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.
She ran off the mats to take a sip of water and wipe her sweat. While running back, she took a quick glance at the clock to see that there were only 15 minutes left until the showcase would start. Jangmi's eyes then fell on the few people already entering the training area. She saw her brother and his friends—her friends— coming in and quickly looking for a spot in a safe distance from the mats. Jay was there as he sat beside Heeseung, Ni-ki, Jungwon; with Sunoo and Sunghoon on his other side. Jake felt guilty when he found out earlier that he was the only one not going, but she told him that it was okay.
"PARK JANGMI FIGHTING!" She heard her brother's voice boom. Jangmi chuckled at him and smiled widely before fixing her position to go into a basket toss.
"GO JANGMI!" Sunoo shouted as he watched his best friend in awe. He knew that she was good, but her performance was way beyond what he expected. Sunghoon, on the other hand, could not take his eyes off of the cheerleader for one second. He was fully invested in her routine that his mouth hung open the entire time; her confidence drawing him in.
That was until one of her stunts didn't go up successfully.
The older boy could see the slight fear in her eyes when her head almost hit the ground, and he felt his heart drop into his stomach. It didn't help that the sport has such a high risk for very life-threatening injuries.
As soon as he heard Jangmi's teammates cheer her on, he watched as her fear instantly turned back to the confidence she held earlier. And as if she had never fallen once, her stunts started going up successfully. Her eyes held such fire in them—and it was something he absolutely loved about her. No matter what happened, she was always determined to make it right and push for perfection.
When her minute-long routine ended, the boys were able to quickly spot the girl's coach walk towards her while shaking her head. Although it sounded incoherent to them, Sunghoon was able to assume the gist of what Jangmi and the her stunt group were told as it was something he would usually hear from his coach when he didn't do his best during his routine. He watched as the younger girl's face slightly turned into a frown as she sighed her eyes in frustration, making him feel bad.
"PARK JANGMI, FIGHTING!"
He shouted before the chorus of cheers followed his. It brought him back to his competition, the one where she watched him take first place. Because she was so supportive of him on that day, it was something Sunghoon wanted to give back—especially since she deserved it.
Everyone watched as the cheerleader did the stunt again; and this time, she was able to do it perfectly. He smiled so widely out of pride—and so did everyone else.
Jay looked at everyone's expressions and felt a little boastful. "Isn't my sister the best?" He nudged everyone to get their reactions. Ni-ki looked at the older boy and smiled so widely. "Yes, hyung! Noona is very cool!" He said so excitedly, and everyone agreed with him.
Since Sunoo was right beside Sunghoon, he spotted his expression clearly, which made him raise an eyebrow. It wasn't much of a best friend or brotherly look because it looked more like how Heeseung would look at Jangmi—a romantic gleam in his eyes. It made him wonder if his best friend knew that her crush looked at her like that.
Besides Sunoo, someone else was starting to wonder the same thing.
When Heeseung turned to see Jay's proud expression, he glanced behind the boy quickly to see Sunghoon's expression. He had the same realization as Sunoo, except his emotions bordered on confusion and jealousy. But, of course, he was not going to mention it since he didn't want to ruin Jangmi's day.
But, he did think it was a good idea to bring the small bouquet of flowers that was currently being hidden behind his back. He felt like it would help him tip the odds towards his favor better—and slightly away from Sunghoon.
"Hello, everyone! Welcome to Bigtide Cheerleading's showcase! First and foremost, we would like to thank you all for taking time out of your day to support these cheerleaders..." The program started and the boys were very excited. Besides the videos they have watched through Jay, they've never seen her cheer live. Even her own brother has not seen her cheer in a very long time since they grew up separately.
Jangmi, on the other hand, could feel the nervousness start to build in the pit of her stomach. It was normal to be nervous before a routine—but she has never been this nervous. She took a sip of water and fixed her bow before walking back to Aera, who stood right outside of the blue mats.
"I'm nervous," she told her in a soft voice. The other girl grabbed Jangmi's shoulders and shook her. "Don't be! You've done this so many times already, there's no point in being nervous!" She told her enthusiastically.
When she heard Aera's pep talk, Jangmi felt herself snap out of her nervousness. She felt a fire run through her veins once again as she was now more determined to start and finish the routine flawlessly.
Once the team ran onto the mat and set their positions as their name was being called, she looked at her friends and brother and smiled. Seeing them there became her motivation to do better; to do it for the people who have supported her.
"Do it for them," she told herself before she heard the music start.
To say that Sunghoon and everyone else was stunned would be an understatement. He watched Jangmi from the start of the routine and his gaze on her never faltered. He was amazed by what the young girl was doing—and he couldn't help but feel very proud of her.
And maybe a little more in love with her too?
---
After the younger girl had performed both her routines, Jay, Jungwon, Ni-ki, Sunoo, Heeseung, and Sunghoon were excited to see Jangmi and tell them how proud they were. Of course, her brother was the proudest. No one could beat how proud and excited he was for his younger sister.
The six boys waited outside the training area, where all the guests stayed while the team was receiving their last reminders from the coaches. Jay glanced at the small bouquet in Heeseung's hand and started feeling disappointed in the older boy.
