Basketball
Basketball
Ugh, what a hassle. Such a hassle.
After actually washing up, I wondered if I really had to go this far.
"Gotta go, gotta go..."
Right, I'm already washed up, let's go.
I do owe Choi Jae-rim a little something, anyway.
Not that I lost to him in real life, but it's a debt too big to ignore.
Let's just think of this as paying it off a little.
Actually, it's a good thing for me too.
I dried my hair while convincing myself.
I checked my phone while drying it roughly, and there were 14 missed calls.
12 of them were from around 11 o'clock... so he must have listened to all of them and went to sleep.
I really was tired, I thought, putting down the hair dryer.
It's already bright out, no need to bother drying it completely.
Even if I left right now, it would be cutting it close.
I closed my eyes for a second while washing up and ended up rushing for no reason.
I scolded myself and put on my smartwatch.
If I want to eat what Choi Jae-rim bought, I need to leave right now.
I threw on a white t-shirt with Bermuda shorts and shoved a towel and extra clothes into my duffel bag.
Ah, I need to fill my water bottle...
"Choi Jae-rim probably bought some."
Or I'll just fill it at the water fountain.
I opened the shoe rack and found my black-and-red Jordans among the various shoes.
I shoved my feet in with the laces still untied and opened the door.
"I'm off."
"When is this bastard coming?"
"There's still 5 minutes left."
"That just means there's only 5 minutes left."
"Hey, 5 minutes is enough..."
"Both of you, shut up for a second. It's not like we'll automatically lose just because he's not here, so let's just wait calmly."
"Excuse me, Mr. Ahn Woo-jin?"
"Why are you calling me like that?"
"Your leg is shaking right now, you know."
"... Fuck."
Ahn Woo-jin crossed his legs with a short curse.
But it was already too late.
Choi Jae-rim had decided to relieve his immediate impatience by teasing Ahn Woo-jin.
"Ahahahahaha!! Guys!!! Look at this bastard's state! He's shaking his leg like crazy because he's scared we'll lose since Kim Jae-hyun isn't here!"
"Jae-rim, we're on the same team..."
"That's not what's important right now!"
"Then what is important?"
"That we absolutely have to embarrass this bastard?"
At Choi Jae-rim's confident declaration, everyone gathered in the gymnasium burst out laughing, and Ahn Woo-jin finally couldn't take it anymore.
Deciding that violence was the only way to shut that trap, he immediately grabbed Choi Jae-rim by the neck and shook him.
"Die!! Just die!!!"
"Ack! Ogogogogok...!"
"Hey you psycho, there are girls here too...!"
Choi Jae-rim, who was making strange groans, rolled his eyes to look at Lee Ju-yeong.
"Unggiit...!"
It was an answer to his worry.
He truly was a madman.
The only fortunate thing was that the girls and boys were completely separated, divided between the entrance and the far wall, so it wasn't heard clearly.
Since they were chatting among themselves far away, Choi Jae-rim's vulgar groans didn't reach them.
"So, when is Kim Jae-hyun coming?"
"He did text me that he left a while ago."
Meanwhile, one of the male students from another class came over and asked.
"Let's say the kids from our class came to study, but why did they come?"
His finger pointed to Han Ye-rin and her friends, who were surrounded by girls.
Ahn Woo-jin tilted his head at the question for a moment.
"What? Weren't they here to hang out?"
"No. I just came and saw them there. They came when they heard you guys were playing."
"Ah."
Ahn Woo-jin and Kim Jae-hyun, and even Lee Ju-yeong and Choi Jae-rim who were on the edge.
"We are a bit good-looking."
"Haa... Anyway. So why did they come? Did you call them yourself to show off your cool side? Is the straight-shooting man different after all?"
The male student had been momentarily swayed by Ahn Woo-jin's pace, but he quickly recovered and started attacking in the form of a question.
"Is that what it takes to seduce Han Ye-rin? They say the brave win the beauty, after all."
The male student who was excitedly teasing him shut his mouth only after Lee Ju-yeong stiffened and went down.
Then, as if it just occurred to him, he said.
"But putting Han Ye-rin aside, why did Shin Yu-ri and Choi Da-ram come? Did you guys call them?"
"As if we would. And they aren't the type to come just because someone called them."
"That's what I'm saying. Neither of them are the type to come just because someone called, so why are they here?"
When Ahn Woo-jin was keeping his mouth shut at his curiosity-filled question.
"They both came to see Kim Jae-hyun. Why ask when you know?"
"... What?"
The male student who came to tease Lee Ju-yeong and heard something unnecessary froze on the spot.
Lee Ju-yeong's complexion, which had been flushed with embarrassment, turned pale, and Ahn Woo-jin let go of Choi Jae-rim's neck.
"Ah."
It was the dying words of Choi Jae-rim, who finally identified the questioner.
"What, who are you?"
"Uh... I'm Ju-hyun from Class 6. Park Ju-hyun..."
"Wasn't it Jin-woo from Class 7?"
"No."
Once again, Choi Jae-rim falls into silence.
But once again, resurrection.
"Wow, Lee Ju-yeong, you have a friend in Class 6?"
"We went to the same middle school."
"Alumni are legit. Man, I should've had more alumni."
"I went to the same one as you."
"Oh right. Wow, this social butterfly. You had a friend I didn't even know about."
Choi Jae-rim, who was rambling, soon clutched his head with trembling hands.
"Wow, fuck, how is his voice exactly the same? Wow, fuck...."
Even in this situation, Choi Jae-rim's mouth, which had been alive and breathing, slowly closed.
Unfortunately, he was not the frog boy.
A mediocre person who can only get up about 3 times if he falls 7 times.
