Chapter Twenty Four -   Judging

"Go Nara! Go Nara! Go Nar-" 

"Shh!" I glared at Woohyun who pouted immediately, and continued tying my shoe lace.

I sighed and took back my black racket from Raina, "Thanks," 

She beamed and looked at me, "No worries, you'll do great!" 

I laughed, or at least I tried too, but I don't think it came out as a good laugh due to the nerve wrecking moment. I stretched my legs for the nth time and swung my racket back and forth. Raina sighed and stood up. "Chill out Nara," she spoke. I couldn't chill out when I knew that my name would be called out through the loudspeaker any moment then. My prediction came out to be true. 

Sungyeol's voice on the speaker boomed throughout the entire stadium. He always had a thing for speaking. My name and Raina's were called out.

"Good luck," Sunggyu patted my shoulder and I gave him a smile. He returned me with an assuring nod. 

"You'll do great," I saw Hoya patting Raina's head to which she grinned widely at him. 

The both of us went out to the badminton court placed on the center of the stadium. The crowd was wild, more than what I had expected. On the opposite side, across the net, were two girls which Raina had informed me, second year students. The both of them had those athletic figure like Raina, and immediately, I felt like being in the wrong place. What would the people think about me? Like among this three girls with muscled legs, there was this plum girl who couldn't even do a perfect smash. I suspired nervously. 

"They're nothing Nara. Believe me, they're nothing. I've seen them playing and they ," Raina told me quietly. 

"Well, I ," I let out a sour laugh.

"No, you're better. I'm telling the truth," she said. 

I believed her. Raina wasn't someone who would sugar coat her words. Oh, and it made me feel better too.

"Now, the inter-house sport competition, to symbolize the start of the arts week, will begin. If you will, participants please show your greetings," I heard Sungyeol through the speaker. His voice was unrecognizable, a real contrast from the one he used when we threw jokes with each other. He really had a talent in this kind of thing. 

I followed Raina to the net and shook hands with the two other girls. We stepped back to our places again and the whistle blown by the referee begun the game. 

Raina was right. They weren't that good. 

At the middle of the game, my eyes went through the crowd as quick as possible, scanning for any traits of Myungsoo. I found him sitting in the front row of the bleachers with Sungjong and Sora. He flashed a smile at me and I wasn't sure if my heart beat was increasing because I was tired or because of him.

We finally won the game, and Raina decided to treat all of us after we all went home and took a bath. I glanced at the clock after merging out of the bathroom. It was still five, so I had plenty of time to dig myself into my physics book and try to understand whatever was written there. I realized I was quite screwed since I couldn't comprehend a plenty of terms when my exam was going to be held in ten more days. 

At about 6 30, my door bell rung and without the need for me to guess, it was Sunggyu. I opened the door after grabbing my purse, and stepped out.

"You look like hell," he commented as we walked to the elevator.

I waved my hand in the air, dismissing him, "Oh please. I just studied physics," 

"Oh please, I just studied maths," he mocked. 

I rolled my eyes and we both rode down the elevator. 

"I'm performing in the arts week by the way," Sunggyu broke the silence. 

"Really?" It was a rhetorical question and yet he answered it. 

"Yeah," 

"What are you going to sing?"  

"No idea," we went out of the elevator, "Any suggestions?" 

I shrugged my shoulders, "I have no idea,"

"You're hopeless," he said. "By the way, aren't you going to tell me how your date went?" 

I cocked one of my brows and looked at him in one of the strangest manner after buckling my seatbelt. Did Kim Sunggyu really want to know how my 'date' went with Kim Myungsoo? 

"It wasn't a date," I said. "But we had fun, if you really wanna know. We ate ddukbokki and some patbingsoo at the night market. We talked about a lot of stuffs-"

"Did you guys talk about me?" 

I tilted my head, trying to remember, "Yeah we did," 

"Good," he said without any expression as he reversed his car out of the parking lot.

"When's your test?" I asked while turning on the radio.

"Next week," he sighed. 

It was then I realized how tired Sunggyu was. His eye bags seemed like it was about to burst and he even got thinner. 

"Sunggyu," I called.

"Talk," 

"Let's go back home," 

"W-what?" He let a small laugh, thinking the idea was probably an absurd one.

