Taekwoon’s practice match was the turning point which turned out to be just what all of the people surrounding you intended to happen, by planning and pushing you into it in the first place but you’ve long since forgave them for it. Especially with a new trip at the end of the month to visit Hyuk now made official. Something you were very much looking forward to since you’ve missed him and his power to overtake his older friends. And with Hyuk’s military training now under his belt, he would be a force to reckon with when he was discharged.

Your phone beeped and you pulled the offending device from your jacket. You were in your school’s main library and going over the term paper for one of your classes. You were satisfyingly done with the cursed group project only to find out there would be a group term paper due but thankfully with different members. You didn’t like this professor’s teaching style just because of how forceful he was with the importance of group dynamics which was perfectly understandable from an encouragement to social interactions. Except you hated groups for that very reason.

Thankfully, this time the professor put you in an all-girls group. So, at most, you would only have to deal with girls who may be catty and give you underhanded comments during the meeting simply to disparage you and whatever reputation you already had. Other times, they would procrastinate until the very last minute and start pointing fingers once problems would creep up. But luckily, one of the girls was more of the bossy type and assigned roles and responsibilities to each girl.

You were fine with it all except that one of the other girls was bossy in a different way and was too pushy with you. She had the gall to ask for your number straight out without knowing your name with the comment of: “I’m trusting you to hook me up with the best looking guys.” Of course, you did not relent in her pursuit to use you to get guys’ attention which became very evident when she giggled for no reason when a group of guys walked by your table on your first ever meeting with the three girls. She was on the constant look out for guys who apparently noticed you and the other girls. You were having none of that kind of false pretenses. You openly sneered at her attention seeking ways but unfortunately for you, she was also the oblivious type.

She had been very persistent and insistent those first few meetings much to your chagrin. The other two girls had immediately distanced themselves from the problem and instead focused on the paper to get it done as soon as possible. Finding that as a form of mercy, you also endeavored to finish your part and resent the future meetings just because of that one girl. You were not at all surprised at their decision to be impartial to this problem of yours as you would easily do the same if anyone else were in your position. But it was just your luck you had such two troublesome group members in the same class consecutively only the difference in their genders being the large stand out with the two. The only upside was that you didn’t have to deal with the ual harassment from any of the girls.

Unlike the jerk in your group before, this girl had no qualms making a scene when your refusals to have anything to do with her built up. She was entirely theatrical and turned it into accusing you for using her for attention. You were just about to admit it and get it over with when the same jerk from before came to your ‘rescue.’ And then it only escalated from there.

You seriously did not understand how a person quiet like you somehow found yourself in such situations so often. It was absurd.

Jimri found pleasure in the whole fiasco as was customary with her and her averred gratification when such drama infiltrated your life. She still bought you your favorite street snacks as a result which was the only good thing to come out of it. That and you got the term paper done in quick succession too.

That was on one side of your life. The other side had surprises of its own. One and above all for obvious reasons, Taekwoon texted you a good night text one random night. Two, N had girls lining up to date him. Three, Hyuk was begging you to dress in as baggy clothes as possible when you came to visit him and also begged you to be as ugly as you ever have in your whole existence. Four, Ravi and Hongbin wanted you to send pictures of yourself to them in a very sketchy way. And five, Ken was Ken.

“Hey, Mikyungie,” he nudged you to get your attention from staring blankly at your fried rice. “How about that guy over there?”

Without looking, you shook your head.

“Mikyungie! You didn’t even look,” he accused.

When your pointed look did not change his expression, you very reluctantly snuck a peek at said ‘prospect.’ You didn’t know when this became a thing with the two of you. Though, you suspected it might have begun when a girl approached you both at a restaurant and Ken was blustering his way through the conversation while she completely ignored you and asked for his number. That was when your signals with each other didn’t cross very well and so you acted like a girlfriend to him and scared her away which was entirely to Ken’s dismay.

From then on, he had his form of getting back at you by doing the opposite and trying to set you up with whatever guy is within a certain vicinity of wherever you are. He especially liked to stress that you two were only friends on your outings. This was particularly annoying and made you not look forward to your time with him. But almost similar to a child on visitation rights, you mostly had no choice but to go through with the obligated Friday afternoon and evenings with Ken.

