━━ON ONE SIDE stood daiyu and seyeon, and on the other, seojun and suho. both had long legs and were probably athletic, daiyu reasoned, watching the way their legs expertly moved in warmups. luckily, she had pretty powerful kicks, from having to use them against other things. kicking a round object into the goal should be a breeze.
"seyeon will start us off. he can whistle really loudly." suho said from directly in front fo the goalpost. he was playing goalie.
daiyu shot her hand up the the air, her fist upturned to show a thumbs up to those across the field. she was directly facing seojun, and both were glaring daggers at the other. it seemed to be routine at this point; there was no way the two would get along. daiyu only restrained from punching him because seyeon had told her not to, and for the fact that it would put her in the wrong.
so, they both opted for using this game as their own battlefield to prove who was better (it was obviously daiyu, she reasoned).
daiyu was prideful, that she knew well. back home she had people to hold her back, people who could calm her and tell her there was no need to always be right. but here, here was different. the world had opened its arms to her and allowed her free will to whatever she pleased, and no one here could stop her.
a high pitched whistle floated through the air; seyeon's signal. and with that, daiyu and seojun charged for the ball in between them like angry bulls charging a red flag.
seojun got to the ball fast, but daiyu was smart. she blocked his path, weaving around him nimbly. while his attention was focused on her movements, daiyu ducked and kicked the ball away from him, bouncing it on her knee down to her foot, where she twirled and kicked the ball in midair.
the kick was loud, almost hollow sounding as it pummeled towards the goal. the ball shot towards suho, and he jumped to stop it hitting the net behind him with no luck; daiyu had scored a point.
the game continued fiercely, despite the fact the game usually needed more than 2 players running for the ball. daiyu and seojun were both stubborn enough to keep the game close, either team leading by one point. they didn't stop until everyone was too tired to continue, and they collapsed on the grass in breathless heaps.
daiyu's hair stuck to her face and neck, beads of sweat sliding down her skin. still, she laughed. it was a strange, breathless laugh, but she doubled over on the grass and erupted in uncontrollable laughter. seyeon soon joined in on the laughter, scooting closer to her and they looked at each other, bursting once more into bought of laughter.
"that was fun." daiyu had said after her giggles had subsided and her breathing had evened.
"i don't even know who won" seyeon said, "you guys were playing like your lives depended on it!"
"i hate losing."
seojun and daiyu looked at each other, the same words leaving their lips. daiyu scowled, and seojun flipped her off.
"fuck off, stop copying me."
"yah!"
"its not funny!"
it was like they shared the same mind.
suho laughed. "you guys are so alike."
this left the two bickering with each other and challenging the other to stupid feats just to see who was better.
━━SOON, LUNCH HAD passed, but the three boys used the excuse that they had been showing daiyu around to avoid being marked late.
daiyu enjoyed school, for the first time in her life. before, school had only been fun because it gave her the chance to be with her friends. but here, things were interesting to learn about, and she didn't feel like she would pass out from boredom whenever her teachers opened their mouths to teach.
on top of that, her teachers had been kind enough to place her near at least one of the three boys (daiyu wasn't particularly happy to be partnered up with seojun for science, though), which made her a little more comfortable.
currently, they were almost done for the day, and daiyu watched the clock on the front of the classroom tick away, counting 20 minutes till the bell. from beside her sat seojun, who was scratching boredly at his paper with his pencil. daiyu, feeling just as bored, slid open her notebook in between the two, not before scribbling something in.
bet i can beat u in tic tac toe, her writing read.
seojun rolled his eyes and wrote something back.
in ur dreams.
just like that, seojun and daiyu spent the last 20 minutes of their science class playing tic tac toe and occasionally writing curse words that they didn't dare say out loud in daiyu's notebook when they lost.
and if either seyeon or suho asked why they were grinning to themselves, they had simply watched someone trip from outside and it had nothing to do with the fact that they had enjoyed each other's company for once.
━━DURING THE WALK home from school, daiyu felt a pang or sadness when she realized the day was over. but it went away just as quick as it had come, because seyeon was by her side and she could feel nothing but happiness when he was around.
"you guys could come stay at my house for a while, we could hang out!" seyeon suggested, and for once daiyu eagerly nodded her head with a smile.
it was a good thing she'd told them she was living with seyeon as a 'transfer student', otherwise things might've gotten complicated. both boys shrugged.
"i can go. seojun?" suho asked the boy beside him, who blew a strand of his hair out of his eyes.
"sure."
"sweet!" seyeon smiled and motioned for them to follow. he grabbed daiyu's hand, pulling her after him.
they raced after him, laughing. daiyu released herself from seyeon's grip and began jumping through boxes and winding through alleyways, despite the fact she was still pretty new to the neighborhood, but she popped up a few feet in front of them seconds later.
but daiyu stopped abruptly when two paths appeared. she smiled sheepishly. "which way again?"
seojun laughed at daiyu, making her shoot a small rock at him, only to miss (on purpose, of course. daiyu had perfect aim).
"hey!" seojun charged after her, making daiyu take the left fork in the road, before running the other way at seyeon's yell of "right, daiyu! go right!"
when daiyu arrived at her grandparent's house, she was short of breath, hands resting on her knees as she gasped for air. beside her collapsed seojun, sprawling himself on the grassy front yard of her current home.
"i win." daiyu gasped as suho and seyeon appeared beside them, not tired in the slightest. they probably walked the whole way, unlike daiyu and seojun.
"no way. you totally cheated." seojun argued.
"cheated how? i literally have not been in this country since i was in diapers, and i still beat you!" daiyu accused. she really didn't know anything about this neighborhood at all, besides her grandparents and their nice house. everything else was, well, foreign.
seojun had stopped talking, too busy trying to regain his breath. daiyu on the other hand had already recovered and had joined seyeon.
"well, this is my house!" seyeon extended his arms.
"and daiyu lives here too?" suho asked curiously.
daiyu nodded. "yup."
seyeon opened the door and led them in. the house smelled of the usual fabric softener and a faint citrusy smell; scents which daiyu hadn't thought of as nice until arriving. their grandparents weren't home, daiyu realized as she looked around for their kind faces. their shoes weren't at the door either.
"come in guys. no one's home right now so it'll just be us four." seyeon said as he pulled out four glasses from the cabinets and a pitcher of what looked like lemonade from the fridge. with a wink, seyeon whispered to daiyu, "grandma always has lemonade in the fridge in case of guests."
daiyu laughed. it sounded like something the elderly woman would do.
and so, she served herself a glass of cold lemonade and sat on the small dining table, a smile tugging at her lips.
AUTHOR'S NOTE !
(04/05/23) rewritten
a rlly short chapter 😭
as always enjoy and vote and comment if u can <33
pls lmk if there are any more grammar mistakes!!
LOVE, A !