The opposing teams were in the thick of battle. Wendy's team had been in the lead for a little during the first half, but the opposing team managed to catch up and overtake them by a few points.

It was already the second half, and neither team had scored any goals. They were evenly matched, but Wendy's team really needed to start making headway to win the game.

"That girl with the green headband is their ace," the captain said. "We have to be on the lookout for her. They probalby know that by now. Wendy, you're our best dribbler so we really need you to make the game for us."

Wendy nodded and inhaled deeply before letting it back out. Her captain continued coming up with a plan. They would be on the defensive while Wendy would strategize the way to victory. Being the best dribbler meant that her feet could take care of the ball while her eyes and brain did the work for the team. She would have to find an opening for them to score, and make sure everyone was in the right place.

The water gal came over to hydrate them, and Wendy took a sip before dumping the contents over her head. She needed to be alert for the rest of the second half - not that she wasn't in the first, but the team was now depending on her.

THey lined out in their positions and it was time to finish the game with a bang. Wendy kept her eye on the girl with the green headband, noting her position and which teammate was her ally.

Within a heartbeat, the second half began and Wendy assumed an offensive strategy as she dashed among the other players on the field.

Irene stood a distance from the ticket line. The shouts of the crowd in the bleachers were audible from this distance, and a loud whistle went off. She glanced at her watch, noting that she had spent way too long trying to decide whether or not to go to watch the game. It was getting later, and she had to return home, or at least give herself enough time to get food before her friends arrived at her house.

it.

She pulled out the money and handed it over to the ticket person.

She forgot why she disliked going to places with large crowds. It was too loud and too cramped, and people were pretty rowdy.

Irene almost got jostled aside by a pair of pesky teens, and she felt thankful that Wendy was nothing like that. There was nowhere to sit so she went and stood by the fence blocking the bleachers area from the field.

She had a slightly difficult time figuring out who was who on the field because everyone was moving so fast.

"YEAH, WENDY GOGOGOGO!" she heard someone screaming somewhere in the bleachers behind.

A girl was crazily waving her arms in the air, and screaming at the top of her lungs just as the rest of the crowd roared with the power of a million lions. Irene's ears buzzed and she covered them a little as she leaned on the fence, her eyes scoping out the situation.

All the players were racing to one side as one person - Wendy - was hunting down the enemy team's possession of the ball.

Finally, the enemy did a trick move as she nimbly dodged an opponent from stealing the ball, and took a sharp turn away from another only to run into Wendy, who stole the ball right from between her legs.

"YESSSSSS YESSSSS!" the screaming girl (Seulgi) cried as Wendy took off with the ball like a mad lad. "MOVE THOSE LITTLE LEGGIES, WENDY!"

The announcer excitedly narrated the events, claiming the final seconds would make or break the home team.

Finally, Irene saw the familiar ponytail and stature of the latest book club member pulling ahead of the fray. A loud pop filled the air, and Irene saw the soccer ball spinning in air, its trajectory dodging the goalie and smacking into the net.

The home team cheered and gathered around Wendy to celebrate the win.

Irene stepped back and quickly exited the venue before the parking lot would be packed with cars anxious to leave and celebrate. It was already almost 6pm, and she would have to buy food because there wans't enough time to make something at home.

Seulgi's was breathless with excitement, and began to hurt from screaming too much, but damn, Wendy really turned the game around in their favor. She stood up to go meet her at the girl's gym room.

But as she was leaving, she happened to see a familiar someone disappearing around the corner.

Her jaw dropped and she had to take in deep breaths as she realized. IRENE BAE WAS HERE! She broke into a run because she needed to tell Wendy the good news immediately.

--

Irene got some asian takeout that included dumplings, fried rice, and a dessert, and she returned home to find her friends waiting outside.

"I'm so sorry guys," she said as she went to unlock the door for them. "Head in first. I need to get my things from the car."

"Need help?" Sehun asked.

 She shook her head. "I'll be just fine."

Luckily, no one questioned about where she had gone and why she was late. But then she realized that she woud probably have told them she had to run some errands anyway. SO that didn't matter.

She glanced at her watch. One hour until Wendy would come for the meeting.

--

"Wendy, EXCELLENT!" the soccer coach roared and clapped her on the back so hard the air was knocked out of her.

Her team crowded around her excitedly and even the captain gave her a friendly shoulder clap.

"Girls, we started out strong," the captain announced. "Let's all keep working hard together!"

After having a group chant to finish the fruitful events of the night, they took to the showers to cool off from the game. Wendy changed into her normal clothes and planned to have a shower at home because she didn't feel comfortable using the public shower at school.

As she was heading out of the locker room, she almost barreled right into Seulgi, who was a breathless spluterring mess.

 "What's going on?" she asked, but was whisked away without warning.

As soon as they were in teh car, and Wendy calmed down her friend, Seulgi turned her shock crazed eyes on her and literally screamed. "SHE WAS HERE!"

"Uh...who?" Wendy asked.

"Irene Bae. THE Irene Bae was at the game," Seulgi exclaimed. "She was there at the moment you won the game. I thought i was imagining, but no matter how many times I blinked, she was there. IN THE FLESH!"

"Aer you sure?"

"OF COURSE I AM! I HAVE EYES, DUMMY!" Seulgi cried and grabbed Wendy by the shirt collar. "She was at your game, Wendy. I see it now. She must have been curious about--"

"Oh, shut up." Wendy pushed her off. "I'm sure she was there for other reasons." She really didn't want to get her hopes up about Irene having an interest in her.

Plus, they hardly met for more than two days, which were spread out by a week. She was sure Irene would not waste her time over a student, like her. And it woudl be so farfetched that the professor would actually be there for her game. HAHAHAHAHA. She laughed internally.

