Seulgi watched from the middle of the field as the coach called out all the players. It was a hot day, and the sun bore down on her dark head as she glanced over the numbers and names on the backs of red and white uniforms, the enthusiastic bodies in them shaking out limbs and stretching to warm up taut muscles. There are the new recruits, she noticed. She wondered if they were around her age. Possibly older.

The coach started shouting instructions for the players to warm up, prompting Seulgi to stretch out her own leg, her fingers twitching with the need to join the team in their large circle. The heat was almost unbearable—more so because of her own frustrations—so Seulgi got up and made her way to the benches, pain riding like electric shocks from her ankle, up her shin, to the bottom of her knee. It wasn’t as bad as it was seven months ago, but Seulgi had wasted too much time off the field and she knew that she had to get back on no matter what.

“Kang Seulgi!”

Seulgi froze, accidentally placing her weight on the injured leg, and cursed as her knee gave out. Her palms hit the plastic grass, the bits of rubber hot on her skin. It stung. She dug her finger into the ground before rolling over and throwing the black crumbs back into the turf, brushing her hands against each other to get the sticky ones off.

“Hey, Coach! What’s up?”

Hyoyeon crooked a finger, motioning for Seulgi to come over. Seulgi puffed her cheeks as she pushed herself off of the ground, careful not to strain her right shin. She ignored the jolts in her leg as she very lightly jogged over to where her coach stood, signature black cap pressed low onto her blonde hair. Beside her, Yuri, the assistant coach, was talking to Wendy.

“You okay?” Hyoyeon glanced at Seulgi’s right leg as she approached. “Wendy, can you go help her out?”

Wendy, the Canadian-born manager of the team, rushed over to Seulgi, who shook her head to indicate that she was fine. Nevertheless, Wendy maintained Seulgi's pace until they reached the women’s national team members, all of whom were staring worriedly at Seulgi.

“You didn’t have to come to the first practice. I’d rather you focus on rehab for now.”

Seulgi waved her off. “I couldn’t miss meeting the new recruits.” She let her eyes drift to the faces looking expectantly at her. “Three, I see?”

“Yeah. Two from college teams and one from club.” Hyoyeon waved her hand forward. “Come on, let’s introduce y’all to the last member of our team.”

The three new faces stepped forward, standing stiffly with hands clasped in front of their bodies out of awkwardness, perhaps nervousness. Seulgi hummed and nodded as Hyoyeon clapped the shoulder of the tallest girl.

“This is Park Sooyoung. Apparently they called her Joy back at SMU because she’s a moodmaker.” She lightly punched Joy’s shoulder. “Although she does seem a bit stiff for that nickname.”

“Nice to meet you, sunbaenim.” Joy bowed. “I’m a big fan.”

Seulgi smiled warmly at her. The girl was tall with long legs, although not tall enough to be a goalkeeper. Was probably fast, if she knew how to control her stride and breath. Typical mesomorph body type with an athletic build, perfect for soccer. “I’m guessing you’re gonna be our striker?”

Joy smiled. “One day I hope to be a center forward like you, sunbaenim.”

“Please, call me Seulgi.” Seulgi clapped Joy's shoulder. “You look like you’ll do great in my stead.”

“We’re all hoping you can return to the field soon. I can only stay on the field for so long without a substitution.”

“Low stamina?”

Joy grimaced. “Still working on it.”

“She’s got good potential. Wendy says that she’s got those bursts of energy, which works perfectly fine for her position anyway.”

“Yeah, I see what you mean.”

Hyoyeon patted the back of the second girl. “Kim Yerim. Goes by Yeri. Also a college recruit. From RVU. She’s going to be our defending midfielder, but she’s got a bunch of experience in both defense and midfield from youth leagues.”

Seulgi gave Yeri a fist bump. Defending midfielders who were of lighter build generally worked with long passes and visibility without too much focus on defense. Long and lean DMs covered distance. Yeri was a bit stockier and shorter—Coach Kim was probably planning on using her to aggressively guard the front line of the defense. These stronger DMs generally did a lot of marking, intercepting, and physically demanding forms of defense, including tackling. It required a great deal of figuring out the opposition’s offense tactics and forming a defense in tandem to it.

“Hi, Seulgi. I hope I also have permission to call you that.” Yeri saw to it that Seulgi nodded before continuing. “I started playing soccer because of you back when you won the golden boot and best young player.”

“Are you eighteen?”

“Yeah.”

Seulgi shook her head in disbelief. “Has it already been six years since my first World Cup?”

“Time flies quickly, doesn’t it?” Hyoyeon laughed. “You’re twenty-four now. Soon you’ll be my age,” she teased.

