“Alright! We only have less than two weeks to make this routine perfect so let’s get to practice!” Hyunmi yelled excitedly and the others cheered and began practising. While they began, Hyunmi walked to the side where Hee-Jin stood, trying to lower her skirt although she had short trousers under.

“You sure you want to be a cheerleader?” Hyunmi asked unsure as she looked at her cousin who was fidgeting and looking quite uncomfortable in the uniform.

“Yup! I want to cheer for our school, especially Minseok oppa...” Hee-Jin said and blushed as she looked at the boy at the field who was currently also practising. Hyunmi placed a finger on her chin, thinking. Hee-Jin didn’t have the most convincing reason.

“Please Hyunmi unnie~” Hee-Jin whined and Hyunmi sighed.

“Alright, but only because you’re my cousin.”

“Yayy~ abuse your captain status.” Hee-Jin said and giggled. She stopped immediately when Hyunmi frowned.

“I’ll give you a chance, this doesn’t mean you’re in the team for the next match. If you can learn the routine perfectly before the match, you can perform. If not, you’re  not. This is the most important match for us, not only for the football team but also for the cheerleading squad. I don’t want to lose to that Sohee.” Hyunmi said seriously.

“Okay.” Hee-Jin said and nodded in understanding and stood ready with pompoms in hand.

Hyunmi turned around so Hee-Jin didn’t have to mirror her movements which should be easier for her to learn.

“I should be practising instead of teaching  you now.” Hyunmi muttered as they both faced the stands.

“Alright, first the cheer.” Hyunmi said as they began their individual practice.

Hee-Jin did better than Hyunmi expected as she learned half of the routine relatively quickly. It also helped she could do cartwheels. After a short break, Hyunmi let Hee-Jin revise the first half of the routine to check if she remembered and then proceeded with the next moves.

“Alright, as for this part you need to make sure you spread your arms wide. So no twisted elbows. Keep your arms straight.” Hyunmi said as she demonstrated the move.

Turning around, she watched Hee-Jin turning and spreading her arms wide. Her hold on the pompoms were too weak though and she let them fly away. Hyunmi watched one pompom making a parabolic form and she watched in horror as the jocks just ran past the field in front of them, the pompom falling on one of the guys who slipped because he didn’t see anything.

The cheerleaders all gasped as they watched the guy stand up and dusting his pants, picking up the pompom in one hand with a tight grip.

“Ohmygosh.” Hee-Jin gasped in shock and ran to Hyunmi to hide behind her.

“Oh oh...” Hyunmi said as she noticed who it was when he took off his helmet. It was Kim Minseok.

“I... should run if I was you.” Hyunmi muttered and just as she said that, Minseok threw his helmet violently on the grass, showing his sharp eyes that were radiating fire.

“Whose is this?!” he yelled as he raised the pompom in his hand and the cheerleaders all squealed at his hotness, screaming it was theirs. As he scanned the girls, he spotted one that was quickly running away.

“YAH! It’s you isn’t it?!” Minseok yelled and he saw the girl jump a little in her run.

“You little, don’t think you can get away from me!” He yelled angrily and dashed towards her.

“This isn’t good.” Baekhyun exclaimed and ran after him. Chanyeol nodded and did the same.

“Hyung, stop it! Don’t be so angry!” Chanyeol yelled after him.

“Ohmygosh ohmygosh he’s after me and I don’t like it.” Hee-Jin squealed in fear as she glanced behind her back to see him quickly closing the distance between them. Never did she think of Minseok running after her and not liking it.

“Baek-oppa, stop him! He’s going to tackle her!” Hyunmi yelled in fear, watching through her fingers as she covered her face with her hands. She didn’t want to see her cousin get killed.

Just before Minseok could grab the girl, Baekhyun and Chanyeol tackled him to the ground.

“Yah! What do you think you two are doing?!”

“Hyung, you’re angry. Calm down first.” Baekhyun said as he got off of him.

