chapter EIGHT 

 Tennis Tournament

 

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"Yah! Yah! Hurry up!" Eunji peeked in through the opened creak of the door before she closed it once again. I bounced off my bed after closing my laptop, of which I had used to do some assignments. I know, me and assignments usually won't match, but I seriously need to get my grades to pass if I want to survive college. My dad warned me about it already. That was the only condition I needed to obey if I wanted to pursue what I wanted instead of what my parents wanted.

 

I rushed down the flight of stairs just as everyone else were busy shuffling into the main living room. Some sat on the couch, on the floor while mostly just stood, leaning against the walls covered with bright pink wallpapers. It wasn't called Pinkf(x) for nothing alright. I took my seat next to Eunji on the floor, along with the other pledges. Naeun was there too. I smiled at her as a greeting as Victoria began talking.

 

"So the first official campus event is going to take place and as usual it's the sports tournament!" she began talking with her ever-so excited voice, eyes large and teeth showing. She was always excited about events, maybe that was why she became the president in the first place. Or maybe she was just acting to be excited, so that we would get excited as much as she was. And as I quote from Eunji, "Enthusiasm is key to scoring good events on campus."

 

"This year is going to be the tennis tournaments for the fraternities and as for us sororities, we would be cheering for them. But, of course we too would be competing against sororities in the cheerleading competition."

 

"So we're not going to actually play sports?" one girl who was known as the 'athletic runner' amongst us pledges asked. I bet she was itching to kick some , and all we got was some cheerleading.

 

"I'm afraid not. We could use some of your athlecity, but maybe next time, okay?" Chorong replied.

 

I wasn't too keen on the idea of cheerleading, honestly. I mean, I'm not a cheerleader. I don't know how to do it, let alone like it. But then again, sports wasn't really my forte. At least we would all be in this together. And by that I mean, if there was something humiliating later on, it wouldn't feel so bad because the entire pledge class would experience it too.

 

"This is an important event because we can score a blue ribbon if we do win," Victoria spilled the beans, making everyone anxious about it. All of them seemed to be taking this lightly before, but no, she just had to use the blue ribbon card. Now, blue ribbon is like a measure to being the best house on campus. The more blue ribbons, the higher the chance of being at the top. And of course, Victoria just couldn't risk losing the number one spot and so, here comes our job, the pledges. Participate in events and win. There's no other options, you just have to win, literally.

 

Victoria signalled for Amber to take over and she stepped forward a bit. "Now, don't get nervous. As your pledge educator, I will be the one coaching you girls. But there's a catch. I will be guiding, not teaching. So, we've chosen someone to be team captain, because come on, you gotta have the captain, right?"

 

Everyone started whispering and hushing words to each other, guessing who it might be. Amber solely pointed her index finger to the future captain and everyone's eyes trailed. 

 

"ME?!?"

 

And that was my own voice shrieking. I was panicking. No, no, not me. I have no basic experience or even the slightest idea of how cheerleading works! I'm not flexible, athletic, I can't even dance to work out the routines! What on earth was she thinking? Had the seniors gone mad and decided to lose a blue ribbon freely with me ruining it for them? This was absurd, and yet Amber nodded satisfactorily at me.

 

"Yes, pledge, you. Let's see if you can handle this one. Choreograph the whole routine and get back to me by next week," she added her instructions, making this worse. I. HAD. TO. DO. WHAT?

 

"B-But--"

 

"Oh and I almost forgot, we would be cheering for Infinite, as we always does. That wouldn't be so hard on you right? Cheering for your boyfriend would be something you would do anyways so this wouldn't be a burden to you then," Amber stated, mockingly. I was still in the state of mental shock.

 

How could anyone break down 3 bad news to me all at once? A, I have to be team captain. B, I have to choreograph, no idea how that would work but yeah C, I have to cheer for Infinite? For Myungsoo? Like said what?! Why am I even in this sorority again? Oh my god, my life would be ruined. Like really, this was not cool.

 

Everyone was dismissed as I glowered on the floor by myself. Eunji gave me a pat, only being able to sympathize with my bemoaned fate. Naeun on the other hand sparked up an idea, giving me a slight hope that I would not mess this up. "Why don't you ask Kai? He's a dancer, right? I bet he can help you in choreographing some moves."

 

I lifted my head up and held Naeun by her shoulders. "Oh my god, thank you Naeun! Thank you thank you thank you!" I shook her excitedly, not caring how uncomfortable that might've been for her. She was right, though. Why wouldn't I thought of that? Kai! He's like the perfect guy I need right now.

