Eunji's pov:
"So....... I heard Mark is the hoobae captain this year?" I ask, somewhat awkwardly. Yuta and I have been sitting here for a few minutes waiting for everyone else to show up and it seems we have nothing to argue about today.
"Uh, yeah. He is. He deserves it ya know?" Yuta replies, taking a quick glance my way before turning his gaze in the opposite direction.
Damn. It got quiet really fast.
"Have you seen the roster yet?" He begins a new conversation to battle the suffocatingly awkward atmosphere.
"No, not yet. I wonder if Jisung made it..." I ponder, gaze towards the fluffy clouds in the sky while I gently nibble my thumb nail.
"Pretty." Yuta mumbles.
"What?" My head snaps in his direction and I catch his eyes staring at me.
"Uhm, the clouds look pretty. That's all," he coughs, turning his gaze to the floor quickly.
Oh, for a moment I thought he called me pretty. I flush a ruby red at the thought. That's disgusting! Stop blushing! I pull my hands to my face and feel a stinging on my cheeks upon slapping myself. I must be out of my mind.
"Uhm, you ok?" Yuta is surprised by the sudden action.
"Yeah, totally fine. Normal even."
"Hey guys! Sorry we kept you waiting, there was a really long line today." Taeyong calls, Jikyung and Johnny following in suit.
"Oh thank god," I mutter under my breath.
"I heard that you rat," Yuta says before moving to the other end of the table where Taeyong sat.
I make a face of resentment before turning to my right side. "What did you bring me today, love?" I wriggle up next to Jikyung as soon as she takes a seat.
"Kimchi and rice," she hands me my tray.
"Thank youuuuuuuu! Let's dig in guys." I can feel my group of friends staring at me while I stuff my checks with my lunch.
"How is it possible for a person to eat like that?" Johnny interrupts the silence.
"You seem to underestimate just how much I can stuff in my mouth before I can be stopped." I pause. "Not in a dirty way you perverts."
"Haha, hey you said it!" Jikyung laughs.
"That's the third time you've said something about cannibalism this week. Should I be worried?" Doyoung's voice creeps up on the group.
"Why are you guys talking about cannibalism?" Yuta interjects.
"You tell me," Doyoung sighs.
"Hey guys how much caffeine is considered poisonous? Asking for a friend," Ten changes the subject as he drags Doyoung to sit next to him on the bench after they walked together.
"What friend?" I stare at him with narrowed eyes.
"Just a hoobae I know, now answer me you rat,"
"You're the third person the call me that today." I reply, avoiding his question.
"What the hell? Who were the first two?" Taeyong scrunches his nose.
"Jisung this morning and Yuta like five minutes ago."
"Wow, three people. That's impressive." Doyoung rubs his chin as he mocks me.
"Shut up bunny."
"Eunji I swear to god-"
"Guys!" Ah, that's the sweet voice of a naive little angel.
"Minji wait for me!" Jaehyun calls from behind his girlfriend as he stopped to tie his shoe, but she ignores him as she runs to the table.
"What's up?" I say after chuckling at Jaehyun.
"Have you guys seen the roster yet?" she questions Jikyung and I.
"No, why? Did Jisung make it? He hasn't been answering my texts,"
"He made it!"
Immediately, I have the biggest grin on my face and I jump up from my seat in joy.
"OH MY GOD YES!" I grab Minji by the forearm and start to jump up and down with her in celebration.
"Hey. Hey. Eunji. Hey! Would you guys pAY ATTENTION FOR ONE SECOND YOU SQUEALING PIGS!"
I immediately stop and turn to the annoying voice that has been trying to get my attention.
"Chittaphon Leechiyapornkul. Did you just call me a pig?" I turn to Ten with the face of a smiling psychopath.
"Did you just lump in my girlfriend with this rat?" Jaehyun questions after joining us, and of course pointing at me as he says the word "rat."
"Hey Eunji, that makes four." Yuta laughs and points, only words being heard after that were "rat," "funny," and "four," as he howls in laughter at my being called a rat once again.
"Guys! Hello?! I was talking!" Ten stands and slams his hands on the table in a dramatic fashion. "Ugh, now that I have your attention, guess which second year made it onto the sunbae team this year?" Ten wiggles his eyebrows at us.
