“Are you sure you’re fit enough to go to school today, unnie? Especially since there’s training. I think you should rest.” Yoona put her hand on Taeyeon’s forehead as soon as she sees her.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. You said it yourself, there’s training, and all the more I should attend school.” Taeyeon smiled at Yoona and patted her head.

“Are you sure, Taeng? You still don’t look too good.” Yuri butted in, a guilty look on her face.

Taeyeon just dismissed all of their concerns, sniffling lightly. Since she wasn’t feeling 100% well, she decided to “hitchhike” to school on Yuri’s car.

“I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

“I’m not blaming you, don’t worry. It was my own decision after all.”

“Are you hungry? You skipped lunch just now.” Sooyoung went into Taeyeon’s room worriedly.

“Yeah I’m fine… Just a little headache.” Taeyeon let out a cough and pulled the covers over her head.

“You look pale. Are you sure?” She moved closer and sat on Taeyeon’s bed.

“I am. I’m just tired.”

“You’re burning up Taeng!” Sooyoung exclaimed once her palm came into contact with Taeyeon’s forehead.

“I’m fine. Just let me sleep…” Taeyeon insisted.

“You’re obviously not! Yoona! Can you hurry get a towel and a bowl of cool water? Taeyeon’s burning up!”

“It was obviously my fault. If only I wasn’t that stubborn that day…” Yuri mumbled.

Seeing no response from Taeyeon, she turned her head towards the passenger seat. Her face was still slightly pale, her body curled up in a ball, sleeping.

Yuri shook her head and sighed. “And you said you were fine?”

She turned up the AC a little, making sure that it wasn’t too cold for someone who had just recovered from a fever.

“Thank you for caring so much about me Taeng…”

--

“So?”

“SMU’s first game is this Friday, against YGU (YG University).”

“YGU huh? How coincidental. I’m going to meet Taeyang this evening.”

“Taec… I really don’t think this is a good idea.” Nichkhun looked at him worriedly.

“None of your business, Khun. I call the shots here.”

--

“Kwon Yuri! What’s with you? The season is approaching soon and yet you are so unfocused during training! This is so unlike you!”

 "Sorry coach. I was distracted by my own personal matters." Yuri bowed as a sign of apology. 

 "Don't bring in your personal matters during training! Stay focused!" Yuri nodded her head in response and bowed another time.

Even after the scolding, Yuri was still unable to keep her mind focused on training. Even though she has accepted the fact that her long time crush was dating her long time enemy, she was still unable to accept the fact that Jessica could not tell that Taecyeon wasn’t serious about the relationship. Although she knew that Taecyeon was planning something, she didn’t know what he was planning exactly. She would be unable to protect her like how she usually did. She could not even decide if she should inform her about what she heard.

“Serves you right for stealing him from us! What so great about you anyway? Ice Princess!”

Yuri was coincidentally walking past the washroom and she heard someone scream, before hearing a ‘slap’ sound. She turned towards the washroom, only to face a few girls standing outside blocking her from entering.

“Move!” Her gut feeling was telling her that it wasn’t something good that was happening.

“Watch your words Kwon! Go to the toilet on another floor!” One of the girls tried dragging her away.

However, Yuri easily pushed the girl away. “I said move!”

Pushing past the barrier that was formed, she saw a few other girls in the washroom, surrounding something, or someone. The other girls in the toilet immediately rushed out as soon as they saw Yuri.

After the girls cleared, she could see the person that was initially surrounded. “Sica!”

“God…”  Yuri took her jacket off, wrapping it around her.

Her clothes were drenched and slightly ripped; and her face had a red mark on it.

Jessica Jung was pretty since young, attracting many suitors. During high school, most of her suitors were jocks, and they constantly tried catching her attention, which was futile. Unfortunately, these jocks had many of their own fangirls, unhappy that they were choosing her over them, and unhappy about the way she treated them. This led to many bullying incidents, and her knight in shining armour was none other than Kwon Yuri.

“Kwon Yuri! That’s it! 15 suicides after training! The rest of you, gather around!” Coach Im could no longer stand it.

Coach Im Hyo Sung, also Yoona’s father, was a former basketball player for SMU too. Ever since Yoona was young, he’d unconsciously influenced Yoona to follow his basketball footsteps. He’d watched all of them grow and other than Yoona, Taeyeon, Yuri and Sooyoung all learned to love the sport. Though he knew the girl well enough to tell that she was genuinely troubled, he could not turn a blind eye and show his biasness. Sighing, he made a mental note to ask his daughter about it.

“Alright guys, your first match will be this Friday, against YGU. I’ve seen you guys improve tremendously from last year, and I’m sure that this season would be easier than the last. No pressure, but remember our aim as always, the finals. Stay humble and hardworking, I have a good feeling about this season. Hands in, SMU on three!” Coach Im dismissed the team, ruffling Yoona’s hair before leaving.

The team did their cheer, encouraging each other. Some were excited while others were nervous. Either way, they couldn’t wait for their first match. Yuri sighed in defeat after the dismissal. Blaming herself, she started on her 15 suicides.

--

“Hey buddy, long time no see.”

“What’s up Taec? Why the sudden meet up? Especially when both of us are busy with trainings.” Taeyang said as he made himself comfortable on the bar stool.

Before answering him, Taecyeon raised his hand, ordering two mugs of beer from the bartender.

“You are right, season is coming. Mind doing me a favour?” Taecyeon casually asked.

“What favour? Playing it easy so that your team can win easily?” Taeyang joked.

“Injure Kwon Yuri for me. Even better if you can bench her for a few matches. She doesn’t understand that she shouldn’t mess with me, so I’ll teach it to her the hard way.”

“You kidding me? You’re crazy Taec, she’s captain’s little sister. I wouldn’t mess with her. What if I get kicked out of the team?”

“How about this?” Taecyeon took out a stack of money and placed it on the counter. It was at least a few centimetres thick.

Flipping through the notes, Taeyang smirked. “You sure know how to play, bro.”

“So?”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, my friend. Consider it done.”

A/N: Sorry for ditching you great readers for a week. School has started for me, and as expected, i'm busy as hell right now. Don't worry, i promised not to ditch this story and i will not. I will update once every week (i hope), either on wednesday or friday. If you don't see an update on either of those days, i'm really sorry, school got me messed up and i'll probably update over the weekend, or you guys have to wait till next week. (i hope that doesn't happem, really sorry if it does. Sorry if this chapter was ty, but i still hope you guys enjoyed it. Comments appreciated, negative or postive, or even ideas (writer's block somtimes). Finally, thanks for all the subscribes and upvotes.