Science class after that game was a bit dull in comparison, especially when you had gone over most of the material last night on your own. But you felt good being ahead, knowing the answers to a bunch of the questions the teacher might have and being able to help the others if they asked for help. But once gym class rolled around, you knew something would happen, considering how all the guys would probably be waiting for battle against you again. You chuckle to yourself quietly as you change into your exercise uniform and meet the other girls to walk out into the yard together.

You and the three other girls ended up showing up to class just as the teacher was about to give instructions. Were you really that late today? But nothing is too exciting. You’ll be doing the same thing as yesterday, and apparently you’ll probably be doing so for the next week until the teacher decides to actually put people into a class competition. You had no problems with that. When he lets the students disperse, you turn to the other girls, “Same team?”

“Nooooooo!” A somewhat high-pitched voice shouts as the source of it comes running over, jumping as she lands next to you and clutches your arm, “Let me be on Yun’s team this time!” Luna pouts. You can’t help but let out a laugh at her. She’s so cute.

“If you want,” Fei shrugs, “In that case, Vicky, get out of our team.”

“What?! Why me?” Vicky angrily drops her jaw.

“You’re closer to the other team anyway.” Fei waves her off as Amber, Krystal, and Min appear next to you and Luna, “Now off you go.”

Vicky lets out a stubborn “Humph!” being turning away with her arms crossed, nose in the arm. When she smiles brightly at Amber, throwing her arms in the air, “Guess who your new black hole is!”

“Aww… Really?” Amber asks, jokingly sad. And on cue, Vicky’s punch courses with Amber’s arm gently, making her laugh. She reassures Vicky that she’s kidding before she turns to tell Krystal and Min about their new teammate. Krystal throws a glare over at Luna, who in turn, waves her fingers at the girl with a cute eye smile.

“Alright! Let’s get a ball and play.” Amber ushers the others towards the court, “I’m eager to see what’ll happen today.”

“Sorry guys, but we have some unfinished business to attend to.” Luhan shows up out of nowhere. He walks behind you and starts pushing you forward by the shoulders as he says something to the others, “We need our rematch.”

You look behind you confusedly at Luhan before you turn forward to prevent yourself from tripping. You understood half of what he said, but it was clear that he planned on stealing you away to play against him and his friends today. “Luhan, what are you doing?” You ask as he walks you by the shoulders towards a court with several of the guys standing there. You recognize them as Kris, Tall-Deep-Voiced-Guy, and Lay.

“Getting ready to play basketball, duh.” Luhan answers with his cheeky, but sweet smile as he stops you and lets go of your shoulders. You turn around to see your teammates, as well as the other team, following behind.

“Hope you guys don’t mind us changing it up a little?” Luhan asks with a sweet smile that no one can dare to say no to.

“Guess not.” Fei shrugs. Jia shakes her head as well.

“I feel like… really left out.” Luna says, hearing all the Chinese words spill out.

“High five!” Chanyeol runs up to Luna, where Luna jumps out to reach Chanyeol’s hands to slap her palms against his. “Let’s be on the same team.” He suggests with his large eyes and even larger smile.

“Only if Yun comes with.” Luna deals.

“I’m good with that.” Chanyeol nods, turning to his teammates, “Luhan, Lay, get out of our team. We’re taking these two.” He says, pushing Lay towards Luhan, Jia, and Fei as he puts a friendly arm around Luna’s shoulders.

“What? No fair!” Luhan shouts in protest.

“You were already on her team today.” Chanyeol argues, “Besides, the playing field should be even now.” He gestures towards the strong players on each team.

“Whatever.” Luhan scoffs, turning to the girls, “You okay with this?”

Fei and Jia just shrug indifferently yet again. You turn to your left and see Vicky waving to you from her spot next to Amber as she stands on the court with a couple of the other guys you saw at lunch today, including Tao, Kai, and a couple of others who sat out to watch. You wave back before you’re pulled away to the side to prepare for your game against your old teammates with your new teammates.

As you let Chanyeol and Luna chatter away about plays or something in Korean, you head over to Kris’s side, “Hi.” You greet him.

“Hey. I’m sure you can see how competitive our guys can get.” He says.

“It’s okay. It makes them more fun.” You shrug with a smile.