"Lucas?"
"No"
"Hendery?"
"No"
"Mmm, Donghyuk!"
"Donghyuk is a first year stupid,"
"Well damn we don't know, just tell us."
"Ugh you guys are lame. It's-"
The school bell cuts Ten off before he finishes. "Are you serious? God if you have something against me just tell me what it is already!"
"Haha, tell us later Ten." We each split off into the directions of our classes. The only thing is, Yuta and I have the same class next period, and we're the only ones in it too. Damn it, it's awkward ever since Hansuke and Jisung made up.
"Uhm, do you wanna walk together?" Yuta proposes, yet I can see he somewhat cringes to himself after that.
"Eh, I guess." I concur. We begin to walk next to each other but maintain a distance of three feet the entire way to class. I take a few glances at him, noticing how he smiles at classmates he passes along the way. He has what we call a healing smile, one that lights up a room. Come to think of it, he hasn't smiled at me like that since middle school...
"Why are you frowning? You're gonna get wrinkles."
"I wasn't frowning! I was, uh, I was, just..." I can't think of anything so I just cut off my sentence! Am I stupid or something?
"Just?"
"Yeah, just..."
"Ok? By the way, tell Jisung I said congratulations for making it on the team."
"I will. I'm so proud of him." I smile in thought.
"He's a really good player. I see him doing great things."
"Yeah he is." I pause for a moment before continuing. "Yah know he really looks up to you?"
Yuta's eyebrows raise in surprise. "He does?"
I laugh at his response. "Yeah, he does. For some weird reason,"
"I mean, I am the best player on the team." He grins.
"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Team captain only cuz he kissed coach's ass." I wave my hand in dismissal.
"Hey I worked really hard to get that title, ok?" He points a finger at me.
"Yes, yes I know." I deadpan and go straight to me seat once we arrive in class.
•••
6 years ago
Yuta's pov:
"Hey Yuta." The first and only friend I had made since starting middle school, Taeyong, pulled up a chair and sat in front of my desk.
"Hey Taeyong."
"Listen, I know you're new here. So I was wondering, do you maybe want to meet some of my friends? They're really cool and I think you'd like them."
Uh oh, my memories of elementary school came flooding back to me in that instant. All the embarrassment, the loneliness, the feeling of being out of control.
"Uhm, I'll pass. Maybe some other time." I rubbed the back of my head and smiled.
"Mm, you said that last time. C'mon we're gonna play some soccer right now. Why don't you join us? It'll be fun." Taeyong grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, dragging me along to the school yard in spite of my protests. Hm, he reminds me of Hansol, I thought to myself.
"Hey guys!" Taeyong called to his friends upon reaching the yard, his hand still gripping my forearm and pulling me along. "This is Yuta, he's in my class. He's new here."
"Yuta? Is that Korean?" Oh no, here it comes.
"Uhm, actually, it's Japanese. I'm Japanese." I reply with hesitation in my tone.
"Woah, no way! That's so cool!"
"Yeah! So were you like, born in Japan?"
"Yeah, I'm from Osaka."
"Woah! That's awesome man! I'm Johnny,"
I knit my brows. "Are you American?"
"Yeah, I'm from Chicago."
"And I'm Jaehyun. You like soccer?"
"Yeah, I love it." I let a small half smile slip out.
"That's good. I'm glad Taeyong brought you along, otherwise we'd have an uneven number of players."
"Cmon let's get started already," A voice from the background called out.
"Alright Ten just hold up." Taeyong cupped around his mouth and yelled in response. "You'll play, right?" He turned to me, eyes as wide as the moon.
"Uh, yeah, I'll play."
"Yes! Come on let's go!" He once again pulled my wrist and hauled me out into the field. With that, I finally made my first group of friends. Everything before that had only been one person. Hansol.
//
yo two updates in one week? whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat haha
sooooooo tell me your thoughts. Yuta and Eunji seem to be kinda awkward these days.....👀👉🏼👈🏼
also i noticed some of u get confused with the pov's. i try to make it as clear as possible without saying it explicitly but if u guys think it would be better for me to be more precise then let me know. like i could start putting who's pov it is at the beginning and stuff...
make sure to vote for your favorite chapters! don't forget to comment cuz ur comments literally make my day❤️
bye hoes : )