Bae Joohyun has never been more humiliated in her life.

Her face quickly takes on a permanent shade of red as she bows and apologizes profusely to one of the team members after successfully managing to direct her free throw not towards the net but to the crown of the girl’s head, a hard bounce resounding from the ball-to-skull contact.

“Oh–oh my goodness, I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! I swear!”

Snickers could be heard from the rest of the eager tryout participants behind her, all much more capable than her with better athletic ability and Joohyun knows it.

She can feel the warmth of her cheeks grow as one of them – Nayeon, she thinks – snarks quietly to the girl next to her, “What a joke.”

Joohyun didn’t mean for it to end so badly.

She actually did try – she never expected her aim to be that awful. She wasn’t physically inept. On any other day, she probably would’ve considered herself pretty athletic, being able to maintain her stamina even during the longest runs during P.E.

But this time it was different.

When Joohyun heard the Timberwolves were in need of another member, she wanted to try her shot (no pun intended) at making the team.

Mainly because she might’ve-sort of-most-definitely harbored a huge crush on a certain player.

Number 21, Wendy Son.

She wasn’t expecting the team to be present during tryouts, having prepared herself to deal with the silent stern looks of Coach Kwon and Coach Kwon only. The woman was scary enough when she monitored the halls during class.

Had she known the players would get a say on who made the team, she would’ve prepared more. Heck, if she knew her crush would be leading the tryouts, she would’ve begged her dad to install a net at home just so she could practice every day. If it meant being on the same team as the younger girl, Joohyun was willing to do it.

But her hopes were dashed all because of her lack of direction.

And now, here she was, having utterly humiliated herself by almost-maybe-most certainly injuring one of the forward players, Krystal Jung, who tried not to murder the small girl with her glare.

Said small girl looked about ready to wet herself out of fear of Krystal’s wrath alone.

Joohyun watches with a mortified look as another player, Kang Seulgi, moves to place an ice pack on her teammate’s head while Wendy looks on with concern. Their teammates, Park Joy and Kim Yerim, were practically howling like hyenas as they doubled over on the floor laughing at Joohyun’s mistake.

The girl doesn’t even bother staying to hear what Coach Kwon has to say before she sprints out of the gym in embarrassment, hot tears running down her face.

Had Joohyun stayed a bit longer, she would’ve noticed a soft smile grow on Wendy’s face, a chuckle escaping the player’s lips, followed by a quite murmur.

“Cute…”

–

“No.”

“Aw, c’mon coach.”

“Absolutely not.”

Wendy Son stood in her coach’s office, pouting, bottom lip jut so far out, her best friend Seulgi could’ve sworn a bird could fly by and perch on it.

It was uncharacteristic of Wendy to do such thing, to pout and beg.

She was Wendy Son – the star player and point guard of the Timberwolves, who many say singlehandedly brought the team their first championship title since she joined the team her freshman year.

(Wendy always modestly denies this, calling it a team effort.)

Seulgi could only stand by her friend awkwardly as the other girl tries to cutely (if one could describe it that) beg their stoic coach to put Bae Joohyun on the team.

As supportive as Seulgi is, she knew Wendy’s idea wasn’t exactly the best, for lack of a better word. Krystal still won’t stop muttering about how she was out for Joohyun’s head and Seulgi prays the small girl never hears it. She and the rest of the team know Joohyun would never show herself at school again if she ever faced Krystal’s wrath for real.

But like Wendy, Seulgi was also taken by Joohyun, finding the older girl absolutely adorable. The bear-like junior saw how much Joohyun struggled with even the simplest dribbling routines and couldn’t help but smile.

“Coach, you said you needed another player!”

“And now I have one – Park Chaeyoung. I’m sure she’ll be a great addition to the team. Not like that…whatever she was…would’ve been,” the older woman says, rubbing her temple at the memory.

“And do you really expect me to think you want her on the team because she has some kind of untapped potential? I’m not an idiot, Son – I see you looking at her during games when I specifically tell you girls to never break your focus.”

Wendy looks away guiltily.

The woman continued. “You think I don’t hear the gossip in the locker room? If this is just a ploy to get into the girl’s pants, you are asking the wrong person to help you.”

If the young girl was fazed by her coach’s blunt statement regarding her love life, she didn’t show it.

(She was. She absolutely was.)

Wendy stood her ground.

