It All Started With A Kick✔️ | Kim Sunwoo

06

| eric & minju to the rescue |

another week of sunwoo and hayoon being awkward with one another. another week of eric and minju sighing heavily as they thought of plans to help their friends. hayoon dipped her head as her eyes trailed over the words on the new fiction book she had bought. sunwoo rested his chin on his palm as he gazed at the girl in front of him. she read the book without any care of her surroundings. eric and minju leaned on the cabinet at the back of classroom, observing the two. minju facepalmed at the scene and eric was freaking out.

"minju! oh my gosh, are they broken?" eric covered his face, not being able to stand the sight of his friends being distant once again.

"sunwoo!" the high-pitched voice called. yeji strolled into class, passing by eric and minju who was judging her really badly. "we're hanging out today, right? i'll meet you at the front gate later!" yeji placed a strawberry milk onto his desk before she strolled out of the classroom.

"how is she so courageous to step inside a senior's classroom?" eric frowned before going back to freaking out. "wait! eric!" minju shook his shoulders violently. "hayoon said she would meet changmin at the front gate later. are you thinking what i'm thinking?" eric narrowed his gaze, trying to process minju's words. after a bit, he finally understood and eric gaped at minju, "girl, you're a genius!" they both high-fived one another before returning back to their seats next to their friends.

-

seo yeji ended classes slightly early and she was now all giggly as she waited for sunwoo at the front gate. a harsh grip on her arm made her hiss as she spun around in panic. "you're yeji, right?" minju asked, seemingly in a hurry. "sunwoo's hurt! hurry!" minju began dragging yeji who had looked worried, to the taxi stand. "sir, to the nearest hospital, please!" minju told the taxi driver before she slammed the door shut on yeji. one down. minju smirked as she dusted off her hands.

changmin had just arrived. for some reason, his heart could not stop feeling all warm and happy. he waited by the school gate as he looked for the petite girl among the students leaving the school. "hey man! it's eric! do you remember me?" a hand had slung itself over changmin's shoulder, catching him off-guard. changmin recognized eric as one of hayoon's friend he had met at the match . "yea but i'm waiting for-" changmin was cut off by eric himself. "no, bro you have to help me with my soccer skills. come on! i have to beat sunwoo," eric rambled on as he continued to drag changmin away from the school gate. another one down. eric thought.

meanwhile, sunwoo and hayoon were walking to the school gate. they walked at a distance away in hopes that they would not have to encounter one another unintentionally. when both of them halted at the front gate, both of them turned to one another in shock. "are you following me?" hayoon asked, an eyebrow was cocked up. "no! i'm waiting for someone," sunwoo frowned at her. the two stood outside the school gates, arms crossed as they avoided each other's gaze. almost 30 minutes had passed, both sunwoo and hayoon sat on the curb of the street as they gazed into nothing.

"hayoon," sunwoo called out to the girl sitting five feet away from him. hayoon hummed loud enough for him to hear, but her eyes remained onto the empty grey street. it took him all the courage in him to utter the two words. "i'm sorry," he choked out the words which turned into whispers. though it was quiet, hayoon heard it making her smile slightly. "it seems like we got stood up. let's go home!" hayoon stood up, dusting off her skirt before she stretched out her left hand towards sunwoo. sunwoo looked up at her. the sun shone brightly behind her as the wind softly blew her hair out of her face - she almost looked angelic to him. taking her hand into his, sunwoo pulled himself up, brushing off dirt on his pants as well.

-

when they had returned to school the following day, sunwoo and hayoon walked into class together. their smiles on their faces had returned and the tension between them had disappeared. eric and minju heaved a sigh of relief at the scene as they discreetly high-fived below their tables. the happiness lasted only for a bit until a loud girl came storming inside their class.

"you! you lied that sunwoo was injured!" seo yeji had entered their classroom, aiming straight towards minju who sat next to hayoon. the rest of the class watched in shock as the junior threw herself onto minju, hoping to harm her. hayoon ripped yeji's hands away from minju while sunwoo dragged yeji apart from his cousin. meanwhile, eric had already embraced minju, looking around for any injuries.

"seo yeji!" sunwoo's loud voice shook the entire class. "you're hurting my cousin! i don't ever want to see you again," he glared down at her. yeji stared back up at him, her eyes were filled up with tears that were threatening to fall. "fine," yeji huffed out and stormed her way out of the room. "are you okay, minju?" sunwoo managed to ask even though he was fuming with anger. hayoon was still star-struck by sunwoo lashing out at the poor junior - she had never ever heard sunwoo raise his voice to anyone before. he must have had enough of the girl to go off at her like that. their teacher entered class shortly after the commotion had ceased. hayoon's phone vibrated.

changmin
hey hayoon. i'm sorry i couldn't make it yesterday.
your friend, eric, said he needed help with something and
that he already told you beforehand.
let's meet up sometime this week :)

hayoon gaped at the text she received from changmin. earlier, yeji had lashed out at minju for lying and then changmin had texted her about eric. putting two and two together, hayoon glanced back at eric and minju, glaring for a bit.

-

at the rooftop, minju and eric sat side by side on the hard floor as hayoon and sunwoo loomed over them with arms crossed. the two friends seemed intimidated for a little.

"so you two made up a plan to get us both together?" hayoon questioned, frowning at them.

"yes, it was a harmless plan!" minju pleaded, nudging eric to support her.

"plus it did work out for both of yall!" eric grinned, almost on the verge of crying.

it was silent for a bit among the four as sunwoo and hayoon thought of the plan their friends made. "that's a genius plan! yeji was nothing but annoying everyday!" sunwoo whined then he fistbumped eric who had started feeling better. all three looked up towards hayoon, waiting for her response. "well, it's not so bad," hayoon shrugged, joining her friends as they all laughed the incident away.

even more than anything, all four of them were glad that they were back with one another.