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It couldn’t get more cliché than this, and Sanha knew it as he dropped to the floor to pick up his fallen books, his head throbbing from the impact.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” the other boy asked.
“I’m fine,” Sanha said, quickly making two piles to separate his books and the other boy’s.
Sanha knew him. It was hard not to, Eunwoo was the star of the soccer team, the most famous heartthrob of their high school, and Sanha was on the cheerleading team. Not only did he see him during games, his circle of friends consisted of girls who swooned over Cha Eunwoo every chance they got.
“Oh, you’re the cheerleader,” Eunwoo said, and Sanha nodded, looking down to hide the blush tinting his cheek. It wasn’t a surprise Eunwoo knew who he was; they followed each other on instagram. (Not that there was a single person in this entire school who didn’t follow Sanha on instagram.)
When he stood up with his books, Eunwoo took a step forward, entering his personal space. Out of all the people he could’ve bumped into, it had to be the best looking guy in the entire school and Sanha’s crush. He raised one of his hands to Sanha’s forehead, his fingers softly touching the reddened spot.
“Shouldn’t you go to the nurse?” Eunwoo asked. Sanha almost scoffed, taking a step back, shaking his head. Why was his forehead throbbing so much when Eunwoo had been hit just as hard and looked just fine?
“I’m fine, thank you,” Sanha said, quickly turning around.
Yoojung and Doyeon didn’t waste any time before making fun of him over lunch.
“Why didn’t you talk to him! You’re so cute, he would’ve surely succumbed to your charm in an instant had you tried to flirt a little,” Doyeon said, and Yoojung gave her a judging look.
“He’s lovestruck, Doyeon. Remember when we met and you couldn’t even remember your own name? And you expect this poor boy to flirt?”
Doyeon rolled her eyes.
“How about we start with something simple?” Yoojung suggest. “Like not waiting to use the locker room after games?”
Sanha shook his head no immediately. There was no way he would change with soccer players around.
“I like to sing in the shower,” he whined.
“I’ll give you my chemistry notes from last year,” Yoojung proposed, and Sanha had no choice but to accept. He was failing chemistry, and just thinking about Yoojung’s neat, color coded notes brought tears to his eyes.
“Deal,” he said, and they shook hands.
Sanha’s crush started the year before, when he entered high school. Eunwoo was already in his 3rd year of high school then, and very popular. He was good looking, had a smile to die for and was especially good at soccer, but he was also very nice.
Sanha had sprained his ankle during a cheerleading practice and was forced to walk with crutches until it was completely healed. It was winter, so the squad wouldn’t be too affected, but it was a hassle to have to use crutches.
His mom left for work at 6:30, so Sanha’s step brother drove him to school on his way to college a bit later, still too early for most students to be around.
Sanha struggled with the door for a few seconds, not knowing how to open it while holding his crutches and his bag. It was Eunwoo who saved the situation, coming from behind him.
He held the door open for him, Sanha automatically reddening.
“Thank you,” he said, expecting Eunwoo to go his own way.
Eunwoo took Sanha’s bag and smiled at him.
“Is your injury really bad?” he asked, following Sanha towards his locker, his pace adjusted to Sanha’s slow one.
“I’ll be fine in a few days, it’s just sprained,” explained Sanha, stealing a glance at him.
Eunwoo was truly beautiful. Sanha bit his lip, looking away from him.
“I hope you’ll heal well then. How are we going to win our games without our favourite cheerleader boy?” Eunwoo asked, laughing and Sanha was sure even the tips of his ears were red.
They finally reached his locker.
“Thank you for your help,” said Sanha before taking his bag, not looking up at Eunwoo.
It took him 5 full minutes to enter the right combination to open his locker, and a year and a half to speak to Eunwoo again.
Heads turned towards him when he entered the locker room after the game, hair sticking to his forehead with sweat, red and blue uniform stained with grass. He ignored everyone, walking to the locker at the end of the row, the one with his name on it.
Sanha tried not to stare at them as he entered his combination to unlock his locker. The last thing he needed was to lose time ogling at shirtless soccer players. He had to get out of there as fast as possible.
“Ya, Sanha,” one of the boys said, and the cheerleader turned around to find the assistant captain, Minhyuk, leaning against the locker next to his.
“No,” Sanha said automatically, knowing what he was about to ask.
“Aw, come on man. Don’t be like this, I’m trying here,” Minhyuk said, and Sanha raised an eyebrow at him.
