Page 49 of GR8VITY

On their next move down our way, Yoon Ji gets the ball, and Liz wastes no time taking him on for it. They battle like earlier until she does this quick backwards kick with a hop backwards, bouncing the ball up off her toes, then her knee, and literally punching it with her forehead, sending it flying to one of the boys on her team.

She doesn't even notice Yoon Ji's shocked expression this time as she races after her team, who scores again when they get to the goal.

"Okay, okay," she calls out. "Time to call it quits."

The boys protest, but it's not as loud as it was the first time.

"You can come back tomorrow," one of them tells the others.

They all agree that's what they're going to do. All but one of them grabs their things off the grass and heads toward the side of the house as Dav En, Yeon, Kyung, and Jae-un surround Liz, gently checking her arm.

"I'm fine," she assures them.

"Noona?" the remaining boy calls out. He looks to be about sixteen or so and the only one who didn't have a bag of any sort to pick up, carrying the ball instead.

He speaks in English when she turns to him. "Thanks for helping me. They even said they want to come back tomorrow."

She walks over to him as we all start a slow progression back to the house. "I told you that it would work out. You've just got to find common ground."

I don't know what it is, but I like the way she speaks her native tongue. More than I've ever liked hearing it before. Does that mean something?

His head drops so that he's facing the ground when he asks, "What about the other thing?"

"Remember what I told you?" she asks him.

Whipping his head up, he looks at her with a smile. "You miss one hundred percent of the shots that you don't take."

"Exactly," she replies proudly. Thumbing a finger back at us, she adds, "If these nerds can bag a girl, so can you."

His eyes flick back to us before looking forward again as he laughs.

In Se, Kyung, and Dav En laugh with him.

As we make it to the front of the house, she says that her stuff is inside, and she'll be back in a few minutes. Seong Su tells us to load back up in the van while we wait for her. We all comply easily except Yoon Ji, who says he's giving her the middle seat in the back and waits outside.

After a minute or so, she's jogging out of the house with her bag slung over her shoulder like she's worried about making us wait on her. I can't help but watch her. When I catch myself doing it, I look around inside the van and see that my other six members are doing the same. Yoon Ji ushers her in the back next to Dav En. She's barely even planted her butt in the seat before Yoon Ji hops in behind her, leaning down in the cramped space of the van and kissing her. Hard.

Dav En sits with his mouth halfway open enjoying the show just as the rest of everyone catches on to what's happening.

Seong Su mutters, "Oh my god. Hurry up and shut the door."

It doesn't matter. By the time it's closed, Yoon Ji is taking his seat with a satisfied expression while our pretty girl next to him sits dazed. She glances down for a few seconds before looking up and ignoring all the eyes on her and trying to avoid hers at the same time.

I'm sitting with Yeon and Seong Su in the seat that faces the back, against the driver's window. So, the three of us are literal witnesses to everything that goes down in the back of the van. I can't help but look over when she leans forward to Kyung who's directly in front of her and wraps her arms around him. He's looking down at his phone, seemingly unfazed by what just happened behind him. She doesn't look at his phone like most women probably would. Like girlfriends I've had before would've. Liz simply wraps her arms around him and closes her eyes, pressing her lips against his cheek.

Closing his own eyes as he leans into it, he smiles as she whispers something in his ear. In Se, sitting next to him, must overhear at least part of it, because his head jerks toward them as he starts grinning. She looks at him and bites in his direction. He smiles even wider, and I start laughing. Yeon covers his mouth, but his shoulders shake, betraying him. Poor clueless Jae-un leans around Kyung to try and see what we're laughing at, but the action is over.

Liz is already sitting back in her seat and leaning her head back in what appears to be exhaustion.

Seong Su clears his throat slightly. "We need to think about what we're going to have for dinner."

"Chicken," Yoon Ji and Liz say at the same time, making me laugh again.

LIZ

I sit back in my seat, leaning my head against the rest and closing my eyes as I offer my opinion on dinner. Spending all day cleaning and with the littles, then the game this afternoon. I'm more tired than I have been in a long time. Of course, the more I keep thinking about the game, the more my brain keeps drifting back to Yoon Ji. I love how intense he was. He didn't take it easy on me because I'm a girl or his girlfriend. There's nothing better than good competition. Then the man got me into the van and kissed me even more senseless and right in front of his members. If I could've guessed what would happen next, that would not have been one of the options.

His hand finds mine in the seat, making me smile even with my eyes closed for the rest of the ride back to their house. Seong Su takes everyone’s dinner suggestions into consideration as he orders, but to be honest, I’m not really thinking about food. Yoon Ji has locked our fingers together and is using his thumb to rub small slow circles on my palm. In a weird way it tickles and feels good at the same time.