"Okay, guys, listen up!" Coach Saejima announced. "Y'all will have your practice today, and tomorrow, each group will compete with each other."
"Yess!" Almost everyone exclaimed, clearly excited about the basketball thing, except me.
"We can win this," I heard Minho say, then he added, "But... there's this handicap on the team."
"We'll just make her the sub."
"Okay, good." Minho responded.
Well, that's fine. At least I won't have to play anyway.
While I was sitting on the bleachers watching them practice, I observed how they moved, how they passed, how they coordinated. When the ball was passed to Ryan, he tried to shoot it into the ring, but it didn't go in.
Instead, it rolled toward me. I just stared at the ball until it touched my shoe. Instinctively, I picked it up and handed it to Ryan as he walked in my direction.
Instead of taking the ball, he smiled and said, "Why don't you give it a try?"
"No thanks," I replied, still holding the ball out to him. I glanced past Ryan and saw Minho heading toward us.
"What's going on?" Minho asked.
"Oh, nothing. Elise just wants to try and shoot the ball."
"What!?" I stood up, still holding the ball. "I don't know how to shoot," I added.
"Just at least try," Ryan encouraged.
I looked at Minho and noticed his face turned blank. I gulped and began dribbling toward the ring. That's when I realized there was no turning back—or else I'd just embarrass myself. I looked at Ryan, then Minho, and saw him smirking at me with his arms crossed.
Since there was no turning back, I took the shot.
And to my surprise, the ball went in.
No backboard, no rim. Just clean.
I looked at Minho and smirked back at him, handing the ball to Ryan. "Nice shot," Ryan said as he took the ball from me. I sat down on the bleachers again and noticed Minho still staring at me. He finally turned and walked back to the rest of the boys.
Half an hour passed. I was still just sitting there, watching them. Honestly, basketball looked kinda dangerous. Ryan had already hit the floor a few times.
I looked around at the other groups. Everyone was practicing—except me, just sitting alone like a benchwarmer. That's when I saw it.
The ball was flying toward me. Straight. For. My. Face. Before I could react, it hit me—hard. I didn't feel much, but suddenly Ryan, the others, and even Coach Saejima were rushing toward me.
"Jung, are you okay?" Coach asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't feel anything," I replied.
"You sure?"
I nodded, even though... yeah, no. I wasn't fine. But I guess I just need to get used to being hit with balls (pun intended) in this school.
"Okay, if you say so." After that, everyone went back to practice.
Finally—after an hour of doing nothing—the bell rang, and I got up to grab my bag from the classroom.
"Hey, Elise! Wait up," I heard Twan shout as he jogged toward me, wiping his sweat with his shirt.
"You're coming with us later, right?"
"I guess? I don't know."
"You should come. It'll help you get to know the squad. Things won't be so awkward."
"Okay, sure..."
"Thanks! I'm gonna wash up. See ya!" And with that, he gave me a wink before heading to the locker room.
A while later, I finally made it to the classroom. I sat down in my chair and rested my head on the desk.
"Hey, Elise." I felt someone tap my back. I turned around and saw Ryan and the rest of the guys.
"Hey," I replied.
"Aight. Let's go." Ryan Responded.
"Where?"
"To the café, silly." Ryan ruffled my hair before I stood up while he grabbed my bag.
Oh well... guess I really have to go with them.
...
When we arrived at the café, we sat near the window while Twan went to the counter to place our orders. The awkwardness was real. Well, maybe not awkward for them—but definitely for me. I was the one making it awkward.
"Alright, we just have to wait for our orders," Twan said as he came back and sat beside me. "And we're still waiting for Minho," he added.
"Speaking of Minho—look who just arrived," James said, pointing at the door.
The café bell rang as Minho stepped in.
"Late, again. As always."
"Sorry, was looking for my fuck and couldn't find it," Minho said casually, before sliding into the chair across from me and giving a wink to the girls at the next table.
They giggled.
The rest of the boys started chatting like there was no tomorrow. Topics jumped from basketball shoes to who benched the most this week. I didn't even try to keep up.
I rested my cheek on my palm and turned to stare out the window. There was a cat sitting on the roof of a car across the street. Lucky. Probably has more peace than I do right now.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Twan doing dumb hand gestures while James laughed like a hyena. Ryan looked chill, as usual, sipping on a soda while leaning back in his chair as he talked to Travis who was clutching a book. And Minho? He was spinning a spoon between his fingers, not even looking at anyone—just totally zoning out.
He wasn't saying anything. I tried not to look at him too long, but something about his quietness unsettled me.
"Hey Elise," Twan said suddenly, leaning toward me. "You doing okay?"
I blinked and looked at him. "Yeah. Why?"
"You're quiet. Like... unusually quiet."
I shrugged. "Just spacing out."
Minho snorted.
"Oh? Got something to say?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
But he just looked away again, unbothered. I huffed and leaned my head back against the booth while closing my eyes for a second. Maybe today wasn't so bad. Maybe. That's when I felt it—a subtle shift in the air. You know that feeling when someone's watching you?
I opened my eyes and met Minho's gaze. He wasn't smirking this time. No teasing. Just... staring. It only lasted a second before he looked away again like nothing happened. But that one look? It made my heart do something weird.
...What the hell was that?