One thing about being a member of the school’s popular football team was of course, being popular. A group of handsome, or even pretty, and talented boys who were treated not less than a famous idol group in the music industry. But weird enough, four of the members are unexpectedly gay and two of them have their boyfriends from the school choir. Luhan respected it, nevertheless.

“Hi, baby!” Jongin called out to the benches with hand waving towards a certain doe-eyed boy. Luhan was sure that the other boy from the benches didn’t hear it but Kyungsoo, Jongin’s boyfriend from the choir – not to say how much Jongin is so proud about it, waved back.

The next, same thing happened to Chanyeol, who was overly head over heels with Baekhyun, another boy from the choir and the next moment, Luhan found them throwing hearts to their boyfriends who were just sitting and smiling from afar. He couldn’t blame them for being cheesy because they were in love.

He could just sigh at the two, simple words because he, himself was sure is in love as well. But he thinks it was just unrequited. If he said it out loud like how he did last time, Jongin would tell him how cowardly he was acting towards a girl and Chanyeol would give him the comparison between confessing to a boy and a girl, in which boys are even more sassier hard to ask. Jongin would agree.

A whistle was heard and it was their coach trying to gather them together for announcements before their daily afternoon practice ends.

When they finished taking their showers, he went out of the locker room only to be welcomed by a pair of couples being all lovey-dovey on the benches and Jongin just gave him a nod before he continued on his way.

He couldn’t count on the tanned boy anymore because basically, they’re best friends but since Kyungsoo came to accept his buddy’s feelings, priorities changed for the other. It wasn’t bad on his side because he understands and he would probably think of the same way if he got to confess to her before Jongin did to Kyungsoo. It was never like Jongin ignored him all the time but in fact, the taller boy never did.

Jongin was there every time he needed him and in return, he gave his best friend the space that the other needed to be with his boyfriend.

“Hey pretty boy,” someone said behind him and an arm rested around his shoulders within the next second. Luhan didn’t need to turn his head to know who it was because only Sehun would fool around him and practice his flirting skills for Tao, obviously Sehun’s soon to be boyfriend but still under mutual understanding.

He snorted when they turned to exit the field just in time he spotted Tao approaching them with a frown. “Someone’s going to be ignored for a week again.”

Sehun seemed to notice his soon-to-be boyfriend and pulled his arm away with a fake cough. “Tao!”

With that, the approaching figure made a sharp turn away and Sehun muttered a curse before running after other. When will that kid ever learn not to mess with the other’s feelings? They all knew very well that Tao is a sensitive kid in spite of his tough physique.

He shook his head and headed straight to the library. Not really, but he just wanted to pass by it and check to see if she was there like he did for a month ever since he accidentally saw her entering the building and not once after that incident had he spotted her again in the place. But he never lost hope though he was convinced that it must have been just coincidence.

Again, there was no sign of her so he headed home with a sigh.

Just in time he had finished his Trigonometry homework, his phone vibrated next to his pencil holder and flashed his best friend’s contact name. He quickly picked it up, one hand stretched upwards as he leaned back on his seat. “Yeah?”

“I told Kyungsoo about her,” Jongin said from the other line and his heart skipped a beat at the information. He trusted Chanyeol and Jongin about her but, how dare he tell Kyungsoo?

“Jongin!”

“I know what you’re thinking, Lu, but hey, he started talking about her and I just couldn’t keep quiet.”

He stayed silent and waited for the other to continue.

“He said she joined the choir and here’s the point, you’ll get to see her often because Kyungsoo befriended her because he wants to get to know her more. My boyfriend’s idea is brilliant, right?”

He stared at his math book and leaned over with his elbows against the desk’s wooden surface. He somehow felt excited about but he still doesn’t get it. “How do I get to see her?”

“Kyungsoo will bring her over to our practice after their choir practice and maybe some time for lunch. Please, Lu, don’t waste your chance for this. You’ll get my boyfriend disappointed if you don’t do anything.”

There was a pause before Luhan spoke, thinking of the possible events that could happen once he approaches her. “I’ll try but no promises.”

“Come on, don’t disappoint me too. Don’t let this chance slip away.”

