chapter six;

“Do we have everything yet?”

I took the list our mother had prepared earlier out of my pocket to skim through it again, but before my eyes could focus on the writings, Jongin snatched the paper from my grasp. “Hey!” I protested.

He studied the list carefully while checking the things in the trolley. Finally, he nodded and folded the paper before slipping it into the pocket of his jeans. “Yup, we have everything,”

I shot him a look and raised an eyebrow.  “How can you be so sure, oppa?” I asked, stressing the word oppa in a tone that I would only use when I was either annoyed by him or trying to annoy him.

“In case you didn’t notice, Bae Suji,” he imitated my tone. “I can actually read,”

“Ah,” I pretended to remember. “By the way, umma missed out something from the list,”

“What?” he asked as I rested my back against the cold steel of the trolley as he began pushing it.

“We ran out of ice-creams,” I said matter-of-factly. He flicked the top of my head with his fingers. “What?”

“We’re here to buy groceries, and ice-cream is not a grocery,”

“But it’s summer. Ice-cream is a basic necessity at times like this,” I argued. “At least buy me just a small cup for now,”

He chuckled. “Will there ever be a day where you’ll finally stop asking me to buy you food?”

I shrugged. “If I ever do, I bet you’ll miss it a lot,”

He said nothing and simply smiled, ruffling my hair as he pushed the cart heading to the confectionary section of the supermarket. “Aigo this little sister of mine,”

-

The bell signaling lunch break went off minutes ago, but I was still sitting unmoved in my seat, right hand twirling a pencil between my fingers while the other cupping my chin as I continued to stare at my book, clueless.

I’ve beaten Jongin in multiple occasions before, even in ssireum which we played for fun out of boredom when we were eleven in our yard. We only did it once, though, because umma saw us and freaked out. I even beat Wooyoung oppa in a one-on-one match, Jongin’s senior in soccer whom he never won against. However, if there was one thing I could never beat him in, it would be Mathematics.

Thinking that I could just ask for his help later, I snapped the book close and shoved it under my desk. Just as I was heading out to the canteen, two particular figures entered the classroom ― one of them my classmate.

“You’re still here, Suji?” the girl asked, noticing me.

“I’m leaving now,” I replied. “Forgot something, Riah?”

“Just my purse,” she answered.

I glanced at the boy who was with her and recognized his face from Jongin’s team. I bowed at him and flashed a polite smile, and he did the same, acknowledging me, before leaving with Riah, hand in hand.

-

Since the regionals were approaching, basketball practice grew more and more vigorous. Not only that the hours were being extended, but the training became even rougher as well. The fact that the weather’s temperature was only rising didn’t help either.

It was break time when the coach announced his new training idea. “From now on,” he began, “I want you to practice in pairs,”

I was only a second away from marching towards Soojung, when his next words brought my steps into a halt. “Boy-girl pairs,”

Startled, I gulped the last of my water and panicked. Some were cheering while the others, I noticed, were just as restless as I was. I stole a glance at Soojung and shot her a what-are-we-gonna-do? look. She simply shrugged in return.

Assuming it wouldn’t be a fair play to let us pick our own partner, the coach decided that he would do it himself. Watching my teammates’ names get called one by one, I hugged my knees and waited anxiously for my turn. Finally, it came up.

When I heard my partner’s name, I wasn’t exactly sure how to react. Awkwardly, I made my way towards him, avoiding any eye contacts while doing so. I gave him a courteous 90 degrees bow, in which he returned the favour generously with a friendly smile gracing his lips.

“So we meet again,” he broke the ice.

“Y-yes,” I stuttered and immediately detested myself for behaving that way.

His smile grew wider as he patted my shoulder. “Let’s be good friends, Suji-yah,” he said, offering a hand.

I stared into Minho’s brown orbs for a second and let his words sink into my brain. Returning his smile at last, I reached for his large warm hand and shook it lightly. “Let’s be good friends,” I echoed, ignoring the jolt of electricity I felt the moment our skins touched.