August, the hottest month of Korea.
Too hot to do anything really, even to go out for a walk. The small village was quiet. There was not a soul outside, except for the cicadas singing joyfully. 

And these two.

"Woohyun-ah, it's too hot... Can't we stop here and practice again tomorrow? I'm so tired!"

Boom!  the sound of the ball being kicked that bounced off of Chorong's head.

"OW!"

"No! Just 30 minutes more... The sun will be setting soon and the temperature will get cooler... I practiced with you all afternoon and became your puppet, it's my turn! Now com'on! I know you can be a better goalie than that!"

"Fine..." she said followed by a mutter, "just because you were nice for allowing me to beat you up today."

After many attempts to block his goals and with a few bickers here and there, the sun quickly set and the two lost track of time.

"We should get going, your mom is probably worried about us." Woohyun said as he packed up his equipments.

"Alright, but when we get home remind me to ask mom about Australia and Austria. I'm telling you, Austria is the country with the koalas and kangeroos!"

"Yeah, yeah whatever... Race you there?"

And without hesitation, Chorong ran all the way to the gates of their high school enterance but stopped and ran back to Woohyun. 

"Before you whine about how the race wasn't fair," she panted, "let me carry some of your equipment."

Then she took a pile of the orange cones and one of Woohyun's soccer ball and started running again.

"HEY! That's not fair! We didn't start at the same time!" and he ran after her.

\\\

"It's very late, you two! I was getting worried!" Chorong's mom said as she was waiting outside of their apartment door. "Come inside and wash up quickly, I've prepared dinner for you two."

"Sorry mom, I wanted to come home but Woohyun forced me to practice with him!"

"I did not force you! I would've finished earlier if you didn't argue with about the difference between Australia and Austria with me!"

Chorong's mother sighed heavily and demanded the kids to go wash up again once more. Their chirping is making the atmosphere more hotter than the summer weather has already made, she thought as she set up the dinner table for the two. Then, Chorong and Woohyun came back all washed up and began to eat their dinner. It was only ever quiet when the two were eating.

"I wanted to ask you two what your plans for university was. Soon you'll be entering after this semester... Have you two decided on what to study? What university?" Chorong's mom asked.

Chorong laughed.

"Mom, don't worry. We got everything planned out. Woohyun is going to go to university for soccer, obviously, and I for hapkido. We're both going to focus on our sports but we're going to major in practical music studies!"

Her mom stared at her in shock. Woohyun didn't say anything and kept on eating his food, faster.

"Mom, it's okay! Yeah, practical music studies is out of the blue. But we've always thought that we were good singers and had a hidden talent in music! Don't worry, Nam Woohyun is going to be a great soccer star and when he becomes one and I don't succeed in my hapkido career, I'll just marry him and we'll live happily ever after. I'm set!

Cough cough cough!

"Honey, this is not a joke," she said as she handed over a glass of water to Woohyun. "I mean, your father and I will support you with hapkido but don't you think music studies as your major is.. not... fitting?"

"Mom! You said we should study whatever we want to and we want to study music! Woohyun-ah, right?!"

"Thank you for the dinner, ajummah. I'll head home now." Woohyun said as he got up from his chair and put the dishes in the sink.

"Woohyun-ah, be careful going home! We'll see you tomorrow!" Chorong's mom said.

"Mom, chill out. He's only at the end of the hallway. Oh! I almost forgot to ask. AUSTRIA is the country with koalas and kangeroos right?! Woohyun keeps on saying that's Australia but I swear it's -"

"You should learn basic geography first before you think of studying music." her mother said as she walked away with a sigh.

"Am I right or wrong?" Chorong muttered and took another bite of her kimchi fried rice.

\\\

That night Woohyun lay on his bed and couldn't fall asleep. Normally, even after practice he would feel alright but his body was especially tired and aching because he helped Chorong practice hapkido on him today. 

And also... "I'll just marry him and we'll live happily ever after"

He picked up his phone and wrote a text to Chorong. Erasing, editing, erasing, editing.

My body hurts so much, I can't fall asleep thanks a lot. Did you end up finding which country has koalas?
Also, your mom was pretty shocked about our major decisions, right? Haha

bleep!

Shut up, this isn't the first time you were my puppet. And yeah... you won... again. This is not over Namwu.
Yes~ but it's okay. We'll have fun and it will be interesting, plus you'll be there with me when all else fails ^^

He stared at his phone screen for a while.

Did you really mean about getting married?? kekeke

bleep!

Ofc. Knowing you all 19 years of my life, I always had you as my back-up plan. Kekek I'm joking about the back-up 
plan, please don't be angry. kekekekekek

Debating for a while, in all seriousness, Woohyun decided to ask something he wanted to ask for a long time.

Chorong-ah, I have to ask you something...

Erasing, editing, erasing, editing. 

He typed, waiting for her to reply back okay, alright or something before he sent the question. However after 30 minutes had passed, Woohyun figured that Chorong had fallen asleep.

Of course she would fall asleep at this moment.

He decided maybe it wasn't the time to ask. The last thing he wanted to do was freak her out and ruin the relationship after asking her the question. He liked being with Chorong; practicing with her, eating with her and even bickering with her. He knows Chorong enjoys it as much as he does but does she feel more...?

Do you ever think of me as more than friend?