Yuri’s POV

Minho places the spare bentos into the fridge as Jo Kwon starts throwing clothes into my arched arms. He mumbles to himself as his fingers jitter over each shirt and pair of pants. “So you’ll be coming more often, huh?” Jo Kwon hadn’t ‘actually’ heard me speak many times, so he looked at me incredulously. Kind of like the reaction Jessica gave me. Did I really give off the vibe of orally disabled? “Yes, and?” He cynically asks, raising his brows in exasperation at my chatty tone.

“Casual - hot days, casual - warm days, casual - chilly days, casual - cold days. And don’t you dare try mixing them together.” I was a tomboy, not a fashion deprived worm. “Well, my work here is done. Annyeong Minho!” Jo Kwon gives him a one handed hug across the chest and departs. The room immediately seems to lose it’s flamboyant sparkle and zest, replaced with a matte ashen atmosphere. I don’t exactly know what to say to Minho now though. I stagger to my room, still feeling partly guilty about stranding Jonghyun in the city like that. Jonghyun oppa... Mianhae!

I glide my fingers across the mobile’s rusty metal surface. ‘I need a job, so I can get a phone to contact oppa, and maybe even appa. Things will be alright.’ I lull myself with reassuring thoughts. I snuggle into the doona, further burrowing myself beneath. The rich textured fabric, soft like feathers, brushing against my cheeks. I could get used to this every night. ‘Tomorrow will be good. It’s a weekend, nothing bad will happen.’

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“Yah! Minho!” I wake up to the fuming voice of Jonghyun. Jonghyun tousled his hair in frustrated. Yawning, I rub my eyes. When he spots me he turns sheepishly to me, apologetically shooing me back to sleep. I regretted not wearing my slippers, the marble tiles rubbing freezing icicle onto my feet soles like balm. I curl in my toes to fold into my cloud printed pajama pants to the bathroom. Groggily I brush my teeth and spit out a mouth full of suds. Extracting eye boogers stung, but I felt refreshed afterwards. A few morning stretches to crack those stiff muscles into place, and I’d be ready for the world to bring it on.

“Begrudgingly I accept your apology, for the sake of our long friendship.” “What apolo-” “Ssshhhhh, you are forgiven.” Jonghyun pushed a finger towards Minho’s lips. I’m tempted to burst into laughter until Jonghyun approaches me, probably with another proposition. “I was thinking today, we three could hit the recreation center with some other buddies of mine for a competitive game of basketball.” He beams grinning madly. 

For once, it seemed like Minho looked willing to partake in Jonghyun’s suggestion. He slowly nods at me from behind Jonghyun, making sure to get the fact across that I had to accept. “Yes, why not?” I shrug, trying to play it cool like it was my choice. “Great!” Jonghyun victoriously dances. “Can you drive yet?” I ask, hopefully, just hopefully he’d say, “no”.... Nevermind. The bricks of anticipation came crumbling down as with that one word. 

“Have you ever been in the same car when Minho drives?” I whisper to Jonghyun beside me. He looks up from the buckle and unknowingly smiles. ‘Should I tell him?’ Minho adjusts the rear mirrors, abruptly swerving out of the car lot. Jonghyun springs forward, fortunately with the belt in place. His hands quickly grab my shoulder and the empty seat beside him. He starts hyperventilating and looks at me incredulously. That was probably how I looked like when I first found out about Minho’s unstable driving skills. I felt good, in a weird way. Almost like being a sunbae to a freshman in Minho’s horrendous driving skills.

Jonghyun dazedly gets out the car, limp on his feet. “Hyung, you okay?” I catch him as he starts tripping towards a bush. “Aniyah! I am not okay! How do you survive hell?” Minho glares at Jonghyun. He stances himself and points at Minho accusingly yelling about how he could have died.

The moment we walk in I see an athletic girl with bangs, stretching. Her legs parted in a crab position, swaying from side to side. More over, boys and more boys. “Annyeong! Everyone this is Jae-Yup!” Jonghyun beams forth, strolling in confidently waving his arms. Some of tall guys shoots a goal from far back, just like a pro. I was begininng to get worried. Of course I did have some confidence towards my physical capabilities to some extent, but this felt like pushing it to a whole new level.

“Yo,Jonghyun. How we going to split the teams?” A tall boy questions with a basketball clamped beneath his armpit. It was fairly disturbing since he was almost drenched in perspiration. I crinkle my nose, just in the slightest bit. “Hmmmmm, let’s see.” He taps his foot while his chin. “We can do kai-bai-bo! We’ll put the winners in one team, and the losers in another.” He congratulates himself with an enthusiastic fist pump.

