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Chapter 12

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Woohyun was out in the soccer field, alone - which was a very rare scene since Nam Woohyun do not usually go solo. He was running and tackling the soccer ball between his feet all by himself. For the nth time, he was not able to get ahold of the ball and he became even more frustrated. 

 

“Yah! Nam Woohyun!” A deep voice stormed from behind, “Get out of the court, it’s almost 7PM, why are you still here?” 

 

Woohyun gave the ball a final kick before he turned around, only to see his coach standing behind him. He bowed and then left the field without saying anything. Truth was, he was frustrated. Sora did not want to talk to him since they were caught earlier by Minjoo. He had tried finding Minjoo but it was as if she knew where to hide away from Woohyun. 

 

“Woohyun,” he heard the voice he had been wanting to hear all day from behind and immediately turned his body. Sora had been avoiding him throughout the rest of the day, not picking up his calls and everything - but now she was there, standing in front of the school gate at this time.

 

“It’s dark already,” his voice filled with concern as he immediately walked to her, “Why are you still here? Did you wait for me?” 

 

Sora looked at the ground and nodded weakly, “I’m sorry.” 

 

“For what? You should have just picked up my calls,” Woohyun nagged and took Sora’s hand softly before they walked back home together, “I wouldn’t stay this late if I knew you were waiting for me.” 

 

Sora looked at him and gave a small smile, “I’m just… I’m really scared,” she said and paused for three seconds before she continued in a quiet voice, “I’m scared they are going to take away my scholarship.” 

 

Woohyun felt himself tensing upon hearing the new information, but he tried to stay calm as much as possible. Sora sighed, “So yes, I can’t go to school and be here if the school is not paying for me.” 

 

The male kept quiet - partly to make sure that he wouldn’t blurt out something stupid in times like this, but he finally opened his mouth, “I’m sorry, Sora,” he said, “I know I can’t promise you that Minjoo will stay quiet, but I’ll promise you to try my best to fix this.” 

 

“Fix what?” Sora sighed as she felt her eyes becoming hotter, she was not sure if she should be pissed with her situation right then because she knew that it was her fault too, “There’s nothing we can do. Everyone has seen it.” 

 

“W-what are you talking about?” Woohyun stopped his steps abruptly.

 

“You didn’t know?” She stared as him as though Woohyun had horns, “It’s all over SNS, and my account is filled with comments from people and them tagging me. This is stupid.” 

 

It was then that Woohyun realized he had been throwing his tantrum on the soccer balls since the past three hours and being isolated from the world - and now, he didn’t even want to check his phone. Sora sighed and sat on the bench in the bus stop while Woohyun still froze on his spot, not being able to think. Slowly, his hands reached his phone inside his pocket and turned it on. Without delay, it was filled with all kinds of notifications from his social media accounts. He did not even want to open it. 

 

Woohyun sat next to Sora - he was frustrated himself but he had to do something, “I’ll tell them it was me.” 

 

“It was you what?” Sora asked him back, her voice breaking due to the tears that were threatening to fall. 

 

“That I forced you, and that we’re not… together.” He said.

 

Sora turned her head to him, “Are you crazy? That’s like confessing that you’ve done a ual assault,” she said, “You’re not doing that and you’re not taking all the blame.” 

 

Woohyun kept quiet and Sora continued with a quiet voice, “Besides, we’re together.” 

 

The male turned his head to Sora and wrapped his arms around her body, “I like it when you say that,” he couldn’t help but let out a giddy smile despite the unfavorable situation they were in, “It takes moments like this to hear sweet words from you huh, Han Sora?” 

 

Sora turned her head towards him and that was when they realized how close they were. The two laugh, as if they knew what’s coming. Woohyun immediately made his move to press his lips onto Sora’s - this time without being interrupted by anything, even with all the people walking in front of them in the sidewalk, and all the cars passing by them. Sora shook her head and laughed, although she had tears in her eyes, after they broke their kiss away.

 

“Might as well do it right?” Woohyun shrugged. 

 

“Unbelievable, Nam Woohyun,” Sora looked at him into the eye and find herself asking over and over again how she could fall for him, “You know we have to figure something out.” 

 

“Have you watched what she spread?” 

 

Sora shook her head, “Do you want to watch it?” 

 

Woohyun sighed hesitantly, “We’ll have to anyways.” 

 

“Do you want to see it now?” 

 

The male took finally opened his phone and Sora inched closer as they shared the screen together, “I’m curious how good we are.” 

 

Sora hit his arms to which Woohyun chuckled in response. Woohyun sighed before opening a text message from Sungyeol which bombarded him with questions.

