"You think you can make a shot from here?" Byunghun asked, bouncing the basketball far from the hoop. He his lips, trying to figure out how to make in the shot.

Sohyun laughed. "Are you looking down on me because I'm a girl, Byunghun? I'm the one who asked to play a game of H.O.R.S.E with you. I think I can handle you."

He smirked before shooting. "I never doubted your skills in the first place."

He went ahead and made his shot. Fortunately for him, the ball swooped into the net, adding a refreshing swoosh! sound in the end. He pumped his fist in the air, cheering. Sohyun frowned, and for a moment, she doubted if she had the ability to make the shot.

"You know what," Sohyun started, "why don't we help the rest? After all, it is practice."

He frowned. "Don't chicken out now, Sohyun! We've just started…"

His voice faded as he glanced at his friends. Most of them had droopy shoulders and disappointment written all over their expression. Something had happened to each of them, and Byunghun wasn't able to pin-point exactly what happened.

Dasom seemed to have lost her flirtatious charm. He did remember seeing her run off every time she saw Myungsoo. He assumed that something had happened between the two, but when he asked, her whole face would twist and she wouldn't answer him.

Junhee was acting normal for the most part, but she didn't go to the art club too often. She always said something about being "friend-zoned" and that it was better to put some distance between her and her crush. Taemin, too, didn't have much going on with him. Apparently his relationship with Soojung was becoming rocky, but he kept assuring the group that he could handle it alone.

From the group, the two people who changed the most were Eunji and Jieun. 

Eunji seemed less happy these days, despite having a boyfriend. According to her reports, Howon's health has only been declining. He had lost the ability to move, and when he tried to speak, she'd have to clean extra close to hear his slow words.

"I'm still happy," she had declared when faking a smile. "I chose him as my boyfriend for happiness, not out of pity."

She failed to convince everyone that she was happy. It was obvious that her relationship with Howon was a burden on her shoulder. However, she had no other choice. If she wanted to break up with him, one of two things would have to happen: he would have to return to normal health, or he would have to die.

Jieun had been spending more time with the group rather than stalking Hyunwoo. Whenever they mentioned about Hyunwoo, she would give the group short replies on his status. What surprised the group the most was that most of her answers ended with an "I don't know."

They were acting strange, and Byunghun didn't like that one bit.

"Hey Sohyun," Byunghun called her. He turned around, only to find her making the same shot at the same distance he was at just moments ago. He dropped his jaws while Sohyun broke into a smile. 

"Well, well. I guess I can make that shot, after all!" She let out a small cheer.

"See? I never doubted you," he said, smiling. His smile quickly faded. "Okay, but I need you to be serious with me for a second."

She stopped dribbling when she saw his serious expression. "Oh, this must be big."

"Not really. It's personal, though," he said. He let out a quick sigh. "Have you noticed that something's odd?"

She looked at him from head to toe. "I don't think there's anything wrong with you. Why? Did someone say something?"

"No, no. Not me. My friends." He pointed his thumb behind him. "Haven't you noticed that they aren't being themselves?"

Sohyun looked over his shoulder. She wasn't very close to his friends, but she did know vaguely about how their personalities were. When she squinted her eyes, she could definitely see the bad complexion of their skin and how depressed they look.

"Yeah, I guess they're acting a bit strange," she agreed.

"Do I just leave them be?" he asked her.

She blinked her eyes. "Do you think they need to be left alone?"

"I don't know. I'm not very good at figuring these types of social atmosphere out."

She laughed. "I'm no expert on that kind of topic, either."

"Then what do I do?"

She smiled and walked over to him. She looked over his shoulder again, noticing that although his friends were upset, they were still diligently practicing how to play basketball.

"I think they'll be fine as long as you can assure them that you'll be there for them." She gave him a sheepish look. "Some people need to be reminded about having friends they can count on. Not a lot of people can remember that everyday."

"So should I ask them what's wrong?" Byunghun asked. "I tried that with Dasom, but she didn't open up."

"Maybe she doesn't want to open up her feelings right now. Sometimes, there are better moments to open up to a problem," Sohyun said.

He sighed. "People are so complicated."

Sohyun laughed. "That's true. I won't argue about that part."

He bent his knees, squatting as he listened to Sohyun dribble the basketball. As he looked down the ground, he secretly glanced up to see Sohyun make several baskets. He smiled and watch for a long time. He wasn't sure when, but he was starting to develop an eye for Sohyun. Wherever he was, he could literally pull out his finger and Sohyun was there in his vision.

