Thud.
Yukhei looked up from the soccer ball that hit his foot and was face to face with a familiar face. He raised an eyebrow at him, a form of questioning. Upon seeing the other male not saying anything, Yukhei darted his eyes back at the group of cheerleaders practising.
"Dude, we're supposed to be practising." The male said, following Yukhei's eyes to the group on the field. "Get inside, stop flirting you loner." He said. Yukhei scoffed and grinned as he stood up from the bench and looked at the tall male in the eyes before chuckling. "Just because I'm single for one day, doesn't make me a loner." He said before walking ahead into the football field.
His friend rolled his eyes as he tailed him into the field. "Hey, Johnny." Yukhei called, abruptly stopping in his tracks which almost cause the named male to collide against him. Johnny raised his eyebrows at him, confused. "Can I ask you a favour?" The taller one raised an eyebrow.
"Dude, what is wrong with you today?" Johnny had his eyebrows creased. "What do you want?" He asked. "You're still dating Chaerin right?" The questions went on and Johnny could see from behind Yukhei that one of the teammates were calling them. He raised a hand, telling them to wait.
Johnny nodded, eyeing the male up and down, warning him to not try anything on his girlfriend. "No, no. I'm not trying to hit on her." Yukhei raised both of his hands in defence. "I'm trying to get to her." The male puckered his lips in the direction of the cheerleaders and as Johnny turned around, he could clearly put one girl in centre.
"Kim Hera?"
Johnny looked back at Yukhei and immediately placed a hand on his forehead. "I think you've gone mad or sick—" "What? I'm not—"
"You never asked a girl out." Johnny commented. "It's your thing, your standards or whatever fuck. And now, you want to hit on a girl like her? Kim Hera? Out of all the girls in Northside High?"
"Why is everyone so against this?" Yukhei chuckled, as if his friend was joking. "You are crazy." Johnny stated word by word and sighed as he glanced at Hera talking to one of the cheerleaders. "What do you need my help with?" He asked, arms crossed. "There's my man." Yukhei said, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as they both headed to their team.
「 ➳ 」
"Alright girls, we'll do the pyramid today."
"Oh God, but we did that for last year."
"We did the Star Lift, last year."
"Whatever, just get in positions."
Chaerin rolled her eyes as she ordered the girls to move. Talking to them could be tiring as everyone wanted to share their piece of mind. Hera who was quiet the whole time decided to move as well. As she was ready to get on the second layer of the pyramid, Chaerin appeared out of nowhere after chatting with her boyfriend.
"Hera, you'll be on top." She said, which halted her from moving further as she looked at the leader confusedly. "I thought we agreed Minseo was going to be on top?" Hera questioned.
"Change of plans."
Chaerin flashed an annoyed smile and clapped both of her hands as if she was some drama teacher. Confused, the two girls switched places as Chaerin monitored the whole formation. They started cheering and slowly build the formation, smiles were plastered on their faces in order to give 'strength' to the players.
It was a cheerleader code thing that none of them ever understood. Hera was a little nervous as she had never been lifted up so high before. Nonetheless, she had to keep on a smile as she was used to it anyway.
As the girls from below lifted her up, completing the formation, Hera caught sight of her twin and winked at him. All they had to do now was wait for Hera to do the vertical split and their small session of practice was complete. Hera grabbed one leg as she tried to stable the other one on their hands. Luckily, she managed to lift her foot up to her head and all they need to do now was freeze for approximately three seconds.
Hera's smile grew wider as she caught sight of her twin giving her thumbs up from the field as he resumed playing football. She was about to mouth something to him when out of nowhere the grip below her was loosened causing her to stumble backwards.
Everything felt like slow motion as Hera leaned backwards and slowly felt her body being dragged by gravity. Hera imagined having cracked bones, or skull. Not being able to walk again, never to participate in another cheerleading once she hit the ground. She hadn't realise she held her breath as well until the pull finally stop. The cracked bones she expected never came.
She opened her eyes to met with unfamiliar ones. It was only then she exhaled a breath of relief. Nonetheless, her heart was beating so fast knowing that she almost died. Or maybe she was already dead. It took her long enough to process that a football player was holding her in his arms, judging from the jersey. His eyes stared at her as she looked back.
Again, she was lost for words. She didn't know what to ask or what to say. It felt surreal, did she really just drop from a 16 ft tall pyramid?
That sounded absurd, even to her ears. She glanced back at the guy who was holding her, he wasn't saying anything as well. It made her mind jump into conclusions that she was dead. Maybe he was the death angel.
"Thank God, it didn't hurt when you fell from heaven." A smug smile played on his lips.
「 ➳ 」
🐾If any of you are wondering,
they are all the same age, unless
I wrote the opposite.