 

 What is this? Are you okay? Reply me!!! 

 

Below the text, Sungyeol had attached a video. Woohyun pressed the play button and out of their expectation, the video lasted less than three seconds. Woohyun’s face couldn’t be seen clearly, but everyone who knows him would have been able to recognized that it was indeed Woohyun. Sora only had her back shown in the video, so it was impossible to tell that it was her.  The two of them were standing face to face with each other and even before Woohyun could be seen leaning forward, the video ended. 

 

“What is this?” Woohyun frowned and replayed the video again, “I can’t even see us kissing. This isn’t fun.” 

 

Sora had to hit his arms once more to which Woohyun winced, “Fun? What fun are you talking about? If this goes to the teachers we are doomed.” 

 

Fortunately, it never went to the teachers. The students made a huge deal out of it, and Sora could feel the glances and judging looks from other students whenever she walked in the hallway or cafeteria - but she decided that she shouldn’t mind them. Woohyun was used with all the staring people give him. It was just one of those days where the news about him being with another new girl just spread out; although he wanted to justify that this time, it was different. 

“Did you really get her to make out with you inside the class during our lunch break?” Sungyeol, as expected, was the first one who started interrogating Woohyun as soon as he stepped inside their class. 

 

“No wonder you were gone yesterday,” Sungjong scoffed.

 

Woohyun couldn’t help but let out a nervous smile. He wanted to talk about it, but he wasn’t sure if Sora would like that so he decided to hold himself, “Is it that important?”

 

“For starters, Sora is a prefect and she has been seizing the first rank ever since she moved here,” Nara jumped in and eyed Woohyun suspiciously, “So obviously she isn’t stupid enough to do this, but she did it anyway. Are you using some kind of black magic on her?” 

 

The male sat down on his seat and scoffed with a chuckle, “Black magic,” he repeated, “You know how absurd that sounds right, Nara? Besides, I don’t think I am that bad.” 

 

Nara rolled her eyes, “Of course you don’t think you are that bad, you’re Nam Woohyun.” 

 

“Exactly.” Woohyun flashed her a grin and Nara just gagged before the bell rang and everyone went to their seats.

 

 

 

~*~

 

It was a scorching Thursday, and Woohyun and Sora were on their way back home along with Sunggyu and Nara when they decided to stop by the neighborhood convenience store to get ice creams. 

 

“What do you want, my sweet Han Sora?” Woohyun teasingly asked Sora who was scanning the ice cream fridge. 

 

“Stop it,” Sora glared at him, and then looked at the variety of flavors in front of her, “I’ll get the strawberry one. Which one do you want?” 

 

“Vanilla,” Woohyun opened the fridge and took a strawberry and vanilla flavored ice cream before turning to Sunggyu and Nara, “Do you know what you guys want?” 

 

“Can you take the matcha one for this brat and a chocolate one for me?” Sunggyu answered from behind. 

 

“Who are you calling brat?!” Nara hit his arm.

 

“I don’t have to answer that,” Sunggyu said and took his ice cream from Woohyun. 

 

Nara got her matcha ice cream from Woohyun too and she and Sunggyu went to the cashier. Sora wanted to take hers as well but Woohyun insisted that he pay for her. 

 

“I don’t want you to pay for everything,” Sora told him and grabbed both the vanilla and strawberry ice cream from Woohyun before handing it to the girl behind the register, “It’s on me this time.” 

 

Woohyun chuckled and gave Sora a hug from the side before saying in an overly made up cute voice, “Sora is getting me ice cream!” 

 

“Woohyun, stop it,” Sora had to glare at her boyfriend again for him to drop his childish act. 

 

“You’ll get used to it, Sora,” Sunggyu told her as he unwrapped his ice cream, “He gets even more clingy.” 

 

Woohyun just laughed, “She is probably used to it.” 

 

Sora let out a made up sigh as they went out of the minimart and continued their way back home, “I have to cope up with this, huh?” 

 

Woohyun took Sora’s hand, “Of course, consider yourself lucky.” 

 

The four of them soon parted ways with Sunggyu and Nara going walking back to their apartment and Woohyun along with Sora going down to the subway station. 

 

“There’s a soccer match that I’m playing on Saturday,” Woohyun told the female beside him as they waited for the train, breaking the silence which had been between them for the last two minutes, “I was wondering if you want to come and watch.” 

 

Sora turned her head to him with a frown, “You’re talking in a really formal way to me right now,” she found it rather adorable honestly, “Why?” 

