Upon arriving at the locker room the next day, the first thing Sakura notices is that Chaewon and Yunjin are back on speaking terms again, teasing each other and laughing like nothing bad has ever happened between them.

“Seems like things got back to normal,” Kazuha whispers behind her.

Sakura glances over her shoulder, and they share a smile of relief, before making their way to their respective lockers.

“Look what Chaewonnie got me.” Yunjin grins, showing Sakura the Pikachu keyring Chaewon got her yesterday with the Happy Meal. “It’ll be my lucky charm,” she says as she hangs it inside her locker.

“Dork.” Sakura hears Chaewon mutter fondly beside her. “Okay, I’m ready. You?”

“Go ahead. I’ll join you in a bit,” Yunjin states, slinging her arm over Sakura’s shoulder and ignoring the quizzical looks both Sakura and Chaewon give her.

“Whatever,” Chaewon says with a lazy shrug.

And just as the midfielder leaves, Yunjin pulls Sakura into a side hug.

“Thanks, Kkura.”

“For what?” Sakura asks, once the blonde releases her from the embrace.

“Don’t play dumb.” Yunjin lightly nudges her shoulder. “She hasn’t told me she talked to you, but I figured it out. She would never go to McDonald’s alone and who else would she drag there.”

“A-ah, but I don’t think I helped much, to be honest,” Sakura admits.

“You definitely did. She finally opened up to me.” Yunjin leans against her locker with a soft smile. “We bawled our eyes out, apologizing to each other. Well, mostly I did, but she also shed a tear or two. And she even told me how she and Minji broke up.”

“Mi– eh, never mind,” Sakura mutters to herself resignedly.

“Can you imagine that girl met someone else and decided to leave Wonnie?” Yunjin frowns, folding her arms across her chest. “How could she do that to her? If I ever meet her, I’ll punch her in the face for breaking her heart.”

Sakura hopes Yunjin never meets Minju, because she sure looks like she’s delivering on that promise, and she would hate to see her end up in jail. Aside from that, it's quite endearing how unaware she is that this isn't the typical reaction of someone with purely platonic feelings.

Sakura may feel bad for Chaewon, but she’s far from getting into an altercation with her ex over their break-up. Also, she’s pretty sure Chaewon is more than capable of fending for herself if there’s ever such need for that. 

“Better just stick to punching the ball when it’s necessary,” Sakura says, patting the blonde on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Apparently Yunjin takes Sakura’s advice to heart because during the scrimmage, she punches the ball way more often than usual and sometimes even in situations that would rather call for a catch rather than a punch.

After the training, coach Takahashi tells them he has an important announcement to make. Sakura wonders what might it be as they all sit in the locker room, waiting for him to speak.

“Chaewon,” he says, and the smile that shows on his face reminds Sakura of how her dad used to smile at her whenever she made him proud. She hasn’t seen that smile in years. “We’ve just had a call. Congratulations. South Korea wants you on their starting eleven for the next qualifying match. The club agreed, of course.”

Jaw hanging slightly ajar, Chaewon stares at their coach. She clearly hasn’t seen it coming. Sakura thinks she should have. She had a very good previous season, and her form was always consistent. She would lie if she said she wasn’t a little jealous, but more than anything, she’s happy for her.

“Huh, that Pikachu sure works fast,” Kazuha whispers from her spot next to her.

“What?” Sakura chuckles, mostly because what Kazuha has just said made no sense, but also because by now, everyone on the team knows about Yunjin and her lucky Pikachu keyring.

Kazuha tilts her head to the side, closer to Sakura’s, and explains in a hushed voice, “The qualifying match will take place in Seoul. Yunjin told me she hoped Chaewon would make it into the team since it could give her a chance to see her sister.”

“Ah…” Sakura looks at Yunjin who ruffles Chaewon’s hair affectionately.

That explains why she was so pissed off at her for that disastrous first match of the season. She must have been afraid their team’s overall performance would affect Chaewon’s chances of making it into the South Korea’s team.

