tiny mushrooms

badminton table for four.

[ FIVE. ]

i went to the playground today with my friends, minjung and hanyu, to play a round of badminton like we do every friday.

today was an intense game; minjung and i kept beating hanyu because there was two of us, and hanyu would always get mad because of imbalanced amount of members per team.

"you need someone to play on your team," minjung teased the taller boy who played by himself.

"you know who needs someone to play with?" he asked.

he turned his head to jisung park's direction, who was sitting on the benches and scrolling through his phone.

"yikes, you don't have to be mean to my friend like that!" i yelled playfully.

"that life-sized twig talks to you?" hanyu joked once more.

"yes, and at least he's not a fun-sized branch like you."

"are you guys arguing?" minjung watched silently as we both exchanged words.

"no, we're just joking," i smiled at her and turned my attention to both of them, "should i get him to play on hanyu's team?"

"he's gonna make me look like a carrot! have you seen how tall he is?" hanyu complained.

"his height is going to be a benefit to you," minjung laughed at the stubborn boy.

"touché," he gave in.

i quickly ran towards jisung and sat next to him.

"hey there!" i said with a cheerful voice.

"what's up?" jisung responded.

"why are you sitting in the park by yourself?"

"ah, my mom wanted me to go outside more," he sighed, "so she made me come to the park after school with my brother."

"and you're going to waste it by scrolling through your phone?"

"i have no one to spend the time with."

"then just ask someone to join their game."

"i used to do that but no one let me join."

"i'll offer," i smiled and held out my hand, "my friends and i are playing badminton right now, and one of us needs an extra team member."

"well, i'd love to play, then..."

we went over to the badminton table and i began talking.

"do you guys mind if jisung plays with you, hanyu?"

"look, as long i have someone to play with, it doesn't matter," he answered and looked at jisung, "are you good at it?"

"i guess," he rubbed his neck.

"well, you're tall, so i'm at an advantage—"

"—actually, i'll play with you, han," minjung interrupted.

she walked over to hanyu and said something with a low voice. all i could make of it was: lia...jisung...ship...

sigh.

but i wasn't complaining about the teams too much.