I placed my palm on the steering wheel, "Let's go home, okay?" 

He glanced at me, and back on the road, frowning, "Is there anything wrong?" 

I nodded. 

"What is it?" 

"I'll tell you when we get home. For now, drive back," 

He suspired, "Alright if that's what you want," He said reluctantly. 

So we did came back home. I went in his apartment and stood in front of the door. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, "What?" He snapped.

"You're not joining us. You're going to get a good sleep and food, and get rid of those eyebags," I said. 

"So you're ordering me now?" 

"And you better follow it," I said, "Now, I'll go out and meet them, and I'll check on you once I get back," 

"Why are you suddenly acting like a mother?" 

"Because this happened to Hana when she was about to graduate," 

"What happened to her?" 

I gave him a knowing glare. Really? Didn't he know that he was a bad actor?

"You're kidding me," 

"Sunggyu let me tell you one thing. You are a terrible liar," 

His facial expression changed, from the Sunggyu with enormous pride, to a boy who just got caught cheating by his teacher.

"I know you've been interested with my sister-"

"It stopped already," 

"I know. Question is, why did you stop?" 

There was a silent moment between us. Sunggyu looked down to his carpeted floor. 

"It's because she started drinking, being a part animal-" 

"Nara, stop,"

"No, it's true right? She changed a hundred and eighty degrees," I smiled bitterly and scoffed.

"It was the past-"

"The past?!" I scowled, "So you think she had changed back? Are you that dense Sunggyu? Huh?" 

"Why are you shouting at me?" He asked with his temper rising. It would usually be rather scary, but right now, I don't think being scared was the appropriate thing.

"Because... Don't you know Sunggyu?" I sighed with emotion, "After they left, while I was cleaning up her room, I still found bottles and cans of beers here and there. And did you not see the marks of her piercings and tattoos?" 

He closed his eyes and sat down on the couch, looking down to his feet, "I know saw it Nara," he spoke quietly. 

"Then please Sunggyu," my voice trembled and I had no idea why, "Don't be too hard on yourself," 

"I won't be like her-" 

"Did you ever imagine Hana being like that before she was stressed up?" I said.

He looked up at me in the eye and stretched out his right hand towards my face and I was wondering what was he doing. 

"Sunggyu..." I muttered, "Don't change..." 

The next moment I felt his hand rubbing away my tears.

-***-

"Oh, where is Sunggyu?" Woohyun asked as I sat beside Ailee. 

"He uh... He's really tired so I told him to just stay at home and rest," 

Without Sunggyu, it actually meant Raina sitting in front of me. I didn't know what was the exact reason but I was getting quite close with Raina these days. Probably because of badminton practice and all. The same case went with Sungjong. From the day I found out that we actually lived in the same apartment, I often hang out with him in cafés or coffee shops when I was dreadfully bored and Sunggyu was unavailable. He would bring his novel and I would bring my blue notebook. We would spent hours there being quiet, sometimes not even uttering a word to each other, and yet, we were comfortable. It was tranquil, with the crisp scent of freshly brewed coffee, and the jazzy background music.

"Yeah, they say being a third year is the hardest," Dongwoo commented. 

"They're graduating," Raina added. 

I nodded, agreeing to every word they said. Then, the restaurant door opened and as a reflex, I glanced to find out who was entering. I was always, as you might know now, a curious person, who can sometimes be very ignorant when I'm lazy. I know, I'm weird. But back to the door, it was actually Myungsoo, in his white hoodie. He actually looked good in white, I wonder why he always had black every time. 

Before sitting down, he gave me a small smile and I returned it with a tiny nod. 

"I think Myungsoo and I should exchange places, I feel like a wall here," Sungyeol said while wiggling his eyebrows.

I felt my face heat up, and as a reflex, I punched his arm, having him cringing as a result. 

"Oh, so Nara and Myungsoo's dating already?" Hoya asked playfully. 

"W-what? No!" I retorted. 

Myungsoo was quiet, only smiling at the whole situation which actually placed me in a quite awkward position. 

Yes, it was true that we had been texting for the past few days and it would simply consist of mostly 'what are you doing', and we would tell each other about our day and blurt out some random topics. I couldn't say we got closer since we had never talked anything too sentimental, just yet. The both of us found it hard to be open so there we were, just scratching here and there on the surface. 

