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It was only two weeks into high school and Somi was facing yet another boy, scratching his neck, asking her out to dinner. She glanced at Soyeon, who snorted and held back her laughter beside her, and put on her most apologetic smile.“Sorry Jinyoung sunbaenim, but I’m...not really interested in dating right now,” she finally said. She’s used far too many excuses up to now—I’m busy with taekwondo practice, my dad doesn’t want me to have a boyfriend, I have to pick up my little sister after school—but she thought she should be more straightforward once and for all.She bowed to him one last time before ducking towards the school cafeteria, dragging a cackling Soyeon behind her.“Harshest rejection yet,” Soyeon said when she had calmed down. “Wonderful execution.”Somi just groaned, swinging her lunch box at Soyeon half-heartedly.“But for real though, Bae Jinyoung is a heartthrob! You little heartbreaker, you.”Somi scoffed. “Yeah, Daehwi’s in love with him, he won’t stop talking about his tiny face. He’ll kill me.”“You don’t think he’s cute at all?” Soyeon asked, an eyebrow raised.“Honestly? He looks like a grape on a stick,” Somi answered easily as they entered the cafeteria.“Who looks like a grape on a stick?” she heard from her other side. Daehwi popped up out of nowhere, lacing his arm around hers. Somi took one look at him and glared at Soyeon, hoping she wouldn’t say a thing.“Bae Jinyoung asked Somi out,” Soyeon spilled nonchalantly. Somi groaned and hit Soyeon with her lunch box again.“Yah, Jeon Somi!” Daehwi screeched at her, appalled, spinning her around to face him, his eyes the biggest she’s ever seen them be. “He did what?!”“I told him no, okay! You can have him!” Somi cried.“Yaaah, Jeon Somi!” he repeated, whining this time. “How could you reject a face like that?!” His face then contorted into one of shock. “Is he the grape on the stick?!”Somi nodded, bracing herself. “His head’s so small,” she muttered under her breath. Soyeon snorted again.Daehwi gasped then shook her shoulders vigorously a few times before pushing her towards an empty table. “I can’t believe you, Jeon Somi,” he said exasperatedly as he sat beside her, making it a point to flail his arms as dramatically as possible before resting his head on the table.“Maybe he’s just not Somi’s type,” Soyeon said as she sat across them. Somi narrowed her eyes, unsure, but nodded her head.“I dunno, I just don’t want to have dinner with these guys, it’s so awkward,” she reasoned out as she picked up a chicken wing with her fingers. She bit into it in the messiest way possible, and it was Daehwi’s turn to groan.“Why have four boys asked you out in the span of two weeks when you don’t even know grace?” he complained. She retorted by pointedly rubbing the wing on the side of her mouth, leaving a trail of sauce, staring at him with raised eyebrows.“Because she’s our pretty little Somi,” Soyeon cooed while throwing a pack of tissues at her face. Somi laughed and shrugged. “But for real, what’s your type?”“I am also genuinely curious,” Daehwi announced, finally lifting his head and taking out his lunch. “Because apparently, Jinyoung hyung does not make the cut for you.”Somi had a pained look on her face as she searched for an answer. “Ah,” she finally said as she slammed her free hand against the table, “My first crush ever was on Simba.”“As in Lion King?” Soyeon asked.“Yeah, he’s cute,” Somi replied with a shrug and another bite of chicken. Daehwi half-laughed, half-cried.“Jeon Somi! You’re impossible.”A loud drumroll from outside the cafeteria made Somi look up at the entrance mid-chew. That’s when she realized more than half the students were at varying stages of getting up to leave, cleaning up their trays and heading to the exit.“What’s going on?” Somi asked.Soyeon looked up, trying to recall anything important. “Oh, the cheerleaders are holding a pep rally in the auditorium,” she said.“Ooh, I promised Yoojung I’d watch! Wanna come with?” Daehwi said as he got up from his seat, packing his lunch right back up. Somi frowned but Soyeon replied with a, “Sure, why not?”, and Somi didn’t want to eat alone.A few minutes later, Somi was sitting, squeezed behind a bunch of juniors at the bleachers of the school basketball court. Even if lunch was cut short, she did enjoy the energy in the full court. The cheers even before the cheerleaders’ performances and the sound of the drums were making her smile too. It made her excited for her team’s upcoming taekwondo games, which were never as popular as this, but had the same exciting rush of competition and school pride to it. Just as Somi turned her head to mention it to Soyeon, music started blaring from the overhead speakers. She looked up and saw the cheerleaders skip onto the court, never breaking their smile or posture. The cheerleaders began their dance routine, swinging around their arms and legs.Somi was taken aback as the cheers turned even louder as one girl cartwheeled onto the court, stance perfect as she started dancing in the center as a different song started. Somi noticed that she was really tall for a cheerleader: most cheerleaders she knew were around Yoojung’s height or a little bit taller than that. Aside from that, she noticed the girl—the main character, Somi noted, watching her long limbs take up the most space, all eyes on her—was also ridiculously pretty, with big eyes and full lips. It was no wonder that she was the main character, Somi thought, admiring that the girl was both pretty and talented. Somi tried to watch the others as well, but her eyes kept going back to the center. It must have been the long limbs.It was when their stunts performance began that Somi really became drawn to her. From experience, Somi knew that being tall and gymnastics was a hard combination to manage. She assumed Ms. Protagonist (as she now nicknamed the girl) was a spotter, but she was terribly wrong.Ms. Protagonist was thrown up and was able to kick up cleanly into the air, and Somi’s jaw dropped. “Daehwi, who is that? She’s so good!” She pulled at his blazer.