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Everyone says I’m obvious.
Heawon teases me about it constantly. Jiwoo keeps a running tally of how many times I “accidentally” show up wherever Yoona is. Even Coach side-eyed me once when I left practice early with a sunflower bouquet tucked under my arm.
But the thing is, when you like someone like Seol yoona… you can’t be subtle.
She’s impossible not to notice.
She walks like the hallway belongs to her. Talks like every word has already been edited twice in her head. She’s the kind of girl who stays behind to clean up after events she organized, and still manages to look picture-perfect by homeroom the next day.
She’s everything I’m not.
Prim. Perfect. Unpredictable.
I’m late. Loud. Constantly bruised from practice. And I’ve got no five-year plan except maybe: "Keep Scoring, Don’t screw up."
But I see her. I always do, since year 1st welcome assembly she's one of the student who gave a speech. The assembly ended i was about to head out when someone spoke behind me, there she is staring "You're shoelace... it's loose" my world stops for a second but quickly kneeled down to tie it.
"Thank you" she replied with a gentle smile and met my eyes. My heart skips a beat ahh i'm screwed.
I see the way she taps her pen three times before speaking. The way her smile falters when no one’s looking. The way she holds herself like she has to be twice as good to feel just enough.
I see her, and I love her. Plain and simple.
So yeah. One day i gave a her a flower she barely made eye contact with me, just a simple "Thank you" but it's okay, and then i just kept doing what you call "acts of service" I bring her coffee, Her favorite bread from that overpriced bakery, I volunteer for council banner duty when I don’t even own a ruler. I wave after every game, like a fool my jersey drench in sweat and a heart too loud for its own good.
And when her sash slipped that one time during an event, I fixed it.
Barely touched. Just enough to help.
I still remember the way she looked at me like for half a second, she let me in.
But then she’d go back to pretending not to notice.
And that was fine.
I never asked for more. Never pushed. Not once.
Because Yoona’s the kind of girl who needs space to choose.
And if she was ever going to choose me, I wanted her to mean it.
So I waited. Through every silence. Every sidelong glance. Every almost.
Until the day of the championship.
I wasn’t thinking about her, not at first. I mean- I was, I always was but I was focused. Zoned in. Last Quarter. Scores tied. The kind of moment that turns you into legend or heartbreak.
Then I heard it.
My name.
“JINSOL!”
I turned, squinting toward the bleachers.
There she was. Standing on a bench. Voice shaking. Eyes fierce.
“Win this game,” she called, “and you’ll get your answer!”
My heart stopped. I swear to God, I forgot how to dribble the ball for a second.
Then I smiled.
Not just because she said it but because she meant it.
I shoot the ball with everything I had. Sent it flying from the half court. People were screaming. My team was losing their minds.
But I didn’t care.
I didn’t even look at the scoreboard.
I ran to her.
Straight off the court, still panting, my hair tie barely staying on. And when I reached her, she was standing there arms crossed, but smiling like she’d been waiting her whole life.
“Well?” I asked, out of breath and out of patience. “Did I win?”
She stepped in. Close enough that I could smell her shampoo. Close enough to undo me with one sentence.
“You’ve been winning since the first flower,” she said.
And then our lips met.
Right there. At the bleachers. Like the whole game had been a setup for this.
And I thought, Screw the trophy.
This is the real prize.