“Are you nervous?” Tzuyu asks, as they put their cleats on.

“I guess. But I’m more pumped than nervous. I feel good today,” Jeongyeon responds, smiling at Tzuyu.

They had a soccer match that day, and the J.Y. High School’s Lady Tigers are tougher than ever. Their record for the season was quite remarkable, with only one loss halfway through the season. Jeongyeon was one of the hardest worker on the team, which was unsurprising as she is just generally, a very hard worker. She was a striker, and has scored many goals in times of crisis, which is why she was known as a clutch player, garnering her much respect from her own teammates and a bit of animosity from players in the opposing teams.

Today was different though. Jeongyeon was about to face an entirely new beast she has not encountered while playing on the field before.

--

“Let’s sit here!” Sana exclaims a bit excitedly, spilling some of the popcorn she has bought. Mina sits down after her. Sana looks at Mina, who was squinting her eyes, eyebrows scrunched up, seemingly scanning the field looking for the girl that caused Mina to suddenly have a great interest in soccer.

“Are you blind? Jeong’s over there,” Sana adds, pointing with .

“Where?” Mina asks.

“So you are looking for her,” Sana cheekily adds, successfully garnering Mina’s shy reaction. “She’s over there, next to number 18.”

The two girls watch the game with focused gazes, with one more so focused on one girl alone.

The second half approaches with 1-1 on the board, and the crowd, as well as the players can feel the tension. Mina does not know much about soccer, but it does not take a genius to tell that Jeongyeon has made quite a few grave mistakes during the first half. She lost the ball to the opposing player quite a few times, and missed the goal even with an open shot. Mina’s hands were sweaty, seemingly channeling the nervousness and frustration that Jeongyeon must be feeling at the moment.

“This is weird,” Sana states, “I’ve seen Jeongyeon played before. She’s so good, she’s scary. Her condition today is not so good.”

Mina nods then replies, “I heard that too. I wonder if she’s okay.”

Jeongyeon’s game got better throughout the second half, making less mistakes. Luckily, with less than 3 minutes to signal the end of the game, Jeongyeon was successfully able to assist another player, who made the winning goal for J.Y. High School.

The goal brought Mina and Sana to their feet, who were jumping and cheering. Mina eyes Jeongyeon from the bleachers, and after the Lady Tigers and the girls from the opposing team shook hands, Mina can see Jeongyeon’s sulking stature. After the post-game pep talk from the coach, Mina observed several girls from the crowd running towards Jeongyeon, causing her to stop from coming down from the bleachers to congratulate Jeongyeon herself.

“Just wait for her after she changes and stuff. That’s her little fan club. She’s quite popular too, you know,” exclaims Sana before leading her friend to the exit.

--

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Jeongyeon says to her teammates, a