Your Thursday evenings with N were rather similar as your time with Ken in which he made it obvious you two were only friends and that only he was available. If anything, you were the one to draw people’s eyes for the two of them and more than likely they lingered on you before whoever was in your company drew attention next. You weren’t even lying even though you really wish you were. It was on a Saturday night that this process was very openly discussed between them right in front of you. A part of you was insulted by their discussion while the rest of you was busy ignoring them.

It was in this way that the changes the military life has affected them. They were strategizing and considering all that were available to them and utilizing them. Which just so happened to be you and your curse of attractiveness. They described it as your ‘alluring impassiveness’ and ‘tempting innocence.’ It was beyond your understanding but so long as no harm was being done to you or them except maybe your mild irritation, then you would allow them to do whatever it is they’re doing. But no double dates, triple dates or what else they had in mind. You weren’t about to subject yourself to such misery.

Just considering it gave you the shivers. You were more than fine being the third, fifth, seventh wheel for your outings so long as you didn’t have to deal with some guy. It was what you very deliberately stated to Nunji when she tried to set you up with Hwangin’s friend once again. There was nothing in it for you. Especially with a certain saved message lodged in your phone.

Jung freaking Taekwoon was also infringing on his boundaries at times. The whole ‘good night’ text had caused your whole night to go wacky due to the suddenness of the ordeal. And how the heck did he get your number? Oh. You gave it to him. Stupid Japan had given you a lot of time to consider things and when he gave you his direct phone number, you thought nothing of it at the time. What good was it if you had it? There was hardly anything to prompt you to ever directly contact him so long as you had N and Ken in the flesh. But none of that mattered to him. In fact, he was more than moody when he had demanded your phone in Japan so he could add himself into your contacts. Of course you had put up a fight when he had tried to secure your phone and thanks to his freakishly long arms, he got away with it. But let it just be known that you did your best to keep your phone away from him until you dropped it when he had locked you in his arms.

You shivered again just remembering this incident. You remembered getting the message and deciding to delete it but something prevented you from doing such a thing. Whatever it was, it gave you the power to open the message and the bottle of water you were holding in your other hand escaped your grasp. With your newly freed hand, you brought the screen closer to your face to discern whether he actually texted you or not. Before you knew it, you closed the messenger and powered off your phone.

It wasn’t until tomorrow did you turn it on but you didn’t dare to open your messenger again. And so, your messages accumulated into the twenties before Jimri called you and asked you to meet up at the café.

“So…” Jimri eyed you cautiously.

You held back the sigh building in your chest but gave her a blank look which she returned with a nervous smile.

“Mikyungie…” she trailed off again to your annoyance. You were now more than a little nervous about what she was hesitating to say. “Did you practice your serves?”

Your eyebrows shot up before they lowered to form a frown. With pursed lips you resolutely shook your head.

She must have already detected your reluctance as she grabbed your arms and almost shook you. “This tournament is for a good cause, Mikyungie. I’m pretty sure it’s a fundraiser for an orphanage and it shouldn’t be too much for an entry free if we all split it up.”

Your scrutinized her from her expression to her body language. Both of which did not debase any of your suspicions. “All?”

She ignored your question which did not at all help her case. “And the tournament is split between two sides for both a male and female bracket. There’s also a losers bracket to the tournament so we have double the chance to win the thing for the grand prize money as well as other accompanying prizes. The gift cards in particular are great.”

Jimri smiled demurely at you and your suspicions were raised. You didn’t know why you were always suspicious of her motives but more than once you were very much justified to think such a way. “No.”

Her shoulders slumped before her back straightened with resolve. “Okay. If that’s your decision.” She then shrugged off your denial and moved on to the next subject of how her latest class was going. If anything, this only made you wary.

It was upon exiting the usual café did she gave you a smile with a twinkle in her eye. “Kyungie, when were you guys going to be leaving for Busan?”

“At the end of the month.”

She nodded. “Great. So we have the time to plan our time to head down to the beach?”

You shook your head. “Mieun’s birthday.”

“Her birthday is already coming up?” she smiled. “Sorry that it slipped my mind.”

You both shared a smile at the prospective birthday party extravaganza but with the barest touch of worry on your part. Ever since her very first birthday party, each consecutive party had been a massive hit with your relatives. It was something Nunji specifically took pride in because of the many requests that she take up party planning just because of each success. Unfortunately, this gave her a bigger head than normal and it was the months leading up to Mieun’s birthday that took a toll on you just because you were Mieun’s aunt and you had duties designated as such. It was only your love for your precious niece that you put up with your obnoxious sister this time of year.

