“Joonmyeon!” Yoorim waved to her boyfriend, and he stopped his dribbling for a second to return the gesture. She discovered the soccer ball at his feet and jogged over to where he was standing in the middle of the local park’s soccer field.

 

When she was near, she was too busy focusing on him to notice the rock at her feet. She tripped over it and yelped as she fell into her boyfriend’s arms. Joonmyeon laughed and helped her up, knocking her forehead with his knuckle softly.

 

“Don’t make me worry by being all clumsy like that. You can’t get hurt because you’re mine, alright?” He made a mock-scolding face and pointed at her with his finger.

 

Yoorim blushed at him marking her as his so bluntly and shyly nodded. She stepped out of his arms and turned the conversation back to what he had been doing. “Are you practicing for the competition?”

 

Joonmyeon smiled and patted down her hair for her as he answered, “That, and playing with my brother. He’s been pestering me to go outside with him for some time before.” He turned to where his eight-year old brother was kicking a smaller soccer ball a little ways away from them.

 

“Jongin! Come say hi!” he called, and the little boy immediately abandoned his toy to run over to his brother.

 

Yoorim squatted down to smile at him, and Jongin hid behind Joonmyeon, wrapping his arms around his brother’s leg.

 

“Who’s that noona, hyung?” he shyly asked, peeking at Yoorim.

 

Joonmyeon chuckled and brought the small boy from behind him to place him in front of her. “She’s my girlfriend, Jongin. She’s pretty, right? Say hi.”

 

“Hello,” Jongin obeyed bashfully, bowing with his hands on his bellybutton.

 

Yoorim grinned at the cute sight and waved both her hands when he straightened up. “Hi, Jongin. It’s nice to meet you. You’re even more handsome than your hyung, you know that?”

 

Jongin scratched his head and replied modestly, “Well, I don’t know about that, but thank you, noona.” He bowed in appreciation and hid behind his brother again.

 

For the next two hours, the three of them played various games until even the eight-year-old was tired out. He sprawled on the mat they had spread out under the shade of a big tree and was asleep in minutes. The two older people sat down as well and drank their water bottles empty. Yoorim readjusted her ponytail as Joonmyeon stood up again. She looked up at him with a lift of her eyebrows.

 

“Need to practice my shoots. Coach said he might change me to be a center-forward depending on how well I do at the next practice.” Joonmyeon stretched his arms as he winked at Yoorim. “That’s how much your boyfriend right here is good at soccer.”

 

Yoorim laughed at his boast and waved at him to go on ahead. “I’m going to be resting here next to Jongin then.”

 

He ran off with an okay sign, and she lay on her back on the mat. The sky was blue, and the sun was shining in just the right places. Yoorim closed her eyes and felt the breeze blowing across her face, cooling her red cheeks from all the exercise.

 

It was so silent and peaceful that she was about to drift off to sleep when she suddenly heard a yell from Joonmyeon. Yoorim shot up from her place and turned toward the sound.

 

Joonmyeon was sitting on the grass, clutching his ankle and in pain. Yoorim’s eyes widened, and her heart hit the ground. She was by his side in an instant and helped him up to carefully walk him over to the mat. He sat down heavily, and Yoorim hovered over him like a restless hen.

 

“I’ll call your parents, Joonmyeon. Just wait a second.” She took out her phone and proceeded to do so, her eyes not once leaving her boyfriend who was struggling not to show how much pain he was in.

 

At that moment, Jongin stirred in his spot and sat up, rubbing his sleepy eyes. “What’s going on?”

 

He spotted Joonmyeon sitting on the mat with him massaging his ankle gently, and his eyes immediately widened. “Hyung! Did you get hurt?”

 

“I’m alright, Jongin. It’s nothing bi- Ah!” Joonmyeon let out a shout of pain as his hand touched a part that especially throbbed.

 

Jongin gave the older a disbelieving look and turned to Yoorim when she was done calling his parents. “Noona, what happened?”