“We’ll cheer for you, Chaewonnie,” Yunjin exclaims with a toothy grin.

According to the blonde, news like this calls for a celebration, and they all agree with her on that. They head to their usual pub, and as they take their seats, Yunjin announces that the drinks are on her. 

But soon it turns out, the one who drinks the most is actually Yunjin herself. An hour into their impromptu meeting, she’s on her third glass of red wine. Sakura sticks this time to non-alcoholic beverages, taught by her previous experiences, and so does Chaewon.

“I’ll miss you, Pupuu,” Yunjin bemoans, throwing her arms around Chaewon and pulling her closer until their cheeks are squished together.

Chaewon makes a weak attempt at trying to push her away. “It’s just five days. And I’ll skip only one game.”

“And when was the last time we were apart for so long?”

Not having a retort to that, Chaewon takes a sip of her mojito.

Sakura and Kazuha exchange a knowing look, both suppressing their smiles.

“Wait!” Yunjin slams her hands against the table all of a sudden. Sakura, Kazuha and Chaewon all grab their drinks just in time to save them from toppling over. “Do you think Minji will come to see the match?”

“Minju, and I doubt that,” Chaewon mutters, and it comes off a little frustrated. 

“Hey, don’t you have a double citizenship, Yunjin?” Kazuha asks to which Yunjin gives a very eager nod. “So one day, you two can play together, if you choose to play for South Korea.”

“But then who will keep an eye on you two, hm?” Yunjin points to Kazuha then Sakura, her movements a bit wobbly. “Who will be saving the goals for you during the club matches?”

“Wouldn’t you prefer to keep an eye on Chaewon?” Kazuha’s voice holds no hint of teasing, and yet Sakura cannot help but wince when she hears her question.

And sure enough an awkward silence follows her words.

Yunjin looks away, scratching at her cheek which could be flushed because of how much alcohol she consumed, but something tells Sakura that’s not the case. Meanwhile, Chaewon shatters the silence, slurping what remains of her mojito and sounding like she tries to in the ice cubes through the straw.

“Anyway, I get it,” Kazuha chimes in again. “I would miss Sakura too if she made it into the national team and had to leave for the qualifying match. That’s why we have to make it there together, right Sakura?” She gives Sakura that bright, soft smile that makes her words sound so easy and believable.

Sakura blinks at her speechless, aware that she’s just joined the blushing club as well. Now she regrets not getting a drink with ice like Chaewon did. 

Thankfully, Yunjin breaks the tension with her boisterous laugh. “Ahh, I’m so jealous. I wish I had such a cute fan like Zuha.” 

Chaewon’s chair scrapes against the floor as she suddenly stands up.

“Where are you going?” Yunjin asks.

“To the toilet,” Chaewon mutters, and the way she stalks off tells Sakura she didn’t appreciate that offhand comment Yunjin just made. 

The two of them may have made up, but clearly a lot of stuff was still left unsaid. However, something else piques Sakura’s interests, and she uses Chaewon’s absence to ask the question that just came to her.

“Which team would you choose if you had to pick between the USA and South Korea?”

Yunjin lets out an awkward laugh. “I don’t think I have to worry about that. It’s not like I’ll make it into any of them.”

That’s not the answer Sakura expected, nor the forlorn expression that follows it. It’s uncharacteristic for someone as confident as Yunjin to doubt her skills, and she wonders where this comes from. But she doesn’t press the blonde for further explanation, as Chaewon comes back from the toilet, saying she needs to head back home to pack her stuff for tomorrow’s flight to Korea.

They leave the pub and say their goodbyes.

“Zuha,” Sakura says as they stand in front of the pub, watching their friends’ retreating figures. Yunjin with her arms wrapped around Chaewon, making it hard for the girl to walk.

“Hm?”

“What team would you pick if you were Yunjin?” She looks up at the girl beside her.

“South Korea. Definitely,” Kazuha replies, smiling at her.

Sakura furrows her brow, lips pursed. Her choice would be the opposite. 

