The crowd around us erupted in loud screams as Nam Joo-hyuck winked at me.
For a moment I had thought that everyone is staring at me and goggling their eyes at me. But then my hearing slowly started returning back to me and I realized that the screaming and whispers is due to delusional fangirls.
"Oh my god! I think he winked at me," Emily hears the girl sitting directly behind her say.
"Don't be ridiculous. He doesn't know you," Another girl said, "Probably me. I knew that facial this morning would pay off."
Emily couldn't help herself and looked backwards to see the girl who had just spoken and saw that the girl was biting her lip while looking at Joo-hyuck, touching her hair seductively.
Emily inwardly cringed.
"I head his ex girlfriend is also hear. Maybe they got back together," Emily heard someone else say loudly.
"Is she pretty? Oh my gosh, who did he wink at!" Another person said.
"Who knows. I just need to see this bitch's face. She can't be prettier than me," Someone else replied.
Oh. My. God.
Emily felt her face flush as she continued to hear the numerous theories floating around her. Luckily, everyone seemed to have noticed that he was looking at Emily and are busy fantasizing or trying to figure who the girl is.
Unfortunately, Emily has three very observant friends of whom she could feel hot stares at the side of her face and Emily knew instantly that they know exactly who Joo-hyuck was looking at.
"Come on," Emily mumbled, "Let's go."
She wanted to get out of here fast before anyone could figure out it is her. It's already enough attention that she knows Joo-hyuck, if they figure out he winked at her, the girls will quite literally kill her. Regardless of whether she made a national record or not.
Emily got up and walked out, not really bothering to wait and check if her friends are following her, partly because she knew they will follow her either way. Besides, if they don't get out on time properly now then they will get stuck with the large crowd trying to get out at once.
"Don't you want to see the medal ceremony?" Jia whispered, directly behind her.
Emily shook her head and said, "I've seen plenty of medal ceremonies. They aren't that big of a deal."
Emily did want to stay and see the medal ceremony but she also feels as if her mind has been all jumbled up and confused and she wants to go some place quiet to sort out her thoughts.
Alas, Emily was ambushed by her friends as soon as they stepped out in the hallway.
"Did he just wink at you?" Soyeon asked but it came out more like a statement of shock.
"Uh-" Emily started nervously, not knowing how to reply.
Nana took in the stead for her, "Of course he did. Who else would he wink at?"
"Well you heard that girl. His ex is also here, isn't she?" Soyeon said.
Yejune probably was there but Emily does not remember seeing her inside at all. In fact she doesn't recall coming across Yejune ever since she stormed out of the locker room after yesterday's match and didn't even show up for the medal ceremony. Delayed the process and made much more gossip.
"No. I don't think Joo-hyuck and Yejune are back together," Emily spoke up without even realizing.
"So he did wink at you!" Soyeon exclaimed as if Emily just confirmed the news herself.
"Uhm."
"Why did he do that?" Nana asked, "That was so..."
"Flirty?" Jia offered, "Seductive? Sexy? Secretive?"
"Um yeah. All of those, I suppose," Nana said.
"I don't know," Emily said, "Joo-hyuck is like that. He likes to live life like a...-"
"Playboy? Charming prince?" Jia suggested.
"No-" Emily shot her a look, "He like to live a little...dangerously. Or...carefree. He doesn't really care about public attention."
"So...does that mean he just publicly declared he liked you?" Nana wondered.
Emily feels her face flush red, hotly too, and she stuttered, "N-no! That d-d-does not mean he likes me. Joo-hyuck does not like me. It's just who he is. He's friendly by nature."
"I hate to break it to you," Soyeon interjected, "But nothing about that looked very friendly to me. The first thing he did as soon as he came out of the water was scan the crowd for you. It's exactly what Seungcheol does whenever he scores a goal."
Now Jia blushes red.
"I'm just a good friend," Emily explains, "He's been having a rough time recently and I knew about it and he did a good job today so I guess that's why he was looking for me. It's not a big deal."
But Soyeon only shook her head and said, "Emily-I seriously think-"
"Look guys, it was just a wink! A wink! A stupid, dumb wink. We wink at each other all the time. Doesn't mean we are into each other," Emily said, feeling frustrated now, "Just. Just leave it, alright? I'm telling you. He's a really good friend of mine. And he thinks of me as same."