“Oh, please, Coach.” Seulgi elbowed Hyoyeon. “You’ve been thirty-three for centuries now.”

“Rude.” Hyoyeon scrunched her nose. “Anyway, moving on.” She brought the last recruit forward. “This is Bae Joohyun. From WK League.”

“Oh.” Seulgi smiled. “What team?”

“Was it I&S? Or TTS.”

“I&S.”

“Right.” Hyoyeon nodded. “And they called you Irene, right?”

“Irene?” Seulgi tilted her head. “Why Irene? Are you from overseas?” Perhaps Wendy would finally have someone with whom to relate.

“No, it’s supposed to be her field nickname. She never gets aggressive on the field when there’s foul play. Usually calming everyone down instead of joining in on the fighting. Irene means goddess of peace, if I remember correctly.”

“That’s interesting.” Seulgi met Irene’s eyes. They were wide and held an almost angry passion to them. “How long did you play WK?”

“Six years. Since I was nineteen.”

Seulgi studied the girl. She was very fragile-looking—lean and light and smaller than Seulgi, who was not by any means a tall person—which made her look the part of a playmaker. But given Hyoyeon’s testimony about her rather passive nature, she wouldn’t really be cut out to be the attacking midfielder, because AMs had to set the pace and get the ball forward, reading the opposition’s defense to make supports whenever possible. “What position did you play?”

“I was a right winger for about three years and then played forward.”

“Are you a striker for us too?”

“She’s our playmaker,” Hyoyeon supplied. “She’ll work well with both you, Joy, and Rosé. Very good with dribbling and crosses.”

“I see.” Seulgi continued to look at Irene. She had a calm countenance, but there was something in her eyes that really made her seem a bit wild. Untamed, but willing. “I look forward to watching you play.”

And she meant it.

§

“AHHHHHHHHHH!”

That was the first thing Seulgi heard when she and Wendy walked into the locker room after practice was over, the sun already setting in pretty ember hues over the darkening sky. She spotted Yooa splayed across a locker to cool herself as she bellowed like a dying whale. The new recruits were looking at her, expressions ranging from fear to understanding to disgust (understandably, because she was wiping her sweat on the metal) on the faces of Joy, Yeri, and Irene, respectively. The rest of the team laughed at the very relatable wail from the dramatic midfielder, and Binnie smacked Yooa’s head as she passed by to grab her shirt.

“Ow, my nose!” Yooa detached herself and kicked the air where Binnie had just been. “You almost ruined a face that comes once in a million years!”

“Well, she didn’t, did she?” Doyeon high-fived Momo at the smart response. “Plus, you know that all of our faces come once in a million years. How else do you think we got the Most Entertaining Team Award two years ago after they revived it again?”

“Because we always do girl group dances during breaks and after scoring.”

“Well, yes,” Momo said, scratching her head, “but did it ever occur to you that the fans are probably entertained by our faces more than anything?”

“I don’t know,” Yuju teased. “Not with Yooa in the team.”

“Hey!”

“Okay, girls. That’s enough.” Wendy and Seulgi stepped forward, the former waving her clipboard threateningly. “Obviously none of you have really taken a look in the mirror when you’re all sweaty and gross.”

“Wendy,” Yooa whined. “My mom told me I was the prettiest girl in the world!”

“Everyone’s mom tells them that,” Seulgi quipped. “Mine did too. But all of you guys outranked me in the Korean public’s little survey about their favourite, a.k.a. most attractive, members on our team.”

Sowon sniffed. “I don’t know why, honestly. You’re really pretty too.”

“I’m flattered, but if that survey was truly based on talent appeal alone, you’d figure that they’d vote for the person who won the golden ball and was picked for the all-star team.”

“I think you look pretty.” Everyone whipped their heads around to the quiet voice. It was Irene. “Koreans have stupid beauty standards anyway.”

Seulgi blinked at the bold statement before recovering, laughing jovially. “Says you. You look like you descended straight from Mt. Olympus.”

Irene blushed. “Looks aren’t important to playing soccer. What matters is that we win.”

“Yeah, she’s right,” Soyou quipped in. “Body is what really matters.” The wingback slapped her own before striking a silly pose.

Seulgi gagged with the other veteran members but kept in mind how Irene seemed so subdued when she spoke. Winning. Huh. Seulgi glanced at Irene from the corner of her eye. Winning was great, but Seulgi always prioritized playing a good game regardless of outcome. That usually brought her clarity of mind, which in turn brought victory.

