CHAPTER TWENTY

 

After the show, an after party was held with the same guests. Jessica was the star of the night, but her sister wasn’t far the people’s attention. Soojung was chatting happily with Lee Donghae together with Jinri, who looked very surprised when the older guy remembered her. Of course, Chanyeol was talking there as well. He didn’t want his girlfriend that he was there.

 

While everybody looked all festive and content, Jongin stood there bitterly with a glass of whisky in his hand. Even though Junmyeon has scolded and reminded him that he shouldn’t be drinking, he was already tipsy. Throughout the night, his eyes followed Soojung. He had no idea why but her laughter and the smirks that she had been showing were really pissing him off.

 

Looking around the crowded party, he realized that one important person was missing from the party.

 

“He isn’t here.” Jongin tells Jinri when he sees her and Chanyeol walking over to get some drinks.

 

“Who is?” Chanyeol asks.

 

“Jessica noona’s husband.” He glances around them before continuing. “Jin didn’t come.”

 

“Can we please not talk about that right now? We don’t want to start drama.” She whispers.

 

“What about him?” Chanyeol raises his eyebrow in confusion. Both Jongin and Jinri realizes that they shouldn’t have talked about it in front of him.

 

“You didn’t tell him?”

 

“Well, I haven’t talked about it with Soojung so…” Jinri laughs awkwardly and cups his boyfriend’s face. “It’s a long story. But I swear it doesn’t matter honey.”

 

“Uhm, okay?” Chanyeol still wasn’t sure of what they were talking about but just let Jinri pull him to get some drinks.

 

Jongin looks back at Soojung, who was now talking to her brother. He searches for Donghae and finds him whispering something to Jessica, who had a huge grin on her face.

 

 

The cold wind of December didn’t disturb Jongin, but it did to poor Sehun. Out of all of his friends to bother, he didn’t understand why Jongin has picked him up in the middle of the night to pass by their rivals’ school.

 

The two boys stood in front of a wall, but not the school’s wall but rather one that Ehra High students always pass by every morning when they go to school and every afternoon when they go home. It was the perfect place for Jongin to put a message on.

 

“Dude, you know that if Soojung finds this out, she’s going to be angrier, right?” Sehun reminds her as his friend hands him another spray paint which he perfectly catches.

 

“I don’t care if she gets angrier at me. I think I’ll feel angrier at myself if I don’t do this.” He looks around if the streets were really empty just like what he thought it was and if there were any CCTV cameras around. “Okay, cost is clear. Let’s do this.”

 

“What do I do?” He asks before he could start writing on the wall.

 

“I don’t know, a middle finger or something. Just draw, Sehun.” He advises. “I’ve seen you doodling at Math class. They were quite cool.”

 

“Thanks, but I feel like you’re complementing me just because you want me to draw.”

 

“Dude, are you going to help me or not?”

 

“Okay, fine.” Sehun sighs and begins to draw what he asked to do.

 

 

When you have really strict and evil teachers, you would probably want to get up earlier than usual. But that’s not the case for Namjoon. He’s always the latest not only in his class, but in his whole school. So when the sleepyhead was walking to school, he found it strange that there was a group of students gathering around outside Ehra High when the bell has already rang.

 

Curious, he pushes those who were in the furthest back so he could reach and see what was in front. There he sees a huge graffiti that said ‘ off’ with a big drawing of a person flipping his middle finger. Below it was small letters that read ‘leave her alone’.

 

Namjoon couldn’t help but to chuckle. He thought that these could only be done by children, but it seems like young heirs are able to these things as well.

 

“What should we do?” He looks around to see a worried Jackson.

 

“Do not let her know.” He simply answers.

 

 

20th of December – Imperium Academy vs Ehra High home match

23rd of December – The Winter Ball

ATTENDANCE IS OBLIGATORY

 

Soojung sighs as she read the paper that her classmate just passed her. She wasn’t really into this football thing, and she didn’t feel like going to any school parties, not now that she’s ignoring Jongin. Just thinking of dancing with another person was kind of weird for her.

