Tzuyu sat on her bed, contemplating the response she had just given to the press. What was she thinking? She didn’t know how to answer that question and she had no clue why exactly she had said yes to that answer. Was it pride? Was it empathy? She gave a small groan in response as she fell onto her bed and looked at her phone seeing all of the notifications from Soccer Media outlets talking about what Tzuyu had said and text messages from her teammates asking all sorts of various things.

 

She gave a small sigh as she unlocked her phone seeing the messages from her teammates checking up on her and asking if she was alright. Tzuyu gave a small smile knowing that she had such caring and supportive teammates. While she was scrolling through her messages a notification from Jihyo had popped up on the top of her screen.

 

(Jihyo) Hey. A few of the girls and I are going to visit Moonbyul at the hospital. You wanna come with us?.

 

Tzuyu opened the chat and immediately responded back to Jihyo with a short reply.

 

(Tzuyu) Sure. What time?.

 

(Jihyo) Around the afternoon. We’re all going to meet at the park in front of your mom’s bakery.

 

Tzuyu nodded her head in response as she sent a thumbs up emoji to the older girl and turned her phone off and positioned herself to where she was looking at the ceiling above her. There was a slight rustling noise outside of her door– most likely her mother coming back from running the Bakery store.

 

There was a slight knock on the door and a soft voice coming from behind, “Chewy can I come in?”

 

Tzuyu sat upright on her bed and replied, “Yeah.”

 

The door opened slowly revealing her mother still in her work attire and a tired look on her face. She walked over to Tzuyu and sat down next to her as she kissed the crown of her daughter’s skull and said, “I heard you guys won.”

 

“Yeah,” Tzuyu said with a small voice as she snuggled closer into her mother’s embrace, “I even scored the winning goal.”

 

“Did you now?” The woman said with an impressed look, “That’s my daughter.”

 

Tzuyu gave a small smile as she looked at her mom who was also giving a proud smile at her daughter. Tzuyu’s mother would do everything in her own power to give the life that her daughter deserves, even if it meant working all of the time to provide Tzuyu with the best accommodations to help with her soccer dreams– and Tzuyu knew that but sometimes she wished her mom would just have a moment to relax and just have a day to herself.

 

Tzuyu looked at her mom and said, “You should get some rest.”

 

Her mother nodded her head in agreement as she stood up from Tzuyu’s bed and had begun walking away until she stopped where she was and quickly turned sound and said, “I forgot to tell you but one of my friends’ daughters from Japan is going to be moving into one of our guest rooms tomorrow evening. Would you mind helping them move in?”

 

Japan? The younger girl thought to herself as she slowly nodded her head in response and raised her eyebrow in response, “How long will they be staying with us?”

 

The older woman replied with a small shrug, “For as long as she needs. My friend said she would pay rent for her daughter until she could find a place for her daughter.”

 

Tzuyu also nodded her head in response. Her mother had stood up from her bed and also added, “She’s also going to Seojun Academy, so try to be friends with her?”

 

Seojun Academy? Tzuyu thought to herself again. She decided not to think too much about it as her mother was beginning to leave the room and slowly closed the door behind her and wished her daughter a Goodnight. Tzuyu saw the small light under the crack of her door go dark meaning that her mother had gone into her room. She laid back down onto her bed and gave a deep sigh as she closed her eyes and shuffled in her sleep.

 

She continued to shuffle in her sleep for a few more minutes until she gave a slight groan and opened her eyes realizing she couldn’t fall asleep– so she did the one thing that she always did when she couldn’t fall asleep. She turned her phone on and searched up soccer highlights of her favorite player… Lionel Messi.

 

She had looked up to the renowned soccer player ever since she was a child. His love for the game was truly unrivaled. Messi was an absolute genius on the field with how fluid his game was and his unprecedented leadership. This was a player that Tzuyu hoped to become one day but just like Messi… she needed to start from the bottom and work her way up the hierarchy of soccer to become the best.

 

Before she even realized it she had fallen asleep while watching a Messi highlight in the World Cup, dreaming of the day when she would be able to play in such an event but for now it was just a far-out dream.

