“Guys, hurry up, take a seat. We’ve only got like fifteen minutes.” Minhyuk, the class monitor instructed. His eyes met Bona’s. She slightly bowed to acknowledge him. His heart squeezed.

Frankly speaking, he never paid attention to Bona. At a glance, her appearance looked plain and ordinary, but at a better look, she undeniably had her own attraction. Her eyes were especially captivating.

“As everyone already knew, 12^th grade participation for this year’s sports day are compulsory. And a new info just came in. Mr. Lee guarantees an B plus for anyone who joins 4x100 metres relay, 100m, 200m and 400m sprint, futsal, basketball, table tennis or volleyball. Since we’re in joint P.E. with Class 6, he is responsible for our grades too.” The announcement received mixed reaction from the rest of the class.

“Sports day is a waste of time!” A girl protested.

“Why are they making us do this?” This time, a boy opposed the purpose of the meeting.

“Come on. Don’t ruin the mood.” One of them complained, defending Minhyuk and Sowon who were clearly baffled by the situation too.

“It’s not that bad. Easy B. You guys are always slacking off during P.E., anyway.” Another one joined in.

“Settle down. I don’t make the rules.” Minhyuk tried to control the chaos he unintentionally caused. Sowon who was sitting on in front of her co-class-monitor quickly took over the rostrum.

“Anyway, if you decided to join the three-legged, hula hoop, dress up game or such, you’ll only get medal and prizes. That is if you win. Grades will not be considered. I’ll hand out these forms to the leader of each sport. Only the forms marked with green stickers will be counted as your grade.” She cut in. The serenity in her voice hushed the entire space. 

“Since we don’t have much time, Sowon will call out a sport. If you are interested to be the leader, come out and take the form. You guys work out the teammates later.” Minhyuk told them.

Bona remained quietly in her seat. Being a new student in the school, she wanted to keep her ground low. The sole purpose of her attending school again was to graduate. Even though summer was approaching, she hadn’t made a single friend from school. Was Wonwoo a friend? She did tell him she wasn’t going to avoid him anymore but would that make them friends?

“Girl basketball.” The classroom went to a pin-dropped silence for a solid ten seconds. Everyone simply looked at each other and avoided eye contact with Sowon. Bona raised her head as she too looked around the room.

“Girl basketball.” Minhyuk called out for the second time. Same response from the girls. No response.

“Come on. Anyone? Eunbi?” Sowon nudged one of her friends to participate.

“I’m going for the table tennis. Sorry.” Eunbi declined.

“Okay, then. We’ll sort this out later.” Sowon sighed. Bona was divided. She wasn’t good at track and field. She never learnt to play table tennis. Volleyball seemed plausible. Futsal, not possible. The other option left was basketball which she clearly had some sort of experience in the past.

“Next is boy basketball… Yes, Kim Bona. Questions?” Minhyuk paused when he saw a hand shot up in the air.

“I would like to be the captain.” She said under a breath. That was it. No take backs. At the end of the day, she needed to join a sport to secure good grades.

“Huh?” Sowon was stumped by the lonely hand raised in the air.

“I’ll do it. Girl basketball.” she was firm with the decision this time. But the words felt like a big lump in . Everyone simply stared at her. ‘What’s with this one?’ she guessed what was in their mind. ‘What an attention seeker.’ Another criticism jabbed her back.

“Okay. Here’s the form.” Sowon walked towards her and handed her the form for basketball team.

“Thanks” she said as she received it. On top of the paper, the name ‘Kim Bona’ was written carefully and then Sowon’s name followed just below hers.

“Please take a good care of me.” Sowon said with the sweetest smile.

“I volunteer for the guys’ basketball, then.” Minhyuk quickly interrupted before anyone filled in the spot for leader.

“I’ll join the basketball team. Shin Ye-eun.” She said politely. Bona nodded and took out a pen hastily to jot down the name of her new teammate.

“My name is Kim Bona.” she cautiously introduced herself.

“I remember your name. Everybody does.” Ye-eun said brightly. The girl seemed sweet. What about the bad words projected at her just now. Was that just all in her head?