“Since we’ve got our new recruits with us today, Hyoyeon said we’ll go out to K-BBQ for dinner.” Wendy grinned at the cheers that erupted in the locker room. “I’ve convinced the higher ups to give us enough to go for round two and three too, probably at the karaoke. Maybe the club.”

“Who are you and what did you do to Wendy?” Chaeyoung widened her eyes as she pointed accusingly at the manager. “You never let us drink and party late, even during off-seasons!”

“Well-” Wendy shrugged- “a little birdy convinced me otherwise.” She glanced at Seulgi, who raised her eyebrows nonchalantly and also shrugged. “Only one night though. After tonight, it’ll just be grinding through qualifying for the World Cup and training for this year’s Olympic tournament.”

“Ah, carrot-and-stick as always, our dear manager.” Doyeon fake weeped dramatically on Tzuyu’s shoulder. “And to think that it would last.”

Wendy tsk-ed. “I literally just told you that it was one night. What do you mean ‘think it would last?’ I’ll have Hyoyeon whoop your , you insolent child.”

“Coach loves me too much for that.” Doyeon stuck her tongue out.

Wendy shook her head exasperatedly. “Alright, whatever. Now wash up, all of you. We’re gonna head out soon.”

“YEET!”

Seulgi laughed. It seemed like Yeri was adjusting pretty well.

§

“Kang Seulgi!”

Seulgi lifted a hand in greeting to Bora and Soyou, who jogged towards her on the benches. Despite being sidelined, the center forward came to every practice and stretched with the team before heading back to sit down, knowing that there was no way her leg would be able to bear the other activities without becoming completely useless. She smiled at how sweaty her teammates were, patting the empty bench next to her for them to sit.

“Yo, Coach is gonna kill us if she sees us chilling with you in the shade.” Bora looked over her shoulder. Hyoyeon was shouting instructions to some players. “How’re you feeling?”

Seulgi shrugged. Her leg was definitely feeling a lot better than it had two months ago, but she knew she wouldn’t be recovered in time to play at the Olympics in the next two weeks. Her physician told her that the middle of next year was a liberal estimate for when she could get back on the field. It was more likely to take a good three or four more months than that to ensure she wouldn’t be sitting out yet again.

“I feel like you would’ve been out here with us if only you didn’t attempt to join in on qualifying back in September. Your doctor said a year, but you went on the field anyway.”

Bora elbowed her companion harshly, silently signalling for the taller girl to shut up. Seulgi sighed. Soyou wasn’t wrong at all: the tibia fracture that Seulgi had suffered during the last half of the semi-final game of her second World Cup should’ve healed within six months or so, but the continued shin splints that she had leading up to the accident were detrimental to her recovery. The shin bone had broken clean through her skin after one particularly aggressive player misaimed her tackle, and Seulgi was rushed to the hospital, where she was told that she had several stress fractures in addition to the broken tibia.

Hyoyeon had been angry—not so much at the offending player—but at Seulgi. Seulgi knew she was in the wrong for not telling her coach about her condition, but how could she? She had to be on the field. She had to be on the field no matter what. And Hyoyeon knew why too. So when Seulgi came back in even worse condition after qualifying, Hyoyeon was angry at Seulgi and also at herself for letting Seulgi play when she wasn’t ready for it yet. Even if the girl had insisted she was fine.

“It’s a shame that I’ll miss out on the Olympics…” Seulgi pressed her clenched hands into her lap, fighting back the disappointment she felt about herself: always lingering, invading, gripping her shin with burning fingers and laughing in her ear. “But I’m gonna be there with you guys for the World Cup. Just wait. I’ll be there.”

Bora’s lips curved into a sympathetic smile as she patted Seulgi’s shoulder reassuringly. “You’re the ace of the field. We believe in you. We’ll be waiting.”

Seulgi nodded. “Thanks.” She clenched her fists tighter. “You guys should head back now. Coach stopped shouting at them.”

Both of her teammates shared a worried glance before clapping Seulgi’s shoulders again and jogging back. Seulgi watched Hyoyeon wave her arms in frustration at the slackers as Yuri ran alongside the rest of the team, taking notes. The head coach was probably going to scold them for running off with only two weeks left until the Summer Olympics. They had to shape up soon. Especially Rosé. With Seulgi on the benches, she’d definitely be out on the field as a left striker. More so because Joy was still a rookie on the national team, and she would need a forward to guide her. That mentor definitely wasn’t Seulgi at the moment.

She glanced up at the sky. If the sun had been unusually hot in early May, it was absolutely scorching in July, and Seulgi found herself actually wishing for the monsoon season. Usually the rains lasted until mid-July, but the weather had been weird lately. Must’ve been because of global warming.

