two

Min clutched his hands at his sides and patiently watched the performance in front of him.

A group of men in satin jerseys, colored fiery red and white, did some acrobats, dancing, and cheers with the music which seemed awfully similar to the cheerleading performances Min had seen in his school.

Ed saw the intense fascination in Min eyes and rolled his' at the situation. Min was interested and Ed knew even if he upturned the earth, there was no stopping Min.

As the performance came to an end, the girl's squealed and shouted encouragement again and again.

A performer from the stage huffed and wiped the sweat off his neck by raising his jersey―which also displayed his well-toned eight packs and Min soundly heard many girls fainting on spot with a thud.

The same guy picked a mike from another one who looked like a stage management worker and flashed a dazzling smirk to the crowd. Then in a raspy voice, the guy spoke. "Ladies and Ladies and oh the scarce gentleman present too."

Several ladies hollered at the address which earned a chuckle from the guy on the stage.

"One! Two! Three! TOGETHER WITH ME. WE FIGHT TO WIN!" The crowd cheered at the top of their lungs and the guys in the stage all bowed to the crowd and did some freakishly cool salutes before repeating the cheers themselves.

Min cheeks gleamed with redness as he leaned forward, cupped his mouth, and shouted the same chants with the crowd.

Ed was pleasantly surprised at Min's natural interest. Coughing lightly, Ed looked back at the guys on the stage.

SUAVE, they were the reigning all men's cheerleading squad from their university, that often received a wildcard entry in the CIAOC competition. They have also maintained the position of being in the top 5 in Asia and go to the semifinals thrice in the last five years. In all, SUAVE had a major reputation.

Min was so happy that his feet kept bouncing. Seeing the guy who spoke before again open his mouth, Min anticipated.

"As you see, our seniors have graduated and we are here to recruit new members. If interested feel free to drop by the gym within the noon hours. Adios." The guy winked in a playboy fashion and stepped off the stage with a big jump, earning another round of screams from the crowd. Other members too scampered down, going to the backstage.

Min sighed dramatically and turned to Ed with lips parted as if to say something. Ed watched Min struggle with his red cheeks and relented. "What? Want to do the same?"

Min's head shot up at Ed's inquiry and he slowly screeched at Ed. "Hyung they were so cool just now!"

The brightness reflecting from Min's eyes was too prominent and contagious that Ed felt a tinge of a smile breaking out on his lips. "You like them?"

Min stole a glance at the men on the open backstage and his heart pounded. "I do."

Ed thought for some time then reminded Min that they were out for lunch and should probably get it.

Min mindlessly followed Ed to wherever Ed took him―with mind full of the strange and most amazing thing he saw today. Min was so engrossed in his thoughts, that at some point he had begun humming the music and swaying, as Ed guided him to the nearest cafeteria.

The cafeteria Ed took Min to was the most unpopulated one. This cafeteria didn't receive much students. The main reason? Because literally all of the servers in this cafeteria were male.

Min shifted closer to Ed as they entered the cafeteria. Ed let Min stay closer to him and normally marched to the server, he frequents.

The server looked up from his phone and smiled at Ed. Ed slightly bowed and acknowledged the server before placing an order of two medium-sized lunch plates.

The server put the orders in two respective plates and handed them over to Ed as he paid through swiping his meal card.

Min glanced at the meal card on Ed's hand. Ed saw Min's penetrating gaze at his meal card and explained it to him. "Don't worry. Tomorrow when you go to pick the schedule, you'll receive the meal card and an on-campus transportation card too."

Min nodded understandingly as Ed led them to a corner table near the windows.

The lunch plate that Ed picked was generously filled with Korean cuisine. It included, Fried Chicken, Egg tarts, Spicy Rice Cakes, and a Juice can.

Min wasn't completely unaware of Korean Cuisine. His mother often cooked several Korean dishes, from time to time. But being used to English meals all his life, he didn't have much attraction to Korean meals.

"You can eat those right?" Ed asked, looking at Min's hard stare on the plate.

Min picked the chopsticks and chomped on one of the reddish rice cakes—some sauce remaining on the corner of his lips. After swallowing the food, Min replied. "Uh, I can."

Ed was satisfied with Min's answer and he grabbed a piece of fried chicken, dipping it in some spicy chilli sauce, before chomping on the steaming piece of chicken leg.

The lunch passed quietly with neither of the cousins uttering another word.

When the lunch was finished, Min summoned his courage to talk to Ed about going to the gym.

Ed contemplated Min's request and finally took a joyous Min in the direction of the so-called gym.

There were a total of five gyms in the University campus—three gyms permanently given to the official teams for practice sessions. And so the Cheerleading Squad had its own too.

As both Min and Ed neared the gym, they heard shouts coming from inside. The shout was shrilly with anger laced in it.

"You all are worthless! It's a fluke that you boys were able to give a decent performance for recruitment. With the seniors retiring you all are doomed." The heavy female voice scolded before the sound of something clattering against the ground was heard.

Min's eyes caught a woman rushing out of the gym doors, dressed in a tracksuit, angrily muttering to herself. "I'll quit. They have no future."