Sweat

Flipping out my skateboard to start on my way back home from my friend's place, I smiled to myself, taking a deep breath. Though I always loved being with my friends, solitude was where I felt most comfortable in. I passed trees that were wavering cooly in the breeze, cars that zoomed past, filled with busy people that didn't have the time nor the patience to just marvel at the world, and people's front lawns, lacking children playing around with each other. How could people not be captivated by the beautiful blue that the sky was? Or by how the trees always stood proud next to fancy buildings filled with people who didn't even look at them? In my trance, I almost failed to notice a figure in the distance, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, looking up gently at the sky. As I got closer and closer to the figure, I saw it was a girl, but not any ordinary girl. This girl had her hair collected in a ponytail, strands of hair sticking to her face with sweat, arms and legs clearly tired, and a racket in her hand that looked like it had had a long day. She looked...beautiful. Absolutely tired, sweaty, and without a care in the world anymore, but beautiful. Her eyes still burned with adrenaline, a clear sign she had just had an intense match with someone, but even so, she had still had the energy to walk home, and was contemplating the colors of the sky, and the shapes of the clouds, finding hidden shapes in them only she could see. Her free hand was raised to her forehead, blocking the sun so she could look at the sky without seemingly trying to make herself go blind. I stopped on my skateboard, frozen at the sight of her. Everything in me screamed to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her, to at least talk to her, so I tried.

"Um... H-Hi," I stammered, snapping her out of her trance. She turned to me, making me realize just what a beautiful color brown her eyes were, framed by thick, dark lashes.

Heat rushed to her face when she saw me, and in an instant, I realized I knew her. She was the girl who I, for some reason, had for every class and somehow, though I always wondered what type of person she was, never got the chance to talk to. She recognized me too, and started fidgeting with her racket nervously.

"Hi," she mumbled awkwardly, looking away shyly. She started to lean to the side, as if she was about to turn around and walk away. She probably thought I was the type of guy that bothers pretty girls who are alone.

"I don't wanna get in your pants, I swear!," I blurted, and she took a step back, shocked. My jaw dropped. Did I seriously just say that?

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!," I began, earning a skeptical look from her, and she gripped her racket harder, as if she was thinking about how hard she had to swing to knock me out.

"I mean, I meant it, but I didn't mean for it to sound like that!," I struggled to explain, racking my brain for an explanation that made sense and didn't make me off to be even more of an idiot. Sighing in desperation and raking my fingers through my hair, frustrated that I couldn't get my point across, I tried to send her a 'please understand' look with my eyes. Thankfully, she got it, and loosened her grip on the racket.

Finally, I managed to talk to her a bit, learning her name, which was Park Han Byul, and became friendly with her. She was surprisingly easy to get along with, but because she was tired, she eventually said she needed to go home.

"I'll walk you," I offered, holding out my hand for her things, which seemed heavy. She looked at my hand, blinking once or twice, then, blushing adorably, she held my hand. Mentally flipping out, I didn't oppose whatsoever when she interlaced our fingers, thanking the gods that she had less common sense than I had given her credit for.

I walked her home, saying little, which she seemed thankful for, still red-faced from having taken the initiative to hold my hand. When we got to the stairs in front of her apartment, she finally let go, though slowly, as I noticed happily. She met my eyes and smiled warmly, waving goodbye before walking inside. Keeping myself calm and collected, the second I was far away enough that she wouldn't see me, I burst into a happy dance, singing loudly to the first song that popped into my head, almost skipping to my own apartment. I was definitely going to be passing by through there more often.