CHOI YENA

 

The bus rolled into the school compound of our opponents for our friendly match.

 

I woke Hyewon from her mini nap and sent a message to Yuri.

 

Hey babe

 

We reached already

 

Did you reach here yet?

Yes babe

 

I’m excited

 

Do your best no.1 floorball 

player in my heart 

 

Ayy 

 

Don’t make me die of your cuteness 

before my match babe

 

Hehe

 

But make sure you do well

 

Gotta go

 

See you later in the court

 

Okayyy 

 

take care on the way

 

I quickly swept round the bus, checking for any miscellaneous items left behind by the team and proceeded to thank the bus driver before joining the rest of the team.

 

Chaeyeon checked up on all of us and we proceeded to follow Yujin who was hobbling on her right foot with crutches supporting her lanky body.

 

Tsk if only she hadn’t disobeyed her mother’s nagging of not playing last Thursday, she wouldn’t have made it worse. So much for her and her dense brain going into dumb in love mode.

 

Now, we have Gyuri subbing Yujin as the forward. Although she isn’t used to training with us since she has her own line that she usually plays with, Yujin decided to push her up saying that she needed more recognition from Coach Kwon.

 

We finally reached the court with Yujin hobbling behind since she took the lift.

 

“Coach Kwon wouldn’t be with us since she has to referee a match of her own club. So I will be your new coach. Call me Coach Ahn.”

 

“Are you sure you should be Coach with the sprained ankle of yours?” I replied.

 

“Well, if you don’t want to play in this match, you can gladly leave and never return. And mind you, I have a fully functional brain capable of writing up strategies”

 

“Pft, more like a rock instead of a brain”

 

“Okay. Okay let's break it up. Yujin we need to get the team warmed up before the match.” Chaeyeon intervenes.

 

We both stuck out our tongues and Yujin held up her right crutch while I held up my own floorball stick.

 

“After this friendly match, you and I will go one on one on the court.” We both said in sync.

 

Our teams looked on at the seniors childishly squabbling before a match and they proceeded to walk away, pretending to not know us.

 

We walked into the court which had been set up by the host of the game and we proceeded to drop our belongings and sticks on the bleachers.

 

“Okay, team we will proceed with the usual warm up and return to the court to do the ‘M’ drills. Then, I will give you the prep talk.”

 

“Yes, Coach Ahn!” We all shouted and proceeded to the space outside of the court where we stretched our limbs after running a few rounds round the court.

 

Then, I saw Yuri walking in with Minjoo. Wait. What. KIM FREAKING MINJOO IS HERE. 

 

Ah here we go again.

 

Tsk, it brought me back to my text conversation I had with her yesterday.

 

______________________________________________________________

 

Saturday, 7.48 P.M.

 

HeYyY captain how's your ankle breaking

 

Shaddup you duck

 

Anyways

 

Yuri is coming to watch the match

 

Don’t you dare do anything stupid

I won’t

 

I promise

 

But the important question is 

will she be there?

 

You-know-who

 

What 

 

Voldemort??

 

I thought that snake had been killed 

by hairy potter

 

*harry 

 

My mistake

 

Pft hAiRY PuTTArh

 

And you idiot

 

You know 

 

K

 

M

 

J

 

Yes I get it

 

But I don’t know

 

Shouldn’t you ask her yourself

you dog

 

Just bcs I made up with her doesn’t mean 

I am entitled to ask her that freely, you duck

 

Besides 

 

…

 

WHat

 

dont leave me hanging:(

 

You don’t like the way she smells 

or what

 

No

 

It’s just that

 

Can I just text you

 

My fingers are pretty dead

 

Yeah sure

 

After a ring, Yujin picked up my call.

 

“Hey”

 

“Hey”

 

“So are you going to tell me your views?”

 

“Oh yeah”

 

“Uhm, well you see, you know she is my ex-girlfriend and she had recently broken up with Kim Chaewon. And I sort of want to turn down any advances that she is trying to do on me.

 

“I even turned down her idea of going on the bubble tea date with me tomorrow after the match. Well, its kinda ironic considering how she turned me down the previous week”

 

“But why though”

 

“Why deny yourself an opportunity to get back with her”

 

“Well”

 

...

 

“I’m afraid of opening my heart again to her.”

 

“It’s been days and I have yet to erase the image of her kissing Chaewon”

 

“I’m just afraid the past would repeat itself again”

 

“Y’all did so much for me and I don’t want to repay it by ruining it again”

 

“I’m really afraid. Everything will crumble down.”

 

“The goal of getting the championship trophy”

 

“My friendship with you guys”

 

“And myself”

 

“You know, Yujin. Even if you get back with her.”