“I feel better that I won’t be embarrassed by you this time, since we’re on the same team now.”

You let out a laugh remembering the play you had used to slip past Kris just a couple hours ago, “I don’t know, that was pretty funny. I can’t bring myself to do that to Luhan or Lay. They’re too nice to me.”

“Luhan?” Kris asks with a raised eyebrow at you, “No, he’s the sneakiest one. He’s the one you have to watch out for when he’s on the competing team. You saw how he shot all those points today, didn’t you? He’s some sort of mastermind at games and stuff.” He shakes his head. You nod that you understand not to underestimate such a pretty, innocent-looking face.

And soon enough, the game has begun, and Kris and Chanyeol have taken over the court with their massive bodies and swift movements. Luna just stays around the other side of the court for backup to throw the ball to, and you just follow along with whatever it seems like the others are doing. You usually let Chanyeol and Kris score the points for your team, but in several moments of pressure when you had the ball, you shot a couple three-pointers just to get their eyes off of you. Two out of three attempts made it in, and you smiled proudly to yourself each time because even during the one time you didn’t make it, Kris caught it and dunked it in to save it.

However, there were several times when Luhan or Lay managed to trick you and slip past you with the ball when you were right in front of them. Jia and Fei made several shots too, and they made it in at least half of the time. Luna shot the ball in a couple of times, but a lot of the time, there was a look of terror in her face when the ball was thrown into her hands. In the end, everyone decided to call it a draw, even though Chanyeol protested a lot.

The whistle signaling the end of class sounds, and most of the other students decide to head in. But this time, you look up at Kris, “Uhm… Are you and Tao going to go in?”

“Probably not.” He shrugs, “Are you?”

“I don’t really want to.” You press your lips together, “Would you mind if I stayed around to play with you guys a little more?” you ask, somewhat nervously.

“Yeah, no problem.” He says, “For some reason, it’s a little more fun when it’s quieter.” He smiles as he tosses the ball between his hands. This time, his smile doesn’t intimidate you as much because he squints a little, and it makes him seem a little cuter. You smile back happily just as Tao appears.

“Are you staying too?” he asks.

“If that’s okay with you…” You ask.

“Oh, totally. Do you want to shoot around a little?” he asks, taking the ball from Kris’s hands and walking backwards as he dribbles it towards the other basket. You follow along as he turns on his heels to shoot the ball into the air. It bounces on the side of the hoop before it falls in. When he retrieves the ball, he moves on to the next mark on the court and tosses it again. It makes a satisfying swishing sound this time. He makes it to the third mark and this time, it bounces off to the side.

Kris chuckles he goes off to retrieve the ball. He offers it to you first, but you shake your head and tell him to go first. He does as told and makes it around to the other side of the circle on the court before he misses. You and Tao exchange incredulous looks before you turn to get the ball. You bounce the ball a couple of times before shooting it in. You make it in. You head to the second mark, bouncing it a couple times before shooting it in again. You make it in. Moving on to the next mark, you continue with the same routine, and you make it in. But on the fourth mark just across from Kris’s side of the circle on the court, the ball bounces off the hoop to the side.

The three of you continue your quiet little game of Around the World until you get bored and decide to voice it out. “Oh thank god. Because I was about to fall asleep.” Kris sighs with a smile as he jogs up to steal the ball from Tao and starts dribbling it towards the basket on the other side of the court and tossing it in.

You and Tao quickly react and run towards Kris. You quickly shoot around Kris, catching the ball after its second bounce after going through the hoop and running towards the other hoop, the ball dribbling in your hands. You finish your little run with a far layup just before the others catch up to you. The ball skids up the board and falls through the hoop, making you smile. Your smile turns into a laugh as you chase after Tao when he takes the ball just after it falls through the basket and starts towards the other court. He skids past Kris and shoots it in, a little too hard, considering it bounces off the board to the other side. Kris takes the opportunity to catch it and toss it in effortlessly, sinking it in smoothly.

