Much to my dismay I was dragged to the gym after school by Chan. I laid down on the bleachers and tried my best to take a short nap.

“Where are they?”

“Have they started yet?”

“I think they’re still changing.”

Squeals resonated through the gym.

I sat up and sighed. There goes my nap. Footsteps increased and soon a mass group of girls waited at the bleachers. The doors to the gym opened soon after and sneaker screeches were made. Laughter came from the door entrance and squeals increased from the bleachers.

The boys in plain white shirts and blue shorts grabbed the basketballs off the racks and went straight to shooting. Others practiced passing and others dribbling. Mark and Chan were the last two to enter the gym.

“Jin!” Chan waved at me.

I sat up straight and waved back.

“Cheer me on!” Mark cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled.

I held up a fist, “Fighting,” I whispered softly.

Mark held up a fist, “Fighting!” he smiled.

“Jin! Me too! Fighting!” Chan pumped his fist in the air and broke out a grin.

I slightly pumped my fist and gave him a small smile.

Pheeew! A whistle was blown at the door of the gym. Coach Ahn stood next to the boys head basketball coach, Coach Mi. The boys stopped what they were all doing and turned to the two. Coach Ahn carefully observed each one in the room until he turned to me. His eyes widened and he quickly turned back to Coach Mi and whispered something to his ear before a sly smile took over.

“Gyo Heejin!” Coach Mi made a motion with his hand.

I stood up and walked down from the bleachers to the two coaches, “Yes, songsaenim,” I bowed.

A clipboard was then pushed into my hands, “Coach Ahn on the court,” the two smiled.

“You’ll be helping us with tryouts for the next few days, got it?” Coach Mi observed the boys still quiet.

“Yes sir,” I replied. No way of getting out of this.

The two turned back to the boys. “Mile time first, jog to the track as warm up I don’t want to see anyone walking,” Coach Mi blew his whistle. The boys pushed against one another to get out the doors.

I followed behind taking my time. Once we got onto the track Coach Mi explained the procedures and blew the whistle marking the start of the nine minutes they were given. Mark and Chan stayed at the front leading the mass of boys. Karry dragged behind them by just a bit.

I watched as the boys panted around the track. Most had already started sweating on the second lap. The two coaches chatted as they waited for the boys to start their final lap.

As the boys approached the line they had used to start Coach Ahn started to call out the times, “6.30, 6.31, 6.32,” he yelled.

“Just write their times next to their names,” Coach Mi instructed. I nodded.

“6.40, 6.41, 6.42,” coach Ahn continued. I peeked just past Coach Ahn to see Mark and Chan still in the lead. Just as they passed the soccer goal on the other side of the field they both broke out in a sprint.

Mark’s black hair bounced up and down as he kept himself composed. Meanwhile, Chan’s copper blonde hair was matted to his forehead, he gritted his teeth as he kept up with Mark.

“7.02, 7.03, 7.04,” Coach Ahn called out as the crossed the line. Both took a few more steps before falling to the ground next to me.

“Make sure to tell Heejin your times!” Coach Ahn yelled before returning to call out the times.

Mark and Chan laid on the ground both heaving for air. I squatted down next to them holding the clipboard to my chest and poked Chan’s arm with my pen.

“Need water,” he huffed. I looked around as my eyes landed on six water bottles. I went over and grabbed one before squatting back down next to Chan holding the water out to him. “Thanks,” he huffed before taking it. He pulled the top open and squirted the clear liquid into his mouth taking large gulps.

I turned to Mark who was now propped on his elbows still panting. He grinned as he looked up at me.

“7.03,” his grin got wider.

I scanned at the clipboard until I saw his name and wrote down 7.03 next to it, “What about you Chan?”

“7.03,” he huffed.

“7.05,” a voice came from behind me. Startled, I dropped the clipboard and jumped forward. A chuckle from the same person came behind me. Karry.

“Stop messing around,” Chan flung one of his legs out at Karry. Meanwhile Mark reached out to the clipboard and used it to fan himself.

I smiled, “Give it back, I need to write down the times,” I grasped onto one end of the clipboard keeping him from using it as a fan.

He let go of his end of the clipboard and closed his eyes, “Fan me Hyejin.”

“No,” I turned away from him to Karry, “7.05?”

Karry nodded.

“8.12, 8.13, 8.14,” Coach Ahn continuously shouted the times as more males crossed the starting line.  I walked over to them as they each told me their times and names as I scribbled it down. After each boy crossed the line and told me their times Coach Ahn ordered them to jog back into the gym. I followed obediently after carrying the water and clipboard.

The boys sighed at the cool blast of air the ac in the gym brought. “Hurry inside!” Coach Mi yelled, “I want two lines, each in front of the squares, one for first years,” Coach Mi stood in front of one square taped on the gym wall and waved his arm in a line, “and the second for non first years,” he blew his whistle. Quickly the boys disbursed to the designated square. Coach Ahn passed a ball to the first person in each line. “The drill is to see your chest passes, I want you to stand about three feet away from the square. Back up a bit boys,” he shooed his hand and the boys quickly moved back, some pushing into each other. “You will stand and pass the ball to the wall,” Coach Mi bent his knees a bit and held the basketball up to his chest before pushing out. The ball hit the square in the center before bouncing on the floor and perfectly back into his hands. “You will do this for five times then pass the ball to the next person in line and go to the back of the line got it?”

