29 — Sunpie

Yu Hee stayed quiet throughout the entire journey to the pitch. Okay, I may have exaggerated a little bit by saying that, but it was her fault for giving me ammo when she knew that I was holding a gun.

How was I supposed to know that she'd blush so hard, look away, and nearly trip down on the sidewalk? Alright. Perhaps I sort of knew what kind of reaction she'd have, but the opportunity to tease her was too good to pass on.

Thankfully, the pitch was not far from our meeting point, so we got there in a couple of minutes. Minutes of awkward silence.

I saw a bunch of guys already occupying one half of the field from the distance. Good. If they were using all of it, I might have had to challenge them for its ownership.

Yu Hee climbed down her bike and put it into a bike stand, where she proceeded to lock it for safety.

Once she was done, we slipped through a hole in the broken fence and stepped into the field. Yu Hee was a bit apprehensive as she did so. "Don't worry about it. It's an abandoned football pitch. It has been for many years." I said.

Probably a bad way to comfort her — I didn't want her to think that it was fine to sneak into abandoned places, but eh, whatever happened, I'd just roll with it.

"Hm. Is that so?" Yu Hee had a thoughtful frown on her face. I had to admit that she looked extremely cute.

I dropped the ball on the grass, one foot resting on top of it.

"Have you ever played football, Yu Hee?" I asked casually.

She tapped her chin, frown deepening. "Uhh I don't think I have…" And then she smiled, hands clasped behind her back. "And even if I tried, I don't think I'd be any good. Come on now, Dae Ho. Last time, you told me you're 'quite' good. You've got to prove it now."

There was a faint blush on her face. Whether it was due to the temperature or something else, I didn't know.

Still, I accepted the challenge.

"Oh… and I will." I said smugly, tugging at the invisible lapels of my invisible jacket. "My skills are so good that they'll turn you into a bad girl."

"That doesn't make sense!" Yu Hee chuckled behind a hand, cheeks rosy.

"Why are you in a constant state of blushing?"

"I'm not…" She denied, weakly.

I stared at her.

She stared back at me, her blushing growing a little brighter.

Knowing that there was no way she could win this argument, she snapped her head to the side, hiding her face. "I'm not…"

"Hmm." I tickled her side, which prompted her to squeak out a series of indignant and very unladylike noises. "Wow… I barely touched you."

"..."

Yu Hee looked at me with faux resentment. "D-Don't do that, Dae Ho."

"I can't have you looking away when I'm about to bedazzle you."

She bit the corner of her lips as she smoothed over her expression. "What are you going to show me?"

I shrugged. "What would you like to see?"

Yu Hee walked to the edge of the field and sat down, legs and feet tucked together in a prim and proper way. She took off her straw hat and placed it on her side. "D-Didn't you say you were going to turn me into a bad girl?" It seemed as if it had taken a lot of courage from her to say that.

"Is that what you really want? For someone to turn you into a bad girl?" I joked.

"Dae Ho…"

"Tell me."

She blinked.

I slid the ball forward. "Top left or top right?"

Yu Hee was still a little confused, but answered nonetheless. "Umh… top left."

The empty goalpost was a bit far from our position. The angle was quite awkward as well, but with this body's physical prowess and my talent, taking that shot was well within the realms of possibility. In fact, I was very confident I could do it.

I had been training every day.

"Alright. Got you."

I took a few steps back, and stared at the goalpost while doing mental calculations. Then I stomped the left foot forward, and let my right one slam into the lower edge of the ball. I brought my foot upward, guiding the ball and giving it a side spin.

It immediately flew off.

Initially, it looked like the ball was off-course, flying in a straight path, towards the middle of the goalpost, but within a few seconds, its rotation curved it.

The trajectory suddenly changed mid-air.

And under Yu Hee's surprised eyes, the ball sunk into the net. Exactly in the top left corner. The prediction had come true. "Wow…" She gasped, blinking repeatedly.

I nodded. "That was all luck."

She gave me a weird look. "Really?"

"Of course not, you silly moonpie."

"Moonpie…?"

At her perplexed expression, I had this uncontrollable urge to boop her nose.

'She's not Eun Ha…'

My nose-booping service was reserved only for her, after all. And Mia, maybe.

"Are you giving me pet names now?" Yu Hee huffed, though the pleased smile on her face told me that she liked it.

"You want me not to?"

"Nuh-huh. It's fine…" Yu Hee turned around as she idly played with a lock of her hair, trying to hide a smile. "I should give one to you too."

"What about sunpie?" It had a very particular sound, after all. One which reminded me of Japanese animations.

"Sun… pie?"

