L.Joe sat on top of the wooden table in the family room with his hands tightly gripped onto the video game controller, Ricky sat behind him on the couch also with a controller in his hand. Ricky was so concentrated on the game his eyes never blinked once, but L.Joe on the other hand looked blankly at the TV as his mind wondered off. He was still thinking about why he would see her at the gym and why Ricky was so friendly towards her. He stopped pressing the button on the controller and just stared at his side of the screen, he forced himself to stop thinking and concentrate on the game, but his mind would just always wonder off. He was so curious about her, she was the first girl he had ever saw that could play basketball so well it scared him. “Hyung! What are you doing!?” Ricky scream whispered from the back.

L.Joe closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and continued to control his person on the screen, it didn’t take him long to stop moving again. He let out an annoying sigh and looked up at the ceiling. Should I ask Ricky or no? What if he thinks I’m weird? An endless list of questions popped into his head.

“Hyung! We’re going to die if you keep on doing this!” Ricky pressed the buttons violently. L.Joe tossed his controller side to side. “Hey,” he started. “Do you remember that girl we saw at the gym? The girl that was really hungry?”

“Yura? Yeah, why?” Ricky swore under his breath and pressed the button that shot dead billions of zombies. Yura is her name? L.Joe smiled at the TV.

“Do you know her?”

“I bought her food, obviously I have to know her. I’ve known her since—TURN AROUND! THEY’RE COMING!” Rocky screamed but L.Joe ignored. You’ve known her since what? He asked in his head as if Ricky could hear him. “Why are you not doing anything? WE’RE GOING TO LOSE!” L.Joe sighed and started to play again. “You’ve known her since?”

“Oh, right!” Ricky’s voice got softer once L.Joe started to play again. “I’ve known her since elementary, and her other friend name Hyojin. The teachers called them ‘The Blabbs’ because they never shut up.” L.Joe nodded and pressed the buttons slowly. “Why are you even asking me about her?” L.Joe stopped everything and blinked, he was just curious, that’s why he was asking, but it would be really awkward and weird if he said he was curious about her. He sat there thinking for an explanation for a few seconds but nothing came up so he decided to go with the weird, awkward explanation.

“Ohh, why you are curious, hyung?” L.Joe could feel Ricky giving him a suspicious look.

“I saw her at the basketball tryout yesterday, she was pretty good, that’s why I’m asking you about her.”

Ricky made a nervous sound. “She is so good at basketball, you don’t even know. And, she was always on the basketball team and was always picked as the captain, that’s how good and responsible she is.”

L.Joe nodded, he never imagined girls like her would be out there playing sports like requires lots of energy and sweats buckets and buckets of sweat, and it was even more impossible to imagine her as the team captain, because no matter how much he tries persuade himself into believing she wasn’t the quiet and shy type of girl and was the sporty and open type.

When L.Joe was finally able to concentrate a bit more on the game, the phone rang. He flinched a little in shock and turned around, but only seeing the younger boy staring straight at the TV not even moving. “Pick up the phone!” L.Joe’s sister screamed from upstairs. L. Joe paused the game and walked over to the ringing phone. He picked it up thinking it could be his parents calling from the place they were staying, but it was Ricky’s parents instead. L.Joe passed the phone over to him and went back to the table he was sitting on, he rested his chin on his palm and stared at the paused screen in front of him. He wanted to know more about Yura, just like what he said before, he was curious about her, because she stood out the most to him, ever since the first time he saw her he had a different feeling towards her, a feeling wanting to become her friend, a really close friend of hers.

“Okay, okay, mom. Don’t worry, I’ll be a good boy,” Ricky chuckled and hung up. “Unpause the game!” He jumped onto the couch and grabbed the controller. L.Joe was growing tired of this game, plus, he can’t even concentrate properly. “What was she like?” This time instead of just not pressing any buttons, L.Joe dropped the controller and just looked at Ricky’s screen. “What do you mean what was she like? And why aren’t you moving again?”

“Like, what was she like before! Tell me or else I’m just going to sit here and watch you lose.”

“WHAT? YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” Ricky screamed and started to panic. “Yeah I can, I’m doing it right now,” L.Joe held out his empty hands and watched Ricky panic.

“Okay, okay. She was…I can't think of what she was like right now, all I can think of is that she didn’t go to the dance with anyone last year when we graduated from middle school, because I can remember so clearly that guys would walk up to her with a smile and walk away with a frown,” Ricky said and tilt his head to the left as he try and make the person on the screen to run left as well. “Can you please concentrate on the game now? Why are you even so curious about her?”

L.Joe ignored his question and picked up his controller to help Ricky survive. He was just curious for no good reasons, he just wanted to know her more and somehow become her friend.