 

"Hey, where are you going?" Eunji yelled from behind as I strided towards the door. "Saving all of us from humiliation!"

 

 

As usual, the wide spacious garden was laid out on the front yard of the equally refined mansion. The bricked pathway led me to the main door and I immediately pressed the doorbell. After a couple of minutes, someone finally managed to open the door. It was another guy this time, someone whom I wasn't quite familiar with. To my surprise, he actually knew me.

 

"Oh it's the angel!" he exclaimed and I once again cringed to ever-so-cheesy nickname. "Are you looking for Kai?"

 

"Yeah, is he inside?"

 

"Actually he's not. He went outside for a little while. Come in, you can wait for him inside," he flashed his eye-smile, making his already small eyes seemed like crescents. I stepped in, it was the first fraternity after Infinite that I went to. But it was completely posh from every inch of the corner. The maple wooden floor was shiny, the wallpaper was in navy blue, there was a portrait hanging by the stairs which displayed last semester's students in the EXO fraternity. The house was totally different from Infinite. This one was stark and had an edge. It could be the house of some businessmen living together instead of a frat house lived by young adults like them.

 

I let myself follow Mr. Eye Smile to the main living room which was again, looked luxurious. There was a grand piano at the right end corner. I could tell it was customly made considering the rare quotes written on its body. Visible words like "We are One" was clearly painted on the white background of the piano, making it seemed really cool. There were also a few couches, a huge flat screen TV plastered on the wall and a dark brown coffee table with today's newspapers on it. Looking around, I acknowledged that were prodigals indeed just as Eunji had mentioned. Filthy rich kids, as what the whole college nicknamed them.

 

"Nice to finally meet you, Soojung. I'm Chen, 2nd year majoring in business and EXO's pledge educator," Mr. Eye Smile finally introduced himself after taking a seat next to me. 

 

"Ah, well I guess you already know me," I laughed and couldn't help but notice that his eye-smile was really cute. Like really. Haish, I should've seen this coming. All of Kai's friends were good-looking, including Kai himself. In Chen's case, his looks were plain but his smile was what made him attractive. I was starting to think that EXO chose people based on their looks aside the fact that you had to be filthy rich to get in.

 

"Well, I heard a lot about you from Kai. He can't seem to stop talking about you, like seriously. He just made me even more curious as to who you are, and meeting you in person, I can see why he's like that."

 

I smiled nervously at the compliment. It was awkward for him to say such nice things about me when he just met me. And just as if on cue, Sehun came to the rescue with his wailing, "Soojung-ah~"

 

I looked at him who was walking towards me with another flower boy. Seriously, EXO? There's more good-looking people you hide in here?

 

"Yah, go away! I'm talking with Soojung here," Chen tried to shoosh him away but of course, Sehun's persistance was incredible, making his efforts in vain. "Hyung you just met her! I'm her friend, so I'm supposed to entertain her while she's here, at EXO."

 

"You talked to her too much already! Go away!"

 

"I don't want to!"

 

"Yah Oh Sehun, you're seriously--"

 

"YAH! YAH! Behave, please. We have a guest here," the flower boy shook his head furiously, obviously embarassed by the two. I laughed. I didn't know why but I found it to be funny. Just a minute ago, this fraternity seemed like what it was supposed to be. Dark, manly, adult and...boring? And look at the people living in it, total opposite. Especially Sehun. Seriously, he is one whiny brat. But then again, it was amusing to watch. I bet he was super rich, or else he could've been kicked out of the frat just after 10 seconds of getting accepted.

 

"Luhan hyung! You're supposed to side with me! I'm your lil' bro," Sehun pouted.

 

"Yeah, and he's your pledge educator. Show some respect, eo?"

 

Sehun rolled his eyes as Chen childishly stuck his tounge out at Sehun, taunting the younger. Sehun listened though, he just took a seat next to Chen then. "Yah, hyung, you are very admirable! This is why I love you~" Chen managed to hug the latter, making him sigh deeply, as if he was used to all these. "I love you too, now get your hands off of me," Luhan said. 

 

Kai finally arrived after a good 10 minutes of me and the guys conversing. They were pretty 'interesting' people to be friends with. Definitely not like what Infinite would say about them. Hmm, maybe it's just because of the feud they had for the number one spot. If not, I think they could actually be friends. And that would be the most absurd thing to both of the frats.

 

 

"You want me to do what?!"

