Oh no…

What she tried to hide for the entire day had just been revealed. Meaning, Hyejeong got to know about her injury minutes before the game. It was the least likely thing to happen when Seolhyun was already dressed up, ready to perform the trick. Aye that Chanmi, she was staying in the same room with Seolhyun so she obviously knew about it when no one else did, and Seolhyun had to spend the entire night to convince her that she was fine and she could come to the game. Chanmi still tried to persuade her not to risk when they were in the locker room, and Hyejeong seemingly heard their conversation before Chanmi left.

“What happened to your back?” Hyejeong asked for the second time. Her eyes were blazing murderously and quirked in annoyance. Seolhyun had never seen her angry like this before, but why?
“Nothing.” Seolhyun uttered, she held her head down due to embarrassment and fear of looking at Hyejeong.
“That is not nothing. You were injured, right? How long has it been?”
Seolhyun didn’t reply. She was watching her shoes, desperately praying that someone would come in and save her somehow. 
“I’m talking to you, Seolhyun.” Hyejeong said, irately.
“… A couple of days.”
Hyejeong let out an exasperated growl. “Is this why you skipped the practice?” she continued questioning.
“… Yes.”
A look of annoyance crossed Hyejeong's face and she was suppressing the erupted volcano inside her, which was the anger building up. She sighed and brought her hands onto her waist, walking from one side to another, her face lit with bitter wrath. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked caustically at last.
“You wouldn’t let me join the performance.”
“So what of it?”
“There is no other flyer in the team.”
“So what?! Why do you care this much?” Hyejeong thundered.
“Because I just.. don’t want to disappoint you..”
Seolhyun used the singular form of “you”, meaning she addressed Hyejeong alone. That is the reason why Hyejeong suddenly froze, touched to a certain point by the statement. Her anger slowly drained away to be replaced by puzzlement. The silence almost engulfed them when Hyejeong retrieved her composure and looked up, giving a frigid stare at Seolhyun.
“Your injury can get even more severe. We can’t risk your health.” she said.
“But I’ve been treating it this whole time! Please let me come!” Seolhyun stormed.
“Seolhyun, if anything goes wrong, I’ll be the one to take responsibility.”
“Unnie, we’ve practiced this motion hundreds of times. I’ll do it, don’t worry about the performance.”
“I’m not talking about the performance! I couldn’t care less about it, what if anything happens to you?!” Hyejeong fumed. Her face slackened and her eyes finally glistened with emotion. Seolhyun froze, surprised by the girl’s concern as well as the warm shock caused by disbelief running through her. Hyejeong drew in a breath of air sharply, turning her neck when she realised she had revealed the pent up emotions behind her stony expression.
Just at that one moment one of the cheerleaders entered the room to inform them that they’d better get going, since the game was about to begin and they had to go off to the field. The girls replied with a simple nod and the intruder of their not-so-pleasant conversation left, closing the door. Seolhyun didn’t even look anywhere, she just straightforwardly moved towards the door when she heard Hyejeong call her name. She turned around and smiled gently.
“Don’t worry, — she said. — It’s going to be alright.” 
—
There they were now. Standing on the field. Seolhyun was shaking. just standing on that spot made her breathing rapid and shallow. Her head was buzzing with possibilities of the worst consequences, but she had to do it, no matter what it took.
“Seolhyun, you can still go back..” Hyejeong said from behind. Seolhyun shook her head and stepped forward, getting in the position. Giving up on her efforts, Hyejeong caught the hold of Seolhyun's waist to help load her onto the platform created by the bases. Her grip was different this time. So uncertain and fearful and yet so protective, unlike her usual one.
"1, 2..." Hyejeong's voice trembled. It was so unlike her. The bases bent their knees when Seohyun loaded in with her left foot, then they dipped down to adsorb the weight of her entire body. At last they tossed her into the air. All she had to do was to reach up as fast as she could with the upper body, stretching through all the way to the top. But damn, the pain dominated every thought, it burnt and radiated, it kept on increasing in waves. Still, she managed to nail it until she reached the peak of the basket all the way at the top, and it was finally the time for the trick. She ed her leg out to the front and the other leg under and behind her, striking a pose with her a