 

“What’s with the long face, Soojung?” Sooyoung, her seatmate, asks her. “You don’t look so pleased to see this.”

 

“It’s just… I don’t feel like going to these things.” She pouts. “Do we really have to go to these things?”

 

In front of Sooyoung was Taehyung. He gasped dramatically as he looked at the two girls. “I do not mean to eavesdrop but… Soojung! Don’t ever say that! You have to go to the match and cheer on us. Especially on Jongin. It’s nice to have a loved one to cheer on you.”

 

Mino chuckles beside him. “It’s funny for you to say that when nobody from your family has really went to one of our matches for you.”

 

“It doesn’t matter because I know Sooyoung will be there to cheer on me. Am I right, Sooyoung?” Taehyun turns to Sooyoung expecting her to say anything, but was totally ignored by the girl who turned to Soojung to cheer her up.

 

“Just pretend that you’re sick if you don’t want to come.” She advises, and Soojung just nods.

 

Minutes after, another paper was given by their professor. It hasn’t even reached her or the students who were sited at the back row yet, but the whole class has already started cheering about it. When she finally receives the second paper, she understood why they were acting that way.

 

School Trip, February – New York City, USA

 

 

It has been two weeks now.

 

Two weeks since he found out.

 

Two weeks since they started ignoring each other.

 

Two weeks since they last spoke to each other.

 

But for Jongin, it feels much longer. It seems like he was the only one who was becoming crazy because of this. Every time he finds himself thinking of her – when he wakes up, during his football practice, before he closes his eyes to sleep…

 

And even though he still sees her every day, he still missed her when he’s not talking to her.

 

So when he saw her drinking tea with his mother when he decided to visit her one evening, he was so confuse and surprised. Soojung had the same reaction, simply because she wasn’t expecting him to be there.

 

“Why, Jongin. I expected you to come earlier. Why are you so late?” Mrs. Kim asks.

 

“I apologize, mother.” He says, planting a quick kiss on her mother’s cheeks. He still had his eyes on Soojung as he sat down opposite hers. “I just… I was busy earlier.”

 

“Well, you’re just in time. We’re about to have dinner, and Soojung has just told me that your football match is coming up. Is it true?”

 

“Er, yes mother.” He glances at the silent, but smiling Soojung across the table. “Are you going to come and cheer on me?”

 

“Oh, son. You know that I’m not into those things.” She laughs. “Soojung will come. Won’t you, Soojung?”

 

“Of course, Mrs. Kim.” She nods, laughing along his mother. “I cannot say that I will enjoy it, though.”

 

“I’m sure you being there is enough for Jongin.” His mother says, causing Jongin to smirk.

 

Their conversation continued with Jongin only listening until one of the maids informs Mrs. Kim that there was a call for her. She excuses herself, leaving the two in an awkward atmosphere. He didn’t know what to do, but he really wanted to talk to her. He just wanted to hear her voice again.

 

“Your mother invited me here, if you’re wondering.” Soojung suddenly speaks but she didn’t look at him. When he looks up, she was sipping her tea.

 

“I miss you.” He mumbles.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

 

Soojung rolls her eyes. “Alright.” She then gets up from her seat and grabs her coat. “Please thank your mom in my behalf.”

 

As soon as he sees her stand up, Jongin stands up as well. “You’re leaving? But I just arrived…”

 

“You should visit your mother more often. She misses you a lot.”

 

 

“Is it my fault that I’m really friendly and I like making friends? I mean, sure I have you guys but I really like having more. I know Jongin hates me more now, but he can’t be mad at me for that, right? Wait, are you even listening to me?”

 

Sehun felt that a pillow was about to hit him on the face, but since he has great reflexes, he dodges it on time. He looks over Soojung who was lying in his sofa with an apologetic smile on her face.

 

“Sorry, I just want to know if you are listening.”

