a note from the author: hi everyone! nothing to report today, but i do want to insert a little warning here before you read this chapter. towards the later half of this chapter, i’d like for you to proceed with caution because it might be a little creepy.

The burnt orange and rustic red autumn foliage surrounded the bright green artificial grass of Lila’s soccer field. Fallen leaves had been raked to the side by the first-year players so they could practice on a clear space. Jinyoung sat beside at the center of the field cross-legged Jihoon, who was laying on the grass with an arm draped over his eyes. Practice had been going on for about an hour now, but their coach had blown the whistle to make an announcement. Whatever the announcement was, Jinyoung figured, wasn’t coming from their coach because he just stood there reading his clipboard when the team all gathered. Jinyoung hadn’t even noticed the captain of the varsity team walking out of the locker room that one of their teammates shot up and bowed.

The first-year team said his name in unison, all bowing when he stopped in front of the team. They didn’t sit until Youngmin gestured that they get down again. Their coach said a few words, formally introducing the wonder-boy again like he did at the beginning of the year, before stepping aside and letting Youngmin take the stage. The senior thanked their coach and stepped forward, smiling with admiration at his younger audience. Seeing their fresh appearances brought him back to his own first year at Lila.

“First-years! Can you believe it? Your first season is almost over!” Youngmin said, receiving a chorus of cheers and hoots from the younger students. He waited for them to quiet down before resuming talking, “I’m here today to tell you guys how happy I am to have seen so much growth and improvement from you – the future star athletes of Lila Academy.”

“Captain Park Jihoon,” he looked over at the puppy-eyed boy who was no longer laying down. Jihoon’s eyes went wide in surprise as he glanced over at Jinyoung; he hadn’t been expecting to get called out. Youngmin bent down and ruffled the younger captain’s hair, “You’ve led a team through many victories… in fact, you all have accomplished more as a first-year team than when the varsity team were still first-years.”

A shy smile appeared on Jihoon’s face that he tried to hide with the back of his hand. Behind him, his teammates clapped and thanked their captain. Jinyoung playfully nudged his friend, whispering a quick ‘congratulations’. Youngmin opened his mouth to continue, but briefly turned around, whispering something to their coach. Jinyoung couldn’t quite hear what they were talking about. Eventually, Youngmin returned his attention to the team and clapped his hands together, “Anyway, after a ‘long talk’ with the coach – thanks, coach – I’ve gotten his permission to cancel your practice tomorrow to treat you all for pizza.”

At the word ‘pizza’, the first-years erupted in cheers louder than when he told them the season was earlier. Youngmin beamed at the boys who were now engaging in their own conversations, chattering about how excited they were for pizza. They were such simple kids. Jihoon had just finished telling Jinyoung about how him and his dad could pick Jinyoung up tomorrow so he wouldn’t have to take the bus when their coach stepped forward and thanked Youngmin for his speech. Conversations ended and the atmosphere became tenser as their coach remained silent, reviewing his notes on his clipboard. Jinyoung held his breath when their coach pat Youngmin on the shoulder, “As you all know, Youngmin here is the captain of the varsity team. How he got this position will now be applying to you.”

“You are all aware of our point system, correct?” Jinyoung stiffened, gaze never faltering from their coach’s face, “Well those are important.”

Unlike the other athletic teams at school, the soccer team had a ranking system in the form of a point system. Awarded by the coach, points were gained for successfully completing drills and exercises during practice, and for overall performance in games. The number of points awarded and whom they were awarded to varied depending on the player. Generally, if a player showed more effort and dedication to taking practice seriously, they were awarded more points than a player who slacked off and actively did not try their best during drills. The same thing applied for games. Additionally, MVP points were awarded to the player most voted by the team after a game. Each MVP point was worth five normal points. Game performance points were worth more than practice points. Coach continued to explain that traditionally, the two students with the most points were chosen as final candidates for captain. The candidates didn’t always have to be chosen from the top point holders, but many previous captains have been chosen that way so it played an important role. A few of the players mumbled to themselves as grim expressions took over. Jinyoung swore he heard someone say his chances were over because Jihoon was definitely going to be one of the candidates for captain.

“But you can’t be discouraged! Being a captain isn’t always about being good at soccer! The point system ranks the players according to their performances, but that doesn’t mean that a good player makes a good leader.” Youngmin spoke up after seeing the glum faces of the team. Jinyoung’s ears perked up at this. The older boy stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and began pacing, “You might not believe me, but I was never among the top point holders in my first-year… yet here I am now, talking to all of you as varsity captain.”

“Captain Im here was chosen as a candidate, even though he was not the first or second in points earned.” Their coach agreed, “He was chosen because he showed reliability and consistency in performance and because he showed responsibility in ways that the first and second did not. He was a player mature enough to handle the duties of a captain, and ultimately lead a team even if he himself did not possess the best skill set.”

Jinyoung admired Youngmin because in some ways, he could find himself in the senior. He had heard many stories from the upperclassmen about how in their first-year, Youngmin had never played soccer outside of casual games with his friends during lunch break. Prior to high school, he had never even played a sport seriously. However, when the team experienced internal problems with their captain and co-captain, it was always Youngmin who easily stepped in and de-escalate the situation. It was then the team decided to replace their current captain and vote Youngmin in. Even though their team has lost and gained players in the past few years, he has been their captain ever since.

A warm feeling swirled in Jinyoung’s stomach; maybe he had a chance.

“Come on, Sooji! Break is almost over and you haven’t even done anything!”

Jinyoung found himself forced out of the front door of his friend’s house. About half an hour ago, he had stopped by Sooji’s house to invite her to go to Everland. Everland was the largest theme part in South Korea and during this month, they had the whole park decorated with pumpkins, ghouls, witches, and all sorts of Halloween icons. Now was the best time to go since the nights were now hauntingly chilly. Thing is, even though she had never gone, Sooji was set on not going… which is why she was guiding (read: pushing) him out of the door in the first place. Not only did Sooji think she would get in trouble with her parents again, she also got the heebie-jeebies about anything Halloween related (but she wasn’t going to tell him that).

“You know how my parents get about me going out these days. Imagine the fit they’ll throw knowing I’m going out because homecoming game boy asked me to.” Sooji puffed air into her cheeks as she leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. Jinyoung couldn’t help but rub the back of his neck sheepishly at the last part. The shorter