Chapter IV

Kryptonite

“So you say it’s completely legal?” Yongsun whispered into her phone, ducking conspiratorially. Joohyun arched her perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her, but she dismissed it and turned in the opposite direction.

A long annoyed huff was heard on the opposite line. “Yes, although it’s on such short notice, she can call you up for a match. Seriously, just relax, it’s an easy friendly match.”

“Ma’am, can I see your ticket, please?” The flight attendant asked, looking at her expectantly.

“A-h, yes.” Yongsun began digging frantically through the pockets of her coat but could not find the damn piece of paper.

“In the back pocket of your jeans,” Joohyun suggested, donning an amused expression on her face.

Yongsun reached to the back pocket and finally found the ticket. She handed it to the woman, whose polite smile did not even falter for a second.

“Thank you,” the flight attendant gave her back the ticket, and she could finally board the plane.

“Eric?” She whispered into her phone as she sat down, but the line was dead. “Dammit,” she grunted and threw herself against her seat. 

“Is everything okay?” Joohyun  inquired carefully as she took her seat next to her.

“Yeah,” Yongsun grumbled and set her phone to the offline mode. 

She had really hoped Eric could get her out of that match somehow. Perhaps, it was childish of her (it most definitely was), but she really was not ready yet to face Byulyi, not to mention playing with her.

A heavy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach and she knew it had nothing to do with the fact that the plane would be soon set in motion. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth as her eyes frantically scanned the surrounding in search of the blond hair. Craning her neck to have a better view of the seats in front of her, she noticed a flutter of white hair, but it was too fair, she guessed it was Nana.

“Looking for someone?”

Yongsun’s heart almost burst through her ribcage and she had to steady herself by propping her hand against the seat in front of her. A snigger echoed behind her back and she swore to god it had to be the most annoying sound on the entire planet as it actually made her skin crawl.

Slowly, she declined into her seat with a deep breath, not answering the question, or glancing behind her back. Don’t let her provoke you, she repeated in her head like mantra as she took out a pillow from her bag. A palm rested softly against her back, and she looked at Joohyun whose pretty face was etched with concern.  

“I’m fine.” Yongsun’s lips moved soundlessly then pulled up in a smile, tension leaving her body as though absorbed by her friend’s light touch. 

She put the pillow between her seat and the window but before she was able to rest her head on it, Joohyun poked her arm and beckoned at her with her head. Yongsun bit the inside of her cheek in hesitation.

After the conversation she had with Joohyun, she decided that in order to preserve her heart and dignity, she had to distance herself from the girl. Not completely of course, they were still close friends after all, but at least as much as to avoid those small gestures of affection that Yongsun’s lovesick mind could misinterpret as something more. At the same time, she knew it would not be easy as Joohyun was a rather affectionate person, another difference that she shared with Seulgi who happened to hate skinship.

She rolled her eyes at her own thought process, but Joohyun must have mistook it as an reaction to her invitation for her forehead creased in worry. Yongsun quickly corrected her mistake by flashing her friend a brilliant grin and putting the pillow against her shoulder to rest her head on it. Joohyun immediately perked up, echoing her gesture.

Yongsun was about to close her eyes when she saw the face of the devil in her peripheral vision. Chin propped on the seat in front of her and lips pulled back against her teeth in a dumb grin, Byulyi was staring at her like a mischievous, scheming toddler.

“You could at least say hi, you know?” she said, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

Staying true to her mantra that she kept repeating in her mind, Yongsun shot her a glare and closed her eyes. In her dreams, she kicked a certain blond girl out of the plane without giving her a parachute. 

~~~   

It was early afternoon when they arrived at the hotel in Vietnam, greeted by a group of supporters who were holding the South Korean flag. Yongsun smiled at them and gave a few autographs but just could not comprehend why they began squealing like a bunch of maniacs once Byulyi left the coach. She glanced furtively at the blonde as she posed for the photos with some fans. She isn’t even attractive, for god’s sake! When she was grinning her face would scrunch up funnily, revealing her rabbit teeth and dimples in her cheekbones. She looks like a complete idiot. 

“Why do you keep staring at her?”

Yongsun’s head whipped to Hyejin who was looking at her with a baffled expression.

“I’m not,” she tossed curtly and entered the hotel.

The feeling of discomfort, which vexed her whenever Byulyi was in her close vicinity, diminished a little once she found herself in the hotel room that she shared with Joohyun. Dropping her bag next to a bed, she collapsed onto the soft mattress with a sigh. She hated the fact that Byulyi still had this distressful effect on her. The humiliation she subjected her to was like a brand burnt into her skin that throbbed achingly whenever the blonde was near her. She had become her freaking kryptonite. Yongsun actually lost her will to play, worried about another lapse in attention caused by Byulyi’s provocation that would bring onto her a new heap of shame.  

“The weather is really nice. I wonder if the coach will let us go out after the training,” Joohyun mused, closing the balcony doors behind her. Their eyes met and her friend balled her fists, resting them on her hips.

“Yong, get a grip and stop sulking, ” Joohyun said, frustration edging her voice. “Honestly, I barely recognize you. Where’s the chipper girl who would jump at every opportunity to play a match, huh? ”

The answer ‘ask Moon Byul Yi about that’ was at the tip of Yongsun’s tongue, but she held it back.

“Besides, do you really think she will provoke you again? She did that to win and now, you’re playing in the same team, meaning your lose is her lose.”

Yongsun did not even have ponder on Joohyun’s words to realize that she was right and her fears were irrational. Byulyi would not gain anything by rousing her this time. She really should pull herself together and stop moping around because it was ridiculous and it began affecting those around her.

She sat up, lips breaking into a smile. “You’re right, I should get a grip. After all, we have a match to win.”

“That’s the spirit.” Joohyun beamed at her. “Now, let’s go and grab something light to eat from the cafeteria before the training starts.”

