The final match was in progress on home grounds and the crowd was going wild with anticipation as their star striker snatched the ball away once again and started sprinting.

Mei's yell was loud enough to overpower almost everyone else but she didn't care because what the hell, that was her man in the field, her man kicking their asses and if she didn't cheer for him, who would?

Beside her, Tiffany was busy trying to get away from Sehun, who thought leaning his tall frame over her tiny body was funny – his arms were resting on her shoulders, digging painfully and all her attempts to dislodge him so far had been in vain. Finally, she the pompom she was holding in his face.

But of course, he avoided it and instead pushed her so that her face smacked into Kai's back who was in the seat in front of her. He turned back in surprise, then caught her as she lost her balance. Her face was mere inches from his and she blushed. He smiled at that, finding it cute, then glared at Sehun whose mouth had twisted in distaste at what he perceived as PDA.

'Get off him!' Sehun grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled. She struggled to free herself, flailing her limbs around and nearly hitting Angel, who was in the seat beside her.

Suho, the next seat over, saw that and immediately switched seats with her, then stood and pulled Sehun's ear to reprimand him over the noise of the crowd. Some fans in the previous rows angrily yelled at them to sit down but shut up quickly when Tao glared over his shoulder. His lethal looking eyes were enough to scare many into silence and given his stature, it was clear why no one behind him had asked him to sit down.

Although, perhaps the entire credit wasn't due to him – with Sehun on one side, his normally angry looking face not looking any better while he frowned disapprovingly at Tiffany and Kris, even bigger than Tao and Sehun, looming on the other side, his deep roaring voice scary when he cheered… it was obvious why no one was willing to mess with them.

The troublesome were, thankfully, in the very back and having the times of their lives. Baekhyun had somehow managed to talk his way into the commentator's box and was now busy talking about fashion instead of saying anything actually related the game being played.

'I mean, what's the point of eyeliner if it doesn't make you look fabulous? Take my word for it, girls – if you're not looking fabulous, you're not doing it right!'

Chen, not to be left behind had found his way beside him. 'That is indeed the best advice anyone can give you. Next up, handbags! Can we talk about the correct way of holding them? Do you know exactly how uncool you look when you put the bag in your armpits??? Engh, fashion disaster!'

They were busy remarking on that when Chanyeol found a mike lying around, so of course he had to try it.

'Hello hello??? One two three, can you hear me?'

His deep voice rang throughout the stadium and many in the crowd looked around, wondering why the commentary was so irrelevant today.

'Of course they can hear you! What do you think this is, ice cream?' Then, 'No, don't put that in your m…'

There was static and heavy breaths followed by hoots of laughter that made people laugh. Naturally, they took it as encouragement and started an impromptu talk show as Baekhyun took the mic again.

'I think we're all ignoring the most important thing here.'

'What's that?' Chanyeol, the host, asked.

'We have twenty two grown men chasing after a single ball… if that doesn’t scream Freudian…'

'Oookay, let's not talk about this here!' Chen took the mic away from him. 'There are kids here!'

'Alright, people, let's get back to the game! There's Minho with the ball… hahaha!!!' Chanyeol's attempt at commentating was ruined by his laughter. 'Ball – doesn't he have like tw…?'

'Seriously!'

Needless to say, the crowd was entertained with more than just football that day.       

D.O, unlike his Shadow, was unconcerned with both the game and the silly commentary going on and just sat staring into space, growling ill-temperedly when someone dared to ask him if he was alright. He was listless now that his first fever had passed but since he hadn't claimed his mate yet, it would return again, stronger than before. As if that wasn't enough in and of itself, it would keep happening until he found her and laid his claim.

Something that was worrying to all of them but none more than Lay. If what he'd seen was true – and given that he'd been doing this for a long time, there was no reason to believe it wasn't – then D.O might never be able to do that. Even if he did… he couldn't have a happy ending, not with everything looming up ahead and might end up in an even worse state. There wasn't anything he could do about any of this and it made him feel so damn helpless – what was the point of healing when he couldn't stop their pain when it mattered??? – and he was tempted to pull at his hair. But seeing Raina beside him stopped him and he just worried his lips instead.

Raina was worried. Kyra had been avoiding her calls lately and when she did answer, her voice didn’t sound okay. She wouldn't admit to anything but Raina knew about the headaches – it was kind of obvious because Kyra almost always got migraines after she used her talent. Raina had wondered before if they were indicating something more serious but Kyra had always laughed it off, told her she always had headaches, and it ran in her family. But she wasn't so sure now – Kyra had been sort of uptight at the funfair. Raina frowned worriedly – what if she'd forced her friend to See and it had made things worse for her? If that was the case… her stomach hurt just at the thought and she wrapped her arms around herself, sitting up straighter. She would visit Kyra the moment she got off from university.  