 

(-)

 

Tzuyu had covered her eyes from the sunlight that was shining on her face. She was walking down the street with cool air striking her skin. Fall season was one of the favorite times of the year for Tzuyu– not just because that's when the soccer season began but she always liked the cool and brisk air that surrounded Korea. 

 

She continued walking down the road until she spotted her mother’s bakery where a few of the girls were already standing in front of. Tzuyu walked over and gave a small wave towards the group of girls. Jihyo was the first to notice the taller girl walking towards them and waved back.

 

As Tzuyu got closer she noticed a few familiar faces standing around in the group. Mina was standing next to Jihyo, trying to get as close to her as possible, trying to be as warm as possible. Momo and Jeongyeon were also there looking into the display area of the bakery… drooling at the sight of all the warm pastry that was placed on the stands. A few other faces such as Jinsoul, Yves and  were also there giving small smiles towards their youngest player.

 

Before Tzuyu could even get her greetings towards her teammate, Momo had already grabbed her hands and looked like a puppy begging for a treat, “Tzuyu! Do you think you could get your mom to give us free bread?”
 

Jihyo had smacked Momo on the shoulder and said with an embarrassed look, “That’s rude!”

 

Momo had given a small pout towards Jihyo as she rubbed her shoulder, “Hey It’s cold out here. I need something to warm myself up.”

 

Jihyo was about to retort back with another comment but Jeongyeon had quickly butted into the conversation and agreed with the Japanese girl, “It is cold out here. Why couldn’t we have just waited in the hospital?”

 

“Because all of us live in different areas of the city,” Jihyo said with a small sigh, “The closest thing to each of us is the Chou Bakery.”

 

As if on cue the door to the Chou Bakery had opened making all of the girls turn their heads toward the bell chime. Standing there was a beautiful woman that was the spitting image of Tzuyu, who was standing there with a smile on her face. She looked at all of the girls standing there in the cold and asked, “You’re all of Tzuyu’s teammates?”

 

They all gave a collective nod in response as she gave a small chuckle and asked, “What are you guys all standing out here for? Come inside.”

 

“It’s okay Mom,” Tzuyu said with an embarrassed look, “We’re about to head ou-”

 

She was quickly cut off by Momo, who now had sparkles in her eyes and asked, “Are you ok with giving us some free bread?”

 

Tzuyu’s mom laughed and said, “Of course. Any friend of Tzuyu is like my own daughter.”

 

The girls all gave a gleeful look as they all made their way into the bakery while they were saying their thanks to Tzuyu’s mother. Tzuyu had walked by her mother and said quietly as she watched the other girls looking at the pastries, “You didn’t have to do that.”

 

The older woman gave a small chuckle as she squished her daughter’s cheeks and said, “Oh is my little Chewy embarrassed.”

 

“M-Mom,” Tzuyu said with flushed cheeks as she tried to slightly push her mother away.

 

Jeongyeon had overheard the cute nickname and looked over at Tzuyu with a goofy grin as she loudly said, “Come on Chewy! Be nice to your mother.”

 

The other girls had overheard the commotion and had started giggling hearing Tzuyu’s nickname and were beginning to tease their youngest teammate. Tzuyu’s mother had given a small smile at the event as she went behind the counter and looked at all of the girls and asked, “So what would you guys like?”

 

Momo was the first to speak up as she started pointing at different pastries saying, “This, this, this… oh and that one… this one as we-”

 

Jihyo had slapped the back of the Japanese girl as she gave an apologetic look towards the older woman and said, “We'll take anything that you’re willing to give.”

 

Tzuyu’s mother had given a small smile as she started picking out assortments of  bread from the display cases while Momo was giving a small pout towards Jihyo. The rest of the girls were standing around the shop all talking amongst each other while Tzuyu gave a small sigh and leaned onto a nearby table. Mina had silently stood next to her and asked, “Are you alright?”

 

Tzuyu raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Yeah… everything is alright? Why are you asking?”

 

“The interview last night,” Mina said with a small chuckle, “Your answer brought a lot of turmoil throughout Korea.”