“You do realize how important practice is now right? We’re gonna play Mato again after a year and we need to win this and you say to me to not get angry to the girl who disturbed our practice?!” Minseok exclaimed angrily.

“Hyung, we’re all serious about the match. But this was just an accident.” Chanyeol reasoned.

“You have nothing to say. You didn’t even catch the ball just now.” Minseok said frustrated and looked at the direction of the girl who ran almost half a field and was still running. Baekhyun and Chanyeol noticed Xiumin’s gaze on her and they began to dash in the girl’s direction before Minseok, in the hope they could shield her. This was in vain though as Minseok caught up to them.

“You brat, come here!” Minseok yelled and grabbed her hand violently, jerking her towards him and forcing her to face him. He observed the girl who looked afraid and was trying to get out of his grip.

“Who are you?” Minseok asked as he didn’t recognize her as one of the cheerleaders. He knew all of them as they came to their matches.

“Hee-Jin?” Baekhyun and Chanyeol said confused at the same time.

“Since when were you a cheerleader?” Baekhyun asked as Chanyeol tried to pry Minseok’s hand off of Hee-Jin.

“Don’t you dare run away.” Minseok spat dangerously at the girl that he identified as Hee-Jin, who was currently hiding behind Chanyeol.

Chanyeol put his hands on Minseok’s shoulders and tried to turn him to the others. He only shook him off and kept glaring at the shaking girl.

“I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. Really! I’m so sorry.” Hee-Jin shakily said as he stood in front of her.

“Sorry doesn’t do anything. I could’ve been hurt and not be able to play.” Xiumin argued.

“I know, I-” she panicked.

“Minseok hyung, let’s go practice again. Time’s ticking right?” Baekhyun said and held one arm of him.

Minseok threw the pompom in her face which made her squeal in surprise before he walked off.

“You okay?” Chanyeol asked worriedly.

“Come on Chanyeol!” Minseok yelled from behind him.

“I’m okay, don’t worry.” She said and smiled to reassure him.

“Alright... Let’s walk home together later.” Chanyeol said and she nodded.

He jogged to the others to continue practice while Hee-Jin picked up the fallen pompom and walked up to Hyunmi.

“Are you alright?” Hyunmi asked worriedly and patted her shoulder. Hee-Jin nodded slightly and gave her cousin a smile. She looked shaken up though.

“Yup. Let’s practice.” Hee-jin replied and tried to focus on the practice.

It didn’t go well though as she kept messing up the steps and rhythm. It didn’t help either that Hyunmi was a perfectionist so she yelled all sorts of things like ‘jump higher’, ‘smile wider’, ‘arms close together’, ‘bend 16° more’ and so on. She had no mercy. As practice ended, some cheerleaders and jocks went to the changing rooms while others stayed behind for a while. Baekhyun walked to Hyunmi and hugged her from behind, making her laugh.

“Don’t! You’re sweaty!” she whined, but he only held her tighter.

“You want to watch a movie after?” he asked as he snuggled his face in her hair and she hummed in response.

“Bweehhhh.” Hee-Jin yelled as she passed them by sticking her tongue out at them, laughing as Baekhyun and Hyunmi gave her a look.

“She must’ve gotten a shock with Minseok latching out on her like before.” Baekyun muttered as he watched her disappear into the changing room.

“Probably. She said she was alright, so I guess the cheerleading was a good distraction for her.” Hyunmi commented and they also started walking off the field.

“Minseok oppa~ Let’s go karaoke!” Seulyi yelled out and clung onto his arm.

“Not today, I’m not in the mood.” He said grumpily and shrugged her off, walking away. Seul Yi pouted and decided to go to Luhan.

In the changing room, Minseok threw his locker open violently and threw his dirty clothes on the ground as he undressed. The other members decided to leave him alone for now as they didn’t want to get hit. Baekhyun and Chanyeol, however, were brave (or dumb) enough to start a conversation with him.

“Hyung,” Baekhyun began as they walked to the showers.

“What?” Minseok said grumpy as he the water.

