05

Dahyun is in the middle of brushing her teeth, when all of a sudden her brain is reminded of Sana. She almost choke on her toothpaste when the scene in the restroom at the pizza place replayed from the back of her head. They were in front of the mirror just like where she is right now, standing right next  to the sink in the bathroom of her house but with no Sana. Her head flashed back to the event. The way Sana closed the gap between their bodies, when their nose almost touched, her breathing becomes faster and her eyes were twinkling like there is a tiny stars inside her hazel eyes. Dahyun remembered every detail of it. She made folds on her forehead when she remember the scene. Cringe-worthy, Dahyun curled her fingers at the embarrassment. She want to forget the humiliation that she had put on herself, but the idea of Sana being close to her made her heart fluttered- it makes her feel thrilled like a rollercoaster kind.

How should I feel about this? She asked herself while wrapping up to go to her bed. I’m not supposed to feel like this, right? Dahyun is unsure. She is used to be doing the right things and raised by always playing it safe to live up to people’s expectation, which is why she never took chances or risks.

This is confusing me. Everything always confuse me. Why do I have to be so different? Dahyun vexed at herself while climbing on to her bed. She felt annoyed of herself for always questioning to everything. But who can blame her anyway? She couldn’t understand herself, or more like she couldn’t understand why she is different. She is still afraid to accept the truth, hence why she questioned everything. Sometimes Dahyun could be a little impatience. She still don’t understand that she is in the middle of progressing in trying to accept herself. But Dahyun is a strong-willed and a determined person, always having a positive attitude and it can be seen through her bright smile that never fail to make other people happy. And that’s why a lot of people like her, that’s why Sana and Nayeon is interested in getting to know her.

Apparently it’s a duel between the two to win over Dahyun. While Momo is taking interest individually on Chaeyoung, Sana and Nayeon is gritting their teeth to capture the heart of the ash-coloured hair girl. Since it’s like a tradition to them for always getting the girl they want, none of them wants to give up on Dahyun- at least not before they even tried.

Nayeon is pretty sly herself, but she like to do things in baby steps. Unlike Sana, she isn’t the type to throw herself in all out. Nayeon carries her mission according to her plan while Sana’s way is to flirt like there is no tomorrow. This is what make Sana the daredevil amongst the three for always being reckless with her action, but sometimes that’s what make her the winner.

Nayeon only want one thing; she wants to defeat Sana. And Kim Dahyun is the key to win against her. As much as she doesn’t want to admit this, but Nayeon had lost few battles against with Sana and that really upset her pride- not to mention that she is a very prideful person, coming from an entitled family. It’s nothing serious but it’s Nayeon’s nature to always be the ‘better’ one amongst the other. Fortunately, they preferred having a friendly competition instead of a tensing one thus they don’t hold grudge or hate each other.

On the same night, Nayeon decided to step up her game because after finding out that Sana had followed Dahyun on Instagram before she does, it made her feel more challenged. So she send a direct message to Dahyun on the social media.

Hi. Is this Kim Dahyun from J.Y High School? - @i.m_nabongs

Hello, yes I am. And who’s this? - @_kimdubu

It’s me, Im Nayeon - @i.m_nabongs

Oh! Hey Nayeon :D OMG how did you find me on instagram? - @_kimdubu

Oh , I didn’t thought of that. She’ll think I’m stalking her if I don’t come up with something- I mean she’s not wrong. Nayeon hummed as she begin to think.

Hahaha, funny story actually. I saw Sana following you so I decided to follow you too - @i.m_nabongs

I’m sorry Sana, I kinda made you sound like the stalker now. Nayeon giggled through her phone.

Hahah oh I see. Yeah she did followed me and Momo too hehe I guess there’s no need to share my social media bcoz you eventually found me - @_kimdubu

No kidding, thanks to Hirai Momo. For an airhead, she is actually pretty good at it. Nayeon grinned, then bit her lip when she thought of throwing the question- to begin her plan. She started typing slowly.