 

The tall girl gave a nervous chuckle in response. She knew her answer would bring a lot of attention but she didn’t think it would bring THAT much attention. She saw the articles this morning before she left the house reading how she was “getting ahead of herself” or “how brazen she was”, none of that really bothered her but there was a certain video that was trending on social media.

 

It was one of those sports media accounts where they talk about certain sporting events or news. The video discussed about Tzuyu and her potential as a soccer player, which of course didn’t bother her but a few minutes into the video they started talking about Tzuyu and her past life in Taiwan… even talking about a few personal things that no one know about except for her and her mother. 

 

She was happy that she was getting the attention, but this wasn’t the attention she wanted. She didn’t like that her personal life was being invaded by the media. She wanted to keep her athletic career and her personal life separate from each other.

 

Mina had noticed the bothered look her younger teammate was giving and asked softly, “Is something bothering you?”

 

Tzuyu gave a soft sigh as she slouched over a little and put her hands in her pocket, “I think I brought the wrong attention to myself.”

 

“Well that is what happens when you say you’re going to be the next Moonbyul,” Mina said with a soft chuckle.

 

Tzuyu gave an embarrassed look as she rubbed her forehead and said, “Look I wasn’t thinking when I said that.”

 

Mina gave a small chortle as she patted Tzuyu on the back and said, “Just be careful with the media. They always like to twist words to get a few clicks on their website.”

 

The taller girl gave a small nod in response as she made her attention towards her teammates as they were all sitting at the larger tables, eating all of the pastries and laughing with each other over a stupid video Jeongyeon was showing. 

 

It was nice that Tzuyu finally had a group of people that supported her and were always wishing the best for her but it felt like she needed something more… something that could truly motivate her to become the ultimate best.

 

At that very moment the door to the pastry shop had opened making all eyes turn their head towards the sound. There was a young girl standing there with a suitcase behind her, she looked like she was about the same age as the rest of the girls. She had a stoic expression on her face, with eyes that could kill. She had very sharp facial features such as her sharp jawline and prominent cheekbones but the most distinct feature was her long and sharp nose. 

 

Everyone in the room was staring at the beautiful girl in front of them but the first person to speak up was Tzuyu’s mother who had a surprised look on her face, “S-Sana? What are you doing here?”

 

Sana. Tzuyu thought to herself– how did her mother know this girl? The new girl had spoken up this time with a deep voice, she had a slight accent as well when speaking Korean, “I stopped by your house but no one was answering. My mother told me that you could also be at your bakery.”

 

This must be the girl that was supposedly staying with them for a while. Tzuyu’s mother had wiped her hands as she walked up to Sana and said with an exasperated look, “I thought you were supposed to be coming later this evening?”

 

“My flight got changed,” Sana said with a small shrug as she looked at Tzuyu’s mother with a bored look and spoke in an informal way, “So would you mind letting me into the house?”

 

Tzuyu noticed the rude request and informal voice causing her to quickly stand up and stare the girl down with an intimidating look, “Don’t talk to my mother like that.”

 

Everyone in the room turned their heads toward the tall girl who was now towering over Sana. All of the girls in the room could feel the tension… It was like a Grizzly Bear was getting into a fight with a Lion. Tzuyu’s mother had quickly given her daughter a small smile and whispered, “It’s okay… she still doesn’t know Korean that well.”

 

Tzuyu raised an eyebrow at her mother for quickly defending this girl. Her mother looked back at Sana with an apologetic look and said with a soft smile, “I won’t be back home for a while, but you can hang out with Tzuyu and her teammates for the meantime. You can learn about the area and get to know a few people.”

 

Tzuyu gave her mother the death stare and was very unapproved of the idea of some random girl hanging out with them but her mother had continued to ignore her as the older woman was beginning to take the suitcase away from her. 

 

Sana had also given a displeased look but she didn’t want to cause anymore problems so she gave a small sigh and said, “I’ll gladly hang around with them.”

 

(-)

 

All of the girls were walking down the street all trying their best to not be awkward around the new girl. Sana was behind all of the girls, minding her own business and looking at the scenery all around her. Jihyo was the first to try and make some kind of conversation, “So… your name is Sana?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Your name doesn’t sound Korean.”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Where are you from?”

 

“Japan.”

