The day of the dreaded match arrived and the team members piled into the white minibus parked outside the school. They each had a seat partner except Taekwoon, who sat silently by himself at the front.

In the football pitch just outside of N high, Taekwoon sat tying his shoelaces while observing his surroundings. Lots of people had turned up to watch and the opposing team seemed to have their own cheering squad. It was not the American style good-looking cheerleaders, but rather a very traditional cheer squad made up of only boys. The leader of which was presumably the loudmouth guy with long flowing hair. He seemed very close with the members, shamelessly running after them to hug them.

It was rather hilarious and Taekwoon started to laugh. This invited strange looks from his own team members. That is when he realised that he did not feel comfortable enough to laugh around these people.

The game was about to start and the two teams lined up to face each other. The left wing for the other team was considerably smaller than Taekwoon. He hoped he could outperform him to prove his worth on the team. He wanted the feeling of when he first entered the gym hall in his own school, after learning of their football club, to return. The last week had felt nothing short of icky and Taekwoon could not wait for the whole thing to wash over.

They got into position, the whistle blew and the game commenced.

About five minutes into the first half, Taekwoon’s chance came. He would show them all his passing ability and hopefully gain some respect, or at least less dislike. An N team player came straight towards him. His clumsy dribbling made it almost easy for Taekwoon to steal the ball. He turned, looking for a pass. His left foot risen in mid-air, preparing to kick the ball.

And there it remained.

The entire team had made no effort to find a space. They were all completely blocked and completely stationary. Taekwoon tried to meet with each of their eyes, but each players gaze was glued to his own feet. Even members of the opposing team wondered what was going on. It was as though the game had come to a complete stand still. No-one was willing to accept Taekwoon’s pass.

“Come on!” yelled the couch, “move!”

The players all ignored him. Whispers circled round the room. “What’s going on?” people asked.

The player near Taekwoon, whom he had just skinned, tried to get the ball off him, but Taekwoon quickly passed through him, ran, and received the pass himself. It was obvious that he was not a member of that team. If Taekwoon wanted to play football, he was going to have to play by himself.

As he cam