 

“The three of us. Me, Hyewon and Chaeyeon will have your back”

 

“It doesn't matter if you break up with her again. But I do pray you don’t”

 

“But just remember that we will make sure you return to your normal life where you love floorball and do all these crazy with us.”

 

“Even if there isn't a presence of her. You still have us to back you up and make sure life goes on.”

 

I could hear a faint sobbing on the other end of the line.

 

“Hey, are you crying Captain?”

 

“What-. No. Course not”

 

“Don’t lie you . I can hear your teardrops falling down”

 

“You can’t -hic- . Aww -hic-. you Yena for making me cry”

 

“No problem. You just need let it all out”

 

“Do you still have something to tell me”

 

“Well -hic-. You see, Minjoo kissed me last Thursday. And -hic- she said she wanted to get back to where we started but as friends first”

 

“And I really want to but what -hic- if I up and lose her again or she s up and it’ll be -hic- thrown into the damn drain”

 

“You go get yourself a glass of water first and I’ll tell you my opinion”

 

I could hear the faint glug of someone chugging down water

 

“Okay I’m done”

 

“You feel better after that right”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Okay nice, cause those ‘hic’s were starting to annoy me”

 

“Well sorry I broke down at your wonderful declaration of an unbreakable friendship”

 

“Okay, anyways.”

 

“Well, I understand you may be feeling a little lost at what would the future hold”

 

“Well, remember our floorball motto ‘No Retreats, No Regrets’”

 

“So perhaps-”

 

“You’re telling me to kiss her and declare my love for her while strumming a guitar dramatically with a rose in between my teeth?”

 

“Okay, look not till that extent”

 

“But do what Minjoo asked you to”

 

“Take these baby steps to at least rebuild this broken bridge”

 

“And I would advise you to listen to her side.”

 

“Especially why she would cheat on Kim Chaewon just like that”

 

“But that incident hurts me till now”

 

“I know it would open up that wound.”

 

“But trust me, sometimes, we need to open up the wound again just for it to heal”

 

“I can assure you that overtime, that wound will heal. Especially if there someone taking care of it with tender love”

 

“You know you focused so much on yourself that you failed to see what she had done for you during the blank periods after your break up”

 

“So ask her. Ask her what really happened that afternoon”

 

“Hold up. How would you even know about this?”

 

“Well, you see your ex’s friend is my babe now. So like I got plenty of insider information”

 

“Aww man can’t you just tell me.”

 

“It’s Kim Minjoo’s words and besides I think she would like you to hear it from her sincerely. So be patient you ”

 

“Okay okay. Bye see you tomorrow then”

 

“Good night to your injured ankle only”

 

“Hey, no fair. Don’t you think that my broken heart deserves a bit of your love too”

“Nah fam, it’s reserved for Yuri only”

 

“Okay, good night hoe”

 

And with a click, the call ended leaving me to have some free time to message Yuri.

 

______________________________________________________________

 

“Hey, Yena get your stick and join your teammates!” Yujin shouted, waking me up from the recollection.

 

I gave a friendly middle finger in response and stalked over to collect my stick.

 

It seemed like our goalkeeper, Minnie was in a good mood since she was able to block our shots.

 

Or perhaps it was just us not brushing up on the accuracy of our shots.

 

But either way, a buzzer sounded off signalling that it was the start of the pre game talks.

 

We all gathered round Yujin who explained to us her strategy. We were to use the ‘diamond’ method with the forward who is able to shoot more accurately starting the play-off and with the more nimble defender at the other end. The wings of the diamond will be occupied with the stronger defender and the faster forward.

 

My line was up first which gave me little time to adjust to the jitters of the first period.

 

Then we all gathered round the benches and cheered loudly.

 

“NO WE DON'T RETREAT, NO WE DON’T REGRET”

 

Similarly on the other end of the court, there was a starting cheer from the opponent team.

 

I could hear Yuri’s shrill screaming to which I responded with flying hearts on my arms before reverting my attention back to the court.

 

The buzzer sounded signalling the official start of the match.

 

We all settled into our positions with me being on the right side of Gyuri and Chaeyeon diagonally behind me and Hyewon was right across on the left of the court side from me.

 

Our goalkeeper, Minnie gave a thumbs up and slid on her goalkeeper.

 

BEEP

 

And with that, Gyuri snatched the black ball in the middle with her blade and immediately passed it to me.

 

I held onto it for a while, effectively giving Hyewon time to dash to the opponent's goalpost while Gyuri rushed in to take her position

 

I back passed the ball to Chaeyeon seamlessly who took it and she moved to her left to gauge the situation while I moved forward to assist Hyewon who was blocked by two players.