 

That was Kai's reaction when I asked him to help me choreograph the routine for cheering on Infinite. Like I said, they hated each other too much to the point that just helping me to cheer on them was burdensome. I could see it in his eyes.

 

"Please, please, please. You're like the best dancer on campus."

 

"You're exagerrating. And why should I help you to cheer on them?"

 

"Because, you're helping me, not them. And I thought we were friends," I tried to make an attempt at being sympathetic, although I wasn't sure how that turned out. Was Kai easily persuaded in this kind of case?

 

"Yeah, but either ways cheering on whom could be our opponent at the match. For all we know, you could be cheering on Myungsoo while I played against him. Me, the one who choreographed the cheer in the first place."

 

"Come on, Kai. It's a favour that I promise I would pay back. Please," I pouted. Didn't I look sympathetic enough? "Pity me, Kai. Would you let your friend suffer in humiliation like this?"

 

With a deep, deep heave of sigh, I knew that I did it. I grinned excitedly and felt like hugging Kai out of appreciation but luckily enough, my mind managed to control my body. Don't, Soojung. Kai wasn't a teddy bear who you could hug whenever you like. Hugging him because of this small reason would be unnecessary. 

 

"Let's go then," Kai grabbed my hand and dragged me to his motorcycle. He handed me a helmet but I was still confused. "Where to?"

 

He sighed, disappointed that I hadn't put my helmet on when he already did. He grabbed the helmet, put it on my helmet and buckled its strap. "To save you from humiliation, of course," he looked me in the eyes and then smiled, making me slightly fazed by his action. I was just a bit startled since his face was really close with mine earlier, that's all. Really.

 

We arrived at the dance studio where Kai had brought me to before. This time, luckily, no one was using it. And so he could help me to at least not be so awkward with the simple moves of dancing as a base for the cheerleading choreography.

 

"You know that besides technique, you can be good at dancing with it," Kai went to plug in his iPod to the speakers, carefully selecting a song to be matched with 'today's lesson.' "What is that? Natural born talent?" I spatted sarcastically. He chuckled instead, and the music began filtering the enclosed room as soon as he hit play. It was instrumental but it had a certain addictive beat to it. The kind of music that would get anybody, just anybody to move their heads and shake their hips.

 

"That," he paused and went stretch his long arms a couple of times before continuing, "Emotions. Feelings. You need to express how you feel through dancing. It's the same thing like when you sing, it's just movements this time, not words."

 

He signalled me to follow him as he did a few simple steps. A couple of locks, foot twists and mid-air jumps. Just when I felt awkward, he would come to me and help me fix my posture. It wasn't nothing big, really. I just stretched my arms at a slightly different angle or having put out my right foot when I should've put out my left.

 

"Just get this to be 90 degrees straight out, okay? It'll be more sharp that way," he fixed my arm this time, and I once again glanced back before nodding again. It was just that everytime he was to fix me, he would naturally had to be so close to me, too close that I could hear his heavy breathing sometimes. I was flustered at times, but it only took a few seconds before we managed to snap out of it. Man, this was getting dangerous. Kai was being dangerously close to me that it made me feel sligihtly uncomfortable.

 

But then again, this was Kai we were talking about. Soojung, this was Kai, not some stranger dance prodigy. You could trust him, at least that was what my conscience told me. Yeah, Kai liked Yoona anyways, so why bother thinking about something ridiculous as this?

 

 

The whole week was busy as hell and I didn't even had any chance to get a real break. From classes to assignments to 'dance lessons' with Kai to cheerleading practices, it was freaking hectic. Heck, I didn't think I was this busy to begin with in high school. Sure, I planned a whole lot of events, but no, not choreograph. Obviously, never even invovled in this big of an event. 

 

I tied up my hair into a simple ponytail then to make sure that I would get the routine perfect. I couldn't even believe myself. How in the world did I manage to come up with something that hopefully wasn't embarassing that would degrade Pinkf(x), only the number one sorority on campus. Yeah, no pressure there alright. 

 

"Yah, we have to get in position now," Eunji came into the locker room to inform me. I stuffed all of my belongings into a locker and walked out to the wide open court. The crowd was massive. I thought that everyone was practically there. It was an open tournament after all, the first official blue ribbon event to begin with. It kind of made me nervous in some way. Performing in front of a million people when I didn't even have any basic cheerleading to begin with? This would be the day of my undying humiliation. Yup, I could sense it already.

 

We were all lined up by the benches, waiting for the more crowd to get their seats (yay me) and for the players inside to get ready. I noticed that our 'rival' was on the other end, which was obviously the one that would be competing with Infinite in the first round.

