basketball ➸ lee eunsang

| 16 |

they won. again. haeyoung was ecstatic. the whole team was filled with excitement. haeyoung was not excited about one thing, though; the after party at hangyul's house.

after they showered and all the audience went home, the team rode a bus that coach lee rented going to hangyul's house.

after a few minutes, the team arrived at hangyul's surprisingly large house. they went in, and was immediately greeted by hangyul's family, including yohan.

hangyul's family prepared meals for the whole team. while everyone was enjoying the party, haeyoung was just blankly staring at yohan thinking, what if he's actually my brother?

yohan probably thinks i'm attracted to him. haeyoung thought. she's been staring at yohan since they got there, and would look away whenever yohan looks at her direction— typical scenarios when a person likes another. however, haeyoung was staring at him for a different reason; yohan reminded her of her mother.

haeyoung shook her head, she was getting the feels again. she already didn't want to be in this party in the first place. while she was staring at yohan, she was also thinking of a plan to get out of the house.

she pretended she had a phone call from her grandmother. "coach? may i go home? grandma's waiting for me. she needs help cleaning the house." she said, lying.

"aw, that's a bummer. well, if you really have to..."

"i really have to. the house hasn't been cleaned for months... she's been waiting for me since the game ended." haeyoung said.

"well... fine. you can go. bid farewell to everyone first, though." coach said.

she said her goodbyes to everyone and glared at yohan one more time before getting the heck out of that place. once she stepped outside, she took a deep breath. finally, she could breathe without being uncomfortable.

one thing she hated was when everyone around her was having fun, while she was just awkward and quiet. she used to be the life of the party, but guess what? life changes.

she took the bus back home and headed straight to her room after greeting her grandmother. she immediately called dongpyo to rant about the things that happened and her opinions about yohan. it's a great feeling having someone to rant to. she thought.

after she was finished talking to dongpyo, she noticed that she got loads of missed calls from an unknown number. she just sighed and put her phone down, closing her eyes to relax. the sun shone through her window, telling her that the sun was setting.

every day, from her bedroom window, she had an amazing view of the orange sunset. it reminded her of that time when she hung out with eunsang after school.

speaking of eunsang, she was unexpectedly moving on from mingyu, but still had that feeling of jealousy when she saw mingyu and yiren together. oh well, there are better people out there.

her thoughts were interrupted when her phone rang, again. she sighed in frustration and picked it up, hearing a familiar voice from the other line.

"hello?"

"kwon haeyoung? is this you?" the owner of the voice asked.

"depends. who is this?" haeyoung asked.

"kim yohan, hangyul's cousin."

"yes, this is haeyoung. what do you want from me and how did you get my number?"

"well, you seemed pretty interesting a while ago. i watched you play basketball, it looked like you were better than hangyul. i wanted to know you more."

"how did you get my number?"

"i asked hangyul."

"what the- how the fuck did he get my number? is he a stalker?" haeyoung asked.

"why do you sound like you hate him?" yohan asked.

"eh, so-so." haeyoung said. "anyway, what else do you want from me? don't beat around the bush, please."

"i don't know, actually. i just had an urge to call you. how about you? don't you want to ask questions about me?"

this is the perfect oppurtunity for haeyoung to know her (potential) brother. "uhm, are you and hangyul cousin's on the mom's side or dad's side? i'm sorry, that's the only question i could think of."

"actually, it's pretty complicated. let's just say... i'm on the dad's side." yohan said.

"oh, one more thing. uh, i don't know if i should be asking this because it may sound personal, but were you ado-"

"yohan! help me clean the dishes!" a voice shouted from the other line. "yeah, yeah, hangyul. i'm talking to someone!"

"c'mon, hurry! my mom is gonna kill me!" hangyul said. haeyoung heard yohan sigh.

"i'm sorry, haeyoung, but hold that question. let's talk again later."

"all right, bye."

"bye."

they hung up and haeyoung looked at the view out the window, formerly the sun setting but now turned into the stars appearing. she sighed, that may be perhaps the only oppurtunity i will ever have in my life to ask if yohan is really my brother. she thought. good job, hangyul. you just ruined it for me.

➸