Lily, two seats over, was wondering why she was here when she could be doing something more useful – like calling to check on Rose – but Tiffany had insisted and she'd been in too good a mood to refuse. And it wasn't like she didn't enjoy a good game. Only, the commentary was really off today – okay, it was downright hilarious and she could recognize the voices as Xiumin's brothers but that wasn't it. What she hadn't known was that apparently, they were here as a couple and would be joining the other couples later for a group date.

They being her and Xiumin, who was eating popcorns and cheering loudly whenever the game got exciting. She hadn't known he had such a passion for the game – he was completely into it and it was rather fascinating contrast with the silent, rather aloof man he was in daily life. She wondered casually what it would be like if she actually dated him…

Not that she minded things as they were – their non-relationship was off the charts as it was. And by now, both of them accepted it as something entirely normal. She wasn't even irritated when they thanked her for taking care of him. And with all the tips – strictly bookish knowledge – she'd given to Mei, there was no way she was getting out of this any time soon.

Come to think about it, it was rather funny. Smiling to herself, she focused on the game as well.

……………………

Luhan was on the roll.

He tackled the midfielder who'd taken the ball from Minho, then started sprinting ahead. The player next to him tackled his feet and he jumped, flipping the ball over their heads and dashed ahead to get there before anyone else could get it.

A couple more jumps and a whole lot of tackles, he spied the goal post ahead of him. The keeper was poised, ready to intercept and there were so many defenders in the box, it was overcrowded.

More room for him to work his skills. He used body play, feigning right to go left and managed to kick the ball towards his teammate just before he fell, courtesy to the slide from the defender. He landed on his hard but that was irrelevant because the ball landed in the net.

There was a deafening roar as everyone in their crowd started cheering, stamping their feet and he was dragged up into Minho's sweaty chest for a group hug with the entire team. It was their third goal, setting them one goal ahead of their opponents.

There wasn't a lot of time left – about five minutes from the second half. Coach signaled that they keep the ball in their court, play around with it a bit instead of trying for another goal since they were winning anyway.

Well, coach could it because he was going for another goal. Sure he had scored – twice – and assisted in the third but he wanted a hat trick. Petty, perhaps, but he was kind of possessive about his goals – okay, so he was possessive about everything. Was it really that big a surprise he wanted to score his own goals???

As soon as the ref whistled, he was off. The way he was going, he could end off-side, so he slowed down his pace, then started playing around with the defenders and midfielders. Soon as he saw the others were in position, he passed the ball to his teammate, who in turn passed in on to another. He kept track of the passes, running to get himself in position before anyone else so that when it was time to lob the ball across, he was already there.

The defender in front of him pushed him back while another guy tried to squeeze him in between the two of them but he was having none of that. He jumped, higher than the other two's heads and struck the ball hard with his own.

It shot like a bullet and passed through the keeper's hands, into the net.

Yes! His fist pumped into the air and then, he did an honorary lap around the court, hugging his teammates, then ran to the side where Mei was sitting and blew her a kiss. There were even louder cheers as she blew a kiss back, then he was distracted because the ref whistled again.

It was perfunctory, though, since it was only a minute to ninety and they just passed around the ball among themselves, wasting time.

The final whistle blew loud and there were only cheers and celebrations. He lost track of the number of hands he slapped or the slaps on his back – and some rather wet kisses – he received but his eyes were searching for only one person.

And she came running towards him. He opened his arms, hoping she would run into them but he should've known better. She stopped, seeing his sweaty state, then looked around and plucked a towel from one of the passing players, throwing it at him.

He grinned and started chasing after her. 'Come on, give me a hug!!'

'No!! Agh, don't!!!'

She screamed when he managed to get his arms around her and he teasingly rubbed his chin over her head, getting several punches in return. Quickly wiping his face and neck with the towel, he turned her towards him, sliding his arms around her waist.

It had been so long since he'd actually touched her – after that time, when he'd ditched practice, they hadn't been together like this. They'd only held hands for brief periods when he walked her to class or when she walked him to practice.

There was an awkward silence as both of them looked away, uncharacteristically shy. His grip loosened around her and she discreetly backed up a step. He stared at her longingly – he wanted to kiss her, he knew she wanted him to kiss her but they both knew it wasn't a good idea.

Although, come to think of it, he was doing this for Kai. Why the hell was she avoiding him? Had he gone too far with her last time?

He tried peeking into her thoughts but they were a messed up jumble, not staying still long enough for him to actually grasp what she was thinking. No wonder she was so random.

Well, whatever her reasons, he would make sure she had no complaints. He had almost mastered how to close and hold his link with Kai, so soon he wouldn't have to worry about that at all. And if things went well, they would kick Evil back to Abyss soon and he wouldn't have to stay away from her. Even if things were awkward right now, he knew they would get right back on track.

