Chapter 2

Aim for the goal(her heart)

AHN YUJIN

 

I cracked open my eyes just to see my Prince Charming, more like an Annoying Bunny who goes by the name of Jang Wonyoung.

 

“I’ve seen that you have fallen for my charms eh, floorballer” she said while smirking.

 

“Ugh as if I would. I would rather eat my own than to go out on a date with you.”, I said while trying to pry her hands which were holding me in a pretty tight embrace, probably a bit too tight for my own comfort. 

 

From the owner of my eye, I could see Minjoo trying hard to focus on the conversation Yuri was making. She seemed kind of cute furrowing her eyebrows together when Wonyoung made her grip tighter on me. (Wait,I’m not suppose to think about that cheater this way)

 

“Fine then,” she said while simultaneously dropping my sorry on the ground, “I’ll make sure you will fall for my wonderful charms sooner than you may expect.”

 

“In your dreams, Wonyoung. Besides why don’t you try to entertain the line of suitors lining up for you instead of my pitiful ”, trying to pick myself from the ground. I dusted off the dirt off my skirt and moved on to pursue my target which happens to a an oblivious duck which has no bloody idea that I am plotting her murder for making this day a horrible one.

 

In a couple of strides, I managed to catch up with her before she uttered her words of confession to Yuri which may potentially ruin her day if the confession ever goes wrong.

 

“I’m sorry for any disturbance she might have caused prior to this,” while clamping my right hand over Yena’s mouth and dragging her slightly further away.

 

 “I hope that you have a good day ahead.” I stiffly replied while looking at them firmly in the eyes except for her.

 

I dragged Yena, with little difficulty out of the canteen to the washroom where we would be well out of shot of everyone’s gazes. 

 

“Herghhh. Leth meh breth,” Yena mumbled before I felt a warm muscle against my right palm. 

 

“What the actual fudge, YENA!” I immediately retracted my hand away from her face.

 

“You did not just do that,” as I wiped my hand on her sleeve as a retaliation and immediately washed my hands with soap to get this slime off my precious hands.

 

“Well I had to do or that could have been the last time I would see Yuri’s beautiful face”, she retorted.

 

“Besides, why did you take away from what could have been potentially a chance to score a winning goal towards Yuri’s heart”

 

“Well you see, confessing in the middle of the canteen, especially when it is the most packed recess is equivalent to digging your own ‘grave’,” I quoted with my fingers, just to emphasise on it.

 

“That does make absolute sense but doesn’t make absolute sense to me at the same time. I mean isn’t confessing to your crush equivalent to scoring a goal at the floorball championships.” She nonchalantly replied.

 

Floorball Championships. Floorball. Wasn’t it a big reason for the huge fight which ultimately led to her cheating on you with Kim Chaewon. See it proves my point of how floorball wouldn’t do you any favour. It’ll just bring you down. “NO. It’s my passion” I tried pushing that little voice which had been annoying me time and time again when I split up with her. Breakup. Tsk why don’t you break up with floorball like how she did with you. Maybe it’ll serve you a much better future. A less painful one to make it sound more enticing. Isn’t a less painful path to achieving success much better than-

 

“Yujin that reminds me. What the hell was Hyewon doing with a food cart. She is literally taking the definition of ‘fast’ food a bit too seriously. But still that’s pretty amazing how she is able to run like Usain Bolt on the court with all the food that she constantly eats.”

 

“Well I mean there’s a thing called a balanced diet which she balances out by giving her best unlike a lazy duck I know of.”

 

“Hey. I’m not lazy. I’m just using my limbs to its fullest potential which usually gives up after a couple of-“ she paused half way while staring at the mirror.

 

I followed her line of gaze to see a reflection of Minjoo standing at the doorway.

 

“Oh , I’m sorry. I didn’t realise this toilet was full'' indicating to a bunch of clearly empty cubicles with 2 idiots in the washroom with their presence. Pity a princess had to grace this washroom with her presence. Why the hell is my brain spewing so much more bull on average today?

 

“Wait, no. Uhm-, it's okay. Uh you could use the washroom.” I stuttered my words while dragging a bewildered Yena out for the second time again. I hung my head as low as possible to avoid any possible eye contact with her. 