Yura stared at the four basketball coaches and gulped hard, it was the day they were going to announce who made the team and who didn’t. Yura played around with her icy cold fingers as the coaches explained about something Yura couldn’t hear, she was too nervous to hear or say anything. She glanced up at the coaches as the announced the boys’ team, she could feel her heart beating just as fast as the other people’s, but when She looked around everything suddenly disappeared except for the coaches, she started to panic. Where are the other people? “Now the girls’ team,” one of the female coach announced and scanned the white piece of paper she was holding. Yura froze and waited for the coach to announce the names, every second felt longer than it’s supposed to be and everything felt like it was going in slow motion, the way the coach slowly open and glance up at the students once in a while was driving Yura insane.

Names were being called one by one, and the list was getting shorter and shorter, Yura breath shorten and her eyes were shut close. Please don’t tell me I’m not on the team, please don’t.

“And, that’s it. To the students who didn’t make the team, you all tried your best and there is always next year,” the coach said and dismissed them. Yura stayed seated at where she is and stared at her own hands, her mind went blank and her eyes become watery, it was the first time not getting on the basketball team. She blamed herself for not trying harder and showing more of her skills, and now she’s sitting alone in a white room watching teardrops falling onto her hands.

Yura sat up from her bed breathing heavily, she turned around and looked at her clock, it was ten in the morning. Was that just a dream? She brushed her hair back nervously and took a deep breath. “Thank god,” she whispered and climbed out of her bed slowly thinking of the possibility of not getting into the team. She hated these kind of dreams because it makes her feeling like it would happen, and sometimes it would. She walk down the stairs feeling depressed and sad, she didn’t even hear the sound of her parents talking in the kitchen. Her eyes widen when she reached the kitchen, she stared at her parents for a few seconds. “Why are you guys home?” She blinked and dragged her body over to one of the empty chairs.

“Well, today was actually a free day but we decided to come back instead of staying for another extra day, plus, we want to know how you’re doing at school!” Her mom said and smiled at her. Yura sighed and slammed her head against the table, she wasn’t in the mood of talking about school, since the dream just messed up her mood.

“Was it bad?” Her dad asked. Yura shook her head but still had it down. “I’m just worried.”

“Worried about what?” Her mom asked and sat down across from her immediately.

“Not getting on the team!” Yura lift her head up and whined. Her dad burst into laughter and ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry you will, you always do. You just have to believe in yourself.” Yura pouted and laid her head back onto the table. What if I don’t? She asked herself.

“Why don’t you go hangout with Hyojin today, get your mind off of it for a while?” Her mom suggested. Yura nodded and sat up and before she could stand up to go back to her room, her mom forced her to eat at least one piece of toast.

L.Joe rolled out of his bed and sat down on the floor, staring at the wall. He didn’t know what to do today, he had nothing planned for today, probably just going to play video game all day. He pushed himself up from the floor and went down to the kitchen, he frowned when he saw his dad’s cup on the kitchen counter with hot steam coming out of it. Are they home already? I thought they were coming home tomorrow. He shrugged and started to look for food.

“Oh, you’re up!” A female voice said. L.Joe closed the fridge door and smiled at his mom. “Yeah, I just woke up.” He walked over to his chair at the dining table and watched his mom prepare breakfast for him. “Why are you guys home? I thought it was a two days trip.”

“Your dad got a phone call from the company, we had no choice but to cancel today’s plan and come back,” his mom said loudly over the sizzle sound of the cooking pan.

“Did Ricky leave already?”

“Yeah, his parents came and picked him up,” his mom slide him his breakfast and started doing the dishes. “So, how was school?”

L.Joe shrugged and swallowed hid breakfast quickly. “I’m going out later.” His mom turned off the tab and looked at him, waiting for him to give her more information. “I’m going to the gym,” he said and picked up the already empty plate to the sink. “I was thinking of just playing videos games all day, but you’re home and I know you want to watch TV, so I decided to go to the gym and exercise.” His mom smiled and pushed him out of the kitchen. “Well, what are you doing here? Hurry up and leave,” she joked and went back to the dishes.

After a while, L.Joe came back down stairs with his bag hung on one shoulder and his headphone already plugging into his ears. “Bye, mom,” he popped his head into the family room and waved goodbye to his mom. He slipped in his red Converse and went out the door, he looked up into the sky wondering if he would be able to see Yura again at the gym, he planned out different scenarios of meeting her in his head, he would go up to her and say, “Oh, the hungry girl!” He chuckled at his own thought and bit onto his bottom lips. What am I doing? She’s going to be so embarrassed.

Yura grabbed a clean pair of basketball shorts and a loose tank top, and threw them into her black bag. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand beside her bed and went back downstairs. She dropped her bag on the floor and walked into the kitchen to fill up her water bottle, because she was planning on going to the gym again, and hoping that she would see L.Joe there, again. She looked around room, but her parents was nowhere to be found. They’re probably resting. She thought and wrote a sticky note for them, just to let them know she went out.

She sat down on the floor and tied her shoes, she frowned when she was a big black stain on her white sneakers, she didn’t even know how the big stain got there. She pushed the door open and exhale in the warmth of the summer, she smiled, but soonly regretted it, because she couldn’t stand the hot sun for more than two minutes, but thankfully, it didn’t take her that long to get to Hyojin’s house. She rang the doorbell and fanned herself with her hand, at this moment she was wishing for a personal air conditioner that would follow her around outside and cool her down.

