MISSION: Love

+ seventeen +

All the students happily ran out of the school building as the school bell rang. I walked alone with my head hung low, hiding the tears and sobs that formed. I enjoyed the journey home, hearing the vehicle noises on the road and admiring the green trees and birds that flew around. As soon as I got home, I heard an unfamiliar voice talking to my mother. I went to the kitchen and saw a woman laughing with my mother as they talked about cooking and new recipes.

The unfamiliar woman saw me standing at the kitchen entrance and greeted me excitedly. "You must be Hana! I've heard a lot about you!"

I smiled awkwardly and waited for my mother to introduce me to me. "Hana, this is Mrs Park. I met her at the parent-teacher meeting today."

"Hi, Mrs Park."

"You look really beautiful in person, Hana. It's nice to meet you."

Her compliment made me happy. I thanked her before walking toward the refrigerator to take out a bottle of water. "Mom, I'm going to play volleyball at the court nearby–"

The familiar male voice made me frown in confusion. I closed the refrigerator door and saw Sunghoon standing in the kitchen. He cleared his throat and looked away, holding his volleyball close.

My eyes widened when I realised my mother was friends with Sunghoon's mother. We exchanged awkward glances before avoiding eye contact. I sighed and silently left the kitchen before stepping out of the house. I sat on the porch and drank my water. My heart was still in pain after what I just saw that day. I felt like closing my eyes and sleeping forever.

My body jumped when I heard someone closing the entrance door behind me. I turned around and saw Sunghoon making his way to me before sitting down next to me. He silently minded his own business as he traced circles on his volleyball. "Are you okay?" He broke the silence after a while.

"No," I breathed out and hugged my knees close to my chest. He hesitantly reached his hand to pat my back. I was surprised by the sudden gesture but stayed quiet, letting him comfort me in his way.

He suddenly stood up before putting out a hand, waiting for me to take it. I hesitated for a while but it was like my body had a mind of its own. My hand slowly reached to take his hand and he helped me stand up. He grabbed my wrist and led me away from the house.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked. His lips curled into a small smile, "Somewhere. The place where I would always go to whenever I have a lot in mind."

We both arrived at an empty volleyball court near my house. I frowned, "I'm not in a suitable attire to play."

"I don't care. You're perfect to play," he said, "I'm going to teach you how to serve and dig properly. So that you don't hurt yourself like the last time."

I scoffed, "I know how to serve."

He gave me the ball and waited for me to serve. As soon as I hit the ball, it went right against the net. My eyes widened with rage and annoyance. I ran to take the ball before serving it again. Still, my serve failed.

"You're using the wrong technique."

He grabbed the ball before standing behind me. His free hand grabbed mine and showed me how to hold the ball properly. I could feel his breath right against my skin since he was standing so close. He realised what he was doing and stepped back awkwardly.

"Now, you just hit the ball."

"Like this?" I asked, waiting for his assurance. He nodded and I hit it as hard as I could. The ball went flying over the net and landed right in the court. My eyes brightened out with happiness and my legs immediately ran to him. My arms automatically hugged him tightly and I jumped happily, "I did it!"

He giggled and patted my head proudly, "Good job."

"Teach me more!" I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the middle of the court. He then taught me how to dig and I obeyed every single word he said. We played and played until three hours passed.

The sky turned orange as the sun was setting down. We both breathed out tiredly and lay down on the court floor. "The sky is so beautiful," I muttered under my breath and admired it. Sunghoon slowly looked at me and said, "Yeah, it is," before averting his gaze back to the sky.

"Thank you for teaching me, by the way. Now I can beat those seniors up."

He laughed and said, "Then, you'll be the best player in the team since you got lessons from the best player in the boys' team."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes and got up before putting out my hand for him to take. He grabbed my hand and got up too. "You know you can always come here if you ever need to release your stress. I'll always be here."

My cheeks reddened when he said that. I nodded and said, "Thanks."

We both realised that the sky was getting darker. He walked me back home and we talked about random things. His favourite subject, his favourite sport, why he joined a science class and other things as well.

"Sunghoon."

"Hm?"

"Why do you always go to the court nearby my house to play? Isn't it more distant from your house?"

"Well," he cleared his throat nervously before saying, "It's closer to the house of the person I like."

My eyes lit up, "Really? Wow, I never knew the Park Sunghoon has feelings."

"Yah!" he smacked my head, "I am a human after all."

"Well, my first impression of you was, that you're quiet and mysterious and that you hate all of the female students of our school. I've heard about girls confessing to you and you rejected all of them. Wow, so scary!" I teased.

"Yah, I'm not that scary and cruel."

"But you can't change other peoples' first impression of you. That's what I heard from other students. You're scary and very intimidating."

I realised we had reached the entrance of my house and turned to him. He thought about what I said for a while before scoffing, "Go."

"Are you sulking?" I cupped my mouth in shock. He pushed me gently into the house, "You have to wake up for school tomorrow. Go sleep," he said before closing the door for me.

I was speechless after what just happened. I just made the intimidating Park Sunghoon sulk. It felt like I just achieved something but I also felt bad at the same time.

On the other side of the door, Sunghoon kept looking at it before asking himself, "Am I that intimidating? I tried to be nice to her. She sees me as scary and intimidating?"

"Tsk, I'm not intimidating," he tried to convince himself.

"Am I?" He asked again as he walked back to his home.