Say Dahyun, if you don’t mind, can you tell me what’s troubling you this evening in the restroom? - @i.m_nabongs

Just as Nayeon expected, it took Dahyun a while to give a reply. The younger girl didn’t know what to answer. It would be much easier to be personal if it’s with Chaeyoung but not when it’s with Nayeon who is still an acquaintance to Dahyun so she isn’t sure if she could trust her. Nayeon just waited on the other line, hoping she would still respond to her.

Hehe nothing is troubling me. I just need to leave because it’s getting late, I didn’t want to worry my parents - @_kimdubu

Nayeon bit her lower lip. You can’t lie to me. Even I know something is up between you and Sana that evening. Considering how familiar I am with Sana’s attitude.

Are you sure? You can tell me, ya know. It seems like Sana might have done something that bothers you. Don’t worry, I won’t tell her if you tell me - @i.m_nabongs

But isn’t she your best friend? I mean why didn’t you just ask her? -@_kimdubu

Oof, is she getting mad? Nayeon thought on her own.

Of course she is my best friend and I am concerned about her too. But I just feel like I should ask you directly because it seems like it bothers you more than she does - @i.m_nabongs

Wow, I’m pretty good at this. Nayeon smirked at her own self. But despite providing good replies, Dahyun didn’t respond to it for a while and that made Nayeon feel anxious so she decided to type another message.

I just feel like you are a very good person, and I don’t want someone like you to be hurt. So if my friend did bothers you, then I can make her stop. You can reach to me at any time, I’m offering my help because I think you are nice - @i.m_nabongs

Nayeon’s message made Dahyun feel flattered that she begin to smile softly at her phone screen, before she start typing a reply. Dahyun was actually feeling a bit moody before they even start texting, but receiving good messages from someone she barely know made her feel happy about herself.

That’s so sweet of you, Nayeon. I also think you are a good person. I have an idea, why don’t we meet after my practice tomorrow? You can watch me practice too if you want - @_kimdubu

Nayeon exclaimed while jumping her body on the bed, “Yes!”

Sounds great. I’ll be there! Hehe I think you should sleep now - @i.m_nabongs

Hahaha yeah, I should coz it’s getting late - @_kimdubu

Their conversation end with good nights. Nayeon smiled in satisfactory at her accomplishment. One step at a time, she thought. Knowing how naive and innocent Dahyun is, she bet her plan will win against Sana’s reckless yet bold flirtation. It’s going to work perfectly this time, she reassured herself.. Nayeon already feel like a winner tonight that she can’t wait for the night to replace the day.

The awaited next day finally come and as usual, Dahyun and Chaeyoung cycle their way to school together. It is a fine Monday morning where the weather is not too hot nor breezy even if the sun is shining from above the sky. The trees made pattern of lights through the gap of the leaves from the sun ray. With her ash-coloured hair floating along with the wind, Dahyun tilt her head toward the sky to feel the ray of lights against her fair-skinned face. She greeted their neighbours from each of their lawn; the aunt across their street is hanging her laundries, the uncle and his wife were gardening their new orchid seeds and the newly wed couple were about to leave for work in their separate cars.

They started talking again when they were passing the gas station. Chaeyoung was blowing bubble from her mint-flavoured chewing gum while Dahyun was reminding her about their meeting for the sport festival later after their first period. Chaeyoung respond her friend with a nod.

“Oh by the way, I’m meeting Momo today just so you know.” Chaeyoung told Dahyun while cycling next to her.

“What a coincidence, I’m meeting Nayeon too.” Dahyun said.

“Really? What time?” Chaeyoung asked, a little surprised by their same event.

“After school. I didn’t really expect to see one of them again so soon.” Dahyun chuckled. “What about you? When are you meeting her?” She asked back.

“Same as you.” Chaeyoung smiled briefly. “What will you guys be doing?”

“Oh, just chilling I guess. Told her to come to watch me play.” Dahyun answered the question.

Chaeyoung only nodded at first. But then she begin to respond, “Momo and I will be trying out the new flavour ice cream at Laburi’s.”