 

Yoorim ran a hand through her hair as she squatted down in front of Joonmyeon. “Yeah, Joonmyeon. What happened?” She rolled up his pant leg so she could see how swollen it was.

 

“I was practicing a move and lost balance,” He cringed when Yoorim gently turned his ankle to decipher how bad the injury was, “Ow.”

 

Jongin shook his head at his brother. “See, what did I tell you, hyung? You should’ve been more careful,” he sighed as he continued, “And only two days away from the competition.”

 

In spite of the situation, Yoorim couldn’t help but crack a smile at Jongin’s grown-up tone. A flinch from Joonmyeon immediately erased it a second later.

 

They waited for about fifteen minutes before their mother came to pick them up. The younger brother explained everything to her as the older brother hopped unto the wheelchair that she had brought, along with two butlers to help.

 

Yoorim promised to go straight to the hospital when she was done cleaning everything up, and the couple parted for a while.

 

When she was done, she stood up to check if she hadn’t forgotten anything. As she did, her eyes caught sight of two people walking down a hill together in the far distance. It seemed like one was a student from her school judging from the unmistakable burgundy blazer immediately catching her eye against the soft green of the grass. But the person beside them; Yoorim thought their uniform had the colors of white and blue ㅡthe official colors of Seungri High.

 

Surprised, she squinted her eyes to get a closer look but was too far away to see their faces. The two people were gone from her sight before she could figure out if what she saw was real.

 

That’s weird. One of our students and Seungri High’s students together? Yoorim tilted her head in confusion as she walked toward the pathway that led to the main road. She couldn’t find an understandable reason for it at all, and after a few minutes of replaying the scene in her head, she determined that she just saw wrong.

 

Besides, that’s not the important thing here! She tightened her grip on the bag she held and ran to catch the bus to the hospital.

 

~~

 

Hyejin gathered up the little courage she had and slid open the door to the classroom. She hadn’t done this before since Minseok was always the one coming to visit her, so she tried her best not to bother the other students as she crept to where her friend was sitting at his desk, his head in his arms as he slept.

 

Unsure of how to wake him, she timidly took the empty seat next to him and waited for him to wake by himself. However, there was limited time before lessons started, and so she poked the sleeping boy’s arm twice in hopes he would wake up.

 

“What,” his voice came out dull as he kept his head in his arms.

 

“It’s me,” she cleared before she continued, “Are you still mad?”

 

Though he still didn’t straighten up, he turned his head to look at her. “That depends on you. Are you done talking about that guy?”

 

Hyejin didn’t understand why he seemed so resentful against the cashier boy but also knew her fault as well, so she nodded and said, “I’m sorry, Minseok. I guess I didn’t consider how you would feel if I kept talking about the same subject over and over.”

 

After a moment of silently staring at her, he lifted his head and fixed his tousled hair. Giving her a smile, he replied, “Alright. I forgive you. Besides, I have something to tell you anyways, so I wouldn’t have been able to be mad at you for long.”

 

She perked up and leaned in closer. “What is it? What is it?”

 

“Joonmyeon hurt his ankle yesterday, so Coach assigned me to be the center-forward for the competition this Saturday.”

 

With a gasp, Hyejin grabbed his hand and started waving it around. “Really? Congratulations! You’ve been wanting that position for a long time, right? I knew you would get it! Though it that Joonmyeon’s been hurt. I wonder why?” She stopped her movements but didn’t take back her hand. “Ah, that’s why Yoorim walked to school alone today. And here everyone thought they broke up or something.”

 

Minseok smiled at their loosely clasped hands and nodded mindlessly.

 

“This just gives me all the more reason to cheer even louder at the games!” Hyejin gave him a wide grin, and Minseok quickly averted his gaze to her face.

 

“Y-your class got picked for the mandatory cheering squad?”

