You felt prepared when you woke up. Nunji ran by some pointers with you while you put the rice in the rice cooker. She held a fussy Mieun in her arms.

“Remember to throw the ball high enough so that you have time to jump. If you throw it too high, then your timing might be off, same if you throw it too low.” She moved up and down with her baby but it did little to make Mieun feel better.

You nodded as you pushed the right buttons.

“Keep your feet planted apart in case you need to reach for a ball. Watch out for fakes too.” You took Mieun in your arms as Nunji reached up to take out some containers for lunch off of the shelf. “Try to focus on the ball as much as possible and be aware of where your teammates are at. How was your practice yesterday anyway?” She was by the refrigerator now. You only sighed and she heard it as she eyed you. “What’s wrong?”

“Only one person knows how to play.” You changed your hold on Mieun as she gurgled.

“Who? You?”

You shook your head. “Only one other girl.” Your class practice didn’t go that well since you and that girl, Jimri, spent the majority of the time teaching the others.  Well, she had been the one really teaching while you just repeated what Nunji told you or demonstrated what you learned as awkward as that was.

“If that’s the case then you two should pass to each other as much as possible. Try to keep it between you two if you want to win.”

You nodded and started to walk around while gently bouncing Mieun. She sneezed and you walked out of the kitchen to get tissue. You passed your mom on the way as she talked on the phone with your father. You had already talked with him so you slipped by her. Your dad was going to Japan for some kind of conference for a while but you didn’t mind it since you didn’t see him that much anyway. He had asked you about school and Mieun and you told him about her appointment that afternoon before you gave the phone to Nunji to explain more.

You cleaned Mieun’s nose with the tissue you got and she blinked up at you. She was blotchy and she kept scratching her nose which had been stuffy lately. Everyone was worried about her and Nunji had told you and your mom that she had informed Hwangin about it in her last letter. In his latest letter, he wrote that he had tried to use one of his limited leaves but was rejected so he couldn’t come.

Because of Mieun’s sickness, you couldn’t really focus on anything, much less the volleyball game but you knew when the time came to it, and you would do your best. You passed your mom again and she held out her arms to take Mieun. You surrendered your niece over to her grandma and you walked back to the kitchen.

Just as you walked in, Nunji threw something at you that covered your vision. You kept walking despite your blocked vision, already knowing how many steps it took to reach the table. You reached out a hand and pulled out your chair before sitting. When you were seated you slowly pulled the fabric off of your head and you could suddenly see your sister glaring at you.

“I hate you,” you rolled your eyes at her words and you looked down at the black fabric before throwing it back at her but she caught it. “What? This is a part of the volleyball uniform,” she tossed the black shorts back to you and it landed on the table. You pushed it onto the floor. “Mikyung! You’re going to get it dirty!” She rushed over to pick it up before she sat down next to you. She faced you, “If you don’t wear this what are you going to wear and don’t say your basketball shorts.”

You groaned and your sister laughed. It was so like her to bring this up last minute. You hadn’t once thought of what you were going to wear and you suddenly remembered going to Nunji’s games and seeing her wear these particular shorts. You grimaced, already feeling uncomfortable when you remembered all of the guys who had been at the game. Like with the race, it was mandatory that the whole school be there and you were not looking forward to playing in front of a crowd.

Your mom came in with a smile on her face and she started to place the food on the table with one hand while the other held Mieun. “Your dad told you guys to let him know if you want any souvenirs from Japan.”

You and your sister answered, “Okay mom,” but you were still glaring at your sister as she picked up the shorts and walked over to your bag and stuffed them inside. She walked out of the kitchen with a light skip in her steps. You grabbed your chopsticks and quickly ate some kimchi hoping that will distract you. Your mom sat down and Mieun started to squirm.

“Mikyungie,” you looked at your sister, “I’ll put my old volleyball pads and shirt in your bag too.” She held out her shirt that was just as tight as the shorts. You two were about the same size but you were taller than her by a few centimeters. But you knew the clothes would still fit you if not a little snug at some places. You felt your cheeks getting hot at the thought of wearing them in public. You looked away from her and focused on grabbing some rice with your chopsticks as your sister laughed at your reaction. Your mom was still in her happy world as she cooed to her granddaughter.

­­~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You pulled your jacket around you as you climbed the steps leading to the doors. Your hair was in a ponytail with your bangs hanging over your eyes. You would have to pin them back when your game started. You had fixed your hair in its usual bun but you kept tugging at it on the way over as your sister kept teasing you. You did your best to remain calm but you knew your cheeks were a light shade of pink.

You avoided people’s eyes as you weaved through the crowded hallway and you quickly slipped inside your classroom. You kept your eye on your desk and focused on the pale weak sunlight streaming in through the window. But before you could make it to your desk, someone stood up in front of you effectively blocking your way.

You tore your eyes away from your desk and looked up. He held out your thermos and you hesitated before taking it. You opened it while he watched and you checked to make sure he cleaned it. You nodded your head at him in thanks before slightly shoving him out of the way so you could go to your seat. He glared at you and you shrugged as you pushed your bangs away from your eyes.

