Rival vs. Romance

Frozen Burgers & Business Dates

The winter weather had become harsh over a short span of three days. Wind shook the brittle leaves off of the trees, and the once rare hail had become common in Daegu, pounding on windowpanes and windshields. Daegu had been turned into a white expanse of snow and ice. 

"Yo, Hoseok," I said into the phone, one especially cold weekend. "Wanna go get lunch?"

"I can't," He told me. "I'm-" He sneezed, extremely loudly. The sudden noise made me flinch, and I needed a second to recover before putting my ear next to the phone again. "-sick."

"Want me to bring something over for you?" I offered. Hoseok was about to say something, but then told me to hold on for a sec. When he turned back to his phone, he told me he had to go. With a short goodbye, the call got cut off.

With a sigh, I turned my screen off, too, stuck it in one of my coat pockets, threw the coat on, and headed out to go buy lunch, anyways. I ended up buying two burgers with some extra fries. I made sure to get some extra ketchup, and bought a bottle of Sprite, along with that. Quickly, I thanked the cashier, and headed back into my neighborhood via transit.

Stomping all the ice off my shoes, I walked onto the bus, full of freezing people in large coats and scarves. Immediately, I headed to the back, like I was taught to, back in elementary school. I managed to score a seat by the window, in an empty row. 

The ride back home was nothing, if not mundane. I'd drifted off just before I was supposed to get off, leaving me a little annoyed, because the loud announcement of my stop had startled me into waking up. Nevertheless, I got off the bus and walked the rest of the way to Hoseok's. 

I rapped my knuckles against the door frame, and waited a minute or two before the door opened, revealing a very tired-looking, pajama-clad Jiwoo at the door. She looked terrible. Not in a rude way, but strands of hair were falling out of her bun, not to mention the sheet mask on her face that made her look like a ghost.

"What?" She asked, the words muffled. She was trying not to move her lips in hopes of not shifting the mask off her face.

"Is Hoseok okay?" I asked. Jiwoo simply gave me a confused look, and waved me inside. 

"Wha-do you mean, is Hoseok-" She sneezed. "-okay? He's on a date."

He's on a date. I had to hold back a scoff. Of course he was. 

"Right," I said, pretending as if I'd forgotten. "Thanks, Jiwoo."

I had to stop myself from screaming as I left the Jung household. I didn't bother to put my hood up as I walked to nowhere in general. The food might as well have been frozen, as I walked aimlessly in the freezing cold weather. I didn't give a damn. Hoseok's food could go to hell, for all I cared.

Still, I couldn't bring myself to rip the plastic bag from my hands. 

It had been an half an hour or so of walking, and staring at my shoes. When I finally looked up, it was because my ears had caught the sound of whistles and the familiar bounce of a ball echoing faintly. The buzz of the score clock, the cheers of a crowd. Immediately, I turned towards the sound.

My eyes were met with a large building with glass doors, and above the entrance were the four letters in dark blue.

GRSS.

And for some reason, I walked inside.

I made sure to pull a mask over my face as I entered the gym. There was a high chance I could be spotted at GRSS, and that people would recognize me. I didn't want to mess with the odds that I could possibly get jumped, or something of the sort.