Chapter 9: Like An Arrow

It was the worst part of the day. PE.

I didn't dislike the class, it was more due to the hot days lately that made it nearly unbearable. And it didn't help that Hoseok's classes went through sudden changes. He broke the news to me this morning when he didn't come with me to our first class. Or what used to be our first class. He still hadn't given me a clear reason as to why his classes changed so suddenly. Now I could only see my best friend during lunch break.

Warm sweat dripped and plastered my hair to the outer ends of my face. My ponytail slightly coming apart. We just finished with warm up laps around the field. Today's activity was going to be archery. I liked archery.

Seven stations of bows and arrows stood in a line. Each one had its own target located fifty feet in the distance. There were about twenty students. Miss Kwon split every one up into groups of three. She assigned me the station in the very middle. Not too long after, I met my two teammates. A girl named, Kim Sooah and a boy, Shin Minho.

Sooah seemed disappointed about being separated from her friends and looked at me as though it was my fault. Our history isn't as bumpy as others. In fact I never understood why she disliked me. We barely talked enough for me to say something offensive. Despite our limited encounters there were times when she'd whisper to her friends about me. Judging by their reactions it didn't seem likely that she was offering compliments.

Minho on the other hand didn't seem to care either way. He was too busy talking to his friend who was placed at the station next to us. Which was better than the looks of scorn I was getting from Sooah.

The first thing Miss Kwon did was teach everyone the basics--how to hold the bow, nocking arrows, aiming, etc. Most of us had done this in previous years but our teacher insured us that a review was merely the school's requirements for the sake of safety. It had been a couple years since I myself had picked up a bow.

Each member had their chance to shoot the five arrows provided, retrieved them, and traded places with the next person in line. Sooah assumed her place in the front of the line. Minho blinked at her before shrugging it off. He then turned to me to offer the second place in line but I kindly refused. I didn't think Sooah would've liked it if I stood close to her.

Sooah's shots varied from outside the outer line to the inner blue ring. She claimed that one arrow had just made the red, but me and Minho shared a look of lenient skepticism. Minho had the best shots varying from the inner black ring to the inner red ring which was very close to the yellow. I clapped, fascinated. When he retrieved the arrows and returned them, it was my turn.

Miss Kwon called up the next line of archers up to their bows. I picked up the one balancing on the stand in front of me. It was a white compound bow with red designs around it except for the brand which was printed in black bold letters. After nocking my first arrow I drew the string back to my chin. I close my left eye and lined up the tip and the center of the target.

I released the arrow, which made a loud, CHOOK!

It landed in the grass in font of the target.

Sooah scoffed. "She's so embarrassing," she mumbled. I rolled my eyes and ignored her. Instead I nocked my next arrow.

"Lee Yurim-shi?" Minho called from behind. I looked over my shoulder at him. "Try to push the arch of the bow forward as you're pulling the string back. You'll get more distance."

I blinked, surprised at his willingness to give me advice. Nonetheless I nodded. "Oh, thank you. I'll try that." I thought I heard a sound of disapproval from the ill mannered girl behind me. But I was too enthusiastic about giving Minho's suggestion a try.

I lifted the bow and pulled back the string while pushing forward on the arch. I could feel the muscles in my arms start to burn already. "Lee Yurim, both eyes open!" Miss Kwon reminded me over the noise. I flinched and blink my eye open. I tried aiming but the burn in my arm was blazing. My arms began shaking. I released against my will.

But it hit! It made the outer white ring, worth one point.

"Oh! Better!" Minho voiced.

"That was a terrible shot!" Sooah argued.

"What matters is that each arrow is closer than the last." He said. "Didn't your fourth arrow hit the zero zone?" I was happy that he didn't have a problem being vocal about his thoughts that clearly differed from hers.

"Ch!" Sooah spat but said nothing further. She was behind me but I could practically hear her ears fuming steam.

My next two arrows hit the black rings. And much to my surprise my last arrow pierced the outer red ring. Sooah muttered something under her breath. It sounded like, 'just luck'. Luckily for her she had an extra try to practice since some groups had four members in their group.

One of her arrows did touch the outer yellow ring but it was amidst a very scattered cloud of arrows. I'm not much of an expert on archery, but that seemed like an inconsistent shooting pattern. But she celebrated herself anyway.

After everyone had their turn practicing, Miss Kwon then presented a challenge for the class. The team who scored the highest points would be dismissed ten minutes early to get cleaned up. Everyone celebrated the terms of the challenge. 

I could see the appeal in being excused early. The girl's locker room could be bothersome to navigate when there were others rushing from one place to another. The catch of the challenge was that we could only shoot the five arrows we had. Every student had to shoot at least one arrow. It was up to us to distribute the extras according to our own judgement.

"I say that we should have the extra two arrows," Sooah pointed at herself and Minho. "It's nothing personal. I just think we have a good chance at winning."

Minho scratched his head. "I was actually thinking me and Yurim-shi should..." he trailed off seeing Sooah's evident offense. "Why don't you two take them then?"

