‘Hey, kid! Where’s the ?’ 

 

Wonyoung looked up at the intruder. ‘Yena, unnie!’ She returned the fist bump Yena was initiating. ‘The ? She’s standing right in front of me, I see.’ 

 

‘Very funny.’ Yena sat down on the swing next to her. ‘I meant the other one. Jr.’ 

 

‘Finishing off basketball practice. What are you doing here?’ 

 

Yena placed one hand on her chest in mock offence. ‘What do you mean, what am I doing here? It’s cousin night! And you are my adopted honorary cousin or whatever it’s called, so you get to join. Or did you forget?’ 

 

‘Oh right, of course. Cousin night. It’s Friday already?’ Wonyoung scratched her head. 

 

Wonyoung was met with silence from the normally loud duck. She turned to see Yena staring at her quizzically. 

 

The older girl waved her hand in front of Wonyoung’s face. ‘Damn, you’re going through your angsty teen phase already? What with puberty and everything.’ 

 

Wonyoung laughed. ‘Unnie?’ 

 

‘Hmm?’

 

‘Girls usually finish going through puberty stage at 17.’ 

 

Yena shrugged. ‘And?’ 

 

‘Unnie, I’m 18.’ 

 

Yena sprang up from her swing, her hands flailing in the air. ‘You’re what?’ 

 

‘I’m 18?’ Wonyoung raised one eyebrow quizzically. 

 

‘What the hell? I swear you and Yujin were 14 like yesterday! That means you’re going to college soon!’

 

Wonyoung sighed. ‘Yes, unnie. Yujin and I have even applied for your college. I want to join the dance team there and Yujin said, and I quote,  I’m following you wherever you go. Who’s going to iron my clothes?’ 

 

Yena sat back down, one hand on her hand. ‘Wow. Next thing I know, one of you is going to fall in love for the first time.’ 

 

Wonyoung swallowed nervously. 

 

The older girl turned to Wonyoung, the hands gripping desperately to her arm. ‘Please don’t fall in love too soon! I’m not ready for this. You’re my baby! Both of you are! For God’s sake I’m not prepared to protect you and fight the people who hurt you.’ 

 

A silence fell upon the two on the swings. Wonyoung scratched her awkwardly. ‘Well… about that. I think it’s kind of too late for that.’ 

 

‘Oh God.’ Yena put her head in her hands. ‘Which one of you is it? Please tell me it’s Yujin I kind of want to see what will happen when she gets her heart broken, I’ve never seen her sad before. But, now that I’m saying this that sounds kind of mean, doesn’t it and— oh God it’s you!’ 

 

Yena’s ramble had turned into a yell and Wonyoung jumped at the way Yena jabbed a finger into her arm. 

 

‘That’s why you’ve been so distant lately, right?’ Yena exclaimed. ‘God, I’m a genius I’m like detective Conan or something. So, who’s the lucky guy? Or girl? Are you a het? Please say you’re not a het. Wait, did they break your heart, already? Who do I need to fight?’ 

 

Wonyoung just watched Yena’s system failure in amusement. 

 

Yena took a deep breath and rubbed her face to calm herself down. 

 

‘You done?’ 

 

‘Yup!’ Yena made a zipping motion on .

 

‘Well here’s the thing,’ Wonyoung sighed, ‘I don’t know what I’m feeling, right now. It’s all really strange to me.’ 

 

Yena nodded but still kept shut to allow Wonyoung to continue. 

 

‘I don’t know what happened, really. Everything was normal and everything was fine, you know? But then, one day something just… switched? And my heart couldn’t stop beating faster every time they’d do nice things for me and their smile used to only just comfort me but now their smile makes me feel like the happiest person in the world, especially if the smile is directed at me and— Yena unnie… are you crying?’ 

 

‘Wha— what? No! Hahaha I don’t cry, it’s just the damn allergies.’ Yena wiped frantically at her eyes and sniffed hard. She rubbed at the rubber on the swing. ‘I’m just allergic to rubber, that’s all.’ 

 

Wonyoung rolled her eyes (for the second time), unconvinced. 

 

‘Continue.’ Yena gestured with her hands. 

 

‘That’s all, unnie. I’m just confused.’ 

 

‘What’s so confusing about it? Our Wonyoungie is in love~’

 

‘Shut up. It might not even be love.’ 

 

‘You never know unless you try. Ask them out!’ 

 

‘I can’t.’ 

 

‘Why not? You scared of rejection? You’re literally Jang Wonyoung.’ 

