Seulgi’s PoV

I was first fascinated with her when I saw her practicing on one fine afternoon while I was walking home alone. It was the first time I saw someone so dazzling that I had to hold my breath. My foot rooted to the ground, unconsciously staring at that beautiful creature that was so mesmerising in my eyes. That very afternoon, I stood there behind a nearby tree outside the fence to watch the girl until dusk was slowly creeping in. It was my first; to actually gaze at someone this long. My mind was wired to her, like a drug addict. There was something about her that captivated me at that moment. She held me spellbound.

Since then I was always watching her from afar; silently rooting for her. Every finish was a sprint she made followed by bandy legs and collapse. I would always pass by the field every time I walked home. My heart would swell, slowly drowning me into a deep dark blue ocean where I would dive aimlessly in search for my soul. My eyes would trace her graceful steps as she ran across the track field with so much perseverance. Every single moment of picture woven in my mind, my heart was palpitating and I would drift, with butterflies fluttering in my stomach. I was left astray by the stranger, plummeting me into confusion.

It was then one morning during the recess period, Wendy came up to me and asked me if I was interested in any club activities. She invited me to visit some try outs later in the afternoon with the girls. I nodded hesitantly since I had to miss out ‘her’ training that afternoon.

I accompanied the girls to the try outs and soon everyone was split into different directions and here I was all alone in amidst of the crowd. I fought my way through a sea of people as the moisture and heat was hanging in the air. I began to sweat heavily as heat was engulfing my body. I swayed motionlessly and ended up in a field with open space. I tried to catch my breath when someone patted on my shoulders.

My body jolted and flinched in response.

“Hold your horses, girl. Oh! Seulgi!” A teacher raised her hands up, peering at me and noticed how startled I was. “Sorry to scare you there. I was about to invite you to give a shot with some of try outs here in the field.”

“O-Oh. It’s you Madam Chan.” I finally sighed in relief, seeing someone familiar in amidst of the crowd. I’m already bad with directions and I don’t plan to walk into a warzone anytime soon. “Sure! I’ll give em’ a try!” I chirped, blindly following her lead since I was still unfamiliar with the school routes.

The candidates present at the track field were mostly boys. I dandily passed a wave of boys and made my way to the starting line with other girl candidates. I feel like I was out in daze, standing still at the starting line to seep in with situation where my teacher dragged me into a friendly competition in which I did not sign up for.

I gave myself a light stretch and upon the hearing the gun shot, I instantly sprinted like a horse galloping into a meadow grass as it bolted into the fast wind. My mind was dancing in an empty space. I just ran as fast as my feet could take me without much thought.

“Kang Seulgi, stop!”

I snapped out from my daze and immediately held my feet. I became to discern the distance between her and her teachers. My eyes dilated. I was practically running further away from the finishing line. “Ah. . .Okay.” I muttered sheepishly, my face flushed in embarrassment when everyone was literally staring at me like a circus freak. I even saw the rest of the participants were gawking at me with their mouths open up wide. It made me a little paranoid, causing my movements to turn stiff. As I painfully dragged myself to Madam Chan, another coach appeared before me with his arms crossed closely to his chest. “I saw you out there. What’s your name girl?”

I stared at the coach for a little while before satisfying his curiosity, “Ah. . .I’m Kang Seulgi sir.”

“You joined any clubs yet?” he asked.

I raised her eyebrows, puzzled with his questions thrown at me. “No?”

“Have you ever joined a track field team before?”

“No.” I replied shortly. “I was in a dance club though.” I added on.

The coach rubbed his beard while eyeing me from head to toe which made me felt slightly uncomfortable. “Are you interested in joining the track field team?”

He saw the shock that was registered in my face before I could hide it. A small smile played on his lips, I guess he got that a lot. I immediately shook my head. “. . .Not really. . .”

He tilted his head. “Then how did you ended up here doing the try outs if you’re not interested?”

I explained briefly to the coach on how I found myself in this blizzard situation. He nodded.

“Why don’t you join my team? I’ll train you as an ace up till the nationals. You have potential in this Kang Seulgi. You’re the first participant that I’ve ever witness breaking an athlete record. All your essentials and needs will be taken care and I will explained that to you in detail if you joined our team. You will also get a scholarship if you’re interested in track field; pursuing to the nationals. What do you say?”

It was beyond flattering. I was really dumbfounded with his efforts in trying to persuade me and it was baffling to hear compliments from the coach himself. I eyed Madam Chan from behind and she mouthed, ‘Go for it!’ With a little encouragement from her, I slowly reached out my hands and shook his hand while tightened my grip as I nodded. “I’m in.”

I was super pumped to be in the team. I was pretty simple. I’ll score higher marks in my extracurricular activities and I don’t have to ponder in search for club activities. However, what I didn’t know was that I was in for a real challenge, not physically wise but emotionally wise.

A couple of weeks had passed and I was trained with the other newcomers under Coach Kim. I sighed in defeat. I began to stop visiting ‘her’ sprint due to the practices scheduled by Coach Kim. But at the same time, it felt like it was better for me to give myself some space from obsessing with the cute senior like a creep.