"No," I stepped in. "You're the best at this, you should definitely shoot twice. And Sooah-shi hit the yellow so...maybe she'll hit it again." Minho could see I had no confidence in our teammate but nodded for the sake of keeping the peace.

When the time came to start, Sooah unsurprisingly stepped up first. She whipped her french braid behind her back. Her first arrow landed on the inner black ring. Four points. The girl cleared her throat and raised her chin even higher into the air. I figured she wanted to hide her nervousness. Sooah aimed and shot her second and final arrow.

One point.

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I heard her scoff before throwing down the bow and walked away in a huff.

I stepped forward and picked it up. After thinking, I gave it to Minho who gave a questioning look. "I think a couple of good shots will cheer her up." I whispered. He chuckled and accepted the bow.

Minho's first shot was very promising. He hit the eight point ring! I clapped in support. We were currently at thirteen points. I looked at the other targets and saw two groups had scored eighteen and twenty-two already. My hands rubbed together. The tension rising. I didn't expect this to feel so exciting. Though, my stomach was starting to feel a little queasy, realizing that I had my own arrow to shoot.

He pulled the string back and aimed. I bit my lip, nervous. However, I didn't dare blink. Minho's concentration was intense. Finally he released.

"Nine!" Sooah cheered. Her mood clearly changed. But I couldn't help but join her excitement as well.

I clapped and gave him two thumbs up. Minho nodded his thanks then handed the bow over to me. We were at twenty-two now. Like before there were two groups who had higher scores than us right now. They were at twenty-three and twenty-seven. But depending on how things worked out, even those with lower amount of points could take the win.

I nocked the final arrow and took a deep breath before raising the bow. I drew the string back like Minho instructed. My strategy I decided to continue from my practice round was to aim toward the left. Before, I noticed my arrows always landed more to the right of where I aimed. So I inched over in the opposite direction to compensate for whatever trajectorial imperfections were in my aim.

But the arrow became unstable and restless. My arms started to shake again. I tried to hold it a little longer to make my aim, but it became too much. Instead of releasing I retracted the string carefully to shake the exhaustion from my arms.

"Ugh! We're doomed. As expected from a girl whose parents are mediocre business owners." Sooah murmured behind me.

"Take your time." Minho spoke over her. I looked back at him to nod my thanks. 

When I did I noticed something strange at the corner of my eye. My eyes went toward the school building automatically. I wasn't sure what I was looking at. There was a dark speck on the rooftop that could've been either an object I hadn't noticed there before or...a person.

"Aren't you gonna shoot?" The voice made me jump. I looked to see it was one of the boys in the group next to us. "Everyone's waiting on you."

"Oh! Sorry," I apologized to everyone.

"We just need seven more points and we can be tied for first at least," Minho added, his voice  sounding a bit anxious.

I returned my focus on the target before drawing the string back again. The thought of people watching and waiting for me was hard to fight. But I was more determined to do my best and to avoid disappointing Minho or even Sooah for that matter.

Finally, I released the arrow. The whip-like crack of the string wasn't among others this time. It was completely alone. The arrow wobbled through the air before it pierced the target with a soft, TUK.

"WAAA!" The whole class exclaimed with shock.

"A TEN! SHE HIT A TEN!" Minho cried out in celebration. "I get the locker room to myself!" The other guys looked at him enviously.

He was the only guy in our group which meant he'll have the boy's locker room to himself for the last ten minutes of class. I on the other hand would have to share with Sooah, who was now gloating to the other girls that she was on the winning team. Of course in her mind I had absolutely nothing to do with it. At least it was a big enough locker room to avoid her.

As was agreed, we were released ten minutes before the end of class. We hurried toward the locker rooms, wanting as much time to clean up as possible. On our way, I remembered something and looked back at the roof top. The speck was gone.

The lunch bell rang. Everyone either headed toward the cafeteria or stayed in the classrooms to eat. I headed up the stairs. Hoseok sent me a text earlier to meet him at his class two floors up. His new class. I checked the message again to make sure I had the right classroom in mind. The last line of the text grabbed my attention more than the rest.

Seokjin will be there too! ^ ^

When Hoseok's classrooms changed it so happened that he shared a lot of the same classes with Seokjin. At least there was something positive that came out of the sudden transition. Classes felt so much more lonely without him. I smiled at his strange but sweet support over me and Seokjin.

As I kept climbing the stairs I finally reached the next floor, but when I looked up from my phone someone stood in my path.

The first thing I saw was his shiny black boots. My eyes climbed the figure until the entire form of Jungkook stood before me. No. Not now! I wasn't in the mood for this today.

I opened my mouth to protest whatever he planned to do. But before I could utter a peep he thrusted his palms at my shoulders. I sucked in a gasp of panic. My heart dropped soundlessly into an abyss. My feet unsure what to do with itself without the ground. I was falling. I could already feel the steps below me, beckoning for me to crash into them. The impact was coming.

 And there was nothing I could do about it.

The last thing I could see was Jungkook and the smile he wore as he watched. Then everything turned black.

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