 

She frowned and nodded. “Yeah, along with class 2a. We have to be there three hours before it starts.” She placed both her hands on the sides of her face and groaned. “And we have to stay after to help clean up.” Turning to him, she put on a pout as she asked, “Don’t you feel sorry for me, Minseok?”

 

He laughed and took his hand off the desk to place it on his knees. “No, not at all. You need to suffer a bit to cure that princess syndrome of yours,” he joked good-naturedly.

 

Hyejin flipped her hair over her shoulders and replied, “What are you talking about? I don’t have a princess syndrome because I already am a princess; and this princess will make sure to cheer extra loud for you, my peasant.” She smirked at him playfully, and Minseok gave a scoff of absurdity.

 

Nonetheless, he still felt good from being called hers.

 

~~

 

Sehun locked his car and sauntered his way to the high school he graduated from three years ago. It felt weird walking down the street he used to run in whenever he was late and passing through the gate where his homeroom teacher would always be standing, waiting for him. There was a nostalgic feeling pitted in his stomach, and he smiled as he strode through the front entrance.

 

His little sister had texted him saying to come at three, an hour before the actual game started. He walked down the hallway and timidly knocked at the door of the room where the volunteers would meet before creaking it open.

 

Most of the volunteers seemed to have arrived, and Sehun gave his name to the organizer to mark his attendance. He took a seat at the very back and put in his earphones.

 

“Okay, listen up!” The head organizer called for attention when everyone arrived. “Thank you all for taking the time to volunteer for the annual competition. I’ll be reading out the positions and then the people who will be assigned there, so please listen carefully.”

 

Sehun turned off his music to hear when his name would be called. It was a few minutes after when he finally heard his position and group.

 

“To the snacks and drinks are assigned Go Mikyung ssi, Kim Harim ssi, Kim Jiho ssi, Oh Sehun ssi, Lee Dayoung ssi. And the next position is…” He kept going on with the list, but his voice faded into the background for Sehun.

 

Lee Dayoung? Sehun felt his chest tighten at the name. A flashback of their talk three days ago replayed in his head.

 

 

 

 

 

He closed his eyes shut for a second at the still-fresh pain and regret, then stood up to go to his place. Surely it’s just someone with the same name. He thought as he squeezed in between several people.

 

Picking up an ice-box with the only other guy in their group, they moved it to the front entrance where the girls were setting up the snacks. There was a girl with her back to Sehun spreading out a tablecloth, but even her backside had a familiar feel to it.

 

 

He stood there, staring intently at her back.

 

“Um, excuse me. There’s still some more stuff we need to get.” The guy coughed to get Sehun’s attention, and he ripped his eyes away from the girl to get to work.

 

He could always check when he came back.

 

~~

 

“So this is what Seungri High smells like,” said Baekhyun as he took in a deep breath, “Our school smells better.”

 

Jongdae laughed as he threw his arm around his friend. “Don’t be silly, Baek. It smells the same.”

 

Baekhyun held up a finger as he shook his head. “No, no, my companion. Our school smells of kindred spirits, courage,” he dramatically raised his fisted hand in the air as he talked, “and most of all, victory. While here on the other hand,” he immediately deflated, “just smells of dirt and some pathetic losers here and there.” He looked toward the bleachers on the other side of the field with a disdainful stare.

 

Jongdae let out a small huff of amusement but felt a bit uncomfortable. What Baekhyun had said couldn’t compare to how the other students at their school cursed Seungri High. This was exactly the reason why his and Seyeon’s relationship could never be found out.

 

And also the reason why he tried not to make his search for Seyeon too noticeable.

 

While Baekhyun was distracted with talking to his other friends, Jongdae carefully scanned the bleachers where Seungri High’s students were. It was kind of hard to make out each of the faces, but in no time, he had spotted Seyeon sitting with her friends near the middle, two rows away from the field.

 

She was laughing and talking, and Jongdae could hear her melodious laugh in his ears as if she was right next to her. A small smile rose up on his lips, and he willed her to look up and notice him.

