The coach was staring at Hyunsoo, letting his eyes wander to Hoseok next, before it landed on Jimin. All three were wearing their best guilty expressions that they could manage to muster. It was true when others said the coach hated people who were late. Hyunsoo made a mental note of never walking in late again. She never wanted to see the coach’s angry face ever again. Though what she did see was Jimin turn to look at Hyunsoo and flash a bright cute smile, just as the coach had turned his back on them after explaining the defence and attack positions they were supposed to practice.

Hyunsoo couldn’t help but feel a slow smile creeping up to her face.

Hoseok was standing beside Hyunsoo and noticed her expression change. “What happened?” he asked curiously.

“Oh, nothing,” replied Hyunsoo, looking away but still keeping her smile.

They were instructed to team up in a group of four people to play against each other in pairs. Hyunsoo, Hoseok and Jimin naturally looked at one another and gave a look of confirmation that they were now a team. The fourth person to join their group was a girl named Sohee, who looked like she was one of those nice and delicate looking girls. She had long black hair and big almond eyes. Her face features were sharp and her figure made her look very cute and bubbly somehow.

Although during the badminton match, Sohee didn’t give off a cute and bubbly vibe anymore. Instead she was very fierce, even when she continuously missed the shuttle , which kept flying past her head when it was hit towards her direction. It was obvious she wasn’t as good as the rest of the team, but she looked very keen to keep trying. Still, Hyunsoo couldn’t help but wonder how she managed to get on the team.

Jimin had been paired with Sohee to play against Hyunsoo and Hoseok. His skills were noticeably on another level completely, in contrast to Sohee. It must have been purely because of Jimin that the pair ended up winning the match. Still, instead of feeling disappointed, Hyunsoo rushed to Jimin’s side and beamed at him.

“I had no idea we had someone so amazing on the team! I hope I get to play against you, or even with you more often.”

Jimin started rubbing the back of his neck as he listened, he was also doing that smile which said ‘I’m so embarrassed to be complimented like this but tell me more’.

“I could help you with your positions and stance a bit if you like. I noticed while we were playing that you struggle a bit with that,” said Jimin.

Hyunsoo nodded happily, just as Hoseok joined to stand with them.

“What about me Jimin?” he asked, making a funny looking sad face.

Jimin chuckled slightly. “I’ll help you too.” He looked at Sohee, who was standing not too far from them looking like she was too shy to join the conversation. “And you too, Sohee. We can work together to improve. That’s what a team does anyway, no matter what your skills are.”

At this, Sohee smiled brightly and came closer to join the group. They all started listening and following Jimin’s advice on changing positions during a game and the theory of different attacks in order to gain points. Each of them were practicing against the wall at first, trying to get used to the positions they just learned, before they moved on to playing in pairs. Hyunsoo and Jimin were practicing together.

“Wait, let me show you,” said Jimin, walking closer to Hyunsoo with the shuttle in his hand. “When you first serve, it’s better to do it in this position and facing that way.” He demonstrated the move. “Now you try.”

Hyunsoo did as she was told. She took the shuttle and made her serve as Jimin had explained. However, it didn’t work as effectively as it did with Jimin.

“I need to keep practicing this move I guess,” said Hyunsoo, a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone. “It looks so easy in theory but…”

Jimin noticed her tone and said reassuringly, “It’s okay, I had to practice things like this a lot back in middle school. It took a while, but in the end, I finally got better. Even now I have to practice certain moves that other people might be able to do easily.”

Hyunsoo looked down at her racket and said, “I’m glad you’re helping me, I really appreciate it. Thank you.”

They both looked at each other for a short moment. And then, Hyunsoo broke eye contact, looking down at her racket again.

“Here, let me show you properly this time,” said Jimin, smiling with his eyes.

He held on to Hyunsoo’s racket with her and made a serve movement with it. He was standing so close to Hyunsoo, she could feel her heart begin to race. At the same time, Jungkook came striding towards them, followed by a bored looking Yoongi. He just had to ruin the moment, didn’t he? Thought Hyunsoo. She was beginning to think that Yoongi only ever followed Jungkook in the hopes of watching some juicy drama unfold before his eyes – as long as it didn’t involve him.

“So sorry to interrupt ladies,” said Jungkook, casting a dirty look at Jimin, who was still holding Hyunsoo’s arm. “But I’m here to challenge Hyunsoo to a one-on-one badminton match. I’m sure you’ve been waiting for this moment ever since the trials, so how about it?”

It was an offer Hyunsoo couldn’t turn down. She had wanted to beat Jungkook ever since he made fun of her the first time they played. She wanted to take revenge for laughing at her, for putting her down.

“You’re on.” Hyunsoo looked very determined as she said this.

Hoseok, Sohee and Jimin gathered around Hyunsoo, while Yoongi stayed behind Jungkook. It was like a battle of badminton between the two groups, with Hyunsoo and Jungkook as representatives.

“Good,” said Jungkook, smiling mischievously.

Jimin decided to act as a referee, while everyone else watched as the match started. Jungkook served and Hyunsoo returned. It wasn’t long until Hyunsoo scored first after slamming the shuttle towards Jungkook’s side.

“Oooohhhh! And Jungkook scowls as Hyunsoo takes the first point!” shouted Hoseok, suddenly acting as commentator.

The game continued and soon Jungkook was only a few points behind Hyunsoo, who was smiling as she kept returning the shuttle. She was confident that she was going to win this match. Jungkook on the other hand was frowning as he attempted making his scores.

“Hyunsoo is close to winning anytime now! If only Jungkook tripped, everything would be alright!” shouted Hoseok. He caught Yoongi’s eye. “I mean… Jungkook is only a few points behind Hyunsoo, let’s see if he manages to catch up or not!”

It was a hard-core match, Hyunsoo and Jungkook both had 19 points now. The person to first reach 21 points would win the game. Everyone had become silent at this point and no one was smiling.

And then, Jungkook ran forwards to catch the shuttle that Hyunsoo attempted to knock down, and hit it back in time to slam on the ground on the opposite side. Jungkook had won. Hyunsoo looked livid, and Hoseok looked appalled. Sohee had no idea what happened.

The only people who looked emotionless were Jimin and Jungkook, who were both staring at each other.