Their interaction drawn the attention of a few other soccer players on them, including Eunwoo who was drying his hair with a towel a few feet away, looking at them with a curious expression. Sanha only allowed himself a quick glance before focusing on Minhyuk again.
“Listen, Minhyuk. I barely talk to him, so I don’t know where you got that idea that I can introduce you to him,” Sanha told him, trying to make himself clear.
He had managed to avoid Minhyuk as much as possible in the past few months, and the older boy hadn’t really gone out of his way to talk to him, but once in awhile he tried again.
“You live with him, there must be something you can do. I’ve had a crush on him for 2 years, is there really nothing you can do to help me?” Minhyuk pleaded, pouting, and Sanha sighed.
“He works at that music store a few street away from here, on most nights after his classes. Find him there if you want. Or just hit him up on Facebook or something. He doesn’t bite, he’s single, you’ve got nothing to lose. I just can’t help you more than this. We don’t even talk,” Sanha admitted, and Minhyuk nodded, accepting Sanha’s words.
“Thank you, you’re kind, Yoon Sanha,” Minhyuk said, and he ruffled Sanha’s hair before the younger boy had time to push his hand away.
When Sanha finally rose from bed, at 1 on Saturday afternoon, it was because of loud voices outside his bedroom. He rubbed his eyes, running a hand through his messy hair before he jumped out of bed, his feet hitting the cold wooden floor of the basement.
“Are you going to sh-”
Sanha blinked at the two boys sitting side by side in the living room.
Sharing his living quarter with his step brother wasn’t so bad. Jinwoo left his clothes in the bathroom and listened to the TV late at night, but Sanha had been ready to make some sacrifices for his basement bedroom, with that one small window that was easy to cover up to keep the light from entering the room in the morning and the constant chilly temperature even during hot summer days.
Sanha and Jinwoo didn’t talk much. They were 4 years apart, and didn’t have much in common, at least when their parents first started dating. Sanha was just starting middle school then, before he had his growth spurt, so he was smaller than most kids. He had those thick glasses, before he started wearing contacts, and wasn’t very good with people. He stuttered and spent most of his time watching TV, playing guitar or reading science fiction novels.
Jinwoo was starting high school then. He was on the soccer team, had a lot of friends. He was too cool for a kid like Sanha, and they ended up never hitting it off.
They ended up sharing more interests later. Jinwoo learnt how to play drums, joining a band, while Sanha grew up quickly and started playing sports.
Sanha came out as gay to their parents first, when he was 13. They took it well, so a few days later, it was Jinwoo coming out to them. All of that should’ve brought them closer, but it didn’t have that effect. They still barely spoke to each other.
And as much as Sanha wanted to yell at him for waking him up, he found someone he wasn’t expecting to see in his living room.
Cha Eunwoo.
Sanha knew they had been friends at some point. Jinwoo graduated two years prior, and that meant Eunwoo and him were together on the soccer team for two years, but to find Eunwoo in his living room was not something Sanha was prepared to.
“Hey, cheerleader boy,” Eunwoo greeted him, dropping the controller to wave at him.
“Erm, h-hi,” Sanha tried to greet back, but failed.
“Sorry if we woke you up, but it’s past noon already. The agreement only works until noon,” Jinwoo apologized, bringing up the agreement they had years before to let each other sleep in the morning.
“It’s fine,” Sanha said, grabbing clothes in his closet before coming out of his room again, slowly retreating back into the hallway to get to the bathroom.
Eunwoo’s eyes never left him, Sanha’s cheek visibly reddening when he realized he was wearing his pink pajamas with kittens on them.
When he came out of the bathroom, showered and wearing normal clothes, Eunwoo was playing alone.
“Where’d he go?” asked Sanha, drying his hair with a towel. He was trying to swallow his nervousness and speak normally to him.
“I’m not sure. He got a call and said he’d be back.”
Eunwoo threw the controller on the couch, closing the TV with the remote.
“I didn’t know you were his step brother,” Eunwoo said while standing up and Sanha shrugged.
“We’re more like roommates at this point,” admitted Sanha, walking into his room. He combed through his hair in front of his mirror while Eunwoo leaned on the door frame.
“Hey, that’s a nice guitar you’ve got there,” he said, walking up to Sanha’s acoustic guitar, the one he saved up for so long to buy. “Can I try it?” Eunwoo asked.
Sanha’s eyes widened. “You know how to play?”
“A little,” answered Eunwoo. He took the guitar between his hands, gently, to Sanha’s relief, treating it with care.