“But the USA has higher chances to win the title,” she points out.  

Kazuha’s gaze returns to Chaewon and Yunjin whose silhouettes soon disappear over the horizon. “But on the Korean team, I’d have higher chances to play in the starting eleven.”

Sakura doesn’t understand how that’s better than the title itself. 

 

🌸🍃

 

The day before their next match, Yunjin surprises Sakura and Kazuha by waiting for them in front of the stadium, fanning herself with three tickets to Chaewon’s match.

“How did you get these? I thought they were sold out,” Sakura asks as she checks the authenticity of the tickets.

“Oh, I bought them a couple of days ago,” Yunjin mutters very fast under her breath. 

“Days?” Kazuha repeats, skeptical.

“Or maybe weeks?” The goalkeeper looks away, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. 

She’s so whipped, Sakura thinks and judging by the subtle smirk Kazuha gives her, she seems to be thinking the same thing.

“Wait, but the match is the day after tomorrow, right? Will we be able to book the plane tickets?” Kazuha asks, and Sakura seconds her concerns.

“Riiight, about that…,” Yunjin trails off, her expression half-smile, half-grimace. 

“Don’t tell me you’ve even bought the plane tickets in advance,” Sakura deadpans.

“Well, let me tell you this.” She throws her arms over Sakura and Kazuha’s shoulders, pulling them closer, as if she’s about to share a secret with them. “For tomorrow’s match in Yokohama, bring your luggages, because you aren’t going back home.”

Sakura glances at Kazuha, confused but intrigued, and a similar sentiment seems to reflect in the girl’s eyes. 

It’s going to be an interesting weekend, Sakura muses, hoping her dad won’t contact her about another impromptu training session. Though that surely depends on her performance in their upcoming match.

 

🌸🍃

 

Fortunately, the next day, they defeat the team from Yokohama 2:0. 

Sakura scores both goals, but instead of being happy about it, all she feels is a sense of utter confusion. Since she could have sworn that during the match, she saw Kazuha waste three scoring opportunities, entirely on purpose. Maybe if it happened once, she would think that yeah, sure, that can happen; Kazuha isn’t a robot, after all, she can make mistakes sometimes. But three times during one game was starting to look a bit suspicious. Especially since those weren’t just some ordinary mistakes. 

The first opportunity Kazuha had was when she found herself in a one on one situation with the goalkeeper. Sakura was certain she would simply lob the woman and score a goal, but to her complete bewilderment, at the last moment, she passed the ball to Sakura.

Taken aback by the risky, unpredictable move, Sakura barely managed to react. Luckily, she took the ball just before the defenders managed to reach them, and directed it to the empty goal. When Kazuha ran up to her for a high five, Sakura gave her a puzzled look, but the younger girl simply ignored her.

Second time happened during a corner kick. The ball ended up under Kazuha’s feet, and all she needed to do was to just touch the ball, and drive it right into the net behind the goalkeeper’s back. Instead, she kicked the ball so hard that it flew right over the bar. Sakura almost rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

And the third time was when Kazuha took a free kick. Sakura has never seen her shoot so way off target. That’s when she began to wonder whether it was Chaewon’s absence that affected her gameplay so much. She wasn’t sure how that would work, but it was the only explanation that came to her mind since nothing else has changed. 

Naturally, once the match ended, Sakura wanted to ask Kazuha what on earth had happened to her, but she wasn’t able to because they had to quickly change and run for a bus that would take them to the airport. And on the plane, although they sat together, there was also no chance for them to talk, as Kazuha dozed off ten minutes after the plane took off. Right on Sakura’s shoulder.

At least she’s not drooling, Sakura thinks to herself as she stares at Kazuha’s peaceful sleeping expression.

“That’s so freaking adorable,” Yunjin whispers, and Sakura lifts her gaze to see the blonde peeking over her seat in front of them.

“Can I take a photo?”

“No,” Sakura murmurs, scowling at the goalkeeper.

