Gold | Park Sunghoon

20

Showcase

"So, when am I meeting your boyfriend?"

Jangmi eyes widened at how Aera had said it so nonchalantly. She hit her close friend and rolled her eyes. "He's not my boyfriend," she grumbled. The other girl shot her a mischievous look. "He's not your boyfriend yet," she replied in a singsong, obviously teasing tone.

She could feel her cheeks go warm at her friend's statement. Jangmi always heard that having a crush would mean daydreaming about being with them all the time. At first, she found it weird to daydream about just the possibility; but now, she couldn't even stop doing it. Every free time she had was spent thinking about how her life would be like if her and Sunghoon were together.

But now, it was not a good time to do so.

It was an hour before her cheerleading showcase, and the girl couldn't be anything less than alert. Although the entire team was complete and ready to train and warmup before the event, they still hadn't started. Both girls sat on the edge of the blue mats as they fixed their hair into a slick ponytail and secured their bow in place.

"I'm so excited to meet him!" Aera nudged her with a smile on her face. Jangmi just chuckled in disbelief at her friend. "Why though?" The other cheerleader shrugged her shoulders. 

"Because you said that you've never been this whipped! This guy must be very special to you," she patted her head.

The both of them stood up from where they sat and straightened their two-piece, predominantly white with designs of blue and red to represent their flag, cheerleading uniform. The two girls walked to the center of the mats and sat down again.

After a comfortable silence, Aera spoke up again. "Why do you like him again?" Jangmi sighed dreamily at her question as a pout formed on her face. "He's very kind and sweet. He's a good listener also, he's very supportive no matter what. He makes me feel safe and he takes care of me and—"

"Okay, you really are whipped for him."

Aera laughed as she hit her playfully. Jangmi could feel her cheeks turn red again as she tried to cover her face in embarrassment. "No! Don't cover your face! It's so cute to see this side of you!" Jangmi scooted closer to Aera and clung to her as she saw more people coming closer to them to huddle at the feet of the captain. 

"I can't believe you and that ice-skater boy of yours are really going to get together," she said excitedly while in a hushed manner. Jangmi, who was still a little shy at the idea, nodded. Her lips formed into a small smile before the captain called everyone's attention, making her snap back into focus. 

---

"Jangmi's group stunts! Let's go!" Her coach called from the front of the mats. They had just finished running through the entire routine, and now it was time to focus on the other divisions: partner stunts and groups stunts, to which Jangmi was part of the latter.