Joohyun Bae is Queendom High’s varsity quarterback star, the Patriots, badass and very protective of her chidhood friend.

Seungwan Son is a model student who just wants to enjoy her year in high school and dreams of getting into the top university and adored by all. 

-----

“Hooooome!” Joohyun whines while tugging on her mother’s dress, urging her to pick her up since the toddler’s little legs were tired.

Her mommy smiles and picks up her baby girl.

“Joonie we are going to see aunty Callie and uncle JooWon’s new baby! This is supposed to be exciting sweety. Please don’t whine, okay?"

Joohyun frowns and puts on her best pouty face before her daddy comes from behind and tickles her.

“Gah!” Joohyun giggles.

“Honey stop tickling her! She’s kicking me.” Sunjin says and her husband puts his hand up in a surrendering motion.

He scoops Joohyun out of his wife’s arms and blows air on her stomach and Joohyun giggles.

“Come on little munchkin. Let’s go meet them.”

"Otay."

Sunjin shakes her head and smiles before lightly knocks on the hospital's door and hears a faint ‘come in.’ 

Callie is cradling a blue bundled up in her arms. She looks exhausted, her sweaty hair held back in a messy ponytail.

Her smile though is unparalleled to any smile Sunjin has ever seen grace her bestfriend's lips.

Callie smiles and beckons Sunjin over. She comes over and gasps in awe. 

Seungwan is so beautiful.

“I forgot how small they are when they first come out.” Sunjin caresses the baby’s cheek and Seungwan lets out a cute little yawn.

“Oh she’s so precious. Congratulations you two.” Sunjin says to the couple while Seungwan is fast asleep in Callie's arms.

Then Callie turns to little Joohyun who seems a little bit curious.

“Would you like to hold her?”

Joohyun blinks her wide eyes before nodding cutely.

Callie smiles and carefully put Seungwan in Sunjin’s arms and she sits in a nearby chair.

Her husband puts Joohyun down and they make their way to look at the baby. Joohyun waddled over to her mommy and the new baby.

She leans over the armchair and looks at the tiny human swaddled in blue blankets in her mommy’s arms. She looks so small and bald and her head looks in funny shape. Joohyun frowns a little and then the baby girl opens her eyes. 

Joohyun pops her thumb out of and smiles which is something she rarely does unless it’s directed at her parents. 

The adults are all watching the little girl with grins smears across their faces.

Joohyun reaches out with her fat baby little fingers and gently touches the baby’s cheek. 

She leans over and kisses the baby's cheek.

'I’m going to take care of chu foweves and evers.' 

Seungwan gurgles a little and passes a gas.

-----

When Seungwan was five, she started school at the same elementary school as Joohyun. She was going to be in kindergarten. 

She wanted to be a big girl like her mommy always said but she was scared. Meanwhile Joohyun was 2nd grader so they won’t meet each other unless it's recess. 

Joohyun was her best friend and she was so cool in Seungwan's eyes because she was older and Joohyun often came over to play with her mommy and daddy on every Sunday and Thursday.

But that time Seungwan was really scared, apparently a second grader, Bogum, and his friends pushed her into the dirt during recess.

Her pretty new blue dress her mommy bought for her first day of school was ruined and she has a cut on her knee.
Seungwan winced, felling the pain but she didn't want to cry.

'I'm a big girl'.

Her vision was getting blurry, tears welled up in her eyes.

"Stay away fom her!"

Before she could move, suddenly Joohyun stomped over to Bogum and punched him in the gut.

The boy cowered in pain as he sprinted with his friends, leaving the scene as soon as possible.

"Wannie, chu okay?" Joohyun sat down next to Seungwan.
"Don't kwai pwease, I will kick them."

Joohyun hugged her, trying to calm her down and finally after a long minute Seungwan's tears subside.

"Thank you Chunni."

That day Joohyun and Bogum both get detention but Joohyun didn't mind because protecting Seungwan was what she always wanted to do.

-----

"Chunni!" Little Seungwan let out contagious laughter as she was exicitedly approaching the older girl. 

Her little legs almost tripped but Joohyun quickly caught the smaller girl before she could fall.

"Wannie, be careful! Chu almost twipped." 

Little Joohyun reprimanded the girl but it only made Seungwan grinned, she gave Joohyun an innocent look instead. 