 

"Have you heard?" Eunji who was next to me started to ask after glancing left and right repeatedly for the past five minutes. Without an answer she immediately replied, "Infinite is going up against Exo for the first match." I widened my eyes. Was she for real? If Myungsoo was representing Infinite, then that could only mean...

 

"This is going to be interesting. Kai vs L. That's why the seats are packed today," Naeun who was on my left chimed in. How could she say interesting? This was going to get ugly, not interesting. Forget the words 'friendly match' when you put those two together. They've hated each other since day 1, and this was just another way for them to be childish and fight against each other like they always would. I shook my head, this couldn't get any worse.

 

"Worse for us. We have to compete with SNSD then," Eunji sighed. I glanced at her. That name sounded oddly familiar. Hmmmmm...

 

"Tch, I could worry less. We got some killer moves and we are keeping that number one spot. They should just stay where they are now, second place," Naeun exasperated. "Right, Soojung?" she nudged me and I just smiled nervously. This was crazy. Everyone was thinking that I could actually pull this off? Aisy, this is all messed up.

 

"Look there, Hyoyeon and Kai," both Naeun and I eyed where Eunji was pointing and I just shrugged. It was nothing peculiar. I saw this almost everyday when I was with Kai the whole week. Girls trying to get his attention. It was overwhelming at first, but I got used to it. I came to accept the fact that he was just another popular kid that girls fawned upon all the time. "It's an irony that Yoona is in SNSD too and yet 'her sister' is trying to flirt with her ex," Naeun scoffed. 

 

Now that made sense! I knew I heard SNSD from somewhere. It wasn't Eunji babbling about the hundred different societies, it was from Kai. He did mention it once that Yoona happened to be in SNSD, here. I almost didn't believe him that day, but then it kind of made sense. Him not being able to forget her? Heol, looks like I wasn't the only one facing the same problem here.

 

The emcee began announcing the entrance of the respective players and us cheerleaders, well, we started cheering. As loud as we could, just to show some school spirit, and of course making sure that ours was louder than our rivals. Myungsoo entered from one side with a few of Infinite members following behind. The players for today would be Hoya, Woohyun and Myungsoo, but Myungsoo would be starting off first. Which was a bad thing since Kai was also the first player for EXO. If he had go against Luhan or Xiumin, things wouldn't go as bad. Trust me, I have a bad feeling for this.

 

The match began with a 'friendly' handshake from both parties and the crowd's cheer. The campus's eternal enemies against each other, what could be better to them? I wasn't an expert in tennis, but somehow I felt divided. I wanted to root for Myungsoo, he was the one I SHOULD root for after all. But then again, Kai was my friend. He was the one helping me throughout the week when I knew he was busy with his tennis practices. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably be hiding under a rock or something.

 

It was Kai's turn to serve, and everyone was tensed up as it was the match point with Myungsoo in the lead. Kai served, Myungsoo received it calmly and the ball kept on going back and forth for the longest time. Myungsoo's sudden smash was enough to say who won that game. The crowd went uproar as all of us stood up and rushed downwards to the court. I saw Victoria celebrating Infinite's win with Sunggyu by cheering and jumping, so not like her. But it was nice. Nice to see that Infinite won. That Myungsoo won. Albeit that Kai losing wasn't really making me feel better, I felt happy for Myungsoo.

 

He caught me smiling. I didn't even know I was till he looked at me. He smiled back amidst the crowd that was loudly cheering for him. I looked from afar and felt contented as if I won it. I put up a thumbs up as if congratulating him and he chuckled before he was drowned in the sea of Infinite beaming with glee and roars of excitement. I laughed. It strangely felt happy to me. And I liked that.

 

During the mid-break, before the second round started, it was the slot for our cheerleading competition. SNSD performed first, blowing everyone away with their performance 'Oh!' Great, this was going to be the doom of me. What we prepared was nothing compared to theirs. I hung my head low but it was too late to back out. "Pinkf(x)!" the emcee announced our name and I knew that this was it. I had no choice, I just had to do it.

 

With the immense cheering from the crowd, I noticed that Infinite was being the most obvious. I chuckled at how Woohyun and Dongwoo were literally screaming our name out loud non-stop, Hoya even joined in by yelling meaningless noises. Myungsoo was there. He mouthed a 'good luck' to me and smiled. A smile that spoke that he believed in me, as much as I believed in him. I took in a deep breath.

 

You can do this, Jung Soojung!

