The men have been running somewhat foolishly around a local soccer field for nearly two hours when Jong Kook’s phone rings. He jogs over to the sideline to pick it up, raising his finger in a “just a moment” gesture to the other two, who flop gratefully to the ground, chests heaving. He looks down at the call display, shocked to see Hannah’s name lighting up the screen. She usually texts. He picks up quickly.

“Hannah? Is everything okay?,” he asks immediately.

“Jong Kook oppa. Yes, everything is fine. I’m calling to apologize for disappearing last night.”

Jong Kook feels a flash of guilt just then, realizing he hasn’t checked in with her, not a call or a text, since she had vanished the night before.

“Ah, yes, a friend of mine saw you leaving. He said he offered to buy you a drink.”

“Oh, that handsome guy with the cute baby face?”

Jong Kook laughs. “That sounds like him. His name is Song Joongki.”

“Well, tell Joongki I said hello, and that I’ll take him up on it next time.”

Jong Kook laughs again. “All right, I’ll do that. He’s here now. We’re playing soccer.”

“Oh, fun.”

“Would you like to join us?,” he asks out of politeness, holding his breath until she replies.

“No, no, not today. I’ve got to make up for the time I took off last night!”

“The time you took off? It was less than an hour before you left!”

“I can do a lot in an hour, Jong Kook oppa. Anyway, again, I’m calling to apologize. I’m sorry I left without saying anything to you.”

“It’s okay,” he reassures her. “Things come up sometimes, it happens. Is everything all right, though? Did something happen?”

She sighs deeply and there’s silence on the line for a moment. Finally, she says, “Am I a terrible person if I say I just don’t want to talk about it?”

“Not at all,” he replies, “but are you sure everything's all right?”

She sighs again. “Yes, I’m sure. Really. I promise.”

“I guess we’ll need a rain check for a night out then, huh?,” he says.

“Definitely,” she agrees. “In fact, do you want to come by my apartment for a late lunch tomorrow? I’m really busy all day, but Daniel will be out, and I need to eat anyway, so…”

Jong Kook remembers what Charity said about one more day, and how he has to tell her tomorrow. He feels almost certain that if he doesn’t take the initiative and set up something with Hannah himself, Charity will manhandle him all the way to Hannah’s front door.

“Ah… yeah. Yes. That sounds good. And again, you’re really sure you’re okay, right?”

“I’m definitely okay, Jong Kook oppa. I’m sorry I left in a hurry. Something came up that I just didn’t feel up to dealing with right then, but I’m ready to handle it now. I’m just fine. I really appreciate your concern, though. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably be just fine,” he thinks to himself. Hannah is incredibly self-sufficient and independent. He can even remember an occasion or two where she hesitated to take his hand to help her from the car, or let him open a door for her. She is not the type who wants his help, let alone needs it.

“All right, but I’ll need to see for myself tomorrow,” he jokes.

“Tomorrow,” she confirms. “I’ll let you get back to your soccer. Have a great day!”

Jong Kook ends the call and bends over to slide the phone back into his bag. When he straightens up, he looks across the field to see Joongki and Kwang Soo peeling themselves up from the ground and heading over to the sidelines, where Charity is shaking a blanket out into the air. He heads that way, as well. The two younger men reach her before he does, and they each grab a corner of the blanket, helping her spread it evenly on the ground.

"I brought lunch," Charity says. "Are you all hungry or still full from eggs?"

"Hungry!," all three bellow at once and she laughs. Jong Kook takes the time to get a good look at her. Rather than her usual skinny jeans and messy hair, Charity's wearing a light blue sleeveless sundress that's fitted on top and flares out at the waist. She also has on flat brown strappy sandals. Her hair is half down, draping around her shoulders, and she's wearing light, fresh makeup - none of her usual harsh black liner and bright red lips.

She catches him looking at her appreciatively and raises her eyebrows at him, then gestures to the blanket.

"Sit down, guys, and take a break. You can go another round after you get some food in you."

Kwang Soo settles himself at her left side. Joongki plops down on her right. Jong Kook glares at the two men, but sits across from Charity anyway. Joongki and Kwang Soo cheer as she removes container after container from a seemingly bottomless bag she’s brought along. Side dishes, sandwiches, and desserts all pile up in front of them.

"Eat as much as you can so I don't have to carry it all back to my car," she says jokingly. The men need no further encouragement, jostling amongst themselves for their favorite dishes, passing items back and forth, and joking around as they replace all the calories they just burned off. Charity watches with an indulgent smile, very much the mother hen looking over all her baby chicks. She stretches her legs out in front of her and leans back on her hands, sliding a pair of sunglasses down from her hair and over her eyes as she turns her face up to the sun.

