Jongdae walked into the school, and after asking for directions to the restroom, found it at the very end of the hall.

 

When he came back out, he was surprised to see Seyeon stepping out of the girls’ restroom at the same time.

 

“Seyeon!”

 

“Jongdae!” She immediately clamped shut and looked around them to make sure no one else was there. “Follow me,” she said, taking his hand in hers.

 

Leading him to the staircase at the end of the hall, they went down one floor before continuing their conversation.

 

Back at the bleachers, Yoorim decided to visit the restroom before the game started and headed into the school. After asking where it was, she hurried so she wouldn’t be late.

 

When she came out, she was suddenly seized with an irresistible curiosity to explore the empty school and quietly walked over to the staircase, looking over her shoulder in case anyone saw her. As she was admiring how clean the school was, she heard faint voices when she was close to the stairs.

 

Peeking over the edge, there were two students, a guy and a girl, laughing and talking with each other. Yoorim smiled and straightened up to leave in order not to invade their privacy, but something caught her eye.

 

 

Her mind flashbacked to two days ago when she had thought she had seen a student from her school and a student from Seungri High together. Her eyes widened at the possibility that she might’ve been right. She also recognized the guy faintly from the cheering squad.

 

Though she knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, Yoorim couldn’t resist and bent over to sneak another peek at the two people. She could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation since they were speaking in soft tones.

 

“….yeah, it was so weird….. I don’t know why…”

 

“I can just imagine how your face would have looked like…. really cute.”

 

“….would it have looked….”

 

The girl hit the boy on the shoulder lightly, the both of them laughing silently together over whatever the boy had done. Yoorim watched, holding her breath so she wouldn’t make a sound.

 

Seyeon pulled out the snowflake necklace hidden underneath the blouse of her uniform and showed it to Jongdae. “I wore this every day since you gave it to me, and you don’t know how hard it was to keep it a secret from everyone. Especially during gym.”

 

Jongdae smiled and patted her head. “I wish we didn’t go to rival schools. Then you wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble.”

 

His girlfriend sighed and tucked the necklace back in. “Yeah, it’s hard sometimes. But at least that means we think about each other more. We won’t get easily tired with each other either,” Seyeon smiled brightly in an attempt to cheer her boyfriend up.

 

He chuckled and poked her cheek with his finger. “Such a positive girlfriend I have.”

 

At the word ‘girlfriend’, Yoorim withheld a gasp. They’re a couple. She thought and suddenly felt sorry for them. However, she couldn’t resist thinking how romantic the situation was as she stared at them having eyes only for each other. After all, they were so into each other that they didn’t even realize that someone was eavesdropping on them.

 

At the thought, Yoorim’s conscience pricked her, and she slowly backed away. She’d seen, heard, and learned more than she should’ve.

 

She smiled a little to herself at how cute they were together. Though her school and Seungri High were rivals, Yoorim had never had any bad thoughts of Seungri High like how the rest of her school’s students did. She had always thought the rival thing was pointless.

 

Just then, footsteps were heard from the staircase, and she scrambled into the girls’ restroom and hurriedly the water to wash her hands.

 

“You go ahead first, Jongdae, so we won’t be seen as suspicious,” Seyeon said and gestured for him to go.

 

He waved goodbye, and Seyeon pushed open the door to the girls’ restroom to stall some time. Yoorim looked up as she came in, and Seyeon was visibly surprised to find another person in there ㅡmore so, one of Sejong High’s students.

 

Their eyes met for a brief second in the mirror before Yoorim smiled a little at her. Shocked, Seyeon’s eyes widened while Yoorim studied her face. She’s definitely the girl from the staircase. Yoorim thought with a slight nod.

 

Breaking their eye contact, Yoorim dried her hands with a paper towel and turned around to leave. Seyeon was now blinking at her as if not knowing what to do. Yoorim smiled again at the girl, and this time, Seyeon slowly returned the favor.

 

Yoorim glanced at her nametag before pulling open the door to walk out. Oh Seyeon. What a pretty name. She walked down the hallway with a spring in her step as she thought of the forbidden couple. Of course, she would keep their secret and even root for them like the hopeless romantic she was.

