Diaries of a Distance

Chapter 26

Tuesday, 20th September...

[Jae Wook's POV]

She called me this morning and told me to meet her at the basketball courts after school. It's surprising she wasn't still angry after yesterday... but I don't want to go. The only reason I agreed is because I think- I miss her.

I came in the hall and saw her seated on the bench, her face cupped in her hands.

She noticed my entrance and stood up with a bright smile. I thought this only happened to girls... so why is my heart beating so fast? I strided over to her and opened my mouth. I wanted to apologise, but she stopped me by moving her finger to her lips.

"I don't want to hear it. Just answer this, are you over your sorrows?"

"What?"

"Are you done grieving? Ready to train?"

I laughed. "Yura, you're not saying you're gonna train me are you?"

Her eyes showed bitterness and I could see she was grinding her jaw. "What? Can't I?"

"Yura, get real. How'm I gonna train with this hand?"

At this her lips shaped into a smile and she pulled me over to the bench, making me sit.

"Close your eyes, Jae Wook."

I enjoyed her mysterious expression and complied.

"Open", she said a moment later.

On the basketball she was holding was... Jae Joong's enlarged face. She had printed it out and stuck it on.

I muffled my laughter but it didn't last long. "PWHA HAHAHAHAHAHA! You gotta be kidding me!"

Yura stepped backwards, bent forward and started dribbling the ball, alternating between two hands. Jae Joong's smiling face kept hitting the ground. BOING BOING BOING. "Come on Park Jae Wook. Play with me."

I smirked and stood up, walking over to her. She looked at me in a confused way as I reached towards her ponytail and tucked it behind her shoulder. "How did you come up with the idea?"

She simply smiled a 'secret'.

"I got the whole set", she said and ran over to the bench.

She came back with four other balls. On each of these balls was an enlarged face of each of the members from the Daegu team.

"These are your opponents. Now look at them. You can't let them win, they'll mock you for the rest of your life! You have to thrash them! You gotta win this one!" She said motivatingly.

"The Seoul Stars will win", I said.

"Not without you, you loser."

"What?"

"Imagine Jae Joong: I thought it was only your balls that you couldn't control."

A hot feeling surged through me.

"What about that Yoo Chun? Wooksie did a whoopsie! And Jun Su? Park your ass in another sport."

She had almost reached the limit. "Yah. Kwon Yura", I warned.

"I'd like to see Yoon Ho. Park Jae Wook? More like Bark Jae Woof."

"YAH!" I took a defiant step forward.

"And Changmin? I knew you weren't up to scratch. You lost, Park Jae Wook... and I won."

She had me. The thought of Changmin winning... it wouldn't happen. I wouldn't let it happen.

"He won't win", I announced, "Not while I'm here."

Yura grinned and threw the ball down. "Do what you want- and can", she said. She slid past me and was gone.

[Yura's POV]

I quickly hid behind the audience stands and watched as Park Jae Wook stood there. He bent down and scooped up the ball with Changmin's face on it- with his injured right hand. His face became determined and the ball started dribbling in his right hand. With straining effort he pushed the ball up and down up and down, smashing Changmin's face. Then he did the same with all the other balls and soon the paper on the balls started ripping and the Daegu team member's face started looking sore. He grabbed Changmin's face and with a constrainted sound, hurled it at the hoop. It slightly missed, but he continued to try with his right hand.

By the end, at 5pm, Park Jae Wook had miraculously nailed it.

---

They set their mind on it. Some are small miracles, others are provoked...

All thanks to the doctor. And Mi Mi. I got inspiration from her using the doll as Seri. So why not use a basketball as the Daegu team? And also... Chae Rin. I only stole one group photo from her place. Oh, right!

I pulled out the other thing I had stolen, well, borrowed, purely for myself.

I poked holes over Chae Rin's face and added an eye patch. It's not nice to be doing this... but she did cause this to happen to Jae Wook... die Chae Rin, die!