eleven

In the dark room, thin strips of light infiltrated through the shutter curtains in a long thread, lightening the small alarm clock on a bed desk.

Bitter sounds of one's repeated tapping of foot echoed in the murky room.

In a chair, sat Seunghwan with droopy eyes that were faintly misted over the screen of the LCD monitor. His hand rested firmly on the wireless mouse, clicking away.

Zoom in. Out. In. Out.

The picture on the screen showed the image of a group of around twenty guys, huddling together, each had the most precious grins on their face.

Seunghwan again zoomed in and stopped on the same guy. The guy looked tired but his smile seemed infectious. In the hands of that guy was a glittering golden trophy.

That guy was nobody but the previous to former Captain of their cheerleading squad.

That guy was the one, who opened the huge platform of cheerleading to Seunghwan. That person showed Seunghwan that one shouldn't let go of any opportunities.

Seunghwan's eyes flashed with grief.

After that person graduated from university, their squad suddenly became a place for guys to pick up girls. It was horrendous to see everyone slacking off and angering the authorities.

Soon, the coach became distant and one day quit without any prior notice, leaving the already breaking team to shatter more.

During the first year of the downfall, their squad terribly lost through the wildcard entry and became a joke throughout the competition. In the second year of the team downfall, because of the loss in the last year—they had to start from the qualifiers—but who would've known that in the last minute three members would quit and make their overall squad unqualified to participate?

But magically even with such disastrous outcomes, their reputation didn't taint. Perhaps because their rank didn't go down in those unlucky two years and no other team was able to get a higher total score that could beat SUAVE and overtake their position.

It was really miraculous and Seunghwan always prayed that till they bring back the trophy again, let no other seize the chance and usurp them by taking over their rank.

The alarm clock at the bed desk chimed as soon the big arrow hand landed on the 60th minute to 7.

Seunghwan was awake all night and the lack of rest was clearly visible on his haggard face.

What to do? How to do?

He has finally become the Captain who can take the reins over but other than that what else can he do?

In order to go to the bigger championship, they need to pass the qualifiers and to get qualified even for the qualifiers—they need to have at least sixteen members on the squad. The more, the better.

Seunghwan's lips formed a straight line. Depression leaking from his aura.

They only have eight members on the squad now. How was Seunghwan supposed to bring more before the first batch of qualifiers open in late August?

~

The food challenge came to an end after the prize distribution. A lot of cash prizes were given to the top three, with some to the rest two.

Danny had to lay on the nearby bench and wait for the food to digest.

Min, along with Mun Hee and Donghyuck waited on Danny to recover.

Donghyuck had far before felt the curious glances, the little spectacled girl was giving him. From his point, the girl looked like a friend or classmate of Min.

Danny's upper body was drenched in sweat as he laid with his arm on his eyes, breathing more normally than a couple of minutes ago.

"So Min-ah who is this?" Donghyuck casted a friendly glance at the girl, who was shying away.

Min, who had been bending above Danny's figure, kind of in a worried way, involuntarily, gave a jump at Donghyuck's question.

Min's eyes found Mun Hee, standing lonely with aflame cheeks and felt guilty for completely forgetting about this new friend of his.

"Ah, Donghyuck Sunbae, she is Park Mun Hee, my classmate and friend. She helped me with my first lecture and promised to give me the notes that I missed for joining a week later." Min explained patiently.

"Oh." Donghyuck exclaimed. "Hi there."

Mun Hee's face bowed down frantically. "H-Hello, Sunbaenim." [Sunbaenim is a Korean term used to address someone who is older than us in the workforce or in an education system. This does not mean a good 10 years older than us, but someone who is maybe 2–7 years older than us. They are older, but not quite out of our age range. We usually use nim when we are talking to/about a person who is older than us or when we speak formally. But we don’t always use nim. We usually don’t use nim with proper nouns, Instead we can use ssi]

Donghyuck nodded in acknowledgement, when a groan came from the figure lying on the bench.

"Danny? Are you uncomfortable? Do you want me to get you some Hwal Myeong Su?" [Hwal Myeong Su (traditional korean medicine) is a solution for a problem all-too-familiar to us—an over-full stomach and can help one eat as much they wish by countering its adverse effects]

Danny slowly sat up and immediately a burp escaped his throat, shocking everyone present near.

"Nah, I'm fine. But do me favour." Danny waved his palm. "I want to go back home to keep the cash prize. Manage Captain till I return? Please."

Donghyuck too felt it won't be good to walk around the campus with so much cash in the pockets.

"Fine but be quick. Practice starts in.." Donghyuck swiped the screen of his smartphone to check the time. "Forty five minutes. So hurry."

Danny smiled and turned to Min. "Thanks for cheering me on."

Before Min could utter a welcome reply, Danny had cracked his neck and arms—and dashed away in an unknown direction. Min could only gulp down his long list of questions for now.

"Min-ah do you want to go to the gym ahead? I have the spare keys on me today."

"Uh, sure."

Min didn't know that the keys were with Donghyuck and failed to hide his surprised expression.

Donghyuck cleared Min's surprise by saying. "Authorities gave us a spare key so that we don't disturb them often. The spare keys are always circulated among the members unless it's the pair of naughty twins. They can't be trusted with any responsibility."

"Oh." Min mumbled.

Donghyuck gazed at Mun Hee and then gestured at Min with his eyes.

Min followed Donghyuck's gaze and realized the purpose. With an apologetic smile, Min asked Mun Hee. "Mun Hee, you can go back right? I need to go to the gym. See you again in the class?"

Mun Hee muttered back a 'Mhm' which let Min sigh in relief and leave with Donghyuck. Her vision stayed on Min's figure disappearing down the pathway.

She can't wait to go home and tell her mom. She had made her first friend in University.