You figure that it’s every man for himself, and you guys continue at it until Kris announces that class starts in five minutes. You reluctantly part with the boys and head to the girls’ changing room. You wash your hands thoroughly before heading over to your locker. You let out a small yelp when you find all the girls there, all of them. Fei, Krystal, Min, and Luna are seated on the bench while Amber, Jia, and Vicky are either leaning against the lockers or the wall. “Oh my god, what are you guys still doing here?” You let out a gasp. You see that they’ve all changed back into either their school uniforms or into different exercise clothes.

“You little sneak, I should’ve known you’d stay behind to hang out with boys.” Vicky squints at you with her arms crossed across her chest before standing up from her spot against the locker to walk towards you, “Which one is it? Wufan? Or Tao? Or maybe it’s one of the others and you’re trying to get closer through these guys.” She says.

“Get away from me.” You laugh, pushing her off of you, “I just wanted to play a little more, okay? I’m not into them like that. Not yet.” You add quietly as you make your way past her to open your locker.

“Aha! Not yet!” Vicky shouts with her finger pointed into the air, “So which would it be in this possible future of yours?” she rubs her hands together, smiling mischievously.

“Shut up, it’s only my second day.” You laugh as you throw your backpack over your shoulder, “Let it play out. I don’t even know if I’ll into any of them in that way. They’re too nice to me, like brothers.”

“We’ll see how ‘brotherly’ they get with you soon.” Vicky smiles that wicked smile of hers yet again.

“Get out of my way.” You push her lightly with a smile on your face, “I have to start drawing you in art class. We’re all going to be late.”

“Oh yeah! Make me look pretty, please.” She switches her mischievous smile to a bright one immediately.

“Okay.” You laugh.

“I don’t know what the hell you guys are saying, but we’re going to be late.” Krystal interrupts, standing up from the bench with her backpack on her shoulders, “So let’s get going.”

You all agree and make your way out of the changing room, laughing and joking with each other before making your way to your separate elective classes. Amber and Min head off to photography, Fei, Krystal and Min head off towards Drama, Luna to the choir room, Vicky and Jia to the dance studio, and you’re off to the art room.

You make it into the room with a few seconds to spare, but the teacher doesn’t make any announcements to start. It seems that he just expects you to start working on your own, and you’re perfectly fine with that. An artist doesn’t need a green light to tell him to start. You head towards your seat between Tao and Kris, and you see that they both already have their materials out and are preparing to start working. You figure that you don’t really need to ask for much more help, so you tap Tao on the shoulder, “You can move back to your seat if you want. I don’t think I’ll need too much help for a while.”

“Oh no, it’s okay, you can sit here. I don’t mind.” Tao shakes his head.

“No, go ahead. I know you like to talk to Kris, so it’s okay.” You smile back gently, and finally he agrees and moves his stuff over to the table next to Kris’s.

You smile at the two of them when Kris looks up to you before you pull out your new art supplies and bring it over to the teacher. You ask him if all the materials are alright, showing him the list he gave you yesterday in case he needs a reference. He gives you the okay, commending you on getting all the materials so quickly. You pull out the picture of Vicky as well and ask him if it’s okay for the assignment, and he nods approvingly. He tries to make small talk, asking you who it is. You answer, saying she’s a friend and classmate, and he comments on how pretty she is.

Before the conversation can get too advanced for your vocabulary, he sends you back off to start working, telling you where to find all the brown tracing paper and to come to him if you need any feedback. You bow quickly before heading back to your table. With your pencils, erasers, Vicky’s picture, and a fresh sheet of tracing paper in front of you, you let out a satisfied sigh before you start in on your assignment.

You start making mental measurements and comparisons, figuring out how to enlarge the image on the big sheet of paper. And soon enough, the light lines for her eyes and nose appear on the light circle you made on your paper. You start with lightly sketching the outlines of all of her facial features, making sure they’re aligned and that they match the image on the picture. And soon, you’re measuring the length of her neck and shoulders to sketch onto the paper. When you’re satisfied with the proportions etched onto the paper, you start on a darker outline for her eyes.

You’re too busy scratching your pencil against the paper and looking back and forth between Vicky’s picture and your drawing to notice Tao’s glances that become stares as you work. After another minute of just silently watching your hand work magic across the once blank brown paper, Tao asks, “Isn’t that the girl in our class?”