 

He wasn’t. He knows that she was talking about Jongin, but he really doesn’t know what and how she started. He doesn’t even know what she was doing there. She just suddenly arrived in his house with no warning whatsoever. Now she’s lying in the sofa, and he was sitting on another chair as if he was a god damn psychiatrist.

 

“Of course, I am.” Sehun lies as he grabs another chocolate brownie from the box that she brought for him. Soojung reaches for one as well.

 

As Soojung continued sharing her worries, Sehun took this chance to go back and check his instagram account. He was eventually caught by Soojung, who decided to take a seat beside him. “You’re not listening.”

 

“Oh, sorry.” Guilty, Sehun hides his phone at the back of his pocket with a cheeky smile.

 

“Honestly, I feel like you’re the only one who could understand me because you’re not into football as well-”

 

“Hey, I am into football.”

 

“I mean, yeah you’re a fan. But you’re not really part of the football club.” She shrugged. She, herself, didn’t really understand as well why she’s opening up to Sehun about this. “Anyways, what do you think about all this?”

 

Sehun clasps his hand together to look serious, while Soojung patiently waits for his response.

 

“I think you and Jongin are idiots.”

 

“Hey! I can agree on Jongin, but why am I an idiot?” She pouts.

 

“Simply because you two are being childish right now.” He answers. “Just talk to him if you miss him.”

 

“I do not miss him, Sehun!” She states angrily, but her expression then softens. “Not really…“

 

Sehun grins as Soojung's expression changes. Even if she doesn’t admit it, sadness was written all over her face. He grabs his phones and quickly takes a snap of her staring at blank space.

 

“What was that for?” She asks after finally getting back to her senses.

 

“Nothing, just go back and tell me stuff.” He says, gesturing her to continue. She didn’t know but he was uploading a picture of her on Snapchat with the caption “with this lonely girl”, knowing that Jongin would be able to see it.

 

“Ah, are you going to the winter ball?” She suddenly asks after remembering it. “Is it really obligatory to go?”

 

“Soojung, the ball is something exclusive for us seniors. We’ve been waiting for it for 4 years. So yeah, you’re obligated. I’m forcing you to come.”

 

The girl just sighs as Sehun puts his phone down, waiting for a call or atleast a message from Jongin. But instead, the doorbell rang.

 

“He’s here?” He asks to himself but Soojung hears it.

 

“Eh? What do you mean he?” Soojung raises her eyebrow. “Sooyoung’s here. I told you that I invited her.”

 

“Oh, okay... Wait, why?” He questions confusedly. He should have listen to what she was saying a while ago.

 

 

“No, but guys seriously. You all need to help me.”

 

After the intense football practice that they had, Jongin had gather Soojung’s closest friend who were part of the team namely Taehyun, Mino and Jinwoo, who insisted that he wasn’t really that close with the girl. Chanyeol was also there because according to Jongin, he needed some support. He didn’t really say the reason why they fought, he just said that they we’re ignoring each other and they needed to help him.

 

“If you really want to talk to her then just talk to her.” Mino suggests.

 

“Easy to say, but it’s hard to do.” He says. “And besides, she’s the one at fault. She should talk to me first… right?”

 

“Ah, why do I have to listen to your lover’s quarrel?” Taehyun sighs. “We can’t do anything anyways. If she doesn’t want to talk to you, then you must have ed up.”

 

“Shut up and cooperate, Taehyun. I bought you Zlatan’s jersey. Now if only one of you could convince her to talk to me.”

 

“I’m awkward with her so…” Jinwoo states quietly. He was about to go, when Jongin suddenly speaks again.

 

“Okay, fine. Don’t help me. But if we lose the game against Ehra, don’t blame it on me.” He throws his hands in the air.

 

“Sheez, don’t talk like that.” Mino shakes his head at his teammate’s negativity. “We’ll win, surely.”

 

“Why did that sound like you’re indicating that you’re the only hope in our team?” Chanyeol says.

 

 

The day everybody has been waiting for has finally come. Well, not everyone. Soojung wasn’t one of them. She was in the football field together with her friends and hundred more students from her own school, but she didn’t feel like she was there at all. They all even wore matching school hoodies to support the team. But for some reason, she was really nervous, probably a lot more nervous than the own players.

