The whistle blows, signalling a timeout. 08-10. They’re down by two points. It’s not a lot- not at this point, but it could be if they can’t get those points back. The crowd is loud- spirited as always- but Nayoung can’t help but feel as if her heartbeat is louder.

    “Yah, why are you so calm?” Yebin, one of the team’s wing spikers, call out as they head back to their bench.

    “Yah?” Nayoung replies shortly, an eyebrow raising.

    “S-sunbaenim?” Yebin tries again, immediately backtracking. Nayoung’s stare remains steady. Yebin sweats.

    Minkyeong laughs, breaking the unintentional tension. “That’s because she’s a zombie,” Nayoung’s fellow middle blocker jokes, referring to the nickname opposing teams had given to Nayoung because of her expressionless face: “The Walking Dead.” It’s a hilarious nickname that Eunwoo will never let Nayoung live down; the only thing the librero doesn’t like about the name is that she didn’t come up with it herself. Nayoung doesn’t reply and just drinks her water in silence.

.

The score’s 17-19. They still haven’t been able to close that two point gap, and if Nayoung is to be honest with herself, it’s a bit frustrating. It’s more than a bit frustrating, now that she thinks about it. A player change is signaled and Nayoung looks up to see who it is. It’s Pinky who’s standing next to one of the referees, the black wrap around her wrist stark against her pale skin. Nayoung frowns. She’s not supposed to be allowed to come in until the third set.

    “What are you doing here?” Nayoung asks the moment Pinky walks onto the court.

    “Coach cleared me,” Pinky replies with a bright grin. Nayoung calmly scrutinizes her, but Pinky’s smile doesn’t waver under the older girl’s intense gaze.

    Finally, Nayoung relents. “Are you good to play?”

    Pinky nods. “I’m in tip top shape, Captain. No worries here.”

    Nayoung nods. “Okay.”

    It’s their serve and Kyungwon hits the ball with a clean swing. The ball easily makes it over the net in a perfect arc and the opposing team receives the ball just as easily. For someone her size, the opposing team’s ace packs a powerful spike, and once again, they experience it. Minkyeong manages to get a touch on the ball, slowing its trajectory just enough to allow Eunwoo to receive it without any real difficulty. The ball ends up in Pinky’s hand and before anyone could realize what was happening, the setter dumps the ball on the other side of the net with a fluid motion.

    For the first time in the game, Nayoung smiles. Pinky would be bold enough to make a dump shot just to prove that she’s healthy enough to play.

    “See?” Pinky says, looking at Nayoung. “What’d I say? Tip top condition.”

    Eunwoo runs up to Pinky and shakes the taller girl’s shoulders. “You cheeky brat!” she cackles before pulling her in for a tight hug. The others join in to give Pinky congratulatory pats on the shoulder before spreading out to focus back on the game.

    Before Kyungwon serves again, Nayoung briefly glances over at Pinky. “Good job.” Pinky grins back.

.

    Even if their defense isn’t as good as their offense, Fantagio has a pretty tall blocker named Kim Doyeon who has an incredibly wide blocking range. Nayoung thinks she might even be taller than Minkyeong. And their ace, Choi Yoojung- she’s too ambitious for her own good, Nayoung grumbles to herself when they get ready to put up a block as soon as the ball is in Pinky’s possession.

    The block is high- higher than Nayoung had anticipated- and she knows there’s no way she can get the ball through in such a short amount of time. So she tips the ball into the block and watches as it rebounds back into her team’s possession, Kyungwon receiving it neatly. “Again,” she instructs Pinky and the setter acknowledges it with a slight nod. The block goes up again- just as high as last time- but now, Nayoung’s ready for it. She strikes the ball down almost vertically, hitting it as inside the block as possible. The sound that echoes through the court as the ball slams into the floor is satisfying. Eunwoo jumping on her back in an over-enthusiastic hug with a loud victory cry of “STONE BUDDHHAAAAA!!”, however, is not as satisfactory.

.

They end up winning the second set, barely scraping by, and making the game 1-1. A lot of that had to do with Pinky’s early substitution in, and Nayoung doesn’t think she can forgive herself for not being good enough to have the team win this set on their own and forcing their coach’s hand like that.

    “Ugh,” Eunwoo groans out tiredly as they’re all settling down in their seats. “My feet hurt so much.”

    “Yah, you’re only 18,” Yebin says, handing Eunwoo her water bottle. “Why are you acting like you’re 80.”

    “Why don’t you shut your mouth, you midget,” Eunwoo retorts, throwing her used towel at Yebin’s face. Eunwoo isn’t that tall either, but she’s 0.5cm taller than Yebin and in her book, that’s enough to never let the wing spiker live it down.

    “WHO’D YOU CALL A MIDGET?!” Yebin launches herself at Eunwoo and Nayoung lets them wrestle for a couple of seconds before she pulls them apart, keeping them separate with her long arms.

“Enough,” she says firmly. “Save your energy for the next set.” Eunwoo and Yebin immediately settle down, looking properly reprimanded, but still continue to surreptitiously shove at each other’s shoulders. Nayoung sighs and give up. She looks over to see Pinky frowning down at her injured wrist and walks over to her. “How’s your wrist?”

