Yong steadied her breath, fists clenched, jaw set. 

"Showtime," she whispered to herself, unleashing a devastating combo at the air watching her shadow. Building speed was less important than staying creative and loose. So Yong made time shadowbox before every game and prepare her body to move without checking in with her first. A few more complex combinations for a finish. She thought it best to check on her team. She would always be able to find Byul first, her habits were so meticulous. Same spot in the left wall of any locker room, the same playlist of smooth jams that built into party songs, same double and triple check of every line crease and wrinkle of her uniform. Yong watched the slender woman for a second and thought it best to start somewhere else than fight against a trance so deep. Hyejin was massacring the peel of her per game mandarin.

"You're going to behave in my tummy." Yongsun gave a quizzical look and a head-tilt towards the baby of her team.

"It didn't want to peel easy. At least I'm talking to something other than myself." Hyejin teased loud enough for Wheeins inward concentration to be momentarily disrupted. 

"Focus is important." came Wheein's short response.

"Mmm. Wrap it up in a couple minutes and let's huddle it up" Yongsun said to both girls, Byul ran on an accurate internal clock. Still, Yongsun waved her over for a quick run down and hype up. 

"HUDDLE UP GIRLS, OKOK, it's almost time. Byulyi, did you poop?"

"Unnieeee…"  

"Well, did you?"

"…yes, before we came to the stadium."

"Wheeinah?"

"Yessss"

"Hye-"

"Of course, I did!" Hyejin made a sour face at Yongsun, none of the team ever appreciated the TMI question from their captain.

"OK! We face a very important game today! It's our first and sure, we're ranked last, but let's focus on hitting that court with all we've got, is everyone ready?!" Yongsun bounced on the balls of her feet, enthusiasm rolling off her in waves, radiating from her brilliant smile. Her team's nerves muted their reactions, earning her a few grumbles and unenthusiastic yeahs.

"I said, IS EVERYBODY READY?!" she shouted to her team.

"Ue!" they responded in unison.

"Again!" she moved them to huddle up, hands in the center.

"Ue!"

"One more time, loud as you can! One, Two, Three"

"UE!" they shouted together, energized and ready to face their first opponent.

"Alright! Let's go show them what we've got!"

The game was challenging, probably their most difficult to date. They were beaming. RBW was a small school, often underestimated and prone to watching teams play catch-up in subsequent matches after losing their first.

The air, the spacing, her own breathing, everything was perfect for the RBW Ace, she wanted to open this game on a tear and show everyone what this team could really do. She went down her internal checklist. She was ready, and she wasn't holding back. Yong was devastating, unstoppable, and absolutely beaming. Nothing would ever sound sweeter to her than the smooth pace of her own heartbeat in these moments as she dropped punishing blows into uncontested points. Until the pace caught up with her, and a hitched breath turned into a volley. Ah, well, a good run always ends, she thought as her body did its job, a cog in the perfect gear works of her team. 

4-0

Hard-fought volley after volley commenced as WM adjusted more quickly than Yong expected. The competition was neither entirely surprising nor unwelcome. Competition made her girls hungry.

"They aren't going down easy anymore," glances exchanged between points seemed to say.

 4-3 

A solid set and an even more solid spike were stopped dead in their tracks by Hyejin. No way it was going to be an easy game for either team, that much was becoming clear.

5-6

RBW needed to reclaim momentum. YooA had turned out to be just as killer as Yong, a more knuckling and erratic serve, hard to plan for was always the worst kind of problem. Suddenly, one fault, then another. Yong wanted to waste no time on this opportunity; there would be no time out, no chance for YooA to shake off her mistakes, they had to push now. 8-10

Another vicious volley and so far it was too even to control on a mean- "GAP" Yong called too late watching a ball touch the court floor that never should've had the chance. She called a timeout.

 "Time. Time. Timeout." Yongsun fumed. The girls huddled up, agitated at themselves, hydrating and wiping the sweat off their faces.

"What the hell was that?"

