"Young Jae, how long have you been here waiting for me?"

Dongyul ran faster and stood in front of his best friend, Jung Young Jae. Standing so close to him makes him look small for his best friend is 6 feet and 4 inches tall and he is just 5'8. Judging by that look in his friend's face, Dongyul can tell Young Jae is already tired of waiting. Still not late for the basketball game Young Jae needs to attend, both of them stepped out of their meeting place with Dongyul voluntarily helping his friend in carrying his essentials for the game.

"What took you so long?"

And now, he finally vented out the exact reason why he is pissed off. It is confirmed that Young Jae is already waiting there for a long time that he already find it boring to stay for more than a minute. Dongyul is scared of his friend but he knows he needs to be honest. That's what makes a friendship genuine right? Honesty.

"It's with the school paper. I told you I have a meeting at 2:30 right?"

"But it's 4:00 already. Is it because you're going to elect a new EIC?"

"A lot of intense things happened Young Jae. As usual, your childhood sweetheart dared to bully someone again, questioning that person's credibility to be our new EIC."

"Chung Ae made a scene again?"

"Exactly. Right after the voting is done, she stood up and protested. And who wouldn't listen to her, with all of the shares her family has in this school right?"

"I guess I was wrong in trusting she can still change."

For once or twice Young Jae found that woman, Yoon Chung Ae attractive, maybe because she is the only girl who managed to be with him all these years. Most people call them young lovers or childhood sweethearts, especially because of this woman's sweet character in front of him. With Young Jae saying he trusted her to change, he meant that. All these years of having her near him as a friend, Young Jae already knows how vicious and cruel this woman is.

She can kick a student out of their campus. She can easily turn people's lives upside down, wreck someone's home, even do more than that. She doesn't want any other girl get close to him as well; she can be really possessive of the things she loves. Chung Ae lives in prestige and honor, making her the most famous student in their campus, or maybe even outside their city.

Dongyul can see the sadness in Young Jae's eyes the moment he uttered those words. The only way Young Jae can give back the love this woman is offering him is for her to change or at least stop hurting others to have all of the things she desires. With her being around Young Jae almost all the time, Young Jae is already tired of this set up. He wanted to give her a chance but is also scared in committing to a person as cruel as Chung Ae. Most of the time, Young Jae thinks he is selfish and Dongyul is the only one assuring him that he isn't; that he is just making sure that his first relationship will not fall on a tragedy.

"Who is the supposed to be EIC?"

Dongyul fastened his pace to maintain his distance with Young Jae. He has been walking slowly after seeing an abrupt change in his best friend's expression a while ago. He is lost in wanting to comfort him only to know that Young Jae is already over the subject.

"There's this woman, a year younger than the three of us but is also graduating this year. She sets an exemplary record in her schooling years; Choi Heiran is the name."

"Choi Heiran?"

Young Jae wondered why this name is very familiar to him, as if he already heard this name a couple of times before. He would like to ask Dongyul about her, but he never asked anyone about a girl before so it may be awkward to ask about that Heiran now. Dongyul seemed to witness how a puzzled look registered Young Jae's face, and with that he assumed he is wanting to know something about the woman. Choi Heiran, maybe everyone often neglect her existence and the role she is playing to keep the school paper pushing through. You will never see her wanting to stand out in a crowd; she is just a simple student and is so passionate about writing.

"Choi Heiran, that woman is actually the author of the most awaited series on our school paper."

"The series I read a lot?"

"Exactly."

"What's wrong about her being the EIC? I mean she's the very reason why the school papers push through. Not even a single soul in this school can deny she is deserving for the spot."

"I know. With her writing about her insights about life, I never expected someone would actually question her credibility. But everyone of us has our loopholes."

"And what is her loophole?"

"Chung Ae questioned her ability to connect with the public which is essential for a news writer. And that Heiran was never given a chance to interview or work on a news that requires communication with other students. I mean, she works alone for the series."

"That's not the issue. We know Chung Ae, she wants the spot."

"Basically. And Heiran is actually a scholar of Chung Ae's father. So here's the deal between the two of them, which is actually tough. Heiran was given a project, which is to interview and write a feature story about an athlete who is very hard to deal with. If she can get through the interview, she'll be our EIC and she won't lose her scholarship."

