“Hyunsoo, put that down!” was the first thing Roobi heard as she came home. She walked into the living room and was greeted by a tennis racket being swung in front of her face.

“Home run!!” Hyunsoo shouted as he pretended to look into the distance. 

“Hey, watch it! Also, it's not 'home run'. That word is used for baseball.” Roobi corrected him.  

“Oh, you’re home!” Her mom greeted her with a big smile. “Come over here.”

Roobi walked over and scanned the area around her mom. Sports equipment were sprawled out all over the floor.

“I bought all this for you! Go try on these outfits to see if it fits— Yah! Hyunsoo, didn’t you hear me?” 

Hyunsoo frowned. He threw the racket down with a huff and stomped off. She sighed and turned her attention back to Roobi. 

“Wait.. all these are for me?” She gaped. 

“That's right. The other day, Hyuk’s mom was telling me about how Hyuk loved playing tennis when he was in America. He’s even planning on joining the tennis team at your school. With that in mind, I thought it would be a great idea for you to join too!” 

“What? M-Me? Join tennis? No! You know I can't play!” Roobi cried out.

“Of course I know that! That's where Hyuk comes in. He can teach you! I’m sure he’ll be more than willing to help out his friend! Right?”

“No! Not right! He won't be teaching me because I'm not joining!” Roobi huffed and stormed off. 

“Roobi? Wait! I already bought everything! Roobi-ah!!” Her mom called after her.

After much pleading from her mom, Roobi finally gave in. 

*Just for today. I’ll just try it for today. If it’s too hard, I can just quit.* She thought as she tied her shoes. “Fighting!” 

She walked out into the sun and was immediately blinded by the light. She shielded her eyes with her hand and walked to the court. 

“Roobi!” Hyuk waved at her. She walked over to him.

“Don’t worry about a thing! My mom told me everything. I’ll teach you. You’ll become the greatest tennis player in this school! After me, that is.” He grinned. 

Roobi rolled her eyes. 

Everyone started off in a great mood. People took their places on the court and started to practice. 

“Okay, watch me.” Hyuk took the tennis ball, threw it up in the air, and hit it. “I’ll do it again.” He repeated the action. “Got it?”

Roobi nodded. She held the ball firmly in her grip and tossed it in the air. She swung her racket, but the only thing she hit was air. The ball dropped to the ground.

“It’s alright! Try it again!” Hyuk encouraged. 

Roobi threw the ball up again, but missed. The ball fell and bounced lightly on the ground. 

“Alright, let me show you again.” Hyuk threw the ball up slowly and served it once again. 

Roobi tried to repeat what he did. She held the ball tightly in her hand. She threw the ball up but it went up too high. She looked up to see where the ball was but the sunlight blinded her. She lowered her head and covered her eyes. The ball fell back down before she knew it and hit her on the head.

“Are you okay?” Hyuk asked. 

"I'm okay.." She bit her lip. She was beginning to lose confidence.

“Okay, don’t throw it up too high. Make sure to look at it. Don’t randomly swing the racket in the air.” 

Roobi tried again. Fail, and again, fail, again, fail. 

The sun shone down brightly. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. She threw the ball up again and served it. Her eyes lit up. 

“Yes, good! Now, just hit the ball with more force! It needs to go to the other side.”

Roobi nodded, gaining a bit more confidence. She threw the ball up but missed yet again. *Was that just a lucky hit?* Roobi thought sadly.

Hyuk sighed. He fixed her posture. “Okay, legs slightly apart. Head up.” 

Roobi followed his instructions. She took a deep breath and threw the ball up. She looked right at the ball and smashed it with her racket. It didn’t go far, but the ball landed on the other side of the court. 

“Yes! That’s it!” Hyuk said with excitement. He held out his hand and Roobi high-fived him. Things were finally starting to look up. 

“Okay, look over there. See how they're playing?” Roobi turned her head and watched a pair play tennis. "When the ball comes, you swing and hit it to the other side. Back and forth. Simple, right?” 

Roobi nodded excitedly. 

“Alright, lets try to play a game. I’ll go to the other side.” Hyuk ran over to the other side. “READY?” He shouted.

“Ready!” Roobi shouted back, getting in position. He served the ball and it flew right past Roobi. She stood there, a bit surprised. 

“Sorry! I'll do it a bit slower this time.” Hyuk shouted. He served the ball again, softly this time. The ball came by slower this time but it went over her head. 

Hyuk tried again and Roobi followed the ball. She swung her racket. Nothing. She missed. 

“Roobi, you serve this time!” 

“Okay!” She shouted back and served the ball. The ball landed right into the net. She tried again and got the ball over the net. Hyuk hit the ball back to Roobi. She stretched her arm out and swung the racket. The ball grazed her racket but didn't get hit. 

For the next 30 minutes, the process repeated. The ball never managed to get hit more than two times in a row. Hyuk sighed in frustration. Maybe it was the hot weather. Maybe it was because he was tired, but he snapped. He threw the racket down onto the ground. Roobi flinched. What happened? 

She opened , but before she could say anything Hyuk interrupted her. 

“Yah! Why can’t you hit the ball?” He snapped at her. People started to stare at them. “What is so hard about returning a serve?” 

“W-What? Y-You know that I'm not good at sports! I.. I'm trying my best right now!"

“What? Trying your best? Were you really trying your best? Because if you were, there's no way you would be this terrible. ..You shouldn’t have even come. Such a waste of time and energy.” He mumbled the last part but Roobi still heard him. 

“You.. you know what? If you didn’t want to teach me, you should have just said so! Sorry for wasting your time and energy.” And with that, Roobi stormed off. 

The coach came over; his eyebrows pinched together. “What happened?” 

Hyuk didn't say anything and only sighed in frustration. 

Roobi changed out of her sweaty clothes and into her school uniform. She slammed her locker shut and sunk down onto the bench.

*I really at tennis.* She thought.