The parching heat from the sun blazed over the entire football field. The whole football team halted midway of their practice due to the unbearable weather. Instead of using the time for a rest, some of them decided to run around the entire track field, dancing, and playing a random tag game. Others however, decided to go topless in the hope it would aid them fight the heat.   “Enjoying the view eh, Hee-Jin?”   The girl quickly snapped out of her trance with a slight flinch. She turned her head to see Sohee seated beside her as they were taking a break from their cheerleading practice. She had no idea how the girl even got there, perhaps because her focus was only on Min Seok the entire time.   “I… I….” she stammered to defend herself. She would be lying if she said she did not enjoy Min Seok’s perfect God-like abs. The way the small droplets of sweat dripping as it defined his obviously well maintained and worked out body.   “Don’t worry, I’m enjoying it too,” Sohee admitted frankly as she continued munching on some brownies she had baked herself. Her sight never left the bunch of guys even once.   “No! Don’t look at Min Seok oppa!” Hee-Jin yelled out in panic, placing her hand in front of her friend’s eyes to protect her oppa’s body.   “Not him!” Sohee grunted as she removed the hand of the elder to continue enjoying the view. “I’m looking at Jong In. I mean his body is just… Boom chika wow wow!”   Hee-Jin laughed at her and gave a nod. She’d never look at anyone aside from Min Seok though.   “Should we continue practicing again?” she then asked, watching how her cousin Hyun Mi was patiently helping the slower members get the choreography of their new routine down to the smallest detail as the perfectionist captain she was known as.   Sohee gave a small nod as she finished the final piece of her brownie. The two of them got up to return to the group of fellow cheerleaders. They slightly gasped when they witnessed the group of running guys close in on the girls. And when a small bumpy accident happened, they were glad they were standing far away from it.   “Yaaaa… You ruined the angle,” Hyun Mi sobbed seeing how their perfect well-synchronized poses got ruined by that one bump. She turned around to watch the culprits Chan Yeol, Baek Hyun, and Jong Dae laughing at the incident instead of feeling sorry.   “Stop overworking the younger cheerleaders. They might just leave the team,” Baek Hyun told her.   “They won’t leave as long as they can stare at you guys running around in sweat during practice,” Hyun Mi said, hearing how the other girls swooned at the unhygienic description. “Besides, we’re practicing to cheer for your upcoming match. Do you not want us to do well?”   “Sure we do,” Jong Dae quickly said with a laugh.   “The volume of your cheers still needs some work though,” Baek Hyun said as she gave him an offended look. “I want to be able to hear you aaaaaaaall the way there.”   Hyun Mi was silenced and couldn’t help but smile bashfully, realizing the other meaning behind his work. “Okay, everyone can take a break,” she let go of her perfectionist side and allowed the others to rest.   “Well that was unexpected,” Sohee commented.   “By the way, where’s Mimi?” Hyun Mi realized one of the members was missing as she looked around the field to find her.   “Last thing I knew, she went to have a private talk with the football coach,” Sohee answered with a shrug as she walked down to enter the field. As soon as her eyes caught Jongin’s, the two had a very flirty exchange.   Hee-Jin simply laughed as she took her water bottle to drink from it. She then noticed Chan Yeol climbing up the side bench to approach her.   “Hey, can I have some of the water?” he asked, giving her shoulder a small nudge.   “Sure.” Hee-Jin handed her neighbor and best friend the water bottle from her hand.   She watched as he carefully opened the cap and touched his lips against the tip of the bottle to get something to drink. If it were any other guy, she would probably complain, but since Chan Yeol was one of her closest friends, she did not mind at all.   “Do you still want any of it?” he then asked.   “It’s okay, you can take it all,” Hee-Jin smiled.   Chan Yeol poured the remaining water over his head, feeling himself being drenched in the freshness of the cool water. The water dripped down his hair to create a stunning visual. Some of the younger cheerleaders immediately began to fangirl.   “Sorry, I’ll buy you more next time,” he said.   “That’s okay,” Hee-Jin chuckled lightly. She saw him grinning back at her so gorgeously to the point the other girls began squealing again, hoping it was meant for them instead. She was aware of his popularity and handsome looks, but she’d never understand why they squealed so much for him since he wasn’t nearly as perfect as Min Seok.   What she didn’t notice, however, was the fact that Min Seok had been keeping an eye on her the entire time ever since Chan Yeol appeared in the picture. He secretly envied the way Chan Yeol was able to come so close to her and freely talk whereas she ended up running away whenever he approached.   “She won’t know you like her if you keep standing here.” Luhan suddenly appeared besides his friend.   Min Seok was taken off guard, looking at his friend as if he had spoken nonsense. He did not deny any of those accusations though.   “Baek Hyun said she likes me,” Min Seok recalled their conversation a few days earlier. “But do you see how close she is with Chan Yeol?”   “They’re neighbors, it’s natural,” Luhan spoke as he patted his friend on the shoulders. “Go ask her out or something.”   Min Seok gulped a little at the thought. “H-how?” he asked.   “Just ask her?” Luhan shrugged before he walked away to hang out with the others.   Min Seok hesitated a little, unsure what to do. He was always the calm guy with the unreachable persona. The girls misunderstood this and thought of him as cold and unapproachable while in fact he was just too shy and didn’t know what to say most of the time. But if that was enough for Hee-Jin, he might as well try.   “Hee-Jin!”   Her thoughts were interrupted when she recognized the milky voice calling out to her. There was a sudden rush of excitement and fear when Min Seok motioned for her to come to him.  He wasn’t standing among the bench and was still on the football field whereas she was still standing on the bench area. She had to admit she was glad he was wearing his shirt again, or else she wouldn’t be able to keep her eyes on his face during the conversation.   “What is it, oppa?” she asked hesitantly, wondering if it had anything to do with the way she accidentally hit him last time during Seong Yeon’s entire confession scene.   “Are you free this Saturday?” Min Seok managed to ask.   Hee-Jin blinked her eyes in confusion. “I.. I promised Chan Yeol I’d help him bake some brownies,” she said.   “Oh…” Min Seok side glanced the guy who was previously seated next to Hee-Jin. The one guy that the entire campus thought she was dating because of how close they were with each other. It was a stupid idea to try and ask her out anyway.   “Never mind.”   “Oh, okay,” Hee-Jin pouted a little in disappointment. She had hoped there was more to the conversation since she finally got the chance to talk to her long time crush. As Min Seok turned his back on her, she slouched back to her seat.   “What are you doing?” Chan Yeol asked as soon as she sat down next to him.   “What?” Hee-Jin asked, confused.   “Why’d you say you wanted to help me bake brownies?”   “I already promised you we’d do it together. We planned this since weeks ago,” Hee-Jin said.   “Pabo,” Chan Yeol muttered as he lightly tapped her head using the empty water bottle. “We can bake brownies another time, but we don’t know when he’ll ever ask you out again.”   Hee-Jin’s eyes widened in realization as she began to hyperventilate. “Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Did he…? He actually…. Ohmygosh!” she began yelling, unable to form a correct sentence in her head anymore. Everything was so overwhelming.   “Well, you better tell him. As far as he knows, we’re making brownies,” Chan Yeol said as he motioned his finger between the two of them.   “Right!” Hee-Jin quickly got up from her seat. In that split second of not knowing what to do, she began to yell out really loudly. “Min Seok oppa! I can do it Saturday!”   Min Seok was quite surprised at her loud voice and how he was able to hear her even from a distance. Seeing the way she smiled so brightly after replying his initial question, he simply gave a small nod and turned his back on her again. Others would mistake him for being cold, in fact, he was trying to hide the way he started to smile to himself like an idiot.  