 

It’s actually her first time seeing the field looking lively. She has passed there sometimes but she has only seen the football team practicing. But now, it was almost full of people, all energetically cheering in union even though the game isn’t starting yet. There was even people waving flags and a marching band that she didn’t know about.

 

When her schoolmates suddenly started shouting louder than usual, she thought that the game was already about to start. But it turns out that they were just booing the Ehra High students who just arrived and sat on the opposite stand as theirs. Soojung could only sigh.

 

“Hey, I’m going to buy some snacks. You guys want some?” She asks both Jinri and Sehun who were seated beside her.

 

“Nah, I’m good.” Sehun says, not even bothering to look at her when he answered. Jinri practically did the same, so she went to buy her own snacks alone.

 

She was thinking of going to buy at the cafeteria, but it was too far so she stopped when she saw a vending machine at the entrance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working well and even though she had already inserted her coin and has already chosen what to have, it was still not giving her what she wanted. She was too absorbed while kicking the machine in annoyance that she didn’t notice that the football team was passing by her.

 

“Ugh! What a stupid machine!” She groans, hitting it once again. She hears laughter behind her so she turned around to see the Imperium Academy’s football team who were about to go to their changing room.

 

“Aye, chill Soojung. I got this.” Mino offers help by shaking it. At first, it still didn’t work but on his second try a dozen Pepsi cans goes out from the machine.

 

“Yay! Free Pepsi!” Taehyun exclaims happily as he grabs one can, and some of the members of the team followed much to Soojung’s annoyance.

 

“Hey! You’re all rich, go buy one!” She scolds them, but the boys didn’t listen and mischievously run away from her. “Wow, what kind of rich kids are they…” She mumbles to herself while reaching for the remaining two Pepsi cans on the floor. She didn’t want to leave it there and thought of giving one to either Sehun and Jinri.

 

When she stood up, she sees Kim Jongin wearing his snapback backwards and had his earphones on, looking less ecstatic than the other members. Jongin stops on his track, and briefly locks eyes with her. She quickly walks away but not after she mutters ‘good luck’ to him.

 

 

“Eh? What are you doing here?” Soojung asks after seeing Luhan sitting beside her seat. He wasn’t there when she left. “Don’t you have class in your university?”

 

“I can’t miss the match of the year, can I?” He grabs one of the Pepsi on her hand and smiles. “Thank you.”

 

She wasn’t really that shock to see him. Out of all the boys, Luhan was really the biggest football fan. She has heard from Yoona that he owns 20 different football jerseys that he really don’t wear and just have it displayed back on his house in Beijing.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re rooting for Ehra.” He whispers, not wanting to be heard by her classmates, though it’s impossible because of the noise around them.

 

“I don’t like any of the teams.” She answers.

 

“Good answers.” Luhan laughs.

 

 

The game was about to start, and the Imperium Academy players were getting ready in the tunnel by stretching. Jongin normally doesn’t get nervous on games especially when it’s against Ehra, but he had no idea why his heart was beating so fast. Not even the cheers of his schoolmates were calming him down.

 

Was it because he knows that she’ll be watching the game?

 

Yeah, probably that.

 

As he was stretching, he hears the footstep of the players of Ehra High lining up beside his team. To avoid fights against the other school, their captain had advised them to ignore all insults that they’re going to say. So when he hears Kim Namjoon calling both his and Soojung’s name, he had no choice but to just grit his teeth and ignore him.

 

“May the best team win.” He hears him say just when both team were about to go out to the field.

author's note: 

Happy Christmas Eve Eve(?). I don't know what to call it lmao. I'm not actually celebrating Christmas this year so I'm not really excited about it... unlike everybody on the internet. Anybody wants to drink with me tonight??? No? Okay...

Anyways I know that the 20th falls on Sunday, but let's pretend that it's on a weekday, yeah? :D

(idk why im posting random gifs pls just let me lol)