 

Left in the restroom, Seyeon washed her hands and thought of the weird, yet surprisingly pleasing experience. She had caught a glimpse of the girl’s name before she had gone out and had been once again surprised to see that it read ‘Baek Yoorim’. The girl was famous even in Seungri High for her pretty looks ㅡeven more than Soojung, the queenka in her schoolㅡ, and after seeing her face to face just then, it was rightly so. The girl was practically a goddess. It made her wonder how handsome her boyfriend, Joonmyeon, would be.

 

And she’s nice too. Seyeon smiled and felt sorry for prejudicing her before to be snotty just because she was from their rival school.

 

Maybe Sejong High isn’t that bad after all. She thought as she pulled open the door of the restroom with a smile.

 

~~

 

“Minseok, where are you taking me?” Hyejin repeatedly asked but to no avail.

 

Her best friend wouldn’t say a word as he kept his death grip on her wrist as he pulled her in between people, going this way and that, until they had reached the back of the school where they could be alone.

 

He let her go as he turned to look at her. Hyejin rubbed the spot on her arm where he had grabbed it and was part curious and part annoyed as she returned his gaze.

 

“What is it?” she asked, fidgeting slightly from his unmoving stare.

 

He was silent for a few moments, seeming to be thinking very deeply about something. Seeing his serious face, Hyejin automatically stayed quiet so he wouldn’t be disturbed.

 

“Agh! How am I supposed to say this?!” His question came out as more of an outcry than anything else as he turned away from her and scrubbed his face and hair with his hands multiple times.

 

Hyejin couldn’t contain her curiosity and piped up, “What? What is it? Tell me already!”

 

She threw her hands up in frustration as he leaned his head on the wall, staying still in that position for what seemed like forever.

 

“Okay, if you’re not going to say anything, I’m going to go back,” she said, knowing she wouldn’t go through with that threat.

 

But it had a satisfying result as Minseok pushed off the wall and walked purposefully over to her with a dead serious look in his eyes that Hyejin had never seen before.

 

“Alright. I don’t know if I’m doing good right now by telling you, but I don’t think I can take it anymore. You have to promise me that you won’t start avoiding me after,” he said, and she nodded.

 

“Of course I won’t. Now what is it?” Hyeijn could never endure her curiosity not being fulfilled, and she blinked her big eyes at him in anticipation.

 

Minseok ran a hand through his hair to calm his anxiety and started out, “Hyejin, I know we’ve been best friends since elementary school, but ever since we came into high school, I’ve been feeling this…… this weird…” he paused, unsure how to express it.

 

He sighed in frustration, and as if deciding something, he suddenly looked her straight in the eyes and put his hands on her shoulders to bring her closer.

 

Hyejin was surprised and felt nervous all of the sudden.

 

“I like you, Hyejin.” His gaze never faltered a bit as he dropped the bomb.

 

Hyejin was speechless as she stared up at Minseok with saucer eyes, her heart starting to pick up its pace. He let her go and took a step back, his face looking like he had a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. However, there was also an undeniable hint of worry in his eyes as well.

 

“Wh-what?” Hyejin asked as she tried to process if this was real. “A-are you being serious right now? Like really, really serious?”

 

Minseok cracked a small smile at her reaction and nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, but a voice other than his interrupted their private conversation.

 

“There you are, Minseok! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” When Hyejin turned around, one of Minseok’s friends was motioning for him to hurry up and follow him.

 

“Come on, we can’t have our center-forward late to the game!” The friend walked over to Minseok and started pulling him away by the arm.

 

As Minseok passed Hyejin, he came close to whisper in her ear, “I’ll score a goal for you.”

 

Her eyes blinked at him several times in surprise, a slight blush taking over her cheeks. He grinned at her and let his friend drag him away, leaving Hyejin with a complicated mind and an even more complicated heart.

 

~~

 

The game was ending, and the score was a tie with only five minutes left. All of the students and teachers were on the edge of their seats with both schools’ cheering reaching its highest.