"Look what I made for Chunni!" 

A red string bracelet fitted snuggly into Seungwan's little palm.
Joohyun's gaze fell on the gift, she was in awe.

"Chu made this?!"

Seungwan beamed at the sight of Joohyun's expression so she nodded proudly, "Yeah! and Mommy help Wannie too."

Joohyun's smile getting wider when Seungwan clumsily tied the bracelet on Joohyun's little hand.

"This looks so cool! Thank you Wannie." 

Seungwan stood on tiptoes and kissed Joohyun's cheek and Joohyun's ears instantly turned into a crimson red. She stood there shyly.

-----

Present time

The stadium is alight with tensions and rivalries, war cries and laughter, cheers and jeers.

Every inch of the already gargantuan bleachers fills with eager faces, all ready for the opening game of the season and of course, the great rivalry between two teams can't be missed, the Patriots and the Bond team.

Cheerleaders from either side are lining the edge of the field by the bleachers, simply waving and dancing a little to the music that pours out of the speakers that the school service club has spent hours wiring up. 

The Patriots has already arrived, the stadium lights are intensified forming a halo of light around the great captain Bae Joohyun.

The audience roar their approval for their newly presented teams. 

Joohyun is wearing her uniform, like all her teammates with traditional black stripes under her eyes.

On the other side, across the great battlefield, the enemy, Bond team, has stormed the field, catering to the cheers of their full half of the bleachers.

Their face is painted white and menacing, as they enjoy being the center of attention. 

They intentionally scan the crowd on the opposing side, eyes finally ceasing when they realize the famous captain Bae Joohyun is not yet out, despite the fact that her team is. 

The Bond team supporters has torn through the decorated poster that the poor art club has doted over for nearly two days, and the crowds has not been entirely too pleased to see their captain isn't at the vanguard of the charge, just yet. 

Joohyun's leaning against the archway to the entrance of the field.

She opts to silently think above the din of the crowd until she feels someone stumble into her back, though the damage is mitigated by her padding. 

Whipping around, Joohyun sees a shorter girl blur keeling over, and her lightning-quick hands shoot out and catches a wrist before she knows what she's doing. 

With a blink of those brown eyes, Joohyun realizes that she’s just caught a very sheepish looking Seungwan.

“Seungwan? what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be tutoring other students?”

Joohyun’s voice has such an air of smugness, and yet, her eyes twinkling with delight, genuine and pure. 

Seungwan breathes out finally, her eyes finding Joohyun’s eyes before fixing themselves on her lips for a good few seconds and taking in the prowess of Joohyun in her full uniform, shoulder padding and all. 

“Yeah, well…I finished class few minutes ago, so yeah…” 

Seungwan trails off, realizing Joohyun's still gripping her wrist. 

Joohyun immediately let go, she bounces on her heels, stretching her legs a little. 

“Why aren’t you out there?” Seungwan asks curiously. “Are you nervous?” 

“I do not get nervous.” Joohyun’s voice was sharp.

Seungwan rolls her eyes. “It’s a big one. You’re gonna have to win this game.” Seungwan smiles playfully.

Joohyun blinks once, nodding stiffly. “I have trained for this.”

She responds calmly and elegantly. Her hands reaching up to swirl her hair into a messy bun, which only accentuates the high cheekbones and sculptured jaw lines.

“Bond team, huh?” Seungwan growls lowly. “Be careful. They play dirty.” 

“Many do. But, our positions vary. They wouldn't have much contact with me anyway.”

Joohyun explains before the smirk back on her features, eyes drinking in Seungwan's figure.

"You’re wearing my number.” 

Seungwan glances down at her jacket, realizing it did have Joohyun’s number emblazones on the front, 43. 

Her cheeks burn. 

“Oh uh- I was cold, and this was the last one at the student store.” 

“Mhmm sure.” Joohyun smirks once more, her full lips pleading for Seungwan to just give in.

“Whatever.” Seungwan rolls her eyes. “Kick their , unnie.” she mutters finally. 

Joohyun's eyes widen in surprise, she wasn't expected those words would come out of the girl's mouth.

Seungwan offers Joohyun a wry smile, “I always believe in our captain." 

Joohyun watches Seungwan saunter away, as they share a genuine smile in response. 