“Come on, don’t be so grouchy. Practice went well and we’ll just practice longer tomorrow.” Chanyeol said.

“I guess...” he muttered and took some shampoo in his hands and rubbed it in his hair, his movements becoming more rough at the thought of that one cheerleader.

“But that brat, who does she think she is?!”

“She’s Hyunmi’s cousin, don’t call her brat. Her name is Hee-Jin.” Baekhyun answered as he rinsed his hair.

“And she’s my neighbour.” Chanyeol added.

“I don’t care, a brat is a brat.” Minseok answered stubbornly and turned off the water as he was done. The two sighed.

“You probably need to blow off some steam.” Chanyeol muttered.

“Good idea, I’ll go boxing tonight. You wanna come Baek?” Minseok stated as he walked to the lockers again and Baekhyun gulped at the mention of his name. Boxing with him was probably not the safest thing to do now.

“I’m gonna go to the movie with my Hyunmi.” Baekhyun said quickly and dressed up. “But have fun.”

As the others heard their conversation, most of them hurried up with dressing up, muttering some excuse as they felt Minseok’s gaze on them.

“I’ll go with you hyung.” Jongin offered and smiled.

“Really? Alright, let’s go then.” Minseok said  and swung his bag on his shoulder.

As they walked outside to the gates, Minseok noticed Hee-Jin leaning against the wall. He gave her a glare as he walked pass her and said, “I’m watching you, brat.”, and walked away with Jongin behind.

She shivered from the intensity in his eyes and felt goose bumps coming up her whole body. Chanyeol pushed her from the wall and motioned her to start walking.

“I messed up big today...” Hee-Jin said sadly.

“Well, you completed your mission right? You gained his attention.” Chanyeol said grinning which earned him a slap.

“That’s not funny!” Hee-Jin whined as she slapped him harder.

“Okay okay, sorry! You threw really well though, right in his face!”

“I said stop it!~ ... But it was, right?” Hee-Jin said chuckling.

“I learned shooting from Seong Yeon unnie. She plays basketball with me on the weekends sometimes.” She explained and Chanyeol groaned at the mention of that name.

“Aish Seong Yeon.” He said and went through his hair with his hand frustrated.

“Still problems?” Hee-Jin asked in wonder.

“I try to be patient and do my best for her, but she only badmouths me! That’s so rude I tell you. At this rate she can find another math tutor.” Chanyeol said and pouted.

“It’ll be alright~ It takes Yeonnie unnie time to open up to someone, but once she does you will love her! I’m sure of it.” Hee-Jin said as encouragement.

“I hope so... What about you? Are you still gonna continue cheering?”

“Well I’m sure Minseok oppa hates me now. That glare ohmygosh, it makes me shiver.” Hee-Jin said and actually did at the thought of it.

“Are you scared of him now?”

“Not really... I can still remember his smile when he won the previous game. That made me fall for him, so I’ll do my best to not make a mistake again.” Hee-Jin said smiling, blushing at the thought of the jock.

“I won that game too you know. What a friend you are.” Chanyeol muttered and frowned.

“Oh sorry...” Hee-Jin said nervously.

“Well, good luck at least. You can be so clumsy sometimes.” He said and got shoved away.

Well, Minseok didn’t lie when he said he’d watch her. For the past few days, she felt his anger through his glare whenever he glanced  at her during practice and him saying brat to her all the time didn’t help boost her spirit either. It honestly scared her a little, but she tried not to be discouraged and continued practice as she was determined to cheer. She actually enjoyed cheering now after trying it out. Progress was there, but she wasn’t sure if went fast enough to participate in the following match.

As practice ended for today, everyone slowly walked inside. Mimi, one of the cheerleaders, stopped as she spotted Hee-Jin still on the field practising. Mimi saw the determination and was pretty impressed by the quick growth as Hee-Jin didn’t seem like the cheerleader type. It still wasn’t enough for the match though, she noticed and decided to walk up to her.

“Hey, you want some help?” Mimi asked politely and smiled.

