Three years ago…

They passed by the highschool playground nearly every day and over time, it had become sort of a habit to stop and watch the players. Mei, who’d always been kind of a er for football, really enjoyed these practice sessions. It didn’t hurt that they looked pretty good too and both Mei and Minyoung had a lot of fun picking someone random to ship the other with.

On the days when Minyoung wasn’t with her, Mei would often go and sit in the bleachers to watch if there was a game in progress, cheering for whoever played the best. Which often happened to be Luhan, star player as he was, his skills really standing out from the rest of the team.

Also, a lot of his fans usually came to watch him too, so she’d learned who he was. And maybe sort of started to like him because he had a nice face.

But it was more than that. She had the chance to observe him while he interacted with his friends and teammates, always seeming to smile and ready to help. He was just… nice all around and she liked to watch him.

Often, it got quite late by the time she went home.

It was on one such trip that Mei found herself being followed by a gaggle of rowdy boys from another, nearby school. She would’ve ignored them but when she turned into the alley for her usual shortcut, they started speeding up, clearly to surround her.

Terrified, Mei changed directions and ran towards the main road, remembering how the safety classes always advised them to head to a public place with many people.

The boys were still chasing after her when she emerged from the side alley into the main road and nearly bowled someone over. The boy – she later recognized him as Oh Sehun – took in her scared face, saw the group chasing her and grabbed her hand, both of them running at top speed.

They literally bumped into the football team, sending half of them sprawling all over the road. Sehun’s hand lost its grip on hers and she fell, scraping her palms and knees. Someone was beside her immediately, kneeling down and gently helping her up.

‘Hey, are you alright?’

Mei looked up and gulped because she knew that face very well.

Luhan.

Luhan was holding her hands, Luhan was asking her if she was okay.

‘Can you tell me what happened?’ he asked gently, not seeming to mind that she hadn’t replied earlier. His smile was just as soft as his voice and to her horror, Mei felt tears brim her eyes.

Luhan’s face transformed from a mask of gentility to rage as he looked between her and Sehun and then, caught sight of the group chasing them.

‘Are they-?’ he asked. Mei nodded, more scared than she’d realized. He nodded. ‘Okay… can you stand up?’

  Mei tried to stand but her knees buckled. She would’ve fallen to the ground but for the arm around her waist, catching her. ‘Woah, easy!’

She didn’t have a chance to even thank him because the group was on them and as one, the team closed ranks to stand protectively over her and the lanky boy, Oh Sehun.

Luhan, clearly their designated leader, stood at the front. There were some angry exchanges, she clearly remembered Luhan’s angry voice berating them.

‘They’re kids,’ he snarled angrily. ‘If you want to fight, pick someone your own size!’

‘Why don’t you come at me, pretty boy?’

And that started what could’ve been a brawl if those guys had actual guts. Instead, they got their asses handed to them before they were leaving, yelling empty threats behind them.

There was a ringing silence in their wake and then, everyone started fussing over her and Oh Sehun. Somehow, Oh Sehun managed to sneak away undetected but Mei wasn’t left alone.

Luhan volunteered to walk her home. His friends objected to him going alone but Luhan merely smiled.

‘I’d like to see them try,’ he said with the easy confidence of someone who knew he had the upper hand.

And Mei internally eeped as her heart swooped at the sight of his smile up close. He gazed down at her, doe eyes twinkling and it made her heart jump to .

He kept an easy chatter as he walked her back. Mei stopped at the mouth of the street, pointing at her house. ‘That’s me.’

Luhan smiled, nodding. ‘Go on then, I’ll wait.’

Mei nodded and ran off, waving at him when she finally reached her house. He waved back and walked away. Mei slumped inside, trying to control the thumping of her heart.

After that, it was like a damn had burst open and she couldn’t help but fall deeper into everything Luhan did.

He smiled when he noticed her on the bleachers, and she was starstruck because he remembered her. He asked if anyone had bothered her again and to find him if they did. She nodded shyly, feeling happy inside.

Somehow, knowing that Luhan was so… nice made it inevitable that Mei developed a big, fat crush on him. She told Minyoung, who was just as smitten with Luhan as her, except she hadn’t been the one to gaze into his doe eyes when he’d caught her, so of course she didn’t have a crush on him.

That was also around the same time that she noticed Oh Sehun’s lanky presence trailing her when she walked back, almost like he was making sure she didn’t encounter any creeps again. She decided then, that regardless of what everyone thought about Oh Sehun, he was actually a good guy. And even if he kept quiet, she was glad for some company.

Of course, being Mei, and with Minyoung to enable her, she decided that she would confess to Luhan, if only to avoid accidentally blasting all over the place the next time he glanced over at the bleachers and smiled.

She had severely underestimated the intensity of her own emotions, however. Even now, thinking about it made her feel like her head was on fire. It was embarrassing, even in retrospect. It was mortifying at that time.

Somehow, she’d managed to smuggle a handwritten note into Luhan’s bag, telling him to meet her at the park near her house, and to be alone. At that time, it had sounded like a good idea.

Later… too late, she’d realized that such a note came across as more threatening that she’d intended.

She’d been a nervous wreck during school, despite Minyoung’s reassurances that she would be fine.

‘Look, if he shows up, it means he’s probably interested enough to at least hear you out,’ Minyoung tried to pacify her for the umpteenth time.

‘Yes but…’ Mei chewed on her knuckles nervously. ‘What if he just rejects me?’

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