Jongin entered the recreation centre alone yet again that day. He spotted Minah and Ari standing together in the midst of their own conversation. Minah pursed her lips as she shook her head as Ari nodded looking rather defeated. He spotted her point at her bag as Minah looked at Ari apologetically. Walking over to the two, he waved.

“Hey Jongin.” Minah replied monotonously as Ari turned to him with a straight face.

“I heard the musical went really well, congratulations.”

Jongin looked back, unsure as to what to make of her tone. Minah sighed as she turned to Ari.

“Either way, it’s your move, I’m supportive of whatever decision you make,” she shrugged looking at the gym doors “I’ll see you guys later?” she said to no one in particular as she headed into the gym to warm up before going to the tennis court.

Ari turned to Jongin who looked at her hesitantly. He wasn’t sure what she was going to say to him or how this whole thing was going to play out, except she gave him a weak smile.

“Tell me how it went after class,” she turned towards the locker room “I’ll join you there in five.”  

Jongin watched her disappear behind the doors. Well, that didn't go as badly as he expected it to, although he wasn't sure what he was expecting honestly. That was when the gym door flew open and Taekwoon charged in his direction.

Jongin almost expected a right hook at his face but Taekwoon stopped in front of him with curled fists.

“Jongin.”

“Taekwoon.”

“You do realise that I'm very close to giving you a right hook right?” he heard Taekwoon say through gritted teeth. That was when his own temper flared.

“What’s your problem now Taekwoon?”

“Don't be so smug about it. You knew didn't you?” Taekwoon growled, his temper rising at Jongin's indifference.

Jongin snapped “Why the are you losing it? She likes you. They both ing like you. You got the girl and now you're pissed with me about it?”

Taekwoon momentarily froze.

 “What? No YOU got the girl.” he said, gaping at Jongin who frowned at him.

“What are you talking about?” Jongin retorted back. “ You're the one getting all chummy and going to football matches with Ari.”

Taekwoon opened his mouth to retort “Well you...wait what?” as Jongin’s frown turned into a deadpan.

“You literally asked her to a football match, you knew I liked her man.”

“So you pull a move and ask Minah out?” Taekwoon snapped as Jongin stared at him, confused, he had asked Minah to the musical because he knew she liked them and she had been upset about the whole Taekwoon asking Ari to the game business..

“Well, you and Ari were so busy laughing and hugging, I just wanted to make her feel better... hold on STOP you like....Minah?” Jongin knew that Minah liked Taekwoon and that Taekwoon cared for Minah, but there was nothing overt about his friend’s liking of Minah.

“I thought that was obvious.” Taekwoon mumbled, looking at Jongin who looked very puzzled at the moment.

“Not really, think about it, you're not very outright about your interest for her. Especially if you asked Ari out in front of her.”

It was Taekwoon’s turn to be confused this time “I didn't ask her... oh the football game…” he mumbled, looking down as Jongin sighed, crossing his arms, leaning against the corridor wall.

“Ding ding. Congratulations. Took you a while to realize what the implications of what you did are.”

“But, that still doesn't justify what you did.” Taekwoon grumbled as Jongin shifted from his position.

“What, ask Minah to come for something she’s interested in?” he growled, Taekwoon was hurting too many people and it was pissing Jongin off.

Taekwoon stared back at him in silence, knowing that Minah had very explicitly stated that she enjoyed musicals.

“Okay, this needs to stop. You like Minah, I like Ari. But Ari likes you…” Jongin sighed, trying to make the equation straight except Taekwoon gaped at him.

“No she doesn’t; are you crazy?” He held his hand up to prevent the slack-mouthed Jongin from speaking any further.

“You should've seen her face when she found out she wasn't invited to your musical. She forgot all about the fact that she met her favorite player. Because she was upset about you.”

Jongin pursed his lips. “But she was so excited about going to the match with you.”

Taekwoon scoffed, “She'd have probably come for your musical had you asked. Instead you ask Minah and she said yes. She had fun didn't she?”

Of course he was jealous of Jongin swooping in like the damn charismatic man he is and stealing both Ari and Minah’s hearts. Why couldn’t he have laid off Minah?

A silence filled the corridor.

“Taekwoon, we ed up.” Jongin sighed.

Taekwoon crossed his arms and glared at Jongin “Explain. If it's so ed up, what about Minah? Since I’ve made it quite clear that Ari likes you, as does Minah by the looks of it.”

Jongin sighed and looked at Taekwoon as though he were addressing a child.

“Minah likes you Taekwoon, a lot in fact. Talk to her...and actually talk to her. Don't just stand there. I’d better head to my class, I’ll talk to Ari there.” he laughed,relieved as he ducked from Taekwoon’s smack on the back for the indirect comment on his communication skills.

Jongin headed over to the class. He knew he would have to talk to Ari right after. Maybe they could go home together. Pushing the door open, he took a deep breath. He had to do this and hopefully, it would end well.

