Love, Betray & Crash (Jeonghan)

𝔸𝕔𝕥 𝕆𝕟𝕖 : 𝕊𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕖 𝟙𝟘

"Won't you introduce me to your friends?"

And that is how ten minutes later Emily finds herself tightly wedged between Joo-hyuk and Naeun, shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow, and now ten people are seated on a table for six. After spending two years here, Emily has finally realized that the cafeteria tables are really not durable and as a member of the student committee, she should probably bring it up in one of their meetings. 

Another thing Emily has realized, is that she seriously underestimated Joo-Hyuck's popularity.

And it wasn't because of how very obviously people were recording their table or coming up to ask for autographs or pictures, but because of how freaked out Jun looks while trying not to stare at the swimmer sitting across from him. You know it is serious if Jun is freaking out because that man never bats an eyelash to anything. Even when Soyeon once had a pregnancy scare, Jun had managed to successfully maintain his monotonous face while Emily thought she was going to faint from the stress of Soyeon possibly being pregnant.

Now, Emily is aware that in person Nam Joo-hyuck does look too good to be true. From his perfectly parted hair to his beautiful eyes to his broad shoulders to his strong and sturdy legs, well, men really just aren't build like this anymore. His towering height also adds to his frame but then he just has the most bubbly and cheerful smile that how can one just not fall in love with him?

Of course Emily understands the hype around him but this is also the same man she has seen wolf down four large buckets of fried chicken in one sitting before letting out the longest and the nastiest burp she has ever heard or witness, followed by a deadly release of methane gas. So really, in Emily's case, developing a crush was out of the window before it could even reach the table.

Emily clears her throat loudly, grabbing the attention of several people on the table. They all have been sitting like this for the past ten minutes and barely anyone has spoken a word. Even Soyeon is being unusually quiet and Emily knows her friends are just far too starstruck to even try to make a conversation. If anyone is going to break this painful silence, it has to be her. 

"Where's Yejune?" She asks, aimlessly stabbing at the lone carrot on her plate.

"I don't know. Somewhere around," Joo-hyuck answered, "You're going to be with her in a lot of matches. Aren't you?"

Emily nods her head. "All of them, actually," Emily corrects him.

Joo-hyuck smiles and says, "That's going to be fun to watch. You vs Yejune."

"You do know that the Japanese will also be there, right. They are the harder ones to beat," Emily said, "Also should you really be eating this much? Don't you have practice right after?"

Joo-hyuck throws her a surprised look and asks, "How do you know?"

"I saw the schedule earlier," Emily said, "I have access to all the time schedules for all of the practice sessions and competition."

"Right. I forgot you go here," Joo-hyuck mumbled. 

Jia clears her throat loudly, grabbing their attention and says, "I just want to say, I'm a really huge fan of yours." 

Nam Joo-hyuck smiles brightly, one that Emily recognizes to be genuine, and says, "Thank you."

"I'm Song Jia by the way," Jia introduces herself. 

"Nam Joo-hyuck," He replies back although he probably does not need to, "Are you also studying Marine Biology like Emily?" 

"Oh, no," Jia shook her head, "I'm majoring in journalism. I'm actually interested in sports journalism."