While she wouldn’t be the first to admit Joohyun’s tryout was quite…abysmal, honestly speaking…a part of her still wanted the girl on the team.

It wasn’t a secret amongst her teammates (and her coach apparently) that Wendy was absolutely enamored by the older girl – watching her from afar when the team had group study sessions in the library, always making an effort to spot the girl in the audience during their games (a mistake that frequently gains her laps around the court as punishment for her distraction).

The team’s resident devil duo Joy and Yerim never let her live it down when they see her with a stupid grin on her face after catching sight of the shy girl.

Wendy truly can’t put into words how motivated she feels when she sees the older girl smiling at her from her peripheral vision before she makes a free throw, or how pumped she feels when Joohyun cheers for her along with the audience.

If anything, Wendy only hears her, the sounds of the other audience members becoming white noise.

“Run, Wendy, run!” Joohyun would cheer adorably.

Bae Joohyun was simply too endearing to just sit on the bleachers as a mere spectator. No, Wendy wanted her by her side, be it on the court or warming the bench.

Even her teammates thought so. Krystal included, despite her grudges – Joohyun was just that cute. The girl was able to charm the whole team and she didn’t even know it.

“Fine. Make her the water-girl!”

Seulgi choked.

Coach Kwon arches an eyebrow challengingly. “The water-girl.”

Wendy nods. “If you can’t put her on the team, at least let her be the water-girl. We need someone who’s willing and ready to hydrate us while we’re busy on the court. Think of her as your right-hand woman!”

“Need I remind you she almost took out Krystal’s head the other day?” Coach Kwon stressed.

The small girl falls silent.

“That girl is a liability. It could’ve been Krystal’s nose, or Seulgi’s good hand! Then what would we do? Recruit members from the math club?” The woman scoffed, shaking her head in frustration.

She gets up to leave, clearly done with the conversation, only to open the door and see her team standing behind it, arms crossed and faces serious.

“I’m not the only one who wants Joohyun on the team,” Wendy said, internally grateful her teammates agreed in her plan.

“Son’s right, coach. Even if Joohyun can’t be out on the court, it’d benefit the rest of the team to have someone taking care of us,” one player, Amber, said.

Their power forward player Joy pipes in, “Yeah, she’ll motivate us! Bring us drinks, maybe some snacks…”

“She’ll be our personal cheerleader!” Seulgi quips, as their youngest teammate Yerim laughs.

“More like Wendy’s cheerleader.”

The stern woman turns to face her best player as Wendy speaks up quietly. “She’s at every single one of our games. She’s always cheering for us. I wouldn’t have asked you if I myself, and the team, didn’t think she’d be useful to us.”

The girl steps forward, pleading softly. “Please. Just give her a chance.”

Like you did for me.

Wendy gulps nervously as the team collectively watches with bated breath until their coach finally opens , the fire in her eyes never changing.

“Have her in my office tomorrow. 3 PM sharp. If she’s late, you’re all running laps.”

_

“You look sweaty, Wendy. Here’s a towel.”

“Be careful, Wendy. You looked distracted out there.”

“You need to drink up, Wendy. It’s important to stay hydrated.”

Wendy Son was definitely all those things at the moment. The team was down by six points and Coach Kwon was beginning to hound them to pick up the pace. Lord knows she loves winning more than she loves screaming at her team believe it or not.

“Don’t break your focus,” she said.

“No distractions,” she said.

It was hard for Wendy to heed the woman’s words when her kryptonite was watching her from the benches, her smile wide whenever Wendy scored as she bounced in her seat on the bench excitedly, towel and water bottle ready in her hands when Wendy needed it.

(The younger girl was over the moon. All because of their water-girl.)

The point guard will never forget the day Joohyun gifted her that water bottle, blue with her jersey number 21 on it.

“A thank you…for helping me get on the team,” the older girl said shyly, pink coloring her cheeks, eyes unable to meet Wendy’s.

If Joohyun had been looking, however, she would’ve seen the biggest grin on the younger’s face. Not even the relentless teasing from her teammates could wipe the smile off her face that day.

Ever since Joohyun found out she was appointed as the water-girl, the senior practically made it her mission to fulfill the position to the best of her ability, going out of her way to make little care packages for every member for their travel games, always keeping their water bottles filled and a first aid kit ready should they need it. Needless to say, Joohyun was eager to show them her thanks.

