Chapter 7 – Sorry Sorry

Thursday, 4^th of January 2020, the street in front of the arcade center, 5:05 PM

AUTHOR POV

That words from Chanyeol makes her frozen on the spot and she doesn’t know what to reply to him. She of course genuinely want Chanyeol to end this grudge that he has with Tiffany no matter whether Tiffany asked her about this or not, but now that Chanyeol is asking him out on a date and only if she says yes that he will try to forgive Tiffany, she is really unsure of what to say to him,

Taeyeon: “What are you talking about? This is so absurd…..how in the world you even ask me out for a date? We only know each other for a couple of days.”

Chanyeol: “It doesn’t matter right? This is only to prove that you are also ready to make another step to get rid of your trauma.”

Taeyeon: “Well, why do I have to get over my trauma in order for you to forgive Tiffany? That isn’t necessary and it isn’t connect at all.”

Chanyeol: “I know but this is my request to you….it doesn’t have to be reasonable.”

Taeyeon: “Of course it has to be reasonable! If it isn’t reasonable how you expect me to find a good reason to date you?”

Chanyeol: “So you are going to say yes but you hold back because this is too ridiculous?”

Taeyeon: “Don’t interpret my words like that! That’s not what I mean!”

Chanyeol: “Just answer me….”

Taeyeon: “No…I won’t go out with you….this is all too sudden….please Chanyeol….I come here to help you with your problem….don’t burden me too with problems…”

Yuri, who can hear vaguely what Taeyeon and Chanyeol are talking about is getting more and more impatient and she really want to interfere with their conversation right now. She might not hear every single words that they say to each other but she gets the big picture of why the two of them are like that out here. She is thinking about forcing her way over there but then Kai also join Baekhyun in obstructing her,

Kai: “Don’t Yuri.”

Yuri: “Why are you standing in my way too? It is obviously that there must be someone to separate them.”

Kai: “Why? That friend of yours is talking about Chanyeol forgiving Tiffany….which is what the five of us have been hoping for years….don’t stand in their way.”

Yuri: “Argh….you guys are so irritating….”

Baekhyun: “Trust me…it is for their own good.”

Yuri has no choice but to stay still and wait for them to find any solution with the problem that they are facing, because one of them has to give in to the other demands without demanding anything back. Taeyeon is getting more and more annoyed that Chanyeol keep pushing her to date him. Not only that she feels bad with Tiffany about this, she won’t date anyone just like that even though she doesn’t have any trauma at all. In the midst of this confusion she knows there is no rejecting him at the moment but at the same time she doesn’t want to give in to his demand too, so she finally think up of something that might help solve this,

Taeyeon: “See here….you ask me to date you right? In order to prove that I manage to overcome my trauma?”

Chanyeol: “Yes.”

Taeyeon: “Then let’s say that I don’t have any trauma now….will you ask me out too?”

Chanyeol: “……………………….”

Taeyeon: “See? You understand what I am talking about right? Both of us have bad experience with people of opposite gender and it wouldn’t be wise for us to start dating just because you want a proof out of me…..but I understand why you ask me for that proof. I tell you about this and that, about how you should forgive Tiffany and be freed from the problems that has been burdening you all this time…so considering your own situation….I will propose something to you….I want you to forgive Tiffany….it doesn’t matter how and when you do it, it is up to you….and in return….and this is not only because of you, this is something that I really wanted to do since I set foot in here….I will apply to work at the store that you are working in….I can make money so that Yuri’s parents don’t need to pay for my food all the time and also I can save up the money that my parents given to me. I know you ask for a date….but I can’t do that for now….but as a small proof to you that I have move on from my problem…I will try to be close with you….either that we end up being friends or more than that, I won’t guarantee anything….but at least I don’t close the door on you….do you agree with what I asked of you?”

Chanyeol: “Hmm…..I’m not sure about this….but….maybe I am wrong too by demanding you to date me suddenly like that….so I will accept your proposition…..we can go to my workplace together from here….my boss still looking for more people to hire…”

Taeyeon: “Good, it is settled then….hehe….sorry Chanyeol….I burst out in rage and exit the arcade like that….”

Chanyeol: “No I can totally understand….I also slammed the arcade machine like that like an angry kid….I’m sorry too….”

Taeyeon: “Then we are even then! Hehe…..so….is it tiring to work at a convenience store?”

Chanyeol: “Well….it is quite large, you can call it a mini supermarket more than a convenience store….I think it is around the size of a small supermarket….so the work over there is…..”

Taeyeon and Chanyeol start walking toward his workplace because it is near where the arcade is located. Yuri and the EXO boys seem to be relieved that the two of them has stop arguing with each other but for Yuri, it gives her more questions rather than answers,

Yuri: “It’s funny that Taeyeon will go to that length in order for Chanyeol to forgive Tiffany…I know that Tiffany asked her for help…..but I don’t know why she is so intent to do this, especially after what Fany did to her…”

Kai: “I don’t know….but it’s a good thing that Chanyeol is considering to forgive her right?”

Baekhyun: “Yes….but it will pose quite a problem too.”

Yuri: “What do you mean?”

Baekhyun: “You seem like someone that can be trusted, so I will tell you about my suspicion…..there is someone else in our school that is interested in Taeyeon.”

Yuri: “What? Who?”

Baekhyun: “It’s Kyuhyun hyung….I’m sure you know him right?”

Yuri: “Yes I know….but where do you even find out about this information?”