Jimri and you exited the café during this time. She chattered on about something going on with Yoohyuk that for the life of you wasn’t very interesting or informative usefully. Seeing that she lost your attention completely, Jimri laughed and that drew another smile from you.

 

~~~~~

When you found yourself on the court once again, it was of no coincidence. You smacked the ball into the floor hard enough that it bounced back upwards just over your head before it made its decent in which you repeated the action again. If you smacked it with just the right amount of force along with the right angle and a perfectly timed jump, you could do an almost impressive serve in one smooth motion. But this was not something you felt like doing right at that moment.

As you hit the ball once again, the sound reverberated throughout the empty gym you chose for that very reason. It was in this particular choice of solitary positioning did you enjoy the most about volleyball although winning games was a close runner up. But regardless of the adrenaline that you endured in a number of matches, the cohesion of the volleyball hitting the court with a resounding thud often reminded you of a heartbeat, a rather irregular and sometimes stagnant heartbeat but a heartbeat nonetheless. There often were stutters in the pattern in which it only became more apparent in a game as the ball coasted on both sides of the net at varying speeds.

There was just something about the sport that hit you like one of Nunji’s spikes. It made you wonder how your life would have been different had you taken on your mother’s earlier offers to enroll you in the volleyball clubs in your elementary and middle school years. Or if you gave in to Nunji’s badgering and demands a lot earlier in order to ‘follow her path.’ Even if you had met Jimri sooner, you had the feeling that she would have been enough reason for you to join the sport much earlier except that she had gone to a different middle and elementary school than you. Even so, it did not take away any perspectives as far as the first two.

Right now, as you bumped the ball up and down in the air with only your forearms, you considered the differing path your life may have taken had you gotten into the sport at an earlier age.

The first change in your life was probably a closer kinship with Nunji, there was just no denying that. Although you and your sister were already as close as can be, there was a lot of unexplored depths that volleyball could take you both. But it was your denial to do the same things as Nunji that fueled your refusal to undertake the sport. You didn’t want to be in the shadow of your sister or be compared with her any more beyond your already established vast differences in social personalities. It was this stubbornness that prevented you from doing anything remotely ‘Nunji-ish.’

Your relatives always did say that you took after your father more while Nunji was the true daughter of your mother. At a young age, you took such sayings to heart and consciously made the decisions to set yourself on such a path that diverged from your sister and one that was much more aligned to your father’s. It was one of the reasons that you joined basketball and a few martial arts classes instead of whatever Nunji had already done because those kind of activities relied more on your father’s interests. Only that your father was not always there to actively promote such interests the way your mother was there for Nunji’s. Sure your mother understood on a baser instinct on what you wanted to do but she couldn’t fake interests in things that did not hold her enjoyment or attention.

And so, in middle school, you gave up on that. You stopped putting in the effort to keep doing something you felt you didn’t have the support you wanted. The sight of your father’s slight disappointment was still something stored in your mind when he found out you stopped those activities.

The volleyball coasted in familiar arches as you controlled the height of each arch with the right amount of force. But here you were, ending up in an empty gym with the ball of the sport you childishly resented for a brief while. You still remember brief moments of Nunji’s games but despite such resentment, the sport had had your attention anyways. It was only afterwards did you deny yourself any enjoyment until you felt yourself infected by Nunji’s exuberance after each game in which she would detail parts of the games you didn’t even notice or understand. Nunji’s passion for the game had been expected simply because she was a passionate woman but you stood off to the side at a distance until your sister anchored you back to her side as the countdown began for her college entrance exam and she had let that passion dissipate and settle into a less maniac level.

Another change that may have been wrought from an earlier interest could have been you going to a completely different high school. Although the volleyball program at your high school was on the upper side, with your height advantage and natural disposition for the game, your mother may have sought an interest in other schools with a better volleyball program. Nunji would have been wholly supportive of a change in atmosphere after having Mieun and with you taking up her mantle and progressing even further. Your father would also have been just as supportive so long as his girls were happy.

You may have never have met Jimri and your volleyball team except as opponents. N, Ken, Hyuk, Hongbin and Ravi would also have been complete strangers whom you may have never met since their interest in volleyball solely derived from you. Without them, there would be no Taekwoon.

You would have been on a higher skilled team who may have advanced to later stages in nationals and…you shook your head to rid yourself of such things. There was no concrete or credible reason to think about all of this now but the clenching in your heart from one message coerced you to think of a life without him and the pain inflicted on you both.

When you oversee things after it happened, you can say that the supposed life you would lead was rather bland. There was no colors that each of your new lifelines inflicted on you that would have no real base. And because of them, you were more than glad that you only discovered volleyball so late.

You thumped the ball as hard as you could and watch as it made a close touch to the high ceiling above you. Reflexively, you got into position while keeping your eyes on the ball’s descent. With a loud crack, you hit the ball square at its center and sent it flying clear across the court right above the net.

Blinking, you sat down with a conflicted feeling simmering within you. It was only with sweat drifting into your eyes did you notice your labored breathing as a familiar peace settled in.