The atmosphere in the class was a bit lighter when compared to the last few. Jongin actually walked over to Ari a few times and shot her his ever charming smile. He was definitely in a good mood today, thought Ari. At this, she loosened up a bit and returned his smile with her own. She couldn't help but turn red and hot every time he looked at her- which was a lot that day.

Ari headed over to the locker room after class with a smile, she had baked a batch of brownies which she had brought over for Jongin as a congratulatory gift for him. Minah had made it very clear that Jongin was very upset about her agreeing to go with Taekwoon to the match as well as not being able to ask her to the musical. She had also told her that Jongin liked her very much and there was nothing to worry about and had ended her entire speech with “either way, it’s your move.” without giving her time to say anything in response. She had even said the same thing in the morning when Ari had told her she had baked brownies for him before hurrying into the gym, mumbling something about needing to get to the damn court before some ‘er takes over the damn place’. And if anything, the events earlier that day in dance class proved that Minah could be right about Jongin liking her.

Ari enjoyed baking for people very much and she was certain Jongin would like these ones. Maybe this could serve as a peace offering and they could clear up the confusion between them. She went back towards the dance studio with the box of brownies in hand. When she pushed the door open, her smile faded and her cheerfulness was replaced with irritation.

There was Jongin, smiling. But he wasn't smiling at her. He was smiling at another girl. She seemed to be a few years younger than her. It annoyed her that they were the only two people in that room. She knew it. Jongin was probably flirting with her like he did with other girls. She wasn't anything special to him.

She took a breath and stormed away from there and back to the locker room. She needed a distraction. Pulling her phone out, she saw a notification from the Tinder. She took this as a sign from the universe.

A few weeks ago, Ari’s friends at work had been fiddling with her phone and all of a sudden, Ari had a dating app on her phone and absolutely no idea as to what to do with it. After all, Jongin had been showing great signs of interest, at the same time, he kept sending mixed signals every time Taeyong came around, either pulling her away, or ignoring her completely. She stared at the app, tapping it open. It was fun, she found herself scoffing as she swiped left on every person on the list of this app called Tinder watching the pictures load.

Sure, some idiot friend of hers had loaded the app on her phone, but right now this was the only way she could release some of the pent up stress and annoyance she was feeling at that point. She slumped down onto the bench as she opened the app and watched the pictures load as she began methodically swiping left…

Until she saw the one person's face she really wished she didn't see on that app. Jongin’s face flashed back at her causing her jaw to drop down as she grabbed her things from the lockers, and shoved the door open. She walked straight outside, not bothering to change or wait for Jongin to drop her home. She wanted to go home as soon as possible and get acquainted with her wine bottle.

But it would've been too easy for her to go straight home, wouldn't it? She heard Jongin call out to her and walk towards her. He stood there awkwardly as he rubbed his neck- a gesture she grew to love, but now it annoyed her.

“You rushed out of class really soon, are you ready to leave? I mean, we haven’t gone home together in a long while.”  Jongin spun the keys to his car on his index finger as Ari shot him a glare.

“What?” he blinked. Why was she mad? He thought that he could feel the air lighten between them in class, or was that just him?

“Nothing Jongin, I just don't want to get in your way. I bet you're really busy entertaining your new girlfriend. Or girlfriends. I'm not sure which.” She answered, her voice laced with malice.

What was she on about?

“Ari… I don't know what you just said but if I haven't been clear, I don't have a girlfriend and I like YOU. Me, Jongin likes you, Ari. No one else okay? So come on, let me please drop you home”

“You like only me? Then explain this.” Ari shoved her phone screen in his face.

Jongin looked straight at it before turning back to her “It’s a tinder profile.”

“Your tinder profile. What are you doing on Tinder?”

“What people generally do on Tinder?” he grinned, wanting to pull her leg, but Ari was in no mood for it.

“You’re so infuriating!” she said as Jongin blinked back at her as she fumed over the mixed signals he’d been sending her over the last few weeks.

“I’m infuriating?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“Yes you, with your stupid mixed signals is something I can’t deal with.” Ari breathed out and Jongin’s face paled as Ari brushed past him and headed towards the exit as Jongin gaped.

He was confused, for certain about the mixed signals she was talking about. Maybe he was a little annoyed with this whole Taeyong hovering over her business. But what did his Tinder profile which his friends had created for him have to do with any of this? He’d never used the damn thing before anyway. It was then that it occurred to him, if Ari was talking about mixed signals, what on earth was she doing on Tinder?

“It's cool Jongin, I have elsewhere to be.” She said, marching ahead and Jongin pursued her.

“Hold it, you have a Tinder profile too, so why is this such a big deal?” he asked noticing her hands clench into a fist. Wrong move. “I was hoping to have a proper conversation with you.”

The gym door swung open as Minah exited it with her tennis kit on slung on her shoulder. She watched Ari turn around and snap.

