Gold | Park Sunghoon

12

Lunch

As soon as Heeseung spotted the "Bigtide Cheerleading" sign outside the gym, he quickly stepped inside the lobby and did as Jay instructed him: text Jangmi and just wait for her to get out. Since he was sure her training just ended, it would take time for her to reply and get out of the gym. His hunch was right as he only got a text after 10 minutes. 

"Hello, oppa! I just got out of training. I'll just change my clothes and be out in a few," the older boy read the text message to himself and smiled. He was finally going to spend some time with Jangmi, his crush, outside of school. They were alone together with no interruptions whatsoever, and the thought of it made his heart swell in excitement and nervousness.

He had never felt like this about anyone before.

As a few minutes passed, he heard two girl's voices talking as they walked outside the training area. One of them had told the other to say safe, accompanied by a name that Heeseung was all too familiar with.  His eyes landed on Jangmi, who just waved at her friend as she exited the gym. The boy thought she looked completely different in her training clothes: black thermal leggings, white dri-fit under her padded jacket and scarf, white rubber shoes, and hair down. There was still the glow around her but he wasn't sure if it was just the so-called 'post-workout glow' or her usual one. But, either way, he still found her to be very beautiful. 

As he continued to watch her, he noticed that she was limping slightly; so, he made the quick decision to run towards her and meet her halfway in the lobby. "Jangmi, are you okay? Are you injured?" He asked, pointing to her leg. Although Jangmi had smiled and waved her hand to dismiss his concern, Heeseung was still nervous about it. "It's just a little numb from last night, don't worry," she said softly in an attempt to reassure him.

Heeseung was well-aware of what happened last night. Jay told him everything he needed to know before picking the cheerleader up: the dry needling part and the Sunghoon part. As much as he was happy that the younger boy was there to help her out, he was upset. Why couldn't he have been the one there? Why did it have to be Sunghoon, out of all people? Why couldn't it have been him instead?

Why wasn't he there when Jangmi needed help?

"Are you okay?" The younger girl called Heeseung's attention to snap him out of his seemingly endless rush of thoughts. He quickly nodded his head and cleared his throat at the third call. "Yeah!" He replied with fake enthusiasm. 

"I should be asking you that, though," the older boy added, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Once again, Jangmi just smiled calmly. "I'm really fine, oppa!" She said as she matched his pace, to which he slowed down greatly just so that the girl would be comfortable. 

"I heard from your brother that you didn't even need to go to training because of that," Heeseung pointed at her ankle as they walked out the gym. Jangmi huffed in frustration. She wasn't mad at what he just said, but was rather bothered by it.