However, Yunjin takes a photo anyway and sends it to Sakura. And as she stares at it, at Kazuha looking so oblivious and unguarded, she cannot help but to smile.

“Told you.” She hears Yunjin’s snicker and finds her brown eyes staring at them again.

She kicks the blonde’s seat gently (she’d use more force, but she’s afraid to wake up Kazuha), which elicits another giggle from her, but at least she turns around and stops staring at them.

With no further distractions and immobilized by Kazuha’s head on her shoulder, Sakura soon finds herself drifting off to sleep as well.

She wakes up to the pilot’s announcement about them landing soon. The weight on her shoulder is gone, but she can still feel the lingering warmth where Kazuha’s cheek was pressed.

Checking the time on her phone, she finds out that Yunjin sent her another photo. Heat rises to her cheeks as she opens it and sees herself, dozing off while leaning her head against Kazuha’s. Quickly, she closes her phone and doesn’t even berate Yunjin for taking the photo, thinking it’s best to just ignore it. 

It’s a little after 1 am when they check into their hotel. Sakura feels exhausted and can tell so are Kazuha and Yunjin, judging by how they shuffle their feet along the carpeted corridor floor as they search for their rooms.

“Oh, this is ours,” Kazuha announces happily and stops in front of a door with number 398 on it.

Sakura sighs in relief. Slowly, she began feeling like in one of those nightmares where one finds themselves walking down a never-ending corridor as it stretches and warps beyond recognition.

With a swipe of the keycard, Kazuha opens the door, but before she steps in, Yunjin blurts out, “By the way, you have one bed.”

Sakura swivels around on her heel to face her.

“Excuse me?” she asks, her voice calm, but in her head she’s already strangling the blonde.

And Yunjin must have noticed that murderous act reflecting in Sakura’s eyes, because she shrinks with a nervous smile.

“All the other room options were booked. It was the only one left,” she explains, but Sakura doesn’t believe it one bit. Considering Yunjin’s organizational skills and how she had booked everything in advance, what she just said didn’t make the slightest sense. “Hey, it’s a king-size. I’m sure you two will have plenty of space.”

“I don’t mind,” Kazuha says behind them, and they both turn their attention to her. “It will be like that one night when—”

“Okay!” Sakura claps her hands, cutting her off. “Let’s get in.” She pushes the girl inside the room and shuts the door behind them.

Coming up to the huge bed she drops her bag beside it and throws herself face first onto the pillows. She can already imagine Yunjin’s smug face, and it’s making her cringe inside.

“I can sleep on the floor if sleeping together bothers you.”

Kazuha’s meek voice reaches her, and it takes everything in her not to scream into the pillow out of frustration. She takes a calming breath and rolls over to look at the girl. 

“It’s fine, Zuha. I don’t mind it.”

“Are you sure?” Kazuha sits down on the opposite edge of the bed, facing Sakura. “You seemed pretty upset just now.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Sakura reassures her. “I’m just very tired. It was a hectic day.”

“Yeah, it kinda was. But I’m happy we’re here,” Kazuha says, her eyes forming soft crescents as she tilts her head slightly to the side.

She looks so cuddly in her oversized hoodie with her face sleepy but as pretty as ever, that all Sakura can think of are all those times Kazuha hugged her after scoring a goal, and how she would like this to happen right now. But they aren’t at a stadium. She isn’t scoring goals. So why is she even thinking about it?

Discarding the nonsense thoughts, she says, “Me too,” and hopes Kazuha knows she means it.

They get ready for bed. Sakura goes to take a quick shower and after putting on her pajamas leaves the bathroom and jumps right under the covers. Yunjin might have booked them a room with one bed but at least, it’s a super comfy one. 

She’s on the verge of falling asleep when Kazuha leaves the bathroom, wearing only her sports bra and a pair of boxers. 

“I forgot to pack my pajamas,” she mutters, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Oh…” Sakura blinks at her, any traces of her earlier sleepiness dissipating in an instant. “I-I can lend you my t-shirt,” she stutters just as her heart skips a beat. 

