Intermission

Eight years ago.

Age 17 and 18.

Minho's pov

‘Well I think that was a failure of a night,’ I said to Jinki as I flopped back on to my bed. He was sleeping over, my mom had said it was fine when I had asked her earlier, she was asleep now since we had come back pretty late, and I was glad of that. My mum always liked to play the hostess and if she was awake would have been undoubtedly hassling us with air mattresses, snacks, wash cloths and other things of that nature.

‘It wasn’t too bad. I am super tired though,’ he yawned, pushing out his hands and stretching he dropped his duffle bag on to the floor.

‘It wasn’t bad for you because you actually made out with your date,’ I huffed. We had gone with a pair of best friends, I had gone with the more attractive of the two whom I had asked out, and Jinki had gone with the slightly less attractive friend who we (my date and I) set up. Typically for the cruel universe we live in, my date let me no where near and forced me to keep my hands at “ten and two”, something Minseok would undoubtedly mock me for tomorrow. Girls, like everything else to us, were a competition.

‘I wouldn’t exactly say we made out,’ Jinki’s chubby cheeks blushed crimson red. He pulled off his black suit jacket that his mother had brought him specially for the occasional. ‘It was just a peck on the lips.’

‘Yeah man, but since tonight was such a flop I’m grading on a curve. Standing close together is holding hands, holding hands is a peck on the lips, a peck on the lips is making out, making out is , and is… unfathomable.’ I lay flat looking up at my red and blue striped ceiling - they were generic sporty colours, which is why my dad had picked them for me before I was even born.

Jinki let out a small laugh.

‘Are we sleeping top to tail?’ Jinki’s voice asked as I stared up at the ceiling. The colours were so overpowering.

I groaned, I really did not feel like playing the host right now. ‘I’ll sort out the bedding and in a while, just lie down until then,’ I tapped the space next to me on my bed. It was a double which was a present for me once I hit the 180cm mark.

It was a long minute before I felt the bed sinking as Jinki lay down. Our arms were by our sides, stiff with the firm fabric of our formal shirts. My hand brushed against the back of his. I felt odd goosebumps jump up on my skin. My eyes widened. I liked that feeling. I really did, the tingles travelled through my body, gathering at one particular area which urged me to do it again. So I did, brushing my hand up against his.

I paused waiting for him to ask me why I was doing it. But he didn’t ask. So I ran my fingers into his; he put up no resistance. In a perfectly calm voice, like nothing was happening I said ‘should we put on a movie?’

‘Yeah okay,’ Jinki’s voice seemed a little uncertain. I glanced at him as I leaned over his flat body to grab the remote control; he was bright red. Was he enjoying this too? Did he think I was just a touchy feely person? No. He couldn’t had done. We had been friends for a long three years now.

I pressed the tv on, and pressed play on the dvd that had been left in the dvd player. I didn’t use the dvd player much, so I hadn’t actually seen the movie in a few weeks; anyway, I didn’t want to get up right now and put another dvd in the player.

‘Which movie is this?’ Jinki asked as the intro music started.

‘Bend it like Beckham. It’s a soccer movie.’

Jinki just nodded. I noticed he hadn’t even dared to glance at our hands.

The desperation for skinship hadn’t stopped, it had gotten worse. What the hell was coming over me? Why did I want to touch Jinki? Cute, innocent, Jinki. Cute Jinki.

Was it because this was probably the last time we were going to see each other? Jinki was going to be working full time at a BBQ joint his parents had hooked him  up with, and I was going to go back to High School for the semester to finish the classes I hadn’t taken a year early before going to a world renowned soccer academy in Japan.

I wasn’t good at maintaining friendships long term. That had to be why I wanted to touch him now. It was just my body missing him in advanced!

He had been the friend who I had been close to the longest, and it was only logical my body would need time to adjust being away from him! I had just read the other day a paper in Bio about how you release hormones when you see people you’re close to which makes you happy, which means you are chemically detoxing when you don’t see them. This was my body trying to store hormones for the winter of not seeing him.