You let your gym bag slip off your shoulder and placed your lunchbox on the surface of the desk before pulling out your chair. You quickly put the thermos in the bag and as you finished zipping it up, a water bottle was placed in front of you. You slowly sat down and you widened your eyes at the girl who held multiple bottles in her arms. She bowed to you shyly before passing out other water bottles to the other volleyball players. You stared at the bottle before moving it to the corner of the desk. A granola bar was placed by the water bottle and you bowed to a different girl who reciprocated it with a bow of her own.

You were confused, thinking whether or not you should have brought something too before a girl walked up to you. She smiled at you as she held out a mess of ribbons and you stared at it puzzled. She pointed to her hair and you realized it was a hair tie. You held out your hand to take it and she put it in your hand.

You decided it was better to place your hair back in its bun now so you took off your hair ties that held your hair together. You quickly ran your fingers through the long strands before gathering it all up. You secured it with one hair tie before twisting the rest up into a bun with another one. When you were done, you took your newly acquired scrunchie and you placed it around the knob of hair.

N plopped down in Yoohyuk’s chair and he smiled at you as you fixed your hair. You didn’t look at him and when you were done he held out a juice box, an energy bar, and a wristband to you. When you didn’t immediately take them, he spoke, “The juice box is from Ravi, the energy bar from Hongbin, and the wristband is Hyukie’s.”

Ken walked over and he took out a poster from his bag, “Me and N made this one.” A paper ball hit his head and he glared at Taekwoon who crossed his arms, “Well, Leo help did a little. Although he only wrote your-,”  he mumbled the rest. He unfolded the paper and you took a bite off your granola bar as you took in the words. ‘Mikyungie is jjang!’ ‘Class 2-B are no newbies!’ The next one was crossed out multiple times ‘To play volleyball, you need some ball-…oons.’ You scoffed at the last one and Ken laughed, “That last one was supposed to say-“ another paper hit his head. Yoohyuk appeared beside him and N quickly stood up.

“Volleyball players may now head to the main gym.” Your homeroom teacher announced and you grabbed your gym bag as you looked at the clock to check the time. It was still a little too early but you decided to just follow the rest of the girls. N and Ken held out their arms as they said ‘fighting’ to you and Yoohyuk did the same though with a puzzled expression. Taekwoon stood up and you stared at him for a second before you walked by him but you felt a tug in your bun. You looked back to glare at him and he just waved to you.

“I’m so nervous,” the other girls started talking once they were out in the hall with the boys shouting their encouragements in the classroom. Like you they had similar scrunchies in their hair and you silently followed them.

Once in the gym your eyes darted to a specific seat at the corner of the bleachers. A brief image of a particular person sitting there just yesterday flashed in your mind before you looked away and noticed a few girls stealing glances at you. You played with the zipper of your bag as you headed to the locker room to get ready.

“Wasn’t it weird how Taekwoon-ssi was here during volleyball practice yesterday?” you quickened your steps as you heard one of them whisper. You pushed through the heavy door that led to the locker room. You knew they didn’t mean for you to hear, but the gym was empty so the chances of that happening were zero since her words echoed.

Once inside, you dumped your bag onto one of the benches as the other girls came in and they started to get ready too. You quickly got ready and grimaced at the way the material clung to your body. You took out your bottle of lotion and applied some to your legs and arms still not feeling comfortable. You folded up your school uniform and put it in your bag and placed it all in your old locker except your jacket. After locking it up, you put your jacket on and grabbed your water bottle before you walked out of the room to see more girls coming in. You bowed to  them as you walked over to a basket that held the volleyballs. You dribbled and squeezed some to pick one out.

After selecting one, you waited for one of your teammates to come out for a light sparring practice. Luckily the first one to come out was the one who was good at volleyball ,Jimri,  and she stood in front of you a couple of feet away. You hit the ball into the air toward her and she bumped it back to you. You two continued this as more girls came. Pretty soon the gym was full of talking with the smacking of volleyballs mixed in.

You heard a whistle just as you hit the ball and Jimri caught it. All of the girls were gathering around someone and you joined the crowd.

“We will be drawing straws to determine who will be playing against who so I would like the captain of each team to come forward. If you don’t have a leader please choose one now.”

You looked around the girls in your team and they were all looking at you for some reason. You frowned and shook your head making them look away. “Who should be our captain?” one of them broke the awkward silence. She looked at you quickly before looking somewhere else.

“How about our class representative?” one girl suggested.  They looked at one particular girl and her eyes widened.

“What?” She asked as she took a step back.

“It’s easier if you’re the one,” another girl explained.

“B-but,” she stammered but it was already decided. She was pushed toward the coordinator of the small tournament. She was told to choose a piece of stick out of a small pile and she did. Other captains followed suit and soon a tournament table was set up. The pairings were determined when two sticks with matching colored tips were picked. Once all of that was figured out, you eyed your opponents. There was only one who was taller than you bu