 

Hyejin was one with the crowd as she held up a banner that read ‘Sejong High For The Win! Fighting!’ along with one of her friends. She was amused to see the rest of the cheering squad almost losing their voices from screaming so loud when most of them had complained about their class being chosen.

 

Jongdae and his friends had their arms around each others’ shoulders as they swayed along to the chant the squad had come up with. He burst out into laughter when Chanyeol couldn’t contain his excitement and started slapping the arm of the person next to him, who happened to be Baekhyun.

 

Yoorim stood calmly at the very bottom of the bleachers and shouted an encouragement once in a while whenever their players got close to scoring a goal.

 

Seyeon cheered with her friends at the other end of the field, not caring which side won and just enjoying how united her school’s students seemed at the moment.

 

Inside the school, Sehun watched Dayoung from the corner of his eye as she stood up to go to the restroom. He inwardly sighed and turned his attention to the game outside. The shouts and cheering were so loud, and he tried to remember if it was like that back when he was in high school.

 

There were only three minutes left in the game, and both teams weren’t letting the other get the upper hand as the ball kept passing back and forth between the players.

 

Just then, one of Sejong High’s midfielders stole the ball and dribbled it down the field. The bleachers erupted with cheers from Sejong High and boos from Seungri High.

 

Hyejin watched anxiously as Minseok was passed the ball. He avoided an opposing player’s attack and skillfully dribbled it toward the goalpost. When his way was blocked, he kicked the ball to a winger to distract the defense and jogged to an open post where he would be able to shoot.

 

Though there were some struggles, the ball eventually made it back to him with only thirty seconds on the clock. Minseok eyed the goalie and pulled back his leg.

 

 

Minseok’s words replayed in Hyejin’s head, and she bit her lip. What was this strange feeling in her heart?

 

Twenty seconds.

 

His foot made contact with the soccer ball, and it went flying toward the net.

 

Ten seconds.

 

Nine. Eight. Seven.

 

The ball went straight over the goalie’s outstretched hands, and a satisfying swish sound meshed with the ending whistle.

 

Sejong High’s students all bolted up at the same time with an ear-splitting shout. Hyejin hugged her friends and jumped up and down in joy. The bleachers threatened to break as everyone on it went crazy over the win.

 

The scorer himself was bombarded with his team’s hugs and was soon buried under a pile of arms.

 

Hyejin took a moment to glance at Minseok on the field. She spotted him in the midst of the team’s suffocating group hug and beamed a huge smile though she knew he couldn’t see her.

 

The team dispersed, and Minseok could finally breathe again. The coach tousled his hair and complimented him on his shoot.

 

But before Minseok could thank him, a sound coming from the building made the noise settle down for a moment.

 

It was the fire alarm.

 

At that moment, it didn’t matter whether you were from Sejong or Seungri; everyone was frightened out of their wits as they tried to get out of the bleachers all at once. It was complete chaos that the teachers couldn’t calm down with a simple demand. They started ushering the students out of the bleachers and into the wide soccer field to prevent any injuries.

 

Minseok immediately searched the bleachers for Hyejin and felt his heart pound when he couldn’t find her. He finally spotted her wedged between her friends, being pushed this way and that, and he ran towards her.

 

Amongst the mess, Jongdae worried for Seyeon, hoping she didn’t get hurt. He almost lost his balance just then as the mob started pushing more fiercely.

 

Inside the school, all the volunteers were ushered out of the building, but Sehun noticed that Dayoung wasn’t among them. Remembering she had a fear for sudden loud noises, he pushed through the people in an attempt to enter the school.

 

“I’m sorry, you can’t go in right now,” a teacher told him, but nothing came into his ears. He could only think about Dayoung in there alone.

 

“My girlfriend is in there!” he shouted, and in a desperate shove, he broke though and rushed inside.

 

Yoorim was grateful Joonmyeon wasn’t here as she was squished between several students. It wouldn’t have been good at all with his hurt leg.

 

“Hyejin!” Minseok called, but his voice drowned in the commotion. He watched helplessly as she kept disappearing and reappearing as the students pushed and pulled.

