basketball ➸ lee eunsang

| 09 |

"should we make yiren the secretary of the student council?" the principal asked.

"we should." eunsang said.

"i agree." mingyu replied.

"i kind of disagree with you, because she's new and she doesn't really know the system of the school." jinah, the assistant secretary of the student council, said.

"true, but i think she has the potential to be one, considering that she's one of the top students of her previous school." the principal said.

"our principal is right." eunsang said. "but jinah's right, as well. maybe we could give her the chance, but if she doesn't fit the standards, maybe we could change it to sua or someone else."

"that's a good idea, eunsang." the principal said. "we should do what eunsang suggested. give yiren a try, but if it doesn't work out, then we'll change her position."

"all right." the rest of the student council said.

"well, that concludes our short meeting. yiren is our temporary secretary. you may now go home. i'll talk to yiren and the other students that applied for the position tomorrow. have a good afternoon." the principal said, dismissing the students.

the students bowed, bid farewell to one another and headed out the hall.

➸

"are you joining us, hae?" wonjin asked.

"no, sorry. after school practices for the competition are starting today." said haeyoung.

"well, text you later, i guess." wonjin said, dongpyo nodded in agreement.

haeyoung nodded before they waved at each other and the boys went home. practices were only going to last for one hour, so she was glad that she wasn't going to stay at school for long.

however, she wasn't glad that mingyu wasn't joining practices. he was a substitute player, and substitute players practiced by themselves. she was even less glad that she was going to see yiren and hangyul.

ever since the time when she overheard mingyu and eunsang talk about mingyu liking yiren, she didn't like yiren as much. yes, yiren was pretty, nice, talented, and smart, but there was just something about yiren that she didn't like. and no, it wasn't the fact that mingyu likes her.

for hangyul, on the other hand, he is just... a no for haeyoung.

the coach blew the whistle, snapping [i love chungha] her out of her thoughts. after a few moments, the practices started.

after an hour, the practice ended and they all went to the shower room to refresh themselves. after haeyoung was finished, she got out of the court.

"hey, haeyoung!" a voice said. she turned around and saw eunsang and mingyu. "did you come from practices?"

"yeah..." haeyoung said.

"oh, okay." mingyu said. "is yiren still there?"

"i think so." haeyoung replied, looking down. eunsang noticed the change in haeyoung's eyes and wanted to go to her.

"are you gonna wait for yiren?" eunsang asked.

"yeah. i'm gonna tell her about the student council thing." mingyu said.

"can i go home first, hyung? my mom's gonna get worried." eunsang said.

"yeah, go ahead." mingyu said. eunsang and mingyu waved at each other. eunsang looked at where haeyoung was, and she was gone. he looked around, and saw haeyoung going out the school. he ran to her, and tapped her shoulder.

"hi?" haeyoung said.

"c'mon, let's walk home together."

they walked home together with small talk every now and then. but out of the blue, eunsang asked a question that made haeyoung flustered.

"do you like mingyu hyung?" eunsang asked. haeyoung looked at him. "why do you say that?"

"because when mingyu said yiren's name your eyes suddenly changed from normal to jealous." he said.

it took a while for haeyoung to answer, but she answered anyway. "fine, yeah. i do like him." she said, sighing.

i knew it. eunsang said.

"for how long already?" he asked.

"about... two years." she said.

"for that long?" eunsang asked. "you shouldn't build up your feelings. it's unhealthy."

"why?"

"well, you shouldn't be afraid to tell your feelings to the person you love. it's not like they'll kill you once they don't like you back."

haeyoung nodded. "and don't be embarrassed for liking him as well. everyone has feelings, and nothing can stop your feelings."

haeyoung was somehow touched by eunsang's statement. "are you a therapist or something?" haeyoung asked, chuckling. eunsang chuckled, "many people say that to me."

"but in all seriousness, thank you." haeyoung said.

"no problem." eunsang said. however, eunsang wished someone could say the exact same words (that he said to haeyoung) back to him.

➸

haeyoung kicked off her shoes as she closed the door behind her. "welcome home, dear." her grandma said.

"thanks, grandma." she said. "anything interesting that happened today?" haeyoung asked.

"yeah, actually." her grandma said. she took out what looked like a thick book out the drawer beside her. "i found this in your mom's old closet in her room."

haeyoung was somehow nervous to open the book, fearing that she'd find something that would make her depressed again.

"is that a diary?" haeyoung asked.

"no, but it's a photo book. your mom loved collecting and taking photos, and i remember she left this here just a year after you're born."

haeyoung came closer. the book looked really old. "wow, the book looks really old. do you remember what year it's from?"

"well, the book is filled with pictures until the end. it must've been from 2003 and below."

haeyoung nodded, and opened the book. she saw pictures with messages written on the bottom, from when her mom was just a maiden.

her grandmother and her read and admired the pages carefully until the end. but as the end was coming, something shocked haeyoung.

"grandma?" she asked. "who's this boy?" she asked, pointing to the picture of a baby boy. her grandmother said nothing, and continued admiring the page.

she read the message below; i just had my first child, and he is a boy. he's gorgeous, and has a combination of me and his dad's features. i haven't thought of a name for him yet, but i feel like he's going to be a successful athlete like his dad one day.

"grandma..." she said. "i had a brother?"

➸