“Bommie! Let’s go. Taeyang said –“

                “Taeyang again?!” Bom said, frustrated. She returned the dress to the saleslady who was just standing there. “Fine! Let’s go,” she grabbed her wrist. “You know what? I have this feeling that you like him already.”

                They arrived at the gym. This is the first time that Dara is going to watch a basketball game. She doesn’t have an interest on sports. Now she has a reason to – to watch Taeyang. Or is it Jiyong? She shrugged the idea. She told herself that she came here because Taeyang invited her.

The gym was full of fans. On one side, the students were from their school. They all have each of their banners on hand. Most of the banners are for Jiyong. Some are for Taeyang. A few is for the team in general. On the other side, the students are from the rival school to whom Jiyong’s team are playing against. They all have their banners too. Most of them are for their team. But, surprisingly, some of the banners are for Jiyong. She never knew that Jiyong was popular on other schools too. She started to think if he has more and more fans aside from these two schools. It was never impossible.

Taeyang found them standing on the door. “Dara-ssi! You came!”

Dara bowed. “Annyeong.”

“Oh, no need to bow,” Taeyang said straightening her up. Dara flinch as she felt the weight of his hand on her shoulders.

“Yeah. No need to respect this…” Bom thought for a while.

“What?” Taeyang glared.

“We thought we’ll be late. I wouldn’t want to miss your first game as the newest basketball player of our school,” Dara said.

“Oh no. if you’re going to miss it, we’ll not gonna win. Your my inspiration, Dara,” Taeyang said, his eyes on hers.

“There you go again, Taeyang,” Bom mumbled, sounding jealous.

Dara felt awkward so she looked away. “Omo, the gym’s full. Um, we’re going to look for seats, okay? Hwaiting!”

“Where’s my good luck kiss?” Taeyang winked. Bom glared at him and pulled Dara away.

“It’s not like I’m going to give him one,” Dara mumbled. But Bom still heard her.

Meanwhile..

“I see you invited Dara to watch you. It’s your time to shine. You need to impress her,” Jiyong said while warming up.

“Yeah. I have to. We have to win. And more importantly, we have to win because of me,” Taeyang said joining him. “I see you invited Sohee too.”

“I didn’t invite her. And are you nuts? She’s a cheerleader. It’s natural for her to come here and cheer.”

Taeyang laughed. “Yeah. I know. I’m not stupid like you think. Look, Jiyong. He’s cheering for you. She looks stupid. Cheering for you even though the game hasn’t started yet.”

“Go Jiyong-oppa! Go honey! Win this game for me, baby. I love you!” Sohee cheered on him hard. “Come on, girls. Let’s cheer for them.”

“Let’s go Tigers. Let’s go! Go Jiyong! Go Taeyang! Let’s go team!” the cheering girls chanted.

“Just ignore them,” Jiyong said, not looking.

“Ignore? Wave at them,” Taeyang said and he did. He smiled and waved at them. He even winked.

“Oh my gosh! Did you see that? He just smiled, waved, and winked at me,” one cheering girl said.

“You? You mean me. I saw it. He was looking my way,” the other one said.

Then the two of them started scratching each other like two tigers.

Sohee on the other hand stayed focused on cheering for “his” Jiyong.

Taeyang turned to Jiyong, “See?”

Jiyong just chuckled and continued his warming up.

The game is starting soon.

“Come on, Dara, stand up. Let’s cheer for them,” Bom said.

“No. I’m too shy,” Dara said, staying put on her seat. Then she heard the cheering squad starting to cheer. “Bom, look. Isn’t that Sohee? You never told me she was a cheerleader. I bet she’s cheering for Jiyong.”

“Of course she is. Jiyong is the only reason why she entered cheerleading in the first place. Don’t get too jealous, Dara,” Bom said. Dara wasn’t able to object because Bom spoke again, “Look, Dara! Taeyang is looking at us. Taeyaaaaaang! HWAITING!”

Dara waved at him.

“Look, Jiyong is looking too,” Bom said.

This time, Dara stood up, “Taeyang! Hwaiting!” she gave her thumbs up.

Taeyang ran around like a crazy person when he heard her. Dara just laughed.

The first ball was on Taeyang. He expertly held it and was able to shoot a 3-point at his first ball. He winked at Dara.

“He’s trying to impress you, Dara,” Bom pushed Dara a little too hard. Dara just laughed.

The rival team was holding the ball now. He was about to shoot but he missed. Jiyong was able to rebound it. Everyone cheered. Even the students from the rival school.

