"HEY. What's wrong?"

Yujin woke up from her spacing out when Seulgi suddenly placed her hand on her head. The student was busy staring blankly at her knee pad with her thoughts lost somewhere. She slowly looked at her professor with those lost eyes and Seulgi could only shake her head.

"Is it Minjoo once again?" Seulgi asked before sitting beside her. 

"Well..." The younger girl sighed. "She's always there during my matches. She used to check all the things that I need but now she's nowhere to be found..."

The professor leaned back. "Well, people tend to realise how huge someone is in their life when they suddenly disappear."

Seulgi felt Yujin flinch with that comment of hers but she wasn't surprised at all. It was clear that she's been taking the other girl for granted without her knowing at all. "Any news from her though?"

"Nothing." There went another sigh. "I sent her another message this morning. She said she'll be coming but it felt so cold. She didn't even say anything about supporting me."

"Ohh~ What a sad puppy~" 

Yujin turned to her professor with a pout. "This is a normal reaction of a best friend, okay? Stop trying to convince me that we have something more than friendship."

"Oh, really?" Seulgi smirked. "I am not trying to convince you or anything though."

"But you keep on making innuendos about it."

"Can't help it that it's what I read through your actions." Seulgi stood up and did some stretches.

"Come on..." Yujin brushed her face with her palms. "I have another person that I like."

"You say so~" Seulgi tried to raise her right arm but she ended up disappointed. "What about Minjoo then? Why do you think she reacted like that when you told her that it's okay to you that she goes out with Hyunjin?"

Yujin's eyes widened. Whenever she thinks about it it feels like her head is going to explode. Her professor has a point but she just can't picture Minjoo liking her romantically but at the same time, she doesn't seem to dislike the idea of it. She's confused about what she feels as well.

"Stop making me confused." Yujin fixed her knee cap before wearing tights on her leg that had the injury. "Why are you so good at making people confused?"

Seulgi just laughed. She actually took that as a compliment. "Maybe because it's fun when you make your readers think?"

The professor picked her bag up. "Let's go. I'll appreciate it if you don't think of other things for now and just focus on the match. We got a date to sabotage."

THE whole court was filled with students trying to witness the match of the semester. The basketball team was surprised and felt bad for themselves when more people are more concerned about this game than their own game. Fanclubs of the coach and the prof were both present and were so ready to cheer for them. Hyunjin's fanclub was also ready to join the rumble.

Joohyun was given a special seat where she could see the match really well, fitting to her being called the Queen. The said professor couldn't believe how huge the scope of the silly match had become that students even technically abducted her just to make her watch it.

”This is supposed to be a private match. Why is it being used to promote the school? How do they want the school to get known anyway?”

The Ice Queen sighed. She was fiddling with her phone, thinking whether she should send a text that would cheer Seulgi or just continue being cold to her. After another embarrassment that the other professor did, after the slapping incident to be exact, Joohyun hasn’t spoken to Seulgi again. The other professor tried reaching out to her but she’s just so pissed on how huge this silly match has become that she couldn’t help but to ignore her.

“I don’t care anymore.” She sighed before putting her phone back to her pocket. “I’m sure I will be going on a date anyway. There’s no way that those two would win.”

Joohyun stared at the silly banner where Seulgi’s silly face was posted. “Just be safe, you idiot. Don’t let your pride be trampled on too much.”

“They are sure to be really popular.” Seungwan awed at the amount of people who came just to watch this match. Most of the students even made their schedules free just to watch the match of the semester. 

“Those three are the most popular mentors among the students. All of them are really popular in their own charms.” Jimin explained before handing drinks to others. The four of them—Seungwan, Minjeong, Jimin and Minjoo—came all together to watch the match. “Professor Kang is popular for being an outgoing professor while Professor Bae is for being the charming Ice Queen. Coach Park, on the other hand, aside from being handsome is also really friendly and very approachable. They are all popular regardless of gender.”

”I see.” Seungwan nodded. “So their popularity, combined with the basketball team’s ace’s popularity has brought this crowd all the way here to the court.”

”That’s right.”Jimin answered with a smile. “Even the school director is pleased with this event, saying that it’s a way to ease the students’ stress.”

“Someone else is getting stressed though.” Minjeong whispered but audible enough for just Seungwan to hear. The lady just smiled while shaking her head. 

“Anyway…” Jimin hesitantly turned to Minjoo and leaned closer to the other girl. Minjoo felt a little awkward with that sudden invasion of personal space but she also leaned in to listen to whatever Jimin was about to whisper. “Minjoo, why aren’t you down there supporting Yujinie?”

“H-Huh?” Minjoo moved back a little. “I-It’s just—”

“Something really happened between the two of you, right? Did you fight?”

“J-Jimin-ssi…” Minjoo pushed her a bit without even touching her. “Y-You’re too close.”

Jimin moved away and crossed her arms but her eyes were still on Minjoo. “You two always come in a package, you know? Everyone in school knows about it. It’s very rare to see you without Yujin but lately I’ve never seen the two of you together at all. I’ve also noticed Yujin’s tension down and now I see you here in the bleachers when she’s out there playing?”