~~~~~

It’s not until the first day of Jimri’s tournament does it hit you to ask N and Ken if they want to go. Ken was more than a bit insulted at the tardiness of the invitation and even N was not too happy about you informing them so late. That took you off guard if you’re being completely honest.

Unfortunately, their unhappiness with you doesn’t properly register until you step on the court in familiar gear and you see them in the stands. You freeze in your steps as both Jimri and Doona move on ahead without you. It takes both N’s smile and Ken’s eager wave for you to take that first step again as a powerful but serene feeling overtakes your emotions. It is with renewed strength that makes you all too compliant yet happy to accept to being the first server. Jimri grabs your hand all too familiarly and Doona gazes at you with meaningful intent and you are taken aback.

This renewal of all that you have been knowingly but unknowingly missing engulfs you now that you have both men there in the stands watching you. You are much too stoic to get emotional enough for you to cry but the elation filling within you was something you wanted to truly share with them at that moment.

It’s at a victorious conclusion of the first match that you notice the beaming smile on Jimri’s face as she pulls you into her arms. “You did great Mikyungie!”

You hugged her back until Doona interrupts. “Me too, me too. Let me hug you since you’re in such a good mood, Captains!” That was where you drew the line other than allowing the occasional pat on the back from your unknown teammates. Receiving their compliments, however, was nothing like getting praise from N and Ken. Their cheering was something else considering the effect it had on you like Jimri commented when you were both pulled from the court so you could catch your breath in the next match.

“Wow, Mikyungie.” She looked very satisfied. “You’re on fire out there.” She sent a significant look to where your personal audience was.

You only gave a curt nod. There was no denying it anyways. Besides, she knew enough about you not to push it and with only a squeeze to your upper arm, you both watched the second victory of your team in silence. After the round of bowing to the opposing team at the end of the game and when you barely have your sweater over your head that you are accosted by an admirer. You’ve been anxious to get to your friends that you had disregarded the waiting participants of the next game who had likely been watching the matches and waiting for their own game on the shared courts.

Unfortunately, the female and male sides of the brackets were not entirely separate from one another and taking turns of the court was not unheard of. Up until now, you had thought nothing of it though you would much preferably want a little segregation in that regard.

But the thing was that you were happy. And that meant you were a much more welcoming target based on the good mood you were in from their standpoint. Bad news for you. So when you outright ignored the first admirer, a message should be sent to them, keyword: should. Nope, your brush off was not enough and so Jimri joined the battle as she pulled you right out of there as more of the interested jumped in but nope, there were active pursuers. And so this leads Doona to jump in as interference but unfortunately, one escaped by evading Doona’s perfectly timed intervention as Jimri, who was the very one who invented the admirers avoidance drill, dragged you away.

And who steps in but the one and only Jung Taekwoon.

Now, that was a deterrent that had once been your preferable option to get rid the persisting guys. Once they took in his tall and muscular form, they took off. But this was a competitive amateur volleyball tournament and so Taekwoon’s form was not too far off from these volleyball guys in terms of physical form from the height to the muscular stature.

And so, a dilemma was presented to you as you stood there, almost gaping at the sudden appearance of a covered up Taekwoon standing at the entrance of the gym with his eyes dead locked onto yours. The next players to bat are but of course Ken and N who immediately push Taekwoon away from the door and closer to your frozen form. Jimri only blinks for that second before she smiles up at the lone pursuant who finally reaches you now that you’ve stopped your escape.