"If you confess today, just know that—"
"I'm not going to confess to her, don't worry," Heeseung replied nonchalantly. "I'm not going to confess until you give me the go signal," he added. Jay only let out a sigh of relief as his response.
When the flood of cheerleaders started heading out the training area, the boys kept their eyes peeled for the younger Park sibling. Sunghoon was the first one to spot her as she bid goodbye to her friend ("Is that the Aera girl she always talks about?" he asked himself and decided to assume it was.) as the other left with who seemed to be her parents.
The closer Jangmi got to them, the more breathless Sunghoon found himself becoming. She looked beautiful in such a confident state: hair tied back with her bow that matched her uniform while the thick black jacket she wore held her team name. He didn't find her sexy due to the amount of skin showing, he just found her beautiful that he was entranced once again. He felt his heart pounding with every step she took but was able to snap himself out of it before anyone noticed.
When she saw them all, she ran towards her brother first and hugged him tightly. Jay returned the hug, kissing the top of her head. "I'm so proud of you," he whispered in her ear repeatedly.
"Thank you, oppa!"
After a few seconds, the siblings have removed themselves from each other's embrace. Sunoo was the next one to move closer to her as he held her shoulders quite roughly. "You're so good, Jangmi! I cheered for you the whole time! I even said, "that's my best friend" but I wasn't sure if you heard me," he rambled so passionately, making her chuckle. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly.
"Thank you for supporting me, Sunoo!"
"I'm happy to!"
From behind her, both the youngest boys had decided to sneak on each side of her and hug her tightly. "Our noona is the best!" Ni-ki said happily while Jungwon just nodded in agreement. She smiled at them while patting their heads softly. "Thank you, boys. You're so sweet."
"Jangmi?" Sunghoon's voice called out to her. The younger boys on both her sides let go of her as she walked towards him nervously. She almost forgot about her inviting her crush because she was so focused on the showcase. On impulse, she hugged him—just like how he did in his past competition. She was sure she wasn't copying his actions that night, she just felt the need to hug the older boy.
Sunghoon was taken aback by how sudden the hug was; but still, he was happy with it. One of his hands settled on her upper back while the other one brushed through her hair. "I'm so proud of, Jangmi," he whispered in her ear. This made the girl's cheeks go red instantly. "Thank you, oppa. Thank you also for coming," she replied a few seconds after she tried to calm herself down.
"Anything for you," he told her, letting go off her in fear that she would start to feel his racing heart. Jangmi stepped back from him and felt Heeseung's hand on her wrist as he tried to turn her around to face him.
When she turned around, the older boy brought up a small bouquet of flowers in her line of vision. She covered her mouth in surprise. "It's not even a competition, oppa!" She told him, still in shock with the gift. Heeseung maintained eye contact with her.
"I know. I just..." his voice became smaller for a little bit, like he became shy all of a sudden. Luckily, this went unnoticed by the girl. "...wanted to give this to you as a congratulations," he scratched the back of his neck as he gave the flowers to her. Jangmi took it from him and smiled.
"Thank you!" She smiled brightly, making his heartbeat quicken.
Sunoo, who saw the whole situation unfold with the rest of them, was able to catch Sunghoon's smile turn into a frown. He approached him slowly out of concern. "Hyung, are you okay?" He asked in a hushed manner. The older boy snapped out of whatever he was thinking as he heard the younger boy's voice.
"Yeah, why?"
The younger boy shrugged his shoulders. "You just look a little jealous of Heeseung hyung. That's all," he told him mischievously, well aware that he might have struck a nerve.
Sunghoon watched Heeseung and Jangmi share a few moments together right in front of him and couldn't help but feel something heavy stirring in his chest. He felt the need to separate them and tell the older boy to back away from her. It was a new feeling that he couldn't understand—something he didn't know how to handle.
The only thing he knew though was how much he disliked seeing the both of them together.
Hello! The twentieth chapter's up!
I'M BACK EVERYONE! HELLO! I'd like to think I passed my exams HAHAHA but university is hard so... we'll see... 😅
BESIDES THAT, HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN THE COMEBACK MATERIAL??? ISTG THEY DON'T LOOK LIKE A ROOKIE GROUP, THEY LOOK MORE LIKE THEY'VE BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY FOR 2-3 YEARS!! ugh they look so good-- and their albums look sooooooooooooo good as well. I want all three tbvh, but do I have the money? NOPE! We'll have to settle with Spotify then 😭
If you're from the Philippines, you might recognize the who are in the gifs that I used 😅 as much as I tried to find videos of Korean cheerleaders, they weren't doing the stunts I liked ngek HAHAHA so I had to settle with the Filipino cheerleaders WHO ARE SO GOOD BTW LIKE WORLDCLASS (not at me still promoting cheer even when I'm no longer a cheerleader) 😁
ALSO THANK YOU FOR THE 8.35K READS AND 561 VOTES!! you guys are insane that I wanna cry 😭 I kept seeing the comments from last week and it really pushed me to finish exam's week well so I could write again for you. So, again, thank you so much for the love and support 😘 I wish you guys all the best today (or tonight, whenever you read this hehe) ❤️
Hope you guys like the chapter! Don't forget to vote and comment if you're enjoying so far! 💛
See you in the next chapter!
- Lia