Tzuyu had always done well in PE class, but all odds were against her when literally everyone on the team, including a certain captain, were watching her every move. 

Chaeyoung helped her a lot, and even if Tzuyu failed miserably, she didn’t judge her one bit. She wasn’t the best player, but she did better than she expected. Her reflexes were alright, and her long arms and legs made it easy to block and reach for the ball. And she wasn’t afraid to be aggressive to steal the ball from the opponent. 

In Chaeyoung words, “With a bit of practice, you can be an excellent point guard. I'm looking forward to helping you with that.” 

That meant she had been accepted into the team, and she had no idea if she should feel happy or sad. 

At the end of the day, Tzuyu could say basketball was fun after all. Of course it was not because Chaeyoung was the one helping her, though. 

--- 

Tzuyu and Momo picked up their lunch trays and walked to their usual table. Tzuyu took a glance at the table the basketball team always sat in, and she couldn't help her disappointment when she saw Chaeyoung wasn't there. She was sure she had afternoon classes on Thursday before practice… Wow, since when did Tzuyu know her schedule? 

“Hi Tzuyu, mind if we join you girls?” A sudden voice said, making Tzuyu and Momo raise their heads. 

Momo choked on her food, gasping for air and coughing so hard, the food she had in launched itself to land right in the middle of Mina's untouched plate of food. 

“Oh my God.” Tzuyu said. 

Chaeyoung had to hold her laugh when she saw their faces. Tzuyu was beyond shocked, her eyes threatening to jump from her eye sockets while Mina stood still, only her eyebrows high in her forehead and her eyes down on her ruined lunch. 

“I am so sorry, she… She has some problems in her esophagus…” 

“That's okay, I took a first aid course this summer. Let me help." As Mina said it, she ran to Momo to grab her from behind, preparing to perform the Heimlich Maneuver.  

But with each step Mina took towards her friend, Tzuyu realized Momo was closer and closer to actually dying. She looked around and at least half of the cafeteria was looking at them, either laughing or shocked. 

"T-That's okay!" Tzuyu said, blocking Mina's way and aggressively hitting Momo's back. “For 's sake Momo, stop embarrassing me.” She whispered yelled as Momo coughed a last time and finally took a deep breath. 

“My esophagus... works... just fine...” Momo muttered, taking quick breaths. 

Tzuyu was sure that was the most embarrassing moment of her life, and it wasn’t even her fault. 

Momo got up and looked at Mina, trying her best not to collapse, and form a sentence. When nothing came out, Tzuyu elbowed her. 

“Momo's still having a hard time speaking, but she's so sorry she's going to buy you lunch.” 

“W-What?” Momo widened her eyes. 

“Oh, there’s no need-“ 

“No, it's the least she can do!” 

Tzuyu leaned slightly and whispered near her ear. 

“Buy her food and apologize. At least make this embarrassment worthwhile.” 

Momo met Mina’s eyes and started making her way to the lunch line once more, Mina following behind. 

Tzuyu let her body fall to her chair and buried her face in her hands. 

“You okay?” Chaeyoung asked, still with a hint of mischief on her voice. 

Chaeyoung was sitting in front of her and they were alone. So, no, she wasn’t okay. 

“This is so embarrassing.” Tzuyu said, looking at Chaeyoung through her fingers, which still covered her face. "Way to make a fool of yourself in front of your crush." 

“Crush? Who? You? You have a crush on Mina?” Chaeyoung dropped her chin. 

“No!” Tzuyu yelled, her heart pounding against her chest in panic, waving her hands in front of her. "My friend, Momo, does." 

"Really?!" Chaeyoung raised an eyebrow and smirked. 

"Yeah... I don't think I was supposed to say that, was I?" Tzuyu bit her lip and looked away. 

Chaeyoung laughed, hiding her opened mouth with the back of her hand. Tzuyu thought that view, alongside that beautiful sound that was her laugh, was a gift from the gods. 

“You’re cute. But don’t worry, I’ll keep my mouth shut. Your friend seems funny.” 

“Well, Momo is… very unique.” 

Wait, you’re cute?! 

“I think they’ll get along well.” Chaeyoung smiled. 

“Yeah… I hope so…” Tzuyu said, her voice distance as those words echoed in her ears. Then, a bell rang in her head. The perfect chance. “But I thought... you and Mina were together.” 

Chaeyoung laughed right in her face, out loud. 