Baekhyun: “We asked him for a favor but I can’t tell you what the favor is about, so the last time we spoke to him it seems that he is eager to make us suffer….and Chanyeol accused him that he did that because Chanyeol is getting too close with Taeyeon…..of course he denied it but I think Chanyeol isn’t someone who is just going to accuse people like that except that he is convinced about it….so let’s say that Chanyeol forgive Tiffany and in exchange Taeyeon will let him get close to her. Tiffany of course will be happy and she will be even more eager to ask Chanyeol out to date her and she wouldn’t think of Taeyeon as her competition seeing how she is the one that helped him to forgive her. On the other side, Kyuhyun hyung will be even more irritated if he finds out about this…..and I’ve seen him talking to Tiffany a couple of times….I’m sure Tiffany previously asked him for help too about Chanyeol….so you see the kind of mess that might appear from this right?”

Yuri: “Hmm….but this is all based only on your assumption right?”

Baekhyun: “Yes of course, I have no evidence about what I said about Kyuhyun hyung….but I have a bad feeling too about this….I know I told you earlier that I wanted Chanyeol and Taeyeon to be together….but if Tiffany is involved and also that hyung….I’m starting to doubt my own wish as well.”

Yuri: “Then what can we do?”

Baekhyun: “Unfortunately….nothing….we just hope that nothing bad will happen….as much as I wanted to protect Chanyeol at all cost….I won’t be able to stand up against a senior that is well known and is quite powerful in our school. My parents are working hard in order to get me into this school, it’s not a money problem….but my grades aren’t high enough to enter this school but my parents insisted over and over again, asking the school to give me different tests to prove that I can cope with the study in this school…..I don’t want to disappoint them by looking for trouble that can get me in trouble and in worst case, expelled from school.”

Yuri: “I see…..well….let’s just hope that nothing bad will happen then.”

Kai: “Yes I hope so too…..I know that we asked him for a favor, but I don’t like to have anything to do with that hyung after he grant us the favor….he is scary.”

Baekhyun: “Yup…..I hope that Chanyeol will be alright…..”

Friday, 5^th of January 2020, Yuri’s Bedroom, 5:15 AM

Yuri as usual is preparing to go jogging early in the morning. Yuri asked Taeyeon to come with her but she refused because she is still sleepy. After what Yuri saw yesterday, she didn’t talk about a single word of it to Taeyeon because she wants Taeyeon to be the one that tell her rather than she’s the one that asking her about it. Taeyeon hasn’t told her about her intention to work on Chanyeol’s store either but she is sure that Taeyeon will tell her about this soon. She greets her mom who are cooking food in the kitchen before finally heading outside her house. She follows the same route every single time she went to jog every morning. There are a lot of people jog in the morning and she recognized their faces because she did this almost every day.

Around 15 minutes into her morning routine, Yuri stops by one of the café that opens really early for breakfast and the owner knows her well and often gives her free bread and drink whenever she stops by the café. It’s the same for her today, the owner give her a bottle of mineral water and a chocolate bread which she eat deliciously before resuming her jog. Right outside this café, she noticed someone quite familiar and she jogs toward her and she confirmed that person is someone that she knows in school so she runs over to her to greet her,

Yuri: “Hi Sulli!”

Sulli: “Huh?”

Sulli turns around to see that Yuri is approaching her. She is surprised and at the same time she doesn’t feel like greeting and talking to her but of course Yuri can’t find out that Sulli is jealous with her so she tries to act naturally and as friendly as possible with her,

Sulli: “Ah Yuri! What are you doing here so early?”

Yuri: “I’m jogging! I usually do this almost every day but it’s the first time I see you around here this early.”

Sulli: “Yeah, my parents are kind of busy so I am in charge of the cooking in the house for the time being and I just went to market to buy some ingredients.”

Yuri: “Wow that’s great! My mom always do the cooking in our house, I want to learn cooking too! Seems kind of fun.”

Sulli: “Yes it is.”

Yuri: “So anyway….your house is not too far from here right? I met your brother once when he jogged around here too and he told me that your house is quite near this place.”

Sulli: “You met him before? Jogging? I don’t even know that he is into early morning jogging like this.”

Yuri: “Well I don’t know about that, so yeah….mind if we walk together? I know I am supposed to be jogging but I can take a breather and walk with you for a while here.”

Sulli: “But are you going to the same direction as me?”

Yuri: “Well it doesn’t matter, I’m going to walk with you anyway.”

Sulli: “Ah okay…..”

Even though Sulli seems reluctant to walk with her, she doesn’t want to raise any suspicion with Yuri so she decided to walk with her toward their home. Of course even so, she will ask Yuri not to get too close to her house because she doesn’t want Minho to meet up with Yuri. There is a short silence between them before Yuri finally breaks the silence,

Yuri: “Sulli…you’re close with your brother right? I always see the two of you together quite often in school and you always go home and went to school together right?”

Sulli: “Yes we are….we have been close since we are little kids….somehow even though we are of different gender, I guess it is because that we are twins that we are able to connect with each other quite easy.”

Yuri: “I see….so….what kind of a person is he?”

Sulli: “Huh?”

Yuri: “What kind of person is Minho? Is he….I don’t know….a fun outgoing guy? A weirdo? I don’t know….you’re her sister, hehe.”

Sulli: “Uhh….well….he is a cool guy…despite he is in the football club, he often take a quick break in training and he look for me when I am practicing in the cheerleading or any other extracurricular activities back in middle school. I thought that he is like that only toward me and my parents….but he is also like that with his close friends….he has a good manner and he is polite. Even though he can be someone really different when he is playing on the football pitch….that’s just how serious he is with football as he wants to pursue this career professionally.”