Everyone seems to seems to be simultaneously pairing off, leaving me in the spur of the moment. “Come on, let’s get this over and done with.” Minho stretches his arm out awaiting me to copy. “Everyone ready!? Hana, tul, set!” Minho’s dominant fist was hovering over my scissors. He smirks and slowly pulls away. “Okay everyone! Losers to the left, Winners to the right!” Jonghyun yells echoing the whole recreation building even without a microphone. 

I watch Minho high-hive his newly acquired team-mates. “New around here huh?” A figure asks from behind me. “Oh, yeah. Hi! What’s your name?” I blurt, wishing I hadn’t sounded so desperate for this conversation to work out. Though he chuckles and greets me back hospitably. “Yunho.” He extends his hand and we shake in a pleasant atmosphere. Minho eyes me from a far, not trying to convey much. It was just a plain, blunt stare. 

“Ok everybody! Who’s going where?” The sweaty armpit boy jumps in center claiming he would fit the job perfectly. Jonghyun hesitantly complies and slowly allocates everyone onto the field. Until there was only one left, me. I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a Goal Defense, but then again someone had already claimed it. “Now, now Jae- Yup. I see some fine muscles beneath that jacket.” He cajoles me. “What else could he see beneath this jacket? Perhaps maybe lumps of muscles.” How close was he to getting different kind of lumps. I cringe. “Would you mind being the goal shooter?” He perks, his voice reached a new verve. 

“Aniyah! I can’t shoot! I’ll make the team lose for sure!” Me? A shooter? No, that wouldn’t happen in a million years, even if I was reincarnated! “Well, too bad! I’m going to be a Goal keeper so you complain to the person on you.” My mental ails continued to fling about inside me. I was going to bring out the heated dragon in everyone with my flimsy aim. The ball would end up like a fat fly darting everywhere but the window, in this case the hoop. I’d be an outcast for bringing down the team.

“So we meet again.” Minho smirks complacently. I didn’t hate him for being excessively confident. I mean, I at shooting. Maybe I had shot one once, like when the wind just happened to blow in the direction of the hoop. The whistle blows and the perspiring boy shot a chest pass to the girl, agilely slinking passed her towering defender. She yelled out Yunho’s name as she hurl’s the ball in a lightning bolt speed. With ease Yunho swerves, spotting Minho closing in. Terror momentarily reigns his eyes and he stumbles and throws the ball towards me. No,no, no, no, no. I clamp the ball, star-struck, aiming stupidly at the hoop as I dribble weakly. I hear Minho’s footsteps thundering towards me and my heart starts pounding, probably how Yunho felt. He was incredibly domineering.

I try to lock out the screams from across the court. The mingled sounds of my name and Minho’s. Time to shine Yuri, time to shine! With the last word repeated the ball left my grasp, soaring up to rebound against the back. Spinning with no indication of a win or a loss. Precariously it teetered causing everyone to stare in anticipation. Then in it dropped.....in.

“Omomomomomomomomomo! Jae- Yup daebak! I’m so proud of you!” Jonghyun grabs me from the shoulders jumping up and down. “Minho’s always a bully never letting anybody shoot, you’re so argh!” He squishes my cheeks and continues by acting like a slinky bounding off. Yunho smiles at me congratulating me by patting me on the back, mouthing a good job and thumbing me up. 

It was only once, I would fail the next time. I wouldn’t try my luck ever again, I’d pass the ball to Donghae. I confirm in my mind. The whistles blown and the ball immediately flies into action, criss- crossing on the court, continuously suspended from ever reaching the key. At least I was safe till now.

The game continued for about 3 hours. With every minute the game got more and more competitive and Minho was intercepting more and more shots than I had anticipated. He was a basketball menace, a felon like desperado chasing trains to steal the ball right out of my hands. There was nothing on anyone’s mind except the game, by now I had practically learned everyone’s name on my team, just from the desperate yells across the court to safely deliver the ball to the ring. It was more of a time game than a match.

He had 3 hours to work out the winner. Everyone’s vigor was weaning for sure. That sweating boy was a wet cloth now, drenched in sweat. He’d even dropped out for about 20 minutes somewhere in the midst of the game. “You sure up a fight don’t you?” Minho sauntered in front of me blocked my view of the game. “Well, I’m competitive. Just like you.” I hop to the side but he follows. I was puffed and tired, but he still had to insist.