 

As I walked past her, something within me was urging my head to turn slightly up to allow myself a close up of her face. However, my conscience got the better of me and I turned my head to the side to avoid seeing her face. Honestly, it’s been a month and it’s disappointing how I can’t look at a low life like her right in the face. Well you used to look at her like she was a trophy that you have won with your efforts put into the floorball championship. Pity that your efforts which are really mediocre in my honest opinion lead to many terrible events in your life. Pity that you are just a horrible player. I shook my head furiously and rushed out the washroom with Yena in tow. This day just keeps getting consecutively worse to my own ‘joy’.

 

I returned to the classroom, feeling thoroughly exhausted as if Coach Kwon had made the team run endlessly round the court till she blew her whistle. I was too exhausted to even finish the popcorn chicken I had brought from the canteen. I threw it to Yena who catched with her quick reflexes owing to her past as a goalkeeper. I laid my head down to take a quick nap just to clear my troubled mind. 

____________________________________________________________________________________

“ Alright girls, we are done for the day so please remember to pack up the boards and return the balls back to the box along with the sticks that you have borrowed.” I shouted my instructions to my team as I had to take charge of practice as Coach Kwon had to attend to some private matters.

 

“And don’t forget to cool down and no, Yena, you are not to keep a ball to practice owing to the number of balls that you have yet to return.” Chaeyeon shouted consecutively while holding Yena by her collar who was trying to take a ball by hiding it in her shirt.

 

Yena broke free from Chaeyeon’s grasp and tried running round the hall till Chaeyeon would yield and give in to her demand of wanting a ball to practice with. Hyewon joined in the melting pot of chaos by having Yena throw the ball to her, back and forth as if it was a game of ping pong with Chaeyeon as a ‘human net’ trying to block the ball from reaching the other side and the two idiots are using their stick to hit it to the other side. I shook my head as it was typical of these idiots to do any shenanigans after practice. 

 

I walked over to where the rest of the team was putting the boards back to the frame. I double-checked to ensure that everything was in order before sending the rest of the team home to rest with constant reminders to ‘stretch their muscles’. I instructed Yena to carry the ball box back to the storeroom as her ‘punishment’ for making Chaeyeon run after her. I gave my ‘all clear’ signal to Chaeyeon, where she proceeded to switch off the lights and fans, shrouding the place in complete darkness.

 

I stepped out into the cool breeze of the late afternoon, carrying Yena’s gear with me. Things were different now since she had broken up with me. From her waiting for me after her theatre club practice or skipping some of her practice just to be my little ‘supporter’ when the team had friendly matches with other schools. 

 

I wondered what would be the new changes to her schedule now that she had broken up with Chaewon, presumably. Could she be waiting for Yuri to finish her choir practice or Nako’s photography club and Hitomi’s cheerleading practice. Frankly speaking, I shouldn’t be caring about her life. She’s long gone from my life so I shouldn’t be giving a plenty of s about her life.

 

Chaeyeon and Hyewon left since they had to catch up on their mounting pile of homework. Leaving me behind to wait for Yena, who was taking an awfully long time to keep the ball box. 

 

Suddenly I caught a glimpse of someone’s silhouette at the front gate of the school. Wait, are my eyes malfunctioning or do I see Kim Minjoo? I squinted my eyes and true to my Guess, it was indeed her. But what was she even at school at such a late timing? Was she waiting for someone? The last I knew of the theatre club’s ending time for their practice, it was at least an hour earlier than I ended my floorball practices. Come on, rack your stupid brain to come up with a logical solution, Ahn Yujin.

 

“We’re having a performance at a youth festival coming up next month. So it would probably make my upcoming days with you a little bit more busier and tiring. But, I’ll make sure to make plenty of time for you. Do make sure you reserve those tickets to the movie that I had wanted to watch.” Well I did but it was a pity for my wallet as you had decided to skive off and find a new movie date partner with Kim Chaewon. I ended up giving away those tickets to Chaeyeon and Sakura under the idea of ‘free tickets given by a friend’. 

 

Could it be that she was going to be picked up by her parents considering how late it was? This thought was interrupted when a car came into view with someone familiar in the driver’s seat. Kim Chaewon. Oh yeah, I forgot she recently got her driver’s license and her parents had bought her a cobalt Toyota Prius as a reward for leading the football team to the finals. However, the only difference was that her team got first place whereas mine got second place due to my goal which missed the net. 

 

Could this be a huge factor as to why she cheated on me? Maybe Minjoo preferred winners instead of a loser like me?