Yuri: “You know what Sulli? I just noticed something from the way that you talked about your brother.”

At that moment Sulli is slightly worried that she might have talked about his brother too excitedly that Yuri might found out that Sulli has romantic feelings to her own brother. Sulli is frozen and unable to say anything when Yuri said that to her and Yuri continues speaking,

Yuri: “I have noticed on how much you seem to…..well…proud with your brother.”

Sulli: “Eh?”

Yuri: “Yes you seem like you are really proud of him like he is some kind of hero in your eyes or something, hehe….I really envy you though….my brother is quite busy with his assignment and always stay overnight in his campus lately…I don’t know….you kind of make me miss my brother even though he is nothing like Minho, hehe.”

Sulli: “Ah I see….so you have an older brother?”

Yuri: “Yes….by the way…..I hope that you can keep a secret….because I want to tell you something.”

Sulli: “Hmm? You are going to tell this secret to me? Why?”

Yuri: “Well….because it has something to do with your brother….”

Sulli: “Hmm? Really? Now you make me curious….what is it?”

Yuri: “Well….Since the last time I met him during my morning jog…I actually kind of….well….hoping that I might run into him again…but don’t take this the wrong way….it’s just that it’s nice to have a company while doing this early in the morning…..”

Sulli: “Uhh….how is this a secret?”

Yuri: “Well….It’s a bit embarrassing for me to admit it…and of course I am telling you thtis because….well…maybe you can send a vague message to him? Maybe….tell him that you run into me today and tell him that I always jog around this time in the morning?”

Sulli is actually trying to suppress her emotion because she thought that all this time, it is only Minho that is interested with Yuri….she never know that Yuri is also interested in him as well. Sulli is slightly biting her lips and she tries hard not to show her emotion….she will take the positive side of this….at least she talked about this with her instead to Minho himself,

Sulli: “Well I can tell him that….but why don’t you tell him yourself?”

Yuri: “Ah don’t be ridiculous, I don’t want him to misunderstand if I tell him directly. He might thought that I like him or something….”

Sulli: “Don’t you like him?”

Yuri: “Me? Of course not…hehe….as I said…It’s fun to have some company because I do this almost every single day. Oh well….I better run then….hehe….thanks for hearing my little secret….be sure to tell him that Sulli! Say hi to your brother from me, bye bye!”

Sulli: “Ah…bye….”

Yuri turns around and run toward the other direction and Sulli just stare at her until she disappear from her sight and she lets out a huge sigh,

Sulli: “Sigh…..that girl….pretend that she isn’t interested in him but she asked me to say this to my brother….I know that you are interested as well….and it means that I don’t have to tell anything to Minho oppa anyway….I don’t want you to be anywhere near him….”

12:15 PM, SM International High School Cafeteria

Minho and his friends are happily chatting with each other while enjoying their lunch. Yuri is also in there sitting with her Pink Generation friends, including Tiffany. Taeyeon is taking care of some administration stuff. Sulli is also there, sitting down with Krystal and her older sister, Jessica. Then all of the sudden everyone inside the cafeteria becomes quiet because the P.E teacher and the football team coach, Kim Jong-kook walk into the cafeteria and he is heading straight toward Minho and his friends. A lot of students talking with each other and suspecting that Minho might be in trouble while Sulli is paying a close attention toward Minho direction. Yuri pretended like she doesn’t care and keep talking with her friends but of course she is actually paying attention as well.

Minho seems surprised to see his football team coach is walking toward him and he doesn’t understand what he is doing here during lunch break,

Jong-kook: “Good afternoon boys.”

Minho & friends: “Good afternoon coach!”

Jong-kook: “Sorry to interrupt your lunch break like this….but I need to say something to all of you, and especially to Minho.”

Minho: “What can I help you with coach?”

Jong-kook: “I know that it’s only a few days since the school start and most of you don’t have much time to train together. But we just had a meeting earlier and all of the sports team will be having some sort of practice match between the 1^st year and the 2^nd & 3^rd year students. Of course if one team is unbalanced because the lack of students, we will balance it out. Honestly I don’t really know what the point of this is, but all of the sports team are doing this….so now I am appointing you as the captain for the 1^st year team, please gather all the 1^st year students that go are in our football team, all of you will starts training once the lunch break ends, and the match will start at 3 PM. There’s no need to go to class anymore after the lunch break, you understand Minho?”

Minho: “Ah yes coach I understand….but this is weird….don’t this going to make like some sort of division or gap between the 1^st year and the rest?”

Jong-kook: “Yes I fear so….but don’t worry….this is just a one-time thing….there will be no more of this for the rest of the year….”

Minho: “Okay then, I will trust you coach….thank you for appointing me as the captain.”

Jong-kook: “Oh by the way Minho….I know this is a practice match and surely no one will be hurt if they lose the match….but….I know your skills…I know what you can do…take it slightly easy for your seniors okay? You know their pride will hurt if a junior beat them….this match doesn’t have anything to do with the first team players that I will pick for the national competition…you understand what I mean right?”

Minho: “Yes of course…but I think our seniors have a lot of good players as well….it won’t be an easy time for us I think.”

Jong-kook: “You are really humble….anyway….go and finish your lunch with your friends…you will need the energy….I’ll see you on the field in half an hour okay? I need to inform the 2^nd and 3^rd year students.”

Minho: “Okay coach.”

Minho and the others bow toward him and after he left, there are a lot of people who are crowding around Minho and his friends because they are quite curious. Yuri is of course heard that conversation and she just remained calm, she’s planning to watch that game. Meanwhile Sulli approaches Minho soon after the crowd starting to disperse,

Sulli: “Oppa….you will have a match today? Against the seniors?”

