The next morning when I woke up, the sun was just rising.  I stretched, lying face first on my bed, and squeaked angrily.  Waking up early for school every day of my life really screws up my idea of sleeping late on the weekends.  Twisting onto my back, I looked to my side.  Ji Ho was lying on his back.

                Reading my forgotten trashy romance novel from last night.

                I blushed.  “Morning,” I muttered, eyeing him.

                “What’s up?” he replied, not taking his eyes off my book.  “I can’t believe you read this garbage.”  I laughed and reached for the book, he dodged my hand.  “You’re my study loving, innocent, shows no skin best buddy and you’re reading about things like…”  He paused and flipped through a couple of pages.  “Like what the main guy does to the girl here on page 86!”

                The heat from my face was beginning to make me sweat.

                “I only read the trashy romance novels that have plots to them!  So it’s not like I’m just reading them for the trashy parts!” I defending, reaching for the book again.  He flattened one arm over me and pinned my legs down with only one of his.

                “Plots, you say?  And what does this here on page 71 have to do with the plot?  I didn’t even know girls would want guys to-”

                “Please stop,” I whined, straining to move out from under his limbs.

                “Give me your leg.  I want to see if you can do the move from page 24.”

                I growled at him and pinched the underside of his arm, making him wince away from me.  I snatched my book back and curled into the fetal position, my back to him.  He laughed and sat up, fingers messing through my hair gently.

                “I’m sorry,” he laughed.  “Don’t be mad.”

                I flopped onto my back and looked up at him.  “I’m not mad,” I pouted.  I’m horrified since half the things I read about, I imagine doing with you.  I’m a sick person.

                He kept laughing.  “I better get home,” he said after a moment.  He jumped over me and landed on the floor like a cat.  “I need to shower and stuff.  Don’t forget.  School at five!”  He knelt by my bed and rested his chin on the mattress.  I giggled and placed my cheek on my blanket near his face.

                “I’ll be there!  I swear.”

                “Just checking.  If you’re not there, I have no cheering section.”

                I rolled my eyes.  “You’re so full of crap.  You know half the girls in school started going to the varsity soccer games once you and your y friends joined the team.”

                Oops.

                “You think my friends are y?” he smirked.  Only you.  But he wouldn’t catch that, now would he?

                “Weren’t you leaving?” I retorted.

                He flicked me in the forehead and then jumped up before I could retaliate.  He slipped his sneakers back on and hoisted himself out my window, ready to scale down.

                “See you later.”

                I nodded and smiled.  Watching him lower himself down the side of the fire escape outside my window.

                I had lunch with my parents and then met up with Amelia to head over to the school together.  I met her outside the subway station between our buildings.  She practically bounced over to me.

                “Jo Jo!” she chirped, linking her arm with mine.  “Let’s go!  Hurry!”  She began dragging me down the steps into the subway.

                Yeah, I’d be that excited for the soccer game if I were dating hot shot midfielder, Ji Ho’s super cool buddy, Ahn Jae Hyo.

                That was just the jealousy speaking.  Amelia and Jae Hyo were friends last year before they kissed and suddenly became the cutest couple ever.  They were so cute and sweet together I wanted to throw up every time I saw them together.  Puke in a good way of course.

                After arriving at school, we headed over to the field behind the school.  One of our other friends came skipping over to us when she saw us approaching.  And by friends, I mean one of the girls from our little clique at school.  Beki.  She’d be the one dating Kim Yu Kwon.  One of the team’s forwards.  Ji Ho’s super adorable buddy, Yu Kwon.

                Damn them too for being so damn cute.

                It’s official.  My deadly sin of choice would have to be envy.

                And which ever sin covers all the fantasies I have about Ji Ho.

                “Hey, girls,” Beki greeted us with a bright smile.  “Come on.  Let’s get a good seat on the bleachers so we can badmouth the girls supporting the players from the other school.”

                I giggled.  “Ok, but no hair pulling this time,” I cautioned her as we entered the field.  We made a bee line for a set of bleachers on our team’s side.  It was a home game, so our side would end up being more filled than the opposing team’s side.  They had a decent turn out though, I thought as I glanced at the bleachers on the other side.  Family and friends of players on that team were already filling in.

                We parked ourselves on the first row for the best view of the players.  They were warming up on the field.  Stretching and kicking a ball to each other.

                “That only happened once at that away game,” Beki defended.  “Stupid girl.  I warned her, didn’t I?”

                “You got in her face and dared her to call Yu Kwon gay again,” Amelia reminded her.

                “She laughed at you and said it again…” I continued.  “Then you pulled her hair.  We almost got kicked off the field by the other school’s coach.”

                “I hope she still has a bald spot from where I yanked out her hair,” Beki muttered.  “What was I supposed to do?  I was defending my man!  Gay, psht,” she scoffed.  Then straightened her spine and grinned wickedly at us.  “Trust me, Yu Kwon may have a pretty face, but he’s not gay.”

                I cleared my throat.  “And that’s enough of that,” I sighed.  Amelia giggled.

                “Neither is Jae Hyo.”  She reached past me in the middle to pat Beki on the shoulder.  “I would have done the same thing if that chick had said something about him.”

                Beki nodded stubbornly.  “Come on, Jo.  We just need to find you your very own soccer player.”  She playfully shoved at my shoulder.

                “How about Min Hyuck?” Beki guessed, staring out at the players on the field.  “He’s a cutie.”  Amelia nodded in agreement.

                “Yeah…” I began.  But he’s not Ji Ho.  “He’s cute, but um, his mouth.  It’s too pretty for me.  Makes me feel like a man.”  I almost rolled my eyes.  What a fool I am.

                My friends laughed.  “Ah, Ji Hoon!  He’s pretty cute.”

                “Agreed, but his voice is so deep, I think it might scare me if we were, like, making out and he tried to talk y to me,” I explained.  I was just making excuses.  He wasn’t Ji Ho therefore, he wasn’t my type.  Ji Hoon’s voice was nice all deep like that.  But I digress.

                “That or imagine him reading a bed time story to a little kid in that voice?” Beki giggled.  “He’s a nice guy though.”  Amelia and I nodded.  Nice, not Ji Ho.

                “How about Tae Il then?” Amelia said.

                Beki scoffed.  “Cute, but she said she doesn’t want a pretty boy.”  Tae Il was a good looking guy though, I thought to myself, but also not Ji Ho.

                “Fine, fine,” Amelia sighed.  “Kyung then.  Park Kyung.  He’s pretty hot.”

                “Oh, yeah!  And he studied in New Zealand for a couple of years.  He’s got a little bit of that Aussie sounding accent.”  Beki lifted her eyebrows at me suggestively.  “That’s y.”  I laughed.  True.  The one thing that could make Ji Ho better – as if that were possible – would be if he had an accent.

                “He’s pretty tall though,” Beki mused then eyed me again.  “You’re compact sized like a cute little convertible.  Ah ha!”  She held up a finger and turned her upper body to face me.  “Ji Ho!”  I cringed inwardly at her suggesting him.  Yeah, like I hadn’t ever thought of him.