 

Wonyoung was silent for a moment. She won’t deny the fact that she was probably one of the most popular girls in school. Guys loved how tall she was. And of course, her beauty was something everyone couldn’t forget about. She was voted the prettiest girl in school 3 years in a row! What should she be afraid of? 

 

But, then again, it’s Yujin. Her best friend. Her other half since they were eight years old. Her main source of emotional support. 

 

‘I don’t mind being rejected, I just don’t want things to be weird.’ Wonyoung chose her words with caution. 

 

‘Why would things be weird?’ Yena chuckled as to which Wonyoung shook her head. 

 

‘They just will. I don’t want to risk it.’ 

 

‘Literally, who even is it?’ 

 

‘I can’t tell you.’ 

 

‘Look,’ Yena turned so that both of her legs were on either side of the swing chair. She leaned against the rubber, ‘whatever they think of you is fine, okay? You don’t need to worry about what will happen because if they mess with you, you got this hot piece of to help you out.’ 

 

Wonyoung rolled her eyes. 

 

‘What? You don’t think I can defend you?’

 

Wonyoung poked at Yena’s twig arms when she started to flex them, her arm shaking and her face screwing up from how tense she was trying to flex them.

 

‘And you know you’ve always got Yujin around to protect you from anyone. Yujin will never leave your side.’ 

 

Wonyoung sighed. ‘And that’s the problem, unnie.’ 

 

‘What is?’

 

‘How can Yujin protect me when… it’s her.’ 

 

Yena pouted her lips, her eyebrows furrowing. 

 

Wonyoung’s heart was rushing but something about the confession brought some relief to the girl. It was like a weight had been lifted off of her heart. 

 

‘Oh. I see. Now I know why that’s quite a predicament.’ Yena scratched her head. ‘ See? I’m even saying big words. Predicament. Who knew I had that stored up in here?’ 

 

‘Yena unnie, I’m being serious.’ Wonyoung said, while Yena started to tap comically onto her head. 

 

‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t turning this into a joke, I promise. But I really don’t know how to help you Wonyo.’ Yena looked at her sympathetically. 

 

‘I hate this.’ 

 

‘You never know, Wonyo. Best friends can turn to lovers. Don’t tell her at the moment, I’ll help you try and scope it out. In the meantime, try not to ignore the feelings. You have to acknowledge it yourself because the more you try to avoid it the worse it will get. You got it?’ 

 

Wonyoung was kind of impressed. Her Yena unnie was usually horrible when it came to life advice. But this was actually good for once.

 

She smiled sadly and gave Yena a thumbs up. ‘Got it, unnie.’ 

 

……

 

School continued as usual with Wonyoung and Yujin carrying on as they normally did.  Of course, Wonyoung kept to her and Yena’s plan and tried not to let Yujin know of her blossoming feelings. Wonyoung was impressed that Yena has been able to keep it a secret for this long. 

 

January came and Wonyoung was thankful that she was able to distract herself with a different type of stress: all of the examinations and graduation preparations. 

 

For Yujin, there were two different problems in her mind.

 

Firstly, the district basketball finals was the next week. Winning this not only meant that they’d beat their rival school, but it also meant securing a spot in the interstate tournament that started in April. 

 

Yujin had to make it to interstate if she wanted a chance to get the scholarship MVP award for basketball. During the years prior she knew that there was a slim chance of her getting that prestigious award and scholarships simply because she was young and there were older, more experienced and more talented players. But this year, the older, more experienced and talented players? That was Yujin. 

 

The only thing standing in her way was Huening Kai. He brought his team to the interstate tournament for the boys towards the end of last year. Now, it was Yujin’s turn. 

 

The second problem was none other than her best friend. 

 

She’d heard rumours from many people that there were lots of guys hoping to score a date with her for Valentine’s Day. At least it was two weeks before the special day so, Yujin had some time to breathe. 

 

(Why she needed the time to breathe when it was her best friend being asked out, she didn’t know.) 

 

‘Guys! I just saw Huening Kai outside with flowers.’ 

 

Time to breathe. So she thought. 

 

Yujin and her team were practicing during lunchtime. They had a special pass to the gymnasium so they could train in their spare time together. 

 

‘What? Really?’ 

 

‘Holy ! Is he confessing?’ 

 

‘I wanna watch!’

 

‘God, he’s so cute. I hope I can see the confession.’ 

 

‘Let’s go! We might be able to catch him.’

 

Not being able to handle anymore of the conversation, Yujin pushed over the rack of basketballs causing a loud bang to echo around the gym. Her teammates all jumped at the noise. 