 

I banged my stick on the ground, effectively diverting the two defenders’ attention to which both rushed over to block me.

 

This gave Gyuri time to move up and carry the ball that Chaeyeon had passed her.

 

However, she was intercepted by one of the attackers.

 

The attacker, with Yeji, Number 5 printed in sky blue on her white jersey, moved forward with the black ball.

 

She swiftly dodged Chaeyeon’s incoming blade which was ready to snatch the ball away.

 

She dragged her stick backwards and aimed straight for our goal post.

 

The ball flew swiftly from her blade straight into Minnie’s right hand

 

Minnie then signalled for a change up, giving us time to change out for the second line up to enter and take their positions.

 

As we switched over, I could see Yujin pleased at the save that Minnie had done. I proceeded to chug down my water from my bottle while waiting for the ball to start rolling again.

 

The new line consists of Soyeon, Miyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua.

 

They immediately rushed into their various positions and Minnie rolled the ball out to Yuqi’s outstretched blade.

 

Moving forward quickly, she was able to outrun our opponents’ slow pace and she. She reached the middle line to pass the ball back to Soyeon who was waiting at the right back corner which was volleyed over to the other end, successfully.

 

Miyeon caught it with her chest and went in for a drag shot to which it landed neatly in the right top corner, past the goalkeeper’s outstretched hands, Lia, Number 45.

 

The whistle blew noisily in the background and the referee raised a hand in the direction of our team, signalling the first point given to BLOOM*IZ.

 

Meanwhile, ITZY, our opponents, changed out into a new lineup.

 

Coach Ahn signalled that the current lineup is to stay before switching over to the final lineup at the end of another minute in the court.

 

The ball travelled back and forth between both teams like a ping pong till Dahyun, Number 53 of ITZY came forward with her going past Shuhua’s and Soyeon’s great defense.

 

Unfortunately, Minnie was caught off guard and the low shot went through her legs and earned a goal for ITZY. 

 

Effectively ending the first period with a tie of 1-1.

 

Five minutes were given to allow them to change over to the opposite bench and have the pre-period talks.

 

Then Yujin launched into a plan of sticking with the same strategy but this time with the defenders starting the play off first. She further stated that the team should be fierce against our opponent even if this was a friendly match and that we should spread ourselves out further. 

 

“Signal out for the one holding onto the ball and immediately move into a spot where there is no opponent..”

 

Yujin’s stern voice continued on as the team listened on intently, while drinking from their bottles.

 

My eyes drifted over to the bleachers where Yuri looked worried along with Minjoo looking intensely at Yujin.

 

Pft, lovesick fools. I snickered in my mind.

 

However, Yuri caught me looking at her and she sent over a heart with her arms and mouthed, “You can do it!”,holding up fighting fists.

 

I nodded my head in appreciation to the support and went to join my teammates into a cheer before the start of the second period.

 

My line was up again like the first period.

 

I faced my opponent, Shin Ryujin, Number 81 and waited tensely for the referee to blow his whistle.

 

I gripped my stick tighter and curved my blade nearer to the black bull in the centre of the court.

 

BEEP

 

Unfortunately, she was faster than me by a fraction of a second and Ryujin managed to snatch the ball away from me.

 

She went in for a straight shot immediately, which was a different approach from their previous where a fellow attacker would be waiting to receive the ball.

 

This certainly took my teammates off guard but it didn’t faze Minnie since she was able to block the shot successfully with her body.

 

She collected the ball and signalled for all of us to spread out immediately and like clockwork, we all moved instinctively into our various positions.

 

Hyewon picked up the pace and managed to carry the ball near the opponent's goal post and made a sly pass to Gyuri who was waiting on the other side.

 

However, Lia seemed to notice this trick and she pushed her body swiftly to the other end of the goalpost where the middle shot was blocked.

 

The game play continued with continuous swaps of numerous lines and no goal has been conceded by either teams.

 

Second period ends with the same tie of 1-1

 

We switched over to our original bench area where Yujin seemed really exasperated to snag a goal through her words which was heavily stressed upon.

 

She then went through her constant nagging of blocking and moving faster than our opponents.

 

Just the usual, it’s just that I feel like today isn’t our day but I kept mum, knowing that having such a degrading mindset wouldn’t benefit me at all. 

 

Then, Yujin had a change in her tone.

