» VII «

2.3K 101 22

by -JAKISM

by -JAKISM

“Hey you all~!” Sunoo happily plopped down the seat beside me. “You seem to be happier than other days.” I smiled, looking at him. “Oh isn't he always?” Sunghoon rolled his eyes. “Well something seems to be wrong with you today.” Jay eyed him confusingly. “Oh isn't he always?” Sunoo mocked him while rolling his eyes. Jake silently chuckled. I turned my focus to Sunghoon. “Did something happen?” He looked down at the food on his tray and continued to play with it using his chopsticks. “I wasn't supposed to be coming to school today.” “Hold up, let me guess.” Jay stopped him and sat up straight. “The tournament is coming up.” Sunghoon let out a small sigh at Jay's answer. “Am I right or am I right?” Jay curiously looked at him. “That's right too, that's what I've been working on the whole time. But it's not the exact reason.” “Then what is it?” “Today's the rehearsal.” We all put our utensils down and gasped.

“Why aren't you there?” “Shouldn't you be there instead of here?” “Does this mean you're going to leave early again?” “Why did you come to school?” “Let's report it to the teachers, they'll let you go again.” We started bombarding him with questions. He held up his right hand. “Stop.” We shut our mouths and sat there like puppies. He sighed. “They didn't let us know that I got replaced with some rookie who's 12-13 years old, until this morning.” He hung his head low and we shared anxious looks with each other. Jake gently patted his back. “Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure you'll eventually get the shot again next year.” “What Jake said.” I agreed, nodding my head enthusiastically. “Yeah, maybe it wasn't your time to shine this year.” “Think of it as God gave you another chance to improve and practise more.” Sunoo and Jay reassured him as well. “That's what my parents said...”

Break time eventually ended and comforting Sunghoon was hard, as always. “What do we do about him?” “I don't know.” “What do you mean you don't know? You're his best friend, you should know.” “Alright, as his best friend, I only know that it's hard to reassure him and I haven't found out on how to make him feel better.” Jay shrugged his shoulders at the end. I looked at Jake. “You?” He sighed. “Fine.” He took his hands out from his pockets and walked to Sunghoon, who was walking way after us with Sunoo beside him. Jay and I watched in a distance as Jake talked to Sunghoon with a smile on his face. Sunoo confusedly watched what was going on in front of him. Soon, Sunghoon managed to pull up a smile as he nodded. I caught Jake saying “Great.” and patted Sunghoon's back. Sunoo walked in his classroom and we caught up with Jake and Sunghoon. “What the hell did you say?” I whispered to Jake.

“I can't skate!” Jay exclaimed the next break. “Same. But that isn't important right now.” “Yeah, it's actually the reason why I brought it up.” Jay folded his arms and looked at Jake. “Why? What was the reason?” “Uh...you can't skate?” I spoke. “I thought he'd cool off a bit about the tournament if he sees you trying to balance yourself in the rink but ending up failing miserably.” I cackled. “It would be fun to see that.” Jay deadpanned. Sunghoon appeared while I was laughing. “What, what's so funny?” “Nothing. Let's go and pick up Sunoo.” We started walking. “Some of the students must know that today is the rehearsal. They're staring at me.” Sunghoon spoke. “Isn't this your daily life though?” I looked at him. Jay chuckled. “She's not wrong.” “We are going ice skating this weekend~” Sunoo happily pranced out from his classroom. “Oh that reminds me of Heeseung.” Sunoo halted. “Why that brat?” I folded my arms. “"That brat" mentioned that he used to skate. We should invite him too.”

៚ · •

“Why him? Why does he always need to be brought up by Sunoo?” I continuously hit my head with my pen. Youngbin watched me with no expression, cringing a bit. “Oh please, Youngjae, stop being selfish. What's so bad about Heeseung tagging along with you and your friends?” “Because he's a brat?” “Uh...he is not?” “Youngbin~ I'm not like you~ you know that. I can't welcome someone with a warm personality like you, especially when they have offended me in the past.” I frowned. “Just forget about that and go have fun with them. You won't even notice he's there.” “Nuh-uh, I doubt that very much.” He sighed in defeat. “Okay, I'm done with this. Sort it out by yourself.” “Fine, go away! I didn't ask for your advice in the first place!” “Well you kept on whining!” “You should've just ignored me!” “Not when you were that annoying!” “Kids, keep it down.” Mom spoke from the kitchen. Youngbin left and I took a look at the calendar. Am I really being too selfish?

៚ · •

I rolled my eyes when Heeseung joined us the next day, as we walked to school. “I thought you used to come from the other side.” “I had to drop by somewhere around here.” Youngbin easily started a conversation with him. I quietly walked beside them. “Oh right, Youngjae's friends. They asked if you would like to join them this Saturday.” Youngbin suddenly brought it up, making me wince. “Really? Where to?” “I suppose you told Sunoo that you once skated?” “Oh...yeah I did. Wait—” “They're trying to lift up Sunghoon's mood since he got replaced for the tournament, which is coming up this month.” “I see...but do I have to be included there?” “Sunoo says so. Plus, it would be fun for Sunghoon to have someone to skate along with.” “I'm not the best but...sure.” I yelled inside my head and dashed off to school. “Where is Youngbin—” I embraced him tightly. “Are you mad again?” “Why is my brother so annoying?!” “Me or your real brother?”

P O V

Heeseung kept his eyes on Youngjae and the other guys as they had their lunch. Sunghoon looks down... “Hello?” His eyes focused on the guy beside him. “What are you looking at?” “Just your sister and her friends.” Youngbin blinked, taken aback by Heeseung's honesty. “I've never met someone this honest in my life. Are you still interested in their little group?” He asked before he started enjoying his lunch. Heeseung hummed a ‘yes’. “I have never hung out with...more than one friend.” “Are you serious?” He simply nodded. Youngbin gazed off into space for a moment. “I don't have much friends, to be honest. People in my class are just friendly to me, maybe because I'm the captain, I don't know.” “Don't you hang out with your sister's friends though. I mean, they're all boys.” Youngbin chuckled. “I treat them like brothers.” He cleared his throat. “Do you want to know the reason why Youngjae barely hangs out with girls?” “Um...sure.” “It's because I told her not to.”

“Are you kidding me?” “No~ I told her not to because I knew at once that one of them would fake their friendship just to become close with me. That's not fair, you know.” “You care a lot about your sister.” “That's not the first time I've heard it from someone.” Heeseung gently smiled. “You're really the face of the school.” “Heeseung~ that flatters me, don't do it.” “I mean it though.” “Come on, you're a lot better-looking than me.” “Me? Don't lie, I could never.” “Look at that, you have such a charming smile.” “Ah~ stop it Youngbin.” The two boys continued to flatter each other until Heeseung noticed something. “Hey, is that one of our juniors?” Youngbin looked back and back at Heeseung. “I guess so. But she doesn't seem to be in the same class as Youngjae though.” “Yeah. Did you notice that she has been looking at this side ever since you came and sat here?” “It's you.” “What? No, it's you. She got shy when you looked back at her.” “If it's me, I don't care. They do that a lot.” “As expected from someone who catches every girls' attention.” “I'm not the only one here.” They were busy teasing each other when the girl approached them.

“Hi, Heeseung...can I uh, have your number? If you don't mind.”