But the unforgiving death ray in the sky was especially unbearable to the people actually out and about, so Seulgi found herself carefully jogging over to her panting teammates to tell Hyoyeon to give them a quick break. They’d pass out at this rate from heatstroke. Seulgi had been there before, and it wasn’t fun.

“Coach, the kids are gonna die. You can’t play soccer if you don’t have a team to play it.”

Hyoyeon took off her black cap to fan herself with it. The head coach also had beads of sweat around her hairline—enough to be visible but not enough to break and run down her face. And she was someone who barely sweated, too. Hyoyeon turned to look at Hwasa, who gave a short nod of agreement.

“Fine, let’s take fifteen.” Hyoyeon shooed everyone towards the shade. “Wendy!”

The manager popped her head out from behind the cooler. “What’s up?”

“The raid’s coming; save me a drink before they take everything!”

“Gotcha, cap!”

Seulgi amusedly watched the way her team stampeded over to Wendy's tiny frame, desperate to feel cool liquid running smoothly down their parched throats. From beside Seulgi, Hyoyeon let out a small bark of laughter. Seulgi turned towards her.

“Coach.”

“That’s me.” Hyoyeon raised an eyebrow. “Wanna tell me something?”

Seulgi fidgeted, reaching up to wipe the sweat that had trickled down her temple. Unlike Hyoyeon, Seulgi sweated excessively. “How long will I have to wait to get back to the normal routines once I’ve recovered?”

Hyoyeon sighed. “You know I need to discuss with Wendy. She has the bigger say in how everything is scheduled.”

“If my physician’s estimate is right, I’ll be recovered by next July if earliest, October if latest. I’ll only have a year to get back into top shape before the World Cups.”

“You for sure aren’t going to be doing anything demanding during the first six months.”

“Coach…”

“I asked Jisoo, Lisa, and Hwasa about it, and it’s six months. That’s our conclusion.”

“Six months is in no way enough for me to perform at my best. You know that. I won’t even be able to play with such poor performance.”

“Six months, Kang Seulgi.” Hyoyeon placed her cap back on. “I’m trying everything I can to get you back on the field and I’ll do anything in my power to get you to peak performance, but all the other stuff is on you. Taking care of your health now, not pushing your body then. Trusting yourself to adjust in that half year period.” Hyoyeon patted Seulgi’s back. “You’re more than capable of getting back on your feet in that time. You need to believe in yourself. Have faith in you as much as your teammates do.” Hyoyeon started walking to the benches. “We’re all waiting for you. Ace of the field.”

Seulgi silently watched as her coach joined the others, the voice at the back of her mind telling her she couldn't even join her team's warm ups. Ace of the field. She laughed listlessly, trying to push down the insecurity rising in .

§

At this point, Seulgi wondered why the management wasted money flying her back and forth to all the games when she was literally just sitting on a bench the entire time. It wasn’t like she’d magically get better and be ready to go out on the field just by watching her team. In fact, seeing the score for their first match of the group stage made Seulgi feel even worse. They were losing.

“Yeri, keep the damn ball over the ing line!” Hyoyeon screamed as the DM passed the ball back to the defense for the fourth time in the second half, despite there being a clear area to push the ball forward. “Chaeyoung is wide open!”

Seulgi bit her lip as she watched the midfielders struggle. Hyoyeon, upon discussion with Wendy and Boa, had set up a 3-5-2 formation, swapping Momo to be a DM with Yeri and assigning Rosé as the LS to Joy’s position on the right. Tzuyu, Sowon, and Soyou were holding off the center pretty well with Yuju and Binnie on the sides, but the entire midfield was absolute chaos. Momo was the only one holding her own, and Yeri wasn’t doing so hot; however, it only made sense that she wasn’t, because Irene hadn’t been leading the ball forward. Seulgi could see that she had the technical skills down pat, but whenever a more aggressive player got into her space she lost control of the ball and ended up passing it behind to one of the DMs, which pushed the opposing players further into their field and left Yeri and Momo no choice but to hand things off to the defense as a last resort.

Seulgi briefly wondered if it would be best to switch the midfield formation to 2 CM, 1 DM, but Momo was already too exhausted, and Irene wouldn’t do any better as a CM if she was so passive in the first place. The center forward sighed and pressed her palms into her closed eyes, not wanting to watch her team lose the very first match of the tournament. When she said she was looking forward to seeing Irene play, she meant it for when the AM was in her best form. Not whatever bullcrap was currently happening on the field.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Wendy nudged her knee, the okay leg. “If every single team manages to lose at least once, then we still have a chance.”