 

‘No one is leaving this gym to watch a stupid confession.’ Yujin’s usual playful leadership was gone. She was speaking the way she did during important matches. 

 

‘Why not? It won’t take long.’ One of her teammates pouted. 

 

‘The finals are next week, guys! We can’t afford to slack off.’ Yujin said. 

 

‘Oh come on, Yujin unnie. We’ve been practicing everyday at lunch as well as the usual Tuesday and Thursday practices after school. Missing a little bit of one lunchtime won’t hurt.’ 

 

‘Guys—‘ 

 

‘Pleeeaaaase~’ one girl started which caused the rest of them team to echo along with her. 

 

Yujin’s mouth pressed into a thin line. She eyed her team, pleading with her with their version of puppy dog eyes. 

 

She sighed in defeat. ‘Fine. Go watch your sappy love story. I’m calling practice off for this lunchtime. But tomorrow we’ll work twice as hard to make up for it, am I clear?’ 

 

‘Crystal clear, captain!’ 

 

Some of the girls saluted Yujin.

 

Yujin rolled her eyes and began to relax back into her playful demeanour. She smiled at her team as she dismissed them with her hands. The team all scurried out of the gym quickly.

 

………. 

 

Wonyoung walked through the halls of school, still clutching onto the flowers Huening Kai had given her. He was about to confess to her, but she requested that they take it somewhere private as seeing the whole school’s eyes were on them. 

 

They were her favourite flowers, and Huening Kai was so sweet. Wonyoung couldn’t find it in herself to say no. 

 

So she agreed to one date. 

 

He was very sweet, and he was pretty cute. Obviously, he was quite romantic. Not only that, but Wonyoung knew he was also smart. He was part of the top 10 in maths and science. He probably knew how to iron his clothes, too. 

 

He probably wasn’t the biggest, most clueless in the world. 

 

Why do I wish it was Yujin, instead?

 

Wonyoung strolled the courtyard of the school, feeling eyes on her. She turned to see a bunch of girls running out of the gym. 

 

Weird. Isn’t that Yujin’s basketball team? I thought they had training. Where’s Yujin? 

 

The girls ran past her, not really processing that it was Wonyoung as some of them would usually greet her. She was like an honorary member of the basketball team even if she had never played a game in her life. 

 

Wonyoung headed towards the gym. She looked around to make sure no one was watching before discarding the flowers with the note attached into the bushes in front of the gym. 

 

When she stepped inside, she smiled at the sight of Yujin practicing shots. She had the trolley of basketballs next to her and was landing shot after shot. It was almost robotic. Almost. If it weren’t for how smooth her movements were. Wonyoung was curious on whether or not Yujin would be a good dancer. 

 

‘That’s got to be at least 20 points.’ Wonyoung said from the door. She was sitting on the bleachers with her arms crossed. 

 

With the last basketball in Yujin’s hand she turned to smile at the intruder. She didn’t have to look to know who it was. 

 

‘What are you doing here?’ Yujin said. 

 

‘The question is, what are you doing here? I just saw the rest of your team running off through the courtyards.’ 

 

Yujin placed the ball under her arm and made her way towards Wonyoung. Wonyoung threw her a nearby towel and she easily caught it with her free hand. She dabbed at the sweat on her neck and forehead. 

 

(Wonyoung tried to suppress her blush and pretended to inspect her fingernails instead of watching Yujin.) 

 

Yujin draped the towel around her neck. ‘I gave my team a lunchtime off.’ 

 

‘And what about you?’ Wonyoung looked back up. ‘Don’t you need some time off, too?’ 

 

Yujin scrunched her nose. ‘Nah. I got to keep in shape. Gotta be in the zone, my dear Wonnie.’

 

‘I think you’re already in shape, rat.’.

 

‘You’ve been observing,’ Yujin gestured to her body, ‘this, have you? It’s nice isn’t it?’ 

 

Wonyoung rolled her eyes and pelted a drink bottle at Yujin who caught it with ease and stuck her tongue out at her. 

 

‘No, you ert. I was just thinking that your moves looked really sharp and smooth. Have you ever thought of trying dancing before?’ 

 

Yujin thought for a moment. ‘Dancing? Not really. I just like watching you do it cause you look cute when you’re happy.’ 

 

Wonyoung shooed away Yujin’s hands that were pinching at her cheeks. She was thankful that she did that, because then it’ll look like her cheeks grew red because of the pinching and not because she was flustered. 

 

‘Why are you asking? Are you gonna make me audition with you for the university’s dance club? I’m willing to try but not on that level.’ 

