“Captain!” the referee called right after blowing the whistle.

Jungkook was jumping on the spot to warm himself up as he watched Namjoon and the other team’s captain rush to the referee who was under the referee stand. The two captains shook hands while the referee flipped the coin to choose which team served first and which team received first. It didn’t take long before they went back to their respective side of the court.

“We serve first,” Namjoon reported to Coach Bang as he trotted back to Hana High’s court side where the team was gathering to warm their body up.

Coach Bang nodded. “Good. We have a chance to hit a service ace and gain a free point.” He scanned the members one by one and his eyes landed on Taehyung. “Taehyung, you serve. Play confidently like you do at practices. Show me your service ace.”

Grinning brightly, Taehyung saluted. “Yes, Sir!”

Taehyung never failed to amaze Jungkook. Although the match was only a few minutes from now, there’s no hint of nervousness on Taehyung’s face. He looked as bubbly as ever, seemingly even more excited than usual. Maybe, that’s why Coach Bang chose him to start the match because in his case, there’s almost no possibility that his serve failed out of nervousness.

Looking around the court once, Coach Bang said, “It’s our turn. Don’t let the first five minutes of the official pre-game warm-up time go to waste. Go practice your spikes and receives. I’ll tell you the strategy after our turn is over.”

As if on cue, the two setters immediately stood by the net on one side of the court, the wing spikers – except Hoseok – divided themselves into two teams – one to spike Jimin’s tosses and one to spike Bogum’s tosses – and stood in line, and Jungkook went to the other side of the court with Hoseok, ready to receive every spike.

The reason why Hoseok was responsible for receiving was because besides wing spiker, he was also a defensive specialist – a position in addition to a libero to strengthen the defense, especially when the libero was subbed out when a middle blocker rotated to the back row. Other than Hoseok, Minjae had the same double role, too. Which was why Hoseok and Minjae switched positions halfway through the official pre-game warm-up time.

When their turn was up, they gathered around Coach Bang at the bench, making a circle around him to obscure the other team’s view from them. Once they were sure no one was near them, Coach Bang showed them his clipboard and started to tell his strategy.

“You all saw the tournament brackets,” Coach Bang started in a very low voice that Jungkook had to strain his ears to listen. The loud noises of the ball hitting the court made it harder for him to hear the coach’s hushed voice. “If we win this match, we’ll have the second round at noon. So, there’ll be two matches in a day. Do you know what that means?”

Hoseok whistled quietly, “It’s going to be very exhausting.”

“Exactly. That’s why I planned this for you.” Coach Bang pointed at his clipboard, showing the starting order.

Front Row

Bogum S – Hyungsik MB – Yoongi WS

Back Row

Minjae WS – Seokjin MB (Jungkook L) – Taehyung WS

Frowning, Hoseok asked, “I’m not playing?”

“Listen,” Coach Bang explained, “I’m mixing the benchwarmers and the starters in our starting order and I’m going to substitute you guys out halfway through each set. This is a good way to preserve your energy and at the same time, it’s a pretty decent strategy.”

“How can it be?” Hyungsik looked confused, though he usually looked composed and smart. “Wouldn’t it seem like we’re underestimating them because we’re not playing with our starting members?”

“It might seem that way, but it might be not either. I’m taking chances. Who knows this combination of players will work best against theirs? I promise you I’ll substitute every starting member in if things look bad before it’s too late. And you, Jungkook,” Coach Bang turned to Jungkook, “you have the best stamina out of the team so I’m keeping you in for the whole match.”

Jungkook was dumbfounded. He hadn’t seen this coming. He’d expected the coach wouldn’t use him in the game, like their last eventful practice match. The team used to play without libero, so he’d supposed he wouldn’t get to play again.

“I’m playing?” Jungkook said blankly.

Coach Bang gave him a confused look. “Of course you are. If you’re not playing, then why are you here?”

I’m playing! I’m finally playing! Jungkook felt like he was flying high in the sky right now. Being acknowledged by Coach Bang was something Jungkook had been aiming since he’d joined the team. To finally be recognized after two months, he was beyond happy.

Extremely thrilled, Jungkook grinned and bowed. “Thank you so much, Coach Bang! I’ll do my best!”

“Why are you thanking me?” The coach stared at Jungkook and stopped him from answering, waving his hand dismissively. “Anyway, since Bogum has the least stamina, I’m going to sub Jimin in sooner. So, Jimin, be ready at any time. Yoongi, I’ll be keeping you in the longest, try to not wear yourself up. And the rest of you,” Coach Bang pointed his hand upwards, “do everything you can to bring the ball up in the air.”

