The twelve of us huddled together, discussing the pairs who would be playing. With our arms wrapped around each other's shoulders, we listened attentively to duizhang who had already formed a plan in his head. With the scorching sun above our heads, and our bodies tightly knitted beside each other, the heat of summer spread to us like wildfire. Beads of sweat trickled down our faces, but none of that mattered, because the first priority was to win against the opponent.

"Based on my observations, I reckon that their three best players would be that Dino guy, the tall one, and her. That Taemin, meanwhile, appears to be the weakest," Kris said. "The tendency is for them to stick the most athletic members together and have them play the third game which would be a surewin on their part. The remaining strong player would be paired up with someone of moderate skills, and the weakest together."

"Simply-speaking, they will most likely and deliberately lose one game, right?" Suho clarified; Kris nodded in affirmation. "If that's the case, then we can't have our best players in the first and second. If we want a chance at beating them in the third game, we'd have to also give one game to them, and have our strongest face theirs."

"We could, but it's not necessary. It's still twelve against six. We are at an advantage here because we have more options to choose from whereas they don't. And I know all of us are talented in the sports department, so we can win without having to go through a tie-breaker. We'll win the first two games and get it over with." The determined look on Kris' face just screamed his resolution to win. Despite his feminine habits, duizhang still had his pride, plus, with my roommate involved, Kris was ready to let out the beast within and mercilessly defeat those boys.

Duizhang is here, es.

"I'm playing, Gege!" Tao exclaimed, a gung ho-fire in his eyes. His sweaty hair was a mess as sticky, dark hair strands clung to his forehead. His alabaster skin was starting to brown under the heat. "I'll show Noona that we're better than they are!" he cheered, absolutely ready to crush the other party.

"I like your enthusiasm Tao," Suho commented.

"We're playing, too!" Se Hun and Kai said in unison, pumping fists in the air.

"Lay-hyung, you should join," Chen suggested.

Of course he should.

No one but us knew about Lay's latent volleyball abilities. It was a fact that Yixing wasn't the most athletic among us, and he was more drawn to the performing arts, but volleyball was a different story. He spiked, served, and rallied with both power and grace. And whenever he played, we would find ourselves wondering who that was and what he did to the joker of the group. He adopted a different persona--one who was more competitive, fierce and downright vicious.

Boy on fire was what we called Lay when volleyball was involved.

Lay gave a curt nod.

"I'm joining," Kris declared confidently. He was, after all, the most experienced out of all of us, having played soccer, basketball and baseball when he was young. As for his volleyball abilities, per se, I wasn't really sure, but I trusted duizhang enough to know that he was good at it, if not legendarily amazing.  "All right, we've got two pairs and half. Who's the last player?"

As if on cue, and as if they talked about it behind my back, they instantly looked at me, expecting me to say that I would. My eyes widened.

"What? Me?!"

They gave me the "Of course, you idiot," look, and my face paled.

It's not that I was horrible at volleyball.

I was a pretty good player, just so you know. Like Kris, I had a long, fruitful, and successful history with ball sports, thank you very much. But I felt nervous. She'd be watching me play, and what's worse about it is that she wouldn't be cheering for me; she would pray for me to commit as many errors so that we would lose and make fools out of ourselves in front of her and her friends.

It's painful to know that she wasn't on our side.

I know it's overly-dramatic of me to say this, but I felt betrayed.

Does this mean that given the chance, she would choose them over us?

Over me?

Well, technically, she already did when she said that she'd be playing for them.

Lu Han, you dolt, of course she would; she met them first.

You're just her roommate, remember?

I frowned.

Oh conscience, you never fail to make me feel better.

God, why is my inner being so damn caustic? I thought it would be on my side.

I am, Lu Han, my boy.

Ever heard of reverse psychology?

I rolled my eyes. My conscience had a mind of its own.

Amazing.

I bit my lip, unsure of what to say. I didn't want to play because I knew I would end up playing sloppily and lose the game. With her around, I would forget everything I learned to be a good volleyball player and be a flurry of chaos and clumsiness on the court instead.

Her scrutinizing eyes would freeze me on the spot. They just mesmerized me too much.

"Hyung, this is your time to shine!" Se Hun urged, grinning at me. "You have to show Noona what you've got! Show 'em that you can fight for your woman!"

"YEAH!"

I felt blood crawl up to my cheeks. These guys, they never failed to make me embarrassed, and I was reduced to a stuttering idiot once again, "I...Y-You...T-that...I mean, she's not even mine!"

Baozi chuckled and lightly punched me arm. "Damn it, man, you're so slow in courting her! This is the perfect opportunity to do it! Just imagine the milestone you would reach if we won this!" His wide smile lifted his white, chubby cheeks, making him look younger than he really was. Even though he was the oldest among the twelve of us, he gave off a youthful vibe and acted like a child. He was never serious, and was, instead, a humorous guy who cracked as many jokes as Lay did. In situations that made it seem like there was no hope, he would provide the optimism and turn things around.