 

‘Of course not. I already put up with you enough inside and outside of school,  I am not joining an extracurricular with you.’ Wonyoung said. ‘I was just curious.’ 

 

‘I’ll make a deal with you.’ Yujin said. ‘I’ll let you teach me a dance or something if you play some basketball with me.’ 

 

Yujin offered her hand up to Wonyoung who stared at it with furrowed eyebrows. She looked up to meet Yujin’s smiling eyes. 

 

Those damn crescents. 

 

‘Okay, deal.’ Wonyoung said and went to shake Yujin’s hand. However, Yujin didn’t let go of her hand after shaking.

 

Instead, she pulled Wonyoung up from her seat on the bleachers. Wonyoung let out a little yelp as Yujin tugged on her arm. Yujin kept her hand on Wonyoung’s hand as she pulled her with her onto the court. 

 

‘Wait, right now?’ Wonyoung asked. 

 

Yujin didn’t answer. All she did was turn around and flash Wonyoung her bright smile. Wonyoung felt like she was looking at a picture. 

 

She dragged Wonyoung into the key, just in front of where they shoot penalties and she placed the basketball in Wonyoung’s hands. 

 

Wonyoung stared at the ball and then the hoop. 

 

‘Well?’ Yujin said. 

 

‘Well, what?’ 

 

Yujin nodded her head towards the hoop. ‘Aren’t you going to throw it?’ 

 

‘I don’t know how.’ 

 

‘You’ve been watching me play basketball for years, surely you’ve been able to pick up on the movements.’ 

 

Wonyoung placed all her weight onto her leg, sticking out her hip sassily. ‘And you’ve been watching me study for years, surely you would have been able to learn how to study, too?’ 

 

‘Touché. Wonnie. Touché.’ Yujin nodded in agreement. ‘But you’re a dancer. You’re good with copying movement and stuff. Just try it, I wanna see how you’ll do it.’ 

 

Wonyoung smacked her lips together and stared at the hoop. ‘Fine.’ 

 

She tried to remember the way Yujin would line up her shots for penalty shots. She threw the ball into the air, even mimicking the way Yujin’s hand would curl at the end. 

 

The ball flew up, but didn’t reach the height of the hoop at all. 

 

Wonyoung expected Yujin to start laughing at her and to non-stop. Surprisingly, Yujin didn’t say anything. In fact, Yujin looked rather impressed. 

 

‘Damn.’ Yujin said. ‘Your technique was kind of good.’ 

 

‘But it didn’t even touch the hoop.’ Wonyoung said. 

 

‘But your form was great. See? I told you. You’re super smart, I knew you’d pick it up.’

 

Wonyoung couldn’t help the smile on her face when Yujin called her smart. 

 

‘Don’t worry about it not touching the hoop. That’s an easy fix. You don’t really need much arm power when you shoot the ball. You just need to prepare the shot.’ Yujin picked up a stray basketball nearby. ‘Observe.’ 

 

Yujin made an effort to show the preparation of the shot. She lowered the ball so that it was just in front of her eyes and she pushed it up and shot it cleanly into the hoop with a swish. 

 

‘Easy peasy.’ 

 

‘Show off.’ Wonyoung muttered under her breath. 

 

‘It’s okay, when you teach me how to dance, I give you permission to show off as much as you want.’ Yujin smiled. She passed another ball to Wonyoung. ‘Try again.’ 

 

So, Wonyoung tried a few more times. Each time she’d get closer and closer to the shooting but it was never quite enough. Yujin was incredibly patient, only giving her more words of encouragement every time she’d shoot the ball. 

 

‘Why aren’t these going in? What am I doing wrong?’ Wonyoung whined. She cut Yujin off when she opened , ‘And don’t say, just keep trying because I have been!’ 

 

‘You’re being too tense. Loosen a little bit.’ Yujin said. 

 

‘I’m not tense.’ Wonyoung crossed her arms. ‘I’m so loose.’ 

 

‘Sure you are.’ Yujin said. She picked up the ball and beckoned for Wonyoung to come closer. ‘Put your hand on my arm.’ 

 

‘What?’ 

 

The truth was, Wonyoung heard her perfectly clearly. She just wanted to allow her brain some time to fully process what Yujin was saying. 

 

Yujin just beckoned Wonyoung over with her head. 

 

She cautiously made her way over to Yujin and placed a light hand onto Yujin’s bicep. 

 

‘You feel that?’ Yujin said. 

 

Suddenly Yujin’s bicep started to shake under Wonyoung’s hand as she started to flex her muscles. 