"Unnie-"

"No, Byul, what is this? High school? Middle schoolers don't make that mistake. Come on. Get it together, we're better than this." Yongsun clapped and stood, silently saying she would not hear another word. Her team dragged themselves back to their positions. She scanned them, ready to make eye contact, and remind them to focus when she froze. First, in her sight was Hyejin, who'd kept alive nearly every ball that came into her quadrant and beautifully set so many shots to Byul to score, now had her jaw set tight, looking at the ground. Wheein stood just behind Hyejin, her eyes focused on her best friend with slumped shoulders. Then there was Byul. Smiling, laughing, taunting Byul scuffed her sneakers against the court, brow furrowed deeply as she glanced back at Yongsun. Her eyes held unshed tears in the brief moment they made eye contact. She growled, either at herself, her team, or this game she didn't quite know, but she knew she'd cut too deep.

Why couldn't they understand they were making mistakes beneath them? She only wanted them to be their best. A captain was tasked to lead, and they needed to be driven out of whatever pathetic excuse for playing they were doing. She knew they could do better. They just needed to try harder. Dig a little deeper. WM served, a timid volley began, her friends playing like they were filming an instructional video on how to play their positions. As the barrage dragged on, they gained more confidence, Yong seldom needing to call out to them when she saw a ball headed their way, they were usually already there. Yooa blocked one of Byul's spikes, sending it in the waiting arms of a beautiful bump set as she landed, crouched, and exploded upward.

13-13. 

A few hard battles and RBW started finding their groove again. The pressure Yong put on them started melting away when they began having a chance to actually play and play right. Hyejin sent a beautiful liner bump pass to Wheein, Wheein turned that into a perfectly matched set to Byul's impressive vertical leap. She didn't hesitate to throw her full power behind her spike, launching the ball downward for another score. They shared smiles all around on perfect execution of basics, and Yong knew her girls were back in business. All they needed was a reminder of what they were. 

15-13

Drawn out, volleys became more common. YooA proved to be a constant challenge, charging every ball in her quadrant with ferocity. The sound of two hard impacts echoed out. Yongsun's brain could hardly parse out what they meant before Wheein was screeching in excitement. Byul had stuffed a screaming ball. Absolutely pleased with herself, she fell into a quick embrace from Hyejin to celebrate. Yongsun felt her jaw slack a little. She might have known her girls had a high skill ceiling, but it was always lovely to be surprised.

17-15

The game continued on at an assaulting pace as Yong started to see cracks emerge in RBW. Most notably in Byul, whose competitive edge begun to give way to survival. She settled for shooting Byul a quick reminder to stay aggressive with her "Scary Face. Byul wiped the sweat off her brow and nodded in affirmation. The ball went live again, a greater urgency in everyone's play had taken hold as the points got dangerously close to finishing this game out. Another fierce volley, more digging in heels and digging up balls. Byul saw the ball carry a hair too much to not be a mistake. She took advantage, charging hard and suddenly softening, she lobbed it into a hole her intimidating approach created. Yong was impressed by the creativity. Byul turned and shot a wink back to her captain, who couldn't hide her smile. Yongsun was left cocking her head at this strange woman she'd unleashed.

19-15

The final serve led to another punishing volley. Everyone was spent digging into the last hints of their reserves. Yongsun was worried less about finishing with a flash and more about finishing at all. It was a game of outlasting, whoever had the better endurance would take the game. WM tried to steal back momentum by denying them a breath. 

Hyejin squared up under the ball as Wheein sprinted with all she had left to the net and leaping higher than Yongsun had ever seen. Then her eyes focused on Byul. Moon Byulyi had grace matched by no other. Maybe it was all the dancing she did for fun, or perhaps it was her build that led to the beautiful way she soared toward the ball. The sound of the impact sent a shock through Yongsun's system as the ball careened towards who else but YooA. Byul looked wholly spent as she landed, evidently wanting this to be the last volley of this exhausting game. YooA made contact with the ball, but when a player as dominant as Byul hits the ball that hard, there is no saving it. It veered off wildly toward the stands. A thoroughly defeated and entirely laid-out YooA looked too crushed to be in pain the way she should have. 

21-18 

The crowd roared before RBW even registered what happened. They did it. They'd won. Yongsun turned to her right, being wrapped in a sweaty draping hug from Byul. Byul patted her bottom, and she returned the gesture. Yongsun had never been prouder of her best friend. They broke their hug as WM made their way to the net, Byul ducking under to give hugs before she pulled Yooa with her off-court.

"Yooa, that was incredible! You guys are really good, I can't remember the last time we had to dig so deep before!"

"Unnie is so powerful, th