Chapter Twenty-Five: 

Cheering for the Best

I felt uneasy for the remainder of the school day. I constantly felt like I was being watched everywhere I went… even the Girl’s Bathroom. Okay, maybe I was being paranoid… but Mino’s words stayed stuck in my head, repeating over and over again.

“I won’t let you off the hook so easily…”

I shuttered at the thought of those words. He was teasing me and feeding off of my fear. I was the white sheep and Mino was the wolf, hunting me down and eventually scarfing me down in one go. I was terrified really. I didn’t know anything about him so it only led to my imagination going wild. He must be feeling really good about himself right now after securing me on lockdown. I could only imagine what he meant or what he’s planning on doing to me. What if he kidnaps me in the middle of the night and ties me to a chair and tortures me?! Or what if he ties me up and locks me up in the trunk of a car and drives it off into the Han River?! Or worse… what if I’m forced to listen to god awful rap music while being trapped and tied up in the trunk of his car! I’m already crying at the thought of it. All I knew was that I have to keep my guard up and be cautious at all times from now on.

Have I mentioned how much I love my life right now? No? Well, there’s a reason why.  

I didn’t feel the need to bring it up to anybody because I knew that it would only stir up more trouble.

The bell signalling that the school day has come to an end had rang. Making my way out of the confined school building, I met up with Nara as we decided to walk home together. It was a fairly bright day out and the weather was starting to warm up.

“Do you wanna go to the boys’ basketball game today?” I asked Nara. “Bobby really wants us to go and watch them.”

“Yuck… I hate sports though.” She answered with disinterest.

“Right? It’s so gross.” I agreed with a chuckle. “I’d rather watch paint dry than watch sports.” Yet again, this just proves that Nara and I are literally twins separated at birth. We have the same interests, the same sense of humor, and even the same disinterests. Okay, maybe fraternal twins.

“But, I guess it’ll be nice to be there and cheer them on. It’ll probably make them feel better.” She said leniently. “It wouldn’t hurt right?”

“If it’ll make them happy, then why not? I have nothing better to do anyway.” I pushed my bangs to the side as the wind blew them around in my face. The truth was, I didn’t really want to stay at home just to reminisce about what happened today. I wanted to get out and take my mind off of things. Even if it be at some crummy basketball game.

“Then yeah, sure. Let’s go and surprise them. They probably think that we won’t come.” Nara agreed. “What time does it start?”
 

“Err…” I uttered while shrugging my shoulders. “Let’s just text Jinhwan and ask to go with him…” I suggested with a chuckle.

“Good idea.” She nodded.

Nara ended up coming over my house since we were going to go to watch the boys’ basketball game at 5 anyway. We arrived at the front door of my house. I rummaged through my pants pocket for my key, taking it out and inserting it into the lock. I turned the knob and pushed the door open, only to be greeted by an unpleasant sight.

Standing in the living room was none other than Yunhyeong in nothing but a towel, looking at himself in the mirror.

“YAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” I screamed in horror. Yunhyeong jumped in surprise and started screaming as well. I covered Nara’s eyes with my hands and pushed her around, facing her away from the half man in my house. “CAN YOU STOP ROAMING AROUND THE HOUSE LIKE THAT AND PUT ON SOME CLOTHES?!” I scolded him loudly.

“Huh?!” He uttered then noticing that I wasn’t alone. His eyes widened immediately. He looked down at his exposed body, finally realizing the situation at hand. He crossed both of his arms, using his hands to cover his chest. His face started to flush red. “Y-YAH! Don’t you ever knock before you enter the house?!” He yelled at me feeling flustered.

“Why would I knock?! It’s my house!” I retorted back. “What is wrong with you?!”

“Me?! Why didn’t you call to tell that a guest was coming over?!”  

“Well it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if you just go and put some clothes on!” I groaned in frustration.

Donghyuk arrived at the scene, walking down the steps of the staircase. “Jeez, what’s with all the yelling down here?” He complained as we woke him up from his nap. His hair looked like a bird’s nest at that moment. It was wild…

“I.. I’m sorry you had to see this, Nara.” Yunhyeong apologized to her. “But aren’t you glad that you were able to witness this?” He asked referring to his exposed upper body.

‘You haven’t changed at all, Yunhyeong oppa..” She snickered. “Just go put some clothes on already.”

“Fine.” he rolled his eyes and proceeded up the stairs, going into his room.

“Nara?! Long time no see!” Donghyuk proceeded down the rest of steps and embrace her with a warm hug.

