"Are you ready? We have to leave soon." Hyejin asks through the phone. I frown, "What do you mean, we're supposed to be there at 7 p.m. it's 5." I tell her and I hear her sigh. "We decided to meet up with the rest an hour before for a pre game." I freeze, remembering the plan. "Fuck." "Hurry up!" After ending the call, I rush into the bathroom to get ready for the game. "Okay Yeseul you have an hour to do everything. Is it doable?" I ask myself while looking at the mirror. "Yes it is."
Hyejin comes into the room after a while and whistles, impressed after seeing me ready. "I knew you would be able to get ready after a short time." "I'm out of breath, I should've at least prepared an outfit beforehand, I had to go to Narnia to find a top that matches the school's colours." I say, grabbing my bag and keys before the two of us head out the door.
We arrive at Yohan's friend's apartment where everyone is getting ready for the game. "This is just for a small game, I wonder what it will be like when Seungwoo and Seungyoun have a big game." I say before ringing the doorbell. "Right? Yohan said that whatever the event, this friend always has cool parties." After about a minute, the door opens and reveals a tall figure smiling as soon as he sees us with two deep dimples appearing. "Hey! You must be Park Hyejin and Kang Yeseul. I'm Choi Byungchan, nice to meet you." We greet him back, "Yohan is already here, come on in." Hyejin comes in and I follow behind her.
Right away, I spot Yohan at the counter talking to another unfamiliar figure. Immediately gravitate towards him because out of everyone here so far, he's the only one I know other than Hyejin. "Oh, Kang Yeseul, you're here?" I turn around and see Junho walking over to us. Giving him a small smile, I greet him, "Not gonna lie, it's a bit of a shock to see you here." I tell him and he laughs, agreeing with me, saying that he would much rather be in the dorms but Yohan persuaded him to join. "Anyway, I'm glad you're here. Do you want a drink?" He nods and I follow him into the kitchen to fix the both of us a drink. "Are you excited?" He asks me, "Yeah, I I'm excited, I always go to Seungwoo's games and the fact that there's a pre-game makes everything better." With our drinks, we walk back into the living room where most of the guests are.
"I'm here!" A voice shouts out and suddenly cheers fill the apartment. I hear Junho gasp next to me, "It's Wooseok. Is it okay if I go greet him, he's a really close hyung." I nod and tell him to go. I don't stay alone for long before the host, Byungchan comes and stands next to me. "I finally meet Kang Yeseul. You're Seungwoo's friend, right? He and I are really close, like brothers but I doubt he ever spoke about me to you." He puts a hand down on the counter in front of us. "Yeah, I don't recall hearing her name but don't be offended, he doesn't talk about any of his friends so I barely know who they are." An awkward smile covers my face and Byungchan laughs. "Well I guess this is our chance to introduce each other. As you found out a few minutes ago, I'm Choi Byungchan, Senior in another university." "Kang Yeseul, Junior in the same school as Seungwoo." Byungchan takes a look at me before looking around the place. " I suppose you don't know that many people here other than your friends so I suggest I do a little introduction to everyone in this room. The one that just came in is Kim Wooseok, you might know him because he goes to your university." I hum, showing that I do know him. "Next is the really tall guy talking to Wooseok and Junho, he's Lee Jinhyuk. Really funny guy, a lot of charms. Next is Song Yuvin. That guy is a genius but he's also really fun. The girl next to him is his girlfriend, but do you want to hear a secret?" I look at him confused and slightly worried, "Uh, sure?" "Yuvin is secretly fucking this other guy, caught them together a week ago. I'm still waiting for him to break up with his girlfriend but he says he's confused."
Byungchan continues introducing the guests until he finishes. We continue talking for a while. "There aren't many people right now-" "Huh? Not many people?" I give him big eyes and he simply laughs, "I wonder what you consider 'many people' is." "Well tomorrow is a day off and I'm having another party after the game tonight so how about you come around with Seungwoo and your friends and you'll see." He winks at me. He's called over by a friend and before going to him, he turns back to face me, "Why don't we exchange numbers, you know, so that I can give you information about tonight." He says. "Are you sure that's the only reason?" I ask with a smirk. He gives me a sheepish smile, his dimples coming out, "You caught me. But hey, what emoji should I put next to your name in my phone? Actually, why don't you start by giving me your number?" Byungchan says and I pretend to gag. "That was horrible but you get an A for effort. Pass me your phone, I give in."
Soon enough, it was time for us to leave and go to the stadium where the game will take place. We all divide into different cars, I end up with Yohan, Junho and Hyejin, and drive while we converse about whatever but mainly the game and the idea of going to the party. "I want to go but I know that if I do after it will be a struggle to go back to the dorms." I tell the group. "Isn't Seungwoo going?" Hyejin asks and I shrug, still unsure.