 

I watched intently as Minjoo entered the car with a grim expression. Her face contorted into a forced smile which I could tell from the way her eyes were void of any emotion and her 'Indian dimples'(which I used to poke at whenever they appeared) did not appear at all in her face. She just seemed to give a tired nod and buckled her own seatbelt(tsk, Kim Chaewon better up her game and be a gentlewoman by buckling her seatbelt up for her).

 

However, what seemed to be most noticeable is the tension between them. It was like an invincible barrier placed between them. It felt rather uncomfortable to watch as a bystander and a fellow ex girlfriend of a cheater. I opted to call Yena who immediately picked up after the first ring.

 

"Hey, where are you right now you slow git?"

 

"I'm coming soon. I just had to settle a couple of matters.", she said rather quickly and as if she was out of breath.

 

Since when did carrying a ball box seem difficult for her? And what 'matters' did she have to settle? I was blinded by the bright red rear lights of the Toyota Prius which drove past me.

 

Yena soon appeared with a rather stupid grin on her face with I would gladly wipe out unless she had a good explanation behind the 'matter' she had to settle.

 

"Heyyyy. Guessss who scored a movie date next Saturday with the love of her life!"

 

"What, a garbage can?", sarcasm laced in my voice.

 

"Nope. It's this duck right here!" Yena screamed at my ear.

 

"Wait, what the actual fudge", my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in surprise.

 

"How, when ,WHAT!!!", shouting back at her, dropping our equipment to the floor in shock.

 

“Wait. Calm down alright. So earlier I happened to chance upon Yuri who was walking out of the choir room and I kind of dropped the ball box cause I just gay panicked upon seeing an angel. But anyways, she was kind enough to help me return all the balls into the box while apologising which was honestly the cutest sight I have ever seen aside from the mommy duck fluffing her feathers to keep her ducklings warm. Wait, that’s not the point and so I just happened to pop the question. And she agreed to it so quickly before my brain had time to comprehend I had just asked her out on a date. But she had to rush off for her family dinner so she just gave me a light peck on the cheek. I could have sworn, my heart stopped beating right there and then. And she gave me a date which is next Saturday” she rambled on as we picked up our equipment and headed for the front gate.

 

“Wait, hold on did you even get her number?” 

 

“Oh . I didn’t cause my brain was in a huge ducking mess. Do you happen to have her number though?” She replied, rather worriedly.

 

I shook my head in response, sadly.

 

“Well, do you happen to know of any of Yuri’s close friends' numbers. Maybe Hitomi? Wait no, I accidentally hit her head with a floorball a couple of days ago and have yet to own up to my mistake. I’m pretty sure she will block my number.”

 

“How about Nako?” I offered in response, secretly praying she wouldn’t mention her name.

 

“Nah, I feel like she would become our own personal paparazzi, just to make sure I’m the right one for Yuri. So I’m chucking that idea right down the bin”

 

Yena furrowed her eyebrows, seemingly deep in thought as to who Yuri’s other friends could be.

 

“Oh, I know how about you-know-who?”

 

“What, Voldemort?” I deadpanned

 

“No, you . You know, your ex-girl-friend” she said rather cautiously.

 

“No. Find someone else to ask Yuri’s number from” I replied.

 

She immediately pounced on me and whined in a high pitched tone,” Please help your best buddy out here. I’ll make sure that I won’t say or ask anything related to Minjoo. I will throw in an extended timeline of the baked rice deal if that would motivate you to at least message her for Yuri’s number.”

 

“Fine, fine I will. You better stick true to your deal or I’ll break my stick into half and stick into you,roast you till you turn into a crisp duck.” trying to threaten her.

 

“Alright. Thanks so much, I owe you that deal” she happily replied.

 

We soon parted ways after reaching the bus stop and I soon reached home after a couple of stops.

 

I entered the house to the smell of Bak Kut Teh* wafting through the air while a pot of the delicious goodness simmered on the stove and my mom who had arrived from her work, chopping up some spring onions. I immediately washed up and hung my floorball stick on the hook, proudly joining the other sticks I have bought over the past years I played floorball.

 

“Help set up the table and tell your dad that ‘dinner is ready’”, my mom instructed.

 

“Hey Dad, dinner is ready so get your hungry stomach to the dining table or I’ll eat all the pork ribs” I shouted so that he could hear me.

 

“It sure does smell wonderful”, he replied while settling down at the table to eat with us after rushing down the stairs like a hyena. After a couple of minutes, our plates and bowls were wiped clean and we were all just laying down lazily at the table, suffering the side effects of a food coma.

 

“Well we better get our lazy asses up or we ain’t going to finish our stuff” my mom jokingly responded.