 

The song NU ABO started playing and we all were ready in our positions. We started to do a couple of cheers, arm punching out, straight 90 degrees and I caught Kai smiling at me. I bet he felt proud seeing me got the angle right. But let's not lose focus, now. By the end, the hardest part of the choreography; the pyramid. We all started to form one, and I was the one supposed to be on top. Yes, me. Good thing I didn't have a fear of heights or else I'd be even more screwed. I climbed up onto the very top carefully with the help of some other cheerleaders, and when my legs managed to reach it, I stood on top, grinning and arm punched out straight. 

 

The crowd cheered even louder which made me feel a whole lot relieved. The song ended on cue and we received quite the feedback from our seniors. "Good job, legacy. Looks like you're staying," Amber patted my shoulder and went pass me. She had been tough on all of us because she was our pledge educator. But now I could see that she's not that bad, I guessed.

 

 

After a couple of rounds with Myungsoo moving forward towards the champion title, and Kai following closely behind, probably still doing his best in aiming for the runner up spot (or number one if Myungsoo managed to break his all-kill record so far), the whole event finally came to a break. There were a few other performances by other sororities who had some killer moves. These people maybe live for cheerleading throughout high school. If not, how in the world did they come up with such a sick routine?

 

I was seated on one of the many seats, amongst the sea of people who still seemed to have a keen interest on who would take the trophy home today. I was at the very end of the line, there was a staircase seperating me from the other group of people. Eunji was next to me and Naeun was next to her. Every other Pinkf(x) member was still there, scattered throughout the benches.

 

"Eo? Why is EXO there?" Eunji exclaimed. And just as to answer her, the commentator of the event spoke up, his loud and clear voice resonated throughout the speaker. "And now, we have a special event. I'm sure it's no rarity here. It's the EXO serenade time!" Cheers from the crowd went wild, especially from girls, be it the dongsaengs or the nunas. Even Naeun gaped.

 

"What's EXO serenade time?" I was clueless as usual. Like I said, frats and sororities have a lot to know about.

 

"Only the most romantic thing ever," Eunji sighed dreamily.

 

Naeun nudged her, "Tch, you're going to throw Hoya sunbaenim away then?" "Hoya who?" Eunji feigned ignorance.

 

"It's when one EXO member likes a girl and he wants to declare it to her in public. Takes a lot of courage if you ask me because if you got rejected, that's going to be in EXO history forever," Naeun cringed in fear. "But like that has ever happen. The girl who rejects EXO would be just plain stupid," Eunji remarked.

 

Just then, music started booming in and the song 'I Like You' could be heard throughout the entire place. Chanyeol came in rapping and they were all there lined up on the tennis court, holding microphones in their hands. 

 

 

 

The members sure know how to interact with the audience with all the winks and eye-smiles. It was very charming and moving and brave. Like I couldn't even say it if I like someone but they even sing in front of the whole school? Insane. But brave. Eunji's right, any girl would be moved by this and said yes right away.

 

"So who's the one confessing?" I might be a little bit lost still.

 

"We never know. Not until the end of the song. That's the surprise," Eunji was grinning as if she would be 'the girl.'

 

"It certainly isn't Baekhyun sunbae. He did this last semester to that SNSD leader. She said yes straight away," Naeun had to increase her volume in talking due to the now very enthusiastic and loud cheers. It wasn't just cheers, they were screaming. Yelling, squealing, squirming, you name it.

 

Hello my angel

How did you steal my heart?

It's all right, my angel

You have my heart and cherished me

 

Angel? That had to be a coincidence.

 

I like you, I really like you

I want to give you my everything

You are the only one on my mind

I don't want to decorate it

 

Forever, with you

 

Sehun started  rapping after Chanyeol and I could see that he looked straight into my eyes. I was startled at first. But then, I snapped. No way. Sehun didn't look me in that way.

 

I like you, I really like you

I want to give you my everything

I like you

 

This was not happening. The cheers in the background seemed to fade in my world. This was surreal. It was impossible.

 

"Jung Soojung, will you be my girlfriend?" he held out his hand.

 

I was stunned. I literally froze. I didn't know what to do. My eyes caught a glimpse of Myungsoo leaving and I stared back to the person in front of me. What should I do?

 

 

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 author's note 

»it has been a long time! apologies my dear subbies. and i accidentally uploaded this chapter without finishing it lol silly me. anyways, this is the next chap! myungstal in the drama is adorable. is it wrong to ship krystal with l instead of rain? keke, have a great day ahead! sub, comment and upvote!