Seulgi looked up at the team manager. “Wendy, the United States is in our group. We’re literally getting our kicked by them right now. There’s no way they’re going to lose to anyone.”

“Okay fair enough. But anything is possible in sports.”

Seulgi shook her head. “You know that’s not what I’m worried about though.”

“They’ll get better.”

They needed to get better. Seulgi didn’t want to play in a team that wouldn’t even make it past the 16th round of the World Cup. Heck, she wasn’t even sure if they’d make it through the third round of qualifying at this rate. And if she wasn’t on the field—wasn’t being televised to the entirety of the world and to every television in Korea for as long as possible—there was no point in trying. No point in getting frustrated and having hope. Nothing. She’d feel nothing.

The team ended up losing the game 4-0. Horrible. Horrible. Seulgi wanted to cry. They definitely hadn’t put on their best game, and that was why they had lost. All that training, only for this. She slammed a fist onto the bench beside her.

“Seulgi?”

Seulgi took a few seconds to compose herself and glanced up to the newcomer with a poker face. It was Irene: still sweaty, face red, hands trembling as she clasped them together in front of her body. The anger Seulgi had seen in her eyes throughout training was now replaced with something more subdued, defeated even, and it almost made her angry enough to get up and shove the petite girl.

“Irene.”

Irene shifted back and forth between her feet. “Um. Are you okay?” She motioned toward Seulgi’s clenched fist. “I, uh, saw you punch the bench.”

Seulgi gave her a tight smile, teeth clenched so hard that her head hurt. “Just a little frustrated.”

“I know you’re probably angry at me. I messed up pretty bad on the field today.”

Pretty bad? Seulgi let out a breath of laughter at the absurd wording. “You think so?”

Irene bit her lip, shifting her eyes to her feet. She’d already been chewed out by Hyoyeon. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine sitting there, wanting to play, only to see your team lose.”

There it was again. Win or lose. This time the laugh that left Seulgi’s mouth was loud and hysterical—ringing out, bouncing off, piercing through the outrageous notion that Irene was more worried about Seulgi’s thoughts than her own play. She stood up and yanked Irene’s chin upward, forcing the smaller girl to meet her gaze.

“Tell me, Irene.” Seulgi didn’t even blink as her stare blazed into Irene’s frightened eyes. “Did you put your all in today? Did you put in your best game?”

Irene’s lips opened and closed slightly, unable to answer. She jerked herself backwards, back hitting the railing.

“I always do everything to win. I’d do anything if it meant our team can hold that trophy up by the end.”

“No.” Seulgi stepped forward, making Irene lean back slightly over the railing. “Wrong answer.”

“What are you, my coach?” Irene spat back, the fire returning to her eyes as she leaned in to face Seulgi. “You’ve been off the field for nearly a year, and you won’t get back on it because you misjudged your abilities. Who are you to tell me that I don’t know if I made full use of my abilities or not?”

“You done talking?” Seulgi gripped the railing tightly, caging Irene in. “You think I haven’t been watching you launch the ball back into our field whenever anyone ten pounds bigger than you tried to stop your dribbling?” She let out a bark of laughter. “You’re good, I’ll tell you that. Others have probably also told you the same. You’ve got the technique down to the tee—perfect execution of textbook theory—but that’s not why you play soccer.” She leaned in even closer. “You play soccer because you’ve got passion and you’re willing to embody your position exactly as the coach tells you to. And the playmaker is always going to be the one driving that ball forward and making assists.”

“Don’t tell me I don’t have passion.”

“You just wanna win.” Seulgi backed off, dusting her hands. “You don’t wanna play.”

§

By some miracle, the USA tied against Australia and Zambia, which placed their team at a significant advantage after winning Zambia, who tied with Australia. So long as Korea didn’t lose to Australia, they were guaranteed to advance to the quarterfinals. But there was no such thing as guarantees in sports.

Wendy stepped out in front of the team, holding her clipboard up to her face to check something before bringing it back down to her side. She looked solemnly at all the players.

“We’ve already got the USA advancing to the next round with five points. Zambia’s only got two points.” She checked her clipboard again. “If we win or tie against Australia, we’re going to quarterfinals. If we lose, we go back home.”

Seulgi bit her lip. It was a tricky situation. Australia currently had two points from playing two ties, so if they won and received three points, they would advance to the next round. However, if Korea managed to at least tie with them, Australia would only receive one point to total three points, while Korea’s one point would give them four total points. And of course, winning Australia would mean two points for them and six points for Korea.

