Kaori sat with the rest of the crowd on the bleachers, but unlike them, she was hardly excited for the start of the game.
In fact, it had been really hard breaking up with Ljoe. When he had stared at her blankly upon hearing her simple request 'Tell me about my smiles, Byughyun and then I’ll give you my answer”, however, he just stood there, all puzzled not even knowing what to answer. To be honest, she had always known that breaking up with him would be the right thing to do. She had never stopped loving Myungsoo in the time that they were together after all. Frankly, their relationship had sort of been…unfair to Ljoe to say the very least.
"We have a problem," Diane, her friend announced when she returned to their side, effectively interrupting Kaori's thoughts.
"What kind of problem?" another girl indulged her, rolling her eyes at the always dramatic brunette. "This better be good Diane, especially since you forgot to bring me back some popcorn like I asked you to."
"We have a bigger problem than your beloved popcorn right now" she chided her, leaning in to fill them in on what she knew. "Ljoe tells me that Myungsoo’s refusing to play in today's game. In fact, he's contemplating quitting the football team all together!"
The mention of Myungsoo's name immediately got Kaori's attention.
"Why?" she queried, although she had a hunch what this was all about.
Diane shrugged before she revealed, "Who knows? I overheard Coach Lee yelling at him in the locker room though."
"I'll be right back," Kaori excused herself then, making her way past the other people seated in their row as quickly as possible.
Only she knew the exact words that he needed to hear.
"Coach Lee?" Kaori echoed as she strolled into the locker room, hesitation on her heels. "May I have a moment with Myungsoo please?"
The older woman swiveled around to face the young blonde, reminding her, "You know you're not supposed to be in here, right? This is the boys locker room missy."
Kaori nodded in acknowledgement, but made no move to leave, determination etched into her delicate features. Eventually, the coach sighed in defeat, walking past her and heading out to the field.
"See if you can get him to play while you're at it," she instructed her before she left.
"What are you doing here Kaye?" Myungsoo questioned before she could so much as a get a word in, turning his back on her. "If you're here to try and get me to go out there and play today, you're wasting your time. You know. I was actually going to earlier, but then I realized I'm not much of a fan of watching the girl I'm in love with cheering on one of my teammates, so I changed my mind."
There it was again. She could feel her you're-an-idiot smile forming on her face.
God! He was such a baby!
"Don't forget the victory kiss too when Seoul University wins," she reminded him teasingly, causing him to whirl around to face her at her words, his eyes flaring with jealousy.
"Gee thanks a lot Kaori," he commented sarcastically, not having caught on to her humorous tone. "Like rejecting me wasn't enough. Now you have to go and rub your perfect little relationship with Ljoe in my face too?"
Instantly, her smile faltered. Oh right. He thought she had rejected him earlier. She remained silent for a moment just watching him from where she stood until she finally mustered up the courage to say what she had wanted to say since their previous encounter.
"You have five smiles Mr. Kim," she enunciated, taking a steady step towards him.
She watched as he knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, evidently not understanding why she was echoing his earlier words, so she continued.
"You have five smiles," she repeated, taking another step towards him with every one that she listed. "One when someone compliments you. Two when you're out on the football field or just doing something you love. Three when you're trying to hide the fact that you have absolutely no idea what's going on or what someone's saying. I get that one a lot. For when you think you've told a funny joke, but you really haven't. And lastly, when you're looking at me."
He was smiling at her now, walking towards her and taking her hand
"So, does this mean you broke up with Ljoe?" he clarified, his words a mere whisper, having gotten her less than subtle message now.
She nodded ever so slightly, she smiled as he added, "Can we be in love again?"
"Oh, hmmm about that" she said with an “i-don’t-know” face that worried Myungsoo in the process that he might get rejected again. Myugsoo opened his mouth ready to plead but before he can say a word, Kaori tiptoed a placed a small peck on his lips and said
"If only you step out of here and go outside and play because we can’t win without our ace player. And if we win, maybe we can consider ourselves in a relationship again"
He chuckled at her way of saying that she too, wants him back. Grabbing the ball from the bench before taking her hand and following after her toward the field.
Before he ran off to join his teammates, however, she turned to him and said, "I'll be right over there in the bleachers with the rest of the club to cheer you on, ok?"
“Yeah, you don’t know how much that means to me, seeing you there” he says with a smile hovering his lips
“Now, enough chit chat Kim Myungsoo. Get out there and make me proud!"
"I will," he promised her, while quickly running out onto the field to join his team.
"Oh, and Myungsoo?" she called after him hastily, realizing that she had never officially returned his earlier sentiment. "I love you too, I really do." She said and pulled him into a tight war bear hug.

                      
The end