It breaks you out of your trance and you almost stop moving the pencil in your hand, but you catch yourself before you can make an unintentional mark on Vicky’s left eye. “Yeah, Vicky.” You answer, “She sat out during our game at lunch.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Tao nods slowly as he continues to gaze at your hand as it moves the pencil so effortlessly around the almond shape that’s developing onto the paper. “You’re really good…”

“Thank you.” You smile happily and genuinely at his comment, and he sees. He can’t help but smile himself at how sincere yours looks.

By the end of class, you’ve erased a lot of things on your paper, rubbing at the layers of paper fibers on the brown tracing paper. But you’ve managed to end up with two decent looking eyes that are proportionate enough to Vicky’s in the picture. The dark eyes pop out of the rest of the pale outlines of the figure etched on the paper, and it looks kind of cool. The worn parts of the paper that were erased off with your mistakes leave some sort of makeup-like illusion around her eyes. You shrug it off as you pack up your materials and tuck them into your bottom cubby with your drawing and Vicky’s picture.

You, Tao, and Kris head back towards the locker rooms together, and Tao offers to wait for you so the two of you can walk back to class together. You agree and part with the guys to head down the other side of the hall towards the girls’ locker room. You change quickly, fixing your shoes, tie, and hair before making your way back up the stairs. You look down the hall and see Tao and Kris making their way out of the boys’ locker room and towards you.

You wave to them and they walk you towards the staircase. Kris leaves the two of you to head up to the third floor whilst he returns to basketball courts in his jersey and basketball shorts. You think to yourself about how nice Kris’s arms are, but snap yourself out of it when Tao starts talking to you about art class.

You ask him who he’s drawing as you reach the third floor and he says he’s drawing his brother. “But I’m not doing a very good job. And I feel even lamer now that I’m sitting next to you.” he adds with a laugh.

“Aw, I’m sorry.” You apologize with a laugh, “But you know, practice makes perfect.”

“Yeah, you’ve told me before.”

“It’s true.” You shrug as the two of you make your way into the classroom. He says he’ll see you later as he heads over towards the two boys in the back of the room and you head to your seat near Fei, “Where are the others?”

“Here!” Vicky’s bright voice chimes in as she and Jia make their way into the classroom in their uniforms. She drops her books onto her desk and plops down onto her seat next to yours, “So how was class?” she asks as she leans her cheek into her palm, looking at you with a bright glint in her eyes.

“It was fine.” You laugh, “I’m working on your eyes right now, if you want to know.”

“Really? Do you get to work with color?” she asks curiously.

“No, just pencil for this one.” You answer, “But I think we’ll get to color soon.”

“Aw, so you won’t be able to capture all the pretty colors on my face for this one.” Vicky pouts, touching her face accordingly. You let out a laugh just before the teacher shows up and announces the start of class.

“Yun-ah, you seem to be having a good day. Would you like to start us off today?” he asks you in Korean.

“Uhm… okay.” You answer, sitting properly in your seat as you come up with the right words to answer, “I… played today.”

“Played what?” he asks.

“Uh…” You don’t know how to say basketball so you just make the shooting gesture with your arms before saying ‘basketball’ in English.

“Ah, basketball?”

“Uhm, yes.” You answer unsurely, “It was fun.”

“Did you do well? Did you win?”

“I think I did well.” You nod with a small smile on your face. “I had fun. I made more friends.”

“Good. It’s good to see you’re fitting in well at the school.” He nods, “Anything else happen?”

“I uh…” You make a drawing gesture with your hand, and the teacher helps you with the vocabulary, so you just nod complacently. Eventually he moves on and you’re left to flip through your dictionary for the words. You should remind yourself to write down the words of what you prepare to say before class.

You continue to flip through the dictionary, but suddenly you hear Tao say in Korean that he made a new friend. He points in your direction and says your name, saying that you’re good at basketball. You turn to look at him and send him a laughing smile before turning back to your dictionary. But the teacher asks you if what Tao says is true, and you just shrug, trying to find modest Korean words to answer with. You end up answering with “Gwenchana.” and he moves on.

You turn to look at Tao once more before throwing him a look, scrunching up your nose and sticking your tongue out at him. He sticks his tongue back out at you before you turn away with an amused smile on your face. What a nice way to start your lesson today.