~~~

Yongsun promised herself to let go of her paranoia but it did not mean that she suddenly began to trust Byulyi. Hell no! Not even in million years. So when they were changing in the locker room, she kept stealing wary glances at the blonde in case she tried something funny again. However, Byulyi did not seem to be interested in pulling any sneaky moves as she casually talked with her friends, Dahyun and Sooyoung, while changing into her training attire. She took off her blouse and tossed it into her locker. Unwittingly, Yongsun’s eyebrow arched at the sight. As much as it pained her to admit, the girl had a quite nice figure with her slender waist and toned stomach.  

“Hon, you’re staring again,” Hyejin whispered next to her.

Yongsun’s head whipped to her right, heat rising to her cheeks.

“I’m not,” she muttered through her gritted teeth and put on her shirt. But Hyejin was still staring at her, leaning against the locker with her arms crossed and an amused smirk on her lips.

“What?” Yongsun asked irritated by her friend’s behavior.

The redhead did not reply just swept her eyes up and down Yongsun’s frame. The striker followed her motion and noticed that she put on the shirt but without taking off her blouse first, resulting in her looking like a complete idiot. She quickly stripped off the clothes and looked around herself self-consciously, but no one seemed to notice her mistake. Avoiding Hyejin’s judging stare, she changed into her training clothes and sat down on the bench just as the coach entered the locker room.

“Hello everyone, my name is Kwon Boa.” Their new coach introduced herself to the whole team for the first time.

She stood in the center of the room, wearing a light blue shirt and a pair of jeans. Her long dark hair were tied in a ponytail and her expression was nothing but serious and professional.

Yongsun heard rumors saying that the woman was a very strict and demanding coach, but she was not the type to base her impression of others on meaningless gossip. However, now that she saw her and listened to her confident voice, she could not shake the feeling that those were not mere rumors. Kwon Boa was indeed intimidating. 

“Some of you know me already,” the coach continued, sweeping her gaze over the players. “Others may have heard about me. For the past few years, I’ve been training FC Rosengard, the Swedish team from Malmo, achieving with them several significant successes. Now, I hope to continue the streak of victories with you,” she made a telling pause so that everyone could ingrain her words into their heads.    

