He stood at the middle of the school’s soccer field, his right foot stepping on the soccer ball.  He eyed the goalposts yards away from where he stood.  He closed his eyes, imagining a good number of opponents around him.  One... two… three people blocking his way.  With a deep breath, he broke into a run.  He took a swift 360-degree turn as an imaginary opponent tried to steal the ball from him.  Three more were coming his way.  He looked up.  The goal was straight ahead.  But he couldn’t kick the ball.  Not yet. 

Two were sliding for the ball from both sides.  He kicked the ball, maneuvering it up to his knee as he jumped over the two opponents.  He then kicked it with full strength.  It boomeranged its way to the goal, spinning swiftly on the net before falling to the ground.

He took a deep breath as he stared at the ball.  ‘I need more practice,’ he thought to himself.

“You really are a sharp-shooter, Luhan,” a voice behind him said.

Luhan turned around.  He smiled as he recognized to whom the voice belonged to.

“Aniyo.  There aren’t any other players in the field that’s why I looked good.”  He walked to the benches, where the other person was sitting.  “Why are you here, Sehun?”

“Am I not allowed here?” Sehun asked, handing him a towel as he approached him.

Luhan took the towel from him, mouthing a ‘Thanks’ as he sat beside him.  He crouched down to reach his bag on the ground and started fixing his things.  “I thought you don’t like coming here?”

“I don’t.  It’s too hot here.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I came here to see you.”

Luhan sat straight, staring at his emotionless face.  “I don’t believe you.”

“And why is that?”

“You only look for me if you need something.”

They stared at each other a couple of seconds.  Luhan let out a sigh as he realized what he wanted.  He crouched down and went back to fixing his things.

“Please?” Sehun begged, his hand on his friend’s shoulder, shaking him.  “I forgot my wallet at home.  Baekhyun’s insisting that I buy him bubble tea for recess.  I couldn’t even buy myself a glass of bubble tea.  But I want it so bad.  Please?  You’ll buy me bubble tea, right?”

Luhan threw him a sharp look, making him stop whining.  Sehun gave him a smile as he clasped his hands together, trying to act cute.  Luhan sighed.  “How can I ever refuse you?”

Sehun muttered a ‘Yes!’ under his breath.  He stood up, stretching his limbs as he looked up the clear, blue sky.  “Do you think it’s going to rain?”

Luhan stood up, slinging his bag on his shoulder.  “Does Tao have an umbrella with him?”

“De.”

“Then it’s going to rain,” he said, tapping his shoulder before walking ahead of him.

* * * * *

“So, Aoife,” Chen started, facing their new classmate.  He was assigned as her student buddy until she gets used to the school environment, a task that he would never reject.  He was normally friendly to people, especially to new students.  But something about Aoife made him like her the moment he laid his eyes on her.  “Why did you come to South Korea?”

“My father’s a businessman,” Aoife answered, tucking her hair behind her ear.  “As the future heiress of our company, he wants me to be exposed to at least one Asian country.  So… yeah.”

“But, why here?” Chanyeol, who was straddling a chair behind her, asked.  He was leaning forward, with his crossed arms resting on the backrest of his chair.

“Your country’s one of the most progressive countries in Asia,” she replied with a smile.  “The culture here’s very rich, too.”

A few seats away from where the three were sat two students playing chess.  One of them held a black horse on his hand as he stared at his chess pieces, thinking of his next move.  His round eyes narrowed as he attempted to place his piece on the white tile between his bishop and his opponent’s pawn.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” his playmate said.  He gave him a cute smile, his chinky eyes almost disappearing.

“Aish!  You’ve been telling me that since I picked my horse!”

“I’m trying to be nice here.”

“I give up,” he said with a sigh.  He tossed the horse on the board, making it roll to the opposite side.  It was then that he saw why his chinky-eyed friend kept on telling him the same thing.

All the white chess pieces were strategically placed on the possible boxes his horse could go.  Whatever move he made with his horse would be in vain.  He looked back at his pieces.  Aside from a pawn, queen and king, all of his pieces w