“Hello.” She chirps like some canary.

You’re still processing Taekwoon’s sudden appearance and so you consciously turn away from him but don’t move away.

“Hey,” the guy looks the slightest bit dissuaded but is definitely the type that won’t give up until he gets a straight no. “Congrats on your decisive win.”

Jimri accepts it gracefully, “Thank you very much. We wanted to start off strong with the first game.”

While off to the side, you’re unable to do anything except stand there. That is until N steps up beside Jimri. N’s own tall stature is something to take in as he politely stakes his presence noticeably next to Jimri. This was something that had also once been familiar before Jimri started dating Yoohyuk. Once or twice one of the boys pretended to be her boyfriend when the situation was dire enough but it was a very rare occurrence. But with the way things were now, you were unsure about how Jimri may take it as this was the first time she and your boys from the past are officially meeting since the renewal of your friendship.

It’s only until the foe has been vanquished does the small reunion come to a full circle.

“Well, hello Jimri. It’s been a while,” N stepped away from her at a respectable distance from her with a rather formal nod to your friend.

Jimri replied similarly, “It has.”

“And of course,” Ken nodded the same greeting to her, “it’s because some poor soul became entranced under Mikyungie’s beauty that we met this way.” He jumped away from your necessary kick. “Not like it’s a bad thing Mikyungie,” he laughed at your frown. “If anything, it’s as if nothing much has changed since the last time we saw dear Jimri considering how we jumped right into the usual routine with our respective roles to get rid of one of your constant groupies.”

You still scowled as you crossed your arms.

“I agree,” Jimri’s smile is strained at very best. “And hello again, Taekwoon.” Jimri very stiffly greets him. It’s only now that you take in the moment at its fullest.

Taekwoon does a very deep bow to her. That’s enough to take you all off guard. “Hello Jimri.”

You’re not sure what you should do. What is there for you to do? You weakly avert your eyes away but it’s not enough for you to resist the draw of the pull of your eyes from the sight once Taekwoon straightens up.

And then he turns to you. Very determined and solemn.

“Mikyung.”

You try. You really do try. “Taekwoon.” But you truly can’t ignore him.

It’s only then does Ken whistle lowly. “Wow.”

N nods. “Yup, that’s the way to describe it.”

Even Jimri can’t help but to nod as well. “That’s it.”

In unison, both you and Taekwoon give a curt nod to the other. It was almost celebratory in a way that you two have now got to this point. At least.

Jimri takes residence beside you and pulls you into her. “Anyway,” she trails off as she secures her grip on you. “We have to regroup with our team to discuss our plays for the next game.” She says all of this gravely like the team captain she still is. “We’ll most likely meet with you guys later.”

“To eat.” “For lunch.” Both N and Ken high five each other at their synchronization.

“With Doona!” said girl appears not too far from your group.

Ken waves at her and loudly shouts, “With Doona!”

You can only sigh at what the foreboding feeling you got from the very prospective lunch it now promises and threatens to be. But you push this aside and give a short wave to the three boys. “Later.”

“Bye Mikyungie!” Ken and N chorus together. “Good luck girls!” Another well-deserved high five to the both of them.

You have the will power not to see what Taekwoon is doing if he is even doing anything at all as you turn away and Jimri pulls you over to where Doona is happily standing.

Under her breath, Jimri snickers at your expense and for a split second you want to laugh as well. When that laugh escapes anyways, you let it be and bask in the atmosphere.

“Wow captains! I didn’t know you guys got back into contact with them?” Doona walks on the other side of you as Jimri refuses to let you go. “What else did I miss since the last time we saw each other? I mean Mikyungie was kind of,” she trails off and doesn’t need to finish her sentence.

You nodded anyways. That she was confused made total sense.

“A compromise was made.” Jimri answers her.

Doona slowly nods. “You mean a cease fire?”

You snort and that draws a smile from both girls.

“Basically? Yes.” Jimri laughs.

Doona is astounded nonetheless. “You mean, even with…” she lets her waving arm indicate the meaning of her silence.