Sweat was pouring down my face. I got myself ready at the starting line. As I heard the gun flaring into the air, a girl sprang in front of me. My legs were burning as I chased her back but I pushed on, my lungs heaved like the air was toxic. I grit my teeth as I overtook her. I shot forward and leaped to the finishing line with whatever that’s left in me.

The crowd erupted in cheers, roaring my name in victory. “Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!”

I panted heavily, shaking my hands with the girls that I had just competed. “You were amazing back there. I couldn’t even beat you.”

I shook my head with my arms up. “No. No. You did well too. It was an intense match.” I said shyly.

She laughed. “That was a good match. I want to challenge you sometime unnie.” The girl said with determination hinted behind her words. I nodded, my lips stretching till the end on my ears.

“It’s been decided. Kang Seulgi will be the captain on the track field team. Any objections?”

The girls then said in unison, “No, coach!”

The girls then elbowed my on the side. “Congrats Cap. My name’s Jeon Soyeon by the way.”

“I’m-”

“Kang Seulgi. Yeah I know.” She replied.

I raised my brows in bewilderment. She stared at me with my mouth open. She chuckled lightly, “You were really famous when you first did the try outs. Everyone was talking about you when you were sprinting back then. It was phenomenal.” Soyeon pointed out. I saw her eyes darting at me with excitement hiding behind her voice. I slowly nodded, trying to wrap my head around with hers and coach’s words. I had a feeling that I’m constantly dragged into situation that was out of my conscious or consent for some reason. . .

“Alright! Everyone, hustle up. Today I have something to announce.”

Everyone returned to their respective groups; both girls and boys were rounding up at the usual rendezvous, having all ears to hear Coach Kim’s words including me. “We’re going to have a mentor and mentee program starting tomorrow. We’ll assign you up randomly with the seniors and you’ll be training under them for the whole year.”

Everyone literally frowned; some were even vividly uncomfortable with the mentor and mentee program. Another girl erratically raised her hand. “Coach! I have a question.”

“Fire away.”

“Are we going to be grouped with the senior boys as well?”

“Good question. Well, yes. It’s like a random mix between boys and girls. So you may have a male or female senior as you mentor.”

The cheers immediately erupted like an auditory volcano. I sat on the ground like a sitting duck, still not following up with the hype in the crowd. What was the catch?

The practice was finally over and the all the junior girls went to the changing room. I had my hair pulled back loosely into a twisted bun as I started to undress myself. I noticed a group of girls gathered at the corner of the changing room discussing about the mentor and mentee program about their dream guys.

“Who do you think the coach will pair us up with?”

“I don’t know. I want to be under Taemin Sunbaenim!”

“I want to be with Lee Minhyuk sunbaenim! He’s so hot!”

“You wished!” The girls laughed.

I locked my locker, stuffing my sports shoes into it, when I hear another voice emerged, “Oh! What about you Seulgi-shii?”

I darted my head to the girls. “Do you have anyone in mind for the mentor and mentee program?”

A muscle twitched involuntarily at the corner of my left eye, my mouth formed a rigid grimace. “I never thought of that. Anyone’s fine with me as long as I can learn under them.” I said simply. I just want to eat and sleep right now. I wonder if Wendy made my favourite snack though.

A heavy silence settled over them, casting uneasy glances. I sensed the awkward air between us. Oh. . . um . . . My mind lay bare and blank. Was my answer too serious? It did felt like I was preparing for a marathon. How do I fix this?

“The captain is just shy to say it out, right?” Soyeon held her hands on my stiff shoulders, beckoning me to play along.

“. . . Y-Yeah. That’s right.” I said awkwardly.

“Oh I see. Well that’s okay. I hope you’ll get to be with the senior that you had in mind.” The other girl said politely. I excuse myself immediately before offering a small smile to Soyeon for saving me back there.

Wendy was right. I’m so awkward. Urgh. I ran as fast as my feet could bring me in embarrassment. I took the usual route home, not having much expectation to watch the mysterious girl sprinting this late.

“Yah! Lee Sunmi! You did it again.” A middle age man came up to the girl, smiling proudly while giving her a high five as she seemingly broke the track record again. My eyes then fixated at the scream. It was her, the mysterious girl.

“Lee Sunmi. What a beautiful name.” I monologue to myself, sighing breathlessly while eyeing her once again. At that moment, something in me felt different than usual. It felt like an arrow was shot directly at my heart when I saw a winsome smile plastered at her face. Her white teeth were portrayed and what engraved in my mind were her adorable dimples coming to life with her dishevelled hair more vibrant that a glowing fire donned on her head under the sunlight. Her eyes then squinted like an endearing cat. My head was spinning in circles that day as if I had just noticed how pretty she was and it caught me off guard. There was force that strangled my heart, suffocating me as I was clutching the fabrics of my school uniform.

I consulted Wendy but kept her name anonymous. I w