"You planning to bail on this?" Suho rolled his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. "This is my only day off this week."
"Mine too!" Minseok, sprawled out on his bed, grinned shamelessly. "I'm not leaving until you agree."
They'd been arguing for half an hour.
"Let them interview Park. Why would they even want me this year?" Suho sat on the edge of the bed and glanced out the window. "What interesting story do I have to tell? What it's like living with a knee injury?"
"Come on, don't play the victim," Minseok snorted, though his expression softened. "Just because you're not captain now doesn't erase everything you did before. If it weren't for you, Park would've completely flopped. He's way too soft to keep the team in line. If you hadn't drilled the freshmen last year, we wouldn't even be submitting a tournament application this season!"
Suho gave a bitter smile, clasping his hands together.
"Coach Lee wouldn't have let that happen."
"Then we would've gotten crushed in the first game anyway. No one's forgotten what you did for the team, hyung!" Minseok sat up and put a hand on his shoulder. "The guys might not say it, but everyone thinks you were the best captain."
Suho looked at his friend and stubbornly shook his head.
"I don't know what to say."
"You'll think of something," Minseok patted his shoulder. "Look, they even invited Yoon Jia. You think she has anything to say? She did a promotional campaign for the uni — wow, what a contribution to campus development!"
Minseok's jaw dropped when Suho suddenly jumped up from the bed.
"Hyung? Are you oka—" he started, but Suho immediately hissed something unintelligible and collapsed back down.
"Jia, you said?" Suho asked through gritted teeth, rubbing his leg.
"Huh? Uh, yeah, I heard she got invited. Right! You didn't know! There are ads with her face on every floor of the main building now. And she's gorgeous. I wonder how much cash she raked in from…" Minseok stopped, his face taking on a surprised expression as his eyes went wide. He'd figured it out.
"Hyung, are you—"
Suho reached for a pillow and threw it at his friend preemptively.
"Shut up!"
Kim dodged, his eyes sparkling as he yelled:
"Choi Suho is finally interested in something other than basketball!" He leaped off the bed, ran to a safe distance, and started teasing: "No way, hyung, are you in love with our campus celebrity?"
Suho pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't going to play this stupid game. There was no way he could catch Kim, and shutting him up when he was like this was a losing battle.
"Hyung, answer me! When did you even meet her? No one can get within ten meters of her at uni. You should see the crowd that gathers at the main entrance every day. Or is that billboard outside your window getting to you?"
Suho lowered his hand and looked at Kim seriously.
"A crowd, you say?"
Minseok sighed impatiently and moved closer to Suho, towering over him.
"You're not going to tell me where you met? Not going to share with your best friend? We've always been together… This is it! The end of our friendship!"
"He's huge, but he acts worse than a five-year-old," Suho thought, watching Kim practically stomp his foot without any emotion.
"We talked a bit after the party," he said quickly, not wanting to go into details. "So what about the crowd? Do people bother her?"
Minseok's face lit up when he heard what he wanted, and he bounded over to Suho, sitting down next to him.
"Okay, so here's the deal…"
About half an hour later, Suho knew everything there was to know about Jia's life at the university. About how she rode a bicycle to campus. About how she always politely smiled while refusing gifts from fans. About how during one class, the professor called her to the board four times — obviously to get a closer look at the famous model.
"The other students follow her around, but they don't get too pushy. It's not like she's some idol that everyone's desperate to get close to. People offer her chocolates and water, but she doesn't seem bothered by it. So what did you guys talk about?"
Suho ended up giving a brief summary of their meeting to satisfy his friend's overactive imagination.
After hearing the story, Minseok raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"So, she basically said you're not scary, and you decided you're in love?"
Suho wanted to throw another pillow at him, but there wasn't one within reach.
"I never said anything about love. You made that up yourself."
"But you like her?" Kim pressed.
Suho nodded.
"Then…" Minseok leaned forward. "The only thing left to do is tell Jia."
"Are you insane?!"
"No, seriously, why not?" Minseok protested loudly, gesturing wildly. "You've never been with anyone because you've never liked anyone. If you'd ever shown interest in someone, you'd definitely be dating by now."
"Yeah, right. If only that person hadn't run off as fast as her legs could carry her."
Minseok paused for a moment, then sighed.
"Hyung… I had no idea your self-image was this messed up!"
Suho shook his head, looking down at his hands.
"Like you guys weren't the ones telling me I have an intimidating aura."
Minseok snorted.
"You're worried about that? Your powerful aura is a magnet."
"…"
"People are attracted to what they can't have. They stare, but they're too scared to approach. They want you to make the first move… to win them over."
Suho shook his head, looking at his friend with a mix of pity and exasperation.
"That's nonsense, Minseok."
Minseok protested, got up, and started pacing around the room.
"I'm telling you how it is. You just don't get it. I'm sure if you asked Jia to grab a meal together, just the two of you, she wouldn't say no."
"Why would you think that? You said yourself people are always crowding around her, and she turns everyone down."
"Because—" Minseok grinned so wide he looked like he might float to the ceiling. "Because she asked about you."
"…"
Suho blinked, not believing what he'd just heard.
"You're not—"
"I'm not kidding, damn it," his friend cut him off. "Sewon was asking recently when you'd be back at uni, and when I asked why, he said he ran into Jia at the dean's office the other day. While they were waiting in line, she asked when you'd be on campus. I think Sewon mentioned she wanted to give you something? I'm not sure."
"Give me something?" Suho was confused. "Are you sure your friend didn't get it wrong?"
"Does it matter? The point is, Jia was asking about you. So she's interested too. Which means…" Kim paused for effect. "You're doing the interview. You're going to make the student council happy, and Jia, and everyone else, with your presence."
Suho's brain was working overtime processing this new information. If Jia was actually interested in him, could it mean that live stream two days ago wasn't a coincidence? The gray shirt… NBA… the shooting motion…
He slowly got up and walked over to his closet. Opening the door, his eyes landed on a specific shirt. The one he'd worn to the party. Gray, completely unremarkable. He'd worn it so often he'd stopped noticing the faded letters: NBA.
Time seemed to slow down for a moment. His fingers gripped the cotton fabric tighter. Suho turned his head to meet Minseok's gaze — his friend was watching him closely.
"If… hypothetically… I liked every single one of her Instagram posts, what are the chances she'd notice?"
Minseok was quiet for a few seconds, then carefully asked:
"You did that from your main account?"
Suho clicked his tongue.
"Don't be stupid. I only have one account."
"In that case…" Minseok hesitated. "I should mention that when we went to the noraebang, the freshmen asked for our socials… The guys might have told them your username… You haven't noticed how many new followers you've gotten since the semester started? There's a chance… Jia might have a second account. And if she follows you, she'd definitely see your likes."
"…"