 

“Dayoung!” Sehun yelled as he ran towards the restrooms. He yanked open the door to the girls’ restroom and walked in, his mind only thinking about Dayoung.

 

However, she was nowhere to be seen, not even in any of the stalls, and he ran back out. Where did she go? He thought as he tore at his hair in anxiety.

 

He decided to try going up the stairs to search the second floor. The alarm rang loud and clear all throughout the school, and it was starting to annoy his ears. At the very end of the hall, there was someone crouched down with their hands over their ears in a futile attempt to block the noise.

 

Sehun immediately recognized the person as Dayoung and ran over to her. “Dayoung!” He kneeled down to her level and worriedly asked, “Are you okay?”

 

She raised her head with her hands still over her ears, her eyes filled with tears. It was obvious she was too frightened to say anything, so Sehun took hold of her shoulders to help her up. She stumbled as her legs were weak, and he sustained her firmly. Dayoung held onto him without a word as they walked toward the staircase together.

 

This had happened several times before in their relationship, and Sehun hated to see her so vulnerable every time. She had Ligyrophobia, developed from a traumatic incident of fireworks going off in her face when she was young. There had been no serious injury, though it left a scar on her chin which was barely noticeable now.

 

The fear had lessened as she grew older, but whenever loud noises were suddenly emitted, the trauma resurfaced, and she often burst into tears.

 

Sehun had gained the skill of handling her whenever it happened, and he put that skill to use as he put his arm around her shoulders to assure her that she wasn’t alone and that it was going to be alright.

 

As they were walking down the stairs, the alarm suddenly came to a stop. Relieved, Dayoung’s legs lost their strength, and her foot came down wrongly, causing her ankle to twist and her balance to fall.

 

Thankfully, Sehun caught her before she landed on the ground. With the noise gone, her head cleared up, and she looked up at him with wet eyes. Despite the chaotic situation, she felt safe when their eyes locked, and he wiped away the tears on her cheeks.

 

Back outside, the field was filled with students from both schools, waiting anxiously for any news from teachers.

 

Minseok pushed past several people as he searched for Hyejin, while Jongdae did the same for his girlfriend, leaving his friends behind in the mass.

 

Seyeon was standing with her friend, half listening to what they were saying about the current situation and half looking around for Jongdae. As she was subtly scanning the crowd, she was accidentally pushed by another student and fell.

 

“Are you okay, Seyeon?”

 

Jongdae turned around at the name and spotted her on the ground with her friends gathering around her. Without thinking about their schools’ rivalry, he broke through the invisible boundary and rushed over to her.

 

“Seyeon! Are you hurt?” he worriedly asked, his eyes only focusing on his girlfriend.

 

Seyeon whipped her head up at him, surprised that he was there.

 

“Um, who are you?”

 

Looking up at the hostile voice, one of Seyeon’s friends was staring at him with her eyebrows raised in an interrogating manner. Jongdae came to his senses then and cringed inwardly at his slip-up. Seyeon looked from him to her friend, then back to him with wide, frantic eyes.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

A voice broke the tension, and everyone’s heads turned to the direction from where it had come.

 

Yoorim squatted down next to Seyeon and asked, “Do you need help getting up?”

 

Whispers erupted all around them.

 

“It’s Baek Yoorim!”

 

“The goddess from Sejong High!”

 

Seeming not to care whether they whispered about her or not, Yoorim grabbed Seyeon’s hand and nudged Jongdae. “Aren’t you going to help?” she asked him, and he blinked in surprise before taking Seyeon’s arm.

 

The both of them settled her on her feet again, and Yoorim smiled at Seyeon. “Be more careful next time,” she benevolently said. Then turning to Jongdae, she gestured for him to follow her. “Come on, let’s go back.”

 

“H-huh?” He couldn’t wrap his head around how things were moving along, and neither could Seyeon as she stared at Yoorim, almost mesmerized by the girl.

 

Lowering her voice so only the three of them could hear, Yoorim said, “You don’t want people to get the wrong idea, right?” Her eyes suggested he come to his senses before the other students picked up on why he did what he did.