The sound of the whistle was heard, indicating the end of the official pre-game warm-up time. Both of the teams went to their respective side of the court and shook hands with the other team under the net. The six players of each team who’d been chosen to start the game stood on their position while the others went back to the bench.

Namjoon roared, “Hana High!”

“Keep the play going!” the others cheered.

The two teams bowed to the referee and the game was started.

Jungkook couldn’t see Taehyung because he had to face the front, but in a split second after the referee sounded the whistle, the ball already bounced off the court on the other side. A server had 8 seconds to serve after the whistle, but Taehyung hit the ball and sent it to the opponent’s court in barely a second. It happened too fast that Jungkook instinctively snapped his head in Taehyung’s direction.

Bogum turned around and gasped, “What was that?”

“It’s called the element of surprise!” Taehyung exclaimed and did his infamous V-sign, beaming at the members.

In his peripheral vision, Jungkook could see Jimin standing up from his seat, barely holding himself back from walking into the court and giving Taehyung a kick.

But Taehyung hadn’t been fully playing around. Jungkook admitted that it was actually a good idea. Most players expected servers to take time before serving whether for calming themselves down or for aiming more precisely, so Taehyung’s move would take them by surprise. And scoring right off the bat would definitely lower the opponent’s self-confidence.

Yooshin High called for a time-out a little too soon that Jungkook glanced towards the scoreboard curiously. He widened his eyes in disbelief when he saw it was: Hana High 15-6 Yooshin High.

Already? Jungkook walked to the bench, his gaze still on the scoreboard. He hadn’t even felt that fatigued yet.

It’s not that he belittled his opponent, but it was quite obvious that the gap between their skills was huge. Taehyung, with only his jump serves, had managed to steal three points from them and Yoongi, mercilessly changing back and forth between jump serves and jump float serves, had gained seven free points by himself. The points which Yooshin High had earned so far were mostly from Hana High’s missed serves.

Everyone could see that the result of this match was predictable. But, not even one of Yooshin High’s players had given up. Hana High’s players, too, fought with all they’d got and didn’t take easy on them. This was one of the reasons Jungkook loved sports: sportsmanship.

“You’re all doing a good job,” Coach Bang praised as Joohyun handed the players their drinks and towels. “Joohyun, how many times has Bogum tossed?”

“Twenty one, Coach,” Joohyun answered distractedly, glancing at her clipboard while handing the last bottle to Jungkook, who instantly gulped down his drink.

Coach Bang faced Jimin who had been sitting on the bench, seeming bored. “Jimin, get ready. Bogum, take a rest and switch with Jimin. We might need you later for the second round.”

“Yes, Sir,” Jimin and Bogum said simultaneously.

Jimin’s eyes suddenly lit up when he heard it was his turn to play and quickly warmed himself up by jumping on the spot. Bogum, on the other hand, looked quite relieved that Jimin took his place.

Jungkook often overheard Teacher Lee encouraging him during practices. From what Jungkook guessed, he wasn’t confident in his play, which Jungkook didn’t understand why. For him, Bogum played well enough as a setter. It’s just that Jimin was incredibly good at it, so he paled in comparison.

“All right, now that the invincible duo enters the court, let’s get the show on the road!” Teacher Lee cheered as the thirty-second time-out ended and the game was resumed.

When they got into their position on the court, the situation became a little awkward. The eventful practice match with Sejong High came to mind automatically. Seeing Yoongi and Jimin standing on the same side of the court as an ace and a setter brought back bitter memories of their last fight. Jungkook hoped that nothing would happen in this match.

Unexpectedly, Jimin spoke first. “Yoongi, Bogum has been tossing to you all the time, so I’ll lessen the number of tosses I’ll send to you. You don’t mind, right?”

“I’m not that worn out actually,” Yoongi shrugged and cocked his head lazily towards Teacher Lee on the bench, “but you heard what he said.”

Seems like it’s no longer something to be worried about. Smiling, Jungkook was relieved that Yoongi and Jimin had made up.

“Oh!” Taehyung chimed in as he approached Jimin. “Is it my turn now?”

Seokjin interfered their conversation by clapping his hands. “Now, now. Go back to your position. The referee has been glaring at us for quite a while and it’ll be funny if we receive a penalty because of