 

Woohyun rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, “I don’t honestly know if I want you to watch me,” he said and quickly added, “But I don’t know - I also want you to see me play soccer but if you don’t like being in the crowd and it’s too much-“ 

 

“I’ll come,” Sora cut him with a smile, “I’ll watch you on Saturday.” 

 

 “Really?” Woohyun looked sincerely surprised, “You’ll come?” 

 

Sora nodded as a matter of factly, “Of course,” she said and then added in a quiet, shy tone, “I should be Nam Woohyun’s number one fan and cheer for him, right?” 

 

Woohyun stared at her blankly for a couple of seconds, his brain still not believing what he heard, before he bursted into laughter and Sora had to look away in embarrassment. Woohyun immediately pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her affectionately. 

 

“Of course, you should be my number one fan,” Woohyun said, “You’re getting infected by me, huh?”  

 

“This one stays only between us.” Sora warned him and Woohyun just laughed again with a nod. 

 

~*~

 

When Saturday finally came, Sora was highly nervous. She felt grateful that Raina would be there too, cheering for Howon, obviously. If it wasn’t apparent enough, Sora hated loud and crowded places and she had a hard time looking for Raina, but she finally saw her on the second row of the bleachers.

 

“I didn’t know the soccer game is a big thing here,” Sora said as she sat next to Raina. 

 

“Of course it is,” Raina replied, half shouting due to the noisy audience, “That’s why Woohyun is so famous too, everyone knows him from soccer.” 

 

Sora only smiled, feeling half proud and half anxious. The game didn’t begin until fifteen minutes later and the school’s football field was fully packed by then. Their school was having a friendly match with another school from Incheon, which was known to be highly competitive. Sora had never been to a real life soccer match before, but she was pretty sure that it was going to be exciting. 

 

As both teams entered the soccer field, the crowd cheered even louder. Sora was amazed with everything, including how serious Woohyun looked once she spotted him. He was wearing the school’s white soccer uniform, just like his team mates, but Sora had no idea why he looked really dashing. The referee called out the two team captains and Woohyun represented his team. After a short dialogue with the referee and the opposing team captain, Woohyun jogged back to his team. As soon as everyone took their positions on the field, the referee blew his whistle and the game officially begun. 

 

Sora had her eyes on Woohyun the whole time, while the latter had his eyes on the soccer ball. She was partially surprised to see how serious Woohyun could be in the game - it even looked as if his life depended on it. It didn’t take long before Woohyun had control of the ball and scored the first goal. The whole school cheered and Raina who was beside her shook Sora’s shoulder.

 

“Did you see that?!” She shrieked with excitement, “That’s why every girl is dying to date him even though he’s known as a playboy.” 

 

Sora didn’t know if she should feel happy but she clapped her hand anyways, still having her gaze fixated on Woohyun. Howon and a few of their team mates ran towards Woohyun and gave him a hug. The latter looked more than excited and after the cheer died down, Sora saw  Woohyun’s gaze averting in every direction of the stadium. He was probably searching for her. When the game resumed again, Howon got hold of the soccer ball easily from the opponent team and passed it down to Woohyun. Woohyun continued running while tackling the ball with his agile feet but somehow one of the lanky males from the Incheon team managed to snatch the ball away from him. Sora was unconsciously enjoying the game and winced when she saw how the opponent team almost scored a goal. 

 

“Woohyun! Ball on your right!” One of the players from their school, whom Sora identified as Jae Seok shouted as he kicked the ball from across the field towards Woohyun, who was scanning the audience cluelessly. 

If he wasn’t zoning out, he would’ve dodged the ball with his head easily and passed it down to Howon who was waiting right in front of the goalpost. But Woohyun it was too late when Woohyun broke out of his reverie and the ball hit him right on his forehead. He fell back, enduring the pang and the referee immediately blew his whistle for an emergency break. Chatters and murmurs of concern filled the stadium. It looked pretty severe. 

 

Sora who witnessed the whole scene felt her heart sank with worry, “That idiot.” She muttered. 

 

Raina threw Sora a weird look and only shook her head as she diverted her gaze back on the scene in the middle of the field. A few of the paramedics crew came to check on him, but to everyone’s relief, Woohyun was able to stand on his own. Sora swore she could even see him winking at her direction before Howon helped him exit the field. 

 

“Did he just… winked at you?” Raina leaned closer to Sora with a frown on her face.

 

Sora sighed, “I told you, he’s an idiot.” 

 

“So you fell in love with an idiot,” Raina returned and Sora rolled her eyes although she had to admit that it was partly true. 