And even though the rest of the school for her ‘lowly’ water-girl status, the girl paid no mind to it.

Not when Wendy and the rest of the team were (somehow) always around to shut down the taunts and jeers, a strong arm wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her close before leading her away.

A whistle blew to signal the end of the first half of the game, Wendy and her teammates jogging over to Joohyun for their water fix. As the girl happily hands the members their drinks, words of encouragement falling from her lips, she finally turns Wendy and hands her the special blue bottle with shaky hands and a blush.

The younger tries not to coo at the sight.

Joohyun was the cutest thing, truly.

It’s been a little over a month since Joohyun joined them, making friends with the rest of the team and getting on Coach Kwon’s good side surprisingly enough. Krystal, especially, had become particularly protective of the small senior, much to Joohyun’s shock.

But despite all of Joohyun’s newfound friendships with the team, she was still shy as ever around Wendy.

The star player refuses to admit the pang of jealousy in her chest when Joohyun giggles at Amber’s jokes, or when taller members like Joy whisk the girl onto their shoulders after winning a game, parading her around and calling her their good luck charm.

She was surprised to find herself pouting often these days whenever Joohyun dotes on the younger members like Yerim, Lisa, and Dahyun, wishing the water-girl would show her the same affection.

She’s removed from her thoughts when a soft voice speaks up, concern laced in their words.

“Please drink up, Wendy. You look very thirsty.”

“Oh, she sure is, unnie!”

“Shut up, Joy!” Wendy warned between nervous gulps of water.

“Good thing you’re our water girl, right?” Yeri nudges the senior, who looked clueless to what the devils were insinuating, but the quick change in color of her soft cheeks gave it away.

“Oh of course,” the taller devil drawls, wrapping a sweaty arm around the older girl before she could protest, keeping her in place as her eyes maintain contact with Wendy’s, glinting with mischief.

“What would Wendy do without our precious Joohyun unnie? Imagine how thirsty she’d be…on and off the court. Why, she’d be a mess! Wouldn’t you agree, Yeri?”

The young devil nods conspiratorially, mimicking Joy’s position by wrapping an arm around Joohyun, sandwiching her between the two spawns of Satan.

Wendy’s eye twitched as her hands unconsciously crush the poor water bottle in her hands in irritation, effectively squirting water into her face and eliciting howls from Joy and Yeri.

Frustratingly, she wipes at her face with her towel.

“One more word out of you two and I’ll–”

“Son! Get your over here!” Coach Kwon called.

Wendy bites back a groan as Joy smirks.

“Better hurry. Wouldn’t want you running laps again,” the girl snickers. “And don’t worry! We’ll keep Joohyun unnie safe – right here with us.”

The point guard lets out a low growl before softening at Joohyun’s next words.

“I-It’s okay, Wendy. I’ll still be here.”

Settling for one last glare at the devils, the younger jogs over to the huddle around Coach Kwon, straining to focus.

But despite her efforts to listen to their next play, her eyes kept straying towards Joohyun, who appeared to be laughing along with antics of the young devils on either side of her, the girl’s bunny eyes forming crescents as her bell-like giggles made its way to Wendy’s ears.

How she loved that melodious soun–

“Damn it, Son! Wipe that drool off your face! I swear, if you can’t keep it in your pants, I’m benching you for the rest of the game!”

–

Coach Kwon benched her.

In Wendy’s defense, it had nothing to do with her inability to keep it in her pants.

Not that that was the issue in the first place.

How was she supposed to know the opposing team player, in all their six feet glory, was going to shove her and steal the ball?

How was she supposed to know it would end up with her on the ground, clutching at her now sprained ankle?

(Those brats, Joy and Yerim, will later go on to say she cried out for her mom, but Wendy would shut that story down immediately.)

Coach Kwon and Joohyun had practically sprinted to her the moment she fell, Joohyun making it to her before anyone else. The older girl had tears welling in her eyes and Wendy felt guilty immediately for making her cry.

Now she finds herself sitting sideways on the bench, with her injured leg propped up on Joohyun’s lap, their water-girl holding an ice pack to it protectively, cooing softly every now and then. She tries to ignore Joy and Yerim’s smirks and Coach Kwon’s disappointed looks every few moments.

None of that matters right now when she’s at the center of Joohyun’s attention.

(Okay, maybe she lied. Coach Kwon’s looks do bother her a bit but only because the woman took a chance on her when she first put her on the team, and she hasn’t disappointed her until now by doing the one thing coach told her to not do.

