I kinda anticipated the football match on the weekend because I couldn't wait to see Woohyun play again. When he was on the field, he transformed into a completely different person. Gone was the greasy boy who sweet talked everyone, replaced by a fierce captain who commanded every player's respect. He was no longer the weirdo who broke out into random dances and songs in the middle of the hallway, but a focused player who would concentrate only on the game and nothing else.

"There'll be college scouts at our next match," he had told me one lunchtime when we were eating at the cafeteria with Sunggyu and Hanbyul. "That's why I need to play extra good on Saturday! And that's why you need to be there to support me!"

Come Saturday morning, Hanbyul came over so we could get ready together. I decided to put face paint on my face and make a sign saying "Go St. Peter's College!" to show my support for Woohyun. I really wanted him to win this match because I knew how important it was for him to win, and to impress the college scouts with his captaincy.

"Let's go to the change rooms!" Hanbyul said, tugging me toward the male toilets. I shrunk back and laughed awkwardly.
"I'll just take a seat first," I said, starting to walking away.
She grabbed my arm.
"No! Sunggyu told me that Woohyun told him to tell me to tell you that he had something important to say to you before the match, and that you needed to come to the change rooms before the match, otherwise he would kill Sunggyu for not telling me to tell you that Woohyun told you."
I gaped at her. "What? What did you say?" I laughed.
"Aish, just come with me," Byul said, dragging me into the locker rooms. I gulped, feeling my cheeks grow hot already.

"Sunggyu!" Hanbyul cried as soon as she saw him. He was sitting down on the bench in the middle of the room putting on his shoes. She ran up to him and gave him a hug and whispered something in his ear. He turned bright red and smiled so widely that his eyes went smaller than usual. I just stood there awkwardly in the middle of the room while they giggled again. Aish, I thought. I was really going to yell at Byul afterwards for always leaving me alone to be awkward while she went to Sunggyu.

I tried not to make eye contact with anyone as I was aware of the guys around me giving me weird looks for being in a guy's change room. I was also aware that many of them were half around me. I felt my cheeks go red as I looked around desperately to see if Woohyun was around and accidently made eye contact with a player on his team, who gave me a dirty look and turned away.

"Hey!" I heard a voice from behind me . "ert alert in the boy's showers!"
I turned around and saw Woohyun standing next to me fully dressed in his football gear and ready to go. I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he cut me off.
"I saw you, Hana!" He said, waggling his eyebrows. "You were looking at Siwoo's abs! Woooo!"
He wolf whistled and everyone in the locker room roared with laughter. I turned even more red, if that was possible, and behind Woohyun to hide myself.

"Yah," I heard Sunggyu say from behind us, coming up and swatting Woohyun on the head. "Stop teasing Hana and concentrate on the match."
Woohyun scratched his head apologetically and smiled.
"Sorry guys," he said, addressing the room seriously.
 "Now we all know that today will decide whether we play in the finals next week or not. And we also know that there are college scouts in the audience watching, but I don't want that to faze you." He paused and looked around the room. "I know you're all amazing players. If you play as well as you did in training on Monday today, we'll smash the other team. So don't let other things distract us today, okay? Treat it as a normal match, play your best today, and we will win. We'll win that state championship!!"
 He paused again. I saw all the players watching him with utmost respect and admire, clinging into every word and nodding along in agreement. He was a great captain !

"Goodluck, Woohyun!" I told him as we walked out together. "I know you'll do great today!"
He smiled back at me, causing my heart to skip a beat in my chest. "Thanks, Hana! I'll make sure I win for you today," he chuckled loudly. "Don't forget to cheer for me!"
I nodded and gave him thumbs up before making my way to my seat in the audience.

I was feeling extremely nervous for him. When Hanbyul offered me some nachos she bought from the cafe, I refused. My stomach felt uneasy, and I felt if I ate anything it would come straight back up.

The whistle was blown. I watched Woohyun nervously as he crouched over and focused on the ball coming his way. I saw Hoya grab it from the centre and my eyes travelled to Woohyun who was signalling wildly for the ball.

Then, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I saw three things happen at once - first, I saw Woohyun running and trying to signal Hoya to pass him the ball. Second, I saw a player from the other team running for the ball in the opposite direction of Woohyun; if they didn't dodge, they would collide horribly. And third, I saw the opponent who was paired up to defend Woohyun run awfully close behind him, threatening to trample Woohyun.

Then they collided. Woohyun and the player running head on, and Woohyun and the player from behind. He was sandwiched right between the two largest players of the other team, and all three of them fell to the floor, not moving.

I screamed and jumped up from my seat, horrified. My heart was in my throat. I felt like the wind had been blown out of me. I could do nothing but watch in horror. Why wasn't he moving? He always joked around with the guys and stuff and they always got into fights where they punched each other in the balls and stuff, right? But he was never like this. So why? I could feel my blood pounding in my ears and my heart beating a million miles in my chest, threatening to jump out.

