Sohyun stared blankly at the field in front of her. Its been almost a month since her birthday and she had not still gotten over Seungho. Especially since he told her that he missed her. It shook her up and reminded herself of how much she missed him too. She had tried to avoid seeing him as much as possible, and that has been quite successful. She suspected that Seungho was also similarly making efforts for their paths not to cross. There were several times when she caught him staring at her, but he would quickly look away.

Last week, he joined the team’s dinner after practice. He sat far away from her. During dinner, he told everyone he was paying for the dinner as an apology for giving them a hard time. When he spoke, his eyes strayed towards her before it quickly shifted elsewhere. But later, Sohyun caught him staring intently at her from his far end, his eyes inscrutable.

When she was alone, she often thought of him; remembering the good times they had together, how much she enjoyed his company and how grateful she was for the comfort he had provided her. But at the end of those beautiful memories, she would be reminded of the hurtful words that he had uttered which still hurt her deeply.

Yoojung had advised her to casually date, and get to know others. This might make her realize that other guys could give her the same comfort and happiness that Seungho had. It might also make it easier for her to move on from him. Sohyun had considered it but concluded that it was too soon and she didn’t want to play around with someone’s else feelings.

“Hi,” Soonho greeted her. Sohyun turned and smiled at him. They were meeting to discuss the final plans for the booth and she had requested for the discussion to be held at the bench near the school field instead of the meeting room where others, including Seungho would be.

After a couple of hours, they completed their discussion. While Sohyun packed her bag, Soonho told her that Bogum offered to help out with the booth, since Soonho has to tend to the games. Sohyun shook her head. Bogum had tried to get closer to her recently since he knew she was not together with Seungho. She had no special feelings for Bogum and did not want to encourage anything. “I just need the set up to be completed and then you can go to the field for the games. After that, there isn’t much to do.” Soonho nodded.

The morning of the Anniversary event, there were a lot of chatters and excitement at the booth. Sohyun and Soonho with the help of a few others, set up the booth beautifully. Just before the event started, most of them left to go to the field for the games section. Sohyun was alone minding the booth. She spoke to visitors to explain about the soccer team and cheerleaders’ activities.

Seungho came to the booth with the VIP guests. He introduced Sohyun and then proceeded to do his introduction to the various activities, pointing out the trophies and the various photos. He left shortly, leaving Sohyun alone again.

Sohyun was patiently attending to a group of guys who stayed at their booth for more than 10 minutes, peppering her with questions, some about the soccer team, some on the cheerleaders and intermittently on her personally. She felt harassed but kept her cool as she did her best to rebuff them.

Seungho was walking towards the field when he glanced at their booth. Seeing a group of guys surrounding it, he approached it cautiously, not wanting Sohyun to think that he came by because he was jealous. He just wanted to ensure that she was alright.

From the back, he saw that her face was red and although she tried to smile, Seungho could see that she was annoyed. The guys were bothering her with all sorts of nonsensical questions. He weaved himself through the guys and stood beside her. Unconsciously, Sohyun took a step back behind Seungho, which almost make the corner of his lips curled into a smile.

“Hi. you guys seem to have a lot of questions. Can I help you? I’m the Captain of the Soccer team,” he introduced himself in a friendly tone. The guys’ attention flickered from Sohyun to Seungho and back to Sohyun before one of them replied. “Nah, we are good. Sohyun-ssi has been very helpful. Sohyun-ssi, bye, see you around,” and the guys left.

Seungho turned to Sohyun, “Are you ok?” She nodded. “Thanks. They didn’t do anything, except being a nuisance. But I was getting quite annoyed. So thank you for getting rid of them,” she said calmly without looking at him.

“Hmm… Is it too difficult to look at me when you say thank you?” Seungho wondered loudly.

Sohyun snapped her head towards him, her face red with embarrassment. His eyes twinkled in amusement.

“Sorry. That was rude. Thank you,” she said sheepishly. Seungho gave her a warm smile.

Seungho went to the table and started working on some documents. Sohyun stood rooted observing him for a couple of minutes before she asked. “Are you staying here?”

He turned towards her. “I have some paperwork to do. I’d planned to do it on the field while watching the games. But I’ve decided you probably need an . I’ll sit here quietly and wouldn’t disturb you. Unless you rather I go.” He stared at her, waiting for her reply.

Sohyun stared at him. It would be better for someone to stay with her but him, of all persons. Its unfortunate her good friends were either not at the event or involved in the games. And the rest of the cheerleaders and soccer players preferred to watch the games which were more exciting than minding the booth, answering the same questions. Sohyun nodded and went to the opposite end of the booth.

She was looking around mindlessly when she noticed that the décor on the backdrop was falling off. It was quite high and she could not reach it.  She glanced at Seungho who was concentrating on his work. Deciding to do it herself, she put the stool below the area and climbed up. She could just about reach the strayed decor when she stretched her arm.

With her attention fully focussed on fixing the décor, she tiptoed slightly. The stool wobbled and her body started to sway. Sohyun shrieked as she tried to steady herself but after several seconds, she lost her balance and fell. Instead of the hard thud on the ground, she fell into Seungho’s arms. He had immediately rushed over when she shrieked.

Her face flushed when she realized she was in his arms. She could feel the warmth from his body, the hardness of his chest and the strength of his arms. She could smell his manly scent. Even she could feel his heart thuds against her own. She raised her eyes towards him. Looking concern, Seungho asked if she is ok. She nodded shyly. “You can put me down.”

After his concern for her wellbeing is assuaged, Seungho was still reluctant to let her go. It’s been a long time since they’ve been this close. Having her in his arms was heavenly to him. Her soft body and her sweet smell. He stared at her intently before his eyes, strayed from her eyes to her lips. He tightened his hold on her. Sohyun had bitten her lips in nervousness which tempted Seungho to have a taste and feel of the lips again.

“Seungho,” she whispered. He raised his eyes slowly towards hers. “Please let me down,” she spoke nervously. She could not look directly into his eyes. He realized that she had repeated her request and he reluctantly put her down. Immediately, she scooted away from him, and then, looking directly at him, she thanked him again for saving her. Their eyes locked for a minute, tension filled the air before Seungho inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment. He went back to his desk and continued his work.  Both of them did not speak to each other for the rest of the day.

The following week, Sohyun still could not forget what happened at the booth. Her heart started beating wildly whenever she caught a glance of him and when he caught her eyes, her face would crimson.  Yoojung noticed that Sohyun was being skittish and her face would flush for no reason. She pulled her to one side after a training session.

“What wrong with you?” Yoojung asked. Sohyun bit her lips and told her about the incident and how she felt being held in his arms. “At the back of my mind, I wished he had kissed me then,” she admitted guiltily. “I don’t think I will ever get over him. I’m hopeless!”

Yoojung gazed at her friend. She knew her best friend would have a difficult time letting go. She was someone who didn’t fall or like someone easily, so it was expected that when she does, it would be hard for her to get rid of the feeling. Yoojung didn’t know how to help her friend.

“Are you going back to him?” Yoojung suddenly asked. Sohyun widened her eyes and shook her head vigorously. “No!” she nearly shouted. “I’m not doing that stupid kind of friendship anymore.” She paused. Then with a cheeky smile, she continued, “Just that, it seems I am unlikely to have a boyfriend by the time I leave Uni,” she said in a joking way, reminding Yoojung the promise she made on the first day of school.  Yoojung grinned. “Well, ok. I let you off this time because I know you did make an effort.” The girls then stared at each other, the laughter in their eyes turned solemn and they hugged each other, one giving comfort to