JW: What if hot chocolate just wants to be called beautiful chocolate sometimes :(

MB: Oh , you’re right

Yongsun sighed at her phone, regretting checking on the incessant buzzing she’d heard for the last hour.

YS: you better get the to sleep right now

Yongsun didn’t mind when the girls wanted to stay up late messing around. It would be their own suffering when their 06:00AM wakeup call came too early for them, and they had to deal with their coach rushing them out the door and into the travel van groggy. What bothered Yongsun was that not one of her childish teammates seemed to know how to operate the silence function on their phones. Usually, she’d found the notification sound adorable, but that was at reasonable hours. Now, she wanted nothing more than silence while she slept.

AH: Does pizza scream?

JW: Of course it does, then it stops when you cut it.

MB: What about ice cream

AH: NO UNNIE THAT'S JUST FOODIST

“JUST GO NEXT DOOR FOR 's SAKE!” Yonsun shouted across the room. She flipped over and covered her ears with her pillow trying (and failing) to drown out the constant papo she heard from all three phones. Dorm walls were just too thin. Relenting, she grabbed her phone and opened their group chat again.

MB: Do enchiladas speak Spanish?

JW: No, dummy, the ones here speak Korean.

YS: … so then does kimchi in Spain speak Spanish?

AH: Si

JW: Byul unnie, do you like Korean food ‘cause you can talk to it easier?”

MB: mmhm, my meals tell me their dreams, and then I make sure to do them

AH: Oooooooo is that why you change in the shower? Is one of their dreams to be a ert?

MB: It wasn’t just its dream, hyejinie. The gimbap never stops watching

JW: GASP

AH: GASP

MB: GASP

YS: SHUT UP, BYUL, WHY ARE YOU GASPING AT YOUR OWN STORY?!

MB: cause I got to see what I’m wearing

Yongsun audibly gasped. Byul never discussed uality, being as conservative as she was. It was always a great mystery, right down to what kind of underwear was hidden behind locker room shower curtains and under baggy clothes.

JW: what ya guys think is the most well-behaved food?

MB: Oh dude, hard-boiled eggs, duh

AH: nu-uh, they can run away

YS: ENOUGH! And clearly its lettuce

MB: Unniiiiiiiie lettuce is clearly evil

YS: Why are we texting, IM FIVE FEET FROM YOU

AH: Defend yourself, fiend, lettuce is our friend.

Yongsun had long since given up getting her teammates to sleep. If she couldn’t get them to stop, she might as well beat them at their own game.

YS: Byul-ah, what do sweet potatoes say?

MB: They whisper sweet nothings

JW: That's why she shoves them in like that

MB: WHEEINAH

AH: Wheeinah lol

YS: Wheeinaaaaah...lol

Except she’d forgotten her sweet wheebean was also a ert.

MB: Hyejinieeee, why do you eat so much protein?

AH: Because it can bear to look me in the eyes

MB: Wheeinah, what about ramyeon?

JW: screamer

MB: D:

AH: .’:)

YS: …

JW: The lewdest food is actually chocolate because you can hear it calling all night

YS: Wheein what the

JW: It's calling, hang on

MB: It gotta be if you heard the sounds unnie makes when she eats it

YS: BYUL

AH: lol

JW: looooool

MB: Hyejinie had a conversation with her burrito yesterday

AH: She was very polite. I’ll thank you for respecting her.

MB: You moaned alot so good for you for self-discovery

JW: same

YS: what

JW: what

YS: Byul likes to sweet talk strawberries

MB: Unnie!

YS: she’s very greasy with them

MB: I AM NOT

JW: That's news to no one, unnie, try harder.

AH: Yeah, unnie, learn how to play the game.

Yongsun scoffed. She could too play their little game. It wasn’t her fault Byul had a habit of being greasy with anything that she remotely enjoyed.

YS: Wheeinah, why are you, of all people, participating in this?

JW: I live for the chaos of SMS group chats.

MB: You know who I never hear from anymore? Bread

AH: you

YS: CHICKEN IS A VERY POLITE FRIEND

AH: Chicken gets boooooooooooring

MB: YOU WATCH YOUR DISRESPECTFUL MOUTH!!!!!!!!!

JW: Chicken is ok, like “holds your hand to the door then waves goodbye” ok

AH: Chicken isn’t exciting

MB: You’re friends with the wrong chicken.

YS: What’s the right chicken?

MB: The kind so hot you can't touch for too long

AH: unniiiiiiie

MB: Chicken that leaves you panting and sweaty

JW: UNNIE ;D

MB: Chicken that leaves you panting and sweaty.

Yongsun flung her blankets off, charging toward Byul’s side of the bed before shoving her into the wall and leveling her with a warning glare. She returned to her bed, ignoring Byul’s chuckle before unlocking her phone again.

MB: Yong likes Chicken too ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

YS: BYUL

AH: then go “”” have chicken””” together, its too late for this”

JW: no wait, go oooooooon

YS: GOODNIGHT

JW: If we hear more knocking its ok

AH: ignore her, it's not

MB: That's true, it means shes strangling me

JW:

YS: Wheeeeeinaaaaaah pleeeeeease

Yongsun heard Byul set her phone on its charger and burrow further into her blankets. She locked her phone and checked the time. 03:00AM. They’d kept her up until she only had three hours of sleep. Tossing her phone onto her bedside table, she laid down and got comfortable. At least they could sleep on the ride over.

06:00AM came far too quickly for Yongsun’s liking. Judging from the groan, she’d heard as Byul’s alarm went off, at least she wasn't alone in her suffering. Sleeping in the van was, by all accounts, the least comfortable accommodation. Yongsun, however, found herself strangely comfortable, sleeping with Byul’s head nestled between her neck and shoulder. Obviously, it was the added warmth. Their hotel was like one of many others they stayed at, and she was grateful when their coach left them to do as they pleased while she caught up on some sleep in her own room. Helping themselves to the complimentary snacks in the small dining room where they’d eat their rubbery scrambled eggs and crumbled bacon for breakfast for however long they’d last in the tournament, other teams began to arrive.

Yongsun never minded when they were paid no attention, her teammates and her were always happy to get lost in their own antics. When a team she recognized as their first-round opponents shuffled in, single file in matching warm-ups, she decided to do a bit of observation. Sizing the other team up, all but one or two were around their height. She’d have to make Byul do box jump drills for their next practice. Though her best friend loved to tease that she was the tallest on their team, at least one girl on the other team was easily 5-6cm taller than Byul. Their only saving grace, it seemed, was WM was a younger and hopefully less experienced team. She watched as the other team chatted animatedly about the tournament, praised one another for one play or other, and discussed the lineup of the recently released bracket.

That damned bracket had been a sore spot for Yongsun when it was announced. They were seeded in last place. Professional and armchair analysts took the small school team lightly, and she hated it. She’d finally settled on accepting they’d just have to play extra hard to stand out and let their skills on the court speak for themselves. After charging Byul as she walked into their dorm with the sports section clasped firmly in her fist. Yongsun smiled to herself. Byul had been so adorably panicked, asking what Yongsun was ranting about.

A few WM girls made their way over to where Yongsun and her team were eating. A girl she assumed to be their captain stood in front of Yongsun, a wide smile and sparkling eyes shining on her.

“Unnie, it’s so good to see you! We’ve been watching your films, you’re no joke! I’m a little nervous facing off against you in the first round. I’m Choi Hyojung, captain of WM” She extend