“Yes sir!” the boys shouted.

Coach Mi blew his whistle and almost instantly the boys started the drill. I stood watching as the first years tried their best to pace themselves while hitting the center of the square. Some had completely missed the square and ended up chasing after the basketball that had gotten too out of hand for them.

After every boy had gone once Coach Mi blew his whistle once again.

“I want four lines! Two for first years,” he pointed to one side of the court, “two for non first years,” he pointed just a few feet away from where the two lines of first years should be. The boys immediately dashed to where Coach Mi wanted them. “Even out your lines! I want you to move your lines to half court!” he ordered.

Coach Ahn picked up the balls that the boys had left during the previous drill to get into lines and passed one to the front of each two lines. He then walked over to me.

“You can go home now, we only really needed help getting the times down today,” Coach Ahn took back the clipboard from me.

I looked over to the line of older boys and found Chan and Mark in the midst of all the boys and walked back to the bleachers. I sat in the same spot before and patiently waited for their tryouts to end. About an hour had passed before Coach Mi blew his whistle three times, “That’s all for today’s tryouts, we will continue tryouts all this week. Get a break in the middle.” he turned away to put the basketballs up.

“Lions on three! Two! Three!” Taehyun shouted. “LIONS!” all the boys yelled in unison.

I sat up on the bleacher and waited as Chan and Mark went into the boy's locker room to change.

“How was I today?” a sweaty Chan scooted on the bleacher right next to me.

I pushed his sweaty face away from my face with my index finger, “Don’t know, I fell asleep as soon as Coach Ahn said I could go home.” I shrugged.

“Really?” Chan rested his chin on my shoulder.

“Yes,” I pulled out a small towel from my bag and handed it to Chan, “Use this,” I looked at his damp matted hair.

He took the small towel and wiped his face with it before putting it on his head and rubbing his hair with it.

Mark came out of the locker room soon after in his school uniform, “Let’s head home, I’ll walk you home Heejin,” he adjusted the strap of his backpack on his shoulder.

“You mean I’ll walk her home,” Chan glared at Mark.

“No, I meant what I said,” Mark smiled.

“No you didn’t,” Chan argued.

“I did.”

“No, you didn’t.”

The two continued to bicker.

I checked the time on my phone, “I’ll go now before I miss the bus, bye!” I waved to the two as I ran out of the gym doors.

“Heejin, wait! I’ll walk with you to the bus stop!” Mark followed after me.

Soon him and Chan had caught up to me.

“It’s cold today hm? Mark rubbed his hands together and blew into them.

“Yea,” I hugged my uniform’s blazer closer.

“But it’s the perfect weather for ice cream!” Chan grinned as he swung his arm over my shoulder.

“Tch you mean tteokbokki?” Mark scoffed.

“Ice cream,” Chan continued to grin, “Jin why don’t we get ice cream at the next bus stop?”

I nodded, “Sounds good to me.”

Mark who didn’t take the same bus as us pouted as Chan stuck out his tongue mockingly at him.

“We can all get tteokbokki at another time,” I smiled at Mark.

As the bus came Chan and I waved at Mark from the window.

“You don’t have practice today?” I asked Chan.

He nodded, “I do, but I’d rather get ice cream with you,” he smiled.

“Did you at least tell your hyungs?”

“Nope, not like it’ll matter anyway. Come on, the ice cream shop’s at the next stop,” he stood up from his seat and held out a hand to me. I took it and together we stood at the doors of the bus and got ready to get off.

We entered the cool ice cream parlor. It’s vibrant colors jumping out at us.

“Which flavor should I get?” Chan peered over at the various ice cream flavors.

“What can I get you little lady?” the man behind the counter asked.

“A small berry twister please,” I pointed to the purple swirled ice cream.

“Any add ins?”

“Mochi and yogurt chips please.” The man took a scoop of the purple mixture and added a spoonful of both mochi and yogurt chips before beating the two together, careful to keep the ice cream’s consistency.

“What would you like?” another man that was behind the counter asked Chan.

“Cheesecake please.”

“Would like any add ins?”

“Recese please.”

“Here you go little lady,” the man that had beaten my ice cream handed the small, cold, blue cup along with a green spoon to me.

“Will you be paying together?” he motioned towards Chan.

I nodded and smiled, “How much will it be together?”

“7,500 won,” the man rung up the register.

I placed my ice cream down on the counter and pulled my wallet out of my bag and proceeded to pay the man. The register rang as the man continued to place the money into it. “Thank you,” I politely smiled to the man.

“Thank you, have a nice day,” I turned to Chan to see he’d just gotten his ice cream.

“Let’s go sit at a table,” I looked around for a table for two.

“Wait I need to pay,” Chan said.

I shook my head, “I already did.”

“Heejin,” he whined.

“Found one,” I dragged him away from the counter and to a small round table. We each pulled out one of it’s neon colored chairs and sat across from each other.

“How many times have I told you not to pay for me?” he continued to whine.

I rolled my eyes, “It’s not gonna matter, what’s done is done.”

“To me it matters, it makes me not look manly,” he pouted.

“Yea, yea, I won’t do it again,” I took a spoonful of his ice cream.

“Hey,” he took a spoonful of mine.