even close to his abilities. On team Kris, they all believed that Yuri’s reign will end and it’ll be Kris who will be doing the deed. The two ‘knights’ were done with their drills. They set aside the cones and stretched yet again. Yuri looked over at the crowd and thought how ridiculous the current situation was. He looked up at the skies and noticed it was getting darker.

“Have you ever played in the rain?” Yuri asked

“Not really. Why?” Kris answered as he got up from doing leg stretches.

“Well then you’re about to.” Yuri answered.

Sure enough, it started to rain. Fortunately for the audience the bleachers had a roof above it and so they were shielded from the rain unlike the two who were at the center of the field.

“I’ll give you 30 tries. Score as much as you can.” Yuri said as he kicked the ball towards Kris.

Captain Yuri wanted to see if Kris could sneak in a goal with him being a keeper. Yuri was mainly a striker but that didn’t mean he did not know to play other positions. In reality he was comfortable with any position, his coach however chose to put him as a striker. (forward) The ball stopped exactly at Kris’ feet. The rain was making it harder for him to analyze where to position himself to be able to score. He started with a blind try but it was easily blocked by Yuri.

“By the way you can go further to gain momentum if you want.” Yuri shouted. The rain was starting to hit harder.

Kris was now down to 29 tries. He knew blindly scoring wouldn’t get him anywhere so he had to use his brain and think of a way to sneak in a goal. After several minutes, Kris had exhausted all his chances. Out of the 30 Yuri gave him, he was only able to score 1 goal. The ones who were on team Yuri were starting to celebrate. They knew that trusting their dear captain was not such a wrong move. Over at team Kris they countered that the other camp was celebrating too early.

“Is Yuri the team’s goal keeper?” Taecyeon asked

“Nope. He’s mainly forward/striker but then he’s really flexible. This is the first time I saw him be a keeper though.” Taeyeon answered

The three were quietly watching the on-going training session. Jessica was starting to get worried about Kris, he looked really exhausted from that exercise they were doing. Now, she didn’t know much about soccer but even Jessica knew that the ultimate goal of the game was to get the ball past the keeper. In this case, Kris only scored one in all of the tries he made.

“How long has been Kris playing?” Taeyeon directs the question to Jessica

“He’s been into soccer ever since we were little kids but then he stopped when we got here in Korea last year. This is the first time he’s played since then, I think.” Jessica answered

“He’s probably just breaking the game in him again.” Taeyeon commented.

Kris bended over and put his hands on his knees. That really took a lot out of him. He’s been out of the field for quite some time now and so the fatigue was catching on to him faster than he expected.  Like Kris, Yuri felt the exhaustion within his body more than usual but not as bad as Kris. He did have to throw his body here and there to stop Kris’ attempts. They rested for a bit and then resumed. The two switched roles. Kris was now in charge of defending. Just then the rain started to lighten up.

“Same thing as before, 30 tries.” Yuri shouted to which Kris nodded.

Kris started to get serious and did his best to focus on the game. Yuri’s 30 tries started and soon enough it ended with both of them almost equally exhausted. Yuri was able to get in all 30. Kris sat down and soon laid down on the wet field.

“Damn, Yuri’s really good.” Taecyeon blurted out

“Well, he is the team captain. No offense but Kris is kinda on the disadvantage here.” Taeyeon replied

“Talk about it.” Taecyeon muttered

Jessica was silent through all of this. It was one thing that she didn’t know much about soccer but she didn’t really want to say anything because she had no idea how to say the things in her head without making things awkward. On one hand she was impressed with Yuri’s skills but on the other hand she felt bad for Kris. After resting a bit Yuri went to the dugout to take out two practice soccer net sets. Kris saw this and helped the former set the two nets up. The crowd started cheering once they saw the nets being set up however the two ignored them as they were too busy talking to each other.

“Okay now let’s try a one on one game. Race to 10.” Yuri said as he finished setting one of the nets.

Kris only nodded. He never expected Yuri to be this good. It’s becoming clearer to Kris as to why he was chosen to be Whimoon’s soccer captain. Yuri brought out a coin to see determine who will get the ball first. He flipped the coin. Kris chose tails and he chose wisely. Their match began with Kris on offense while Yuri was on defense. Kris tried his best to get past Yuri without him stealing the ball away from him but he just couldn’t keep up with Yuri’s speed. At one point during their little match he began to wonder if Yuri was even human at all.

The match ended with 10-2, in favor of Yuri. A couple of cheers were heard from the bleachers. Kris was now completely out of it. His exhaustion went into overdrive and his body just did not take it anymore. Kris ended up laying down again on the wet and pretty much dirty field which left Yuri the last man standing. He looked over to the group of students who were cheering him. Yuri shook his head and approached Kris.

“I’m guessing you’ve been away from the field for a while.” Yuri said as he stood tall with Kris below him.

“Almost a year. Sorry, I by the way.” Kris said as he got up with Yuri’s help

“…I totally got owned today. Thanks for sticking around.” Kris continued

“You just need to get back in condition. Go to a gym for the rest of the week then we’ll do this again on Friday.” Yuri said before leaving him and proceeding to the dugout.

The students started to clear out the bleachers and soon enough the trio were the only ones there. They got down to the field and got over on Kris’ side.

“You did great…..-ish.” Jessica said jokingly

“My just got handed to me and that’s what you’re gonna say?” Kris laughed heartily

“I was trying to be good.”

“Apparently not good enough.” Taecyeon teased Jessica.