The mediocre person used the mediocre person's solution.
"Uh... Ju-hyun. It's a bit much for a first meeting, but can you pretend you didn't hear that?"
Immediately after causing all the trouble, begging without a plan.
"Uh, y-yeah. Trust me."
"Ju-hyun, please... I'm asking you too."
"This isn't for us, it's because you might get blacklisted by Choi Da-ram."
While Lee Ju-yeong was begging along and Ahn Woo-jin was gaslighting Park Ju-hyun to keep his mouth shut.
A black and large human figure appeared through the open door.
Kim Jae-hyun, who finally crawled out, wearing red basketball shoes, gray Bermuda shorts, and a white t-shirt.
"I'm here."
As soon as he entered, he walked heavily toward Choi Jae-rim.
"Where's the food?"
"Am I a bread shuttle? No, more than that, I had an accident... Ah right, he doesn't know either."
"What?"
"Wow, how have you kept it secret until now?"
Choi Jae-rim, who almost leaked it again, and to the person involved at that, marveled at himself, and Ahn Woo-jin raised his fist.
At the fist full of sincerity, Choi Jae-rim quickly defended himself.
"I'm having a menhera moment right now, that's why. I'm mentally weak, mentally weak. Ah, I'm not usually like this."
"Jae-rim, please... let's be careful."
It was normal to be curious when hearing incomprehensible words right in front of you, but Kim Jae-hyun was not normal.
"What is all that about. Give me the food quickly. 3 minutes left."
He was more curious about today's lunch, no, breakfast, than that nonsense.
"I left it over there by the mat."
"Oh, nice."
Kim Jae-hyun walked away, and a moment of silence followed.
"He really is handsome. So Choi Da-ram was a total face-obsessed person."
It was Park Ju-hyun's words.
"That's why Choi Da-ram fell for...!"
It was a word spat out by Choi Jae-rim, who couldn't give up his desire for a joke, as he got hit in the back of the head by Ahn Woo-jin.
"Ju-hyun, can I trust you?"
It was the words of Lee Ju-yeong, who had half-given up.
Shin Yu-ri let the various noises reaching her ears drift by and looked at the gymnasium door.
When is he coming.
I miss him.
Come quickly.
Are you going to make a woman wait just because you're a man?
Of course, we didn't promise to meet, but.
Anyway, come quickly.
Shin Yu-ri shook her leg while roughly mingling with the chatter and giggles around her.
It's been a while since I met... well, it hasn't been that long.
Anyway, I met up with friends, but my heart was already elsewhere, so I couldn't focus at all.
I just wanted to see Nogada, to see Kim Jae-hyun.
After waiting for a long time, when the group of Lee Ju-yeong became noisy for some reason.
Shin Yu-ri discovered a human figure in the striking July sunlight.
A very large figure walking down the hallway past the gymnasium door in the distance.
"He's here."
"Hm? What did you say?"
Hmm...
Shin Yu-ri turned her eyes to look at the women around her.
Oh right, Choi Da-ram.
I have to pay attention to her now.
Shin Yu-ri rolled her eyes for a moment at the annoying fact she just realized, then opened her mouth.
"I think Jae-hyun is here."
"Oh? Where, where."
At that, everyone's gaze turned toward the gymnasium door.
"He finally came."
"You have to see Jae-hyun playing basketball."
"Ah, I'm drooling."
Dirty bitches.
But there's no need to keep them in check.
Because it's me.
Shin Yu-ri was confident.
The confidence that I am better than anyone here, no, better than anyone in this city.
"Phew... he's here."
Ah, Han Ye-rin was there.
Shin Yu-ri scanned Han Ye-rin's face.
Hmm... I win by a hair.
And she has a boyfriend.
Shin Yu-ri, having made her assessment, turned her eyes away from the scavengers and looked at the gymnasium door.
Kim Jae-hyun, who entered shortly after, was familiar if you could call it that.
No, it's not familiar at all.
"Wow... his face."
"Wow, his body."
"Shut up for a second. You dirty bitches."
For once, Shin Yu-ri agreed with Choi Da-ram's words.
I want to say something if I could.
But I don't even feel like it.
He's better than I thought.
Kim Jae-hyun, who was always neat, had a somewhat... unfamiliar sloppiness and friendliness about him in his disheveled state.
Casual clothes instead of the always neat school uniform.
Hair that was even more disheveled than usual because it wasn't fully dry.
Because of that, his features stood out even more.
I'm glad I came.
Truly.
The noisy reactions around her had long since been muted.
Come to think of it, it feels like it's the first time I've seen him in casual clothes...
The disheveled and comfortable appearance of the guy I'm seeing, who was always put-together, was more destructive than I thought.
More than I knew officially, even more than that.
Apart from Shin Yu-ri's heart pounding, as soon as Kim Jae-hyun entered the gymnasium, he approached Lee Ju-yeong's group, had a short conversation, and then went to the mat to rummage through a bag.
What he took out were 2 triangle kimbap and a water bottle.
Is that his lunch?
That "is that" turned out to be true.
Kim Jae-hyun inhaled it quickly.
Shin Yu-ri was surprised once at herself for feeling pity there.
And was surprised once again at herself for shouting, 'Actually, this is good, now it's time for a lunch date!'
Scary kid...
Anyway, nice.
He'll obviously be hungry after exercising.
Since his friends are there, it was also good to tag along and eat together.
Of course, there's the Life Server after this, but... being a little late is fine, right!
In a good mood, Shin Yu-ri smiled and waved at Kim Jae-hyun, who happened to look her way.
Kim Jae-hyun flinched for a moment and then waved back.
How cute.
Shin Yu-ri smiled even brighter.