Minnie wakes up to the sound of her alarm.

With a groan, she grabs her phone off the table, randomly swiping the screen through bleary eyes until the irritating noise stops. She sits up with a stretch, wiping away tears from her yawn. The room is still dark, the early morning light seeping into the room from under the curtains, and Miyeon is still fast asleep. Minnie’s never been the type to fall back asleep, so after another long stretch, she diligently gets up.

She walks over to the bed, chuckling softly at how serene Miyeon looks. She takes a few seconds to admire the sleeping beauty in front of her, unable to help the smile that graces her lips. However, she quickly snaps out of it, feeling the heat creep onto her cheeks.

Kim Minnie, don’t be weird!

“Hey,” Minnie shakes her gently, “time to wake up.” At first, Miyeon doesn’t even stir, and Minnie feels like she’s talking to a log. “C’mon, you need to get up.”

After a few hard shakes, Miyeon finally moves, a slight frown on her face, her eyes still closed. “Five more minutes…” is all she mumbles before snuggling deeper into the covers.

“Fine,” Minnie sighs. It’s a lie if she says she’s not endeared by Miyeon.

After washing up, she puts on her jersey and tugs a pair of sweatpants over her basketball shorts, kneeling to pull on a pair of socks before slipping her feet into a pair of slides. By then, Miyeon is sitting up in bed, yawning. “G’morning,” she mumbles with half-open eyes, waving sleepily.

Cute.

“Morning.” Minnie quickly turns away to pack her bag. “Go wash up, I don’t want to miss breakfast.”

Miyeon brushes past her, and Minnie catches a faint whiff of her shampoo. “M’kay.”

Their first two matches is basically child’s play for them. The opponents are clearly newbies, running all over the court with no strategy despite their coach’s desperate shouting from the sidelines. There’s ten seconds left in the last quarter of the second match, and Miyeon receives a pass from Soojin while the opposing team all but rush towards her.

“Minnie!” Miyeon yells, making an overhead pass. Minnie leaps and catches the ball mid-air, quickly pivoting once she lands, making an easy shot at close quarters right before the buzzer goes off.

She lightly slaps Miyeon’s outstretched hand in a high-five. “Nice pass.”

Miyeon shoots her a small smile. “Nice shot.”

Yuqi nudges Soyeon next to her, who’s chugging water from her bottle, “Why can’t they get along like that all the time?” Soyeon just reaches up to pat her head and ushers her along as a new team starts putting their stuff on the bench.

Before the start of their third and final match of the day, Coach Kang calls the team over after they’ve warmed up. “I’ve watched our next opponent in their previous match, and they’ve only got one good shooter. The rest don’t really know what to do with the ball when they get a pass.” She subtly gestures at the mentioned opponent player wearing a number 3 jersey. “We’re going to run a box-in-one defence this time. Soyeon will play man-to-man with number 3. Yuqi and Shuhua, watch your zones by the foul line, and you two,” she motions at Minnie and Miyeon, “by the hoop.” She then gestures to the rest of the team. “After half-time, we’re putting our second line-up on the court for more aggressive attacks. The goal is to prevent the opponents from scoring much, and then we dive right in and pull ahead before they even know what’s hit them.”

The team disperses, and Miyeon sits down next to Soojin on the bench. “How’s your ankle holding up?”