"Very hard to deal with? Is it me?"

Dongyul nodded in response. Young Jae was left there hanging for a minute. Chung Ae knows a lot of those students who attempted to interview Young Jae failed. Young Jae always reasoned out, "In a team of five or even greater, all of them contributes to the game. No one should stand out over the other. That's why it is called a team in the first place.". And with that reason, all of the basketball news were so generalized and plain. No one covered and dug deep to his personal stuff and his vision in his craft.

With that, everyone can tell Chung Ae wants to put up a pressure against Heiran. A cruel woman indeed. And with Heiran deciding to hide her identity with a pen name on her series, Young Jae assumed she doesn't want to get recognise as well. Chung Ae is clever enough with her also wanting to take Heiran's scholarship if she never showed up in front of Young Jae to interview him.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Dongyul looked back at Young Jae who is still standing behind him. There it is again, the puzzled look in his face which shows he is so confused about all these things.

"Accommodate Heiran. In that way, you can keep someone's passion and also make someone live."

"Oh there she is. Heiran!"

After walking like a zombie in their hallway, Heiran raised her head as soon as she heard someone called her name. She isn't really mindful of what's happening around her the moment Chung Ae dared her to interact with their campus's best athlete. She knows she can overcome her fear and talk to him; up to the point that she can ask him for an interview. However the challenging part is the uncertainty whether Young Jae will accommodate her or not.

She walked faster and stopped in front of Dongyul who is also a staff of their school paper. She isn't sure if Dongyul knows about her betting her scholarship and the position of being the EIC to Chung Ae but the way he looks at her makes her think he has some sort of knowledge about her. Why would he even call her when he's with Young Jae and he knows his best friend will only ignore other women like her?

"Did Chung Ae give you a reasonable span of time to finish the interview?"

The moment Dongyul started the conversation, Heiran has to lower her head in embarrassment. Young Jae who is now behind the both of them is just watching her reactions, waiting for her to answer Dongyul's question.

He knows exactly what Dongyul is up to. His best friend wants him to feel guilty about Heiran's condition in order for him to schedule an interview with her. But Young Jae still wants to confirm if Heiran badly wants to pursue her scholarship or not. What if she can afford the tuition fee? Then it'll be unnecessary for her to bother his time.

"Don't you think it's unnecessary to mention her name?"

Both of the guys got her point. Mentioning Chung Ae's name in this situation is indeed off. But Young Jae isn't the type who will tolerate Chung Ae with her evilness. And Dongyul is aware of the struggle his best friend has to go through just to get rid of that woman. There's only one thing left for her to do, which is to change. If not, then Young Jae, just like all of the other girls who wants to become closer to him, he will certainly reject Chung Ae.

"Go and talk all you want. I am not listening."

Dongyul smiled after Young Jae finally interacted with Heiran. And after seeing that, Young Jae's face reddened in embarrassment. He isn't aware that making him talk with Heiran is also a part of his best friend's plan. With that, he overtook the both of them; completely ignoring them and leaving the conversation to Dongyul.

"So how long should it take you to ask him out?"

"Ask him out?"

"For an interview. Sorry about that."

"Well I should submit my feature story on Tuesday."

Young Jae, who is still eavesdropping with their conversation clenched his fist after hearing the deadline. If he'll vent his anger on Chung Ae, she will think that he is interested with this girl, just like she always suspects every time Young Jae defends another woman. And with doing that, he knows he'll only contribute to the tension between her and Heiran and Chung Ae will despise this woman even more.

"Five days? Do you think you have the courage to ask my friend right here?"

"He often rejects these kind of interviews right?"

"At least you tried. Just go and ask him."

"Dongyul!"

Both Heiran and Dongyul glued their eyes ahead of them, to where Young Jae is standing still. He looks intimidating and scary for Heiran to pin down. Her heart is beating faster and the cacophony of frantic inside her is raging wild, as if she'll collapse anytime in front of him. Dongyul on the other hand is also nervous because Young Jae raised his voice on him again. Is it because he wants Heiran to pursue this interview thing?

"Miss Choi Heiran, do you watch my game?"

Dongyul stood up in the middle of both parties. Young Jae is looking straight to Heiran's lifeless face; he can even see the sweat rushing down from her forehead. The sunset is behind him and is shoving directly to Heiran's face. Her black hair is sleek and shiny; her gray eyes and it's blue flickers are extremely showing up, making Young Jae regret leaving a harsh impression on her.