The 4 laughed and the other three continued to cheer Kris before the latter left to shower off his fatigue. The trio then went off and decided to wait for Kris near the school entrance.

--

Jessica’s POV

Me, Taeyeon and Taecyeon were waiting for Kris near the entrance when Taecyeon suddenly got a phone call. He moved away from us a bit then when he came back he told us he had to go and apologized.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow! Bye Taeyeon, Bye Just-A-Friend Jessica!” Taecyeon shouted while waving at us as he disappeared into the night.

I couldn’t help but smile at his remark. Still pretty thankful that everything’s going well, hopefully I can make it stay that way longer this time. Me and Taeyeon started talking about random things then at some point Tiffany got dragged into our conversation.

“So how long have you known Tiffany?” Taeyeon asks

“We met just last year!”

“Really? Wow. I thought you guys knew each other longer than that.” Taeyeon says in shock

“I know right? I don’t know…We just kind of clicked when we met.” I said happily. It was true. Me and Tiff are just so alike and I feel so comfortable around her.

Taeyeon nodded. Well since she asked about Tiff, I thought that maybe I could ask about Yuri.

“How about you and Yuri?” Wow it sounds like I’m asking how long have they been together or something. Hope I didn’t make things awkward.

“Hmm. I’ve known him since freshmen year. You know he’s a really nice guy. It’s just a bit difficult to see him like that because he’s so…reserved. I don’t know much about him but I know for sure he’s not a bad guy.”

Of course he’s a nice guy. He gave me such an expensive gown for free. If that’s not nice then I don’t know what is.

“…I think he just needs someone to break through his walls, you know? He keeps so much to himself and I feel bad because I can’t do anything about it as his friend. I bet he has a lot he wants to say but he just doesn’t know how to say it.”

Doesn’t how to say it?

“What do you mean?” I asked

“Well…I feel like he’s really lonely and that he wants to reach out but something stops him. I just don’t know what that is.”

From the outside Yuri is this guy who has everything a person could want but on the inside… he could just be another broken soul.

“That’s just my opinion but he could also be that way because he just doesn’t like other people.” Taeyeon joked

Yuri once told me that he was the way he is because of a very dark reason. Something much more darker than seeing someone die, according to him. I can't help but what wonder what that thing is...

Taeyeon and I had more random conversations before we saw Kris and Yuri slowly approaching us. They got to where we were a few seconds after seeing them.

“Hey guys!” Kris greeted us while Yuri just stood there beside him not saying anything.

“Well, it’s getting late. Let’s all home yeah?” Taeyeon suggested.

She goes from a different route than we do so she had to go on her own. Me, Kris and Yuri went on our way with silence surrounding us. I walked with Kris on my right side while Yuri followed us along. There was nothing significant to talk about so everyone was just silent all throughout the walk. Since our apartment complex comes first, we had to say goodbye to Yuri and let him go on his way but I had different idea on my head.

“You go on ahead, I just need to talk to Yuri for a while.” I said to Kris as we stopped in front of our complex. I looked over to Yuri and there was no sign of protest from him at all.

Kris nodded and went on inside. Now, it was just me and Yuri on this slightly lit up road. I haven’t really figured out what to say so when Kris disappeared, my just heart suddenly decided it wanted to get out of my chest. I literally can’t hear anything else but my heart pounding.

What the hell, Jessica?! What were you thinking?! YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO HIM!!!

Come on Jessica! THINK! THINK!

“Y-you were awesome out there! I mean… yeah! Y-you totally kicked Kris’ . Not that I want you to…literally or figuratively! I mean…I’m not mad or anything you were just doing what you had to do… I just…”

STOP TALKING JESSICA. SAVE YOURSELF FOR GOD’S SAKE

I bit my lip and hung my head low. What in Neptune’s name am I blabbering about?! Did I just really tell him that I don’t want him to kick my cousin’s but literally or figuratively? Really me? Really?!

“Is that really what you wanted to talk about?” Yuri asked

I looked up at him, only to find his eyes directly on mine. That didn’t help me at all. I wanted to look away but just like earlier at lockers, I couldn’t tear away from his gaze. It’s as if I’m automatically drawn to them.

No. STOP! Stay focused!! You need to tell him!

“I…no. I just… wanted to say thank you for everything but…” I paused

His words suddenly from our conversations before flooded my mind

“You don’t know either, huh? Someone once told me about these feelings before, he said it comes from really liking someone.  I guess this means I really like you? Does that make sense? Because I really have no idea.”

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing you or anyone else can do. I, Kwon Yuri, want to get close to you. If that means, in your words, getting dragged down then I’ll gladly be pulled down as far as hell, if there is one. I told you before right? I happen to like you and take interest in you so trying to tell me to stay away for such a petty reason won’t really work.”

“Because… I happen to like it when you spend your time with me just like now. It’s very fulfilling on my part.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t able to talk to you at all tonight. Anyways, I just wanted you to know that you looked absolutely beautiful tonight. That’s all. Good night.”

These words in my head. The words that made my heart skip a beat. The words that made me feel something else. What do they all mean? With all the courage I’ve miraculously gathered in me. I went ahead and asked that one question that’s been bothering me this whole time.

“Do you really like me?” 

--

Author's note:

HEY GUYS!! Hope you guys liked this chapter! (although for me it bc there's not much going on) 

HELLO NEW SUBSCRIBERS! WELCOME!!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been supporting this story! You guys are awesome! 

lol did anyone like Taeyeon and Baekhyun's brief interaction? HAHAHAHAHA

let know what you guys think on the comment section! 

Peace! -ymllama