"Captain, to the right!" 

"Unnie, watch out!" 

"Kim Minji! 5 minute break for the whole team!" The coach blew the whistle and discharged the five girls for a short break. Minji almost immediately ran to the restroom and locked the door behind her; this never happened to her before. 

She was exhausted and the fact that it was affecting her ability to play basketball was concerning. Minji looked in the mirror for a brief moment, only seeing how pale her face was and how deep and dark the creases beneath her eyes were. She looked ill but she had to push through; the big game was in just a few days. It will be only three more days until then, six more practice sessions and twelve total hours of actual work beside the game itself. Minji could do it.

Minji looked at the watch on her wrist and was past the time limit the coach gave them for their break, and still no one was looking for her. She washed her face with some cold water and decided to return to her teammates.

"Unnie." Hyein was the only one left in the gym to Minji's surprise; the whole practice being dismissed made the older girl feel terrible. What kind of captain was she? Being weak in front of her team right before such an important event was not how Minji wanted to be perceived. "Is everything alright?" 

"Yes, I'm fine. Where are the others?" Minji played dumb as if it wasn't her own fault the gym was empty.

"The coach called the practice off for this morning. We'll continue in the afternoon as usual after a meeting." Minji sighed; she'll be scolded, doesn't she? "I think I should start looking for a new math tutor today as well." Hyein continued, shocking Minji. 

"Why so suddenly? What happened?" 

"Well, I think you need to rest for a while. You've been barely keeping up with us on the court lately." Minji sighed and embraced the younger girl. Was her tiredness showing that much? It seemed like not even the Kim Minji was able to handle everything at once, despite her efforts.

But the problem with Minji was that she liked being preoccupied with something. Between basketball, school, tutoring Hyein and her new girlfriend, Minji was alone. She would do anything to keep herself out of the house for as long as she could in order to shrink the horrible feeling of loneliness. It was easier when she was younger and a babysitter would be there every day and night when her parents were not available, but now she was eighteen. She was not a child anymore yet not an adult either. She was right in the middle of an awkward phase in her life where as much as she liked the independence she had, she terribly hated the responsibility it came with. Minji loved the fact that she could do whatever she wanted because there was no one to stop her, but she deeply disliked the feeling of coming home to an empty house everyday. She partook her time in different activities to keep her mind off of how lonely she was, but it seemed that all those activities started affecting her body.

"I'm sorry I let you guys down." Minji said as she took a step back and looked at the younger girl. Hyein just shook her head and patted the captain's head, ruffling her hair. 

"Don't be too hard on yourself, unnie. It's normal to get tired, you're human. Please have some rest and try staying healthy, okay?" Hyein grabbed her unnie's hand and walked them to the locker room to get changed into their uniforms and prepare for the upcoming classes. 

"I still don't like the fact that you're ditching me for someone else." Minji sulked to herself as she started undressing from her white tracksuit, keeping her back to the younger girl.

"It's Hanni unnie. I'll ask her to help me." Minji immediately turned around once she heard the hoobae's name. She looked over to the younger girl that was now buttoning up her shirt, making Minji approach and take over the task.

"I'll gladly let Hanni handle you then." Minji smiled as she saw the younger girl slightly blush. The info she learned a few days ago about Hanni from Haerin and Jihye made the captain happy for the girl she considered her younger sister.

"Yah, unnieee! Don't say it like that. We'll only be studying math." 

"You better be doing only math." Minji joked as she now finished tying the tie around Hyein's collar neatly. She felt proud that Hyein decided to follow her heart, but also a little bit sad because she won't spend that much time together with the younger girl anymore. She's been tutoring Hyein since she joined highschool. 

"I'll wait for you outside, get dressed." Minji sensed that the younger girl felt shy about the whole Hanni talk; Hyein grew up quickly, didn't she? 

Minji gulped as she watched the girl leave the locker room, a bittersweet feeling coming over her. The pain of growing up and letting go was something Minji needed to learn to deal with.

¤¤¤

Minji was focusing on her homework when she noticed Haerin staring at her. Both of the girls were at Minji home after the afternoon practice, but only one of the two was actually doing what they intended to do. Without having Hyein around to tutor, Minji needed another partner to study with and there was no one better than her own girlfriend.

Haerin was laying her head down on the coffee table where they both were seated, but looking over her notes, Minji realized she hadn't even begun her homework yet. Instead Haerin was resting her head on the pile of books and notebooks as a pillow and her eyes were following everything Minji was doing.

"Those homework won't be done by themselves." Minji said, not taking her eyes off of her side of the table. 

"These are due Monday." Minji made a mental note of how procrastinating her girlfriend was; knowing Haerin, she would most certainly do her homework late Sunday night. "Why is there a frown on this pretty face?" Haerin's hand was now caressing Minji's cheek but the older girl grabbed it and placed it in her lap. "Is it because of the coach? She seemed upset earlier." 

"No, I'm the problem. I am a disappointment to the team." Minji simply said, as she kept writing in her notebook. Haerin scooted closer to her girlfriend and hugged her. 

"You are not a disappointment, you are the best. Don't be so hard on yourself, will you?" Haerin kissed Minji's ch