"I don't watch any sports at all."

"Then be my guest. After the game, come to my locker and I'll ask you some questions. If you manage to get them right, you'll feature me and my career. If not then I'll accept no guilt at all with you losing your scholarship."

"Okay then."

He is somehow impressed with her answer. She said yes in as fast as a lightning which kinda makes him think she really wants to have her scholarship until she graduates.

"Oh and don't take anyone with you."

"Jung Young Jae."

Young Jae threw his eyes on the door and saw his coach leaning by the wall. The moment they won the game, their coach has been complimenting all of them for the hard work and efforts they dedicated to the game. Being in his prime years, Young Jae is a lot more competitive than all of his teammates. But he isn't really playing for his own prestige; he doesn't really want to steal the limelight because of his personal score. What matters the most to him is the overall performance of the group.

"What is it coach?"

"I'm thinking you lost track of the time. Your girl friend's waiting for you outside."

"Girl friend? I told you I don't have one coach."

"You told me you never planned to date Chung Ae but you never said you're not dating anyone. She's actually exhausted waiting for you. She watched your game too."

Young Jae just chuckled and grabbed his phone from his locker. He noticed Dongyul sent him a message. Speaking of his best friend, he wondered why he isn't here. He never missed any game of Young Jae and he is always cheering for him right after the game is done. So where is he anyway?

He opened Dongyul's message and saw him typed a long message for him. As expected from a writer, Dongyul is always writing a lot of stuff for Young Jae. He is in fact the first person to message Young Jae every morning, encouraging him to start his day right and to go to school early. He always sets the mood for him; he always wants to be the first accessible person in his friend's shortcomings. So with him being that close to Heiran, Young Jae didn't actually flinch about it. He is convinced Dongyul really has a good communicating skill.

...

...

"Coach, did the woman outside introduce herself to you?"

"I know her so there's no introduction needed."

"Do you have at least two minutes coach? Can you tell me something about her?"

"Well she was once an athlete and I coached their team for quite some time "

"Coached their team? She's a basketball player too?"

"Yes. That's why I never hesitated to call her your girl friend. You both have the same interests so why not?"

Basketball? Then that makes sense. There is something about her writings that made Young Jae loved her entries. Every time she releases a new episode for her series, Young Jae can sense she is shading some sports behind her words. Although she isn't really pinpointing which sport it is, Young Jae concluded by himself that it is about basketball. And with him knowing that she was a basketball player, every conclusion he had made in the past is now making sense.

"I only know her just now coach. She's waiting for me to let her in."

"Should I call Heiran inside for you?"

"If you please."

Then Young Jae's coach went out of the room and the premise is filled with silence. He is left thinking about why Heiran didn't grab the chance to own a scholarship through playing basketball. Why depend on the organization Chung Ae's father built when she can secure a spot just by playing the sports she likes? And now that her scholarship is in danger, why isn't she trying to register for this year's try out?

"Choi Heiran."

The coach, Zhuo Dungpao caught the attention of this little bean sprout that is initially tired of waiting for Young Jae to let her in. Almost every audience has left, even the players had passed her by. In fact, she is already planning to leave since this man is trying to play hard to get for her.

"Coach Zhuo."

"He is waiting for you inside."

"I honestly have a request for you Coach."

"What is it?"

"Some basketball coaches, especially back in my country are actually chasing me. My family stayed here for some reasons and we aren't interested to live the way we used to before. That being said, no one should know that I am taking college in this country. Could you please hide my secret too?"

Dungpao looked at her and he can see that she is expecting him to hide everything, especially from his co coaches. However, he is already feeling guilty for he already told Young Jae about her previous career. He knows Young Jae can keep the secret too but that doesn't lessen the fact that he already told someone about her secret. Will it make her angry if she finds out?

"Heiran, Young Jae knows you are a player."

"I don't care about him. Since you have a broader set of people to communicate, it is a high risk that we met again."

"You don't care about me?"

Heiran's eyes widened after seeing Young Jae suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It seems like he has been hiding behind his coach the whole time. Heiran knows she needs him this time, but what she said is true. Young Jae knows some minimal details about her so why would she control him anyway?