“Sehun? Why are you here?” Hyewon gaped at the guy behind the door.

The boy pouted, letting go his hold of his luggage’s handle to fold his arms across his chest. “I can’t believe those are the first words you said to your childhood friend after three years not meeting him. This should be a touching reunion. Wow. I’m hurt, Hyewon.”

Hyewon couldn’t clearly hear what he said because she was still too busy staring at him, taken aback with how different her childhood friend was from how she remembered him. The last time she’d seen Sehun was at their elementary school graduation before he’d moved to Busan because of his parents’ jobs. Three years ago, Sehun had been shorter than her, but now, he’s way taller – if she compared him to Hana High’s volleyball club’s starting members, he was probably taller than them. How was that even possible?

In only three years, Sehun’s appearance had changed so much Hyewon almost didn’t recognize him. He also became a lot more… good looking with his sharp jawline and chiseled features. He seemed more like a stranger to her.

Sehun waved his hands in front of her face to snap her out of her trance. “Hello? Are you listening to me? Hyewon?”

“Huh? What did you say?” Hyewon asked absentmindedly.

Grinning brightly, he said, “I missed you.”

Hyewon finally smiled. His stupid grin and sweet words were enough proofs that he’s still the same Sehun that she knew. He was as flirtatious as ever and being together with him for six years made her immune to his heart-melting remarks.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hyewon said dismissively, unaffected. “By the way, how tall are you?”

Sehun pouted again. “You’re supposed to answer me with I missed you, too. And after all these years, that’s the first thing you’re curious about when you see me?” He huffed, but answered her question, anyway. “I’m 183cm. I got a lot taller, I guess.”

“Insanely taller,” she corrected. She had to crane her neck to look Sehun in the eyes now.

“How about we continue inside?” Gripping his luggage’s handle, Sehun walked into her apartment, inviting himself in. “I’m coming in. Sorry for intruding.”

 Hyewon stepped away from the entrance to let him pass when she saw his belongings. Wait. Luggage?

“Sehun, what’s with that luggage?” Her eyes were on the huge luggage he’s dragging.

Instead of Sehun, Hyewon’s father answered, “Sehun will be staying with us for two weeks until he moves to his dorm. You can sleep in our guest room, Sehun.”

She widened her eyes in confusion. That’s it. This was her limit. She couldn’t take it any longer that she’s the only one being kept in the dark. “Hold on. Can someone please explain the whole thing to me? Why is Sehun here?”

“Let’s talk while eating,” Hyewon’s mother interrupted. “I cooked your favorite soft tofu stew, Sehun, Hyewon.”

“Oh, really?” Sehun’s eyes lightened up as he left his luggage near the couch and dashed to the dining table. “You’re the best, Auntie!”

At this point, Hyewon couldn’t care less about the reason why Sehun was here. She realized that with his existence in their house, her parents would be home more often and that’s what she wanted the most. She couldn’t remember the last time they were sitting at the dining table and eating together, but they were doing it now because Sehun was here. Even her mother had cooked her favorite food.

As of now, Hyewon only wanted to treasure the moment while she could.

“Thanks for the food!” Sehun excitedly exclaimed before he dug in. “This is delicious!”

Hyewon took a sip of the broth and she was reminded how delicious her mother’s cooking was. “Thank you, Sehun,” she blurted as she took another sip from her spoon.

“What for?”

Smiling widely at him, she said, “Never mind.”

Sehun lifted a brow and copied her expression. “You’re still weird, but no worries, I like it.”

“I’m flattered.” As usual, Hyewon replied his cheesy comment with half-hearted response. He’s only teasing her and it meant nothing. That’s just how he was and she was used to it.

“So, Sehun, how are your parents?” Hyewon’s father asked.

Sehun refilled his bowl and answered, “They’re doing well. They have no problem with their jobs, too, after moving to Busan. Thank you for asking.”

Hyewon’s and Sehun’s parents had been friends because they’d lived next to each other during six years of their elementary school. Coincidentally, Hyewon and Sehun had also gone to the same school and they had become close since they’d been in the same class consecutively for three years from their first year. Both of them had practically been inseparable. They’d seen each other every single day, whether it’d been at their houses or their school or the park near their apartment building.

“Sehun, do you still play volleyball?” Hyewon remembered that during elementary school, Sehun had been a part of the school’s volleyball team.

Sehun proudly answered, “Of course. Volleyball is the only thing I can actually brag about.” Then he giggled as if he was reminded of something ridiculous. “Although I was thinking of giving up when I thought you hate volleyball.”