“Taekwoon?” The two of them are more than surprised when you dare to utter his name for the second time that day. Jimri squeezes your arm. “Yes. Even with him.” You duck your head and the action hides your own surprise that you even decided to speak up. Deciding to let the moment pass, you lift your head in time to see a shared glance between the girls. “It’s fine.” You think it best to reassure them both just in case they get any ideas about it.

It’s only when Doona is pulled into conversation with one of the more friendly teammates that Jimri pulls you to the side once more with the ruse of warming up.

“Kyungie?” she only has to say your name for you to see her worry.

You contemplate the unspoken words. After the next game, it would be lunch time. And with the filter-less Doona there with a near perfect memory as well as that front row seat to the demise of your high school relationship, things would likely lead to an equivalent of opening Pandora’s box.

With all of the reassurance you could muster, you meet her eyes, “We’ll get through it.”

It appeared Jimri was a lot more nervous about this reunion of sorts than you were which was even more astonishing considering how personal your past got to you. But you only had to remember standing in that shared space with Taekwoon in Japan before your nerves brimmed with some kind of promise.

It’s only when you think it through that you realize the position Jimri is in. She’s your friend who saw you at such a low point of your life and now you were letting in the cause, wait. No, that doesn’t fit. You were letting in the derivative that skewed your life. She more than blamed Taekwoon and his friends for your devastated state in third year. You could wholeheartedly understand that were it not for the fact that she had very rigorously pushed you to go to Japan in the first place. But it is now with Japan in your rearview mirror that you see the sacrifice she dealt herself in the process.

There were many ways that Japan could have gone. Myriads of possibilities. And now with only one of those possibilities now set in stone as the past, you now had to live with it. Only it was the future created from that one possibility that drew uncertainty and a certain level of fear from inside you both. It was another chance you would have to take with her by your side.

She didn’t want to see you hurt. But she still made the decision to push you to find yourself with you in charge of the reigns once more. And you were thankful for that.

Jimri was pulled from the next game on her own accord. To say you were worried was an underestimation. You couldn’t keep focus on the game and that led to preventative mistakes on your part. But into the next match and seeing how Jimri was walking semi-normally, you put all of your efforts back into the game and just in time too. With your concentration back in form, you did a good block that saved your team from elimination.

It’s on the bench after being called out by your teammates due to your exhaustion that you check up on Jimri. She is smiling and is on a mission of her own to put your worry to rest. You don’t even notice when your team wins the game as you Jimri to the hospitality area where they usually should have some kind of medical help on call.

That time is good enough for you to recuperate when you sit next to your friend as her ankle is wrapped up in a flexible brace. “It’s fine Mikyungie. You already know this is my bad ankle anyway.”

Regardless, you stay by her side until you her back to the bench where she stubbornly wanted to see the next game despite the medic’s strong recommendation that she stay put. You stay out of the first match until Doona has to shove you onto the court with Jimri’s push of her own. You’re reluctant but abide their insisting until Doona is then forced to pulling you onto the court after her. “Geez, such a worry wart like always, captain.”

Deciding that the quickest way back to your friend is to win the match, you get your volleyball senses back and start off with a clean ace when it comes to your time to serve. Preferably, it would be ideal that you get a clean sweep but the matches are set to twenty-one point matches and you’re left with no choice but to settle for the eight points you earn your team during your serves.

On the bench, you hear your name being bellowed. Turning around, N is leaning over the railing that prevents spectators from crossing over onto the courts. “How is Jimri?” he asks. You want to hit yourself for not telling them. Obviously they saw what happened and you had dimwittedly not let them known what happened.

You get up and walk closer to him so you don’t have to yell. When you’re right in front of him, he crouches down on the elevated platform so his ears are closer to you. “She’s fine. Her ankle was acting up.”

N gives a relieved smile. “Ah. Phew!” he nods. “As long as it’s not a bad injury,” he chuckles. “I think our group has had enough of those kinds of injuries to last us more than a few lifetimes. First it was Leo’s toes, his left and right ankle, his shoulder, his knee joint, his calves. And,” he takes a breath in before he gets a read on your mood. Then he laughs, either at himself or the situation he put himself in. “Right. That was a long time ago. But, yes.” He looks a little confused and the smidgest worried about how he should backtrack.

Then what more should be done? Things were still wary enough that it annoyed you. But then again, that could be the energy you have that is still lingering from your game. So as not to fall back into such negative motions, you decided to be curt.