Minho: “Yeah….I don’t like this….no matter whether we won or lost….this will create an unhealthy competition between us.”

Sulli: “Why don’t you just suggest to the coach to abandon the match then?”

Minho: “It seems that he got his hands tied as well….it is an order that come from a meeting with the other school staffs. I don’t know what the purpose of this is….I hope nothing will go wrong.”

Sulli: “I’ll be there then oppa….I might ask the cheerleading squad to cheer on the team.”

Minho: “Hehe, thanks….now I need to go and find the other football team members….why don’t you go and finish your lunch Sulli? I’ll see you later before the game start.”

Sulli: “Okay oppa.”

Minho quickly stands up from his seat and he ask his friends to come with him as he looks around to find the other members of the football team. Tiffany of course heard that conversation and before Sulli even going to ask the cheerleading team about cheering them, she already think about it because she knows that Chanyeol will be playing as well. As Tiffany going to stand up and find the captain of the cheerleading team, she catch a glimpse of Kyuhyun talking to someone on the hallway. It might be nothing at all, maybe it is just a coincidence but Tiffany just feel uneasy all of the sudden. Of course at that time she hasn’t find out from Taeyeon that Chanyeol will accept her apology after all these years. Chanyeol asked Taeyeon not to tell her about it, he wants to tell it to Tiffany himself, which is why she doesn’t really want to find out what Kyuhyun is doing even though it is suspicious because she thinks that she might still need his help.

Minho goes from one class to another and also searching the others and he finally finds Chanyeol and the other EXO members with him sitting down on the bench near the basketball court. Minho approaches him straight away and then telling him of the match against the seniors. Chanyeol just agree with it and it seems that he doesn’t have too much interest with the game but he of course told Minho that he will be there along with the EXO members as well. Right at around this time, Taeyeon is walking back from the administration building toward the cafeteria and Chanyeol who noticed her immediately walk up to her,

Chanyeol: “Finally finished?”

Taeyeon: “Yeah, transferring school is really a hassle, there are always something that I either forget to submit or sign. I also finally get all the text book for me this year.”

Chanyeol: “You want to eat lunch together?”

Taeyeon: “Yuri just sent me a message and she is waiting for me at the cafeteria to eat together with me.”

Chanyeol: “Ah okay….that’s fine then…by the way….I have a practice match against the seniors today at 3 PM…do you want to watch the game?”

Taeyeon: “I’ll ask Yuri first whether she wants to watch or not….so you’re working today?”

Chanyeol: “Ah no it wil be tomorrow….you asked to get the same schedule as me right? When are you starting?”

Taeyeon: “Your boss asked me to come in tomorrow…so I guess we will be working at the same shift then.”

Chanyeol: “Yeah I guess….so anyway, I won’t be back to class anymore because the coach told us to practice together for the game. I guess I’ll see you later on then if you watch the game.”

Taeyeon: “Yeah sure, see you later. Also don’t forget that you need to talk with Tiffany.”

Chanyeol: “Yes….I will think of the right time to talk to her…”

Taeyeon: “Okay, bye Chanyeol.”

Taeyeon walks toward the cafeteria while Chanyeol is heading back toward his friends. Somehow, it seems that Taeyeon is acting a bit colder toward him, just slightly he thought. He thinks that she might do that so that he won’t think that Taeyeon will just let him get close to her that easy and fast. Maybe there is some kind of leftover anger too because Chanyeol is quite persuasive and keep confronting her like that. No matter what it is….Chanyeol knows that he just need to focus on the game, and then thinking of how to talk to Tiffany. He doesn’t want Taeyeon to think that he is a boy that can’t keep his promise to her.

After the lunch break ends, the 1^st year students who enrolled to their respective sports team are assembled and of course on their respective location where they usually train. Inside the class, Taeyeon and Tiffany are talking with each other even though it is still in the middle of a lesson. Tiffany’s presence of course makes the teacher to ignore their behavior,

Taeyeon: “We are in the middle of a lesson here, can’t we talk later after school ends?”

Tiffany: “Don’t worry it’s fine…so….you heard about the game right?”

Taeyeon: “Yeah.”

Tiffany: “So will you be watching the football match then?”

Taeyeon: “I don’t know it depends on Yuri.”

Tiffany: “Don’t worry I’m sure that she wants to watch the game as well…..so anyway…..I’m thinking of talking to Chanyeol either today or tomorrow….”

Taeyeon: “Asking for forgiveness?”

Tiffany: “Yup….what else do I want from him aside from that?”

Taeyeon: “I think it is better for you to wait….If he is ready to forgive you then he will approach you first.”

Tiffany: “Did he tell you that?”

Taeyeon: “Not exactly, but I talked to him a bit about it and he seems to listen to me well….but he didn’t promise me anything….so I think you just need to give him time, I am sure that he will talk to you about it.”

Tiffany: “You think so?”

Taeyeon: “As I said earlier, I won’t promise anything…..but at the very least he listen to my words intently…let’s just hope that he will talk to you soon okay?”

Tiffany: “Okay thanks Tae.”

Even though Chanyeol has told her that he will talk to Tiffany when the right time comes, Taeyeon doesn’t want to give any hope to Tiffany just yet. She doesn’t know whether Chanyeol will be true to his word or not. About the football match, she actually already asked Yuri and she told Taeyeon that she will be watching, but she doesn’t want Tiffany to think that she is actually looking forward to the match. It is quite complicated for her because she knows it well that Tiffany really likes him and once she is forgiven, Tiffany will be quite mad if she found out that Taeyeon is opening her heart to him slowly. For now, she has decided that she doesn’t want to act like he is close with Chanyeol when everyone is around.