“That’s Kim Doyeon, future captain,” he replied. “She’s a junior but she’s one of the best. She choreographed a lot of their first routine.”Somi nodded with her eyebrows raised, clapping with the music. “She’s so pretty!” she said over the music, watching as Doyeon did a neat scorpion and winked. Somi couldn’t get over how she glowed as she landed, her form always clean. “Kim Doyeon, huh? I’m a fan,” she said to nobody in particular, eyes never leaving Doyeon’s spinning arms and smiling eyes. Right after lunch, Somi and Daehwi went to the third year wing for their Advanced English class. Somi was a little nervous, having to be classmates with a bunch of juniors for it. The faculty decided to move her up after the language placement tests since she was fluent anyway. She was glad Daehwi was in the class with her, but he sat in front beside a friend of his, Woojin, instead. She told him it was fine, but she felt really awkward at the back of the class without anyone beside her.Five minutes after the bell rang, the professor was doing a recap on present participle tense while Somi tried to keep her eyes open and failed. The loud slam of the door being opened woke her up with a jolt.“Sorry sunbaenim!” A screechy voice rang through the classroom as no other than Kim Doyeon stood at the door, bowing, hair a little bit of a mess and her bowtie skewed. “I had to change after our performance.”The teacher waved her off and Somi watched as Doyeon headed towards her. She should have expected it, since it was either the seat beside her or the one right smack in the front, but she was just a little starstruck.Doyeon smiled at her as she sat down, and Somi smiled shyly back, bowing her head slightly. “You’re in my seat,” Doyeon said as she sat down beside Somi, smile turning stiff. Somi’s eyes widened at Doyeon’s seemingly fake smile. “I’m really sorry—” Somi stuttered, bowing her head multiple times and grabbing at her things, lifting out of the seat before Doyeon grabbed her arm and laughed.“I’m just kidding, it’s alright,” Doyeon said, pulling Somi back down before their professor could turn around. “I’m Kim Doyeon. You must be from a year below?”“Jeon Somi. I’m a freshman,” Somi replied. She couldn’t believe Kim Doyeon was even prettier up close—she didn’t even know that was possible.Doyeon clapped her hands, eyebrows raised. “Ah, that’s why I haven’t seen you around before! You’re the American girl, right?”“Canadian,” Somi corrected her, not bothering to mention she was born and raised here anyway. Maybe when they were closer? Somi wondered if they’d ever get to that point. She hoped they would.Doyeon nodded with her lips pursed. “Your English must be really good—”“Somi, Doyeon, since you guys are already talking, can you read the passage on page eleven?” their professor’s stern voice rang throughout the classroom. Somi glanced at Daehwi who looked over at her with wide eyes. Beside her, Doyeon was already standing up with her textbook folded. Somi quickly followed suit, fumbling with the pages.“What are you doing tonight, Mary?” Doyeon said clearly, lowering her voice to match her persona, David. Her accent was nearly undetectable. Somi was impressed.“Nothing, why?” Somi replied.“I was thinking of watching a movie together,” Doyeon recited with her eyebrows furrowed.“Are you asking me out on a date?” Somi snorted at the cheezy lines.“Yes. They are showing ‘The Ring’ in the theater,” Doyeon said, bursting into laughter. “‘The Ring’? Really?” she muttered under her breath.
“Sure, what time will I see you?”
“I am coming from class. I will pick you up at six.” Before sitting down, Doyeon wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Somi and laughed. Somi laughed along with her, feeling a little red. Doyeon’s English was pretty damn good.“Thanks for that, Doyeon, Somi. From the conversation you heard, class, which words were of the present participle tense…” The professor droned on and after a few seconds, Doyeon faced Somi.“I was asking you out on a date right? I couldn’t fully understand,” she asked. When Somi nodded, Doyeon laughed again. “‘The Ring’? So romantic,” she mused. Somi laughed with her. “You’re so good at English though!” she complimented Doyeon, to which Doyeon beamed with pride.“Ah, thank you. I’m veeery gooood,” she singsang proudly in English, leaning back in her seat, a satisfied grin on her face.Somi cackled and glanced back at her teacher. Sneaking a peek at Doyeon, she was awestruck by how the pretty girl could be this fun, too. She hopes they get close soon.This might become her favorite class. She hoped the seating arrangement was permanent. “You’re serious?!” Somi asked, voice loud in the martial arts gym. “A budget cut?”Coach Bomi nodded. “We’ll have to sacrifice the bus for the competition, but anyway, we’re a much smaller team this year, so I don’t think it will be much of a problem. We might change training hours a bit, but I promise it won’t be by much.”“Can’t we ask them to give us at least that?” Jungkook asked, frustrated. “They don’t even let us train in school. We still carry their name. What’s wrong with them?”Somi looked at their captain and groaned. “Can’t you do anything to change their mind?”“I’ll schedule a meeting with Mr. Han tomorrow,” he huffed, hands on his hips and twisting his mouth. Hyunmin snorted beside him.“Good luck with that. I heard the cheerleaders are getting better uniforms this year,” he said. “Heard Han Hyeri talk about it in the hallway.”Somi gagged. “My god, if the funds are actually going to the cheerleading squad…”“The school plays favorites, and they’ve been the champions for the last three years, so it’d make sense,” Jungkook supplied, sighing and pinching his nose.“Don’t jump to conclusions and start the warmups,” Coach Bomi warned. Somi groaned and put her water bottle down. She fumed as she rolled her shoulders back and around, her head filled with images of giggling cheerleaders in their shiny new pink uniforms, laughing at her baggy dobok.