SU-BIN
A FEW HOURS EARLIER
Today is the last day of the sports event and I can’t help but be nervous. Not because I am one of the participants in the wrestling and relay race, but because now is the day that Isla may accept or may reject me.
When I came out of my bedroom, I saw Su-min who was acting suspiciously. She seemed to panic about something and I could not understand why. So, I tried to approach her and saw her cautiously scrolling her phone.
“What is that?” I asked her out of curiosity.
I was startled by the way she reacted after getting surprised as well. She got up from her seat and casually hid her phone in her pocket.
“Oh oppa!” She giggled awkwardly. “Are you done?”
“Yes. How about you?” I asked her as I approached the sofa to take her bag. As a gentleman and a brother, I don’t mind carrying her bag.
“I’m good to go.” She looked at her watch before grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the door. “Come on, we’ll be late!”
We rode the bus going to SADI and it was the first time for me to encounter a quiet Su-min. What I mean was she never went quiet like today because she used to have stories to tell me every time we went to SADI together.
I nudged her and she glanced at me quietly. “Is there something that bothers you right now, dear sister?”
She smiled at me before playfully hitting the side of my shoulder. “Why are you being so cheesy right now? You’re creeping me out.”
“What the? How could you say that to your brother?” I frowned at her.
“Sorry,” she laughed sweetly.
We went in silence after a few minutes. I don’t think I’ll be able to persuade her to tell me what’s bothering her. It’s better if she says it to me willingly and not because I forced her.
“Oppa.” I heard her call me again. “I think you should give up on Isla eonni.”
I looked at her confusedly. Why is she saying that all of a sudden? Given that she likes Isla to be my girlfriend in the first place.
“Why so sudden?” I asked her, trying to sound like I find it funny.
“I don’t think she’ll give an answer anytime soon,” Su-min answered as she turned her head to finally look at me.
“I thought you liked her for me.”
“Maybe I was wrong,” she replied.
I don’t know what else to tell her. Could it be that she knows something I don’t, the reason she’s saying all these to me?
I noticed she suddenly held my hands and smiled at me innocently. “Oppa, I don’t want you to get hurt in the end.”
I wanted to ask her the reason for her saying that to me, but because I’m scared to hear it, I decided not to. I smiled at her and patted her head like she was a good girl.
A few minutes before the official start of the wrestling match, I was alone inside the changing room near the locker room for the varsity team when someone suddenly barged in.
It was Na-bi.
“Why are you here?” I asked her as she slowly walked toward me.
Her hands were put behind her and there was this intriguing smile on her face. “I’m here to see you before your match begins.”
“That’s new. You haven’t done this before,” I told her.
She sat down beside me. “How are you feeling? Are you nervous?”
“Nervous?”
As I said, I don’t feel nervous about the match.
“I’m fine, Na-bi.” I smiled at her. “Thank you for your concern.”
I was surprised when she suddenly held my chin and attempted to pull me in for a kiss, the reason I immediately stopped her was by gently pushing her away from me.
“What are you doing?” I asked her, completely confused.
“I wanted to give you a good luck kiss,” she said.
“I don’t think friends do that,” I told her.
“Friends, huh?” She smirked and went back to her usual resting bitch face.
I watched her as she took her phone out of her pocket before showing me a picture of Isla and Eun-woo kissing.
I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. I felt heat all over my body going up to my head while staring at it. I was trying to analyze, making sure if I’m looking at something that I can truly confirm.
“Is this the one you wanted to kiss instead of me?” Na-bi questioned me.
Is this really Isla and Eun-woo in the picture? But, why? How could they do that when they are in fact step-siblings? I don’t understand.
I glanced at Na-bi and wondered to myself if she knew that these two were somehow family related. I can’t let her know about it or it will destroy their reputation.
“Where did you get that?” I asked her.
“I have my sources,” she boasted before taking away her phone and getting up from her seat.
“Delete it.”
She scoffed before looking at me again. “Why are you being such a martyr, Su-bin? The woman you like is kissing another man, and yet you still want to save her from the shame.”
“That’s how much I like her.” I got up from my seat and faced Na-bi. “Actually, no. That’s how much I LOVE her.”
Her expression looked so angry that it seemed like she was about to explode. Her lips were trembling in madness as she glared at me.
“You’re such a fucking idiot, Su-bin. That’s the reason why I never thought of liking you more than being just a friend,” she insulted me. “At all!”
I nodded at her. “And I thank you for that. Because if I did focus myself on you before, I wouldn’t be able to remember that Isla was my first love.”
I ignored her and walked out of the room. I tried to act as if everything was fine even though I saw that picture. But, the jealousy and heartache didn’t fail to reach me, deep inside.
I wanted to think that it was just an accident between Isla and Eun-woo, but it can’t be. Mostly with the fact that Isla’s hands were seen to be holding Eun-woo’s face like she was the one who initiated it.
“Su-bin!”
I stopped in my tracks and saw Min-hyuk approaching me.
“Are you ready? Taek-woon has been looking for us already,” he said after completely approaching me.
I looked at him without response for a short second before finally nodding.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“Have you seen it?” I asked him, referring to the picture.
He frowned at me. “Seen what?”
He must not have seen it yet.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
He scoffed. “What the hell? You must be nervous for you to talk nonsense. Come on, let’s go.”
Together with Min-hyuk and Taek-woon, we head towards the center stage for the wrestling category. I don’t know if I’ll be able to win this match and the other one later with this condition.
“Su-bin,” Min-hyuk called my attention as I looked at him. “I’ll be right back.”