“I’ll try my best, okay?”

“To tell you frankly, I’m expecting too much from you. What could go wrong?”

Luhan never thought of her as a stereotype though she could be considered as a loner, a nerd or someone who’s most likely to love isolation. It had been five months since he took notice of her, not that he was counting, and he took note of what Chanyeol once said that once a crush for a certain person gets past four months, it’s love.

It wasn’t much of something for him to remember the first time she got his attention. One week after the school officially started when Luhan found her alone in the classroom next to his. It made him wonder why she was still there even after the classes were dismissed. Weeks passed by and he would notice her and the first thing that comes to his mind was that one scene of her being alone in the room.

He tried to list down the things he knew about her like her name, her grade and where she came from which was also coincidentally the same with him, from Beijing. Those were the only things he knew about her excluding the physical appearance. She isn’t bad, he told himself. Tall and not too pretty but he likes her anyway.

“People fall in love without reason, without even wanting to. You can't predict it. That's love.” That’s what he believed from one the books he had read. He fell in love and hard.

He was on his way to the cafeteria, walking so slow that he was taking double the amount of time that an average person would take. The hallways were almost empty and some students come and go to their classrooms.

He was awfully worried that Kyungsoo might bring her over to their table and he had no idea what to do. Should he just skip their lunch or keep an awkward atmosphere around his friends?

A thin bouncing noise snapped him out of his worries and it sounded like a small bead that he unconsciously kicked towards the wall, five meters ahead. He carefully scanned the floor for something, not sure what it was he was looking for but he thought it was a bead. He knew it wasn’t important but he wanted more delay to excuse his late arrival so he looked for it.

And there it was, slowly rolling back towards him. A black pearl that he thought fell off a pendant from a necklace or bracelet. Black and shiny.

Beautiful, he thought. It was something worth keeping.

When he arrived in their table, only Jongin was there. No Kyungsoo and no her. He was thankful.

“What took you so long? You said you were just going to the comfort room.” Jongin was obviously annoyed but before Luhan could answer, the other boy’s expression changed dramatically into a bright smiling face. It was the sign of Kyungsoo’s presence. “You took so long too, baby,” Jongin smiled, looking up ahead.

“We were searching for her pearl pendant she lost earlier,” Kyungsoo answered, sitting down next to his boyfriend and received a peck on the cheek from the tanned boy.

Luhan stiffened at the mention of the small, round object and his eyes remained on Kyungsoo.

“Please take a seat, Yumei,” Kyungsoo gestured for her to sit next to Luhan.

Yumei, Luhan repeated her name in his mind as the girl sat next to him quietly. He knew that name too well for five months.

Kyungsoo looked at him expectantly as if they were waiting for him to do something.

“Should we go get our lunch?” He blurted out, trying to escape the situation and he knew he was far from being ready to approach her.

“You’re hopeless!” Chanyeol commented as they reached the field that afternoon for their practice. After hearing Jongin’s story about the encounter earlier, he couldn’t help but feel bad. “You didn’t say a word or even just look at her? She was there, right next to you! What are you waiting for?”

“He’s still growing some courage,” Jongin muttered in pure disappointment.

Luhan haven’t spoken about the pearl he found and he wasn’t so sure if it was hers. Kyungsoo never said anything about the lost pearl being black but what are the odds that he found one.

He knew he should make a move soon and he could actually use the pearl for a start.

“Baekhyun isn’t coming?” Jongin asked, their attention shifted to Kyungsoo and Yumei who just took their seats on one of the benches. The tanned boy waved his hand towards his boyfriend and Kyungsoo returned it.

“He said he had to be home early and can’t wait for me,” Chanyeol sniffled to show his loneliness. Luhan doesn’t know why but he thought it fits Chanyeol to be overreacting to everything.

Besides the conversation his friends were having, he was merely focused on one person and it’s Yumei. He thought how lucky she should feel because among all his admirers, it was her who caught his attention without even trying. Not to brag about but he can feel his fame around the campus.

“Luhan, we’re making a dare for you if your team loses today’s mock practice,” Jongin informed, taking his attention from her. “You’ll have to approach her within this week and that leaves you with two days and if you fail, we’ll just have to do it ourselves.”

