“Great game, ___-ah!”

You look up as you finished retying your laces, a ready smile on your face as you catch your breath, your sweat still beading on your forehead. “Thank you, Unnie. I can’t believe this is our team’s last match of the school year.” You suddenly became pensive at the thought. This is the last time you’ll see your Unnie – master forward and captain of the women’s soccer varsity team – and the other senior players in their element which made your University the top in the district.

You have only transferred to this University in a little more than a year from England, continuing to thank your lucky stars that your parents based your family at the outskirts of Seoul on the move back to Korea. The elite but small university helped you adjust more quickly compared to the n number of schools you’ve juggled because of your dad’s job. There are fewer students, fewer people to talk to (you’re painfully shy and would never be the first to strike a conversation to a complete stranger), and, with each day that passes, less time to be that-new-girl-with-the-funny-Korean-accent (you’ll finally graduate college in two years). Plus, this University has a good soccer team.

Scratch that. This University has an excellent soccer team.

“Wipe that look off your face, ___-ah, you’re making me sentimental,” your Unnie remarked with a nervous laugh. “And we also have the last drill tomorrow afternoon so don’t start on the waterworks. C’mon, let’s take a picture with the whole team out at the courtyard.”

You quickly ruffled through your gym bag and set up your camera (which has seen better days but you never got the chance to save enough to buy a new one) as the entire team rounded up in front of your school emblem. After taking a variety of shots – happy, crazy poses, which then progressed to teary, “ugly cry” ones as teammates hugged each senior player – your Unnie announced that she will treat everyone for drinks after freshening up.

“It’s a celebratory and going-away dinner of sorts – plus, my friend is playing tonight. AND this is the last time I get to live off from my allowance. Welcome to the “real world” really means “you’ll be broke and you can’t leech off from your parents!”” You chuckled at the memory of your unnie’s funny comments before the members went their own way to change clothes. You hurriedly switched into your jeans and shirt (the place is a casual one with easy music so no need to dress up), gathered your hair into a loose ponytail, and finally put on your cap as you head out to the bar.

Before you enter your car, a faint cool breeze teases the tips of your hair, reminding you that the school year has finally ended.

***

“What the f---?” Luhan exclaimed as he opened the door of his private (until now that is) hotel room. His eyes adjusted from their sleepy daze then narrowed as he addressed The Intrusion leaning lazily against the doorjamb as if he had every right to be there.

“And a good morn—err, afternoon to you as well hyung!”, replied The Intrusion – using his real name would acknowledge his existence at this very time and place – as he elbowed his way into the room, effectively breaching Luhan’s sanctuary.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Luhan answered testily. He is usually patient and mostly tolerant of the antics of his mischievous dongsaengs. But seriously, this can’t be.

“And you’re not supposed to go on hermit mode for this long! I had to pry it out of Chanyeol-hyung with a crowbar.” The intruder landed ceremoniously on the middle of his bed with his own brand of grace, knowing full well that it would rile him up.

“You define three days as long, Kim Jong In?” – might as well make him real since he already draped himself on the bed like a damn photo shoot waiting to happen – “so what crowbar did you use?” “24 hours worth of one-on-one dance lessons.” Kai replied with a pained look on his face.

“Ouch, serves you right.”

“It isn’t fair that only Kris, Suho, and Chanyeol hyung know about this! Not even Sehun---“

“For the record,” Luhan cut in. “I only told Kris about it because it’s not a big deal and he can do the explaining on my behalf, and Suho of course is our leader. Chanyeol just happened to be passing by – or so he claims – when he overheard our discussion. He even suggested I go here since he spent a few years growing up in the area. And he knows there’s barely enough people who will recognize me, which has been working splendidly so far (along with the fact that he wears his mask if necessary). Finally, I know that Sehun doesn’t even need an explanation to understand where I’m coming from, unlike you ---“

“Okay, okay, relax hyung,” Kai lifted his hands in surrender. “Before you eat me alive, I just want you to know that I have Kris’ – and fine, even Suho’s – blessing on this intervention.”

Luhan shot one last glare before taking his cellphone with him to the bathroom to talk to Kris in private. Kai on the other hand is trying hard to suppress his laughter – this is the first time his otherwise easy-going hyung is close to blowing his lid off – then lapsed into contemplative silence as he remembered why Kris and Suho allowed him to go in the first place.

***

“Luhan might not have been saying anything to any of us but he really got burned out during the promotions,” Kris tells Kai, who confronted Kris after he bargained with Chanyeol on Luhan’s whereabouts.

“I mean really burned out, if you know what I mean. I can see that desperation in his eyes even when he coolly asked if he could take a break. So I let him go as long as he stays near Seoul, don’t get photographed, and get his together before we do the voice recordings in two weeks. I can’t even begin to tell you the lengths Suho and I have gone through just to deal with our Manager. And now that sonofa is not even answering my messages.”

“Shouldn’t I go and check up on him? I can borrow someone’s car right now and my next schedule isn’t until tomorrow evening.” Kai asked hopefully, he too is itching to get away and let loose even for just 24 hours.

