Kim Yongsun refused to take her eyes off of the court. She followed a certain player who was dribbling the ball lazily and throwing it without any energy. She frowned worriedly. This had been an unproductive practice since three weeks ago. It was because the ace of the school basketball team, Moon Byulyi seemed to be out of space all the time. It wasn't normal, Yongsun knew that for sure. Basketball was Byulyi's only way to enter university. She needed to win this national game and she got a free seat at the medical faculty in SNU. She shook her head when once again Byulyi missed to score. She removed her jeans jacket revealing her heavenly body clad in cheerleader uniform and kept on observing the ace. "Tsk, what the hell is wrong with her." She murmured.

The captain of the cheerleader snatched the megaphone from her junior Ahn Hyejin and shouted. "Moon Byulyi! Go! Go! Go!"

It seemed to make Byulyi aware because the handsome girl glanced at the bench area and a small smirk emerged on her flawless face. But the smile soon disappeared as if she remembered something unpleasant. She kept on playing even though she didn't seem to be in the game.

Yongsun sighed. She flinched when the coach blew his whistle and shouted angrily at the team. She watched as the ace was scolded heavily. Her heart clenched because she knew shouting and scolding wouldn't work on Byulyi. Her friend was stubborn and internally motivated. She wouldn't move just because someone else told her to. The thing was, it was proven difficult to make her stay motivated. So far, the full scholarship had been her sole motivation and it was enough to fan the sportive beast inside her to keep on striving. Something must've happened. She thought.

"Come on guys." Yongsun led the rest of her cheerleader team to join the basketball team in the changing room. She glanced at Byulyi every now and then and flinched when her friend slammed the locker door then headed towards the shower room. 

"Eonni." Hyejin nudged Yongsun's elbow.

"Huh?" Yongsun turned to face her junior then smiled. "Yes?"

"Shouldn't you go with her?"

Yongsun grimaced. "Why should I? She went to shower."

"And? You accompanied her all the time before." Hyejin whispered.

"When she was in a good mood. In this kind of mood, nah thank you." Yongsun put on her uniform and buttoned it up while thinking. "But I'll wait for her. You go ahead."

"Okay." Hyejin pulled her skirt a little higher so her thighs were showing.

"Jinnie…" Yongsun rolled her eyes and pulled the skirt down. "Wear your uniform properly."

"Eonni, this length makes me look shorter!" Hyejin pouted.

"That's the point of wearing a uniform. We're not supposed to look good." Yongsun closed all of Hyejin's buttons, ignoring her pout.

"You're such a mother, Eonni. Should I call you Mommy?" Hyejin smirked.

"That sounds so dirty coming from you." Yongsun gently slapped her arm.

Hyejin giggled. "By the way, I heard from Wheinnie that everything that happens to Byulyi is because of you."

Yongsun's eyebrows skyrocketed. "What?!?! Why?!?! How come?! Let me talk to Wheein." Yongsun was about to march to the basketball manager when her arm was yanked.

"Don't disturb my Wheein." Hyejin hissed. "She's already stressed enough with the depletion of Byulyi's performance. The spirit of the basketball players is our responsibility and you as the captain have the most responsibility to keep our ace player happy. Just do your job Eonni. Talk to her." Hyejin left and dragged the team manager Jung Wheein out of the room.

Yongsun sighed. She sat on the bench and waved goodbye to the rest of the basketball team and the cheerleader team. She was finally alone. She walked to Byulyi’s locker and tidied it up. The basketball player just tossed off her stuff without much care and Yongsun couldn’t stand looking at something messy.

“Don’t touch my stuff.” A low grumpy voice was heard startling the cheerleader captain.

Yongsun ignored it and took Byulyi’s dirty jersey to fold it. She smiled thinly when Byulyi gave her the wet towel and let her tidy up her duffel bag. She turned and watched as her friend slumped on the bench. She put the bag beside her and crouched down. “Hey, are you okay?” She gently tucked Byulyi’s wet hair.

Byulyi huffed. “No.” 

“What’s wrong?” Yongsun put her hands on Byulyi’s knees. Her eyes searched for Byulyi’s dark chocolate orbs but only met by a reluctant Byulyi. She smiled, knowing that it was futile if she kept on pestering. Okay, new strategy. “Shall we go eat?”

Byulyi bit her inner cheek. “Where?”

“Pizza?”

Byulyi shook her head. “We have university prep class in 30 minutes.”

“Then after. We can go buy pizza and hang out for a while. What do you think?” 

Byulyi thought for a while. “Can I stay at your place?” 

“Of course.” Yongsun rose and reached out her hand. “Come on, if we go now we still have time to buy tteokbokki.”

Byulyi smirked and laced their fingers. “Are you buying?”

Yongsun laughed. “Aren’t you a baby? Alright, I’m buying. Come on, move your .”

Byulyi giggled and stood up. She refused to let go of their hands and kept walking closely.

—

Byulyi moaned as the hot and spicy tteokbokki entered her cavity. Her stomach wasn’t growling before but the moment her eyes landed on the red food stall, she was hungry. All tasted better since Yongsun ate beside her. She laughed as the pretty cheerleader dropped some sauce to her chin. “Yeba, be careful.” She took some tissues and wiped the sauce clean. “Your skin might get irritated.”

Yongsun grinned. “It’s so delicious.”

Byulyi smiled. “I know.” She spent the rest of her snacking by looking at Yongsun. Damn. She cursed. It felt so good to be able to see Yongsun like that. All excited just because of food. She played with her tteokbokki and thought about how easy it was to please the y cheerleader. She chuckled to herself when she realized that it was also easy for her to be happy while Yongsun was around. She liked how Yongsun’s eyes were always sincere and her smiles were always genuine. Then, a bile rose to realizing that she wasn’t the sole admirer of Yongsun’s beauty. Suddenly everything turned bitter once again. She shoved the paper bowl and grabbed her water.

“You’re not finishing this?” Yongsun asked with a full mouth.

“Nah. Come on. We’re gonna be late.” Byulyi took her bowl and threw it away as she walked further.

“Byul-ah, wait!”

Byulyi walked faster, confused on her own action. She knew that Yongsun would eventually catch up because her arm was clenched tightly.

“Hey, are you angry at me?” Yongsun followed Byulyi’s fast steps.

Byulyi huffed. “Just walk faster.”

“No!” Yongsun pulled Byulyi’s arm and made her stop. She forced the basketball player to look her in the eye. “Answer me, now!”

“Yongsun, people are looking!” Byulyi hissed.

“Then you better answer!” Yongsun gritted.

With a loud huff Byulyi answered. “I’m not mad at you. I’m just… I have a lot on my mind. Okay? Now, can we please hurry?”

Yongsun shook her head. “You’re a terrible liar. But, I’ll buy it for now. Come on.”

Byulyi was stunned for a second but managed to smile. She knew that Yongsun would pester her again and she would be stubborn again and they would end up fighting. Byulyi didn’t know if that was the end she wanted. At least if they were fighting, she would have time to mend herself. To steady herself to accept the reality.

The basketball player spent the entire prep class watching Yongsun. The cheerleader captain sat diagonally across her, so she could see her face. She smiled when Yongsun