"You too? We get that all the time, but ew, no. She's too much like a sister to me." 

Tzuyu hoped her sigh of relief hadn't been too obvious. 

“You know, Mina was actually dying trying to hold her laughter.” Chaeyoung revealed. "It would have been too much on your poor friend, and I guess she felt sympathetic. I don't know how she did it, because it was way too funny." 

Tzuyu thought being alone with Chaeyoung would be awkward, but she found it to be very comforting.  

But their time alone soon came to an end when Momo came back with Mina. Momo was still red as a tomato and she seemed to be biting back a smile, while Mina was chuckling. Tzuyu frowned. She needed to interrogate Momo about the happenings of those 5 minutes. 

The lunch went by in a blink of an eye, and soon the girls had to go their separate ways to class. 

“We'll get going. See you later in practice, Tzuyu!” Chaeyoung said, grinning at Tzuyu. “It was nice meeting you, Momo!” 

“Text me later, Momo.” Mina said, as she followed Chaeyoung, waving at them. 

Both Momo and Tzuyu widened their eyes and tuned to each other. 

“See you later in practice?!” 

“Text me later?!” 

They both said with furrowed eyebrows. 

“Care to explain what practice was this Chaeyoung talking about? And since when do you talk to them?” Momo asked. tapping her fingers on the table. 

“No, you explain why Mina wants you to text her after you spit on her food." 

Tzuyu took pride in her ability to manipulate shift the conversation her way. 

“Turns out she likes being offered lunch, and now she wants to go on a date.” Momo giggled, her face getting redder by the second. 

Tzuyu let her jaw drop. In all honesty, she was really not expecting that. 

“I’m pretty sure it’s not a date.” 

“Okay, she didn’t call it a date, but she said we should hang out someday. You know, drink coffee, go to the movies.” 

“I'm pretty sure she didn't come up with those suggestions either.” 

“She didn't, but I know she must like a girl who takes initiative.” 

“Knew it. But wow, you got the girl by spitting on her food? Teach me senpai.” Tzuyu patted her shoulder, proud of her sudden and unexpected progress. 

“Now explain this practice thing.” Momo looked all serious again. 

Damn it, Tzuyu thought she had forgotten. She sighed in defeat. 

“I joined the basketball team.” 

“You joined the what?!” 

“Jesus, Momo, I joined the basketball team!” 

Momo's face changed from shocked to a teasing smirk, the one Tzuyu knew too well. 

“Let me guess, you didn't tell me because you knew I had been right all along and you were afraid I was gonna shove it in your face.” 

“I wasn’t afraid of anything, I just forgot to tell you. Like I said, I've always been interested in basketball, and exercise is really good for you. You should try exercising more as well, it's really fun, you know?” 

“Especially fun when you can be with-“ 

“Everyone. That's the magic of collective sports. You know, none of them hissed or scowled at me first time they saw me. I'd say that makes them pretty good people.” 

“I bet they’re calling you a behind your back.” 

"Actually, no. They already called me a in my face." 

--- 

Tzuyu felt like Britney Spears in "Baby One More Time", staring at the clock and tapping her pencil on the desk waiting for class to end. 

She got up when the bell rang, grabbing her bag and storming off the classroom. Except she didn't break out in a dance routine with her classmates and started filming a music video, but what was waiting for her was a lot better than that. 

“I’m coming with you!” Momo said, appearing from nowhere and struggling to keep up with her. 

“No, you’re not.” 

"Yes, I am. School rules say anyone has the right to watch any of the sports teams practice. I don't make the rules, you know?" 

That would had been an enjoyable practice if Momo wasn’t watching from the bleachers. What twisted being put that terrible idea in Momo's head? 

It was only Tzuyu's second practice, she was still learning, and having someone staring at her the whole time only made focusing much harder than it already was. 

“Don’t let it distract you. Remember, there’s always people watching when you’re playing.” Chaeyoung said, seeing Tzuyu uncomfortable with the fact Momo was observing. "Besides, you and I both know there's a high chance she won't exactly be looking at you most of the time, right?" Chaeyoung winked at her and slightly tilted her head in Mina's direction. 

Tzuyu smiled and nodded. She was right. She couldn’t get nervous every time someone watched her playing, or else she would never be able to play it for real. 

Focusing her mind on Chaeyoung and the ball, she was able to ignore Momo's presence. 