 

Wonyoung instantly threw her hand in the air her laughter filling the gym. ‘Yujin, what the hell was that?’ 

 

‘My strong muscles, duh.’ 

 

Wonyoung huffed. ‘I can’t believe I fell for that. Just show me how to do it, please! I just want to get at least one shot.’ 

 

Yujin put her hands up in a surrender. ‘Okay, okay. I’ll be serious now.’ 

 

She offered the ball over to Wonyoung who took it with a short glare. 

 

‘So, what do I do?’ Wonyoung asked, getting into position to prepare the shot. 

 

Yujin walked around her, observing her stance and the way she was holding the ball. ‘Hmmm…’ 

 

Suddenly, Wonyoung felt Yujin’s arms around her, her hands on top of her own. 

 

When Wonyoung asked Yujin to show her how to do it, this was not what she meant. 

 

(But she sure as hell wasn’t complaining.) 

 

‘Relax.’ She heard Yujin’s soft voice next to her ear. It was a lot lower and a lot calmer than Yujin’s normal tone. The simple word made Wonyoung close her eyes and melt into Yujin’s arms. 

 

Yujin’s hands were warm on hers. They were a bit rough from the callouses, but they were perfect. For once, Wonyoung’s heart wasn’t beating erratically. In fact, it was almost like it was slowing. Wonyoung felt her muscles relaxing into Yujin’s embrace. 

 

She felt Yujin move her arms and the ball disappeared from her hands. Wonyoung opened her eyes just in time to see the ball go through the hoop. 

 

‘I did it!’ Wonyoung exclaimed. She excitedly turned around in Yujin’s arms to face Yujin’s bright, smiling face. 

 

‘Well done.’ Yujin said. 

 

Wonyoung’s smile faltered slightly when she realised just how close they were standing together. She backed away quickly and cleared . 

 

‘Well, there you go.  I played basketball with you.’ Wonyoung said.

 

Yujin shook her head. ‘Did you think that was it?’ 

 

Yujin picked up a ball from the ground. She smiled cheekily. 

 

‘Try and steal the ball off me.’ 

 

…………..

 

Meanwhile, two girls from Yujin’s basketball team were walking through the school together. One was pissed that they missed Huening Kai’s confession.

 

‘I’m sure someone videoed it.’ The other girl said. She frowned. ‘Why do I have to come with you? It’s your food that you forgot in the gym because you were too busy gushing over Huening Kai.’ 

 

‘Because, I’m giving you some of my mom’s famous gimbap now shut up.’ The other girl said as they approached. ‘Damn, I hope it’s still unlocked.’ 

 

She pushed the door open and sure enough it was still unlocked and apparently the gym was still in use. The two girls could hear the sound of the ball bouncing and shoes squeaking against the floorboard. 

 

‘Captain is still practicing even though she’s the only one here? Wow she’s dedica—‘ the second girl tried to say when she entered the gym but the first girl quickly covered and signaled for her to be quiet. 

 

‘I think Captain isn’t alone.’ 

 

They peeked into the gym and realised that they were right. Her best friend was there, too. 

 

‘Hey!’ Their captain jogged after her best friend who was running around the gym with her hands gripping tightly around the basketball. Captain Yujin imitated a whistle noise. ‘That’s a foul! Come back here!’ 

 

Wonyoung laughed a large belly laugh that filled the gymnasium. ‘The ball’s mine now!’ 

 

Yujin shook her head in amusement and broke out into a sprint. When Wonyoung saw how fast she was running she squealed and tried to run faster. Of course, the budding athlete was way faster than her. 

 

The two basketball players watched as their captain wrapped her arms around Wonyoung from behind and spun her around in the air. Both of them had the widest smiles on their faces and they were both laughing to their heart’s content. 

 

‘Got you, princess.’ They heard their captain say as she set Wonyoung on the ground, her arms still trapping her best friend to prevent her from escaping. The trapped girl was squirming, her head back thrown into more laughter. 

 

The first girl picked up her lunch and signaled for her friend to follow her out the gymnasium. She closed the door quietly. 

 

‘Please tell me that I’m not the only one who thinks they’re adorable together.’ 

 

‘No, you’re not. I totally agree with you. Honestly, if Wonyoung wasn’t already dating Huening Kai I’d think she and Cap were lowkey a thing.’

 

………….

 

(The news of Huening Kai and Jang Wonyoung failed to travel around to Yujin as the school were busy gossiping about something else. Straight after the two left, Baek Jiheon jumped up and confessed to Shin Yuna.)