The room’s temperature seemed to have risen by at least ten degrees, if the heat she feels in her face is any indication. 

Kazuha shakes her head. “It’s fine. It won’t be necessary. I mean, unless it’s making you uncomfortable.”

“What? No,” Sakura quickly dismisses the girl's concerns. “Why would it make me uncomfortable? I’ve seen you like this plenty of times in the locker room. And it’s not like you’re .”

I just had to say it, didn’t I? Sakura closes her eyes for a moment as she winces inwardly, before giving Kazuha a tight-lipped smile.

“Ah, r-right,” Kazuha mumbles sheepishly, cheeks turning a darker shade of pink.

“Anyway, let’s just go to sleep,” Sakura says and rolls onto her side, facing away from Kazuha.

Sensing the girl slide under the covers, Sakura shifts even closer to the edge of her side of the bed, almost risking falling off of it.

“Good night,” Kazuha murmurs and turns off the lights.

“Good night.” Sakura closes her eyes.

Yet sleep doesn’t come, chased away not only by the image of Kazuha’s toned body, but also by the questions that plague her mind ever since the match has ended. She focuses on the latter to forget the former.

“Zuha?” she speaks into the darkness, and a drowsy hum replies. “Why did you miss those goals yesterday?”

There’s a moment of silence, and Sakura assumes that maybe Kazuha doesn’t want to talk about the reason behind her poor performance, but then she says in that quiet, soft voice of hers, “You told me your dad wanted you to push yourself to the limit so that you could be better than everyone else, and that’s why you attend those extra training sessions with him. So I thought…that if during that match, you’d be the only one to score goals, your dad wouldn’t ask you to attend his training today.”

“Oh...”

Sakura isn’t sure what she expected to hear but certainly not this. And she’s not sure how to feel about it. On one hand, Kazuha’s logic made some sense, even more so, if one considered her dad’s insistence on them being rivals, but Kazuha wasn’t aware of that part. That’s why, on the other hand, what she did was absolutely reckless and unacceptable. It could have cost them the game if their rivals managed to have a comeback.

“Did he ask you?”

“No,” Sakura admits.

She didn’t receive any messages from him yesterday. He still may contact her today though, but in such a case she’ll have to tell him she won’t be able to meet him.

“So it worked?”

She sighs. “Maybe, but please never do this again. Never waste scoring opportunities on purpose. It’s dumb. And remember that we’re supposed to make it together into the team.”

“Right. I’m sorry. I guess I haven’t exactly thought that through. I won’t do this again,” Kazuha says, sounding genuinely apologetic and maybe embarrassed.  

“Promise?” Sakura asks with a smile on her face that she knows Kazuha will hear in her voice.

As dumb as that idea was, Sakura can’t find it in herself to be truly upset with the girl. After all, she just wanted to make sure Sakura would be able to go with them. And that’s…sweet.

“Promise,” the girl chuckles lightly. 

They lapse into silence, and just as Sakura thinks their conversation is over, Kazuha speaks again.

“Sakura?”

“Yes?”

“If he asked you to join him for practice after that match, would you still come with us?”

“I would,” Sakura says, but deep inside she knows it’s probably a lie.

Kazuha doesn’t say anything after that, and Sakura has a growing suspicion, it’s because she also doubts her words.

 

🌸🍃

 

Tickled by the light that filters through the window drapes, Sakura’s eyes slowly flutter open, but then she shuts them back, because the bed just feels so warm and soft and smells so nice and—

Wait, what…

Her eyes snap open as she realizes that she isn’t in fact lying on the bed, or not entirely at least. She’s clinging to Kazuha, one arm wrapped around her bare torso while her head rests on her chest. 

She jerks away from the girl, scooting to the edge of the bed and almost falling off of it. Her heart is hammering so hard against her ribcage that she’s afraid it’ll leap right through it any second. Meanwhile, Kazuha seems to be deep in slumber, quietly snoring, and oblivious to the heart attack Sakura is going through currently. 