“Cool. Get me some if it’s really good.” Dahyun told her, smiling at her friend.

“I can’t promise. We might finish everything and leave you nothing.” Chaeyoung joked, and it made Dahyun to rolled her eyes at her.

Eh? Chaeyoung thought when she found herself worrying over Dahyun.

Why do I care if Dahyun decided to be friend with Nayeon? It’s not like Dahyun will abandoned me after being friend with a cool college student. She thought to herself.

Cool. College student. Chaeyoung repeated as she heaved a sigh when a little jealousy hit her.

That morning at their campus house, Sana is leaving early for her lecture. Because of her forgetfulness, she didn’t refill her car fuel so she decided to borrow Nayeon’s Volkswagen to go to the university since the latter doesn’t have any lectures today. Sana is in the kitchen, cleaning up her mug after her morning coffee while Nayeon is in the living room with a magazine on her hand.

“Just make sure you are back here before 3, okay?” Nayeon remind her, leaning on the couch.

Sana came out from the kitchen and this time, with her pink bottle in her hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget about your date.”

“Yeah, more reason why I’m concerned to be honest.” Nayeon snorted. “And no, it’s not a date. At least not yet.” She smirked at the blondie making her to do the same at her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you my progression.” Nayeon teased while raising her brows.

“Whatever loser.” Sana rolled her eyes at her friend. “Do you want to grab lunch together or what?” She asked before she is ready to leave.

“Yeah let’s eat together with Momo too. She said she have class at nine.” Nayeon told, flipping the pages on the magazine.

“Then why is she not awake yet? It’s almost nine.” Sana stated, shaking her head a little as she left the room.

Nayeon chuckled before she stood up from the couch to wake her sleeping friend. “Oh Momo, what are you going to do without me?” She said under her breath. It’s a rhetorical question. They are pretty much used to Momo’s sleeping pattern that she can’t even get mad at her. Momo like staying up late at night to play games in her laptop, and sleep through the day when she doesn’t have lectures. But when she does have lectures, she is always late- like for example, today.

The meeting about the sport festival that Dahyun mentioned was held inside the student council room at J.Y High School, where the representatives from each sport clubs are attending the conference.

The school president, Park Jisoo is doing the opening speech to start the meeting. Chou Tzuyu, the secretary stated the minute of the meeting after the introduction. Tzuyu become the only sophomore in the student council after Dahyun left. The ash-haired girl used to be in the club too but due to her enthusiasm in her sport, it took most of her time until her council work is jeopardize as it becomes too unbearable. However, Dahyun is still committed to help her members in the student council whenever she can. She and Tzuyu are close friends that sometimes they grab lunch together. Tzuyu is tall, taller than Dahyun or anyone in the student council. She has a pretty long and straight dark brown hair. Tzuyu is really famous around boys; her kind smile, sweet but savage personality and not to mention her perfect body line. Tzuyu is attractive in her own way which is why Dahyun find the girl to be amusing.

“The sport festival is a three days event. For each day, two assigned clubs will have its match. For example, soccer and rugby club will have their match on the first day. The next day, it’s the match for the cricket and baseball club. As for the other sport clubs, they will provide their own booth game. I have already informed the teacher that we need ten booths in total so I expect each clubs to use only one booth for the game.” The president explained. “Raise your hand if you have any other inquiry.” She told everyone.

Dahyun immediately raised her hand. Jisoo raised her brows, “Yes Kim Dahyun, is there something you want to ask or share?”

“I have an idea I would like to share.” Dahyun said, waiting for the president to permit her from sharing.

“Proceed.” Jisoo smiled at her.

“Okay, so I am fully aware that our school budget is getting low after providing each clubs for their necessity like new nets for the goal post. I genuinely thank you for providing our club with that. So I was thinking in order to increase our budget, why don’t we make the sport festival become public? We won’t only get the money from the booth game but we will also received them from an entrance tickets.” Dahyun suggested.