“Oh, really?” Hee-Jin asked surprised and Mimi nodded and stood next to her.

“I’ll give you some tips and tricks.” She said and winked. Hee-Jin smiled back and thanked her as she showed the routine to her, Mimi giving comments along the way.

“Hey, I forgot my jacket. I’ll see you guys later.” Minseok said and waved the others goodbye as he walked towards the field. Mimi walked passed him and they said a brief hello to each other before she went through one of the doors. At the field, he looked around at the benches and picked up his jacket as he found it. Loud yelling could be heard and he observed the field to see Hee-Jin still practising, her back to him.

“That brat’s still practising?” he muttered and saw her stuff laying on the bench, his attention to the almost empty water bottle on the bench. Scratching his head, he looked at her again.

“Arrgh! Why can’t I do this part right?!” Hee-Jin whined and threw the pompoms on the ground. She walked to the bench to grab her water bottle only to notice a new one laying next to hers.

“Did I? No, I didn’t buy one.” Hee-Jin thought out loud and looked around only to see no one in sight. She emptied hers and took the new one in her hands, smiling. Someone was supporting her.

“Whoever you are, thank you... Now let’s get back to practice!” she cheered and ran to the field and picked up her pompoms again, gaining strength again.

She didn’t see dark brown eyes watching her in the passageway who scoffed.

“That brat...” he said, a smile creeping on his face before he walked away.

For the next few days Hee-Jin would always spot a new water bottle on the same bench when practicing longer, but now every day with a note stuck on it. It were all encouraging messages such as;

‘ALL THE ENERGY!!! DAEBAK!’

‘Your cheer brightens today.’

‘You worked hard.’

‘As expected, so much spirit! Jjang!!’

‘Your cheer will surely give strength to the team.’

She really wondered how that person placed the bottle there as she hasn’t seen someone put it there, even when she was facing the bench while practicing. Hee-Jin first thought it was Hyunmi, but when she thanked her cousin, the only reply she got was a confused face as she didn’t know what the girl was talking about. Nonetheless, she was happy when she read the messages and it pushed her to work harder even if the muscle ache was real bad.

The day of the match came around the corner as the stands slowly got filled by people. The jocks were just about to leave the field, finished with their warm up, as the opposing team, team MATO, came up to them. Minseok glared at the guy  standing right in front of him.

“Long time no see. You ready to lose?” Daehyun said and grinned cockily.

“I’m gonna crush you.” Minseok replied threateningly.

“Don’t think that we will let you win again.” Chanyeol said and he saw Himchan walking up to him.

“I want to see you try.” He said as they glared at each other.

“Yongguk hyung! How is your dog doing?” Jongin asked excitedly.

“Tigger’s doing alright. He’s growing up so fast.” He said and showed his gummy smile. “How is Meonggu?”

“Yah! Stop talking so friendly with the opposing team!” Baekhyun complained and pulled Jongin with him.

“Hey Hyunmi~ Just wanted to wish you luck before the match.” Sohee, a cheerleader from MATO team,  said as she held out her hand.

“You too Sohee~ Let’s show some spirit!” Hyunmi said grinning as they shook hands, more tight than normal.

“Noona, let’s go to the  benches. The match is going to start soon.” Junhong said as he called his older twin sister.

“Coming!” Sohee yelled and waved excitedly before walking off.

“Gosh, I hate her.” Hyunmi muttered as she wiped her hand on her shirt.

“Calm down unnie. Put a smile on your face~” Mimi sang as she lead Hyunmi to the benches.

The jocks talked to the coach one last time before putting on their helmet, standing ready for the announcer to introduce both teams to the audience. The cheerleaders walked passed them, wishing them good luck. Minseok, however, stopped Hyunmi by her arm making her look at him.

“What is it oppa?” she asked curiously.

“Where’s that brat?”

“Brat? Oh oppa, just say Hee-Jin. She isn’t performing today.” Hyunmi said simply, shocking Minseok.

“What? Why? She was practicing that hard! How could you leave her out?” he asked agitated which made Hyunmi pissed.