His fingers ran over the strings slowly, playing beginner chords, but it was cute. Sanha couldn’t help the smile from stretching on his lips.
“My brother’s in a band, so he showed me some chords, but I’m not very good,” Eunwoo admitted.
Sanha took the guitar from his, sitting down on the bed and placing it on his lap. Eunwoo sat down next to him, watching him.
“My dad’s a songwriter,” Sanha said, letting his fingers play with the strings. “We only bonded over music. He taught me how to play the guitar.”
Sanha didn’t know why he was telling him that. His mouth was running and he couldn’t stop the words from falling out.
“Does it make you sad, that your parents aren’t together?” asked Eunwoo, and Sanha briefly glanced at him. He genuinely seemed interested in the answer. Sanha could feel his cheeks warming up. He kept playing the guitar, almost out of nervousness.
“No, not anymore. My mom is much more happy now, and it’s not like it makes much of a difference for me. Jinwoo’s dad also treats me really well. He knows more about me than my own dad does. Even though it’s difficult, we’ve been trying to be more like a family. My dad...I’m not even sure where he is right now. New York, Tokyo, London. He’s always somewhere, and he doesn’t bother telling me about it,” Sanha tried to explain to Eunwoo as well as he could. “I was 9 when my parents divorced, but they were never really together, so there was nothing to miss.”
Eunwoo nodded, placing a hand on Sanha’s shoulder.
Sanha’s fingers became clumsy, his hands clammy and he can’t make his guitar sound right anymore. Sanha winced at the messed up chords and places his guitar behind him on the bed.
Someone could be heard coming down the stairs. Eunwoo quickly stood up, Sanha’s shoulders hunching in disappointment.
“I’ll see you at school,” said Eunwoo before leaving the room.
Sanha reminded himself that Eunwoo wasn’t even interested in him in the first place. He was Jinwoo’s friend, not his.
He wasn’t there to see him.
The fire alarm blared through the corridors, making Sanha pull a face at the high sound. Students around him were yelling, walking quickly in a panicked mode while Sanha rolled his eyes, taking his time to walk to the exit door.
There were procedures in case of a fire alarm, and everyone knew them. They had practiced the evacuation of the school at the beginning of the school year, yet students were running around, ignoring the basic rules.
Sanha walked through the doors, the wind immediately pushing his bangs aside. He smiled, his eyes scanning the crowd spread on the grass behind the parking to find any of his friends.
He couldn’t find any of his friends from the squad. They had probably exited through a different door.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around as fast as possible, his eyes widening at Eunwoo’s proximity.
“Hey,” he said softly, and Sanha gave him a big smile, his heart warming up at how happy to see him Eunwoo looked. “Do you think there’s a real fire?” asked Eunwoo, placing his arm around Sanha’s shoulders, so naturally one wouldn’t have paid much mind to it but Sanha’s cheeks were already flaming.
“Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s just a freshman that pulled on the fire alarm. There’s one every year,” said Sanha, and Eunwoo nodded, a smile on his lips.
“What class were you in?” Eunwoo inquired. His hand went up, pushing Sanha’s bangs away from his eyes, his fingertips grazing his skin and Sanha lost his words.
“I-”
He couldn’t remember what the question was. His heart was beating so quickly. Eunwoo was so close, touching him as if they were friends, or…
“You can’t remember what class you were in?” teased Eunwoo, laughing and Sanha let out a nervous laugh.
“It was English,” he finally said. “I don’t really like English class, so it’s fine.”
Eunwoo raised and eyebrow, waiting, and it took Sanha a few seconds to understand what he was waiting for.
“What about you?”
“I was in music class. It’s my favourite class,” he told Sanha. “But this is fine too,” he said, looking at him straight in the eyes before he pulled back his arm and waved at him before walking away to meet his friends.
Sanha stayed there, wondering if Eunwoo had been flirting with him, his entire face feeling warm.
“We’re playing against the best team on Saturday,” Eunwoo told Sanha when he dropped down next to where he had been taking a break on the grass after his practice. He let himself fall down, his back hitting the grass and he looked up at Sanha. He was wearing his uniform, sweaty from the heat and the effort, eyes tired but a smile on his lips. Doyeon and Yoojung exchanged a look before muttering an excuse and getting up, leaving the two boys alone.
Sanha’s heartbeat quickened, and it wasn’t from the constant physical effort his cheerleading practice had required.
“Do you think you have a chance?” asked Sanha, trying to control his voice so he wouldn’t sound nervous.
“Maybe. I hope so,” Eunwoo said, and Sanha raised an eyebrow at him.