“Alright, so here’s the plan.” Hyoyeon huddled everyone together in a tight circle to give them a brief talk. “As y'all know, we’re switching back from the diamond to the 3-5-2 because they’ll be expecting the diamond again after the win against Zambia. Got it?” Everyone nodded. “We’re going to have the exact same people and set up, but this time we’re switching up the midfield.”

Momo raised her hand. “Will I still be a DM?”

“No. Yeri, I’m keeping you as the DM, and Momo, you and Irene will both play center.”

Irene frowned. “Coach, I haven’t done a more defensive position in a while.”

“But you said you were a winger in WK?”

“For the first three years. I was a forward after that, so I’m not confident that I can deal both offense and defense.”

Wendy glanced at her clipboard. “If needed, you and Momo can split that role a little. You push the offense a bit more.”

“But…”

“No buts.” Hyoyeon waved to dismiss the circle and Yuri motioned for the players to follow her. “Get yourselves warmed up. We can’t afford any injuries.”

Seulgi watched Irene walk to a more isolated area to shake out her limbs before wrapping her arms around her stomach. She looked subdued again. Seulgi made her way over to her.

“Irene.”

Jumping in surprise, Irene turned to Seulgi. “Oh. Hi.”

They hadn’t been on the best of terms since their little match after the first game, avoiding conversation whenever possible, but Seulgi still wanted Irene to do well and do her best. They were a team, after all.

“Um...don’t be too worried.”

Seulgi stared out at the field. There was a huge section of red: the Korean fans. It always warmed her heart to see the passionate support, but at the same time, one part of her chest ached at the fact that there would always be someone missing from that crowd, that the crowd would never be totally complete. She shook her head.

“I know you’re freaking out about balancing offense and defense, but you’ll do fine.” Seulgi saw Irene look at the field too. “You’ve got the technique. The handling, the passing. The endurance. The speed.” She bit her lip. “You just need the trust. That’s what Coach always says. Believe in yourself like the team does. Like our fans do.”

Irene turned to Seulgi; Seulgi met her eyes shyly. The loud cheering permeated the entire stadium, making everything feel so alive, and Seulgi thought she saw the fire blazing in Irene’s eyes again. She gave a small and quick smile.

“You too, Seulgi.” Seulgi cocked her head questioningly. Irene let one corner of her lips tilt up just the slightest bit. “You need to believe in yourself.” She turned to head back to the rest of the team. “We’re still waiting for you, ace. Trust yourself as much as we trust you to come back to us soon.” She stopped and faced Seulgi again. “We miss you. Korea misses you.”

§

Seulgi could see it. Her words had definitely given Irene a confidence boost, because she was a lot more aggressive on the field (although not as aggressive as she should’ve been in the AM position) and took up Wendy’s advice, letting Momo take on a bit more of the heavier defense while pushing the ball forward. It was amazing how she trusted Momo so wholeheartedly but when it came to herself, Irene was still learning. Seulgi shifted next to her coach and silently watched as the play continued. No one had scored in the first half, but the defense and midfield were doing stellar and Yeri was proving to be a force to be reckoned with now that Momo and Irene were helping out much more than before. Seulgi had yet to see Joy score—Rosé had been the one who scored the two goals to win against Zambia—but the tall girl ran like a cheetah, sprinting at an insane speed and executing sharp turns with ease. She seemed like she needed more practice with precise shooting, because she was more aggressive than Rosé but hadn’t put in a goal.

The wingbacks had a great synergistic energy with the central mids, and Hyoyeon was enthusiastically screaming at them to push the ball to Yeri, the older woman suddenly more reminiscent of a fan with a charge-forward-at-all-times mentality than a levelheaded coach. Yuri had to pull her down from her standing position lest she barrel into the field and start running with the players. While half of the second half had already gone by, Seulgi could see that they’d score soon with how often Joy was shooting, and the center backs and Doyeon looked almost bored with the great offensive play. It was all going great.

With only three minutes left in the until the end of the game, Joy received a cross from Yuju and slammed the ball into the goal post.

The reds in the stadium erupted in cheers—the fans waving their flags to create a rippling effect over the sea of their team colour—and this time, Wendy had to hold Hyoyeon back from jumping over the barrier. Aisha and Bora pulled each other into a hug as the two wingers high-fived, jumping with their hands locked. Seulgi scanned the smiling faces of her teammates as they danced to SISTAR’s So Cool with the fans chanting in the background. She met Joy’s eyes and gave her a thumbs up, both of their faces painted with wide grins. Carried high on the shoulders of her proud teammates, Joy pumped her first and bit her lip with that gusty confidence only she could pull off, and Seulgi reciprocated the exaggerated lip bite before her eyes found fiery, wide ones that folded into crescents upon seeing her.