If he insists, I’ll continue. I want to earn at least some respect for myself. All Minho’s ever seen is my stupid side. Cutting myself, humiliating myself, everything but the worthy side of me. Yunho yells a victorious cry as he intercepts the ball mid-air from Heechul’s lop. This was the deciding point, and everyone knew. I frantically scuttle, trying to swerve Minho off like a fly but he sticks to me like glue. With no option but to pass it to someone else he threw it to Luna, who inched ever so close to the key. Minho zoomed off leaving me open. 

“To me! To me!” I wave. With a mighty toss the ball was hurled centimeters above Minho’s outstretched fingers into my arms. Steadily I bent my arms back and swung my arms forward hurtling the ball to rebound against the back, into the basket. Minho settles his composure with heavy gasps of air, restraining that glare from a sore loser he was suppressing. This. Felt. Awesome.

“Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Woop woop! Woop woop! We won, we won! We did it! Jae- Yup! Jae- Yup!” Jonghyun chants ing fist pumps and body waves spontaneously around the court with gallops of joy. He was sweating badly too, but did it even matter? We won! We friggin won with my shooting skills! Jonghyun cups his sweaty hands on my cheeks, smiling like there was no tomorrow. “If you were a girl, I’d kiss you right here and now!” I chuckle like crazy in my mind, I was a girl. My body was experiencing spasms. The atmosphere was the most at home I had felt in ages, and I wished that this was the kind of atmosphere that would be around for me until the end of this year.

Everyone congratulates me about ‘beating’ Minho during the break. I understood it was good gesture, but I did want to finish the steam bun Sulli gave me without having hands patting my back every 5 minutes. Minho slumps down beside me, refreshed and dry like he’d never stepped foot into his imminent loss. “Aren’t you hungry?” I question seeing his hands empty. “No.” He states rather rashly. Well, someone was a sore loser. Ggrrrrrrrr.

D-did I just perhaps hear correctly? Minho clutches his stomach, subtly. Omo, it did. Minho stares at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I move my shoulder so it covered my bun. “Give me half.” He points. “Aniyah, what bun?” I try to smooth over my lie. He hardens his look, implying the ‘few’ times he let me off, like when he decided to let me stay, and when he let me eat. Resentfully I tear the bun apart. ‘Goodbye delicious bun,’ my mind chokes.

“O-oppa.” A girl wearing a frilly laced dress trots towards Minho. He looks dis-interested but with respect he listens. “I made you lunch.” She waddles a bit on the spot. ‘Aegyo.... I don’t like it.’ I shake my head slightly. “It’s ok,” he rejects, “I already have some of this idiot’s food.” T-this boy.... I am not an idiot. “Oppa! What about mine then?” Another girl with pigtails joins in. Where’d she come from? Her voice was an octave too high, he shorts, tightly fit around her thighs and ridiculously huge heels. She wasn’t in the game, how’d she get here? He shakes his head. ‘What a wonderful reminder that he was popular.’ I retort mentally rolling my eyes. Just as I said so, about 3 more appear.

Eventually the ‘hoard’ had dispersed leaving a stack of lunch boxes. He yells ‘Jae- Yup’ and tosses me a pair of chopsticks that if I hadn’t caught would have given a lump worthy bump on my head. We were finally left alone. Why was Minho even sitting next to me? His friends were obviously keeping a space vacant for his in his circle. It was entertaining watching him dismiss the girls then again. Funny watching them die off like the irritating wasps they were..... Man, I sound incredibly evil, but I just.... don’t like girls that expose themselves shamelessly selling their bodies and trying to be something they weren’t.....And now I’m a hypocrite, I’m a girl pretending to be a boy, which I’m not. Epic Facepalm.

“Eat up,” he gestures. His voice betrayed his words. He was probably still angry about losing. “When are we going to find me a job?” I ask picking up one of the boxes. Minho huffs and seems to just sulk for a bit. ‘It was only one loss.’ I strain in my mind. ‘We were so dang close too, you only lost by one point.’ I never knew he was so competitive. “Maybe tomorrow.”

-------------------- Sneak Peek for next chapter------------------

“Are you sleepy?” Groggily she nods her head. She looked sort of cute.... Sort of. 

I pat my shoulder and beckon her closer. “W-what now?” She seems flustered.

“You’re tired right, just lean your head against my shoulder.” 

Without much hesitation she laid her head down softly, and soon enough we had both dozed off beside each other.

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Annyeong! Not much to say but please support those stories I mentioned! The effort to read them shall be appreciated! I might try out answering to comments to if you want to say anything, it’ll be replied to by the next update :D It’ll be fun!

Again sorry for such a late update. -_-’ I’ve been rewatching Boys over Flowers and by golly, Gu jun Pyo is adorable. I wanna smush him with as much love I can give! (hug wise)

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