2:30 PM, SM International High School Football Field

The 1^st year students just finished their practice so they are all taking a break on the side of the field as they let their seniors to warm up and practice a little bit before the match. Chanyeol is not really looking forward to this match so he is purposely slacking off so that he will be amongst the substitutes today and it seems that Minho doesn’t notice that he is trying to avoid playing in the match. After Minho finished with the team formation and the eleven players that are going to start the match, he gives everyone a short break but he wrap his arms around Chanyeol and he drags him away from the others,

Minho: “Chanyeol….”

Chanyeol: “Yes?”

Minho: “I am not going to say much….but I now you are intentionally slacking so that I don’t choose you. Is there something troubling you?”

Chanyeol: “I’m not like that.”

Minho: “Don’t lie to me, we’ve played with each other for years in middle school, I know it very well when you don’t feel like playing in a match.”

Chanyeol: “I see….if you know my real intention then why you put my name on the substitutes list?”

Minho: “Because I thought something is troubling you and which is why you are not eager to do this match today.”

Chanyeol: “Well…I have no problem….I just don’t feel like playing against our seniors, it will brings much complication you know? I can’t understand why they asked us to do this.”

Minho: “I feel the same way as you too but we have to do it….you can see on the field that there are students gathering on the spectators seats to watch us. I don’t know about you….but I feel that I need to do my best no matter it is training or practice game or real match. Who knows that there will be a scout amongst that crowd watching every movement I make.”

Chanyeol: “That’s you and your dream. I have no concern of those things.”

Minho: “Yes I know, that is why I don’t ask you to start the match right? Just want to let you know, even though coach earlier asked me to take it easy on the seniors….I can’t do that….If I do that it means that I don’t show our seniors the respect that they deserve, we need to play fair and square…..”

Chanyeol: “I’m with you on that. It’s not that I have anything against these seniors….but giving in to them is not the right thing to do, but what do I know? I’m not playing anyway and I couldn’t care less about the result of this useless practice match.”

Minho: “You are as gloomy as always….okay then, I’ll leave you alone, just make sure to tell your friends to play normally without any pressure okay?”

Chanyeol: “Sure.”

He walks back toward his friends who are resting on the side of the field. Chanyeol is about to relay the message from Minho about not holding back against the seniors but it seems that they already in the middle of quite a serious conversation,

Suho: “It’s weird right?”

Chanyeol: “What is weird?”

Baekhyun: “The last lesson of the day is canceled so the students can take their seats in watching the sports team that they support.”

Kai: “This is quite a strict school, I don’t think that they are the type of school to abandon one lesson just for the sake of this match.”

Sehun: “Not only this match but also the other sports team match as well.”

Kyungsoo: “Let’s not worried about it too much, I’m pretty sure that nothing bad is in plan here.”

Chanyeol: “I don’t care anyway, Minho asked me to tell you guys to not hold back against our seniors.”

Kai: “Don’t worry, we are not planning to.”

Chanyeol: “Good.”

They have worries about this whole thing but they can’t do anything about it anyway. On the spectators’ seat, there is an unfortunate placing of students on one part of the seats. Sulli who are asked by Yuri to sit down near her brought Krystal and of course it means that she brings along Jessica also with her. With only 4 students separating Jessica and Tiffany, they can’t help but to taunt each other from that distance,

Jessica: “The mean queen is watching a football match? Must be trying to find out your next prey.”

Tiffany: “Ah you flatter me too much, but I think you should look at the mirror, you’re here because you want to find one boy amongst those playing that want to be with you right? Unfortunately you will be disappointed by the end of this match.”

Jessica: “Really? I’m sorry but I am not the one with the unrequited love, so sorry Tiffany….I have my pride, I don’t chase my unrequited love for years and turn into a monster in the process.”

Tiffany: “A monster? Seriously girl, you need to look in a mirror before judging others, your face is like a monster.”

Jessica: “You!”

Yuri: “Okay enough you two, Fany, please move seat over there beside Taeyeon, we are all here to watch this match, not to see you two fighting with each other like stupid.”

Tiffany: “Well since Yuri is polite enough to ask me that, I will move over there, see you later monster.”

Jessica: “Oh my God this girl!”

Krystal: “Unnie, stop making a scene, we are here for the match. You can fight it out with her some other time.”

Jessica: “Hmph! Fine!”

With Tiffany moving over to Taeyeon’s side, a fight can be avoided for the time being for these two hot headed girls. Taeyeon seems doesn’t interested in the game and she doesn’t even care that Tiffany and Jessica are making a ruckus just now. She keeps playing with her phone without paying attention to anyone around her. Tiffany sits beside Taeyeon and then she nudges her on the shoulder,

Tiffany: “You seriously don’t care about this at all don’t you?”

Taeyeon: “Told you that I am here because Yuri asked me to.”

Tiffany: “Oh well, I don’t know why I even bothered about why you here anyway, you can do whatever you want.”

Taeyeon: “True, what happened there?”

Tiffany: “Well, it’s like that everytime I go anywhere near her nowadays, you shouldn’t worry too much about it.”

Taeyeon: “Ah okay.”