Seulgi released her lower lip to smile back gently, her eyes mirroring the girl’s on the field.

§

“Quarterfinals, babies, let’s eat ‘em up!”

The team cheered and hooted as Yuri entered the locker room with the subs, pumping their fists in the air as they came in. Seulgi felt the adrenaline buzzing in her veins as her teammates did a weird chanting, squatted march-like movement around Joy, who cupped both of her hands around one ear.

“Come on, let me hear it again!”

“I’m your Joy, you’re my Joy, world’s best striker, go Park Joy!”

Seulgi laughed as Yuri joined in, stomping left then right with the players to the simple beat. She leaned against a locker and watched them fool around, waiting for Hyoyeon to finish up her interviews and head in to congratulate them. The small, enclosed area was filled with their shrieks and laughter, and Seulgi felt like she belonged, even if she had been sidelined for way too long. It felt like a family.

“Not joining in on the fun?”

Seulgi smiled and shook her head at Irene’s quiet question. “How about yourself? Not much of a celebrator?”

“I’m more of an introvert, and loud noises scare me sometimes. I can’t even sleep by myself when there’s thunder.”

Seulgi turned to look at the smaller girl and tilted her head. “How did you survive this long? Do you have a boyfriend hidden away at our camp whom you cuddle when it rains?”

Irene laughed. It was a tinkling sound: high and airy and light. “Oh lord no.” She shook her head, still smiling. “I’m gay. Wouldn’t even dare touch a man for too long.”

“Understandable. They can be quite hairy at times.”

Irene burst out into laughter again, but this time, it was more uncontrolled. “Oh, you’re so mean, Seulgi.”

Seulgi smiled at Irene’s funny laugh. “Can’t be a center forward without the mean streak. I gotta muscle my way past all that defense.”

“You look like you would cry if you accidentally smacked a mosquito.”

Seulgi gasped in fake offense. “I’m the master bug killer!”

“Sure.” Irene’s eyes curved in amusement. “And I love thunderstorms.”

“And you say I’m the mean one.”

“Fine, you big baby.” Irene playfully slapped Seulgi’s , making the latter yelp in surprise. “You win.”

Seulgi set her astonishment at the casual physical contact from the shy girl to retort. “You know I always do.” She crossed her arms and huffed childishly.

“Oh yeah, about that.” Irene scratched her cheek. “I just wanna say thank you.”

Seulgi shook her head. “No. We’re a team. It's only natural that we uplift and wish the best for each other.”

“No, it’s different.” Irene scrunched her nose. “I really needed someone to tell me that. Everyone’s always telling me that I’m good enough technique-wise to do anything, but you and I both know that even with six years under my belt, I still don’t understand this game as much as I want to. Every decision could be a mistake, and every missed opportunity will never return. It’s a game of chance. Being able to find that one possibility in a million.”

“You're not confident about your strategy.”

“Yeah. And it’s detrimental for someone who has to set the pace of the game.” Irene bit her lip and looked down. “You’re a pro at strategy. It’s what made you a center forward.”

“Everyone just needs practice.”

“I understand that, but…” Irene let out a heavy sigh. “It’s been six years, and I still haven’t picked much up.” She glanced at Seulgi, briefly meeting her eyes. “I was actually wondering if you could teach me your ways. Whether it be during the Olympics or afterwards. Before we head to the World Cup. Since there’s still qualifying and all.”

Seulgi blinked. She hadn’t really expected that proposal from Irene. “Uh, I mean, you can’t really just absorb strategy just because someone teaches it to you. It’s something you have to learn with your body on the field through experience.”

“Then do that. Demonstrate the different ways people can come in, go out. Draw out diagrams and have me practice them with the others. Show me that anything is possible.”

The center forward stared at the playmaker. Fire, fire, fire. There was that fire in her eyes. Angry, desperate. Passionate. She just needed the know-how.

“Okay.” Seulgi nodded, slowly then a bit more quickly. “Okay. I’ll help you.” She ran her fingers through her hair, swiping the dark locks of her face. “But you help me too.”

“Me? How?”

Seulgi glanced at the rowdy teammates who had started to quiet down at Hyoyeon and Wendy’s entrance. They greeted them enthusiastically, not minding the two figures quietly chatting in a corner of the room.

“I need to get on that field as soon as possible. Get back into top shape.” She gripped Irene’s shoulder gently but firmly, conveying the need she felt. “I want you to help me with that.”

“But...I’m not a doctor or anything. I don’t know how.”

Seulgi squeezed once. “Show me that anything is possible.”