 

At that moment, Seyeon lifted her head to make eye contact with him, and her eyes widened in surprise. Though a wide field separated them, they could see each other clearly as they shared a smile meant only for the two of them.

 

“Seyeon, isn’t that your brother?”

 

A voice interrupted their secret connection, and she regretfully broke her gaze away from Jongdae to see her friend pointing toward a tall guy standing near the front entrance where the snacks were, talking with someone who looked to be Dayoung. But Seyeon couldn’t be sure as the girl’s back was facing her direction.

 

“Uh, yeah. I think so.” She answered with a tilt of her head. Though she didn’t know how Dayoung came here, she hoped the two people would work out their problems soon.

 

“He is so handsome,” her friend gushed, then paused when Seyeon gave her a weird look, “Sorry, girl. I know he’s your brother and all, but facts are facts after all.”

 

Seyeon scrunched up her face to the fullest extent, and her friend burst into laughter.

 

From the other side of the field, Jongdae grinned at the sight of her being her usual bright self and turned to his own friends to join in the conversation they were having.

 

~~

 

“I’m gonna get something to drink. You guys want something?” Hyejin asked her friends as she stood up from her seat at the very first row of the bleachers, the spot for the cheering squad.

 

They all shouted their wishes, but Hyejin yelled above the noise that she would just bring water bottles for the five of them. Her exit was escorted by playful boos.

 

She grinned as she walked to the front entrance of the school. Watching the ground so she didn’t trip as she trotted up the stone steps, she entered into the lobby and asked for six water bottles. The problem was how she would carry all of them back.

 

“Need some help?”

 

Whipping her head up, she found Yoorim’s friendly face greeting her. The girl was so pretty that Hyejin reacted a beat too late from staring at her.

 

“H-huh?” She couldn’t believe the goddess Yoorim was speaking to her.

 

The ‘goddess’ smiled and nodded toward the bottles of water on the table. “Do you need some help carrying those?”

 

Hyejin, still dazed, noticed the two bottles in the girl’s hands and shook her head violently. “N-no, you already have your load to carry a-anyway.”

 

Wow, how can someone be this pretty? She thought as she couldn’t stop herself from staring at Yoorim’s glowing face.

 

“It’s alright. Wouldn’t it be easier to carry four by yourself instead of six?” Yoorim tilted her head a little, waiting for Hyejin’s consent.

 

“I-if it’s not much of a trouble to you then… thanks.” Hyejin trailed off.

 

Yoorim smiled, her eyes turning into crescents, and she took two of the bottles from the table. “No problem.”

 

Hyejin followed suit, and the two girls walked together out of the building.

 

“By the way, what’s your name?” Yoorim asked as they came out of the entrance.

 

“Hyejin. Jo Hyejin,” the girl herself shyly answered.

 

“I’m Baek Yoorim. Nice to meet you,” Yoorim replied with another smile in Hyejin’s direction.

 

Hyejin restrained herself from saying that she already knew and nodded. No wonder everyone likes her. She thought as she admired the girl next to her.

 

The way the sun shone on her hair made the brown color glisten, and her skin was also perfect with no signs of trouble at all. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and some strands prettily framed her face, giving her a different style than when she had her hair down, but super pretty nonetheless.

 

“Well, it’s not over for me!”

 

Hyejin’s admiring was interrupted by someone behind her, and she craned her neck back to see who it was.

 

To her complete shock, it was Sehun, the cashier boy. Her eyes widened while her heart sped up.

 

He was standing on the far end of the platform, a girl standing in front of him. From what she could see from her position, there was a heavy atmosphere among the two people.

 

“Hyejin, aren’t you coming?”

 

Hyejin turned back around to see Yoorim staring at her curiously from the steps.

 

“Oh, y-yeah. I’m coming.”