“Hey, you’re the star player. You can save the day, I’m sure you’re going to win,” protested Sanha with conviction, and Eunwoo shrugged. He sat up to face Sanha.
“How about we make a deal?”
Sanha looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“If I win, will you do one thing I ask you?” Eunwoo asked, and Sanha waited for him to go on. “You’ll have to do one thing I say. I’ll tell you what if we win.”
Sanha shrugged, trying not to blush. Why would Eunwoo want him to do anything for him?
“Okay,” Sanha agreed, and Eunwoo smiled at him. It was the kind of smile people rarely saw and Sanha always longed for, when he smiled genuinely, his eyes sparkling, almost closing because he was smiling so big. It was a soft smile, and for an instant Eunwoo seemed younger.
“I’ll see you there, then,” Eunwoo said. He stood up, dusting off the grass from his uniform.
Sanha hesitated, biting his lip.
“I’ll cheer for you,” he said quickly, trying to get the words out as fast as possible to avoid changing his mind.
“Then I’ll surely win,” said the soccer player before walking away.
The night was cold and windy, but fortunately the sun had made the soccer team the honor of its presence. The bleachers were quickly filling up with people, students or parents coming to see the most important game of the year.
Sanha was more nervous than he usually was. He didn’t know if it was because of the deal, but his palms were clammy and he kept chewing on his lips.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure we’re going to win,” Doyeon told him, reaching up to ruffle Sanha’s hair. If Doyeon was around, Yoojung wasn’t very far. As Sanha expected, she showed up from behind him, a smile on her lips.
“You can say no if he asks you something weird, you know,” she said. Doyeon sighed and Yoojung held Sanha’s stare until he nodded.
Sanha was glad to have them both as friends. He became friends with Yoojung first. He helped her reach for books on the last shelf of the library one day and to thank him, she helped him with his math homework. They were both cheerleaders then, but Sanha wasn’t close to anyone at that point.
Doyeon was Yoojung’s best friend. She was a lot more alike to Sanha than Yoojung was, and it was probably why they were always arguing.
They were nice to Sanha, and the best friends he could ask for. He didn’t know how to act around boys so he found hanging out with girls much easier.
The game was about to start.
Eunwoo’s eyes met Sanha’s from across the field, and he smiled at him.
No sound could be heard, only Sanha’s own breaths resonated in his ears as Eunwoo ran towards the goal, gracefully passing the ball between his feet, running past his opponents. The crowd was on the edge of their seats, holding their breath. No one talked, all eyes focusing on the star player.
Eunwoo took a step back, preparing to shoot. Sanha felt like he was watching him in slow motion, his feet propelling the ball towards the goal. Only a minute was left.
The goalie jumped to block the ball.
It really was a matter of a few centimeters. His fingers barely caught onto the ball. It slowed down, slowly, before rolling away in front of the goal.
Eunwoo fell to his knees.
The opposing team managed to score in the last 20 seconds.
They had lost.
Sanha was already showered and changed when Eunwoo stormed into the locker room and disappeared in the showers without greeting anyone. Sanha sat down on the bench, waiting as people started leaving until it was just him and the running shower.
Sanha played games on his phone, waiting for him to get ready.
“Are you waiting for me?” asked Eunwoo when he sat down on the bench next to him, his hair wet, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans and smelling like soap.
“Yes,” admitted Sanha. He put his phone away, turning towards him. “What can I do for you?”
Eunwoo looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“We had a deal,” Sanha said, and Eunwoo forced a small smile.
“Sanha, we lost. I messed up and we lost,” he reminded him.
“You were so good. You scored two goals for your team, and at the end when you were running towards the goal with the ball, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from you. You were so impressive, you seemed so confident, so cool. I love watching you play,” Sanha said, smiling, trying to push the nervousness aside. “And even when you missed, I was so impressed. You owned the game, Eunwoo. You’re the star player, you’re the real winner. So I owe you a favor, don’t I?”
Eunwoo just stared at him, his eyes showing various emotions, from confusion, pride, and even nervousness.
“Sanha…” he said after a few seconds, and the younger boy did something he thought he’d never do.
He gathered all his courage, placing his hands on Eunwoo’s shoulders and leaned forward until their lips were on each other’s.
The kiss lasted a few seconds before Sanha pulled away, Eunwoo’s lack of response making him even more nervous. Had he done the wrong thing?
It took only a second before Eunwoo was taking Sanha’s face between his hands, bringing their lips together again.