“You do?” she asked.

“Of course. You’re really pretty. That’s why everybody is always staring at you.” Ye-eun told her the truth. Bona felt relieved. Not at the pretty remark but the for the fact that they weren’t talking about her badly. At least, for now.

“What brand do you use?” Ye-eun asked as she played with snow globe keychain on Bona’s pencil case.

“Huh?”

“What make up do you use?” She giggled at Bona’s flustered reaction.

“Oh, that.” Bona rummaged through her backpack to take out a compact powder and a lip tint. The brand name was barely even there anymore. She didn’t remember what brand was it. Sojung gifted those to her when she stayed at her house more than a year ago. That was how long she’d been possessing those items.

“Sorry for the interruption.” A tall figure went inside their classroom as soon as the bell rang.

“What do you need, Kim Mingyu?” Minhyuk asked the other student. They were clearly close from the way they interacted with each other. Right then, the other guy followed. Bona knew that one all too well. They both entered the classroom and took over the podium.

“There’s a briefing for guys’ and girls’ basketball team after school. It won’t take long. Twenty minutes max.” Mingyu announcement made the crown murmured.

“Let him finish.” Minhyuk instructed.

“It’s kind of sudden, I know. Send out a rep if you can’t attend. We’ll be handing out the gym schedule and explained the rules on basketball games.” Mingyu continued. Wonwoo who was barely hidden behind Mingyu easily spotted Bona in the crowd. His lips gave a slight twitch when he saw Bona slightly bowed her head to greet him.

“That’ll be all. Thank you.” Wonwoo said before they both left.

“Did you see him smile?” One of the girls shrieked.

“I didn’t see that but his voice sure sounds nice.”

“Is Wonwoo going to conduct the briefing?” the other chimed in.

“I guess so. He’s been doing it since he’s in the tenth grade.”

“I heard he was the captain during in middle school.”

“Just look at his body.” The first girl continued to showed her interest for Wonwoo. Bona was obviously uneasy at the attention Wonwoo from gathered from barely speaking a full sentence.

“Why did he quit, anyway?” Bona stayed silent but the question piqued her interest. As far as she knew, his dad made him quit. But she knew it wasn’t that easy to just quit something you have insane amount of passion for.

“Don’t you know? His arm is screwed up. Someone saw him beaten up by a thug.” One of the boys interrupted.

“Really? What a pity. He has a nice face, though.” They continued to gossip.

“I felt bad for him. Is it okay to make him train us?” Ye-eun whispered at Bona. She shrugged as a response.

“Kim Bona, I couldn’t attend the meeting after school. Would it be okay if you go?” Sowon told her. She felt guilt about leaving Bona alone when the girl barely knew her way around the school.

“We’ll go together.” Ye-eun squealed in excitement. Bona smiled at her reaction. Just a while ago, she was a lonely girl with zero friend. As soon as she decided to ease up a little, she immediately befriended a couple of classmates. And a Wonwoo. What relation they had with each other, anyway?

Just a while ago when they were sitting next to each other, she felt close to him. He seemed like a friend that she’d love to confide in to. But what about the uneasiness in her heart when she heard someone else talking about him? She’d wish the smile only meant for her. At that moment, she’d wish he only belonged to her.

“You’re crazy.” Bona shook her. She couldn’t believe she just had that insane thought. Her smile quickly turned into a frown.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Bona smiled sheepishly.

“You know, I saw you smiled earlier.” Ye-eun poked at Bona’s cheeks.

“I did?” Bona asked. She could’ve sworn she only bowed to him.

“Yes, you did. When they were making announcement about the basketball meeting. Do you like basketball that much?”

“I guess.” She lied. Luckily, Ye-eun didn’t catch on fast. It made sense since nobody could guess Kim Bona and Jeon Wonwoo knew each other.

“Smile more. You look pretty when you smile.” Ye-eun praised her as she kept poking on her cheeks.

“Stop saying that.” The temperature tainted her skin scarlet.

“Let’s talk more after class end.” Ye-eun said and took her seat for next period.

“I’d love to.” She said in a hush tone and a smile slowly growing back on her lips.