“How about it, Mikyungie?” N smiled nervously. “She doesn’t need to be carried off to the hospital or anything?”

You shook your head. “It’s not that serious.”

“Mikyungie!” Doona was waving you back to the bench.

N nodded at you, “I’ll let the other two know not to worry.”

With that, you made your way back to the edge of the court and resume your sitting by Jimri who has her leg on the bench with an ice pack attached. Doona was stretching her arms out. “I’m going back in so you have to make sure Jimri isn’t attacked by that guy.” She nods to one of the blockers. “He might take advantage of Jimri’s lack of mobility to try something.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “These two pretty captains…”

You grimace when she says that. When she puts it that way…you nod at her with a determined look and Doona smiles at how serious you take her words.

It wasn’t easy dealing with guys who were on a mission to pursue a girl.

The only thing was that some guys could be fickle. When that blocker sat out for a while and sat on the floor by Jimri, you had tried to intervene only to your doom, that the blocker had turned his interests to you. Unlike Doona whenever she interfered with a guy’s plan to hit on you, you clearly lacked the easygoing dissuasion she was obviously superior at.

What you did was have the guy pester you for your contact information much to your degradation.

Its only with your immediate radio silence and the call to get back into the game does he leave. You don’t even have to look at Jimri to know the specific look she’s directing your way.

It’s not until lunch do you escape from all of these aggravating aspects of the day. If you were totally honest, you much preferred being stuck around this older Taekwoon than to deal with advances of a bunch of creeps. But only by thiiis much.

Lunch was rather rowdy which was to be expected with both Ken and Doona in attendance. Both had alike reservations and no grounds for meaningless conversation. With the two of them together, they fed off the other in an unnerving and foreboding way of disaster.

 

 

You just weren’t sure what it was about today and all of these revived feelings. It made you invigorated and twitchy. But above all, you felt more than content. You took a breath in to stabilize these feelings.

Taekwoon sat directly across you which you were a hundred percent sure was planned by the whole party. With things a bit more official, your group of friends would now have no contingencies or hesitation about ing the two of you together. It should matter a lot more than you let on concerning you and your feelings, but right now, you were content. Things had now come to a wobbly and imperfect full circle with regards to you, Jimri, your high school friends, Taekwoon and volleyball. There was the special addition of Doona at this very moment and the apparent absences of three younger guys but that was how life worked.

You could only count down to the days when each of those boys will come out after fulfilling their duties and add to the ir own flavors to his ambivalent ambience.

“Hey Mikyungie,” Jimri asks on one side of the table. She has your immediate attention since you refuse to partake in Doona’s discussion of relationship boundaries with N or Ken’s one sided conversation with Taekwoon no matter the subject. “When is Mieun’s party supposed to be? This Saturday right?”

At the utter of your precious niece’s name, you both suddenly had all of the male’s attention. For the barest second, you and Doona share a look of surprise but that disappears when all three men’s attention is at you with no hint of subtly as they clearly waited for you answer.

What Jimri let just slip was something big. Huge. Colossal. Mieun was your life, to an extent. But still, you nodded.

That’s when you drop your eyes to the table as the sudden dilemma presents itself. N and Ken were both benevolent and placid uncle-like figures whom Mieun could identify even as a baby. But with Taekwoon’s prominent presence in your life then, he was someone Mieun saw a whole lot more.

It was unclear if Mieun even missed their sudden absence given how young she was when the break up happened but should you take the plunge and invite them to her birthday party, then…who knows what.

That would be a huge event for not only you but also your family given this would be the official face-to-face reunion that was much anticipated since N, Ken, Jimri and Nunji all worked to get you to Japan. That pathway was opened and has been opened since then but this was going to be something else.

“Mieun?” Doona asks. “Ah, you mean your baby?” The jab causes you to make a face at Doona who slyly smirks. “Oh, the days when the rumor mill had been rampant with that.”

You kick the leg of her seat with an almost vicious glare taking over your face. Why did she have to bring that up?

Ken and Jimri laugh while N tried to hide his smile. Taekwoon, you don’t even bother to look at.

Ken’s amusement is flared, “That was what? In the middle of second year?”

“Then it resurfaced again at the beginning of third year when Nunji was at a conference.” N shares a reluctant laugh.