We ate and all, just like usual. Without Sunggyu, it was obvious that something was missing, but we all tried our hardest attempt to just be ignorant. He needed a nice rest anyways.

Raina told me that she wanted to bring me to a desert shop after this, and although I wasn't really in the mood to go and have some ice cream in the rather chilly weather, I agreed. It wouldn't be polite anyways to deny. 

"My treat," she beamed. 

Of course, I didn't know that going out with Raina meant going out with Hoya too. So, there we were, the three of us sitting down in the almost vacant dessert house, with a bowl of matcha ice cream before me. 

I was quiet the whole time, feeling rather left out for being a third wheeler. But as time flows, I realized that no, Hoya and Raina weren't in that kind of relationship. They were friends. Good friends, just like me and Sunggyu. And I started to wonder why all of us always thought that they were into each other. Well, it might be true that Raina was a little into the male, but she also knew limits. While Hoya was... I wasn't sure if he was into her, but one thing was obvious, he didn't want to loose her. It was as if she was the only friend he had.

"Are you watching soccer tonight?" Raina asked as she her ice cream.

"Obviously! It's the finals of the cup," Hoya said with a small laugh, "We can watch together," 

"No I want to sleep," Raina said, "The game's at 2 a.m right?" 

Hoya nodded and then glanced at me, realizing I haven't said anything for the past... Ten minutes? 

"Sorry... We're just into these kind of things," he apologized bitterly. 

"No, don't mind me. I should be the one apologizing for disturbing the both of you," I said with a smile. 

"My brother loves to play soccer, and I love sports," he shrugged, "So practically the sport world revolves around me," 

"And you dance," Raina added. 

"I dance," Hoya nodded, "But it's just a hobby nothing more," 

"So... Will you dance, or will you go for sports later?" I asked. 

"I would love to go to dance class and all but, I'll be majoring on sports for my brother," 

"For your brother?" 

He nodded confidently, "My brother loves soccer so much and he told me he couldn't wait to see me scoring a goal on the nationals," 

"Ah..." Was all that escaped my mouth. 

I wondered, why did Hoya have to give up dancing for his brother? Did he loved his sibling that much? Or was it his brother that was nagging him to do things? Such a conceited brother.

We spent some more time talking about ourselves. Getting to know Hoya was nice. He knew how to treat people comfortably, and one could sense it wasn't because he wanted to gain praises from others, but because he was simply polite. He said thank you to the waiter when we left the place, and I realized that in this world, we are too busy to even thank or apologize to others. But Hoya didn't seem to be as 'busy' as us. 

The three of us went back together, and since Hoya's house was the nearest, we decided to take him back. I also took it as a chance to exercise after eating such fatty foods. 

The Lee's residence was a royal one, which startled me a lot. Not a single person would expect someone as simple as Hoya to live in an enormous house with a garden which looked beautiful despite the dark night. 

"Uhm... I guess we're here," Hoya scratched the back of his head awkwardly while looking at me, "Thanks for walking me back home," 

I couldn't say anything before blinking several times, "Uh... Yeah, no problem," 

Raina patted my shoulder, "Don't look so surprised. You'll soon get used to it," she said.

Hoya laughed, but it was interrupted by the sound of the massive door behind us being opened, the orange light from the house penetrating out to where we were standing.

"Hyung!" 

A boy, whom I couldn't determine the age by his looks, ran out and immediately charged Hoya. He wrapped his arms around his waist. Hoya chuckled and messed up with his hair.  

"This is my brother, Jowoon," he said, glancing up at us, and then back to his brother.

"Are you waiting for hyung? You should've slept first, it's late," Hoya said with pure warmness towards Jowoon. 

I almost choked out my tears at that moment. I scoffed quietly to myself. His brother wasn't conceited. 

He was down-syndrome. 

SAENGIL CHUKAEYO LEE HOWON!! XD I love you <3 and idk but lately you've gotten my attention lol, I just hope you won't be a bias ruiner like Woohyun HAHA. 

And to all of you I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while, again, reasons TT My o levels are coming up and I don't have a single idea about chemistry, I'm so screwed lol. Sorry for ranting here XD

But THANK YOU to all of you who've read this far! It really means a lot to me :) I love to read your comments! Once again, Gomawo!!