Weeks passed and Yejin’s heart regained strength. However, due to her doctor’s orders, she still wasn’t allowed to play basketball. This was a hard reality for her to accept but she eventually pushed past it and looked forward. Instead she started spending her time after school either studying with Areum and her friends or going to cram school if she had to prep for different classes. Her grades improved to the point that she ranked sixth in her homeroom.

Yejin’s new routine also considered of riding the bus to school with her sister and watching the team play before school with Jackson. Once the boy’s arm healed and his cast was gone, he rejoined the team yet made sure to a flash a smile in the girl’s direction every once in awhile to make her not feel so alone sitting on the sidelines. The feeling in class also drastically shifted as the other students warmed up to her and now some of them even greeted her in the morning and made sure she no longer had to work alone when it came to group projects. The new year passed and it was now Mid-January with the last game of basketball season just days away.

“You’re coming to watch on Friday, right?” Jackson asked as he stood next to Yejin’s des