Everyone started muffling, some nodded their heads in agreement. As expected from the brainy Dahyun, the idea is a good one that Jisoo’s face lit up after hearing her thoughts and it’s obvious that she like it too. Tzuyu grinned proudly beside Dahyun while Chaeyoung nudged her on the elbow and give her a thumbs up.

No one said anything to object her idea, not until when the vice president begin to speak. She raised her hand and started talking when Jisoo allowed her.

“It’s a good idea. But how are we sure that the people from outside will come?” She asked. If she weren’t the girl Dahyun had her first crush on, she wouldn’t be so nervous to answer her.

“W-well, the number of people coming is not guaranteed but we will try to spread the event around through fliers.” Dahyun answered to her question with a shaky voice. She blushed when their eyes meet. Even if it was just for a brief moment, it still made the ash-haired girl’s heart to tremble. Maybe the first crush syndrome is real as everyone says it will always stick around inside the heart. Dahyun is experiencing the same reaction just like the first time because whenever she see the vice president walking around the school or passing by her with a smile, or whenever she is inside the same room as her, Dahyun still feel butterfly in her tummy and hot on her cheek because of getting too shy.

“That means, we will have to figure out for the content of the fliers.” Mina smiled at Dahyun who is sweating a little on her forehead. She tried to smile back with a nod.

Myoui Mina has a long silky hair with a natural black colored that matches her dazzling dark brown eyes. She has a small mole next to her nose bridge, like a mark that identifies herself. Dahyun is attracted to her not only for her visual look but for her personality that made her want to be just like her. Mina is a kind-hearted, lovely, caring and a refine person. If she was born into a new world, she could be reborn as a princess. Not only is she caring and sweet, she is also an intelligent whose rank as the first in the school. She is also known as the Know-It-All, because she literally know everything. For example, you can name five famous people in the history but she can name a hundred coming from different countries- she is just that smart. Her gracefulness made a lot of people to be attracted of her that she was given a nickname “elegant princess.” Believe it or not, she even have a fanboy club in her school that seems to worship her. Though it is creepy, but Mina’s kind heart just let the boys do their activities freely as long as they never cross any boundary or harm her physically and mentally.

“I volunteer to do the design.” Chaeyoung butted in.

“Yeah. And our club can help to print them since we have our own machine now.” Yerim added.

“Great! Then that settles it.” Jisoo said in satisfactory. “I’m assigning Dahyun, Chaeyoung, Yerim, Mina and Tzuyu to finish the fliers as the others can help to spread them once it is done.”

After school, Dahyun have her soccer practice and a meet-up with Nayeon. She is waiting for Nayeon outside the hall with her red colour jersey and black short. It was only a few minutes later when Nayeon’s white Volkswagen can be seen going inside from the main entrance. She parked her car at the parking lot that is a bit too far from where Dahyun is standing but Nayeon can still spot her right away because of her red shirt that stood out from a far.

“Hey!” Dahyun expressed her excitement.

Nayeon gave her a hug as a way of greeting and smiled. “I’m glad to see you again.”

“I know right. I didn’t expect us to meet again so soon.” Dahyun giggled as they both start walking.

They enter from the main door and went straight to the field which is the on the other side of the hall. Nayeon suddenly feel nostalgic of the environment; the liveliness and the fun of high school. She realized how different the vibe is compare to in college, high school is more energetic and exciting. It made Nayeon miss being a teenage high school. I wonder if I will still be the same person as I am today if I were to be in this high school, Nayeon thought as she follow Dahyun who is leading her to her seat, close to the field so she can watch them play conveniently.

“Good luck!” Nayeon said before letting the younger girl leave.

When Dahyun start kicking the ball around the green field, Nayeon felt proud of her. What? She thought when she realized that she has fallen in love with the sight. Dahyun look attractive when she is dribbling the ball before passing it to her teammates, Nayeon couldn’t take her eyes off of the sweaty Dahyun who is panting yet focused on her steps. Honestly, who wouldn’t fall for this girl’s charm? I know I am. Nayeon pressed her lip together at her own thought.