Soyeon looked like she wanted to say something more but Jia nudged her by the elbow, trying to be subtle but failed, and Soyeon sighed.
"Fine. Whatever you say," Soyeon finally said, "Do you guys want to go into town and get something to eat?"
Emily shook her head first and said, "Can't. My match is at nine in the morning tomorrow."
Nana frowned and said, "Aren't you still going to eat something?"
"I will," Emily assured, "But I just don't have a large appetite and I get very nervous the night before and I just want to sleep earlier than usual and wake up on a decent time to make sure I'm fresh and healthy for the swim."
"Alright. If you're sure then," Nana said, still sounding a bit wary of Emily's evening plans.
"I am," Emily spoke firmly and left her friends behind as she made her way to the dormitory.
By now Emily had long forgotten about Joo-hyuck's little antic at the pool and is now overcome with nerves for her upcoming match for tomorrow.
It has suddenly dawned upon her that following her very successful swim at the pool yesterday, it will be expected of her to swim even better and stronger for her next swim. Her mother had made that very clear on their very brief phone call last night, especially considering how the next race is supposed to be her best distance. So much for relaxing.
Reaching her room, she unlocks the door and lays herself onto her bed without bothering to change out of her clothes. Today had been a rather busy and filled up day. From classes, to club meetings, to giving out an interview for the newspaper which she isn't even sure is going to make it, to studying for her upcoming midterms, Emily feels mentally exhausted.
Closing her eyes, she lets out a little breath, enjoying the peace and quiet.
The next thing Emily hears is her phone shrilling loudly.
Getting up to a start, Emily looks around violently, taken aback by loud shrill of her phone ring. It took her a minute to realize that her phone is still in the back pocket of jean and she pulls it out, picking up the phone after checking her caller ID.
"Hello?" She croaked, locating her wall clock for the time. She must have fallen asleep when she lay down on the bed as its nearly an hour later.
"Where are you?" Joo-hyuck asks.
"In my dorm," Emily replies.
"Did you come to watch the game?" Joo-hyuck asks and Emily can visualize the frown on his face.
"Of course I did," Emily answered, "I just came back to the dorm after and ended up falling asleep.
"Oh," Joo-hyuck says, "I was waiting for you to come and congratulate me."
"Oh-I-well..." Emily ran out of words to say because in truth, she felt guilty for not staying back longer and greeting him when Joo-hyuck had done exactly the same at her match yesterday. In hindsight, she really should have at least waited around outside for him to come out and greet him. It is only the proper thing to do.
"Where are you now?" Emily asked, an idea coming to her head as she gets up from the bed.
"Uhm-I don't know-hold up," Joo-hyuck mumbles and then she hears him speak to someone else, "Excuse me? What is this place?.....right. Thank you. Hello? Yeah, I'm apparently next to the bus stop at this brown building which I think is a cafe."
"The Coffee Shop," Emily corrected him.
"Right. The Coffee shop," Joo-hyuck said.
"Okay. Stay there," Emily instructs him.
"Huh? Here. Why-" Joo-hyuck starts but Emily just cuts the call without waiting to hear him out.
Emily slips on her shoes as quickly as she can and dashes out of her door and down the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator to come up. Luckily, her dorm is the closest dorm on campus to the coffee shop, an easy ten minute walk, and with a sprint, she will be there in even less time.
The sky out is now pitch dark and the campus is quite deserted given the late time and Emily rarely ran into people on her way to the coffee shop. She wondered if Jia is back from the dinner or if the girls are still out eating. Emily made a mental note to text Jia later when she gets back to the dorm. She wants to borrow her portable stove again for making ramen.
As the coffee shop nears in sight, Emily spots Joo-hyuck standing near the bus stop, looking a bit lost and confused and Emily couldn't help but smile a bit because it is a rare sight to see Joo-hyuck looking so confused.
Breaking out in a sprint once again, she calls him out, "Joo-hyuck!"
Fortunately he hears the first time and whips his head around in her direction, a brief look of relief passing in his eye as he locates Emily, who is still making her way over him with a hand wave.
"Hi," Emily says, panting heavily as she makes a stop in front of him.
"Hi," Joo-hyuck says.
Straightening her back, Emily grins a bit and extends her arm out to him and says, "Congratulations."
