Like usual, Taeyeon met up with Tiffany at McDonald’s during their morning period to have a little chat, but each time they did so the shorter and shorter it felt. They wanted to spend more time with each other, talk more and just admire each other’s perfection, but since Tiffany was a busy art student with her rehearsals, projects, and event management roles, she never seemed to find a break during school to see Tae. They would quickly hug whenever they came across each other in the hallway but it just made them miss each other more.

“Tae? You’re spacing out again.” Sunny said.

“I know, sorry. I just want to see her.”

“Yah! You guys still see each other every day. Stop being so dramatic Tae.” Sunny reasoned.

“Hmm says the couple who always sneaks into the janitor’s closet during EVERY second break time, even when I offered to buy lunch…” Taeyeon teased.

“Hey don’t say that so loud Tae. So one might actually hear you.” Sunny’s face was going bright red from the embarrassment.

“You guys are so naughty Sunny, I would have never thought you would be like this. To think I thought you were innocent when we first met.” Taeyeon whispered.

“Speak for yourself Tae, you’re like the biggest here. I never ed before I dated Yul, but you were always staring at Tiff’s…” Sunny cut her sentence as Sooyoung approached the shorties. However, unlike her usual high-spirited self, she seemed to have a grim expression on her face. “Soo what’s wrong? Did you not have lunch today?” Sunny asked, knowing how important lunch was to the tall girl.

“No, I had lunch and it was actually quite delicious. I have another problem, Taeyeon can you accompany me to the school gym please?” Taeyeon could tell something was really off with the situation right now. Sooyoung never ever looked so defeated, even during the one on one basketball game they had. Taeyeon looked over at Sunny to see if she could sense something suspicious going on, but Sunny could tell that Sooyoung genuinely had a problem and that Taeyeon should definitely go and help her out.

They arrive at the school gym and Taeyeon saw a girl with short hair practicing vigorously on the basketball court, while five other girls were just having a nice chat at the bleachers. Taeyeon didn’t understand what was going on, so she turned over to Soo who still had the same grim look. “Umm Sooyoung, I’m not quite sure what the problem here is, care to explain?”

“Look closer Tae and you’ll get it. How many people are practicing right now?”

“Just one.”

“And that one Taeyeon is the only other person on our team who gives a about basketball.” Taeyeon finally understood the situation. Sooyoung’s dark expression was because the basketball team had been shrunk to a measly seven members plus the coach and to make matters worse only one of those girls was actually practicing. Last year the team was a decent size with enough people to substitute a whole starting team, but since most of those players were seniors, they had moved off to college leaving the new senior team behind. Sooyoung grabbed Taeyeon’s arm and took her back out of the school gym and stared her directly into the eyes. “I contemplated quitting the team Tae because of how horribly things have turned out,” Sooyoung admitted.

“Hey, it can’t be that bad. You’re still on the team and that other girl seems pretty good.” Taeyeon suggested.

“Yeah, Amber and I are the only good players on the team. Well, sometimes it feels like we’re actually the only two players on the damn team. Last year our squad made top three in the district, but this year during one of the first friendly matches, we got annihilated by the eighth-ranked team. We’ve become a laughing stock in the entire district.” Sooyoung began to tear up. Taeyeon gave her a pat on the back, she could tell how much this meant to her.

“You know me Tae, how much I love basketball, but more than anything I love to win. You’ve seen how pissed I get when I don’t win. I know people always say winning isn’t everything, but when you love a sport there is no greater feeling than victory in that sport.”

“So is that why you didn’t quit? Cause you still love the sport?” Taeyeon asked.

“Partly, the other reason is…” Sooyoung stared into the gym looking at the group of girls sitting on the bleachers.

“The other reason is that they’re not terrible people. They may not be winners at basketball, but during an actual game, they always try their very best. They look up to me to lead them on the court so I can’t just bail on them like that.” Taeyeon could sense there was a little more to the situation that Sooyoung was hiding, but Taeyeon got the general idea. She needed to help this squad redeem their name as the third-ranked team in the district. “Sooyoung, I promise you this. Not only are we going to get back to the third rank, we’re going to win the basketball season in our district.”

“Thanks for the encouragement Tae, but even if you say that with determination I still can’t believe you. Not that I doubt you, but it’s still only You, Amber and me. Basketball is a team sport so we can’t win with just three team members trying, we would need some sort of magic to make that happen.” Taeyeon laughed at Sooyoung’s remark.

“You never know Soo, a bit of magic isn’t as hard to find as you'd think.”

Coach Victoria rounded up the squad and began to explain who they were going to verse today. “Okay guys, so I have some pretty bad news.”

“What’s wrong coach?” Luna asked.

“Today we’re against the second ranked team in the league, the Knights.” Everyone gasped at what Victoria had just said. Also, Sooyoung’s dark expressions had once again returned to her face.

“Well gg guys, can we just forfeit?” Jessica suggested.

“Yah! Sis we can’t just give up. We need to try our best no matter what circumstan