His eyebrows twitched in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“We’re going to confess your feeling to her and you can’t do anything about it and that, if your team loses and you fail.”

He shook his head in disbelief and sighed. “No need. I already have something in mind.”

“Spill it,” Chanyeol said.

“I’ll keep it to myself.”

Their coach arrived and gathered them for a brief announcement and teamed them up randomly which separated him from the two.

“Time for you to impress her,” Chanyeol whispered in his ear before they went to their respective teams.

He stood in front of Sehun who was muttering something and when he looked back, the taller boy promised not to use him as his flirting dummy anymore. He just snickered in return. Before the whistle was blown, he gave Yumei one glance. Game on.

Luhan’s team won and being proud of it was an understatement. He still hoped that she was impressed though she looked like she didn’t even care about it.

He was sitting behind Kyungsoo and Yumei on the higher bench, waiting for Jongin to come out of the locker room. He was internally aching to talk to her but he just stayed still, staring on her back, observing the ends of her hair move against her uniform every time she turns her head to anywhere but him.

Kyungsoo suddenly stood up and met Jongin halfway, both sharing meaningful smiles before they hugged each other. “You did good, Jonginnie.”

He could scowl at that if he was somebody else and he couldn’t help but feel jealous. He was jealous of his best friend because Jongin have someone in the form of Kyungsoo to think of him of a winner whether he wins the game or loses it.

“Let’s go,” Jongin motioned for them, him and Yumei, to follow as they had planned to drop by a café before going home.

He walked silently next to her and she did the same. Neither of them said a word and just listened to the couple’s conversation in front of them. Even when they had coffee, bubble tea in his case, only the couple could be heard talking.

It was when they went home that he realized he was heading the same way as her. “Looks like we’re still going to walk together for a while,” he said and he was glad his voice didn’t crack out of nervousness.

She looked back at him with the same, calm expression and just nodded.

Luhan looked back at the opposite direction where his best friend and Kyungsoo were heading. He wanted to make sure nobody will see him approach her. He kept his pace with her with his hands inside his pockets. “I found a pearl yesterday.”

Yumei turned to him instantly with full interest.

His fingers on his right hand searched for the pearl in his pocket where he had prepared it beforehand. When he got it, he showed it to her, resting the pearl on his palm. “Is this yours?”

Without an answer, she stopped walking and so did Luhan, and pulled out her necklace that was hidden under her uniform. “Maybe,” she said and pointed the empty pendant that had a curve at the center for a pearl towards him. She picked up the pearl from his palm and placed it on the center where it perfectly fit with a soft click. “Mine.”

Luhan nodded and gave her two thumbs up before they continued to walk. “I found that yesterday before I arrived in the cafeteria but I wasn’t sure if it is yours.”

“I know,” she said.

“You knew?”

“Kyungsoo and I saw you picking it up. We were just a distance behind you.” The way she said things was unusual or so Luhan thought it was. Too plain.

Hey, I like you. How he wished he could say it so simply.

Silence dawned over them once again and even when they separated ways after five minutes, he was only disappointed not to hear anything from her. Not even a single goodbye or see you tomorrow.

But there was progress somehow.

--

Yumei, like the other girls in the campus, admires the football team and she was especially into Luhan. She doesn’t have any idea why she started to feel a bit of attraction towards the popular boy.

Maybe it was during her first day in the school when a group of girls made fun of her because her shoulder bag’s strap suddenly gave up and spilled all her things in the middle of the hallway.

“Just imagine yourselves in her shoes. I wouldn’t be laughing if I were you,” a passerby spoke behind her and she looked up to see him. His words somehow soothed her though that was all he said as he passed by and no one helped her. The girls had their mouths shut and their laughter died right away.

At the first school assembly was when she was informed through the announcement that he is a member of the football team and that his name is Luhan.

His name is everywhere and girls talk a lot about him and she wasn’t sure if some of the things she heard were even true.

She has no friends, or at least someone she could really rely on when things get out of hand. Most of the time she spends her break times in the library and she barely eats a full meal on lunch until Kyungsoo, whom she thought she could actually call a friend, approached her the day she joined the choir and brought her to his, or their, lunch table.

