Chapter: 8

"Kim Min Jae..." Nari whispered, staring at the photo while sitting in her owned home.

She came back from her work and was resting on her bed. The photo placed beside the bed on the side table had Kim Min Jae and Park Ye Jun with Nari standing between them. Min Jae standing with his hand on Nari's shoulder wearing a basketball uniform. Ye Jun stood close to Nari, but his hands were behind him. Min Jae and Nari looked extremely happy while Ye Jun just stood there with a slight smile.

Nari scoffed as she looked at the photo. How childish it was when Nari went to see the football match for Min Jae. He was definitely a "Crush material", no doubt. But Nari never thought that the guy whom she once met in the library by accident can be such a huge part of her life. 

Thinking about that day, she suddenly scoffed.

"Ah...good times." She mumbled.

~~~~~

Nari was standing outside the football. It was a sunny day, and she was waiting in the queue to go in. The crowd was indeed huge and mostly girls seemed to come. Nari scoffed, looking at the posters they carried. Being in the queue, she didn't realise that many people were behind her too, until someone tapped her shoulder and spoke up.

"Hello!" 

She turned around and there he was, Park Ye Jun, standing with a smirk on his face.

"You? Here?" She was frustrated.

"Yeah, why? It isn't like only girls can watch." he roamed his eyes around.

"Tch!" She looked ahead and tiptoed to see what was taking so long. Suddenly, she wanted to go in quickly.

"But, I heard the team opposite Kim Min Jae is tough to beat." 

"They are saying the team has never lost a match, and the same is going to happen in the inter-school competition." 

Though Nari didn't reply deep down, she was smiling, carrying the belief she had in Min Jae. She knew how good he was at playing football and so she knew they wouldn't lose today.

They soon entered the stadium. Nari was totally frustrated as Ye Jun stuck to her as if chewing gum the whole time. She wondered what he wanted to do. It wasn't like she would talk to him frankly if he did that. While Ye Jun, who was walking behind her all this time, was enjoying this new experience of "stalking the girl though she knows it." He wanted Nari to talk to him so that he could at least know who that other girl was with them that day. Only to help Nari out of the situation, he knew she was innocent.

All the seats were full, people cheering for both teams equally. Nari settled in the middle row and Ye Jun sat beside her. She glared at him while he just smiled at her. The match was about to start and Nari had started to feel butterflies in her stomach now. Though she had seen many live matches this time the excitement was on a different level as one of the players had invited her personally.

The announcement of the match starting soon made Nari smile finally. Ye Jun looked at her and wondered if she was especially well dressed today, or if her usual clothes are all this beautiful. Wearing a round neck full sleeve shirt with two white stripes on its chest area it was accompanied by a white box pleats skirt. Light make-up on her face made her look pretty in a different way today and Ye Jun admired it a lot. But he didn't stay at one place when the thought struck him again that it's Kim Min Jae who makes her smile, not him.

Soon all the players came out along with Min Jae. The crowd started to cheer for both teams. Nari's eyes were stuck on Min Jae while Min Jae kept looking for someone in the crowd until his eyes met hers. He smiled and waved at her and she waved back. Ye Jun looked at Min Jae from the corner of his eyes and his eyes travelled back to her. Deep inside he was hurt as Nari never smiled while looking at him as she did now. He couldn't ignore the fact that no matter how many steps he stayed close to her, he was as far from her as a star is from a stargazer. 

When the whistle blew and the match started, Ye Jun didn't know. All the time, he kept reading Nari's face as if he could jot down all the details on a paper later. Whenever she frowned with her fists on her chest. Whenever she smiled with joy and whenever she gasped, Ye Jun lived all those emotions with her. On the other hand, Nari was always looking at Min Jae. His skills were excellent and she admired them. The way he tricked his opponents and got his team's score high made her smile more than ever she had been. Min Jae was indeed talented and good looking, Nari's eyes didn't leave his face even for a minute. She kept looking at only one player in the whole game as if he was the only one playing. 

Soon the match ended but Ye Jun didn't realise when the whistle blew again and when the match ended. All he knew was Nari was happy at that particular moment. She waved at Min Jae again and that was when Ye Jun realised that the match ended. He looked at Min Jae, smiling at her and it made him look down. Sighing, he stood up slowly. Everyone started to leave the stadium. Ye Jun was walking out, behind him was Nari extremely happy as Min Jae's team had won the game. 

Soon they got out and Min Jae came running towards them.

"Nari-yah!" He called her out as he ran towards her. 

Wearing his football uniform sweat all over his face and body. As ran through the crowd people cheered and complimented him. He was panting by the time he reached them.

"Did you enjoy it?" He asked and Nari nodded with a smile on her lips.

Min Jae smiled.

"Okay then, I have one small favour." 

Ye Jun looked at him along with Nari, both clueless.

"Since this is the first you've seen me playing and we won too. Let's click a photo."

Nari smiled and nodded, while, Ye Jun started to walk away.

"Excuse me!" Min Jae called him out.

Ye Jun turned around and found Min Jae asking him to join them. Ye Jun monotonously looked at Nari and she shifted a bit in her place. Slight expressions took over Ye Jun's face as Nari's small action spoke way too much than he had expected. She didn't mind him being in the photo? He wondered.

Slowly walking towards them he joined them, Min Jae kept his hand on Nari's shoulder while her head leaned towards his side. Ye Jun just stood on the side with a slight smile on his face and his hands at his back.   

"1...2...3." Said the guy clicking the photo and soon a flash came out and that was how the photo was clicked.

~~~~~

Nari kept looking at the photo, her thumb trailed over Ye Jun, he was wearing baby blue trousers and a loose rose colour t-shirt. The slight smile on his face made Nari realise how left out he might've felt. Ye Jun, the guy who used to always smile, wasn't smiling much. She sighed, her eyes glistened.

"Park Ye Jun, where are you?"