nostalgia, twenty-seven.
❛ but he didn't see her ❜
"Are you sure I'm allowed to be here?" Han Yebin whispered to Tan Xiaohui, who was currently guiding her through the Sanheoli High School corridors.
Yebin started to regret agreeing to her friend's plan, which was to watch the Taekwondo tournament Jungwon was competing in. Xiaohui insisted he'd be more than happy to see her there, and so Yebin took the bus from Haean to Sanheoli for the first time in her life.
But she was starting to feel uneasy at the stares the other students gave her. At first she thought it was her Haean uniform, but it seemed deeper than that.
"Yebin, it's an open tournament. Anyone can watch," Xiaohui said, slinging an arm around the girl. "Besides, don't you want to see the look on Jungwon's face when you surprise him?"
Yebin shrugged. "I don't know, won't it be awkward after last night?"
Xiaohui shook her head. "He made an effort to watch your soccer game. Think of it as returning the favor."
She has a point, Yebin thought. She cleared her throat and looked down awkwardly as they passed by a group of girls who gave her a side-eye.
"Is there something wrong with how I look today?" Yebin asked.
Xiaohui put her hands on her friend's shoulders turning them to get a good look at her. She adjusted Yebin's glasses, but hummed in surprise when she eyed the girl. "Baby, you're glowing! Did your sister do your hair?"
Yebin smiled sheepishly, touching the space buns on her head. "She did everything."
"You look great. That's probably why they're staring." Xiaohui pulled Yebin along to continue walking, before tilting her head in realization. "Or maybe they recognize you from that SNS post."
"What?"
Xiaohui pulled her phone out, showing her a picture that Sunoo posted. It was the eight of them from the dinner last night, with Yebin holding up a rock-on sign, her eyes closed. Jungwon was sitting next to her, looking at her with a lopsided smile. Yebin grimaced, they were probably already tipsy at that point.
"Those guys got pretty popular here after their festival performance. Espcially Jungwon. He's got some fans now." Xiaohui explained, catching sight of a girl sliding what was definitely a love letter into Jungwon's locker. "More than some."
"That's nice," Yebin said. "They deserve the recognition."
The two girls made their way into the gym just as the tournament began, climbing up the bleachers and sitting at the highest row.
Yebin had never watched a Taekwondo tournament before, and so she didn't really know how the point system worked. She just cheered when the crowd cheered, and booed when they booed.
Sometime during one of the matches, Xiaohui cursed and excuse herself saying that her coach had called her for training out of nowhere. Yebin understood of course, knowing she just had to take the bus back home after- well she didn't know how, but she wanted to talk to Jungwon, at least.
When Yang Jungwon walked out onto the mats, his eyes were dead set on the sparring match. The crowd cheered, and this time Yebin cheered at her own accord. He met his opponent- who was announced as So Junghwan- in front of the referee.
The first round began, and the two minutes felt longer than she thought. It was quickly played, and both Jungwon and Junghwan were obviously skilled. The second match had more of the same outcome, but the third was where Jungwon had decided to give twice his all. She saw a fire in his eyes as the timer counted down to its last few seconds, and performed what she later learned was a perfect 45 kick to Junghwan's chest. It was a close score, with Jungwon taking the win by a single point.
Yebin stood up, clapping and cheering loudly as Jungwon was announced the winner. A bright smile stretched across his face as he looked towards the crowd and took a low bow, but he didn't see her.
Yebin continued to cheer until a girl wearing the same Taekwondo uniform ran up to Jungwon, hugging him tightly as he laughed. She wore a high ponytail and had a pretty smile. They pulled away after a few seconds, and the girl inaudibly pointed to the door exit. Jungwon nodded, letting her pull him with her as they left the gymnasium.
Yebin was left with a small smile, and she lingered by her seat for a while before making her way down the bleachers.
"It's okay," she unknowingly thought out loud. "They're just celebrating."
"Jealous?"
Yebin jumped slightly at the sudden voice. Almost everyone had cleared out of the gym- all except one boy seated at the front row.
He looked at her in amusement, tousled black hair falling right above his eyes.
Yebin felt the heat rush to her cheeks. "What? N-no."
He chuckled lowly. "You're a horrible liar."
"I get that a lot," Yebin said in defeat, not bothering to defend herself any longer.
"Don't worry, they're just close friends. Jia's nice," he told her. "I'm Haruto, by the way."
"I'm-"
"Han Yebin. I know," he finished for her, catching her by surprise. "Jungwon talks about you during training."
"Training?" Yebin asked, trying to pretend like he heart didn't skip a beat at what he'd just said. "Are you on the team?"
"Yeah, but I'm excused from this match and probably the ones after this too." Haruto raised his left wrist, which was wrapped in a cast. "I just started and well- you know, things happen."
"Ouch." Yebin winced, knowing it had to be painful.
Haruto shook his head. "I hate exercise. I honestly just joined for the extra credits."
"You and me both, buddy." Yebin laughed, walking to take a seat next to him. As she got closer, she glanced down at his cast, which was completely blank. "Hey, no one's signed it yet."
Haruto raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"
Yebin gave him a look of disbelief. "It's supposed to give you good luck for you recovery."
Haruto stifled a laugh. "No it's not."
"Okay, I made that up," Yebin admitted, a hopeful look in her eyes. "But can I still sign?"
He shrugged. "Wasn't going to stop you."
Yebin grinned, taking a marker from the judges' table nearby and rushing next to Haruto, who held his cast out for her as he watched her write in mild interest.
"What should I call you?" she asked, looking down at her work.
"Ruto's fine."
"Okay." She finished in a few seconds, and did some jazz hands to show him what she'd written down.
Get well soon, Ruto! :D
- Yebin, your fellow exercise hater
He smiled looking at it. The truth was that Haruto didn't have many friends, as he'd just transferred in as an exchange student from Japan. He didn't speak up much, but there was this mellow aura about her that he decided to anyway. He was glad he did.
His phone, which was opened to Instagram, suddenly buzzed. It was a story notification from Jia's account. By habit, he tapped to view it.
"Look at our champion, everyone!" Jia's laugh rang through his phone speaker. She pointed the camera at Jungwon, who waved his hand as he stood in line at a food stall. "He's treating me here in our cafeteria as a celebration. Yah, Yang Jungwon, I thought you said you were over me!"
a/n. sorry for all this shitty writing lately, i've been a little bit of a slump but i still wanted to update anyway </3 also stan treasure for a better life 🥳