“Yaaaaas! How have you been?!” She squealed with joy breaking off the hug.

“We need to catch up on things!” Donghyuk brought her over to lounge and chat on the couch. I shrugged and headed towards the kitchen to fix myself a snack.  

“Jin, are you ready yet?!” Nara yelled at me from down the stairs. I switched off my lights and closed my door, making my way down the steps. I dressed casually with a pair of skinny jeans, a black hoodie, a black baseball cap, and a pair of black low top converse. Can you tell I like wearing black? It's like the go to color when you have no idea what to wear, I love it.

“Yeah, let's get going. I think Jinhwan is waiting outside for us.” I ran to the fridge to grab myself a bottle of water before heading out.

“Where are you guys going?” Yunhyeong asked curiously. “You look like you're about to go rob a convenience store, Jinnie…”

“We’re going to go watch our friends’ basketball game.” Nara answered him.

“...Very funny. You guys? Basketball? You can at least come up with a better lie than that.” He rolled his eyes.

“Okay whatever, I'll be back home later! Bye!” I waved and shouted, cutting the conversation short. If I didn't, Yunhyeong would have been asking 21 questions. I grabbed onto Nara’s hand and headed out the door.

“Don't come home too late! You'll miss out on the amazing dinner I'm making tonight!”

We arrived at the location along with Jinhwan. It was an outdoor basketball court a few blocks away from our school. There were bleachers for an audience on the side. They weren't official basketball players but there seemed to be quite a few people, filling up almost three fourths of the seating. I guess they were versing an opposing group of students from another school? I would've never imagined that basketball was taken this seriously unless it was an official school game.

“Why are there so many people here? I didn't think you guys played basketball this seriously.” I asked Jinhwan.

“I don't, but they do. It's like a neighborhood thing. All the players gather their friends and family to come and watch.”

“Ooh..” I nodded my head. “That's so extra…” I mumbled under my breath.

The three of us strolled into the lively court trying to find a seat on the cluttered white bleachers. The game had yet to start but it seemed as though they were practicing before the actual event.

“Over there.” Jinhwan pointed to an empty spot in the middle. We side stepped our way, awkwardly blocking the audience's view as we slowly trotted along. After finally taking a seat, I peeked around trying to spot our friends in the sea of players. It wasn't really that hard to spot Chanwoo considering what a giant he is. He was standing there with his hands on his waist, observing one of his teammates shooting the ball into the hoop. His eyes wandered the court eventually coming in contact with me. His lips formed into a bright smile as I waved my hand to greet him from afar. I could see his cute little dimple all the way from here. He started looking around, grabbing ahold of Bobby and Hanbin. I could see him talking to them then pointing over to us. They paused what they were doing and squinting their eyes and glancing over our way. Bobby acknowledged us with his crescent eyed smile along with an over exaggerated waving of his hand. I noticed a slight smile appearing on Hanbin's face. He raised his hand halfway, greeting us briefly then returning back to his warmup.

“Hey Jin, I've got an idea.” Nara called to my attention. She nudged me in the arm with a smirk on her face.

“What? I looked at her with a puzzled expression. Her smile seemed a little sinister… it was questionable.

“Let's embarrass the out of them!” She snickered evilly. “Let's teach them a lesson for being the little brats they are.”

“Eh? But Chanwoo did nothing wrong.”

“Who cares, we can anyway. It's fun?” She insisted.

“I guess. What do you have in mind?”

She leaned in towards me, cupping my ear. I cringed while listening to her idea. I don't think I can do this. If anything it'll be more embarrassing for us… but I'll try my best. I really need to be a more fun and outgoing person. I realized that I'm a little plain so I'm slowly but surely trying to fix that.  

After a few more minutes of warming up, the striped shirt referee blew the whistle, indicating that the game was about to start. I unscrewed the cap off my bottle of water and took a sip to clear my throat.

Hanbin was faced off with a person on the opposing team in the middle of the court. I believe this is where they see who gets the ball first. It was red versus black, with our friends wearing red jerseys and the other team wearing black. With the referee holding the orange ball in his palm of his hands, he blew on his whistle, tossing the ball up in the air. Hanbin jumped up into the air managing to tap the ball first towards his teammates, securing it with confidence. The players now started scattering around the court as the game shifted into play. The cheers and cries of the audience roared throughout the area as they began rooting for their favorite teams and players.

“Are you guys ready?” Nara leaned over looking at Jinhwan and I.  

“Omg wait I'm not ready.” I laughed covering my mouth with my hands. “This is going to be so embarrassing. I'm scared.”

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