‘I didn’t know she’s been observing… Don’t tell me she already noticed about my feelings towards Yujin just like Professor Bae?’ Minjoo looked away, thinking that it would avoid her from being read. “It’s nothing… We’re just giving each other some space.”

“Space for what?” Jimin asked.

Minjoo took time to answer. The crowd was suddenly in an uproar at the entrance of Coach Park and Hyujin but Jimin was still hung up, waiting for an answer from Minjoo… and her patience somehow paid off.

“...Space for romance…”

“W-What?” Jimin was obviously surprised with that answer. She then saw Minjoo bow her head to someone and was even more shocked when she saw that the ace player of the basketball team was actually waving in Minjoo's way. Jimin’s eyes and mouth were all wide open. ‘Seriously? There’s something between her and the basketball guy!?’

And yes, Jimin completely misunderstood. Minjoo was drawing distance for Yujin to find a chance with Jimin but that simple greeting between Hyunjin and Minjoo caused the misunderstanding.

‘I didn’t know Minjoo would go to the lengths of avoiding her best friend just for the sake of romance! That’s why Yujinie was so down!’ A louder cheer filled the whole court at the entrance of Professor Kang and Yujin. The mentor was surely enjoying the attention and was greeting everyone but Yujin just walked behind her, her eyes fixed in front of her. There was no emotion on her face at all. 

‘Yujinie…’ Jimin felt bad for the other girl. ‘Your best friend couldn’t support you this time because she was rooting for the other team, right? I now understand why you were spacing out lately. Poor puppy.’

The two teams then face each other in the middle of the half court since it’ll be too wide for just four players to use the whole court. The coach of the women’s basketball team would officiate the match as the referee. To make the match even more exciting, each player was given the chance to say anything. The mic was given to Chanyeol first and he didn’t let the chance to speak to Joohyun go away.

“Professor Bae.” Just that one call was enough to shake the whole gym. Joohyun was already dying in embarrassment when it was only her name that was called. “Thank you very much for the lunch that you gave me last time. It was really delicious and I loved every bit of it. You said it was okay to just throw away the container but I want to give it back to you with a meal I’ll prepare for you… on our date.”

Coach Park’s fans and the basketball players cheered so loud for him. Seulgi then stepped forward and received the mic from Chanyeol. She was smiling goofily but Yujin could feel how her professor disliked that confidence from the coach. 

“Hello, everyone! Welcome to the match where the great coach of the basketball team would taste defeat!” Seulgi raised her mic to get the cheers from her supporters and she was pleased with how loud they cheered for her. “Now, Professor Bae…”

Joohyun could only roll her eyes, she knew Seulgi would say something silly and embarrassing again. She was about to cover her ears when Seulgi gave her that smile that shook her heart yet again.

Seulgi was satisfied to see Joohyun looking at her. She tilted her head like a cute puppy that was asking for affection. “I won’t let you go anywhere with somebody else. How about I take you somewhere better? Perhaps, Jeju-do?”

The crowd’s cheer was deafening, all wanting to know what that invitation meant. It didn’t sound like a best friend being protective but a jealous lover who is trying to win back her love’s heart. Also, Seulgi, for the first time, didn’t bring up the word bestfriend. The cheers were so loud but Joohyun’s attention was only on Seulgi. Even the latter was just looking at her as if she’s a knight adoring her queen.

Seulgi beamed at Joohyun before passing the mic. She was clearly telling Joohyun that she’s going to win the match. 

“There you are again… Where do you even get that confidence?” Joohyun could feel her heart rampaging in her chest. “Why do you have to make me feel like this?”

The mic was then given to Hyunjin and he was surprised that he has to speak as well when the match is technically just for Chanyeol and Seulgi. “Uhm… Thank you everyone for showing interest in this match. I hope you also give the same support to our team during our official matches.” His fangirls cheered for him and he looked a little shy. “I am happy to be a part of this though I am facing Yujin-ssi here.”

“Huh?” Yujin suddenly lifted her head and looked at the said player who was already looking at him. The other students were as surprised as she was.

“Uhm… There’s actually a person that I like and having Yujin-ssi on my side will improve my chances. So yeah…” Hyunjin was scratching his head when he turned to Yujin once more. “I hope you don’t hate me after this match. It’s just friendly anyway. I hope you can help me as well.”

The cheers were mixed with murmurings about Hyunjin’s confession about liking someone. Jimin’s jaw was hanging while looking back and forth to the court and to Minjoo who looked really troubled that time. The guy then passed the mic to Yujin while whispering a question, “What is Minjoo-ssi’s favourite dish?”

Yujin didn’t give an answer; rather she looked at the guy with wide-opened, threatening eyes before literally snatching the mic from his hand. The crowd was silenced by the mic’s feedback and all eyes were on Yujin when she stepped in the middle. 

With a deep breath, Yujin spoke to the mic. “WE.ARE.GOING.TO.WIN!”

That declaration of Yujin drew an even bigger smile on Seulgi’s face. There wasn’t any cheer for Yujin but she was not bothered by it. But that silence is proof of how tight her hold was to the audie