“Listen, I’m tired of this . It shouldn't be this complicated. Just leave me be.” She said before storming away as Jongin stood, gaping.

“You deal with that,” Minah quickly said “it appears that you've ed up.” She nudged at Jongin before heading towards the tennis court. If Jongin had any sense he would wait till Ari calmed down and then make any attempts to converse with her.

Minah headed over the the tennis court humming. She heard footsteps behind her and didn’t think much of it. Until of course the footsteps caught up with her and the familiar soft voice called out to her. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to meet Taekwoon’s eyes.

“Oh hey,” she smiled.

“It’s been a while, I didn’t see you in the gym today.”

Taekwoon let out a breath of relief. She was behaving rather normally for someone who Jongin claimed was shocked by him and Ari going out for a match. He looked down at his feet before looking back up, unsure as to what to say to her.

“How was the match?  Did you have fun?” she asked, voice devoid of any malice, yet something felt off. Something felt very formal about it.

“Uh, yeah. It was great,” he replied as she smiled in response making him speechless for a few moments.

“So, you’re not coming for boxing anymore?” he began, unsure as to how to go about it.

“Well, I didn’t want to hamper your workout...and plus I’m playing tennis now,” she grinned, holding up her racket.

“Thank you though, for teaching me, that is.” she said, reaching over to pat his arm.

“You really weren’t hampering anything you know that right?” Taekwoon said as she shot him a weak smile.

“You should consider teaching Ari boxing, she’ll really enjoy it too. She did martial arts for a bit, you guys could bond over that.” she said, looking at the court completely deflecting Taekwoon’s statement. “Either way, I have to get to the court, my doubles partner is waiting for me. I’ll see you around!” she said waving and sprinting away from Taekwoon as he scoffed, not believing what was happening.

“Hold on!” he yelled, causing her to pivot halfway through her sprint and look at him. Something about that moment made Taekwoon want to burn it into his memory forever. She smiled at him weakly.

“Yeah?”

“Could I watch your match?” he said, mentally cursing his inability to communicate only to see her shrug and walk ahead.

“If you want to.”

Taekwoon hurried ahead to catch up with her and unlike her usual self which tried making conversation, she looked ahead at the path leading to the tennis courts, sighing. Taekwoon wasn’t sure as to what to make of this behaviour since she was neither ignoring him nor was she making any indication of being involved in conversation with him. There was this strong tension growing between them, almost like a wall.

“Are you nervous?” He asked as she laughed, shaking her head.

“No, not really. It’s a friendly match,” she replied, nonchalantly.

With every word she said, the wall between the two seemed to be building itself higher even if Taekwoon was trying hard to clamber over it.

Minah had resigned to her fate of having men she liked fall in love with her friends, and she knew this was no different. Thus she did what she thought was best - distance herself from Taekwoon so that he could pursue Ari fairly without Minah being in the way.

“I want to watch you play though.” Taekwoon mumbled.

“And see the one thing I’m vaguely good at oh sports prodigy?” Minah chuckled as they reached the tennis court. Taekwoon watched her pull her racket out of its protective cover, shoot him a short smile before heading towards the court and joining her doubles partner.

Taekwoon watched her on the tennis court; speeding, swerving, smashing the ball across  and over the net. He could see that adrenaline driven smile in its full-blown form as she joyfully sped around the court in coordination with her partner. Why hadn’t he seen this side of her though? He had seen glimpses of it, but never such sheer joy and happiness. There was something about it that made him want to just watch it forever.

The match ended with Minah and her partner winning by a point and Taekwoon thought it odd that he felt so ridiculously proud of her. She jogged out of the court to grab at the towel sitting on the bench next to Taekwoon. The smile hadn’t left her face as she grinned at him and he nodded before taking a deep breath.

“I like you. A lot.”

He watched her freeze before wiping her face with her towel and sighing, dropping the fabric back on the bench.

“I’m glad to hear that the feelings are mutual. But…”

“I know I asked Ari out to the match, but that was because she said she was interested in it.”

“But Taekwoon. Here’s the thing. Right now, I’m not sure what I feel and you’ve just been giving me a lot of mixed signals and it’s only made me realize how little we know or understand each other. So...right now, I just want to give all of this some time and not jump to anything.”

She looked him straight in the eye as he stared back at her, shocked. This was such a strange turn of events. He looked down, attempting to process what had just been said only to feel her hand smooth over his head.

“Just to set the record straight. I do like you and am attracted to you, not Jongin if that’s what you’re wondering. But I don’t want this to be hasty or messy...and I can’t say much about your liking me...it’s probably a trust issue thing. I hope you understand.” she mumbled, trying not to blush as she admitted her liking for him, but there was a fear in her that needed to be broken and she wasn’t sure if Taekwoon was interested enough to do so.

But he was and he was going to prove it to her.