Xiumin always knew the right words to say.

What he said got me thinking.

He was correct.

I have to show her what I can do, and how much I'm worth as a man. She's always dominated me, treating me like a frail, dainty lady who greatly depended on her knight in shining armor. I, on the other hand, made the mistake of thinking that I could woo her by simply being her roommate. I thought that being close with her was enough to get her to like me, that the bond we shared as roommates would naturally evolve into something greater. Obviously, none of those would suffice, because being lovers is more than that. I've dated so many girls, but it's always been them who came to me. Now that the circumstances were different, I knew I had to work harder and be more assertive.

Being with her has subjected me to a lot of new things--situations I never thought I would find myself in.

Falling in love with a tomboy was one of them.

Damn, Lu Han, you're so head over heels.

Only because I love her so much.

"Fine," I grumbled, "I'll play. But don't blame me if we lose, all right?"

They all grinned.

"Have some self-respect, Hyung! We're on your side, remember? We're with you all the way!" Kai said.

"Thank you so much," I said, happy to know that they had my back.  Kai's words were comforting, reminding me that whatever happens, I will always have my brothers to cheer for me and pick me up when I fall.

We were each other's support system, after all.

"All right, team," Kris stretched out his arm to the center of our circle; we followed suit. "Let's kick some !"

"EXO fighting!" we bellowed, and raised our hands to the summer sky.

I had a feeling that we were going to win.

~

Meanwhile, at the other side of the court, you amusedly watched as EXO huddled together and cheered, energizing the team. Your lips curved into a tiny smile.  

Honestly, you didn't see why EXO was being so possessive of you; there was no reason to be--it's not like you were the only girl they knew. Nonetheless, you were pleased to know that they were so determined to win; it was proof of how much they valued your friendship.

Taemin plopped down beside you on the short bench. He looked over to where your eyes were directed at. "Noona," he put his head on your shoulder, "You met a lot of good people while we were gone, huh?" he murmured; you heard the sadness in his voice, and you took his hand and intertwined your fingers with his.

"Mhm," you replied, "I did. I found people just like the five of you who accepted me and made me feel like I was part of something great. There's no need to be sad, Taeminnie. It's not like I replaced you with them."

He squeezed your hand. "Okay, because Noona says so! And if you like them so much, then I should feel happy, right? Because I know they're taking care of you, and I know that you're doing fine!" He looked up at you with a smile, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. There was a glimmer of something melancholic, but also of something trying so hard to be positive.

You pinched his cheek. "That's right, Taeminnie! They're good people, okay? So don't be alarmed."

He nodded profusely, as if trying to convince himself of what you said. "I'll try not to be. We were just shocked, because you never said anything in the times that you visited us. But I'll be optimistic, Noona!" he cheered.

You chuckled and patted his head. "Thank you, Taemin." You stood up, and dusted the sand off your shorts. You gestured for the remaining four to come to you.

"We are so going to win this thing," Jjong confidently contended, showing his pearly whites in a big grin.

"Totally," Key said, his chin high up.

"Now, now, play it safe, you two," Onew reminded them, but he, too, was just as excited to play. "Minho," he turned to the tall boy, "You, too, okay? Don't be too aggressive."

Minho smiled, "I'll try, Hyung."

A hearty laugh escaped your lips. "Wow, we haven't played any games in a while, huh? I miss the good old days, man. But that aside," you reached a hand out to the center. They did the same and smiled at each other. "Let's just have some fun and kick their butts, all right? is about to go down later, dudes!"

"SHINee fighting!" 

Author's Note:

Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while, hasn't it? College life has been affecting me so much; my body clock is so messed up, and I've been falling asleep pretty easily these past few days, so I couldn't properly write. T.T

Plus, I have so many readings to do. Huhuhu.

Anyway, I present to you: The Beach Part 9.2! Looks like the competition between SHINee and EXO is heating up! :)) Let me warn you now, though, that 9.3 may be a bit anticlimactic, because I'm not going to spend the entire time narrating every move they make in the games. I'll do this Prince of Tennis style...or at least try to... :)) But please, don't expect action of epic proportions! :)) 

In other news, I've posted Chapter 3 of Countdown. Please do check it out and comment if you can!

Thank you so much for reading, subscribing and commenting! I've finally reached 300 subs, and I thank you guys so much for sticking with this story. T.T To my new readers, I am so glad that you guys are enjoying this! I hope I won't disappoint you in the future!

Remember to drop a comment or two! I would love to hear your thoughts! 

Till next time!