Just like that 30 minutes passed and the match is about to begin. Yuri and Sulli seems excited but while Yuri maintain a calm expression, Sulli can’t contain her excitement to see Minho playing. For Sulli, his brother look the coolest when he is playing football. He seems serious and always work hard for the team and Sulli admires her so much when he is like that. Tiffany seems slightly disappointed to see that Chanyeol isn’t playing from the start while Taeyeon puts her phone away and she knows that Chanyeol is not playing from the start but she isn’t too bothered by it for now. The match has started, from Chanyeol’s friends, only Kai and Suho that are playing, the others are on the bench. This match attracted the most crowd out of all the sports team are playing in the school today.

45 minutes has gone and the first half has ended. The score stays 0 – 0 as both team plays out quite an interesting match but there are no goals scored just yet. Of course the crowd of people that are supporting the 2^nd and 3^rd year students far exceeding the supporters of the 1^st year and both sets of supporters making their voice really heard. Some parents who supposed to pick up the students also interested to watch as they join in to watch the match. So far, the suspicion of some of the EXO members are not proven and Minho who also worried about this match seems happy that the first half went smoothly without any incidents,

Minho: “Well that first half went smoothly, let’s hope that it stays like that until the end of the match. I want to involve everyone for this match so there will be some substitutions that we are going to do here now.”

Of course among that substitutions Chanyeol is one of the names that are mentioned. He is still not eager to do this but since he respects Minho’s excitement about this match, he doesn’t refuse the substitution at all. He and the other players who are going to come in at the 2^nd half starting to warm up on the sidelines and this of course catch the attention of Tiffany and Taeyeon as well,

Tiffany: “Oh he is warming up? Is he going to play?”

Taeyeon: “Probably yeah.”

Tiffany: “You should see him play football.”

Taeyeon: “Is he that good?”

Tiffany: “No….even compared to Minho, he is way below him in terms of skills and leadership….”

Taeyeon: “So what about him playing football that interest you in particular?”

Tiffany: “This is just my assumption….and this is not only when he is playing football…but when he perform with his band…or playing games in the arcade, every time he did these things that he like, it seems that he forgotten all the sorrow that I caused him all these years….it seems like those problems don’t even existed at all…it’s quite ironic right for me to think like that?”

Taeyeon somehow understands how Tiffany feels about this and she just hopes that Chanyeol will talk to her soon enough. She doesn’t care if she ends up abandoning her end of the agreement with him. If Chanyeol is going to be with Tiffany, then so be it. Taeyeon knows the only reason that she lets him be close with her is because so that he will forgive Tiffany. She has no feelings toward him….not yet at least for the time being,

Taeyeon: “No it’s not ironic, don’t worry….I’m sure things will be better for you soon.”

Tiffany: “Yeah I hope so.”

Meanwhile inside one of the nearby building, Kyuhyun is talking to the 2^nd year students that are going to come in for the 2^nd half,

Kyuhyun: “Remember you guys need to erase some strikes on the discipline book right? I can arrange that with teacher BoA, just as long as you guys follow what I ask of you. She won’t suspect a thing but you guys need to be on your best behavior after I help you out or she will be suspicious of my recommendation, understood?”

2^nd year students: “Yes hyung!”

Kyuhyun: “Good, now go back to the pitch and don’t fail me.”

Turns out that he has something in plan but only him and those 2^nd year students that know what is going to happen on the 2^nd half. Of course knowing Kyuhyun’s influence, these 2^nd year students will obey him anyway even though he didn’t offer anything in return. The football coach Jong-kook has no knowledge of this either, so this is purely Kyuhyun’s plan and he doesn’t involve anyone else besides these 2^nd year students. Of course he influenced the captain of the seniors team to let these guys come in for the 2^nd half but he didn’t elaborate anything else about what he intend to achieve to other students.

The 2^nd half is finally begun, the current EXO members that are on the pitch are Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Kai. Because of their good looks and quite good popularity with their exploit as underground band, the members received loud cheers from their supporters and also from the seniors’ side supporters as well. Minho also being cheered loudly because of his reputation as a good player and for his good looks as well. His close friends who have been on the football team can’t help but envy him but they understand why they are cheering him like that. For the first 10 minutes, everything seem to be in order, both side are clearly playing it quite safe and not working as hard as when they play in an official match.

Suddenly, the momentum changed, one of the defenders from the seniors’ team make a mistake and Minho try to capitalize on this. The defender slipped and the ball rolled nicely to the foot of Minho and he is bringing the ball straight toward the opposition area. There are 3 players from the 1^st year team charging forward while there is only two defenders on the seniors’ team. The other 2 players that are charging forward with Minho are Chanyeol and Kai. The football coach seems like he has a worried look on his face because he knows that this is quite a dangerous situation for the senior team. Minho is about to enter the opposition’s penalty box and he is trying to pull the defenders toward him so that the marking on Kai can be slightly lessened and he can pass the ball to him to score a goal. Out of the 2 defenders and the goalkeeper that are right now defending, the goalkeeper and one of the defender are the 2^nd year students that talked with Kyuhyun earlier during the break. That defender is currently marking Kai who is the closest to Minho compared to Chanyeol.

The defender that is marking Chanyeol sees the goalkeeper running toward Chanyeol so he expect him to anticipate the pass that is going toward him, he let go of his marking from Chanyeol and he is running toward Kai so Kai’s marker can go toward Minho to intercept him. Seeing Chanyeol’s marker is leaving him, Minho changes his mind as he attempt to pass the ball toward him but what happen next clearly leave everyone speechless, especially for Tiffany and Taeyeon. The defender that is currently marking Kai, swing his elbow toward him and it hits him right in the nose and he falls down holding his nose because of that malicious attack but what happen to Chanyeol is even much more worse than that.