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"Are you done arguing over who sits where?" I stand in from of Hyejin and Yohan as they bicker over who gets the best seat. Meanwhile, Junho quietly slips behind the two and calmly takes the seat. "Sit down, the game is about to start." He says, looking at the field. We all sit down and Byungchan and the rest of the group sits around us. Suddenly, the stadium fills with cheers making my ears ring. Most of us stand up including me to cheer for the school's team. "Seungwoo! You're my number 1!" Byungchan yells from behind me, making us laugh.
"I zoned out for a bit, who's winning?" Junho quietly asks me and I look at him apologetically, "I'm in the same situation as you, I think we're at 3:1. The game is almost over though."
And after half an hour, the game finally came to an end with our school winning. Screams of joy overlap the small shouts from different supporters, people who came to cheer for our team are standing up, chanting the school's name and jumping around. "This means that the next game will be regionals!" Junho looks at me with surprise and a big smile covers part of his face, "That's so cool."
"Kang Yeseul, will you be joining us?" Byungchan pats my shoulder before asking his question. I look at the rest of my friends to see if they're coming and they shrug and nod, "Yep, we're all coming." "Great." The tall boy grins at me and tells me that he'll see me there before disappearing into the crowd. "I think he's interested." Hyejin whispers into my ear and I cringe, "You think that any interaction with a human being means that they're interested." "You have to admit, he's gorgeous." She's not wrong. "Focus on Yohan." I give her a wink before following Junho and Hangyul, who joined us right before the game.
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The apartment is pretty much full, definitely more people than before. "This is what I consider being a lot of people." A voice comes from behind me and I turn to see Byungchan. "There are so many people, I can't even see the walls. Why is everyone so tall here, what happened?" He laughs and waves his hand at someone. "There he is, today's star." "What's up? Oh yeah, Yeseul." I wave at him. "How did you like the game." "It was cool, you all did a great job again." Seungwoo wraps an arm around my shoulder, "I'm surprised the two of you never met. Yeseul always comes to see my games when she's not competing. I do the same with her." We do our little handshake and the three of us continue discussing about anything.
"I'm going to have to leave you two together, if you don't mind." They shake their heads and I make my way to the bathroom, or at least what I think is the bathroom, if I remember correctly. "Oh my god, get out!" My eyes widen and I quickly slam the door shut. Well, I definitely didn't remember correctly. "Right, it's the door next to it, oops."
After exiting the bathroom, I go into the kitchen to fix myself a drink, not being able to do so when I came here about an hour ago. I walk out onto the balcony and I look at a familiar figure surprised. The person is sitting on the couch, looking out at the view of the city, a cup on the table and a cigarette in one hand. " A penny for your thoughts?" I ask Seugyoun, taking a seat next to him and pulling the blanket over my legs. "Oh, Yeseul? I didn't expect to see you here." Seungyoun moves a bit to give me more space. "I could say the same for you. I guess you know Byungchan because of Seungwoo." I ponder and he nods. I look down at the cigarette hanging between his two fingers. "Uhm, Seungyoun, can I take a hit?" He snaps out from a small daze and looks at my extended hand. "Do you want one?" I nod. "I didn't know you smoke." I tell him, lowly. "It happens when I'm anxious about soccer." He answers, taking out a packet from him pocket and handing it to me. "Do you smoke?" He asks me and move my arm to grab the lighter from the table. "I used to smoke like during sophomore year. Barely do now but it happens." He nods, understanding. "Anyway, are you okay." Seungyoun leans back into the comfortable seat. "I don't know. I shouldn't be this pressed over a stupid game but I feel like I did such a shit job. Coach kept on giving me shit when it ended even though I participated so much and helped the team. I just- I don't know." I sigh, knowing exactly how he feels.
"Nice to know that I'm finally not the only one complaining about the sport between both of us." I say with a small laugh. "Because we haven't known each other for a while, I don't know how often you feel this way. You've seen me in this state so many times in the past two weeks - or has it been three? But I just want you to know that you can be like me with you whenever you want." I bring the cigarette to my lips and inhale the tobacco. "It makes me sad seeing you like this you know?" I shove his arm a bit in a way to get a reaction from him. Finally a small smile breaks out. "Yay! I made you smile."
"You know what I noticed?" Seungyoun starts after a while, cups almost empty, cigarettes done. My legs crossed over each other with my socks the only thing to keep them warm. Our bodies are facing each other and at the sound of his voice I look up from my fingers and look at him. "What?" "It seems like we're always drinking whenever we're together." I let out a breathy laugh, realising that he's right. A bit too right. "Considering the fact that we see each other quite often maybe that's a sign to tell us to stop drinking so much." "Will we though?" He asks and I shake my head. "Who would have thought that professional athletes drink so much?" I say and he shrugs, "Not me."
A strong gust of wind blows to us, making him shiver. I move the blanket so that it also covers his legs. "Should we go back inside?" I ask him, and he nods, standing up and holding out his hand for me to grab. "Let's go."
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Everyone!!! Yuvin is only bisexual in this story, this isn't real (as far as we know). I thought that maybe showing different types of characters would really showcase the true student life in universities, even the bad parts.