Arriving at the gym, we weren’t sure what to expect, I had figured it would be guys only for one class girls only for another, but it appears I was wrong as the bleachers already had a few sets of students lining them, both male and female.

We headed up as well and took a seat, not having to wait very long for the instructor to come out and tell us the “syllabus” and I very much put that quotations, for the semester. After about a five-minute speech they say we can take the rest of the time however we would like, stating that the real first day of physical activity will be tomorrow.

Quickly after finishing they disappear and everyone started to break off into different groups.

That’s when out of the corner of my eye I spotted her, it was only for a brief second, but it was definitely her.

I leaned my head to the side in a desperate attempt to see around a few of the girls blocking my view until eventually the seas parted and I caught another glimpse, and I was right, it was her.

Ah, how lucky, I actually got gym with her too...

She seems to be happily socializing with a few other members of the class and my eyes are drawn to the ribbon atop her ponytail she must have added after first period.

“Does this mean I get to see her everyday not only in her school uniform...but her gym clothes as well?!?” I think to myself, mouth ever so slightly agape in thought.

I continue staring, mind running wild with ideas that you’d be hard pressed to define as being more or more idiotic in nature.

This may have lasted the rest of my life if I was left to my own devices, but it was sadly cut short.

“You wanna do something? We might as well get a locker anyway, since we brought our stuff” Taki asks as I sit up from my slouched position but not taking my eyes off the scene up front.

“Sure, why not” I try to reply nonchalantly, as I stand up.

.

. .

. . .

It didn’t take us long to get a locker and change, as it seems only a few of the guys actually had any interest, most were still sitting up on the bleachers.

There are a few guys playing basketball on one side of the gym, thinking it would probably be best to join them I start to head over.

I notice Yujin was no longer in her spot at the front of bleachers and as I looked around I noticed her with a ball in her hand with a small group gathered around her.

She really is quite tall, she was at least a heads length taller than a good portion of the girls and was even taller than a few of the guys.

She must have spotted us out of the corner of her eye as she came running up to me with a smile.

“Hey...Jae right?” Her sweet voice along with the hint of nervousness behind the question takes me off guard for a moment.

“Huh? Oh...yeah, I’m Jae. We sat next to each other in first period”

“Yeah! I was just wondering if you guys wanted to join our game! We need two more players” She asks sheepishly.

I’m unable to process my thoughts  quick enough as I look over at the group of students she has behind her and then back. Before I can say anything Taki shouts “Sure! We’d love to play! Right Jae?” then nudging me forward before adjusting his glasses.

“Uh...yeah...yeah sure”

She returns a big smile and says “Great!”

When I walk over, I notice it’s a mix of girls and guys, apparently everybody wanted to play with the new school idol I guess, no surprise there.

But what is surprising is the choice of game we seem to be going with. I must just be mistaken as given how everyone is set up it’s almost as if we’re going to be playing dodgeball or something. That can’t be right, girls and guys are both here.

My suspicions were somehow right though as Yujin and a few other students place a few balls in the middle and the “ref” they’ve assigned tells us all to back up.

Huh what am I supposed to do? Can I really throw it at the girls..? Or even an idol...? I guess this is why guys usually try to avoid this situation in the first place...but the chance of getting close to a famous idol must have blinded them because as we go to line up I notice their faces have begun to display the same panicked confusion I had a moment ago.

When I reach the line, I feel a light elbow in my side

“Yo, are we supposed to be like this? It seems weird playing both guys and girls” I get asked by another guy.

“I guess...” I respond back as I try and look over all the other groups in the gymnasium, and most are just small sets of girls messing around.

When I look back the ref has already started her count.

“Alright...3...2..1..GO!”

We all dash to the balls, but I don’t manage to get one.

Before I know it I see one flash by me and hit a girl on our team hard in the leg.

Woah, what the hell, that guys got no chill, he can’t be hitting girls like that.

When I look up though there’s no guy on the side the ball had been thrown from but instead Yujin giving a high five to one of her teammates.

What? No way that was her, that was thrown super hard. What the hell.

When I look around I notice none of the other guys are really throwing either, they are either standing their confused or holding onto a ball unsure of what to do.

Except for Taki who is throwing it as hard as he possibly can, which isn’t very hard albeit and falling onto the gym floor nearly every time he does so.

I grab his shoulder and kneel down to help him up.

“Taki man, there’s no winning at this, let’s just stand in the back an-“

Everything goes black.

You know the phrase bells and whistles? Well that’s all I can think to describe the next few moments. Bells and whistles going off in my head.

When I open my eyes again I realize I’m staring at the blurry ceiling of the gymnasium and wondering how I got here. Then a large dog looms over the top, staring down at me with a worried expression until quickly switching to a smile when she sees I’m okay.

“Nice catch man! I thought you died for a second though haha” She says reaching her hand down to me. It takes me a moment to get my barring’s and realize she’s offering to help me up.

That’s when I realize there is a ball resting in between my chest and my left arm, that hadn’t to my knowledge been there previously.

“What...what happened” I ask, still in a fog.

“Ah, well I accidentally aimed a bit high and hit you in the head...I mean it kinda slipped, but you actually caught it when you fell! I was pretty impressed considering how hard it hit, but I’m kinda getting the vibe you didn’t necessarily mean to...haha...” She says ending with a nervous laugh and then once again asking if I’m sure I’m alright.

I assured her I was okay, trying to hide the embarrassment that had come from a mix of being nearly knocked out by her and the fact she was getting way too close.

Across the gym a voice echoes over to us “Hey, no horsing around, I don’t want anyone getting hurt on the first day” the instructor yells over to us, having come out of their office for the first time since disappearing.

“Haha my bad! Sorry teach!” Yujin calls back with her hands pressed together in an apologetic manner.

Luckily the rest of the class went by without much incident, probably due to the combination of the obvious and the fact the teacher came to watch over the game.

Overall the latter half of the day wasn’t very interesting. Although compared to how it started, how could it?

I spent most of my time getting used to all my new classes and learning the layout of the school. However I couldn’t help but hear the endless chatter in each and every class about what “celebrity” was rumored to be attending.

“Did you hear that ***** is here?? Jessica swears she saw him during first period!”

“Omg **** Looks so amazing! I can’t believe they look even better in person”

I’d make a snarky comment, but I’d be lying if I didn’t lose my mind too when there was an idol right in front of me...

. . .

Usually when your parents ask how school went, out of laziness a thoughtful answer isn’t in the cards, but today however, it simply wasn’t possible.

When I went up to my room, I tossed my bag down and landed on top of my bed.

Eventually spinning around face up, I look up at the poster above me, one of my beloved Kwangbae.

Man....I really made myself look like a loser...

Tomorrow we can do better...it was just one day, we’ll fade into the background anyway, it’ll be fine.