Because they belonged, each to other and nothing could take that away.

……………………

Her heart was thumping hard from excitement and happiness – he'd scored the last goal, making it a hat trick and they'd won the finals. Now, he would probably be selected for the national team and leave…

Wait, that didn't sound too good, did it? If he really did leave, what about them? Would they have a long distance relationship?

She shook her head. Why was she thinking of something that was so far in the future? He had to clear his university and get the degree and there was no guarantee that he would immediately be selected for the national – in fact, it was more likely that he would progress to league clubs and…

Again, she shook her head. All this excitement was making her think too much. Was that even right? Wasn't excitement an inhibitor to thoughts or something like that?

Who cared? She had to go hug her man and congratulate him for that awesome last minute goal – she hoped her camera hadn't shaken too much when she was recording because she'd been literally dancing off her seat.

She danced off the steps as well, rushing ahead in her excitement. Luhan was buried in the midst of a huge crowd, everyone wanting to get close to him to congratulate him in person, smacking his back and highfiving.

Everything faded into a blur when she saw him, time seeming to slow down. He'd looked like this that day too when she'd first seen him play – all sweaty and excited, his model's face out of place on his player's body. Who could've thought he was The One? She'd never even imagined, then, that she would be lucky enough to actually be with him, that he would come to mean so much to her. He'd just been another crush she had, someone to look at and admire from a distance and now…

His eyes were searching through the crowd, looking for her and when their eyes met, his face broke out into a delighted, happy smile that scrunched up his entire face. He thought he looked weird when he laughed – she agreed, he did look weird with all those creases – but to her, that was the most endearing sight in the world.

Wow, who'd have thought she could get so cheesy? Praising the cheese lords for blessing her with this happy moment, she dashed towards him.

He opened his arms wide and she might've rushed straight into them if she didn't see the sweat covering his entire face. It was dripping from his hair into his eyes and while he looked his iest when he was like that, she'd rather not have that sweat over her. Hello? Unhygienic.

He ran after her when she tried to escape and grabbed her, rubbing his chin over her head, making her squeal. She tried to duck out but he wouldn't leave her. Then she felt his arms slide around her waist and turn her around.

For a moment, her mind blanked. His face was right in front of her and his lips so kissable. She was extremely conscious of how they were touching – seeing as they'd been just holding hands ever since that day, it was… too much for her heart.

It gave a huge thump, racing double time and she was overcome with a sudden fit of shyness. Breaking eye contact, she looked down and away. His arms loosened around her and she stepped back discreetly so she could breathe with relative ease.

She might've decided to go all the way with him but she had yet to reconcile herself completely to that idea.

'Congratulations…' she muttered to the ground, not meeting his eyes.

'Thanks.' He sounded equally subdued. Maybe he was having trouble reconciling himself as well – please, don’t let me be the only one!! Please let him be nervous too!!!

Her thoughts were interrupted when the commentators, having finally succeeded in regaining the mic from his naughty brothers, announced the man of the match – Luhan!

Reservations suddenly flying away, she hugged him and started happy dancing around him, unable to stand still in excitement. Yes, he was the man of the match, of course, it was him, it couldn't be anyone else!!!

Smiling, he took her hand and they walked towards the podium. She stopped at the stairs while he climbed up and it was perhaps the most touching moment in her life as he accepted the trophy on Minho's behalf who was too emotional to do anything but sniffle and smile happily.

They were engulfed in hugs once again soon as they stepped down and he hugged her immediately. She slid her arms around him as well, all the awkwardness going away as they stood in each other's embrace. She wanted to stay like that forever, not think about anything, just feel him beside her but like all dreams, it came to an end. Before she knew it, his team surrounded them, demanding a treat since he was the man of the match. He shook his head but she pushed him away.

'Go,' she told him, spying their excited faces, 'Celebrate.'

'I wanted to be with you.' He pouted.

'I'll wait.' She pushed him again. 'Go on, you guys deserve to have fun...'

'But…'

'You want to go.' She stated. He stopped, sighed, and then smiled shyly. 'Fine, I do. But I promised…'

'It's okay, I don’t mind. Go now, you don’t have finals every day.'

'I love you!' He told her, making her blush at the sudden statement, then pecked her cheek and ran off. She stood there, a bit dazed, hand on her cheek, then a smiled bloomed on her face.

'I love you too.' She muttered, feeling a little foolish and a whole lot sappy.

He peeked over his shoulder like he'd heard her. A huge smile covered his face and he winked, blowing her a kiss. She blew one at him and waved, watching his back retreat into the distance.

And that was the last time she saw him.

…………………...