She was fully aware that Luhan would be in the same table because everyone knows that his best friend is Jongin and the said tanned boy is Kyungsoo’s boyfriend.

She is not a socially inclined person and always alone so she envies everyone who has friends and someone to laugh with. She couldn’t even remember the last time she laughed or smiled.

“I see you got your pearl back,” Kyungsoo said as he stood next to her in the line for their choir practice. “Where were you this lunch?”

She looked down on her necklace and said, “The clinic. I wasn’t feeling well,” she lied. She went out of the school campus to isolate herself from the nosy students.

Before Kyungsoo could start another question, he was called out by the teacher to stand in front, next to Baekhyun.

She envied them, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, for they were naturally friendly and emits positive auras around them, making the people attracted to them instantly in a modest manner unlike the boys in the football team who get to attract people with their physical appearances.

After their practice, they headed to the field to wait for the others to finish their training and Kyungsoo told her that she can leave ahead if she wants to. She politely said she would stay and it’s not every day she could see Luhan on practice.

Baekhyun’s constant clapping every time Chanyeol’s team scores snap her senses back to where they belong. From time to time, Jongin, Chanyeol and Luhan would glance up in their direction, looking for inspirations except, maybe, for Luhan.

She wasn’t sure whose team has won the mock game but it didn’t really matter to her. Luhan was there, next to her, so what more could she ask for?

Pair by pair, they eventually separated on their ways, leaving her with Luhan once again. She didn’t need a conversation because his presence is enough for her. She likes it that way. Being with a popular guy in school, even without feelings involved, is a risk unless you’re someone who has the guts to face all the bashes thrown towards you.

“It’s still too early to go home,” Luhan suddenly said as they neared the café they entered yesterday. “What do you think of chatting over a cup of coffee or bubble tea?”

She didn’t answer and certainly could not voice out her hesitation because of the consequences that might occur. He hated attention and being seen with a school’s football player can lead to it.

“I know it’s weird but we should at least get to know each other since we’ll be seeing each other often, I think.”

She still kept her silence and shook her head without even glancing at him.

“Are you hesitating because I belong to the team?”

Exactly, she nodded.

“Well, they can’t do anything about it if we start dating.”

If we start dating?

The next second after the statement was released, Luhan gasped in obvious panic. “I mean, if I start dating someone.” He let out a short, fake laugh to cover up his nervousness. He kept quiet for a while, trying to get rid of his embarrassment. “But anyway, we should hang out some time.”

Maybe one cup of something wouldn’t be so bad. “Okay,” she answered softly and she didn’t miss the glint of excitement in the other’s expression. Why are you so interested?

But what Luhan had mentioned earlier gave her an answer and he was right about getting to know each other. But she wished they could go further than that. Who am I kidding? He’s a somebody and I’m a nobody.

“Great, so I’ll lead the way,” Luhan opened the door to the café for her to enter and they both ordered the same drink and same flavor of bubble tea.

She watched him observe the contents of the cup through the see-through plastic.

“Now that I thought of it, these pearls are only a bit larger than the pearl on your necklace,” Luhan stated, eyes still focused on the cup.

She silently admired the boy’s pretty face.

After a while, he looked at her with a curious face. “You don’t talk a lot, do you?”

In response, she just shrugged her shoulders and took a sip on her drink.

“You’re Yumei, right?”

She nodded.

“You probably know me.”

Again, she nodded.

There wasn’t much to get in their conversation, or slightly monologue for Luhan, but they managed to exchange numbers. He insisted to get her number because he said they’re already friends. That night, she found herself smiling at his silly texts while she was completely unaware that the walls that kept her isolation slowly crumbles down, one brick at a time.

The next day, much to her expectations, started to turn against her. If she was ignored before, the second she stepped in the hallway was even worse. She felt hated and condemned. Stares and poisoned words surrounded her and she knew it was all because of an hour spent in the café with Luhan. But still, she couldn’t find herself blaming him for it.

Her already-dark world turned even darker.

She should have rejected his proposal of being friends, even better if she just ignored him and it all started when she joined the choir. She shouldn’t have joined in the first place.