 

Hearing that response had piqued Momo and Mina’s interest towards the new girl. Momo quickly turned towards Sana and asked, “Which part of Japan are you from?”

 

“Osaka,” Sana said with a monotone voice.

 

“Oh!” Momo said with a giddy smile, “I’m from Kyoto! Mina over there is also from Japan as well.”

 

Mina nodded her head in response and spoke in a soft voice, “I-I was born in the United States but I was mostly raised in Kobe.”

 

Sana gave a bored nod as she continued walking behind them without saying anything else. Jeongyeon turned towards Tzuyu and whispered, “How does your Mom know this girl?”

 

“I think she’s the daughter of one of my mom’s friends,” Tzuyu said with a small shrug as she put her hands in her pocket, “She’s supposedly staying at my house for a while until she can get her own place.”

 

“She seems like an interesting character,” Jeongyeon said as she turned her head around seeing Momo bugging Sana, who was completely ignoring Momo’s antics.

 

Tzuyu nodded her head in response with a small chuckle as the group of girls continued walking until they arrived at the hospital. Jihyo had turned towards Sana and said, “We’re heading inside to meet one of our teammates. You don’t have to come with us.”

 

Sana nodded her head in response as the rest of the girls made their way inside the hospital. Tzuyu made one last look towards Sana who was looking at a group of kids playing with a soccer ball. Jihyo had done most of the talking and found out what room Moonbyul was in.

 

After walking for a few minutes (and trying to stop Momo from getting food from the hospital cafeteria) they stood in front of a door with Moonbyul’s name next to the door. Jihyo was the first to knock on the door and a small voice answered behind it. She opened the door and the girls saw an older woman sitting next to an unconscious Moonbyul on the hospital bed.

 

The older woman had given a small smile in response seeing the group of girls. The other girls quickly bowed to the woman. The woman asked, “You must be Moonbyul’s teammates? I’m her mother.”

 

The woman was giving her best smile but the other girls could see how tired the older woman was. Jihyo was the first to talk and asked the question everyone had on their mind, “Is she going to be alright?”

 

The older woman sat down and started to caress her daughter’s hand, “She’s been in and out of consciousness for the past few hours, but the doctors aren’t sure if she’ll ever be cleared to play soccer.”

 

Tzuyu noticed the somber voice and asked, “You mean… as she can’t play soccer ever again.”

 

The look in the older woman’s eyes said everything for the group of girls. Everyone in the room had different reactions, some were in disbelief, others were in shock, but for Tzuyu… she had a stone cold look. She didn’t know how to react. Moonbyul's mother noticed the tense atmosphere and reassured, “There’s still a chance though. She definitely can still play… but definitely not this season.”

 

After a few more minutes chatting with Moonbyul’s mother, the girls had given their farewells to the older woman as they walked out of the room. They all stood in the hallway just staring off into space until Jeongyeon broke the silence saying, “We’re screwed this season.”

 

Jihyo turned her head with an angry look, “We’re not screwed… we’re just…”

 

Jihyo couldn’t finish her sentence knowing full well that Moonbyul was their best goal scorer and if she wasn’t on the field this season… their sight of winning the national championship could slip away from their fingers.

 

Mina spoke up this time, “We’ll be fine. We just need to train harder and compensate for Moonbyul being out for the season.”

 

“That doesn’t change anything,” Jeongyeon said with an exasperated voice, “We lost our best striker. Who's gonna score our goals.”

 

Without even thinking, Tzuyu had spoken up this time and said, “I will.”

 

All eyes were now turned towards Tzuyu after hearing the girl’s response. It was a little too ambitious and made it seem like Tzuyu was being cocky, but she was confident in her abilities and scoring her own goals. She trained a lot these past few months .

 

Jihyo raised an eyebrow at the statement, “Tzuyu… I respect you, but this is a matter of replacing the best goal scorer in the nation. All eyes would be on you.”

 

“I know,” Tzuyu said with a serious look, “I’m just like the rest of you. I want to win.”

 

Tzuyu stopped talking for a moment and stared at all of them with a small look of embarrassment, “I want to prove my worth to the entire world.”

