Time flies unbelievably fast.
It feels like just yesterday that the semester had started and Emily has moved back in the dorms and now already tomorrow is the first day the collegiate swimming event. The event is five days long and Emily has competitions on the second, third and the last day. In a way, it is a blessing to have a break in between but unfortunately her most fierce and difficult swim is scheduled on the last day.
Emily is a short distance swimmer and easily excels in the 50m, 100m and 200m swims. It is the 400m event that troubles her the most because she begins to loose the stamina in the middle and it is the one event where Yejune excels. Emily has been trying her best to beat Yejune's time and she has come very close a few times but remains unsuccessful each time.
"Okay. You're clean," Coach Ma said, looking over at the dope test result Emily conducted last night. Before every competition and every international event, all swimmers are required to conduct a dope test. Emily already knows she is clean so it does not come as a surprise.
Emily gets up from the chair in Coach Ma's office.
"Sleep well. Don't forget to come to the practice session tomorrow. Sebong is scheduled for 9 am. We only have one hour so don't be late," Coach Ma said.
"Yes coach," Emily said.
Emily grabs her bag and right before she walks out of the door, Coach Ma stops her and asks, "Are you heading for lunch?"
Emily nods her head.
"Do you know the menu?" Coach Ma asks.
She wonders for a second before saying, "I think it's bulgogi?"
Coach Ma nods slowly and says, "They always cook a million times better whenever we have visitors. I should go eat too. You can leave. Have a good day."
Emily can't help but smile and says, "You too coach."
She walks out of the office. She stuffs her pockets in the hands of her jacket and walks down the hallway, stepping out of the sports department.
Emily sighs in a relaxed manner. The weather has gotten significantly warmer over the past couple of weeks and the breeze is warmer and the temperature is just perfect. Emily loves today's weather. She wishes it can be like this all year around. Just sunny and pleasant with a little coolness in the night.
Emily quickly walks towards the cafeteria where her friends are already waiting for her.
As she is about to enter the cafeteria, the door pushes open from inside and there stands Jeonghan. The two pause for a few seconds as they see each other standing on the opposite side and Emily half expects him to smirk at her like he normally does to get a reaction out of her. Instead, he steps to the side, making space for Emily to walk in, making her two a double take. Emily reacts fast, walking quickly and muttering a quick thank you. By the time she looks back, Jeonghan has already disappeared.
"What took you so long?" Nana asked, making space for Emily by removing her bag on the table so Emily could settle down.
"I had to get my dope test results," Emily answered. She puts down her bag on the chair and looks around the cafeteria. She could easily spot out the athletes from other Universities who have already arrived to participate in the event. The Japanese university athletes were amazed at everything, saying yabai and kawai whereas the Chinese strategized by moving together and sticking to themselves. She could also spot out the Singaporean university standing in line for the food and recognize some other university from other countries.
"Where are the other two?" Emily asks.
"In line," Nana answered, "It's going to be a long wait."
Emily nods, agreeing. "Well, I'm going to in the line then."
The line for the food was indeed very long and several times Emily did consider just skipping and having ramyeon later in her dorm room but when she finally did get to the food, the wait was worth it. When she arrived back at the table, Jia and Soyeon had already arrived and Seungcheol and Jun were also seated at the table, besides their respective girlfriends. Emily is already used to seeing Jun at their table time to time and has warmed up to his peculiarly quiet persona but seeing Seungcheol at the table today is new.
"Oh you here," Jia said, spotting her first, "He didn't have anyone to sit with so I told Seungcheol he could sit with us. I hope you don't mind."
Seungcheol looks up and greets Emily with a head bow and a smile. Emily returns the gesture.
"Of course I don't mind," Emily answered, sitting down next to Soyeon.
At first Nana, Soyeon and Emily were very wary and skeptical when Jia and Seungcheol got back together at the start of this year. The three clearly thought that he is up to no good and admittedly Emily also felt guilty when she learnt that she had a role to play in their breakup. Jun even acted like the overprotective father for a while. But seeing how Seungcheol is clearly trying hard to win over Jia's friends and make an actual effort to get to know them and talk to them has Emily warming up to him. Admittedly, he talks to Emily less than he has conversed with Nana and Soyeon, most likely due to her history with Jeonghan, but Emily has never taken offense at that fact.
"If I knew swimmers are this hot, I would've have begun swimming the day I was born," Nana remarked, her eyes feasting upon the multiple athletes in the room.
"Their shoulders are so broad and muscular," Jia agreed, "I think swimming probably has some of the most manly athletes. It's way too underrated. And all that free abs you get to see? Splendid."
Emily sneaks a glance at Seungcheol who surprisingly seems unbothered by Jia's comments. Maybe he is used to them. Besides, everyone knows Jia really only has eyes for Seungcheol anyways.
"Emily. You are so goddamn lucky. You get to see these hot things shirtless all the time," Nana muttered, too focused on drowning in the men rather than actually eating.
"You know we train separately, right" Emily said.
"But still. You have the competitions and the international competitions and all of that," Nana said, "That is already more than what I get."
Emily just smiles and shakes her head and focuses on eating instead. In all honesty, she has seen plenty of shirtless men in her life that they do not faze her anymore. And if she were to be honest, nobody beats those Australian swimmers when it comes to abs and shoulders. If Jia and Nana ever saw one in person, they will surely faint.
Emily instead put her attention in eating the bulgogi. Coach Ma was correct. They do indeed cook much better whenever there are any visitors around.
"Oh my god," Jia said, her eyes wide and big, looking at Emily.
"What?" Emily asked, her mouth full, wondering of there is something in top of her head.
"Oh my gosh!" Jia's voice drops down to a whisper,"Is that who I really think is?"
It was then when Emily realized that Jia is not looking at her but is really behind her. She turns around to see what had grabbed Jia's attention and discovered it is Nam Joo-hyuk himself, along side with a group of three boys, two of which Emily recognizes from the national swim team. And as it seems, Joo-hyuk and his band of teammates seem to be walking towards Emily's table.
"Oh my gosh! Is he walking towards us?" Nana asked, sounding half amazed and half scared.
"Emily," Joo-hyuk said once he came close enough to her table. Emily becomes remotely aware of the attention they are receiving and can feel everyone's eyes on them, including her own friends.
"Joo-hyuk," Emily responds a bit too quietly, foreseeing what is to come soon.
Nam Joo-hyuk looks behind Emily and gives each of her friends a do over with an amused glance. Almost as if he knows exactly what vulgar thoughts were being said about him just moments earlier.
"Won't you introduce your friends to me?" Joo-hyuk says, flashing a bright smile and Emily gulped. Not because of the fact she suddenly realized how insanely attractive Joo-hyuk really is but because of the fact she is going to soo become the prey of many jealous young women around the country.
May the lord always be with her.
This is a very short update but I managed to find some little time in my trip to type this small thing out. I really wanted to update one more time before the new year. Things are going to get really fun for Emily for the next couple of chapters and things will also get very spicy and angsty so I really hope you guys stick around to find out!!
Thank you so much for all the love you guys have showered me this year and I cannot wait to spend another year sharing stories with you all.
Have a great New Year!!