 

The game continued after everyone settled down. Woohyun was resting on the side benches which faced the bleachers, pressing a cold pack against his forehead. Sora could see him clearly as they were almost exactly across each other. Woohyun looked perfectly fine after several minutes into the game and his face lightened even more as he spotted Sora and started throwing subtle, flirty actions at her - like how he made tiny hearts with his fingers. 

 

“Oh gosh,” Sora shook her head in embarrassment but she chuckled quietly. 

 

The game ended with a tie, and the crowd soon left the field, most of them filled with disappointment and talking how it was a shame that their school didn’t win the match. Woohyun, along with Howon, ran to the bleachers where Sora and Raina were waiting for them. 

 

“I was really cool down there, right?” Woohyun boasted as he sat down next to Sora. 

 

“If your definition of cool is making the everyone panic, yes you were really cool,” Howon retorted and Woohyun laughed. 

 

Sora stared at the male beside her and shook her head as she examined his forehead, “You look like an idiot,” she said, “And look how red your forehead is right now. Are you really okay?” 

 

Woohyun rubbed the spot where the ball had hit him and let out a made up wince, “Oh yeah, it really hurts,” he said and leaned in closer, “I think it needs a kiss from you so it won’t be as painful.” 

 

Sora let out a sarcastic laugh and pushed him away softly, “Hm, keep on dreaming, Woohyun.” 

 

Woohyun laughed again and hugged Sora, “You were worried right?” 

 

“Oh my goodness,” Sora tried pushing him again weakly to no avail, “You’re filled with sweat and you’re hugging me.” 

 

“I missed you,” Woohyun hugged her even tighter. 

 

“Yah, keep it to yourselves,” Howon whined watching Woohyun displaying all that PDAs. 

 

“Okay, let’s go before we end up seeing things we don’t want to,” Raina stood up, “Me and Howon are planning to go to the arcade after this, do you guys want to come too?”

 

“Ailee and Dongwoo’s coming with us too, if you don’t mind.” Howon added as he took off his clothes and changed casually in front of them. 

 

Woohyun did the same and Sora tried to avert her gaze somewhere else, but she couldn’t help and ended up staring at Woohyun’s back. 

 

“Of course, we can go, if Woohyun’s feeling good,” Sora replied, still quietly appreciating Woohyun’s subtle muscle.

 

Once he finished changing into his black V-neck shirt, Woohyun turned his body around and Sora immediately directed her gaze to Raina, “I’m hungry though, do you guys want to get food first?” 

 

Raina nodded, “Yeah I’m hungry too, we should get the spicy rice cakes there,” 

 

“Oh, I like this triple date idea,” Woohyun said excitedly and dumped his used soccer uniform in his backpack and then hugging Sora tightly again from the back, “Let’s go then!” 

 

“Woohyun, we met yesterday,” Sora whined, “You’re being so clingy today,” 

 

The male laughed before releasing his hug as the four of them walked to the arcade. 

 

~*~

 

When the couples had filled themselves with the rice cakes, the six of them, including Dongwoo and Ailee who just joined them, decided to play the arcade games. Howon being the competitive one suggested the punching game.

 

“He knows he’s going to get the highest among all of us, that’s why he chose that,” Dongwoo commented with a laugh. 

 

Woohyun nodded, “Raina knows your skill,” he joked and pat Howon’s shoulder, “You don’t have to show it off to her.” 

 

“Don’t tell me you guys are scared,” Howon challenged which apparently rose Dongwoo’s and Woohyun’s competitive side as well. 

 

Howon was the one who went first. He took his position in front of the punching machine where there was a fist shaped rubber which stood in a vertical position. The male took his aim and hit right on the center of the target. The others didn’t even bother looking at the score because they knew he would be the highest amongst the other two males. 

 

Woohyun let out a nervous laugh, “Excuse me,” he patted Howon’s back, “Are you trying to embarrass us in front of our girlfriends?” 

 

The rest of the group laughed and Sora squeezed Woohyun’s hand to boost his surprisingly low confidence at that moment. 

 

“Do you want to go first, Dongwoo?” Woohyun offered. 

 

Dongwoo didn’t look so confident as well, but he chuckled with a nod, “I guess I’m going to go now.” 

 

With a strong punch, Dongwoo managed to, out of everyone’s expectations, surpassed, Howon’s score. He yelled with his gush of excitement loudly and high fived Ailee who was watching him proudly. 

 

“Your turn, Woohyun,” Raina said with excitement as Woohyun made his way to the center, right in front of the machine. 