The goalkeeper is rushing toward Chanyeol and he throw a two-footed tackle right at him. A two-footed tackle in a football match is almost guaranteeing a red card from the referee because it is count as a dangerous tackle that can ends a player’s career and this goalkeeper did exactly that. Chanyeol is running toward the goalkeeper and because of it, the impact from the tackle is much more severe. The goalkeeper boots lands perfectly on Chanyeol’s right knee and the impact causes his right leg to launched backward and Chanyeol’s body flying for one second in mid-air as the result of it and he falls to the grass pitch face first and he is screaming loudly in pain while holding his right knee.

The bizarre incident sparks a fight between the 1^st year team and the senior team. The 1^st year players protesting violently toward the seniors as the result of the two malicious attack on Kai and Chanyeol. Tiffany face turned pale instantly seeing Chanyeol tackled like that and she shoves away everyone that is sitting in front of her as she rushes toward the field still looked horrified. Yuri and Taeyeon also reacted and they are following Tiffany’s lead as they are running toward Chanyeol and Kai. Coach Jong-kook is panicking as he ask the school medical staffs to attend to those two while he calls for an ambulance. He knows that Chanyeol is in big trouble from that tackle, he might suffer a bad injury. Tiffany shoves away Sehun and Kyungsoo who are checking Chanyeol’s condition. Chanyeol is still lying down on the ground holding his right knee and tears can be seen on his eyes as the pain is unbearable. There are stud marks on his knee and blood is gushing out from the wound but that wound is not as severe as to the internal injury that he might suffer.

Tiffany hands are placed on his arms as she repatedly asking him whether is okay and Tiffany is crying to seeing Chanyeol like this. At that moment he is suffering an enormous amount of pain that he doesn’t realize that it is Tiffany that is right beside him at the moment. One of the medical staff finally reached his position and Tiffany is throwing him so many questions about his condition but the medical staff unable to answer him because his knee need to be scanned. The ambulance that the football coach is arriving at the school’s entrance but Tiffany doesn’t want to wait much longer. She asks Sehun and Kyungsoo help to carry him toward the school’s entrance. Both boys are clearly in panic mode as well so they just follow what Tiffany asks of them as the three of them carry Chanyeol toward the entrance to speed up the process of him getting to the nearest hospital to be checked.

Taeyeon is really concerned as well but seeing how Tiffany is really worried about him like that, she doesn’t want to get in her way so she backs off and instead she goes toward Kai together with Yuri. Kai is suffering from a broken nose and even though it is painful for him, it is not as serious as Chanyeol as he is still able to get up and walk on his own. Minho is in the middle of separating the fight between the 1^st year against the seniors and coach Jong-kook is trying to calm them down as well. Suho is also protesting violently against this violent act from those two players meanwhile Baekhyun is accompanying Kai heading toward the ambulance together with Taeyeon and Yuri. Sulli is running toward Minho as well but the crowd of people surrounding him makes her unable to approach him at all.

With the help of the medic from the hospital, Chanyeol right now is on the stretcher inside the ambulance. The medic is currently injecting him with painkiller to makes him calmer slightly. It gives a drowsy effect as well for him and he is going to pass out from the pain anyway if it isn’t because of the painkiller. While the medic reporting back to the hospital of the situation, Sehun and Kyungsoo grab theirs and Chanyeol’s belonging from the locker while Tiffany is currently sitting down on the front seat beside the medic to explain the situation with his injury. Chanyeol is about to pass out completely when he sees a male figure in front of him. His consciousness is fading away and his vision is blurry but he can feel a hand placed on shoulder and someone tells him,

“You are messing with the wrong person, this is an example for you and your friends what happen if someone accuse me of something absurd like you did. Have fun in the hospital.”

Chanyeol is trying to extend his hand in order to grab that person but he left immediately and within seconds after that, Tiffany is back with Chanyeol and the back door of the ambulance has been closed. Another ambulance is already patched in to pick up Kai so Chanyeol will go ahead first to the hospital. Sehun and Kyungsoo are still not back from bringing their belongings so it is only Tiffany and Chanyeol on the back of the ambulance now as the vehicle makes its way toward the Seoul Central Hospital. Chanyeol’s eyes are getting heavy and he is about to pass out now but he recognized the girl’s voice that are ringing in his ears right now. Chanyeol is unable to see her well but he turns his head toward Tiffany, their eyes meet and Tiffany is getting nervous because she thought that Chanyeol will be mad to see her accompanying him in the ambulance. Tiffany try to avert her gaze to avoid his eyes but then he says something before finally passing out from the painkiller effect,

Chanyeol: “Fany….sorry….”

After that he passed out completely and he left her confused as to what his words mean. She expected a harsh treatment but what she gets from him is some kind of an apology. She doesn’t know how to react and whether she should be happy about it or not because right now Chanyeol is suffering from the injury but she won’t forget his words in the ambulance today and she intends to ask him the meaning of it once he awakes. She sends a text message to Taeyeon asking her to bring her bag that she left on the spectators’ seat and ask her to take it home with her. Taeyeon receives the text message and she takes it as a sign that Tiffany doesn’t want her to go to the hospital later today to visit Chanyeol and bring her bag with her. She lets out a small sigh but then she decided that she isn’t going to the hospital today. She walks toward the seat and she brings Tiffany’s bag with her and then she leaves the mess on the football field as she heads toward the school’s gate and make her way to the bus stop.