The others were playing 2v2 while Chaeyoung and Eunseo were coaching Tzuyu in the different types of passes, especially the ones the team used most. 

“GO MINA!” Momo shouted from the bleachers. 

Tzuyu jerked her head towards the sound. In that exact same moment, Chaeyoung had tried to test her reflexes with a spiked pass. 

And when Tzuyu realized, she was already on the ground, her face burning and her head spinning around.  

“Jesus , Tzuyu are you okay?” She heard an angelic voice. Was she in heaven already?  

“Lemme take her to the nurse.” Another voice said, and they all sounded like they were talking from the bottom of a well. 

“I’m the captain, Eunseo, I’ll take care of her. Stop trying to get every opportunity to flirt, for heaven's sake, have some respect for your poor girlfriend.” 

Eunseo clicked her tongue.  

“Eunseo, join Mina’s team, and Sowon, join Jeongyeon's team. I’ll be right back.” Chaeyoung instructed. “Can you stand?” 

Tzuyu finally opened her eyes. Chaeyoung was squatting right next to her, her face so close. Yap, she was in heaven.  

“I… Maybe?” Tzuyu muttered, slowly trying to get up with Chaeyoung help.  

But when she stood in two legs, her head spun around again, making her fall to her side. Gladly for her, Chaeyoung caught her in time.  

“Let me carry you.” Chaeyoung said as she stood in front of Tzuyu, lowering her body a bit so she could hold Tzuyu's legs. “Come on up, arms on my shoulders.” 

Tzuyu did as instructed, even though her muscles were way too tense. 

“Just… Don’t choke me.” Chaeyoung said as she struggled to breathe with Tzuyu's arms around her neck.  

Tzuyu didn’t know if she was dead or not, but if she was, she'd just solved the mystery of the afterlife. When you die, an angel carries you on their back all the way to heaven. 

Tzuyu wondered how such a short girl could carry her without struggling. Tzuyu leaned her face against Chaeyoung's head, feeling her soft hair tickling her face. And it felt so comfortable. Even though they had been practicing, Chaeyoung still smelled like happiness. Was it her perfume?  

The way to the nurse's office felt too short to Tzuyu. Chaeyoung managed to knock on the door without dropping her, but nobody answered. The short girl hissed and opened the door.  

“Miss Luda?” Chaeyoung asked, stepping in and realizing the office was empty. “Looks like I’ll be your nurse." She said with a kind smile as she carefully laid Tzuyu down. 

“Yeah, I prefer that way.” Tzuyu answered, closing her eyes, not giving a about correcting her words this time. Her head was still spinning a bit, so she blamed it for whatever came out of . 

Chaeyoung bit back a chuckle but allowed her lips to grow into a grin as she grabbed a bag of ice.  

Tzuyu didn’t have any serious injuries on her face, but her right cheek and eye looked slightly purple.  

Chaeyoung stayed still for a bit, staring closely at Tzuyu. Realizing she should be treating her wounds, she shook her head.  

“Alright, stay still.” Chaeyoung warned.  

But even though, Tzuyu recoiled a bit and hissed when she felt the cold sensation on her cheek, opening her eyes as to see what was Chaeyoung doing.  

“Does it hurt?” Chaeyoung retreated her hand.  

“N-no, I was just surprised. It's fine." 

Tzuyu’s eyes went shut again. As she felt the ice on her right cheek again, she also felt a warm hand cupping her left cheek. She kept her eyes closed to avoid looking at Chaeyoung at such a short distance from her face, or beside a black eye, she'd be getting a heart attack. Maybe Chaeyoung wouldn't be a competent enough nurse to handle that one. 

Chaeyoung was also glad Tzuyu had her eyes closed, so she wouldn’t see how red her cheeks had turned.  

“I’m sorry. I should have been careful.” Chaeyoung broke the silence.  

“No, of course not, it was my fault. You told me not to let it distract me, but I still did. When you're in a game, you can't simply tell your team or the opponent to be careful not to throw a ball right at your face.” Tzuyu chuckled, feeling the sting on her cheek as she did. 

In a normal. Situation, Tzuyu  would blame Momo. But why did she feel like thanking her this time around, even though half her face had doubled in size and turned purple? 

For now, she would let go of that thought and let herself be treated by nurse Chaeyoung. 

--- 

A/N: I hope I could make this as funny as I wanted it to be c: 
~~ Hit me baby one more timeeeeee~~