How to Say 사랑해 Out Loud

Chapter 10

It's a quiet day at school on Friday. (Forty-two days to go.)

I have a successful afternoon. We play a home game against Gwangju High, and we win. In my position as midfielder, I don't have a lot of opportunities to shine in terms of goals scored or blocked, but my performance is steady and powerful. I set Jiyoung up for most of her goals, at any rate.

The mood in the locker room is fun and silly as Jiyoung and Yoona goes around the room, dancing with the rest of us in fun dances and high-fiving. Sometimes, I'm as susceptible as everyone else, and the positive attention from Jiyoung feels like a gift.

My family isn't home - maybe Sangmoon has a check-up with one of his therapist - and I blast my music loud that I could hear when showering. I'm in and out in fifteen minutes, in a pretty darn good mood despite the week's chaotic beginning and excited for the night.

I head toward Dumping Dumpkins to meet Krystal and Sulli for a fried Dumpkins before the football games. By the time we arrive thirty-five minutes later, the sun had set and the air is crisp and chilled. Fallen leaves crunch beneath our feet and I'm glad I wore black knitted tights and long sleeved field hockey tee. We always wear them after a home win. We make our way to the far end of the home stands, our conversation attempts drowned out by the marching band, the announcements from the announcers' booth, and the cheers from the cheerleaders.

I spot Sehun's mom in the crowd, poms-poms in hand, her wheelchair positioned near the bottom of the bleachers. She sees me walk past and raises her hand to wave. I've only spoken with her a handful of times, but she swore she never forgets a fcae and she keeps those promises.

Our group isn't hard to spot, with its members wearing identical marcoon T-shirts. We have to sit as a team - Jiyoung's orders - but at least other friends aren't excluded, so we don't have to ditch Sulli, who would have hate that.

Jiyoung sits on a picnic blanket in the middle of the group, dressed in black leggings, marcoon Vans, and white headband.

I wonder how it's possible to look so casual and so perfect at the same time.

She turns toward us when we arrive. I notice Sehun's number painted on her right cheek and I sort of hoped it gets smudged sooner rather than later. "Hey, did you guys get the heads-up?" She wraps her arms around her knees to keep her warm. "Bonfire tonight at the Sacred farm?"

We nod in unison, because it would've been impossible to miss the invite spreading like fire itself throughout the hallways over the past few days.

"Are his parents away this weekend?" one of the other senior girls asks.

Jiyoung waves her hand carelessly. "No, but it doesn't matter. The fire pit is almost a mile away from the house. There are all those trees. It's not like anyone bothers us back there."

Beside her, Yoona smiles and lowers her voice. "Good. My brother picked us up a case when he was home last weekend."

Jiyoung pushes her ear warmers out of the way and actually plug her fingers into both ears. "La-la-la-la-la-la. I can't hear you," she says loudly. "No drinking during season! La-la-la-la-la-la . . ."

Yoona frowns. "But I have a bottle of Soju, too. Your favorite."

Jiyoung huffs and tries again. "No talking about drinking during season. No talking about drinking during season when we are on school grounds. Come on, how stupid are you? Coach is probably here."

Krystal fiddles with her ponytail before working up the courage to interupt. "Um . . . I picked up the stuff for s'mores, too, like we  talked about."

Jiyoung raises her hand to high-five her. "You're my girl then."

Krystal beams like she just she aced her CSAT or something.

Then the referee blows the whistle, a frantic jumble pours from the announcers' booth, and Jiyoung's eyes fly back toward the field. She jumped onto her feet, jumping up and down and cheering. "Yeah, Oh! That's you, superstar! Go, Sehun!"

As he runs toward the end zone to the the sideline, he removes his helmet, revealing traces of mud on his face. He doesn't turn his head toward the sound of her voice. It was decent attempt on his part, but he didn't get the first down so the ball is turned over. Sehun collapses onto the bench and drinks the water bottle, which he then spits angrily into the grass.

Jiyoung can't make him a superstar just by calling him one. To me, her enthusiasm is patronizing. And given her display, she's attracted more attention to herself than the person she claims to be celebrating anyway.

v(^_^)v . . . v(^_^)v

There are suddenly messages sending threats to update, please stop.

I've been feeling down at the moment, and the messages aren't helping.

That's it for today, next update is coming soon.