-----

The initial coin toss is in Joohyun’s favor, and she dons her helmet for the offensive push, after the initial punt. She's greeted by cheers as she steps onto the field from her seat beside Seulgi on the bench, who's regally enjoying her time before she has to exert any physical activity. 

Joohyun swears she saw Seulgi turned and winked at some face in the crowd, but she doesn't have much time to contemplate, or tease, for that matter. 

In the corner of her brown gaze, she sees Yeri, to whom she frequently smiles at and looks for a thumbs up from.

Joohyun jogs to position, post the team huddle. Her players lined up, and she surveys the line of scrimmage, judging the coach's call with an affirmative nod. 

It was good. 

She eyes the captain of Bond team from her spot on the opposing bench, leans forward, eyes peels and staring. 

Joohyun knew the dangers of the game, but she also felt that being a captain, a team leader, meant more than just calling plays and assigning laps. It was protecting the team and each and every player to the best of her ability. 

Joohyun’s eyes narrows as she attempts to loosen up, waiting for the snap.

The amassed students in the bleachers are in an uproar.
Yeri is pretty sure that she's going to lose her sense of hearing, what with all the excited screaming, so loud that drowns out even the marching band below.

Not even Saeron could doze off with all the noise around them, so she's currently watching next to Yeri, her eyes trains on the players. 

Yeri, of course, is specifically watching 43 and 20, her sister and Seulgi respectively.

They’d made some pretty fantastic plays thus far, but it was a close game, almost too close for comfort. As much as they hated Bond team, there was no doubt that their captain, JaeSuk, were an excellent football player.

But Yeri knew that Joohyun was better.

Kibum, one of Yeri's friends, was having the time of his life, cheering and excitedly babbling to his newfound friends about just how complex the plays were and how fantastically they were all carried out.

And his favorite moments were the ones where Joohyun was on the field, and he marvelled at just how accurate her aim was, sending the football soaring through the air and right between the goalposts. 

Saeron had joined in with her own analysis of the angles and the force needed, and Yeri happily tuned out their conversation.

By a of luck, Yeri and her friend group has found themselves situated in front of the group so fondly called themselves as Powerpuff Girls and their conversations were truly… something else, to say the least.

She has heard her sister’s name come up in conversation a minimum of forty-two times already, most of them stemming from the influencer girl, Joy, but then once in a while the goth girl, Jennie, would be dropping comments about how Son Seungwan is really close with Joohyun which shrugged off rather grumpily by the two of her friends.

She’d also noticed that the most normal one, Eunbi would lower her voice to talk in hushed tones, and Yeri turned around once to find them appreciating Seulgi from a distance, and her cousin, too, took notice, shooting a wink in their direction.

Kibum, of course, thought that the wink was aimed towards him, and almost fell off of his seat in excitement.

Halftime had come quickly, Yeri was trying to hold her smile inwardly when Joohyun pulled the bulky helmet off of her head, and instantly she was hugged by the student vice president herself, Son Seungwan.

The younger Bae sibling quickly diverted her eyes, and instead looked at the Powerpuff girls, who were screaming, crying, throwing up, and hissing at the sight.

Joohyun's gaze found her soon after and Yeri offered her older sister a thumbs up but noting the small frown that tugged at Joohyun's lips when Seungwan quickly released the hug.

“What was that about?” Saeron, ever attentive, noticed the brief exchange and brought it into question.

She couldn’t help but think about the subtle signs of something unusual occurring between those two.

“I honestly don’t know,” Yeri confessed and sighed. "It's been like that since they're little- WHOA LOOK BACON!" Yeri quickly shouted to cover her 'almost slip moment'.

"WHERE?! WHERE?!" Saeron widened her eyes in panic.

And Yeri let out a relief breath when Kibum had accidentally spilled his drink onto a girl's lap and it created quite a scene, at least enough for Saeron to forget about their conversation.

As the clock ticked down, time slowed, and Yeri watched in awe as Seulgi successfully twisted her way through the seemingly impenetrable wall of defense to deliver the final touchdown of the game, a perfectly timed pass from Joohyun.

And all those around Joohyun roared their approval, standing and cheering as she was swept into the arms of her teammates, who were pounding her back in thanks and congratulations.

Almost before Yeri was aware of her actions, her feet were moving, weaving deftly between cheering onlookers and jumping over the small