The game stopped immediately and all the players ran over. I saw the other two players get up gingerly from the ground - but why wasn't Woohyun moving?! I I was on the verge of tears, and I could feel Hanbyul trying to comfort me but it was no use. Why wasn't Woohyun moving? Did he black out? The other two players were now being helped up by their team mates but ours were still crowded around their captain. I saw Sunggyu bend down and tend to Woohyun worriedly.

It felt like a year before the medical team ran onto the field with a stretcher. I watched with my hand over my mouth in horror as they lifted Woohyun carefully, as if he was weightless, onto the white stretcher. Too carefully. I knew then and there that something serious had happened. They placed his neck in a brace and wrapped a bandage around his leg. I gripped Hanbyul's arm in horror as they carted him off the field, where a car was waiting to take him to hospital.

I could feel tears in my eyes. "Hanbyul, h-he - W-woohyun, I c-can't, oh my God, Hanbyul," I whispered, wiping my tears away and hugging her tightly. I could feel panic rising in my throat and I tried to swallow the lump that had formed there, but it didn't work.
"Shh," she soothed. "He'll be okay, don't worry. This is Woohyun we're talking about, right?"
 She rubbed my arm. "Don't worry. He's in the best hands now. There's nothing we can do."
I nodded tearfully and sat back down, trying to concentrate on not shaking.

Despite their captain almost being killed on he field, the game continued. I just sat there biting my knuckle while the game dragged on and on. I wanted it to end quickly so I could go ask Sunggyu or their coach if they had gotten any news of Woohyun from the hospital, but the referee kept blowing his whistle and calling out every small foul, causing the game to go overtime. I groaned loudly every time I heard the whistle blow.

At the end, I jumped up from my seat and followed Hanbyul down to the field where the players gathered. We had won, but no one was in a celebrating mood because of what happened to Woohyun. Before I could open my mouth to ask what was wrong, I overheard the two coaches discussing his condition. I pulled Hanbyul over and crouched in the bushes behind them to eavesdrop.

"Such a shame," the other team's coach said. "He was your captain too, right? Any news from the hospital?"
"They called me at half time," coach Yoon said. "It doesn't look good. Fractured ribs and broken leg. They think he might be out for the rest of the season and next year."
Upon hearing this, I gasped. Hanbyul hurriedly covered my mouth as the two coaches turned around curiously and eyes the bush that was making weird noises.
"For next year, too? Yikes," the other coach exclaimed. "And the college scouts were here today, too......"

I wanted to listen to what else they were saying but Hanbyul pulled me away from the bush because Sunggyu was pointing at us from far away.
"Sunggyu," I gasped, running up to him and clutching his shirt desperately.
"What happened? Will Woohyun be okay? Did he really hurt his ribs and legs? Will he be out for next year? Sunggyu," I asked desperately, shaking his jersey. "Please tell me he's okay."

He replied to me in an empty voice. "It was pretty bad, Hana, I don't know. The two guys were running at two opposite directions and the hit was pretty brutal." He sighed.
"He told me his leg was on fire, and it hurt whenever he breathed. He's okay though. He even told me that the nurse was hot, so I guess his head is not hurt?" He cracked half a smile.
I chuckled at this, not sure if it was a good and bad thing.

"You guys better go," he said. "I'll call you later, okay Byul?
She nodded and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to eye me uncomfortably and turn bright red.

That afternoon I lie face down on my bed thinking of nothing but Woohyun. I really hoped he was okay. If he was badly injured, I would seriously go and hunt down those two players and smash them, even if it was an accident. If what the coach said was true, I knew that Woohyun's college dream was no more. I hated to admit it, but it was true. He didn't have a chance to impress the college scouts, nor show his captaincy. I worried about that greasy boy so much that I could hardly do anything except mope around the house.

My thoughts were broken by my phone ringing. I looked at the screen, but it was a number I didn't recognize.
"Hello?" I said cautiously into my phone.
"Hana, it's Sunggyu," he answered. "I got your number off Byul, I hope that's okay."
I nodded. "Yeah, of course. What's up? Have you been to see Woohyun? How is he?"
I heard him sigh deeply over the end of the line. "He's not good. You were right - fractured ribs and broken leg. He won't be able to walk for at least two months, let alone play football or captain the team into the grand final."
My heart sank. Two of the things that Woohyun wanted to do most.
"But it's even worse than that, Hana." Sunggyu paused. He seemed to be struggling with coming to terms with it himself too.
"He won't talk to anyone. He won't eat or sleep because he feels guilty that he let the team down because he can't play in the finals. He's angry at himself for letting himself get injured, even though it wasn't his fault, and he says that his future is ruined." Sunggyu paused again.
"He won't even talk to me. And I wouldn't be calling you for it wasn't an emergency, but he's even refusing his medication now because he says it's no use, and won't help him play in the finals. Can you try talk to him, Hana? I know he was close to you during that chat thing, even if he tried to hide it. Are you still mad at him? Because he's seriously been beating himself up over everything. I just - I don't know. I'm really worried about him because I've never seen him like this before."
He paused and waited for my answer. A million thoughts were running through my mind, but they settled on the pain he would be feeling without his medicine.
"What's his room number?" I asked him finally. "I'll go now."