She didn't look convinced.

"Isn't it fitting?" I chuckled. "I'm strong and reliable, like the sun. And you're beautiful and pale, like the moon."

"Pfft." She shook her head. "That's cheesy."

"But you like it." I insisted. "Right?"

Yu Hee tried not to smile, but at this point, she was fighting a losing battle. "Right…"

"See? We're on the same wavelength."

She laughed, fingers over her mouth.

I proceeded to jog over to the goalpost and retrieve the ball. When I made my way back, I decided that it was finally time to record the video.

──⇌ ⋆★⋆ ⇋──

Yu Hee's POV:

It was sunset by the time they were done. The sky was alight with a romantic hue of reds and golds. With the outset of the night, the temperature had dropped a bit. A playful breeze swept through her hair, and while she hastened to stop her tresses from flowing in a wild dance, she happened to steal a glimpse of Dae Ho.

He was staring off into the distance, locked in some sort of memory.

Just a couple of minutes earlier, he suggested he escorted her back home.

Naturally, Yu Hee gladly accepted his chivalrous offer.

She liked to spend time with him.

"The video came out really well." She said, breaking the comfortable silence. "I'm still surprised you have a NewTube channel. Does Go Bong know?"

She was even more surprised by its growing popularity. Seriously, that was out of nowhere. What happened to him in the time they hadn't seen each other for him to grow so… exponentially different and mature?

The Dae Ho she knew was a goofy boy that always hung out with her brother.

But this new Dae Ho…

He was…

"Amazing, right?" Dae Ho didn't look at her. The smile on his face, however, was genuine. "It's a good alternative in case all else fails."

Yu Hee nodded, contemplating the ins and outs of that career choice. "I admire you…" She said, quietly. "... for having your life already figured out."

"Figured out is a big word, Yu Hee." Dae Ho turned around, just a little, to anchor her within his sight. Her heart skipped a beat. "Success is the result of talent meeting opportunity. Nothing is guaranteed, and as good as you might think I am, I'm not perfect. We can't predict the future; we can prepare for it, but if your foundation is weak, frail, like a house of cards… the slightest wind will blow everything apart."

She nodded again, biting her bottom lip.

"What happened to you, Dae Ho?"

The question stumped him. She could see it. His deep eyes shone with an emotion she couldn't put a word to. However, the moment he blinked, it was all gone, like a lie.

"Everyone has asked me that."

"..."

She kept staring at him, as if doing so, for long enough, would make the answer materialize on his forehead.

"I've grown up."

"Is that really it?" Yu Hee looked like she didn't really believe it, but at the same time she couldn't possibly conceive a different answer other than 'growing up'.

"Did you expect me to have gone through a traumatic experience? A breakup? A harsh reality wake-up call?" Dae Ho chuckled, the humor in his husky laugh evident. "Well, you can say that I just don't want to live in mediocrity. Plain and simple. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Yu Hee shook her head.

'But everything about you changed…' She thought wistfully.

Before they knew it, they were in front of a familiar green gate.

The sky was gradually darkening.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

And then Dae Ho surprised her with that question.

"What do you mean?" Yu Hee tucked a swaying strand of hair behind her hair, eyes trembling.

He stared at her, wondering the best choice of words to convey what he was really thinking. She gave him enough time. Then… "Does it make you uncomfortable that you can't recognize me? That you can't associate my face, voice, and smile with the one in your memories?"

"..." She inadvertently looked away. "No… it doesn't…"

Dae Ho didn't take his eyes off her.

Yu Hee let the gentle breeze ruffle her hair for a while. "In fact…" She fluttered her eyelashes coyly, struggling to put her feelings into her words. "... I quite like you this way."

She glanced at him, gauging his reaction.

Dae Ho stood frozen for a couple of seconds, then he huffed out a sigh and smiled. "That makes me happy."

Her heart skipped another beat, and then it went on a wild chase, knocking restlessly against her chest.

She returned the smile with one of her own. "Then…" She gulped, a vivid blush spreading across her face. "... can I get your contact info?"

Dae Ho raised one eyebrow at her request. "You move quite fast, don't you?" He laughed.

She shrunk a little, her smile a little shy. Still, she didn't back down.

"Yes, sure." He said, taking his smartphone out. "Let's exchange numbers."

And that's exactly what they ended up doing before Dae Ho waved and headed back home.

Yu Hee's breathing was a little erratic as got inside and scrambled upstairs, towards her bedroom. She hopped on her bed, rolling around while holding her phone. She smiled in a secret way.

She didn't register his number as 'Dae Ho'.

She registered it as 'Sunpie'.