Pinky looks up at the taller girl and flashes a reassuring smile. “It’s fine. I’m just a bit frustrated at the limited range of motion because of this thing,” she replies, tapping at the wrap around her wrist.

“Keep it on,” Nayoung advises and the sheepish smile Pinky gives her in return confirms her suspicion that the other girl was planning to take it off. “It’s useless if you get injured while recovering from an injury.”

Pinky nods, slightly pouting. “Yes, captain.”

.

    Yoojung hits a devastatingly powerful cross court spike that Eunwoo was barely able to receive. The ball goes sailing in an odd direction, and Minkyeong scrambles to keep it in play, but unfortunately, the next touch has to be their last. And even more unfortunate, the person closest to the ball is Pinky. Or not, Nayoung thinks as their setter hits the ball as if it’s the most natural thing for her. Pinky’s jump is relatively high, but that’s not where all of the power from her hits lie. It lies in her back and abdominal muscles, and Nayoung watches as Pinky bends her upper body slightly backwards. With a quick snap forward, the younger girl releases all the tension coiled in her abdomen, and the ball rockets past the opposing team’s defense, earning the Pledis Penguins another point.

    Nayoung blinks, impressed. Pinky’s a good setter. Not as good as their previous setter, Siyeon, but good enough that Nayoung forgets that before Siyeon forced her to join the team following the younger girl’s devastating injury, Pinky had been a cheerleader and her only experience with volleyball was hitting Siyeon’s serves as she helped the girl practice in her backyard. In moments like these, it shows- that she doesn’t have a lot of experience with volleyball. Her form when hitting is unorthodox, using different muscles developed from a different sport. But in the end, it works. That’s what impresses Nayoung the most.

    “Great job!” Yebin congratulates, overenthusiastically clapping Pinky on the back. The other girl yelps in pain.

    “Be careful there, Yebin,” Eunwoo calls out from her position in the back of the court. “Pinky might end up stealing your spot as the ace.”

    “SAY THAT TO MY FACE, YOU ING POTATO!” Yebin yells back, already moving towards Eunwoo.

Luckily, Minkyeong holds her back, arms wrapping around the shorter girl’s waist. “Guess you better reclaim your title as our ace now, Yebin,” Minkyeong teases and Nayoung sighs. Of course Minkyeong would fan the flames. How could she expect anything less.

For the next serve, Fantagio’s ace had been switched out, and their offense isn’t as strong but still not something to be taken lightly. The ball that Pinky serves is barely saved by their librero, but they manage to recover, and one of their wing spikers hits a powerful straight in return. But her form isn’t as great as Yoojung’s, and her reflexes aren’t as fast either, so Minkyeong and Nayoung manages to put a resolute block in time. The ball slams into Minkeyong’s outstretched hands and falls to the floor, where the opposing team wasn’t able to get to it in time. A small, satisfied smile graces Nayoung’s face. In the background, she can hear Siyeon- who has now become the school mascot just to be able to support the volleyball team in one way or another- lead the crowd in an embarrassing chant: “OUR DEFENSE IS FOUR WO OH WO OH WO OH WALLS”. It’s nice to know that Siyeon is still as… spirited off the court as she was on the court.

.

    By now, Fantagio has gotten used to their style of play, and is quick to put up a block. Unfortunately for them, the player on the receiving end of Pinky’s set is Yebin, and Nayoung doesn’t think she’ll have a problem scoring their team another point. Yebin hits the ball at the block from an angle, scoring a point as the ball ricochets off of the other team’s blockers and out of bounds. “HOW’S THAT FOR AN ACE HIT, OLD MAN!” Yebin screams, turning around and pointing an accusing finger at Eunwoo.

    “WHY ARE YOU TALKING ME?” Eunwoo yells back. “WE’RE ON THE SAME TEAM.” Nayoung sighs and wonders how much convincing it would take to get the rest of Pinky’s old cheerleading team to join the volleyball team instead. At this point, almost anybody is better than these idiots.

.

They end up winning the last set, being the first to reach 15 and managing a three point gap. Eunwoo’s and Yebin’s celebratory drunk singing echoes through the locker room and gives Nayoung a headache piled on top of the one she already has.

Nayoung looks over to Pinky, who’s slowly undressing right next to her. “That’s cute,” the captain says conversationally as she spots a messy “hwaiting” handwritten in marker on the inside of Pinky’s knee guard along with a doodle of a penguin, as the setter takes off the said garment.

“Thanks,” Pinky smiles back. “Chaeyeon did it,” referring to her girlfriend, who for some reason never comes to cheer for Pinky despite being a cheerleader. Nayoung wonders if it’s because she’s still mad that the volleyball team stole Pinky away from the cheerleading team. Yeah, that’s probably it. Chaeyeon does look like the type to hold a grudge.

“You guys are staying afterwards for the team celebration, right?” Minkyeong asks as she walks up to the two, clad in nothing but her underwear.

“Yeah!” Pinky replies and Minkyeong returns the younger girl’s enthusiastic grin with a soft smile of her own.

“Great.” And Nayoung can’t help but agree with that sentiment. (Great.)