Hyewon knitted her eyebrows, puzzled. “Huh? Why would I hate volleyball?”

“You always went straight home whenever I invited you to watch me practice.”

“Oh. That. Sorry, I wanted to go home as fast as possible. You know how I loved napping back then.”

“You don’t now?” Sehun arched a brow in disbelief.

Hyewon shrugged. “I ended up joining my school’s volleyball club as a manager. I basically don’t have time to nap, no matter how much I’d love to.”

“Really? I should have transferred to your school instead. You know how much I want you to watch me play. And imagining you bringing me drink and wiping my sweat—”

Holding up a hand, Hyewon cut his words. “Sorry to destroy your imagination, but I don’t do those kind of things.”

“You’re mean, Hyewon. Why are you always mean to me?” Sehun snapped his fingers. “Ah! You also ignored my messages at first and only started replying the year after. Why would you do that? Don’t you know how lonely I was?”

Three years ago, when Sehun had suddenly told Hyewon that he would move to Busan, she had cried a lot. She had even refused to accompany him to the airport. She had also ignored his messages. Used to seeing him every day, she’d been unable to accept the reality that she would no longer be able to see her best friend that easily again. Only after a year had passed, she’d finally made up her mind and replied his message for the first time.

Because Sehun wasn’t only her childhood friend, but he was also her first love.

Hyewon stuck out her tongue. “It’s because you’re an idiot.”

Coach Bang had officially extended their morning and afternoon practice time starting from the beginning of this week because it was two weeks left before Inter-High Preliminaries. Jungkook didn’t mind, though. He usually did extra practice himself and it would be even better if all his teammates joined him. Normally, the morning practice started at seven and ended at eight – when school started – and the afternoon practice started at four – when school ended – and ended at six. But after the extension, the morning practice started at six and the afternoon practice ended at eight.

“Serve practice! Go!” Coach Bang commanded.

Automatically, all players except Jungkook went to pick up a ball from the cart and stood in line behind the end line of the court. Jungkook who didn’t need to practice serving stood on the opposite site of the court – at the middle of the back row, ready to receive their serves. On cue, the players one by one served the ball towards random direction, forcing Jungkook to run around on the court.

Jungkook’s individual extra practices started to show results. He almost managed to get all the balls, but he still struggled to direct the ball to the setter’s position. Overall, he admitted that he’d got better compared to when he’d just joined the team. But still, he needed to be better to be of help for them.

After Yoongi had came back to practice, Kangjoon had also came back. Jungkook had heard that Teacher Lee had personally persuaded him to come. It’s really a relief that finally the team was back as one. Both Yoongi and Kangjoon had sincerely apologized to all of them and they had genuinely forgiven them. Jungkook was glad that everything had turned out well in the end.

“I’m going to try something new,” Yoongi said as he tossed the ball upwards when it’s his turn. “Be ready.”

Yoongi seemed to be doing the same jump serve at first, but when his hand made contact with the ball, it flew weirdly over the net. It’s not powerful, but it’s wobbly and… Was that ball not spinning? How? It’s as if the ball floated in the air for a while, moved randomly, and suddenly fell down. Just like that, it bounced off the ground before Jungkook could react. It was almost impossible to tell where the ball was headed.

What was that?

Turning to face Coach Bang who was watching them from the sidelines, Yoongi asked, “Coach Bang, is my jump float serve usable for the tournament?”

Jump float serve?

Coach Bang nodded. “Yes. Your jump float serve will be our weapon.”

“Impressive,” Teacher Lee complimented. “When did you learn that?”

“I saw some people doing it on youtube and I just copied them. I didn’t know it would work,” Yoongi said nonchalantly as he walked to pick up another ball and get back in line.

“What the heck?” Hoseok shouted dramatically. “Jump float serve is one of the wickedest weapons in volleyball! And you could easily do it on a whim? On your first try? What are you? A monster?”

“Don’t be foolish, Hoseok.”

It was probably only his feeling, but Jungkook thought maybe Yoongi had started to open up to his teammates. Even if it was just a little bit. It’s already a huge improvement that he’s actually willing to talk to them. Well, it’s more likely Hoseok was the one pestering him all the time.

Each of the members had ten chances to serve. They were given a five-minute break after serving practice. Out of breath, Jungkook was sitting down on the floor and wiping his sweat with his towel when Taehyung and Jimin approached him. The others only needed to serve ten times while Jungkook had to receive one hundred and ten times. That explained why he was exceptionally tired.

“That must be tough,” Jimin said, bringing Jungkook his drink.