“Same reason as you, winning. I know Hee-Jin worked really hard and she could do the routine, but we had a deal and she still can’t perform the routine perfectly and I’m not going to risk to lose some cheers, because of some faults that could be prevented.”

“... You’re right, I’m sorry.” Minseok said and Hyunmi smiled.

“It’s alright. I know you want to see her cheer for you. It’s really sweet you gave her notes all the time, I didn’t expect that from you.” Hyunmi said and patted his shoulder as he looked at her with wide eyes.

“How do you know it was me?!”

“She thanked me, because she thought it was me and I became curious so I decided to see who it was and I saw you.” Hyunmi said grinning at her own spy skills as Minseok didn’t notice her.

“Now go get them.” Hyunmi cheered and he smiled, walking to the field with his team.

Standing in a circle, the teams yelled out their motto and as they took their position on the field, Minseok quickly glanced through the crowd. There he spotted Hee-Jin in the first row loudly jumping and yelling with a smile which made him smile.

Hee-Jin sat at the stands,  staring at the now empty field that was now getting restored. The scoreboard still displayed the outcome of the match with the bright red lights. Her eyes  followed one of the people that was redoing the white lines again for the next match. When she heard a thud at her left, she turned her attention to the left to see a water bottle next to her. Shocked, she abruptly looked up to see Minseok coming from behind and sitting next to her, placing his bag on the ground.

“M- Minseok oppa?” Hee-Jin said shocked. “The water bottle... it was you?”

He nodded and Hee-Jin turned her attention at the field again.

“I thought you hated me...”

“I couldn’t hate someone who tries her best and works hard. I’m sorry for how I acted towards you. I was a... brat.” He said and Hee-Jin chuckled at his words.

Minseok smiled and glanced at Hee-Jin which made her blush. She tried to distract herself by picking up the water bottle. As she did, she noticed a note pasted on it just like the previous ones.

‘You were the best!’

This time, though, there was also a drawing of a cheerleader on it which made her smile.

“Don’t judge me, I can’t draw.” Minseok said and scratched his head nervously.

“I love it! It’s cute. I didn’t cheer today though...” she said sadly.

“You still cheered from the stands, although I wanted to see you on the field... So it still applies.”

“Although I’m sad I didn’t get to stand there, I understand why Hyunmi didn’t let me though. When I joined the team, I didn’t do it because I loved cheering and actually had a pretty stupid reason. I must’ve offended her as this is her passion. But I’m starting to really like it so I hope she’ll let me stay in the team so I can cheer for you when you score.” She said as she looked longingly at the terrain.

“I could score a girlfriend and you could cheer for me now.” He said grinning, his catlike eyes peaking through his black bangs. Hee-Jin looked bewildered at him by his statement and blushed furiously.

“Ohmygosh!” Hee-Jin yelled and hid her red face in her hands which made Minseok laugh out loud.

“Yah! It wasn’t that bad, you brat.” He complained jokingly, bumping their shoulders against each other.

“It was!~” Hee-Jin commented between laughs and did the same.

As they calmed down, their shoulders still touched while glancing at each other occasionally with a smile.

“ Hee-Jin... you wanna hang out sometimes?” he asked carefully, looking at her as she sat up straight now. Her shocked face turned into a happy one as she smiled widely.

“You said my name! You didn’t call me brat! Ohmygosh you know my name?! I thought you didn’t, because you know... you always call me brat ohmygosh!” she said gleefully and squealed. Minseok watched in amusement at her happiness.

“Hey you two!” a men’s voice called out and they looked down to see Baekhyun and Hyunmi standing on the field.

“We’re going to celebrate! Come on!” Hyunmi yelled and motioned with her hand to come down.

“I’m coming!” Hee-Jin yelled cheerfully as she skipped to the stairs, making her way to them.

Minseok picked up his bag and slowly descended the stairs to them.

“That brat didn’t even answer me,” Minseok muttered annoyed, but smiled nonetheless.

“... I guess I literally fell for her.”

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