“You know our Manager will have my head now that two members are MIA?” Kris countered. Heck, even he berated himself on why he didn’t think of the “checking up on Luhan” excuse in the first place.

“Let him go, we can just tell hyung that he locked himself in the dance room or something for just 24 hours” another voice quipped – Suho’s – who magically appeared behind Kris’ increasingly jealous face.

“Fine,” Kris relented, “make sure to let us know how he is and remind him why we agreed to be in EXO in the first place.”

Suho and Kris hardly blinked when Kai is almost out of the common area of their dorm, sprinting to his room to pack his overnight bag. “Just don’t leave any trace that both of you were ever there, or you’re screwed.”  

***

Luhan drew a deep breath before opening the door and going back to his bedroom. He guessed playing baby sitter is punishment enough for not answering Kris’ messages for the past three days, no matter how many times he reasoned that he forgot to turn the mute button off and slept for most of it. As he entered his room, Kai is already wearing a new set of clothes, and putting on his cap along with that telltale smirk of his – a signal that the boy is up to no good.

“Hyung,” Kai pulled the brim of his cap down, shading his eyes for that added touch of anonymity they are accustomed to. “Let’s go play like we used to.”

Luhan rolls his eyes as he grabs his jacket and cap, already wary of how this day will end.

***

“Yah, __-ah! See that girl playing the bass?” your Unnie slurred as she slings her arm over your shoulder, while you looked to the direction she is pointing to. “She’s my friend from middle school, isn’t she the coolest? She’s also moving to Seoul and hopefully work the music scene….while I do a boring desk job.” Her voice laced with sarcasm as much as her drunken stupor can allow, her head starting to move perilously close to the tabletop.

“I think you’ve drank too much, Unnie, we still have that last drill tomorrow afternoon,” your voice betraying your worry as you prepare to catch her head before it hits anything solid.

“I’m good! I’m good! Let me just go to the ladies’ room and reorient myself.”  You moved a bit as your Unnie shifted and (miraculously) made her way to the general direction of the restroom.

You shifted your attention to the rest of the soccer team, who are chatting amiably in varying degrees of tipsy to dead drunk. You love all of them, accepting your awkward self ever since the varsity try-outs a year ago. You rarely speak in your native tongue at home in England and you didn’t get a chance to master it (you’re more adept to speaking it now, although the faint British accent is still there, much to the delight of your friends) so you just showed your love for the sport by working hard each game and polishing your footwork. They have been letting you play longer with each game, fuelling your hopes to be the first string striker by the time you get to your senior year.

You are jarred out of your daydream as you realize the girl across the table, the team’s midfielder and upcoming captain, waved her hand in front your line of vision. “__-ah, let’s set up your camera again, and get a lot of pictures of these crazy girls especially of the Captain in her post bathroom glory.”

You’re reduced into a fit of giggles, nodding as you make your way to your car to fetch your camera.

***

Well, this isn’t so bad, Luhan thought, nursing the drink that Kai shoved into his hands almost an hour ago. He doesn’t drink much in principle (and Kai is pretty much his responsibility so it’s best to stay sober), but the alcohol definitely eased their worries of getting recognized in the dark-lit and unassuming bar. Both of them have taken off their masks a long time ago, though they kept their caps on and their heads mostly bent down just in case. It only took around half an hour that they settled into an easy conversation, reliving the gruelling start of their trainee days, the countless pranks they pull on one another, how nervous they were in their first public performance, the high that overwhelmed them when they bagged their first award and the joy when they first heard their fans singing to their lyrics.

A lot of nostalgic firsts, Luhan smiled bitterly. He finds himself missing it. Well, most of it.

As their conversation winded down, Kai spontaneously upped the stakes by freestyling his dance moves to the band’s tunes (which, to Luhan’s standards, is not an easy feat given that the songs seemed to be original and it’s mostly alternative with emo-laced rock). He let Kai dance for a while, only stopping him at the point when he knew he would go “Kai the dancing machine with matching ual facial expressions mode” all over the small dance floor and expose themselves to the other customers. Kai smiled sheepishly at him and said he can’t help it, it sounded like one of the songs Kyungsoo was singing to when he and Chanyeol have their – quote, “one too many” – jamming sessions.

Speaking of the dancing devil, where is he? Luhan lifted his eyes from his drink and scanned the bar and the bathroom to no avail. He glanced at his watch, noting that Kai is already missing for a good 30 minutes. Dammit, Luhan muttered under his breath, he knew this was bound to end in trouble. He quickly placed a couple of bills on their table, and went out of the main exit. In his haste, he forgot to don his mask, which he remembered the moment he saw five teenage girls who have the same shocked expression that he probably has.

***

“Ooooopppppaaaaa~~~~!!!!!”

You almost drop your camera on the parking lot pavement when you heard the screams and frantic footsteps going dangerously near you. You look back to see what the commotion was—

BAM!  Pain momentarily blurred your vision as you plant the heels of the palm of your hands on the asphalt to keep yourself from falling flat face on the ground. You barely registered what happened when a pair of strong hands cupped your elbows to assist you and come face to face with possibly the prettiest guy you’ve ever met.