But she’ll get over it, right? Once Wendy recovers and runs a bunch of laps, coach will be back to her fierce self.)

“Wendy?”

The star player snaps out of her thoughts and looks up to find Joohyun’s concerned eyes staring back at her and mouth rambling nervously.

“Does it hurt? What happened out there? Did I distract you? I was cheering too loud, wasn’t I…”

Wendy shakes her head furiously. Joohyun could never be a distraction. At least, not in the bad way the girl thinks.

“No! No, it wasn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself. It was on me. Coach always tells us not to lose focus, but I couldn’t help it this time.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Because whenever I remember you’re here with me, I can’t think of anything else.”

Wendy says this with as much honesty as she could. Joohyun may be considered the team’s good luck charm but she was everything to Wendy. As shy as she was, Joohyun was so caring and supportive towards her. She was precious and Wendy wanted to hold her close and never let her go. She just made her feel so warm inside all the time.

Her mom did say to stay close to people who feel like sunshine.

“You know, the team is really happy you’re with us,” Wendy says in attempt to wave off the somewhat too honest confession. “I’ve never seen the members behave so well, even around coach. Joy and Yeri? They’re like puppies, always so hyper. But with you, it’s like you’re their mom. They only listen to you,” she says fondly.

“And Krystal! She smiles so much now that you’re around. It’s like your tryout never happened,” Wendy laughs.

Joohyun smiles brightly hearing this, chuckling at her embarrassing incident that feels like a faint memory before asking softly, “And you? How do you feel about me being on the team?”

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, she wants to say.

“I see you,” Wendy starts. “At every game I mean. I always have. I spot you in the audience at every game, even our away games. I hear your cheers no matter how loud the crowd is. And I know, because my dad is the loudest one here but even then, I still hear you.”

(And it’s true. Papa Son was probably one of her biggest and loudest fans. Second only to Joohyun probably but her dad doesn’t need to know that.)

“I get this surge of energy when I hear you cheer for me. It’s like electricity. And the water bottle you gave me? I always have it with me. Can’t go into a game or practice without it. You really are my–our–biggest supporter...”

The older girl looks down with a bashful smile on her face and Wendy wishes, in this moment they share, Joohyun would look at her. Just once so she could see the love Wendy has for her. Maybe then Wendy could find out if Joohyun feels the same.

“Joohyun, maybe I could…teach you how to shoot some free throws some time. If you want to, of course! I mean, I can’t right now because of my leg but when I’m better? I–I’d love to show you…”

Only Bae Joohyun could reduce Wendy Son from the cool MVP she was to a stuttering, blubbering mess. But the younger doesn’t mind.

“I-I, um, that sounds fun! But…”

But? Oh no, Wendy can feel the rejection coming on. Why else would Joohyun look more nervous around her than she normally does?

She braces herself for the pending blow to her pride when the senior’s next words surprise her.

“Maybe we–I could help you too? Around school, or during practice. Since you hurt your leg,” Joohyun says shyly.

“Y-you want to take care of me?” Wendy stutters again.

Joohyun nods and Wendy finds her face breaking into a wide grin. The senior is practically offering up a chance for them to spend time together more as she nurses Wendy’s injury.

(She makes a mental note to send the player who shoved her down a muffin basket.)

“I’d love that. But I’ll have you know my leg is precious. My dad almost wanted to insure them after we won the championships last year. So you’re going to be helping me quite a lot if we want me back on the court,” she jokes.

“I don’t mind,” Joohyun giggles. “But…I look forward to spending more time together.”

Wendy can feel the smile on her face stretch even farther and she doesn’t know when her cool confidence came back but she decides to shoot her shot.

“Hey, Joohyun?”

“Hm?”

“Would you want to get some bubble tea after the game? I’m feeling kind of–”

“Thirsty~?”

“God damn it, Joy!”

The tall devil scurries back to where she came – Hell, Wendy assumes – but then she hears Joohyun’s chime-like giggling, her eye smile bright and cheerful and she leans closer to Wendy as best as she could over the younger’s injured leg in her lap and Wendy wants to listen to nothing else but Joohyun’s laugh and her soft sweet voice.

She, Wendy Son, was completely head over heels for Bae Joohyun.

Or, in Joy’s terms, thirsty.

the end.