●●● Chapter Two

“Hey.” Ji Su called out softly to the boy lying on the grass. “Hey…wake up.” As he continued snoring off, blissfully unaware of the girl’s presence, she began to lose her temper and finally gave him a kick to his knee, causing him to jerk up. “Wake up!”

“Ugh…” Jun Hwan groggily sat up, scratching his head as he observed the girl with lazy eyes. “What?”

With a sigh, she handed him the piece of paper she had in her hand. “You missed the sign-ups yesterday, didn’t you?” she said, slightly annoyed at her partner. “I got you a sign-up sheet so just make sure you hand it back in on time.”

“Ah? Thanks.” he said as he took the piece of paper from her hand. Examining it, he found his details neatly written down on the piece of paper, and looked back up at the girl. “You already filled out everything. Why couldn’t you just hand it in for me?” he whined lazily.

“Well, I thought you should learn to do some things yourself.” Ji Su sighed, shaking her head at the boy. “Anyways, I’m going to class. You should too, if you know what’s good for you.”

“Bye mom!” he called out to her cheekily as she walked away. With a lazy sigh, he laid back down on the grass, but a passing girl caught his eye, and he stood up, following behind the girl as she continued ignoring him. “Hey four-eyes.” he whispered close to her.

Ji Hae stopped walking as she felt his breath on her neck and turned around to face him, a cold look in her eyes. “What do you want?”

“Huh?” he looked at her quizzically as he cocked his head to the side. “No beating me up ‘till I faint? No kicking me all the way to space?” he questioned, confused at the girl’s behaviour.

“…That was in the past.” she replied back coolly, turning away from him as she continued making her way to class.

“Ah right!” he exclaimed as he recalled why she had changed. “You changed after you fell in love with – Oof!!”

He was cut off by the force of Ji Hae kicking his shin. He looked at her to find her glaring at him, as though to warn him that she would kill him if he said anything more. Getting her message, he let her go and sighed to himself before lying back down on the green field.

“Ah, Jun Hwan hyung!”

At the voice of the particular young genius, Jun Hwan sat back up and stared at the short boy running towards him with his trademark plush toy in his arms.

“Who were you talking to just now?” Vi An asked, smiling cutely at the boy as he worked his charms.

“Just Ji Hae. Why?” Jun Hwan asked as he yawned lazily.

“Ah! I saw her at the club yesterday but she didn’t look familiar.” Vi An said, feigning ignorance of what he already knew of the girl.

“Club!?” Jun Hwan suddenly shouted out, eyes wide open with disbelief. “You went to a club!? You’re only sixteen!! Does Min Soo know?”

Ughh…this idiot...

“No, I meant the tennis club.” Vi An answered sweetly, to which Jun Hwan calm downed to. “Do you know her? I really wanted to talk to her, but I’m a little shy.” he added, giving a fake, yet convincing bashful laugh.

“Sure I do. We used to run together back in middle school.” Jun Hwan said, somewhat proud of that fact. Completely oblivious to the workings of the seemingly innocent Vi An’s mind, he continued blabbering his mouth away, going on and on about their so called ‘glory days’.

Sweeping the tennis court with a broom, Ryu Han sighed at the sound of Sun Young yelling at the new members she had dragged to the court to train despite it just being a lunch break. Looking over at her direction, he noticed that she had begun her yearly ritual to sort out ‘the good ones from the bad ones’, or so she says. Some were made to run around the court while others were made to practice their swings and aim. While he thought her method was rather harsh, there was no doubt it did its job in sorting out the determined players from the unmotivated ones, and that’s what the club needed if it were to survive the following years without the majority of the senior regular players.

Sun Young sighed at the sight of the girls hiding away from the sun, shaking her head at the incompetent girls. The only ones who seemed up to par were Hyo Rin, a newcomer who remained cheerful with her endless stamina, and the bratty freshman from yesterday. She joined in with the girls, running around the court in hopes that she would be able to find a ‘hidden gem’ amongst the girls, but alas, there were none.

Forty out of the fifty minutes they had for lunch was over, and Sun Young dismissed the girls, allowing them to change back into their uniforms while she remained in the court, practicing her swing.

“Don’t you need to get ready for class too?” Ryu Han asked as he walked up behind her.

“Free period.” Sun Young replied as she continued swinging her racket.

“Alright. See you at practice later.” the male said as he left the court.

As he left the court, he came to notice a rather peculiar young boy staring into the court. Following his gaze, he realised he was staring at his sister in the court, a look of admiration and curiosity in his eyes. Shrugging his shoulders, Ryu Han left the boy to himself as he left the place, humming to himself.

Nam Gil had found himself back at the tennis court, though that wasn’t what he had initially planned for when he decided to roam around the school on his own. Perhaps he had been hoping that he would get another glimpse at Hyung Jae, though what he found was something different. He observed as the female members of the team trained, and as he had expected, most were fleeing from the sun. Only a handful remained training, but one in particular caught his eye; the girl with the straight, honey coloured hair. He found himself staring at the female captain, admiring her resolve and dedication. As he continued watching her, the image of Hye Sung, his brother, came to mind, and he sighed to himself as he walked away from the scene.

It had only