 

There was a brief moment of silence before there was a small chuckle coming from Jeongyeon who patted Tzuyu on the back and said, “Now… when did our little Tzuyu start having such high ambitions?”

 

The others girls were laughing as well now, which made Tzuyu give a small chuckle as well. Momo had wrapped her arm around Tzuyu’s shoulder and said, “Honestly, you’re the only person here that has the potential to be a great striker… no offense to the rest of you.”

 

Jihyo also nodded her head in response and said, “Come on, we should head out. We can’t leave Sana out in the cold for too long.”

 

All of the girls made their way down to the entrance of the hospital. When they made their way out they noticed that Sana had disappeared from her original spot. Tzuyu gave a worried look, “I hope she didn’t wander off too far… I’m supposed to bring her back home.”

 

Mina had turned her head slightly and pointed in a certain direction and said, “She’s over there.”

 

All eyes turned towards where Mina was pointing. Sana was dribbling a soccer ball between her legs and juggling it like it was nothing. She was playing some sort of game with kids trying to keep it away from their grasp. The way Sana was dribbling the ball wasn’t an amateur style… it seemed like the Japanese girl knew what she was doing and it was near perfect.

 

The girls all thought the same thing, Sana was a soccer player and most likely a good one too. They all made their way to the Japanese girl. She noticed them walking towards her causing her to stop dribbling the ball and passed it to one of the kids. She gave a small smile to them as the kids ran away with the ball down the street.

 

Momo was the first to speak up, “You didn’t mention you could play soccer.”

 

“You never asked,” Sana said with a small shrug.

 

“Did you play back in Japan?” Jihyo asked this time.

 

Sana nodded her head in response, “I played for my high school. I even played with the U-20 Women’s Japanese Team for a bit.”

 

“The U-20 Women’s Japanese Team!?” All of the girls said in unison.

 

“I only played for a few months,” Sana said with a nonchalant look, “I didn’t even play any games. I was just a reserve.”

 

“Still,” Jeongyeon said, “You were still scouted to be apart of the team. That means you have exemplary skills.”

 

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Sana said with a small shrug, “I didn’t get to prove my worth on the field.”

 

“Then let’s prove it right now,” Tzuyu said with a serious look.

 

All of the girls turned their attention to Tzuyu. She was a little bit shocked and jealous of the Japanese girl. She didn’t believe that Sana had that type of talent, it was just too random and sudden. If she had such good talent then why did she move to Korea when she’s a top talent in Japan. 

 

Sana raised an eyebrow towards Tzuyu, “And how are we supposed to do that?”

 

“There’s a soccer field a few blocks down from here.“

 

We can play 6 versus 6,” Tzuyu said with crossed arms as she looked at Jihyo, “Call the rest of the girls.”

 

(-)

 

All of the girls were standing on a nearby soccer field doing some stretches and warming up for the impromptu game. Jihyo had called a few of the girls that were available. 

 

Yves and Park Chaewon (She was a Central Midfielder and was mostly a rotation player, but she was still an amazing playmaker for the team) were at a nearby coffee shop so they were able to make some time, Jinsoul wanted to get out of a yoga class with her mother and so she quickly made her way down to the soccer field. 

 

A few more players had also said they could come. Cho Haseul (She was a Centre Back, though she was a bit small, she was fierce and could easily out pace any attacker coming at her) was helping her parents at a nearby convenience store so she was also ready to join the match. Yeji  and Ryujin were also nearby heading to one of their study sessions, but they were okay with skipping one of their sessions to play a soccer match.

 

The atmosphere in the air was a little bit tense, especially between Tzuyu and Sana. Chaewon, who was tying her cleat laces, looked at Momo with a curious look, “Who's the new girl?”

 

“Some girl that’s going to be living with Tzuyu’s family for a bit,” Momo said with a shrug as she continued to stretch her legs, “Apparently she’s played for the U-20 Japanese Women’s team.”

 

The other girls who were listening had raised their eyebrows in response to hearing such a statement. Jeongyeon, who was listening to the conversation, corrected Momo, “She said she didn’t play for them… she was a reserve so she didn’t get a lot of playing time.”

 

“Still,” Yeji said with a scared look as she stared at Sana, who was doing some sort of yoga stretching, “She got scouted for the Japanese Women’s Team. Doesn't that say enough about her skills?”