 

“Hey, guys, this will be the seniors’ last few friendly matches with you guys so I hope you all will at least pitch in a bit more effort. I’ve seen you all perform on court and even if you hadn’t conceded a goal yet, I believe with a little push, we will be able to get a win on this friendly. And I think we all ought to thank Minnie for being to block all these amazing shots, our defenders for defending our side till the very end and our attackers or going up against these strong opponents. So with one final cheer, let’s get this win under our belts!”

 

We all gathered round the goalpost, after hearing the heartwarming message from Coach Ahn.

 

Then one final cheer and we were off to the start of the last period.

 

This time round, Gyuri started the play off first.

 

BEEP

 

And I was off, moving to the other end where Gyuri passed me the ball immediately and I aimed for a wrist shot upon Yujin’s shout, “Shoot the ball. Don’t hesitate!”

 

I managed and it hit the black net of ITZY’s goalpost.

 

2-1

 

I clapped my stick with my teammates before settling back into my previous position.

 

I could hear Yuri scream, “BLOOM*IZ HIGH LET’S GO AND I’LL TREAT ALL OF YOU TO BUBBLE TEA”

 

This certainly motivated Hyewon for she moved at an incredibly blurry speed and within seconds, another goal was conceded.

 

3-1

 

I could see Yujin beaming proudly and gave a signal of a new changeup of the lineup.

 

We all filed out of the court while the lineup filed in.

 

Another beep and the ball was off rolling on the court, being whacked mercilessly against the court.

 

I could see the floorball girls of ITZY HIGH getting frustrated at the gap slowly widening to which I smirked at mentally in my head.

 

Then, the game progressed till there was only 5 seconds left on the scoreboard.

______________________________________________________________

 

JO YURI

 

5… The ball flew high up in the air

 

4… The black ball landed on the opponent’s leg immediately

 

3… Our opponent moves closer to the goal, with the stick prepared

 

2… She swinged her stick upwards, aiming for a right top corner shot

 

1… The ball hit the referee squarely in the face who was at the back of the goalpost instead

 

0… the buzzer sounded signalling the end of the match

 

I screamed shrilly at the fact that our school won 3-1 against ITZY HIGH after hearing from Yena how swift the school was.

 

I could see her jump up excitedly and engulf Yujin in a hug to which the pair was slowly engulfed in a pile of 15 more players piling on top of them.

 

Then, I remember I had a promise to keep ‘the bubble tea for the entire team.’

 

Minjoo slung her hand over my shoulder and asked, “So am I included in your offer of the bubble tea.”

 

I shoved her away playfully and stuck out my tongue in response.

 

“Hell no. You get your own, missy”

 

“What, no fair” She pouted so awfully in my own eyes which made me give in immediately.

 

“Fine. Fine. I’ll treat you.Happy now?”

 

“Oh hell yeah” She whooped before dragging me to join the rest of the girls who were preparing to pack up their stuff.

 

Suddenly, she was stopped by a girl, which I could identify as Shin Ryujin, Number 81 judging from the sky blue letters on her sweat soaked white jersey.

 

I moved away, distracted by Yena’s screams.

 

I moved closer to Yena’s arms, closing the distance between us before stopping myself, putting my hands between us. (Social Distancing fellas😝)

 

“Why don’t you want to hug me Yuri?” She asked with her lips forming a duck’s pout.

 

“Firstly, you stink. Secondly, your shirt is soaked with your sweat. It’s nice to know that you worked hard for the win but let’s practice basic hygiene here and I’ll promise you with an extra bubble tea.”

 

“Okay, babe meet you in a while” and Yena moved out of my sight to follow her teammates to change their clothes.

 

“Hey, Minjoo where are y-“

 

I caught a sight of Ryujin flirting with Minjoo with a rather fuming Yujin, trailing behind the pair.

 

Minjoo seemed to be uncomfortable with Ryujin’s presence judging from her forced, high pitched laughter.

 

I swear, if looks could kill, Ryujin would be completely burnt alive by Yujin’s stares.

 

However, what happened next wasn’t what I expected during my first post match experience.

 

Ryujin being pinned down to the ground by Yujin’s crutches.

______________________________________________________________

🥴Damn what an ending. Anyways I prob wont be able to update my ongoing aus quite regularly since I'm gonna be returning to school every now and then to do practical. I hope this chap clarifies what actually sort of happened btw the lil gap and like whether Yujin is still wanting to pursue Minjoo. Do comment below what would happen to Ryujin and tell me if you want to add any of your faves to the 'match' scenes. I posted a new one shot the other day which is just about a tragedy. :( I'm sry i prefer angst as you can clearly see. I'll try writing more fluff. So anyways, good morning/afternoon/ night to whichever time zone you are. Jdchrt out-