“I’m sorry that this match is on such short notice, but as you are aware, I was also appointed at the last moment. And since the Asian Cup, which I expect us to win,” she stated as though it was a given fact, a thing of the past, “is just in two weeks, we don’t have much time for preparations. So I suggest we start right away,” she finished and everyone stood up, heading for the pitch.   

~~~ 

During the training, Yongsun was constantly flanked by Wheein and Hyejin while Joohyun was her partner for the various exercises which basically meant that Byulyi had no chance to approach her. However, she did send her way weird looks, during which she would wiggle her eyebrows and grin stupidly like some psycho. Does she think she looks funny or something? Gosh… what a moron. Yongsun dismissed her with a frown, focusing on the training. But no matter how hard she tried to ignore Byulyi, the girl somehow always ended up in her line of vision. Her moves were sharp and swift, each shot executed with deadly precision, leaving no chances for the goalkeeper to defend it. So although it was as painful as having someone ram a soccer shoe into her shin, Yongsun had to admit that the girl’s skills were quite impressive. There was a certain finesse to how she handled the ball, a sense of effortlessness and fluidity that only few players could achieve.

“Watch out!”

Someone yelled, interrupting her musings. She turned around and the lights went off as her head jerked back, throbbing with sharp pain. Barely managing to keep her balance after the head on collision with a ball, she felt a pair of arms encircling her from behind and holding her up.

“I know I’m attractive but I suggest you keep your eyes on the ball, at least during the training,” an amused, husky whisper vibrated just next to Yongsun’s ear.

She glanced behind her shoulder and despite the slight dizziness clouding her mind, she could clearly see Byulyi and her smug grin plastered on her stupid face. Immediately, she wrenched out herself from her arms, but the sudden movement made her feel a little woozy again and she had to crouch down.

“Are you okay?” Joohyun came up to her, ducking to meet her gaze. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to aim at your face. The ball kinda slipped of my foot and strayed from its course,” she explained, her voice trembling with concern. Wheein and Hyejin also made their way to her equally worried about her state.

“I’m fine,” she said with a tight-lipped smile as she stood up.

“Kim! Stop daydreaming and start paying attention!” Boa’s strict voice reached her. The coach was frowning sternly at her.

She bowed her head in apology and was about to resume her exercises when she heard a familiar voice shouting, “You’re a wanker, number eleven!”

For a second she thought it was some kind of auditory hallucination, an after effect of the hit, but Joohyun quickly proved her wrong.

“It’s Seulgi,” her teammate said and Yongsun was afraid that would burst at its corners with how widely she was grinning. The sight was beautiful but painful, even more than a soccer shoe rammed into her shin, or a ball smashed into her face. She surpassed the incoming eye-roll and looked to the stands where Seulgi sat, waving at them.

“You knew she was coming?” Joohyun looked at her as though she expected her to say ‘surprise!’ while the truth was she was just as baffled by Seulgi’s appearance as her friend, if not more. Her roommate had not visited them in Jeonju and never mentioned anything about visiting them in Vietnam.

“Nah, she hadn’t told me anything.” Yongsun shrugged nonchalantly and returned to her exercises. 

After the training was over and they returned to the locker room, Boa explained to them the strategy for the tomorrow’s match, which was pretty straightforward focusing mainly on the offensive. She then dismissed them but not before asking them to stay at their hotel rooms tonight. Apparently, Boa had that ‘no fun before matches’ policy, and it also applied to friendly matches. Not everyone appreciated it though and a murmur of sighs and grumbles echoed in the room following her words, but Yongsun did not care. She had no intention of partying tonight anyway, or so she thought until they met Seulgi outside the stadium.

“Wassup Kang, what brings you here?” Hyejin was first to approach the girl, greeting her with a fist bump.

Seulgi was wearing a pair of black, ripped jeans, a letterman jacket of the same color and a cap causally draped over her long, dark hair. In short, she looked too cool for her own good which made Yongsun feel self-conscious about her disheveled post-training look, even if she was not the only one donning it.  

“I felt bad that I didn’t visit you in Jeonju so I decided to make up for that by attending your match,” she smiled at them, ing her palms into the pockets of her jacket.

“Aw, that’s so sweet of you,” Wheein cooed cutely.

Joohyun was silent but judging by her bashful smile she must have shared the same opinion. Meanwhile, Yongsun was just tired, her face felt swollen and she wanted to get back to the hotel as quickly as possible. Seulgi, however, had different plans.

“I’ve been thinking that we could hit the club tonight, what do you say?” she suggested.

“We can’t,” Yongsun blurted, her tone harsher than intended. “I mean the coach asked us to stay at the hotel.”

“Oh come on Yong, I’m sure you can sneak out.” Seulgi sidled up to her, bumping her shoulder.

She had that rakish smile spread across her lips which must have been the main reason behind all those girls falling for her so easily since even Yongsun thought it was charming. Nonetheless, because she lived with Seulgi for some time now, she had already became immune to it and she was about to turn down her offer again when someone much more prone to her charms anticipated her.

“Well, I suppose she only asked us not to go out. It wasn’t an outright ban,” Joohyun stated, teeth gnawing on her bottom lip. She was obviously nervous as she had never been one to break the rules, but apparently, not only love was blind, it also made people do stupid things.

“Count me in.” Hyejin raised her palm. “It’s just a friendly match anyway.”

“And we don’t have to drink alcohol,” Wheein added.

Yongsun groaned internally because she knew there was no way she was getting herself out of this. “Fine,” she threw her arms in defeat. “But we’re back before midnight.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Seulgi saluted her, bearing her teeth in wide grin.

For some reason, Yongsun was unable to respond with anything akin to glee. A dreadful uneasiness settled somewhere at the back of her mind, muttering to her that all of this was a very bad idea…  

TBC

A/N : This one is shorter than intended, but that's because I wasn't able to finish the whole chapter as I kept coming up with new ideas and it was grwoing longer and longer. However, I really wanted to keep my promise of posting one chapter per week, hence I decided to cut it into smaller pieces xD Anyway, from now on there will be more and more MoonSun interactions ;) Thank you for all the subscirptions! And comments and upvotes are as always appriciated! ^^