AND THE MOST anticipated day of the year was back again, well maybe after halloween and prom or winter formal. the hallway filled with freshmen students and sophomores running, the huge 'go lions!' banners replacing the news boards on the wall. the school hallway is different compared to any other boring day. the walls are balloons pinned on with cheap tacks, many of them already withering. their colours are garish in the bold strip lights and from some dangle curled ribbons. it looks like a toddler's birthday more than a volleyball match.
seolmin sees hana and heejin wearing their cheer uniform and walking towards the ground. all bright and pom-poms, right? fluff and pretty outfits? its literally gymnastics without the safety precautions. no mats, no nets, no room for error. toppling from the pyramid of girls and smashing her face was seolmin's biggest fear. does seolmin want to cheerlead again? yes! but does she want to face the way it is? seolmin would rather sit on the bleachers with her cheering kits and hotdogs chitchatting about the scores.
"aren't you going to see the match?" chenle, a junior, and also the school's official event photographer walks beside seolmin.
"oh hi chenle and yeah i'm actually going to the bleachers right now.." seolmin chuckles.
"is that a cheer kit?" chenle points at the huge chart in her hand. "oh this? yeah the art club spent hours making it." she remarks. "wait! stand next to the banner. it's either for yearbook or school magazine, depends on my mood." chenle laughs and points at the wall with colourful banners.
seolmin happily shows the cheer kit, making sure it's the main attraction and throws a peace sign posing for chenle's enormous professional camera. "looks good, i'll post all the pictures within next week, you're gonna be tagged don't worry." he giggles and struts to the field.
although seolmin arrived quite late, she managed to get a seat during the first set. she found jaemin watching the match intensely in the front row. busan international was dressed in blue shirts whereas jeju's players were wearing black. "hey i'm sitting here." seolmin says and quickly takes the seat beside jaemin. "you're late, i came around 5pm today. that kid" jaemin points at chenle sitting on the ground, cheering like a baby, the camera around his neck, "he took like five hundred pictures of everyone."
"i hate the match is outdoor this time. wasn't it indoor last time?" seolmin asks and looks up at jaemin. "oh that! they're renovating the bleachers in there, i thought you knew?"
the atmosphere was very lively. between sets, there were special performances by the cheer team, loud music blasting through the entire field. seolmin noticed how jaemin dances in his seat when an exo song comes up. she finds it adorable.
during the match, the crowd cheered and clapped. there was a group of the band team that were playing drums and singing songs to support the team. the final set was especially close but in the end, busan international won the match with three sets against zero. seolmin enjoyed the match even though she didn't quite understand how volleyball works.
"we won! woo!" jaemin stands up and starts waving at renjun and jeno on the field. "you're taking us to that ramen place!" donghyuck screams from the field, his skin glistening due to sweat.
"can you guys stand still? i'm trying to take a picture?" chenle stands infront of jaemin and seolmin. "aren't you tired of taking these?" jaemin asks and laughs. "no" chenle winks.
"i'm actually gonna go to hana and heejin, see you at the ramen place i guess." seolmin walks away leaving jaemin behind in the chaotic bleachers with an excited kid chenle.
hana quickly notices seolmin jogging towards them. she quickly keeps her pom-poms on the table and goes on for a long hug. "bitch, you're sweaty." seolmin laughs. "shut up, i'm not sweaty we just took a shower."
"so how was the performance? i choreographed the dance by the way. may or may not have stolen few steps from twice and red velvet." heejin closes the locker and chuckles. "the dance looked so familiar, i knew it!" seolmin stood near the doorway when she notices jaemin standing outside looking like a lost puppy.
"yah na jaemin, it's the female lockers here. you're not allowed here what the fuck." hyejoo snaps at him. "well damn, the boys locker is right beside yours and they locked the damn door to get changed i wasn't even seeing anything inside. stop being stingy." jaemin laughs followed by hyejoo's contagious laugh.
the sound of the door clicking open echoes through the entire hall and reveals and dumbfounded renjun, donghyuck and few other team players. "what's all this screaming and yelling about?" renjun curiously asks. "well this air head right here was peeking into our room." hyejoo points at jaemin. "the fuck? no! i was waiting for you guys.."
"enough! i'm hungry we're going to have ramen to celebrate. and you both, stop screaming. i already got hit in the head once."
jeno screams grabbing his gym bag and everyone follows the boy outside leaving seolmin alone with jaemin.
"do you know i hate your friend? she gets on my fucking nerves sometimes." jaemin clenches his fists and slams them against the locker.
"oh damn you're mad mad." seolmin giggles and looks at the boy for an answer.
"your friend called me a pervert indirectly. what am i supposed to do? do a dance break?" jaemin runs his hands through his hair.
seolmin stands up from the bench and drags herself near the lockers and jaemin. "don't be mad, let's go to that ramen place. have a good tofu ramen and some mint lemonade. you're gonna be fine."
before seolmin could reach the door out of the locker room and into the hallway, jaemin took her arm in his hand and spun her around. his face was inches away from hers, and seolmin backed up, only to hit her back against the locker.
"do you believe your friend?" jaemin asks. seolmin could feel his breath on her lips. she shook her head, indicating a no, not saying anything until you saw the smirk that played on jaemin's face.
"lets go..i'm hungry." seolmin stutters and jaemin raises his eyebrow. "well, we are alone..." he said sarcastically. "yeah, and?" she asks. "well...since it'll be just you and me here. maybe we could-" he spoke but she interrupts him.
"why do you have such a dirty mind?" seolmin asks him, already knowing what he was going to suggest "the fuck? i was just going to say that maybe, i don't know...we coul- he gets interrupted by seolmin's sigh,"you're nasty."
"everyone's waiting for us. i don't wanna have cold ramen, airhead." she gives a reason. "seol, i'm kiss deprived." jaemin pouts.
"what the fuck is kiss deprivation now?"
"please. just one."
jaemin is really good at persuading people. his puppy eyes and pout somehow always does the magic. and here they were, jaemin pressed her up against a row of lockers while his tongue was exploring her mouth. seolmin's one hand on the back of his head, and the other one wrapped around him, one of his hands on her waist while the other one rested on her neck.
jaemin suddenly pulls away, his lips swollen and seolmin whines at the loss of contact with his lips. "i'm extremely sorry about...that." jaemin's long fingers point at the red blossoms on seolmin's neck. "you're gonna make me wear a huge jacket inside a restaurant now?" seolmin chuckles while fixing her hair. "yeah..it looks cool." jaemin presses a kiss on her forehead and trails down to her lips, "wait, the coaches are gonna be here soon..let's just leave."
"fine!" jaemin nods and fixes his messy hair infront of the dirty mirror. he looks behind and seolmin had already left. he walks out and quickly jogs to match her fast pace. "let's continue in car after ramen." jaemin winks. "disgusting.." seolmin giggles and playfully smacks jaemin's leather jacket covered arms.