"Let's get home. I need to shower," Wendy said.

"Don't you understand?" Seulgi cried out. "We'v never seen her at a game before!"

"You probably weren't looking," Wendy pointed out.

"That may be, but I'm pretty sure she hasn't been at any of the games since we got here," Seulgi said. "I mean, you weren't even aware of her until your sophomore year when she helped you reach for that book."

"Don't remind me...." Wendy remembered that first time of meeting the professor. She had been trying to find a book for a paper, and it ended up being on one of the higher shelves. She couldn't find the stool and she certainly did not want to yank one around from floor to floor. So what did she do? Wendy was a pretty solid jumper especially in soccer - though she couldn't jump as high as her other teammates due to her size - but she was sure that it was enough to reach the book.

Unfortunately, he hand slipped and she got the wrong book.

Just at that moment, someone entered the aisle looking highly amused. "Need help?"

Wendy looked up in horror that someone saw her fail show, and she felt her cheeks redden from embarrassment. "Yes, please."

"OK. Here you go." The other person easily selected the title and handed it to her.

"T-thanks."

"No problem."

Wendy had the courage to look up and give her a grateful smile, but she almost had a heart attack when the most beautiful woman she had ever seen was smiling at her too.

"Enjoy your book," the woman said and walked away.

Wendy began noticing her presence aroudn the library a lot and whenever she entered the literature and humanities building (for class), she saw her name and office posted on a board. Sometimes, Wendy even saw her but didn't have the guts to say hi or even be within a meter of her range. She would hide aroudn the corner or in cranny like the creepy antisocial college studnet she is.

Luckily, for that year, Wendy did not need to take a class taught by Irene. It would have been too awkward being in the class where your teacher is the crush.

They finally returned home and Wendy hopped into the shower to freshen up for the book club. She felt sleepy after the relaxing hot shower, and the busy week, so Seulgi had to drag her into the car and throw the book at her as she kicked her out on Irene's front porch.

--

Wendy just barely managed to stay awake for the whole session of book club. She almost forgot what she was doing here, and dropped her book once because her hands decided to go limp at the wrong time.

Everyone stared at her.

"You ok?" Taeyeon asked.

"Yep! Fine!" she exclaimed and sat up straight after picking up her book.

Wendy smiled brightly at them, and they continued the conversation about the book.

At the end of the session, she was very anxious to leave so she could drop dead in her bed. Her mind was dead and her body felt like mush after the game. Thank goodness it was Friday. She could sleep in tomorrow.

"Wendy, how was the game?" Hani asked.

"Oh! It went better than I expected," she replied. "We won."

Everyone congratulated her including Sehun. Irene was still in the kitchen, but she must have heard it since it was only a few feet away.

"Well, I shoudl get going," Seohyun said. "I have to meet someone tomorrow."

"Ooohh boyfriend?" Hani said cheekily to which Seohyun gave her a disapproving look, but did not deny.

They all said their goodbyes and even Sehun announced that he needed to leave because he had a project to work on. Irene rejoined them and waved them off until the next session.

"Bye, Irene," Wendy said as she began to walk down the steps, but tripped on her own feet.

Irene cried out in terror as the girl went flying and face planted onto the hard cement.

, Wendy cursed internally as embarrassment flushed over her.

"Wendy, are you hurt?" Irene was by her side in an instant and helping her back onto her feet.

Wendy could hardly comprehend what was happening because of embarrassment. "Yup!" she said a little to brightly and smiled wide at Irene to show she was just fine.

But that didn't seem to help as the latter gave her a worried look. "You didn't sleep much this week, did you?"

"Uhm...No no! It's just the game today. I get super drained after competitive activities." Wendy waved her hands in the air to brush off the situation. But when Irene didn't seem to be content with the answer, she ended it by chuckling nervously. "I'm ok, really."

"If you don't feel well, it's ok to cancel," Irene told her. "I don't want you to pass out for no good reason."

"I like coming here though - I mean, to book club. And I had already missed last week's so I didn't think it would be good to miss another in a row."

"I understand. While I appreciate that you're very keen on showing up, it also isn't the best idea to push yourself like this. It's book club. Not class."

Wendy felt a little wierd because Irene was talking like a professor to her now. "Ok. I gotta go," she said when she saw Seulgi across the street.

"Good night," Irene told her.

--

"So? Anything happen?" Seulgi asked.

"Nope. I fell off the porch," Wendy told her. "And she gave me a scolding like a teacher would to a student."

"Aww, that's cute. That means she cares."

Wendy flashed her friend a look. "What if it's just her normal instinct as someone who's older than me? Of course, if something happened, she might think she would be liable for whatever happens."

"I wouldn't worry about that. She was at your game today. That means something."

The conversation stopped there, and Wendy wondered if Seulgi was right. Still, she wasn't sure if this was the right way to pursue Irene Bae, as she really wasn't sure what would happen if she had the slimmest chance to become her love interest.

There would certainly be power issues as Irene was a professor at her university, while she was a student.

There was still another year before she would graduate. Would they be able to wait that long?

Why are you planning an unforeseen future? she scolded herself. Irene is probably not even thinking about you like that at all.

"Or, she might just see me as an immature college student," Wendy finally said. "I mean, she knows we're at the same school. It is forbidden for teachers to pursue students as love interests. Thier job would be in jeopardy."

"Stop being in denial. You worked hard for this so you should stop thinking and keep going," Seulgi told her as she parked the car.

Wendy would have argued more, but she was too tired and retired to bed the moment she stepped in her room.

--

hey! Thanks for your comments and for supporting this story. Hope you liked the chapter.

Not sure what will come next, but let me know what you would like to see and I'll do my best to include it if it is fitting somehow. Thanks :)