 

I grunted in response and rose up from my seat and made my way to the kitchen carrying all the dishes to be put into the dishwasher. My dad helped to throw out the garbage while my mom retreated back to her room to watch her Korean dramas after being exhausted from cooking the dinner.

 

Soon, I retreated to my own bedroom to which I plopped myself down on the bed, immediately remembering the deal I made with Yena.

 

“Remember to ask her for Yuri’s number”,Yena shouted before boarding the bus.

 

I opened my phone to be greeted by my wallpaper which is a picture of the both of us hugging each other in the amusement park. ‘I should really change my wallpaper to something more serious like a team picture’, I thought to myself. I opened my messaging app and scrolled all the way down to Minjoo’s number which I had blocked immediately the night she had been found kissing Chaewon which was exactly 30 days ago. My hand hovered over the unblock button and I took a deep breath in. I clicked on it, expecting to see messages from her. Sure enough there was.

 

“Hey, listen to me. Please.”

“Hey, baby. Please unblock me. You need to listen to my side of the story.”

“Hey, Yujin. Really, please unblock me. It was all just a mistake. Something just took over my feelings.”

“Hey, Ahn Yujin. I’ve tried calling you non-stop for the past couple of days. I’ve even tried to get your attention but your friends just made a human barrier around you. Please let me explain my side.”

“I’m guessing this is really the last goodbye. You have been literally treating me like I am a ghost. You are literally the most selfish and stupid coward who does not want to listen to me. To be honest, looking at you right now makes me want to choose that dumb soccer player, Kim Chaewon even though I would choose you at any point in my life,even on my deathbed. I hope that you would find someone better than me but I will still open my arms for you in case you want to get back”

 

“‘I will still open my arms for you’ ‘you want to get back’”, they kept circling my head, prickling my conscience. I snapped out of this trance before I brought myself over the edge and dive into the period of time where I cried myself to countless sleepless nights where I craved for your sweet messages, your sweet soothing deep voice and your ‘Indian dimple’. Perhaps I missed every part of you during then as I felt like an empty shell without it’s shellfish. The loss of your presence in my life was not even comparable to losing the final floorball match. 

 

It was just too much for me to handle at this point so I reached out for the switch off button. Just how I wish I could turn off the outlet where the memories with you were stored in. However, my phone vibrated and out popped a one new notification. From the past love of my life(Minjoo)





 

 

 

 

* Bak Kut Teh is a pork-rib soup which is usually served in Malaysia and Singapore. It's really damn nice to have on a rainy day or when you have just recently gone through bad day.

But anyways some of the upcoming moments that are mentioned or have been recently mentioned in the story regarding how the trio of idiots are like during training is what usually my teammates are in real life. I'm trying to use real-life scenarios just to keep the story a bit more realistic as I want this to be like a coming of age kind of story?? Should I make like a twitter account so that I keep y'all posted on this story? But thank you so much for the 30 subscribers and 3 upvotes. Okay I should really be doing my 'mounting pile of homework' as a student of the circuit breaker period. Feel free to drop me a text to keep my bored entertained during this CB period :)

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Comments

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aijuwo_nz
#1
Chapter 13: wow, this is good. kudos authornim!
Gab_17
#2
Chapter 11: WTF , Yujin is always the one who find ways on how to pursue Minjoo again as if she's the one who cheated between the two of them. Damn, Yujin is really kind to accept the person that is the reason of her heartbreak.
Gab_17
#3
Chapter 6: Yujin being a really good girlfriend to Minjoo, but Minjoo decided to things up.
Gab_17
#4
Chapter 5: Damn, i really really hate cheaters.
kimudamu21 #5
Chapter 10: If you let me having Chaewon, Authornim. I will be glad. Haha
kazzxs
#6
Chapter 3: girllll I'm telling you stop making chaewon as your rebound
taeny_4ever_
#7
Chapter 13: aaaa done re-reading it and all i can say is wow! this story is definitely wonderful like i wont get tired of it even tho how many times i've read it! i want moreee jssjjd i want to read more abt their moments being lovey dovey~ *ehem special chapter* XD anyway thankyou for this author-nim <3
taeny_4ever_
#8
Chapter 12: i js finished my school works so i can finally continue re-reading this story :D 2 more chapters left tho :(
Jecjecccc
#9
Chapter 13: Great story author-nim ❤️
turntsunrays #10
Chapter 13: This was a great story author-nim! I enjoyed it and good luck with school!