 

Jeongyeon shrugged, “Who knows. I guess we’re about to find out.”

 

The girls had split into two teams of five. On one side of the field was Jeongyeon at Goalkeeper, Ryujin and Momo in the back to defend with Jinsoul, Jihyo and Sana at front for the Forwards. On the other side of the field was Yves at Goalkeeper (She was the third tallest player on the field so she was forced to be Goalkeeper), Yeji and Haseul were in the back to defend. Mina, Tzuyu and Chaewon were up front as the Attackers.

 

Both of the teams were perfectly balanced with a mix of starters and bench players. Tzuyu had placed the soccer ball in the middle of the field as she looked around, seeing that all of the girls were ready. Tzuyu yelled, “Remember the first team to 3 goals wins the match.”

 

All of the girls nodded their heads in unison. Tzuyu kicked the ball towards Mina, which means the game has begun. Without any hesitation Jihyo was already in front of Mina trying to stop her from making any passes. Jihyo gave a small smirk towards the Japanese girl, who only smirked back.

 

Mina quickly tapped the ball between Jihyo’s legs, which had caught her off guard. Mina quickly moved around Jihyo and was able to retain possession of the ball and was now running up the field. Mina was quickly marked by Ryujin, who was able to stop Mina from running which forced the Japanese girl to pass the ball to Tzuyu.

 

Tzuyu had gotten the ball and was quickly marked by Momo, who was giving a devilish grin. Whenever Momo had that menacing grin, it meant she was going all out and would be a problem for you if you were being marked by her.

 

But Tzuyu knew that Momo had one flaw in her defense, which was that Momo could be easily fooled. Momo was a physical beast and nothing could get through her, but the Japanese girl was a bit of an airhead when making decisions.

 

 Tzuyu quickly dribbled the ball to her right feet, where Momo followed suit trying to stop her but Tzuyu quickly tapped the ball with her right foot causing the ball to go left and allow Tzuyu to slip past Momo with ease as Momo fell onto the ground. Momo widened her eyes at the move Tzuyu made ‘A chop dribble!? When did Tzuyu learn that?’ 

 

Tzuyu now had a lot of space to run since Ryujin was marking Mina on the other side of the field and Momo was still trying to get up from the ground. Jeongyeon was getting ready to stop the ball, while Tzuyu continued to run into the penalty box and was getting ready to kick the ball.

 

Before she could even react, she noticed something out of her peripheral vision and a foot had come slamming down in front of her causing the ball to fly out of Tzuyu’s possession into the air and making Tzuyu fall onto the ground.

 

She looked up seeing Sana, who was looking at the ball in the air and quickly caught it with her foot with ease and was now running down the field towards the other goal. Tzuyu was in shock, she made sure she saw everyone on the field, but somehow Sana was able to hide herself from Tzuyu’s view. 

 

Sana had quickly dribbled the ball where Chaewon now stood in front of her. Sana quickly stopped the ball in front of her and dribbled the ball to her left foot, where Chaewon was leaning her body towards the ball to stop it, but Sana quickly stopped the ball and spun her body around causing Chaewon to stumble a little and letting Sana run past her.

 

Haseul was now running towards her getting ready to slide tackle her but Sana had wrapped the ball with her feet and flung into the air going over her and Haseul who was sliding onto the ground. Haseul watched in shock as Sana ran around her and easily got the ball back into her possession. She was now in the penalty box as Yeji was now running towards and quickly got onto Sana’s side hoping to imbalance Sana’s shooting form.

 

Yeji noticed how strong Sana was and she was not backing down. Yves was watching the two girls closely, there was no way she was going to be able to score with someone on her side, so she had laid back a little. Sana had kicked the ball which Yves was not expecting and reacted a little bit late but she could still stop it.

 

Yves had stretched her arms as far as she could, but the ball was curving even farther than she thought. The ball grazed her fingers as the ball hit the back of the net. There was a brief moment of silence from everyone on the field. Everyone looked at each other with awe and confusion. Tzuyu had wiped the sweat off of her forehead and gave a grin, “This is gonna be so much fun.”