“Who’s winning?,” she asks, not looking at them.

“I am,” Joongki mumbles around a mouthful of cucumber.

“No way!,” Kwang Soo exclaims. “We’re definitely tied.”

“We were keeping score?,” Jong Kook asks lazily, his eyes on Charity.

Kwang Soo and Joongki devolve into bickering over who has had the best goals so far, and start laying out a plan for a competition to be held after lunch is finished. One player against two defenders, rotating, three shots each. Points for demonstration of difficult skills. Charity to be the judge. As they chatter at each other, Jong Kook begins nudging Kwang Soo gently with his foot. Once he has his attention, he jerks his head to the side, indicating that he wants to swap places.

“Ah, hyung,” Kwang Soo grumbles, but Jong Kook narrows his eyes and Kwang Soo scrambles to his feet. Jong Kook slides over into the position next to Charity and moves her gently, placing his own legs on either side of hers and leaning her back against his chest. He rests back on one arm and wraps the other around her waist. Kwang Soo and Joongki watch, Kwang Soo with some sympathy, but keep their bantering going.

“So, tomorrow,” Charity says suddenly, interrupting the ever more heated conversation. “Are you --”

“I already talked to her,” Jong Kook breaks in. “We’re having a late lunch.”

“Good.” Charity nods and her hair brushes against his neck. “How are you --”

“Can we not talk about it?,” he says tersely. “I’ll do it tomorrow. Today, let’s just do this.”

Kwang Soo and Joongki are silent now, watching. Charity slides her sunglasses back up and tips her head back to look up at Jong Kook. He looks down at her, and they hold eye contact for a long moment. Rather than answering, she searches his eyes, then pulls her sunglasses back down and settles back against his chest. Joongki and Jong Kook smile. Kwang Soo looks wary and shakes his head at his hyung.

“Hurry up and finish eating,” she says, waving her hand at the food. “I’m ready to watch some y men run around all sweaty.”

“You think I’m y?,” all three say simultaneously.

She just laughs and waves them on to their lunch again.

Not too much later, the food containers are packed back into her magic bag and she pulls her blanket closer to the sidelines to watch the epic, needlessly complicated, somewhat violent soccer tournament-slash-shootout-slash-cluster Kwang Soo and Joongki have devised. The first two attempts, made by Kwang Soo, go fairly well and she golf claps in approval, but very quickly the whole thing dissolves into an all out ball-tussling brawl. Rules go out the window to be replaced by more of a “goal at any cost” method. The men are tripping each other and rolling on the ground, with Kwang Soo showing no shame when reaching for the ball with his hands. Joongki and Jong Kook try to remain above the cheating for as long as possible, but soon Joongki is punching the ball out of Kwang Soo’s grasp and Jong Kook is tackling them both down with a shoulder to the stomach whenever possible. Charity laughs and claps and cheers for especially brilliant moves, occasionally holding up her cell phone for pictures and videos of the madness. When it’s finally over, she’s asked to declare a winner.

“Well,” she starts. “I’ve reviewed the footage. First of all, I’d like to say you all played a great game out there today.” She pats each of the sweaty men on the head where they lay, now in limp heaps on the blanket.

“I want you to know I take my position very seriously, and it’s not without deep consideration that I confer these awards. First, the prize for pure, violent, and totally unnecessary physicality goes to… Kim Jong Kook-ssi!” She smiles benevolently as Jong Kook raises champion arms weakly and the other two hoot and clap for him.

“Second, for acts of treachery well beyond what a normal man would be willing or even able to commit, I’d like to recognize… Lee Kwang Soo!”

Kwang Soo scrambles to his feet and opens his mouth as if to begin an acceptance speech, but she reaches up to clasp a hand over his mouth until he gives up and sits back down.

“Lastly, the award for unending handsomeness in the face of grave indignity, please give a round of applause to Song Joongki!” Joongki frames his face with his dirty hands and gives his most adorable smile. Charity takes a bow and sits back down.

“Seriously, though, Cherry,” Kwang Soo says. “Who won?”

“Are you ing kidding me?,” she laughs. “Kim Jong Kook-ssi made, like, 8 goals to each one the two of you made combined.”

The two losers immediately erupt in protests.

“He cheated! He cheated the whole time!”

“Eight? That’s a little high. It was more like five or six.”

“Were you even watching? Did you see when I jumped right over him?”

“Aren’t there any points for style?”

“You know, I’m certain he’s been doping. I demand