Jimri melts, “That was the first game when Nunji had ordered that volleyball costume for Mieun to wear at all of our games.” She beams, “I still have that photo on my phone of Volleyball Mieun.”

You groan while slumping down to the table.

“And then,” Ken pauses for dramatic effect, “there was the family picture!”

At that, they all laugh at you for quite a while. And at Taekwoon. Because he had not been spared during that onslaught. That had been probably the most obscure rumor that ever lasted in your high school times.

“Oh the terrible photoshop!” N reminisces.

“And at the center of the picture, that anonymous baby that is usually in the new picture frames? That was the icing on the cake.”

“How about the cheating rumors?” Jimri asks next in mirth. It appeared that whatever preventative measures she started with were now gone or at the very least, lifted.

All of them share a look when you chance coming up for air from your arm barrier. You see when the memory hits them all before they’re dying from laughter again. You sigh before ducking for cover but not before Doona slaps the back of your chair rather violently.

It takes them a lot longer to recover from that. And when they do, you wish they never did. It would have been much preferable had they actually died from laughter because of the way they are all very much still wary of each other from both sides which consisted of Taekwoon’s and Mikyung’s allegiances. They were all really trying.

As the number of accounts of each rumor from the branch of either you or Taekwoon’s cheating was called into question and was even brought up to dissect individually, you felt yourself drifting off. Sure it was funny now but back then it had been a little overwhelming especially with the introduction of the innovative but choking tangent of new first years in your third year. Boy, did you get tired of them. It wasn’t that you were one of those snotty upperclassmen though there was definitely a rumor alluding to that, but it was mainly about you not retaliating to such immature tactics thrown at you the course of your last high school year.

Never mind the fact that you were dating the star player of the varsity soccer team and not to mention the co-captain of said national champions who just so happened to have scored the final goal of the breathtaking championship match. You were sure that whatever fragile hierarchy the school system practices amongst its students had definitely been one of your undoings. Not to brag, but you still remembered the amount of boys panting after you had definitely jumped in numbers in third year with the influx of the additional hormonal boys of the first year variety. And Taekwoon…

You sighed.

The girls and even the hastily thrown together fanclub had been unbelievably unbearable. They were vicious and on the very cusp of being diagnosed rabid. It was very mean-spirited of you to think that way about them but you still felt the brunt of the reaction from them when it was official that you and Taekwoon were no longer together. No one was safe at that time. Worst of all, you.

Deciding it was best not to dwell on that, you took a breath in. Feeling it was now safe to sit up fully, you were once again tempted to dive back under as they all looked at you with anticipation when you resurfaced.

When all they got was a blank stare from you, Doona snickered. “Of course, she hadn’t been paying us any attention.”

You almost rolled your eyes because what else did they expect? For you to join in their fun of tormenting you? Instead, you crossed your arms and looked between Jimri and N figuring either two would explain things to you. Jimri smiled at you, “We’re taking a vote if you are willing to join in another collaborative dinner with us all.”

Ken huffed, “And Leo is being a stuffy stick in the mud and won’t answer.”

Automatically knowing what had to be done, your eyes immediately find his. Just like in Japan, things were still a bit closed off between you two but…

You both nodded.

You didn’t miss the exchange of expressions all around you at your unexpected interaction with your ex-boyfriend.

Jimri accepts this with an unnerving ease. “But probably another time.” She shares her own message with you. “After all, I’m sure we will be very tired after our last two games today.”

N nods. “Yes, of course. Something to look forward to for next time.”

Like that, it was approved and filed for a later date.

After actually eating during the constant merriment that refused to lack with the company involving Ken and Doona, it was an amicable journey back to the gym building.

Jimri is apologetic the rest of the day. As she should be, in your honest opinion with her participation in your earlier and relentless afflict.

“Come on Kyungie. You already know that the one thing we all bond over is…” she raises her eyebrows at you expectantly.

Without a pause, you answer, “My humiliation.”

At that she laughs a sparkling titter. “Well, yes that’s also true but at the very core of it all,” she squeezes your hand. “It’s you, Choi Mikyung, aunt of Mieun, sister of Nunji, best friend ofJimri, ex-girlfriend of Jung Taekwoon, goddess of volleyball and broken hearts. All in that order of course.”

You shove her for that last bit and so the wary enjoyment persisted.