§

Semifinals. They had made it.

The game against Chile was a close run, but they won nevertheless. They used a 4-3-3 formation, letting Irene, Yeri, and Rosé sit out as Yooa and Chaeyoung finally joined the gameplay. Three-to-two. Doyeon blocking two almost untrackable shots. Joy making that last minute goal again.

“Okay, so if we win China, we’ll be meeting either Germany or the US in the finals. No pressure. We’ve done great so far, and even placing fourth this year will be a new record for the national team. Only the men’s team won a bronze medal back in 2012, and since then, we’ve been pretty low-profile. Of course winning something would be best, but y’all are superstars either way.”

Wendy finished her pep talk and leaned back to let the players do one last cheer before heading out. It didn’t surprise anyone that the defense players started belting Joy’s chant with the namesake of the near-incantation bopping her head to the beat. Seulgi slapped their hands as they left the locker room, palm lingering slightly on Irene’s as the latter slowly slid her hand down Seulgi’s fingers instead of executing a quick high-five.

Loud.

The entire stadium was on their feet as people screamed at the top of their lungs: words mixing into barely recognizable phonemes that further blended into a single high-pitched buzz which overtook the whole area. Seulgi peered at the sea of ever-moving red across from her. She wondered if she would see a familiar face. Her heart clenched again.

Then the whistle blew and the players barrelled into action.

§

“On one hand, I’m really glad to finally be going home, but at the same time, it’s a little disappointing, ya know?” Tzuyu and Seulgi nodded understandingly at Yeri’s rambling. “Like, if only that goalie hadn’t called out our offside, we might’ve had a chance. Like, it was barely noticeable.”

They lost to China, and of course they lost to Germany. Seulgi patted Yeri’s head and watched Tzuyu do the same as they pulled out their tickets to board the plane. The Olympics were over, and they’d be heading back to Korea to take a short break before going back into playing qualifying matches for the World Cup. It was a grind that drained them of any energy they had, but it was fulfilling nevertheless. Seulgi stood flexing and releasing her thigh muscle over and over in her standing position, wishing to feel that fulfillment soon.

“Do you have a plane partner yet?” Seulgi glanced over to the soft voice on her right. “I was hoping I could sit with you.”

“Uh, yeah.” Seulgi breathed out. Seeing Irene out of uniform was always a unique experience, because she seemed even softer than she already was. Like she descended from the heavens to stop all sin on Earth. “Yeah, you can sit with me.”

Irene smiled. “Good. I was worried you wouldn’t want to sit with me.”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“You sat with Wheein on the way here.”

Seulgi pressed her lips together. “I was talking to her about if I could start conditioning at all before I fully recovered. She’s been holding off because the injury was pretty bad.”

“What did she say?”

“She’ll talk to Jisoo again and see what she can do, but my personal physician said I’m recovering pretty quickly and set to be ready to get back on the field by August, hopefully. Though he’s not a sports physician, so our staff are taking whatever he gives them just as a reference to determine what’ll happen to me. Wheein seemed a lot more optimistic about getting me training again than Jisoo, Lisa, and Hwasa are, so at the very least, I might be able to do some conditioning off the field.”

“That’s good to hear.” They moved up in the line, handing the attendant their tickets. “I was talking to a physical therapist friend of mine, by the way.” The two made their way down the tunnel connecting them to the plane. “Solar said something interesting to me about recoveries. For sports players.”

“Yeah?” Seulgi smiled at the flight attendant as they entered the aircraft. “And what’s that?”

Irene placed her carry-on in the overhead bin and scooted to the window seat, waiting for Seulgi to follow. Seulgi did the same and sat in the aisle seat, turning to face Irene so she could continue.

“She said that for the same injuries, it seemed that athletes recovered a bit faster.”

“Well, we have a lot more people helping us recover. An entire team, actually.”

“Yeah, but there’s something more, don’t you think?” Irene glanced out the window, where the traffic workers were directing the arrivals. “Some injuries are just so bad that there comes a point where that stuff doesn’t matter, and yet we always end back up on that field.”

“Hmm, I don’t know, Irene.” Seulgi stretched out her legs. “I still think it’s the resources we have.”

“But then the wealthy should also be in the same boat.” Irene looked at Seulgi. “But they’re not. Solar said it’s because we have a different set of expectations than a non-athlete.”

“Like, expectations from fans or for ourselves?”

“Both.” The attendant announced that they would be departing in ten minutes. “There’s that expectation from the fans that you’ll be back, and there’s the expectation for yourself that you won’t disappoint them. Because there’ll always be someone looking for you. Waiting for you.