Each day I make my cheers more extravagant. With confetti cannons and enormous flags, Taemin has given me a lot of notice. He would complain about me indirectly, but I could tell it actually improved his performance in football. It gave him the motivation any player needed.

Now his game was two days away.

“Key, again?” Taemin ran over to me, lightly smacking my arm.

I shrugged it off, but he gave an exasperated groan. Over the last few days, he eventually came over to me enough to know my name and somewhat cold-hearted personality.

“I can’t help it, I want to cheer for you,” I respond to his tired sighs.

“It’s really unnecessary; I bet you do this to everyone,” He implied.

“This is the only time I’ll do this for anybody,” I unashamedly said to Taemin.

His face turned pink, and I saw him touch his cheeks. “You pay too much attention to me…” He mumbled, then running away back to his practice.

“Hey, I think everything is progressing well,” Sulli told me, disguised as a tree this time.

“I sense interference though….” She exhaled noisily at my negative comeback.

After Taemin’s practice, I would usually leave to prepare what I was going to do tomorrow. But today, my gut told me to stay behind. Sulli got tired and left to take a nap back home.

Taemin didn’t see me stay behind, so instead of cheering some more, I decided to watch him practice. He was really something; I don’t know what drives him to have that much energy for so long. As he was running, I spotted a camouflaged rock in front of his way.

Before I could warn him, it was too late.

Taemin had tripped, and a large crack could be heard from where I was, about six yards away. Sulli would’ve told me I should take this to my advantage and go over to help him.

But instead I inspected the crisis.

He was rubbing his left ankle in an enormous amount of pain. A few older members that hadn’t exactly left yet rushed over to Taemin.

According some people, I have this “umma” side of me that can’t help but care for others.

And, as if confirming that “fact,” and although it was out of my plan, I ran over to Taemin in my ridiculous “Fighting!” get-up. “Key…” He reddened as I put him on my back. “We’re going to the nurse’s office.”

I carried him, and the other members left us to our business.

 Each step I grew cautious of his hot breath burning my neck. Even his scratched arms hugging me were too tight. “Taemin? Do you have a fever?” I asked. He buried himself in my shirt.

“I don’t think so…” His voice was rough and it sounded sore.

“You’re over exerting yourself. Don’t push your body to go over its limits,” I worriedly advise him.

“But the match is a few days away, and I don’t want to disappoint anyone…” He told me.

By the time we got to the office, his figure was very weak. I put him on the bed, and he trembled. “Cold…” He muttered. I put my forehead against his, and it felt like his temperature was very high. The nurse examined his ankle while I found a compress to put on his head.

“I might need to test his leg a bit more to see if it’s sprained or not. You may go home. I’ll call his parents to come over,” The nurse said. I nodded, and tentatively squeezed Taemin’s hand. “Get better, alright?” He gave a frail “yes,” and I went on my way.

When I went to school the day after, I saw the white bandage on the lower part of his bad leg. Taemin also had a crutch on one of his arms. “I guess I can’t play anymore…” He looked at me with watery eyes. “At least you’re not sick,” I reassure him.

After school I spotted Taemin still go to his football practice, observing in the sidelines. It was really saddening to see him depressed like that. I wondered why he was studying his team anyways. It all came to me then.

“Working hard, tripping out of nowhere, older members, pressure, requirements…” I muddled under my breath. Sulli looked at me, confused. “What’s wrong with you?” She naively asked. 

“I can see the ending.”

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A/N: I know, this was an unexpectedly fast update. With all the sudden nice feedback you guys are giving me, it has really encouraged me to write this story faster than I thought I would. Forgive me for the spelling/grammar if anything is off. Hopefully I get many comments on this chapter, it really motivates me so keep them coming! ^^ (And thankyou for the subs, I didn't know this story would actually gain any. Now I'll work my hardest not to disappoint!)