After a moment of deep breathing and clutching her chest, Sakura runs fingers through her disheveled hair and finally calms down. She leaves the bed and carefully covers Kazuha with sheets, which have somehow slid to the floor during the night, then grabs her clothes and flees to take a shower.

How did that even–? I have never— Why would I even-? What the hell is going on with me? As the stream of lukewarm water washes over Sakura’s body, she tries to make sense of her own behavior, still very much mortified by that uncharacteristic display of clinginess. 

But she arrives at no reasonable explanation other than, maybe it was caused by her exhaustion? Either way, she hopes that Kazuha hasn’t realized that she has been attached to her like a koala to a tree for who knows how long.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she finds Kazuha sitting on the bed while stretching her arms above her head, giving Sakura a perfect view of each and every muscle in her back.

“Morning,” the girl greets as she looks over her shoulder at Sakura.

And for a brief moment, Sakura forgets how to breathe, that’s how stunning Kazuha looks - back-lit by the sun-rays streaming through the drapes, with her long hair slightly mussed and a drowsy, soft smile painting on her lips.

I need to get away… fast…

She swallows hard, before words tumble from her lips in a rush, “I-I'll wait for you downstairs. I bet Yunjin is already having breakfast.” 

Kazuha nods, humming her assent.

And just as Sakura predicted, she finds Yunjin at the cafeteria with a mug of steaming coffee and a plate of bacon and eggs.

“Yo! Kkura!” The blonde waves at her, earning herself a few disproving looks from other hotel guests to which she remains blissfully oblivious. 

After grabbing herself the same breakfast set as Yunjin, she joins her at the table.

“Had a good night’s sleep?” Yunjin asks and takes a sip of her coffee.

“Mhm,” Sakura hums, not looking at her friend while stuffing with eggs.

“So, turns out you and Kazuha have already shared a bed, hm?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sakura mutters once she swallows the food, then lifts her palm, stopping Yunjin’s incoming retort. “And even if we did, which we didn’t, that’s none of your business.” 

Sakura isn’t sure if the blonde has even registered what she just said, because her attention gets stolen by Kazuha’s appearance.

“Zuha! My buff baby Moomin friend, how was the king-size bed?” she asks when Kazuha joins them with a plate of croissants and a selection of small, rectangular jams. 

“It was super comfy,” Kazuha replies, and the suggestive smirk Yunjin gives her clearly flies over her head as she’s too focused reading the jam labels. “But I had a strange dream about this huge cat clinging to me.” She briefly looks up in thought then goes back to her jams.

Sakura chokes on her coffee when she hears that, and of course, Yunjin immediately picks up on it. 

“Really? How strange indeed,” she mutters over the rim of her mug, her amused gaze directed at Sakura the whole time. “Sounds terrifying.”

“Nah, it wasn’t a scary cat. It was a cute and fluffy one. I almost didn’t want to wake up.” Kazuha pouts, and finally decides to go with the cherry jam first.

“You don’t say.” Yunjin’s eyes remain fixed on Sakura as she hunches in her seat, pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her head.

Well at least this means Kazuha isn’t aware of what really happened last night. Sakura just wishes she wasn’t so eager to describe her dreams to Yunjin who’s now imagining God knows what, because of course she does, that smirk on her face is like a window to her mischievous soul.

“Anyway, what’s the plan? Since we have like ten hours till the match,” Kazuha asks and bites into her croissant, smearing corners of her lips with red jam. 

“Gosh, you eat like a kid.” Yunjin reaches for a napkin and then starts dabbing at Kazuha’s lips.

Sakura watches as Kazuha giggles cutely, wondering why she didn’t do it. Why hasn't she reached for that stupid napkin first? And why Yunjin, unlike her, had no qualms to do it? And why on earth does she even freaking care about some stupid napkin?!

She catches Yunjin glancing at her with a smug smile on her face like she knows something that Sakura doesn’t, and it drives her up the wall. 

“No worries, girls,” she says, flashing them a grin. “I have everything planned. I promise you won’t get bored with me.”