𝗚𝗢𝗔𝗟 𖥻! seonghwa

( 11 ) blue gatorade

PRETTY MUCH FROM that car ride forward, the dynamic of chaerim and seonghwa's hatred for each other shifted from pure hostility to some sort of a heated competition to driving each other crazy. they wanted to make each other break, and by break, i mean get flustered by the other's attempts at flirting.

but only in private. in front of the others? they would both be mortified if anyone ever found out that they were holding hands and backhugging out of pure sadism.

they sat next to each other at dinner, which was at a small hot pot restaurant. all was normal. they went back and forth taking hits at each other, kicking each other the table, complaining about the other one smelling bad or being so ugly that they lost their appetite.

"you played terrible tonight, by the way," mentioned chaerim, popping some cooked vegetables into her mouth, "i thought you were a freshman or something!"

seonghwa retorted, "like you could do any better, miss benchwarmer."

"we'll see about that," she laughed, "i can play in the next game, actually."

"your first game back, huh? don't suck too bad. it's our rival team," seonghwa told her rigidly.

"i won't suck as bad as you at least. and of course i know that, idiot. how could i not know that we're playing the sharks?"

the sharks were their rivals from seoul high school. what made them so competitive was the fact that their best player used to go to their school and play for the lions: hwang hyunjin.

seonghwa and hyunjin were best friends, actually. but that was all in the past. the two were just as big of rivals as seonghwa and chaerim. the two's main focuses was destroying the other's team.

"i dunno. sometimes i'm convinced that you didn't graduate kindergarten since you act so dumb so i thought i should tell you," he said calmly.

chaerim nodded, "keep talking and i'll tear you apart from limb to limb in the middle of this restaurant, okay?"

"sounds good." he smiled, knowing it would annoy her.

"actually, i take that back. i'll tear you apart from limb to limb after you drop me off at my house," she said.

"i'm not your personal chauffeur. ask wooyoung."

chaerim turned to wooyoung and asked, "hey, woo! can i get a ride home?"

wooyoung shrugged, "eh, sure."

chaerim turned back to seonghwa with a happy expression, "looks like you're free."

"thank god. i'm free from suffering for the night," he stated, and chaerim flicked his arm.

"ow! what was that for?" he asked, rubbing his arm.

she hummed, "oh, just because i hate you."

but for some reason, seonghwa felt strangely lonely as he rode home that night. he usually loved riding around by himself, music up, just him and his thoughts. he glanced in the passenger seat where chaerim once sat.

he kind of missed her. he missed fighting with her. he missed finding her quite cute all the while telling her she's the ugliest person he's ever seen. he missed her company, that always kept him on his toes.

seonghwa shook his head, trying to change his train of thought. "idiot," he whispered to himself, "you can't think like that."

𖥻

the day of her first real practice back, chaerim felt extremely cheerful the entire day at school. she was feeling better than ever! nothing could get in her way! not even—

"park seonghwa. 3 o'clock."

chaerim turned her head to where gaeul said, and sure enough, the devil himself was heading right for their lunch table. his whole walk over, she eyed him down coldly.

he placed a blue gatorade on the table in front of her without saying anything.

"you've upgraded me from water bottles to gatorade? how sweet," her voice was dripping with distaste.

he answered, just as rudely, "you're welcome. and don't get any ideas"

as he walked off, chaerim angrily opened the bottle and drank it. gaeul and yeeun watched like curious cats.

"if i didn't know you two couldn't stand each other, i would've thought that was kinda cute..." yeeun peeped, hoping to not make chaerim more angry.

chaerim shook her head, "don't ever say seonghwa and cute in the same sentence again. it's gross."

"no, i agree. it was sort of cute!" gaeul added, "he was obviously thinking about you since he went and bought you a gatorade. please don't kill me!"

chaerim put down the now empty gatorade, wiping her upper lip with her sleeve, "it's just because he's the captain and he's obligated to think about me. nothing more."

"sure," yeeun poked her cheek, "nothing more."

𖥻

this whole conversation seemed to bother chaerim a lot throughout the day. so much so, that after practice that same day, she confronted seonghwa in the locker room.

"seonghwa," she called out like an angry parent.

he looked over his shoulder from his locker, and sighed. he turned around fully and leaned on the cold metal door like he was already out of patience, "yes, chaerim?"

she got closer to him, their chests close because she didn't want anyone else to hear this, "don't you dare go out of your way to get me stuff again! my friends said it was cute! what were you thinking?"

"i didn't get you anything?" he said with innocence in his voice.

"yes you did! the gatorade!"

"what gatorade?" he simply said, then turned back around, making chaerim step back.

she groaned, and she could tell he was lying to her face, "stop playing dumb. just don't do it anymore. it's embarrassing. people might think we like each other!"

"trust me. that's the last thing i'd ever want anyone to think. bye now," he shut his locker and waltzed off.

"same!" she yelled after him, "i hate you!"

seonghwa just held up a middle finger over his shoulder as he walked the other way. that idiot...