It would be weird not getting my hormone fix at school any more. I had gotten so used to seeing him in the lessons we had together, and then at lunch times. Lunch times were always the highlight of my day. I’d play soccer for the first forty minutes of lunch break, and Jinki would sit on the side with one of Minseok’s old friends who got held behind a year. They’d talk and play mobile games, and then for the last twenty minutes of lunch we would all eat. It was nice having him there, watching me, scoring goals are always better when you know someone else knows you’ve won.

Turning my eyes back to the tv I realised we were already twenty minutes into the movie. After a few more minutes I heard soft snoring. Jinki had fallen asleep with his shirt still on, and it didn’t look very comfortable.

The skinship monster inside told me to remove his shirt for his benefit and mine. I bargained with it, and reaching over I ed the top few buttons, exposing soft pale skin and prominent collar bones. Before I could stop the skinship monster, I leaned over and kissed him there. His nose wrinkled, causing my heart to race; he was stirring from his sleep. I lay straight down, and closed my eyes. Several seconds later I felt a confused sleepy Jinki sit up in bed, and then lie back down again. He must have thought it was a dream.

I was going to miss him.

=^--^=

Four years ago.

Age 21 and 22.

Breaking News!

Forward for Incheon United FC breaks vertebrae, ending football career!

Choi Minho who plays Forward for Incheon United Football Club has broken a vertebrae in a case of “wrong place, wrong time” as Mr Choi slipped on a damp piece of grass seconds before scoring the winning goal of the game, causing two defenders from the opposing team to fall on to him, crushing him and fracturing a vertebrae.

This is a devastating injury for Mr Choi who became a player for Incheon just a year ago after transferring from his reserve position for the Jeonnam Dragons.

Mr Choi who was a favourite to join the South Korean football team before the next world cup, will never be able to play again as his crushing injury has caused minor paralysis in his toes. He is currently resting in Incheon city hospital after having vertebroplasty treatment on his injury. He is expected to recover enough to live a normal life.

Lets pray for Mr Choi and his family as they go through this difficult time.

‘Minho stop reading that,’ my mother pleaded. I ran my eyes over the words for the hundredth time. ‘Minho please!’ My mother screamed out in desperation. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my father grab her shoulders.

‘Let him grieve.’ My father spoke in a tone that said it was an order. My mother turned and cried into his chest. She had done nothing but cry for the past day.

There was a knock on the hospital room door. Minseok who had been soulfully staring off into the distance got up to get it.

‘It’s family only right now, come back at another time.’ Minseok said harshly, closing the door as quickly as he had opened it.

‘Who was it?’ My father asked as I read over the article again.

...Choi who was a favourite to join the South Korean football team before the next world cup, will never be able to play again...

‘I don’t know but I don’t think he wants to see anyone right now.’

‘You don’t know?’ my father asked with his deep voice. ‘Was it a teammate?’

‘It wasn’t. None of them have come to visit.’ Minseok said very bitterly for someone who wasn’t really affected by the amount of people who came to see me.

‘Well was it a Jeonnam Dragon team mate?’

‘No, it wasn’t. I didn’t recognise him.’

‘Was he Japanese? Maybe he was one of the kids from Minho’s soccer academy-’

‘Dad!’ Minseok shouted mildly. He obviously didn’t want to be loud in the presence of the emotionally dead person, aka, me. ‘I said I didn’t recognise them! I’ve seen the pictures of all of his teams and teammates! You and mom have plastered them over the house!’

‘Well go and get them back! You don’t know if they were important or not!’ My dad shouted over the sound of my mom sobbing. Minseok sighed and ran out of the room. I resented him for running.

A minute later the door opened again, ‘I’m so sorry I was that rude to you, I totally didn’t recognise you! I’m really sorry! You look totally different though, your body is a lot slimmer but your face is fatter,’ Minseok’s voice babbled as he and the visitor appeared through the door. I didn’t bother looking up from my article. I didn’t have any close friends, and I didn’t really want to be around anyone from my family.

‘Mom, dad, you remember Jinki don’t you?’

Jinki? Lee Jinki? Lee Jinki who I hadn’t talked to since I had gone back for my final year in high school?