 

Sora swore it was probably the first time she could pick up a hint of nervousness from the usually conceited Woohyun. The male his lips and sighed before aiming and giving his all to punch the target. The moment his punch hit the rubber fist, everyone bursted into laughter. 

 

“Do you want to see your score, Woohyun?” Ailee teased.

 

Woohyun was also laughing in embarrassment as he went to Sora and took her hand again, “Okay, let’s just go.” 

 

“Eyy, that was too weak,” Howon said still laughing. 

 

Sora pat Woohyun’s back as the group went around to look for other games they could play, and with an encouraging smile she said, “You did great.” 

 

Woohyun laughed shyly, “That was really bad, what are you talking about?” 

 

“You’re denying my compliment?” Sora asked him back.

 

“Right,” Woohyun said, “It takes a lot for me to get one compliment for you, huh, Sora?” 

 

Sora nodded with a grin, “You should appreciate that.” 

 

The six of them roamed around and they ended up playing several games together before they decided to call it a night. Woohyun was the first one who told the group he was feeling tired because of the soccer game earlier, but in all honesty, it was because he watched Sora starting to get less excited and thought that she was probably exhausted as well. They all soon parted and Woohyun insisted on taking Sora back home since it was pretty late. 

 

“Honestly, I felt really bad today,” Woohyun said in a rather solemn tone, as they were walking down the street, which was surprisingly still crowded.

 

“Why?” Sora replied swaying her hand that was intertwined with Woohyun’s. 

 

“I didn’t get to do all the cool things I wanted you to see,” he said, half pouting, “Like I wanted you to be proud of me as your boyfriend and the ball just had to hit me straight on my face.” 

 

Sora stopped her steps and laughed lightly. The two of them faced each other and Sora sighed as she gazed at Woohyun in the eye, “Am I not proud of you right now?” 

 

Woohyun averted his gaze down, “Well… no,” he answered quietly, “I know I look as if I don’t care - But all of my friends were wondering about how it was impossible for me to end up with you and so I kept thinking if I can keep up with you-“ 

 

“Woohyun,” Sora cut him off, “I told you I really like you. I know myself and if I think that we don’t match, I wouldn’t have made the decision to be with you.” 

 

Woohyun sighed, “Tell me honestly, Sora,” he said as he slowly stared her back in the eye, “Do I annoy you? Am I being a good boyfriend?” 

 

“Geez Woohyun,” Sora chuckled, “You don’t even have to ask that. But if you really want to hear it from me - yes, you are a good boyfriend. And I shall be proud to call myself Nam Woohyun’s number one fan no matter what.” 

 

Woohyun’s face lit up and he laughed along with Sora. He pulled her into a deep embrace, “Thank you Sora,” he said and kissed her forehead, “I think my period is coming.” 

 

Sora laughed, “You’re the sentimental type apparently.” 

 

The two continued walking back to Sora’s place in a more pleasant mood which felt really fast. 

 

“Go back home safely,” Sora told Woohyun as she fiddled with the lock on her front gate, “Thank you for walking me back.” 

 

Woohyun didn’t look like he was going to go back home anytime soon, “I think you’re forgetting something, Han Sora,” he said with a grin. 

 

Sora gave him a look but she finally got on her tip toes and kissed his cheeks, “Now, go home and rest,” she said, “Make sure you take care of that forehead.” 

 

Woohyun, on the other hand, didn’t look satisfied as he muttered under his breath but he was sure it was loud enough for Sora to hear, “I don’t remember my lips being there.” 

 

Sora threw him another look which shouted unbelievable, “You’re starting to ask for things now, huh?” 

 

Woohyun nodded sheepishly. But at least he got what he wanted as Sora gave him a quick peck on his lips. Just as they broke their kiss, they were both blinded by a strong glare of light which seemed to be coming from a car’s headlight. Sora cursed under her breath. She knew what was coming. The car engine died and she could hear the door from the passenger side open, followed by the click of heels against the asphalt. 

 

“Sora?” A woman’s voice broke the silence. 

 

Woohyun looked more than terrified, while Sora seemed to be more on the pissed spectrum. The latter turned her body around, only to find the last person she wanted to meet. 

 

“I’ll call Joonhyuk to meet you,” Sora said with a hostile tone and turned to Woohyun, “You should really go home, it’s late.” 

 

“Wait, who is this?” The woman walked closer to the couple and Sora sighed as she saw the elder woman reached out her hand to Woohyun. 

 

“I’m Nam Woohyun,” Woohyun shook her hand and bowed politely.

 

“Nice to meet you, Woohyun,” the woman flashed a kind smile, “I’m Lee Minseo, Sora’s mom.” 

 

~*~