Dribbling the ball toward their court, Jiyong wished he wouldn’t miss the ring and humiliate himself. And he didn’t. He was able to dunk the ball on the ring. The crowd went wild.

Unexpectedly, for a fraction of a second, he looked at Dara.

“Ya! Dara! Did you see that? Jiyong looked at you!” Bom said.

“No. it just so happened that he was looking our way. Maybe, he was looking at… the girl in front of me,” Dara explained, but she was blushing. However, Bom wasn’t listening. She was busy cheering. Besides, her little voice is drowned out because of the crowd noise. Instead, it sounded as if she was just convincing herself that he wasn’t looking at her.

The fourth quarter came. The boys were all sweaty. But Taeyang never once lost his smiles and waves. He loves being loved by the crowd. On the other hand, Jiyong is drenched in sweat and he looks tired with his hips bent down and his hands on his knees.

The score is 87-88, in favor of the other team. They were having a time-out and Jiyong’s team is planning on what to do for the last 13 seconds. They heard their last ‘HWAITING’ as a team then went to the court.

Dara was now standing. She started standing up when the second half came and the game was heating up. She was really impressed of Taeyang. He contributed the most points. But Jiyong should not be overlooked. He’s also great at basketball.

The ball was on the rival team. But, Taeyang was able to steal it.

“Taeyang! Shoot the last ball. Hwaiting!” Dara cheered.

But Taeyang passed the ball to Jiyong. Dara gasped. She thought for sure that Taeyang will be the one who’ll shoot the ball. After all, they relied heavily on him. That’s why most of the points are from him – and from Jiyong actually.

Dara stopped cheering. But she was standing now. Her fingers interlocked and hands clasped in front of her. Her heart is beating wildly. She silently prayed to God they would win this. 8 seconds left… three rival players were blocking him from the ring. He faked left and was able to escape from the right. 5 seconds… running… 4 seconds… running still… 3 seconds… he prepared to shoot, and released the ball.

The crowd gasped for breaths. It’s like time slowed down, like what they do in the movies. The crowd were silent for a while… anticipating. 2 seconds… 1 second… and…

“The TIGERS win!” the commentator cheered. “Congratulations, TIGERS!”

The crowd went wilder than ever. It was because of Jiyong that their score became 89-88, in favor of them. Dara jumped up and down, excited.

“JIYONG! YOU WERE GREAT!” Dara cheered at the top of his lungs. She wasn’t going to cheer for him. But became tight that time that she was able to burst out cheering because of the cheers for Jiyong she was keeping. She was still cheering when, at the middle of the crowd, Jiyong turned and looked straight at her, apparently hearing her. She covered with her hands but not leaving her gaze at him.

Jiyong turned to face his teammates who were cheering for him. Dara wasn’t sure but she thought she saw a faint smile while Jiyong was turning. She sat back on her seat. Her hands are still covering .

“Dara! What are you doing? Let’s go down there and congratulate them,” Bom said, pulling her, not once noticing the clasped mouth and red cheeks.

“TAEYANG!” Bom and Dara called.

“Congratulations, Taeyang. You deserved to win,” Dara said.

“It’s all thanks you, Dara. You’re my inspiration,” Taeyang said. “I think someone owes me a date.”

Dara pushed Taeyang.

“Please…” he looked at her pleadingly. “How about tomorrow at 2 PM? At the park?”

Dara thought for a while. “Only if you’ll treat me.”

“YES! I’m going on a date tomorrow,” Taeyang announced hi-fiving his teammates.

Dara didn’t notice that she was alone with Taeyang. She scanned the crowd for a red hair which belongs to Bom.

Dara spotted her redheaded best friend and walked towards her but stopped midway when she spotted her talking to Jiyong. He was happily talking to him until he saw her. He told Bom.

“Ya! DARA! Come,” Bom called as if calling a dog.

“Congratulations, Jiyong!” Dara greeted and bowed when she reached them. “You were great.”

She never once looked up, because she felt her face blushing. She didn’t expect a response from him.

“Thank you, Dara,” Jiyong suddenly said making Dara look up with a surprise look on her face. Jiyong chuckled.

She blushed but thankfully, Jiyong turned his back when his teammates carried him around celebrating their victory.

“Hey!” Dara heard a complaining voice which most likely belonged to Taeyang, “Wasn’t I great too?”

Dara turned and laughed. “You were great, too,” Dara said. “Go, join your teammates and celebrate.”

People were starting to leave now. In a while, the gym became empty.

The team continued to cheer for themselves, even Dara who is usually quiet and alone. Today she has found her circle of friends.