Most Valuable Player || Hwang In-Yeop [ONGOING]

Chapter 3

Joohyun left after guiding me to the Sports Center.

I spotted In-Yeop practicing by the farthest hoop and I tried my best to stay silent. I could probably leave before he notices. Right as I turned away, an older man called out to me. "You're the raffle winner, right? I'm Coach Min." He flipped through a clipboard and asked for the voucher I ripped up the other day. 

"Unfortunately, I don't have it.", I said pretending to be sad. "If that's a dealbreaker then I'll be on my way." I stepped away but Coach Min stopped me. He chuckled and asked for my ID instead. "That paper isn't important.", he said. "As long as you're Kang Nana, you'll be able to spend some quality time with the MVP."

"Hey, In-Yeop! Your number one fan is here.", he yelled. The man pointed at me and I turned my face away before In-Yeop identified me. Coach Min patted me on the back and In-Yeop came towards me. I quickly untied my ponytail so my hair covered most of my face.

"Uh... Hi?" I was lucky In-Yeop's height prevented him from seeing my face clearly. I kept the hair over my face even after Coach Min left. "...So, Nana?" In-Yeop sat on the bleachers so he was now at eye level. I turned away to avoid further eye contact.

"Do you talk at all?" It took a moment for me to muster the courage to reply. After yesterday's fiasco, I had nothing else to really lose. "...I talk...", I said. "...Only to the people I'm comfortable around..." Did I really just say that? In-Yeop raised an eyebrow and even I was surprised at my sudden honesty. "I see...", he said. He sat on the bleachers so we were now at eye level. 

"You know it's kinda rude to look away from people talking, right?" In-Yeop brushed my hair to the side but I slapped his hand away. He laughed and looked at his hand. "It's rude to do that too. But some things never change. Isn't that right, Nayeon?"

My heart stopped at the mention of my real name. "I'm gonna be honest I didn't recognize you at first...", he said. "But no one is as... weird as you." In-Yeop seemed to enjoy the teasing but I was absolutely mortified.

His words triggered a distant high school memory. I stood by the school's entrance one day excitedly holding a box of In-Yeop's favorite cookies. He stepped out with Gayoung and I waved to get his attention. In-Yeop blatantly ignored me so I grabbed his sleeve. "Don't touch me.", he said. 

I wondered why he acted so cold towards me. Gayoung came closer and patted my back. "He probably had a bad day.", she said. "Or maybe your weirdness is getting to him." I looked at her in confusion. "Oh, you didn't know?" Gayoung snorted and leaned in. "No one wants to be seen with you.", she continued. "Not even your good pal In-Yeop."

I clenched my jaw remembering that moment. "There's no need to act so cold towards me.", said In-Yeop. He stuck his hand out assuming I'd shake it but I scoffed in response. "I'm not going to touch you.", I said. "You told me not to, remember?"

In-Yeop's expression turned sour and I knew I successfully pushed his buttons. Coach Min walked in again with a shorter girl trailing behind him. "This is Sunny. She's from the Daily Newspaper, and came to interview you two for a short scoop.", he continued. "Have fun!"

Coach Min disappeared and Sunny snapped a quick picture. The flash worsened my headache and I groaned. "I-Is this really necessary?", I asked. Sunny nodded her head and sat down next to In-Yeop. 

"In-Yeop is the most loved player in the entire campus.", she said. "People want to know all of the details of this exact moment." She lifted her camera to snap another picture of me but paused. "Your hair looks... not right." Sunny stood up and brushed my hair back with her fingers. She pulled my hair into a ponytail and nodded with approval.

"You have a beautiful forehead by the way. Now sit next to him and smile!" She forcefully sat me down next to In-Yeop and snapped another picture. "Perfect. Now time for the interview."

Everything was going by so quickly, I couldn't keep up. I glanced at In-Yeop but he looked so used to this. "Alright.", Sunny continued. "Now the answer may be obvious, but what made you decide to pick In-Yeop as your favorite player?"

"...Well...", I replied. "I didn't." In-Yeop and Sunny looked at each other in confusion. "Some guys asked if I wanted to join this raffle and wrote In-Yeop's name down for me.", I continued. "I definitely did not want to hang out with him. Yet... Here we are."

Sunny's smile grew bigger. "So... you had absolutely zero interest in this event?", she asked. "Is there a reason for that?" I nodded. "I don't know much about basketball...", I replied.

I was about to continue but In-Yeop spoke in my stead. "Nana doesn't care much about sports anyways. She's more into baking and stuff like that.", he said. He remembers that about me?

"You seem to know a lot about her."

"We... uh... went to the same high school." 

"Really? Were you two friends?" 

"...Friends?"

In-Yeop paused. The awkward atmosphere was unbearable for me but it seemed worse for him. "W-We used to volunteer at the same animal shelter.", I chime in. "That's where we first met..." 

"So... You were friends?"

"...At one point."

"Can I ask what happened?"

In-Yeop cleared his throat. "I'm gonna cut the interview here.", he said. I was a little annoyed he kept making the decisions. "No.", I said. "Explain what happened..." Despite being victim to In-Yeop's past behavior, I never knew why things went sour. Our friendship grew through volunteering and one day he just stopped showing up. 

I thought I'd never see In-Yeop's face again until I saw him wandering the halls of my high school one day. In-Yeop's aura felt different and he was more confident in himself. He turned into a social butterfly, excelled at sports, and everyone loved him- including me.

"People grow apart.", he said. "It's not that deep." His words stung but I didn't want my face to show it. Sunny gave me a look of pity before writing the last words down. "Well, I appreciate our short interview.", she said. "It was juicier than I expected. Look out for the article tomorrow!"

Sunny snapped another random photo before leaving. In-Yeop and I sat in silence before I spoke up. "I guess it's valid that people grow apart.", I said. "But that doesn't explain why you made my life a living hell."

"It was high school. I did what I had to do to survive."

Is he serious right now? "Even if it meant throwing our friendship away? Because I was weird?", I asked. "Because I wasn't cool enough to be around?" I wanted to keep my composure but my lips trembled as I spoke. "You may have an army of people that respect you and love you.", I continued. "But I will never be one of them." 

I made that mistake once and I'm not going to do it again.