“Ignore them.”

She looked up to see Kyungsoo next to her as she continued to walk. He accompanied her to her room.

Kyungsoo, as far as she knew, had gone through vocal bullying along with Baekhyun and the other football members’ boyfriends and girlfriends. But all of it eventually stopped at some point.

“They’ll get tired of it. Just don’t let their words affect you.”

--

Luhan was quick to read the situation the moment he entered the campus. It was one thing he had expected but not too soon

Jongin stayed by his side as they crossed the school’s front garden to the building. “The worst part is in her side. Everyone would be on your side and they’ll all judge her.”

“I know, Jongin.”

“Kyungsoo went through it and so she can too. You just need to be there,” Jongin tapped his shoulder for encouragement.

He could hear buzzing murmurs around and it somehow annoyed it. He doesn’t like the feeling it gives him. “But Jongin, everybody knew you were asking him to date you. I haven’t even asked her out.”

“Bingo!”

He eyed his best friend who gave him a playful smile. After some thought, he actually got the message. The perks of having a cool best friend.

--

“Kyungsoo, I don’t want this,” she said softly as she settled down on her seat with the doe-eyed boy standing next to her. She was thankful that the other offered to stay with her until the bell rings.

“Nobody wanted to be treated like this, Yumei,” Kyungsoo said, tapping her head gently. “You’ll get through this and it will all be worth it.”

She looked down and stared at her desk, trying to blur out all the words being thrown to her. She wanted to stay underwater and pretend that she never heard them until they stop.

“Yumei!”

She was a hundred percent sure it wasn’t Kyungsoo and all the noise in the room faded eventually. She looked up to the doorway, where everyone else had been turning the heads, and Luhan was there with Jongin.

“She acts like she’s innocent but she really isn’t,” some girl said outside the room.

“How long have she been deceiving everybody?” Another girl asked from the outside.

“They’re not even dating,” one girl said somewhere behind Luhan and Jongin.

“Thank you for pointing out, whoever you are,” Luhan said, turning around to the direction of the girl. “Anyway,” he turned back to look at her and she wasn’t ready for anything he might have to say.

She felt her hand sweating cold at the stares she was receiving and he felt Kyungsoo soothingly rubbing her back to calm her down. She hated the attention.

“Yumei, since we’re both caught up in this, what do you think of taking this seriously?”

She saw Jongin face-palmed himself but still, Luhan continued in spite of the buzzing murmurs around. What is he talking about?

“I’m sorry it took me a long time to gather up the courage to tell you that… that…” Luhan faltered as his eyes looked around the room and the room fell silent again. “I like you.”

What?

When everyone turned to her direction, she didn’t move an inch. All she did was stare back at Luhan’s longing gaze.

“I don’t know how it started but it was just there all along.”

She felt lightheaded. It might have been because of the weird feeling that the attention she received or the confession that Luhan just did. She could only hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. It only made her conclude one thing.

Messed up.

“Do I have a chance to have my feelings returned?”

As the second hand ticks by, she could see Luhan’s expression slowly turning into worry. The murmurs started again.

If Kyungsoo and the others made it through, she wasn’t sure if she can. What if she fails?

She had spent her life building her isolation but how can one person break it down without even trying?

She looked up at Kyungsoo and the smile that the doe-eyed boy gave her stirred something inside her.

“We’re just here,” Kyungsoo said, giving her a more encouraging smile.

She turned her head back to the doorway and she tried not to laugh at how Jongin looked so desperate with his hand gestures that tell her to his best friend a chance. It’s worth a try.

Luhan noticed it and turned back to the tanned boy with a hiss, murmuring something about ruining the moment.

The second Luhan turned back to her, her lips curved up a little and she nodded. It was all Luhan needed.

Just when Luhan was about to celebrate his victory, the bell rang and Jongin, as the best and worst friend he could be, dragged the overly excited boy along with him to the doom of their first class, Advanced Chemistry.

“You’ll get through this,” Kyungsoo spoke and gave her one last pat on the head. “I promise.”

Never did she realize that her wall began to shake out of shape the moment she laid her eyes on him.