 

“O-oh, yeah. Let’s go.”

 

Yoorim smiled again at Seyeon and turned around to walk back to where her school’s students were. Jongdae didn’t dare to look at his girlfriend and followed after her.

 

Seyeon’s friends immediately surrounded her and bombarded her with questions to which she answered with a simple “I don’t know either.”

 

“At least she seems pretty nice out of all the jerk butts from that school,” one of her friends commented after the crowd around them had dispersed.

 

Seyeon silently added one more person to that list in her head and hid a smile.

 

Meanwhile, Sehun had come out of the building carrying Dayoung bridal-style in his arms due to her sprained ankle. She was embarrassed as everyone clapped at his bravery and buried her face in his shoulder.

 

He set her down on a chair and squatted down to meet her eyes. “Are you alright now?”

 

Dayoung hung her head so her hair would cover her face and nodded.

 

He sighed in relief, and they stayed like that in silence for a few minutes, not knowing what to say to the other. Seyeon’s words came up in Sehun’s head, and he opened his mouth.

 

“I… I thought about what you said, and… I realized you were right.”

 

Surprised, Dayoung lifted her head to peer at him timidly.

 

He continued, “After thinking about everything, I saw how my words and actions would’ve hurt you. I was never good at expressing my feelings, and you didn’t seem to mind it much, so I guess I never tried to change that. I thought you already knew how I felt without me having to tell you,” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “I realize now that that was wrong of me.”

 

Looking up to meet Dayoung’s eyes, he said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being stupid and for making you feel unloved,” he paused as he searched for the right words, and she waited for him to continue.

 

“I do love you, Dayoung. I just didn’t want these words to be something so easily said. I wanted you to be able to feel it through my actions, since words can be incomplete sometimes,” taking her hand in his, he sought for her forgiveness again, “I’m sorry, Dayoung.”

 

Staring into Sehun’s eyes, Dayoung found sincerity hidden behind his expressionless mask and succumbed to his genuine apology.

 

“I’m sorry too. You were definitely not the only one who was at fault, but I blamed everything on you. I made myself believe that you were the reason our relationship started falling apart, although I never really took much action to fix it either,” she lowered her head again in shame as she continued, “And you were right; I did blow up every little thing you did, because I felt that was the only way I could make sure of your affections. That was incredibly immature and insecure of me, and I’m really sorry, Sehun. I’m sorry for not realizing my own mistakes.”

 

He reached out his hand to push back the hair that was covering her face, but she still didn’t look up. Lifting up her chin, he gazed into her eyes, and for the first time ever since they started fighting, Dayoung felt her heart flutter as she returned the gaze.

 

In the midst of the crowd of students, Hyejin craned her neck above the people, trying to find her friends. They had gotten separated while coming out into the field. She was delighted to spot a familiar, black-haired head and squeezed between people to get to him.

 

“Minseok!” she yelled among the chatter when she was near.

 

The boy spun around at her call, and relief seeped into his eyes. He walked towards her, and they met each other halfway.

 

“Where were you? You aren’t hurt anywhere, are you?” he asked as soon as they were within hearing range.

 

Hyejin laughed and brushed off his concern. “Why are you worrying so much about me all of the sudden? I’m fine.”

 

“I’m not going to hide my feelings anymore, Hyejin. And I’m not joking. You didn’t get hurt, right?” Minseok asked again, his face serious as he waited for her answer.

 

The memory of his confession coming back, she was stunned into silence and nodded.

 

“Good,” he replied simply.

 

There was a pause in the conversation, and Hyejin didn’t know what to do. The silence had a weird tension that had never been there before, and it made her fidget awkwardly. She also didn’t like the churning feeling in her stomach.

 

“So… nice shot at the end of the game,” she said, trying to act normal.

 

Minseok cracked a small smile and replied, “I told you I was going to score a goal for you.”

 

Hyejin didn’t know how to respond to that and lowered her gaze to her feet. “Oh. Right.”

 

The sudden change between them was unbearably awkward, and she didn’t know how to fix it. Minseok stared at her staring at the ground and found her awkwardness cute.