Joo-hyuck looks down at her hand and then back at her face and for a split second Emily thinks that maybe she's made a fool out of herself but acting so spontaneously and completely out of character until he pulls her hand instead of shaking it and engulfs her in a warm hug.
"Oh" Emily lets out in a surprise as Joo-hyuck wraps his hand around her upper back and slowly Emily hugs him back, lightly tapping him with a right hand.
Joo-hyuck lets go of the embrace rather quickly and Emily feels the warmth dissipating away as Joo-hyuck said, "You came all the way for this."
"I came all the way for this," Emily confirms.
"You could have just said that on the phone," Joo-hyuck tells her.
"I thought you wanted to meet me in person," Emily says.
"Yeah but-I didn't seriously mean it," Joo-hyuck shrugs his shoulders.
"Oh, then I suppose I'll just go right back," Emily said, turning around but Joo-hyuck quickly grabs her wrist and nearly yells "No!"
Clearing his throat, Joo-hyuck composes, "No. I'd rather you stay."
Emily smiles back at him and turns back around immediately, "Do you want to walk?"
She supposes that standing in front of the coffee shop and next to the bus stop is a bit too attention grabbing and awkward for a friendly talk. Besides, she doens't need pictures of the two circulating around on the internet with stupid rumors next morning that were started by one of Joo-hyuck's fan girls. And considering his popularity, one or two fan girls are always guaranteed to be nearby.
"Sure," Joo-hyuck answered and so Emily led him on a walk around the campus, near the more deserted places she is aware of for some privacy.
"So...how are you?" Emily starts first, noticing that Joo-hyuck is being unusually quiet.
"Fine," Joo-hyuck answered.
"You don't sound fine," Emily points out.
"I just-" Joo-hyuck sighs and continues, "I was so close. I could have done so much better."
Emily knows he is talking about his standing in the race.
"You did really well," Emily tells him softly, "You should be proud of yourself. It was a very good swim."
Joo-hyuck snorts and said, "Coach doesn't think so."
He kicks a small rock in his way.
Emily knows how he feels. Even when you give in your best and do everything in your power to do your absolute best, it is never enough for some people. They just want more and more and more, not caring if you end up breaking your body and your mind for it. All they care about its the end glory.
"It doesn't matter what your Coach thinks. Everyone else thinks you were amazing," Emily tells him.
"Yeah but coach is the one who tells me the harsh truth too," Joo-hyuck says.
"If it helps, Coach Shin told me this morning that I shouldn't be too happy since my win is only a one time thing," Emily said honestly.
"That's ridiculous," Joo-hyuck says with evident frustration in his voice, "You literally made a national record yesterday. You should be celebrating."
"Never let your guard down I suppose," Emily shrugs, "Look. Everyone knows you did amazing today. The reporters do. The director of the training center does. My friends do. Your many fan girls definitely do and for what its worth, I do."
Joo-hyuck looks down at her as they walk side by side and said, "You do?"
"I do," Emily confirms and then gently reaches out to touch his arm, "So you shouldn't beat yourself up too much. You were really great today and you swam beautifully. Everyone knows you are guaranteed a medal at the Asian Games and honestly, I'm pretty sure the Japanese swimmer who came out first today knows that he is the one who got lucky today. Not you."
By now the two have stopped walking, standing on the small pathway hidden by trees and completely deserted by people.
Emily turns around to face him and firmly says, "Aren't you the one who tells me that I need to believe in myself? So that's what you need to do. Everyone already believes in you. Now you need to believe in you."
Joo-hyuck's lips parted as he looked down at her. For a few moments it looked like Joo-hyuck was truly at a loss for words at Emily's little pep talk.
He closed his mouth and gulped, looking away and softly saying, "Emily..."
Emily raises and eyebrow and is about to speak when Joo-hyuck turns back towards her and takes her by surprise as he pulls her into him and gently places his lips on hers, cupping his face. Emily stands too still like an iron statue, caught on off guard and is unable to react.
Joo-hyuck seems to notice this behavior because he pulls away, looking guilty and regretful and quickly says, "Sorry...I...sorry- I should have asked you fir-"
Now its Emily who cuts him off by grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down once again for a sweet embrace and it takes Joo-hyuck only five seconds to figure out what is happening and pulls in Emily into an even deeper kiss.