It had been my fault we had lost contact. Once I returned for my last semester of high school, and he started working I had gotten busy. So busy I kept rejecting his calls and ignoring his texts; I honestly was going to get back to him when I was less busy, but after two weeks of ignoring him it seemed too awkward to get back to him. My mom said he came to the house once, but I was out at soccer practice. My friend said he had stopped by the school once, but I had gone home early.

Once I was at the camp at Japan it was no phones allowed. When I got back from Japan two years later, I had assumed he was no longer interested in being my friend. It was in all the papers that I was a reserve for the Dragons, and it was in bigger papers when I made it on to Incheon United, and I never saw him at a match.

‘How could I forget? He was at our house everyday for three years...’ my mom said softly. ‘Jinki, it’s good to see you, but I’m not sure-’

‘I’ll talk to him.’ I put down my article at the side of my bed. He did look different. I couldn’t understand why Minseok couldn’t recognise him, he hadn’t mutated or anything, but he definitely wasn’t the Jinki I had lost contact with. He was taller, slimmer, his hair was shaggier and his face was puffier.

He looked good, and I felt guiltier than ever.

‘I think you guys should go eat though. All of you.’ I looked at my mom who I knew was going to make the biggest fuss about leaving me.

‘But-’

‘Come on, Honey. He wants to talk with his friend. It will be good for him.’ My dad said, practically pulling her out of my room. Minseok turned to leave behind them.

‘Seok, make sure she’s out of here for at least half an hour,’ I told him. He nodded and left, leaving just Jinki and I in the hospital room.

It wasn’t so much that I wanted to be alone with him, but rather I wanted my mother out of the room. Her love was smothering me.

‘Come to see the freakshow?’ I asked Jinki with a tone of disgust. Why did he suddenly want to have a reunion now?

Jinki looked at me with large eyes full of hurt. He wandered over to the foot of my bed, and softly placed down the bouquet of flowers he had brought, they were big multi colored daisies, I didn’t know the exact word for them. I didn’t like flowers. Jinki knew I didn’t really like flowers, making me question why he had bothered.

‘I thought you had died. When they announced it on the radio I was at work, and I only heard “tragic” and “Choi Minho”. I drove straight here but the hospital wouldn’t let me in. I’ve been back three times, but it was only today they let me in far enough to get to your room.’

I closed my eyes with a sigh. My life was over, and Lee Jinki was making me feel guilty. ‘Jinki why do you even care what happens to me? We haven’t talked in almost four years.’

‘Not by my wishes,’ Jinki murmured.

‘Pardon?’ I snapped. Jinki who was still standing at the foot of my bed looked straight at me. He stepped from one foot to another awkwardly.

‘Minho, when you returned to school when I started working, I called you several times a day to try and get in touch with you. You then went to Japan without letting me say goodbye, and I kept calling you until my phone broke and I lost your number. You didn’t come to see me when you got back and I didn’t want to go to your parents house for the thousandth time and look like a stalker.’

I frowned. I did not need to be feeling guilt right now.

‘You could have come to my games. It’s national news where I am.’ I tried to shift the blame back to him, but I knew it was all mine.

‘I did come to your games. As many as I could afford… I wasn’t at Sunday’s because the tickets were super expensive...’

I frowned. The tickets had been expensive. Any thing with the word “finals” in it doubled the price, and my last ever game had been a semi-final.

Last ever game...

‘I never saw you.’

‘Incheon Munhak Stadium holds 49,084 people. You’re hardly likely to be able to check out every single person in the stadium.’

I closed my eyes. ‘How do you know exactly how many people it seats?’

‘I’ve been on the tour,’ Jinki mumbled.

He was still so good. I was bad, and now I was hurt. I couldn’t even do the one thing I was good at. Without football I had no plans. No dreams. Nothing.

He looked good. His cheeks shone red healthily. His hair was soft. He gave off a healthy aura. For someone who had spent his entire life eating too much meat and playing video games instead of sports, he ironically was healthier than me, who was a sportsman.

Was.

‘Jinki, can you go? I want to rest.’

Jinki bit his lip, glancing at the flowers at my feet and then back to me.

‘Can I come back tomorrow?’

‘Please,’ I said. His eyes widened, he looked like he had expected me to say no. But I wasn’t going to. I needed a friend. I needed Jinki.