Meanwhile, Minho has manage to stop the anger from both sides and then he along with coach Jong-kook try to find a reasoning of why those two players did that but of course they already pledge their silence toward Kyuhyun and they don’t say a word about it, insisting that they are just carried away with the heat of the football match and admitting that they are making a fatal mistake because of their aggression. Of course both Minho and coach Jong-kook couldn’t do anything about it because they confessed but it doesn’t mean that these two will escape any punishment. Coach Jong-kook decides to bring the two players onto the empty class room in the school’s building and he will give them a long speech about aggression in a football match and will probably give them a temporary suspension from the club activity for a certain period of time.

Kai is now already inside the 2^nd ambulance, accompanied by Yuri, Baekhyun, Sehun and Kyungsoo. Suho is still arguing with some of the seniors on the field. Kai who of course is conscious asks them,

Kai: “So….what happen to Chanyeol?”

Sehun: “He is already on his way to the hospital.”

Kai: “Who’s accompanying him? Suho?”

Kyungsoo: “Nope, Tiffany accompanying him.”

Kai: “Really? Hmm….I suppose it’s a good thing then.”

Sehun: “Why?”

Kai: “Well…who knows that those two can finally make peace with each other huh? All this time I put up a tough stance in front of her because I don’t want to upset Chanyeol. What happened with him, it’s not her fault really…she might cause that video to appear but it’s not like she’s the one that arranged it to happen. I only hate her for what she becomes after she got dejected because Chanyeol hated her like she is the worst person in the whole world in his eyes. I have no problem if those two finally manage to get some peace, put the incident behind them.”

Sehun: “Yeah you could be right.”

Kai: “Even if those two end up being together, I wouldn’t mind either. I know that Tiffany really likes him….I don’t know about Chanyeol now but before the incident they used to be quite close right? So I think there is a possibility of that kind of feeling resurface again.”

At that moment, Baekhyun and Yuri immediately look at each other but they don’t say a word. It’s regarding the conversation that they had, Baekhyun wanted Chanyeol to be with Taeyeon or at the very least manage to solve his problem with Tiffany and hearing Kai’s words makes him wonder whether it is possible. He is still unsure of the chance of him being with Tiffany so he just wanted Chanyeol to forgive her but not having Tiffany as his girlfriend. Meanwhile Yuri who doesn’t really want to force Chanyeol to be with her best friend, Taeyeon seems to react rather positively to Kai’s words, hoping that what he said just now might be the truth. There are words that they want to say to each other regarding this matter but they decided to keep it to themselves for the time being,

Baekhyun: “I think you better take a breather Kai, your nose is not looking too good.”

Kai: “It’s just a broken nose, the doctor will put it back to its place right?”

Baekhyun: “Yup, and what makes you think that such simple process won’t be painful?”

Kai: “Is it going to be painful?”

Baekhyun: “I guess you will see for yourself.”

Kai: “Sigh….this going to so bad.”

Sehun: “Did you do anything to wind him up? Why he elbowed you like that?”

Kai: “No idea….I was running toward the goal and I am not even being too physical with him at all. Suddenly that elbow came out of nowhere, I also have no idea what happened to Chanyeol back then.”

Kyungsoo: “He suffered worse….from my point of view, it seems as if that goalkeeper really put all his effort into injuring him, I can see that he is not looking at the ball at all, just staring at Chanyeol.”

Sehun: “That is so weird.”

Baekhyun: “Could it be?”

Kai: “What?”

Baekhyun looks at Yuri and he stops talking immediately, Yuri seems to realize this. She suspected that there is something going on behind this and whatever Baekhyun is about to say, she is not allowed to hear it. Baekhyun change the topic quickly talking about some other stuffs but Yuri is alarmed of this situation and her curiosity is increasing. She knows that Baekhyun is not the type who will spill out secrets so easily like that, she intend to find out about this from the others. What happened is quite horrible but the conflict has just started, there are more to come for these young boys and girls and the school is going to have a drastic change soon.

At the bus stop, Taeyeon is sitting down waiting for the bus while holding Tiffany’s bag on her lap. She is just staring at the stores across the street and her mind is currently empty right now. The bus is still 10 minutes away, she doesn’t even realize that someone is sitting right next to her. Taeyeon just stay silent like that for 5 minutes before the person besides him finally stand up and leave the bus stop. That person lets out a small laugh and this caused Taeyeon to snap out from her frozen state as she takes a quick look on that person who already walked away and all she can see is his back view. She then realizes that person left something on the seat where he was sitting on and when she is about to grab it to return to him, she is stunned to see that thing that he left behind is a report book and on the front it clearly stated ‘Nobu Middle School Report Book – Year 2’. She doesn’t know who this report book belongs to because there is no name on it but out of curiosity, she decided to open the report book and she her hand is trembling and her eyes widened to see a picture of her back in middle school inside the report book and there is a handwritten note along that picture and it says,

‘You may move to Seoul or back to London or go anywhere you want in this world….but no matter where you are….I will catch you….and you…will be…mine.’

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Thank you for your patience! Finally I manage to update this story and I will attempt to make the update a little faster. I get some more free time here and there which is why I am able to update my stories, not just this one, slightly faster than I have been for the past few months. So I am trying to balance the amount of the appearance for each characters. Taeyeon is the lead character in this story but the other characters can be considered as main characters as well so I hope you can understand why I will spread out the amount of their appearances as equally as possible :)

Since my other stories usually involved quite a drama with a thick plot and so many dark twists waiting around the corner, I think I am going to take it much easier with this story. I am trying to involve more aspect of the daily lives that we all experience. If there are some facts that are inaccurate regarding the school stuffs, please do excuse me and please also point it out to me and help me correct it because I am not in a high school any longer and it has been years since my high school days, so probably a lot of things have changed now.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and please look forward to the next one! Thank you! :D