OUR HEARTBEAT [BEOMJUN] ✅

twenty-two

“Beom!” a voice called to me from across the lunchtime commons.

Anytime someone used that name at school now, I knew they only knew me from the podcast. And they only recognized me from those awkward pictures on the website.

The floppy-haired boy caught up to me. “Beom!” he repeated.

“Hi, thanks for listening.” That was my go-to phrase. Most of the time it was enough. This time it wasn’t. The floppy-haired boy wanted to talk.

“Hi,” he said. “I need advice.”

“Can you call in on Wednesday?” I asked. “We like callers on the show.”

“I tried to call in last Wednesday and never got through.”

“You didn’t?” I asked. “Like you got a busy signal?”

“Yes.”

“Wow.” I hadn’t considered that was possible. “Okay, I’ll try to give you advice, but honestly, asking a friend would probably be just as effective.”

“No, you don’t hold back. I like that.”

I scoffed.

It didn’t faze him. “I want to try out for football.”

“Okay,” I said, not understanding what part of that required my opinion.

“But look at me,” he said.

I did. He was a small guy. I’d initially thought he was a freshman, but maybe he wasn’t. “That’s what pads and helmets are for, right? You obviously won’t be on defense. Maybe you can be the catcher person.”

He scrunched up his face.

“See, you should ask your friends,” I said, backing up. “Or ask Sieun, she’s sporty. I know nothing about football.”

That didn’t deter him. “I would try out, even being as small as I am, but it’s my parents. They won’t let me.”

I stopped in my retreat. “Oh.”

“Yeah, my mom’s afraid I’ll break every bone in my body and my dad doesn’t even like football. He told me I’m more suited for golf.”

“Golf is cool.” I thought of Yeonjun. “One of my friends hit a golf ball through the goalposts from the hill behind the stadium.” I paused for a minute. “Off topic?”

“Slightly.” The boy yanked on his backpack straps. “And by the way, your friend is exaggerating. I’ve seen guys try to do that and fail miserably.”

I stepped out of the way to let a group of kids pass us. “Right?” I said. “That’s what I told him. He swore, though. I really should have him prove it to me.”

“Back to me, here.”

I laughed. “Okay, let’s see. I’m kind of stumped on this one. I can see where your mom is coming from.”

“Thanks a lot. This is why I should’ve called in. You wouldn’t have been able to see me and be influenced.”

“You’re right. So if I couldn’t look at your totally breakable bones, what would I say?”

He bit his lip as if his life depended on my answer. I gave it some more thought, then spoke again.

“I’d say, compromise?” I suggested. “Tell your parents that if they let you try out for the football team and you don’t make it, then you’ll try golf.”

His eyes lit up. It was the part about giving advice that I didn’t get on the podcast, the part where I could see that the solution presented made sense to them.