Nayeon’s eyes beamed, looking at the younger girl like she is on a trance. She suddenly feel the urge to scream as her fangirl mode has awaken inside of her. So she start cheering and jumping that it caught people’s attention including Dahyun herself. The ash-haired girl gave her a shy smile and a wink before returning her attention back to the game. Nayeon swear that she almost feel like her heart was about to jump out from her chest after receiving the wink and smile. She really has become Dahyun’s fangirl now, cheering her name throughout the game.

When the team had finished their practice, Nayeon immediately come over to Dahyun who is picking up the ball on the field.

“Dahyun, you were so good out there.” Nayeon exclaimed.

“Thank you.” Dahyun grinned while rubbing the nape of her neck with a soccer ball in her other hand.

Oh crap, that’s so hot. Nayeon bit her lip at the sight. Dahyun is sweating, her face and her neck is turning red and her breathing is still heavy. But she look incredibly amazing despite her current state.

“You were very supportive, it almost feel like it’s a real match. That’s really nice of you.” Dahyun complimented her back with a genuine smile.

Right. It’s just a practice, I shouldn’t be too energetic about it. Nayeon gritted on her lip in embarrassment.

“Yeah. I just suddenly got so much energy.” She explained with a chortle laugh.

“Nice.” Dahyun laughed while walking back to the bench with Nayeon beside her. She put the ball back inside the net and take a seat on the wooden bench. Nayeon followed.

“Dahyun,” Nayeon called when Dahyun gulped on her sport drink.

“Yeah?” She turn to face the older girl.

“I have a very weird question.” She informed.

“Okay, what kind of weird question?” Dahyun chuckled as she is suddenly feeling curious.

“What do you think of me?” She asked out of curiosity.

Oh no, that’s exactly the same question Sana asked me. The younger girl thought while blowing puff on her cheek.

I hope she won’t act all weird after I answer her. At least not as weird as Sana did. Dahyun is suddenly nervous to answer the question.

Man, I feel like I’m traumatic by this question. It made feel anxious about what to expect. She inhale a deep air before she speak.

“Um- well, for starter I think you are very nice.” Dahyun said. “And kind because you actually came all the way here to support me play.” She continued.

Nayeon smiled genuinely. “Is that good enough for you to put trust on me?”

Dahyun widened her eyes because maybe she didn’t expect that respond. She nod her head quickly as a respond although she is still unsure of the girl’s question.

“Let me ask you another question and I want your real answer to it.” Nayeon said again.

Somehow this conversation is making Dahyun to feel restless because she had no idea what’s on the other girl’s mind. So she gulped harder.

“Don’t worry, just relax about it. You don’t have to expect anything.” Nayeon noticed how nervous the younger girl is judging by her obvious face expression. Nayeon gave her a reassuring smile.

“Uh yeah.” Dahyun chuckled softly, feeling a little embarrassed for being obvious.

“Have you ever feel different about yourself?” There it is, the question that Dahyun have been wanting to hear. The question that carries so many truth about herself but she is just too scared to admit.

Dahyun feel transparent like she is being exposed, as if someone just create holes on her body- a see through- she felt like she is suddenly made of a clear plastic. Her mind is overwhelmed and she is contemplating whether she should let herself be revealed.

Is this an invitation for me to confess about myself? Dahyun may be overthinking it.

After all, I’m growing tired of keeping it. She thought as she stare on the ground.

“Dahyun?” Nayeon called. She heard her the first time but she didn’t want to answer her. Not yet.

Then another thoughts hit her. Something or rather ‘someone’ made her want to believe that it’s okay to take risk and to be reckless- oh she was so reckless yet so bold, Dahyun thought as she remembered the embarrassing scene she got herself into with the blonde-haired girl.

What are you doing? Dahyun asked herself. This is your chance to sort things out, you shouldn’t run away from it any more. Maybe Nayeon will understand, or maybe she won’t. You wouldn’t know unless you take the risk. And for God sake, how long are you going to keep this to yourself? Come on, Dahyun. Speak for yourself!