 

As they walked down the steps, Hyejin tilted her head in thought. What was he doing here? And who was that girl? Perhaps, his girlfriend?

 

Her bottom lip jutted out at the possibility, feeling a sense of disappointment. Her heart had calmed down from the initial surprise, and it beat at a steady pace as she replayed the scene in her mind.

 

When they arrived at where her friends were waiting, all those thoughts flew out of her head when she saw how her friends’ expressions changed into one of awe when she came up to them with Yoorim beside her. Handing the bottles in her hands to them, she took the ones from Yoorim and thanked her for helping.

 

With a shake of her head, the goddess was gone with a friendly wave, leaving the four friends dazedly looking after her and Hyejin laughing at their reactions. Before they could unfreeze, she told them that she would be right back and made her way to where their school’s soccer team was warming up, a water bottle in her hand.

 

“Minseok!” She called to her friend and waved to him to get his attention. There were about thirty minutes left until the game would start, and Hyejin wanted to encourage him before he went out.

 

Minseok heard her yell and jogged over with a smile. Hyejin handed the water bottle to him and watched with a pleased face as he gulped down some of the water.

 

Wiping his mouth, he asked, “How did the cheer squad meet-up go?”

 

Hyejin waved her hand at him as if chasing away a fly and excitedly answered, “There’s something even more important than that at the moment.”

 

She proceeded to tell him a shortened version of how Yoorim had helped her and how she had seen the cashier boy. At that part, Minseok’s face became rigid.

 

“I know you don’t like me talking about him, but isn’t it weird? How he’s here and all; it’s like fate is trying to put us toge- Minseok, what are you doing?”

 

Hyejin’s fantasy was cut short when her friend suddenly grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from the players’ bench.

 

~~

 

Sehun’s hunch had been right. The Lee Dayoung on the list was the same Lee Dayoung he had been going out with for the last two years, the same Lee Dayoung he had fought with, and the same Lee Dayoung he missed.

 

He stared at her handing snacks to students, willing her to look at him. However, she didn’t give him so much as a glance.

 

She knew he was here, yet she never once acknowledged him. It only made Sehun more frustrated.

 

After a few moments of silently simmering, he couldn’t take it anymore and stood up to stalk over to her seat. She refused to look at him and stared straight ahead.

 

“I need to talk to you,” he stiffly said, his tone not able to reflect his heart.

 

“I don’t have anything to say. Would you please move out of the way?” she coldly responded.

 

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up to haul her out of the school in spite of her protests. The remaining volunteers in their group whispered to each other about how the two people seemed to know each other.

 

“What are you doing? Let go of me,” Dayoung hissed, not wanting to create a scene.

 

She wrenched herself away from him and spun around to go back inside. But Sehun was faster as he prevented her by stepping in front of her.

 

Dayoung glared up at her boyfriend(?) ex-boyfriend(?) ㅡshe didn’t know anymoreㅡ and crossed her arms. “What.” The ice in her tone nearly caused the burning fire in him to flame up even more, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

 

“We need to talk, Dayoung.”

 

“I thought you already said everything you needed. What else is there? We’re over, Sehun,” she willed her softening heart to harden, “We’re strangers now, and strangers don’t talk to each other, alright?”

 

Sehun ran a hand through his hair in frustration, which was directed mostly at himself. “Well, it’s not over for me!”

 

Dayoung felt her resolve weaken at his words and stared up at him silently. Do you really mean that? She wanted to ask him.

 

“I-“ he started out, but couldn’t seem to find the right words as he sighed, his gaze on the ground.

 

Shaking her head, Dayoung firmly said, “Let’s just end this, Sehun. There’s too big of a wall between us, and I don’t know if I have the strength to break through it.”

 

Her boyfriend raised his forlorn eyes at her words.

 

“Dayoung, I-“

 

“No. Just….stop trying, Sehun.” Dayoung took great pains in order to sound stoic.

 

Their eyes met for the last time before she stepped around him to walk back into the building.