Mrs. Park opened the door and welcomed Yura into the house, she greeted her and took off her shoes. “Hyojin just went upstairs to get changed, she’ll be right back.” Yura nodded and went to the living room. This time she was sitting straight up on the couch, staring across the room, she didn’t dare lie down on like what she would do if Hyojin’s parents weren’t home. “Oh, good morning, Yura,” Mr. Park greeted and picked up the newspaper from the table. “How’s school?” Yura smiled shyly. “It’s okay.” Mr. Park gave her a thumbs up and walked back into the kitchen.

Yura look up when she heard footsteps rushing down the stairs. “Why are you so early these days?”Hyojin sighed and tossed her hair back. “I used to be the one sitting at your house waiting for you, now it’s the opposite.” Yura chuckled and picked up her bag, she waved goodbye the Hyojin’s parents and followed her out the door.

As usual, they took the bus down the street that would take them to the mall, the bus was more crowded than usual, probably because it was the weekend and everyone had a day-off. Yura looked out the window and watch the cars drive pass one by one, her mind became calm watching the cars pass by, for some reason. She lean her head against the cold window, still focusing on the cars, she was too into it that she had forgot they had arrived the mall. She quickly grabbed her bag and hopped off the bus with Hyojin.

“What are you thinking?” Hyojin asked as she push open the heavy glass door. Yura sighed and followed her into the noisy mall. “I don’t know if I will make the team, I had a dream last night about not making into the team. I know it’s just a dream, but it could possibly come true, right?”

Hyojin gave her best friend a light bump in the shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’ll make it, you always do.” Yura bit her bottom lips. What if I don’t this time?

The two of them walked around the mall, and as usual, Hyojin was holding billions bags while Yura had only one or two. She wasn’t in the mood of buying anything, looking through the clothes, or even going into the stores. She followed Hyojin from one store to another, she glanced around but nothing caught her attention, she looked down at her shoes. I want a pair of shoes. She whined loudly in her head, she looked back up and stared at all the clothes that didn’t really match her taste.

“Do you girls need help?” A woman in her twenties came over and asked Hyojin and Yura. Yura looked away and let Hyojin deal with the “helper”. Yura waited and waited for Hyojin to finish talking to the lady, but the lady wouldn’t stop asking her if she prefer the darker red pair of jeans or just the normal red jeans. She could hear Hyojin calmly saying ‘no’ over and over again, so many times it made Yura giggle quietly behind her.

Finally the lady realize that Hyojin was getting annoyed, so she headed back towards the cashier. Hyojin turned around and rolled her eyes. “God, she won’t stop talking!”

“It's funny watching you giving her the fake smile,” Yura started giggling again. Hyojin gave her “the glare” and headed out the store.

They entered the shoe store next to the “annoying store”, Yura’s eyes sparkled at the shoes, she wanted all of them. They split up to different section of the store, Yura smiled at all the shoes but all of them were just too expensive, she walked from one aisle to another, every single pair was smiling at her and begging her to buy them home, but she couldn’t afford any of them. She quickly glanced to the other side too look for her best friend, but she was not anywhere in her sight. Just when she was about to turn away and move onto another aisle, a familiar pair of shoes caught her eyes. She walked towards it and picked it up, it was the red Converse she wanted last time they went to the mall together.

She still wants it.

She took a deep breath and looked at the price, her heart ached at the number, she was not going to waste all her money on a pair of shoes, she was not going to make the same mistake that embarrassed her in front of two guys before, she was going to save the money and buy some food later. “You want this?” Hyojin popped her head out of nowhere, which gave Yura a mini heart attack. “Sorry,” she said and took the shoe out of Yura’s hand. “Do you want it?” She asked again. Yura nodded. “But it’s too expensive and I’m not going to spend my money—”

“I’ll buy it for you,” Hyojin smiled. “As a gift, for making onto the basketball team.”

“I’m not even on it though.”

“You’ll make it,” Hyojin asked the worker for Yura’s size. “So what were you going to say? About not spending your money?” Yura let out a small embarrassed laugh. “I need to save my money so I can buy food after going to the gym, since I was so stupid yesterday and wasted all my money at the theater, and was starving after being in the gym practicing for such a long time. The worst part was I bumped into Ricky and L.Joe—”

“L.Joe?!” Hyojin exclaimed and walked towards the cashier with Yura’s shoes. Yura nodded and continued on with her embarrassing story.

Yura sighed and covered her face with her hair as Hyojin laughed crazily beside her, she knew she shouldn’t have told her story in the public because she had a unique laugh which would make the people look at them weirdly. “Calm down, jeez, is it really that funny?” Hyojin nodded and continued laughing, she laughed so hard her legs couldn’t support her body anymore. She lean onto the wall and calmed herself down. “I should’ve went to the gym with you, just to laugh at you and see Ricky,” she smiled and took a deep breath. “Ugh, Ricky,” Yura made a disgust face and started walking towards the exit of the mall. “Hey, he bought you food, you should be thankful!”

I am. She thought.