 

From that day until Saturday, Hee-Jin had time to prepare herself mentally and physically for the date. It was their first date anyway and she wanted to impress him. She went around to all her friends to ask for advice. But since everyone gave different advices, she wasn’t even sure what to believe anymore.   “Make sure you wear something y underneath, you know… In case if…” Mimi winked at her after her very mature advice.   “But it’s the first date,” Hee-Jin gulped in embarrassment.   “Hey, sometimes they don’t even go through the whole date process and jump ri-” Mimi was about to explain the whole experience before Dong Woo suddenly appeared. He quickly placed his hand in front of Mimi's mouth to stop her from talking.   “Not in front of my cousin,” he reminded her.   “You’re just like your sister,” Mimi commented as she brushed his hand away with a laugh. True, whenever she was being her ‘true’ self, Hyun Mi was always the first one to stop her from her R-rated talks.   “Thanks for the advice,” Hee-Jin nodded in appreciation before she strolled off to find someone else’s advice. At this moment, she guessed she could use anyone’s wisdom.   Except for a few people.   “Don’t go on a date with him!” Maerin said as she slammed her fist against the table. She wasn’t usually a violent person, unless there was a case she strongly believed in. And in this case, she strongly believed Min Seok was not the one for Hee-Jin.   “W-why?” Hee-Jin looked a little intimidated by the younger one.   “Because, you don’t realize that love is right in front of your eyes,” Maerin said, eyes clearly hinting to the guy seated besides her.   “Sometimes, your best friend might turn into something more,” Hyun Mi added, not-so-subtly tilting her head to one particular guy.   Chan Yeol scrunched his eyebrows, feeling two pair of eyes glued on him. “I have no idea what you girls are talking about,” he said.   “I think they want you to end up with Hee-Jin,” Baek Hyun whispered to his taller friend. “And I agree.”   “I’m right here.” Hee-Jin slightly raised her hand.   “I know,” Baek Hyun stated, definitely oblivious he was not supposed to say these kind of things in front of the people involved.   “This happened to Myung Soo and Seul Yi too. I think they’ll start dating reaaaaal soon,” Hyun Mi added.   “Really? Finally! Seul Yi unnie must be so happy,” Maerin said dreamily. “Now if Tae Min oppa comes and sweep me off my feet, it shall all be perfect.”   “I’ll tell him to meet you holding a broom next time, so he can swoop you away,” Baek Hyun grinned. As everyone gave him a weird look at his extremely lame joke, Hyun Mi was the only one who burst out in laughter. “That joke is brilliant,” he insisted as she just nodded along.   “Anyway,” Chan Yeol continued back on track. “I’ll help you in any way I can, Hee-Jin.”   “Great!” Hee-Jin smiled, wondering why she even involved the other three people to ask for advice. The only person she needed was Chan Yeol. So she immediately bombarded her with the questions she bore in mind.   “Tell me what he likes. Ooh! How should I dress? What do people usually do on dates? Should I bake him something? Aaah, I have no idea what to do!”   Chan Yeol chuckled as he placed his hands on top of hers to calm her down. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with everything.”  

 

On the other hand, Min Seok was also seeking help from others. Who better to ask help from than the two who had successfully started dating? Also the people who were quite close to Hee-Jin based on his observations.   “How did you ask Seong Yeon to go on a date?” Min Seok asked as he drank out of his coffee cup.   “I never did,” Kyung Soo answered simply. “We just go.”   Seong Yeon remained poker faced as she gave a small nod. “It’s not even called a date,” she said.   “It is a date though,” Kyung Soo corrected her.   “I hate you,” Seong Yeon flattened her eyes at him, to which he just grinned at as a reply.