It's one of those unfortunate days for an outdoor sports match - it was one of the hottest days of the season, and my team was already perspiring in buckets after warm-ups. Somewhere in the stands, I could spot Mingyu and Hyeyoung waving at me enthusiastically under their matching pair of caps (it was Hyeyoung's idea). Beside them, Minghao looked like he was questioning his own existence, or more specifically why he was here to support me despite the horrid weather. He was talking to Jun, whom he had successfully convinced to come along. Beside Jun, I could see Seungkwan blabbering excitedly to Vernon about something. Based on his animated gestures directed at the court and the team, I guess he was explaining the rules of volleyball to his friend. Vernon was listening attentively, trying to grasp whatever volleyball-expertkwan was educating him about. Behind them, I thought I spotted Seungcheol and Jeonghan whispering, leaning in to each other at almost too intimate a distance. I made a note to interrogate the angel/ devil about it later. 

The match was the first in our school sports season, and since it was against our biggest rival school, the stands were packed with supporters. All my shopping trips and carrying groceries had helped me immensely in terms of my strength and speed on the court. I started the game with a perfect serve, if I had to say so myself. My team was playing pretty well despite the sweltering weather, and we won the first half of the game with a comfortable margin. 

My enthusiastic group of fans friends were awaiting at the benches during halftime (my coach had a soft spot for iced tea, and that was exactly what Mingyu prepared to get into the waiting area).

"That serve, absolute perfection. And how you dived to save that 5th point, almost classic. I have to say you are the top player of the team." Seungkwan couldn't help but ramble on about his analysis of the game, much to my amusement.  Vernon smiled affectionately at his friend's antics, nudging him just so he would stop and finally give me some rest. 

"It's fine," I laughed. Hyeyoung passed me a bottle of water she had prepared, and Minghao was explaining something to Junhui in Mandarin, which I guess was something about my slacking coach because they both snuck a look his way. Jeonghan and Seungcheol, meanwhile, gave me a thumbs up. I was certain now - their shoulders were touching and their smiles were uncannily similar. 

"You are doing great. Keep it up and I think we will kick off this season with a blast," Mingyu piped in, "I got your cauliflower ready in my bag." Mingyu, Minghao and I broke into a round of hearty laughter. 

"What cauliflower?" Hyeyoung seemed just as confused as everyone else was. 

"It's a thing we agreed upon. So if any of us win at something, like Sooyoon's volleyball games or Minghao's martial art matches, we would give the person a cauliflower. Because actual flowers are too cliche, and we actually like to eat cauliflowers," Mingyu said proudly. I was kind of touched he still remembered that informal pact we had since our freshman year, and that he had so much faith in me to win my first match of the season. I gave him a fist bump that we hadn't had in ages. 

"Minghao, where's my cauliflower?" I raised my brows at the Chinese boy who was now averting my gaze. 

"In my room..." 

"Ya it is." Vernon answered quickly when he finally caught Minghao's desperate call for help in his eyes. 

"Vernon, you're too kind."

Then the match resumed, and my ridiculous group of friends left for their seats again with Mingyu and Minghao giving me a wink each as they leave. Vernon gave me a reaffirming smile, before he let Seungkwan grab and lecture him about the game again.  

--

We won. Oh, we didn't just win, but we also won with a nice gap of 5 points and I was pretty much the player to nail down the last few points. With each point I scored, I could hear Mingyu and Minghao making an unnecessary amount of cheers from the stand ("HELL YEAH!", "BOO BOO BOO BOOOOO!") while Hyeyoung, Vernon and the rest clapped. At ina