I nodded at him in response.
“Moon Su-bin.” Taek-woon suddenly approached me. “I heard you’re stronger than me.”
I smiled shyly before shaking my head. “Oh no. Not at all, TA.”
“No. I’m not trying to intimidate you,” he said. “I was making sure that you are because you could help us win the match.”
We both looked ahead towards the opponents.
“To be honest, I think I will lose the match against Troy,” he continued.
“What do you mean?” I asked him.
“Have you seen Troy’s body built? He might not look fit like you and me, but I think his willpower gives him strength,” Taek-woon replied.
“What is our plan then?”
“The wrestling match is considered to be under the elimination category. It means those who will lose won’t be able to proceed to the next rounds,” he explained. “So, if ever one of us advances later, one of us needs to beat Troy.”
“How about Min-hyuk?” I asked.
“Min-hyuk can handle both Min-ho and Min-ji,” Taek-woon said. “He might not look strong like us, but he’s smart.”
After a short talk with Taek-woon, he was called by his friends. That's why I was left alone on the bench waiting for the actual competition to begin.
“Su-bin!” I turn around after hearing someone call my name. Then, I saw Min-hyuk approaching me. “Someone wants to talk to you.”
“Who?”
“Just come with me…”
He dragged me out of my seat, the reason I don’t have any choice but to follow his tracks. I didn’t expect to be brought by him to where Lav and Isla were sitting at the bleachers’ seats.
I suddenly felt a little mad and disappointed after seeing Isla looking at me. The image kept appearing in my mind and that’s what triggers my anger. To calm me down, I decided to ever look at her.
“Oh, Su-bin! I wish you good luck,” Lav suddenly told me.
“Thank you,” I replied before looking at her.
There was this awkward silence after talking with Lav. Until someone cleared their throat.
“Good luck, Su-bin.” That voice. It was Isla’s.
How can she be so calm and not know what she just did? Does she have any idea at all? Or she doesn’t care?
“Oh.” Even though it was against my will to treat her coldly, I couldn’t help but do it. So, I turned my back against them and spoke to Min-hyuk. “Come on. The match is about to start.”
During the break time after the first match, I decided to go to the restroom to wash my face and freshen up. But, on my way there, I encountered Su-min.
“Oh, oppa.” She looked like she was shocked to see me. Then, she suddenly held me in my arms as if she was stopping me from going further. “Where are you going, oppa?”
“I’m heading to the restroom–”
“No!” She exclaimed for unknown reasons.
“Why?” I asked her before removing her hands from me. “What is going on and you’ve been acting weird since earlier?”
“Let’s go to a different restroom,” she said before trying to hold me again. “Come on.”
I pushed her hand away from me. “What are you trying to hide from me, Moon Su-min?”
“Oppa, I’m begging you…” Her eyes really tell me she’s worried about something.
I ignored her and went further to the restroom, only for me to catch Eun-woo embracing Isla. I felt Su-min’s presence behind me while I was devastatingly staring at the two a little far, in front of me.
My body trembled in anger and jealousy. I couldn’t believe what I am seeing because it was real to me now. Something is going on between these two and I wanted to understand it.
“I love you, Isla…” I even heard Eun-woo say this to her.
I wanted to approach them, to confront them. But, something holds me back from doing so. It was so painful for me to see right now, that’s why I decided to quietly walk away from that scene.
The second round of the wrestling match happened with Min-hyuk losing against Troy and Min-ji losing to me.
Taek-woon got a little mad because his plan was disregarded since he suggested that I should be the one to eliminate Troy for the second round to secure our spot.
And now, the third and final round has come. The match is going to be between Troy and me. I don’t even care if I lose this match because I wasn’t even in the condition anymore.
That scene I witnessed earlier bothered me so much and even ruined my mindset for the competition. I felt like giving up already.
When it was time for the match to begin, Troy and I went to the center and grabbed each other's belts. The preparation took a little longer than the previous because the referees are trying to make sure both of us are in fair condition to even start with.
Until Troy spoke to me.
“What a loser you are, Moon Su-bin.”
“What?” I asked him.
“I can’t believe you like that girl. I heard that you were so head-over-heels for her, but it turns out she likes Lee Eun-woo more…” Troy insulted me.
“I don’t know what you’re saying,” I told him.
As soon as the referee whistled, I felt Troy push me in surprise but I held that back with great strength and it turned out like he was trying to push a wall.
We remained like that for a few minutes, our strengths contracting like when the battery was put on the wrong way.
“You’re surprisingly strong, Moon Su-bin,” Troy said in between his breaths.
“Are you going to surrender now so that you won’t be embarrassed in front of everyone?” I was catching my breath.
“Surrender? That wasn’t in my vocabulary,” he said before pushing me again, but I didn’t budge.
Our intense positions were causing tension and loud cheers from the audience.
“Do you even know who took that picture?”
I didn’t respond to his question. I need to distract him to beat him from this match.
“I did.”
“What?” I asked him, clenching my jaw. “Why did you do that?”
“Because I want to ruin both of them.” Troy laughed like a maniac. “After all, they do me dirty. That Lee Eun-woo who beat the shit out of me for protecting that bitch.”
“You asshole,” I told him.
“A small revelation about them being step-siblings wouldn’t hurt, right?” He continued.
Those final words of his snapped me out of anger, the reason I started losing it already. I charged at him, pushing him all of a sudden before lifting him. And that’s when I slammed him to the ground with full force, almost shocking everyone.
“SADI Violet wins!”