He especially liked watching her play basketball. She seemed more happy and more focus whenever she played. Sure, she was happy when she saw the basketball club play, but there was some sort of glow in her that shined whenever she was the one playing.

She turned to face him, and he snapped out of his thoughts. When she broke into a smile, he smiled back.

He really liked that about her.

"Want to play?" she asked, tossing him the basketball.

He caught it with his hands and stared at it for a moment. "So what do you think I should do with my friends?"

Sohyun shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. What feels right?"

Being there for them, he wanted to answer. However, when he looked at Sohyun. she gave him a kind of look that said that she knew the answer. He sealed his lips and grinned. "I guess I have to do what I got to do."

"Good," she said. Then, she pointed to another spot on the court. "Let's try shooting from here."

He dropped his jaws. "I at that angle, though."

She laughed. "Even better…!"

At sunset, the group split apart. Everyone left at one direction, while Byunghun decided to follow Sohyun a bit.

"I know where my house is," she retorted, rolling her eyes. "I don't need you to walk back home with me."

"It's fine," he said, slipping his hands in his pockets. "Let me be a gentleman for once, hm?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that I had one around me," she said in a joking manner. She laughed when Byunghun have her an offended look.

"Well, that's not very nice." He pouted.

"I was just joking," she said, giving him a small nudge on his arm. "No hard feelings?"

He smiled. "Do I look like the type to keep a grudge?"

"No, you look like a puppy."

"Hey, I'm older than you."

"By a year."

The two erupted into laughter. They continued walking down the street, side by side. They walked with a very narrow distance between each other. 

Byunghun bit his bottom lip. He was tempted to close the gap. It was nice to have Sohyun so close to him, but he kind of wished that she would come closer to him. Who knows, maybe the two would end up closing the gap by holding hands.

"Hey," she suddenly started. Byunghun, startled, flinched away from her. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, listening to what Sohyun had to say. "Do you think we're going to do well for our co-ed games?"

"Y-Yeah," he stuttered. "Of course. I mean, we got some of the greatest players on our team…"

"But your friends still have a lot of work," Sohyun said. She frowned. "Am I being too crticial here?"

"No, you're not. They ," he agreed. "Still, they know how to have fun and how to work hard. Give them a few more practice runs and I'm sure they'll be decent."

She nodded her head. "Okay. I'm only letting this slide because I trust you and because we need members."

"Is winning all that matters?"

"No," she answered. She shook her head. "It doesn't."

"See? Whatever happens, what matters it that we have a blast out there."

She grinned. "You know, you say you're not good with these social conversations, but you're making me feel better already."

She stopped and stared up. Byunghun stopped and looked at what she was staring at.

In front of them, there was an apartment standing firmly. It took Byunghun seconds to realize that they had already arrived at Sohyun's house. 

That fast? he thought, feeling a bit upset. I didn't think she lived so close…

"Well, it's time for me to go," she said. She turned to him. "You better go. It's going to get dark soon."

"Ah, yeah," he murmured, staring at the apartment. He stared at her, waiting for her to say something else.

Sensing this, Sohyun only gave him a small, confused smile. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

No, he thought, that's not what I wanted to hear.

She turned, waving her hand. Just before she was about to add the apartment code number, Byunghun lunged for her shoulder and grabbed ahold of her shirt. 

He didn't want to say "bye" to her. He wanted to hold her hand and walk with her for a bit longer. He wanted to hug her, to bring her close to him.

He bit his bottom lip. No, he didn't want to just hold her hand. He didn't want to just hug her. He didn't want her to be close to him. Friends could satisfy those criteras, but he didn't want to just be friends with Sohyun.

He wanted to be more than that.

His heart raced, pumping blood to his cheeks. He took a deep breath and slowly moved his hands from her shoulder to her hand. He was ready to be bold, to have these romantic words slip out of his mouth. He wasn't going to make this the next Sunyoung-type of love.

He was going to do something about these damn feelings that he had for Sohyun.

He was going to do something about these feelings right now.

With a deep breath, he whispered his words, but he made sure that the first-year heard about how he felt about her:

"I like you, Sohyun." He took a deep breath, turning bright red from his confession. "Let's date."

His eyes widened and he almost stopped breathing. Sohyun still hadn't faced him yet. She froze, and he anticipated on her answer. Then, she slowly turned around, and Byunghun felt his heart stop.

At that moment—when Sohyun turned and her hair glided against the sunset breeze—he saw the most beautiful blush of red rise to her plump beautiful cheeks.