“Are you all right?” You find it hard to concentrate as you stare into the gentle and worried eyes. You know he was the one who rammed into you but --- “Uh, I’m okay, are you hurt?” you asked.

The guy shot you a weird look before darting his eyes away as the screams grew increasingly louder. “I’m sorry,” the guy has an equally gentle voice to match the eyes, “I have to go, I—“

“Let’s GO hyung!” Another guy—whoa, where did these good looking guys come from—that you didn’t notice earlier screamed at the boy in front of you. The pretty boy shot you one last apologetic look before running to their heavily-tinted car.

You wipe the dirt off your hands, finally noticing that the scratches on your palms were a bit deeper than you thought. You hurriedly straightened your ponytail and make your way back to the bar, hoping to take a few pictures before calling it a night—

What the—where’s my camera?

***

(the next day)

You savor the resounding swish of the ball hitting the net as you cleanly kicked a goal. You just finished warming up and now started on your shooting drills as you wait for your Unnie – for the past hour.

The campus was mostly quiet – it’s the start of the winter break after all and most people just want to stay indoors – and you find yourself loving the calm exuded by the dark green grass (how their school maintenance staff managed that, she has no idea), your heart pumping as your run from one end of the field to the other with no one watching your every move.

It’s just you and me, buster, you address the goal posts, a habit you’ve grown into ever since you discovered you enjoyed soccer more than just a passing hobby.

“Excuse me—” a voice cut through your thoughts, and a scream almost ripped out from your throat as you see two tall guys, masks covering half of their faces, a few feet from you. Who would want to kidnap you, and in the middle of the day?

Before your mind goes off tangent and think of every horrible scenario, you see your missing camera handed to you by the taller guy with dark hair.  You eyed both of them suspiciously, realizing that these were the two guys from last night at the parking lot.

And they took your camera.

“It was a mistake,” the other guy said apologetically, reading your thoughts. You shifted your attention to him and you swear your heart pounded a little faster than before—maybe it’s the exhaustion from the drills catching up to you. Despite the mask covering almost half of his face, you can surmise an embarrassed smile from the way his eyes are slowly crinkling at the corners. “I think I also scratched part of the lens. I want to replace it but figured I should give you the memory card first…”

Oh God the pictures! You snatched your camera at once, and with a sense of relief saw that the pictures are still intact. You can still feel the pretty guy staring at you intently, and you kept your gaze trained on your camera’s viewing screen until you’re sure that the heat on your cheeks has subsided. You stared back at him, noting how the sunlight virtually casts a glow around him as it bounces off his light hair.

“It’s okay, it’s just a scratch and I’ve been meaning to buy a new one.” You waved your hand to reassure them. Actually you’re just a bundle of nerves, you don’t know how you can pull off the end of this conversation with these two strangers. Correction: too-handsome-you-want-to-cry-it’s-unreal strangers. You wish you can find out their names, or how did they know where to find you…

“WHERE IS MY STRIKER PRODIGY?”

You looked towards the sound of your Unnie’s voice, which seemed to be originating from the other end of the field (how can she shout so clearly from that distance?). You waved your hand up in the air to catch her attention. As she comes closer, you’re grateful that you’ll finally be able to talk to the two men more easily with your Unnie around since she gets along with everyone lightning fast.

Disappointment fills you as realized that both of them were already gone.

***

“What the hell, Jongin, that was plain rude,” Luhan steps on the gas pedal, guiding the car back to his hotel. He was about to insist on replacing the camera when Kai suddenly grabbed his wrist and dragged him away from the girl with the shy eyes and a killer right kick.

“Errr—uh yeah, sorry, I had to hurry since my schedule starts in a few hours,” Kai makes a show of glancing at the clock on the dashboard. “So I guess you’re still not going back to Seoul with me hyung?”

Luhan nods. “I’ll be back in a few days in time for the voice rehearsals.” He sets the car on neutral after stopping by the curb at the back of the hotel, stepping out while Kai takes his place in the driver’s seat. “You tell the guys that I’m doing okay.” He ruffles Kai’s unkempt hair for good measure and showed his brightest smile so that his dongsaeng won’t worry too much.

As Kai drives away, Luhan went back to his empty hotel room, laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He recalls the deep green of the soccer field they’ve been to just now, how gratifying it is to feel the soft ground under his shoes, and how he longed to control the soccer ball again with just a light touch of his feet.

But most of all, he somehow can’t shake off the image of the girl with the unruly ponytail, the deep concentration on her face as she repeatedly shoots the ball to different parts of the goal – she’s a striker after all based on what the other girl shouted, and yet her sudden awkwardness during their conversation made him question if he imagined that confidence in the first place.

It made him a bit unhinged. And yes, he was drawn to it. To her.

It’s a good thing I brought my soccer shoes, Luhan thought to himself, a genuine smile—one that people around him haven’t seen for weeks—forming onto his lips.