For the simplicity of everything, I will just be referring to the school's/other school's soccer team as the Korean-Americans. I know I said it was a mix of ethnicities, but just for simplicity it shall be the Korean-Americans since the team members are from Korea and America.

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Ji Yong POV

Oh gosh, I have butterflies in my stomach. The tournament is today!! I can’t sit still. We’re all just going over to the stadium, but I’m freaking out! What if I miss the ball or something stupid and…just ugh, it’s so nerve-racking! We got out of the car.

“Everyone go change and I’ll meet you here again.” Me and Eun Hyun found the girls locker room, changing. I wonder what happened to her yesterday; I know she came back with Changjo and her eyes were a little puffy. I don’t think I should ask though, especially not right now.

There were other girls there! I know this is a co-ed competition, but I didn’t expect so many girls! Yay~ Me and Eun Hyun were both freaking out, taking deep breathes to calm down. We got this.

We went back out, finding our team. We were told to wait until we were called. We were going up against an Italian team. Gah, I’m still so nervous. My dad even said he and his fiancé were going to watch on television; I don’t want to disappoint them… I could tell everyone was at least a little nervous. Jinyoung noticed me staring at him and smiled. He pointed to his neck; ah, he’s wearing the necklace! I smiled, he eased my nervousness a bit.

We got ready for your match. God God God, I’m still so nervous! “Let’s do our best. I know we can make it to nationals with the amount of practice and hard work we’ve put into this!” I took a deep breathe. I know we can do it too.

We all got into our positions on the field. I’m a midfielder, so I’m in charge of defense and attacking. I heard the whistle blow and saw Ricky kick the ball way down the field. The first few minutes were just a complete blur to me. I could hear so much noise, but tried to block it out. I heard another whistle blow and looked at the score board. The other team had already scored a goal! I gotta get serious; I didn’t go through those brutal two weeks of training and practice for this!

Chunji had the ball, trying to keep it from the other team. He yelled out ‘three’ as in play three. I quickly ducked past someone, taking to ball out of nowhere. I ran as far as I could, passing it to Toby from the other team. He was then quickly tackled down by the other team. I waited for the referee to call foul, but he didn’t! What the hell! Tch, whatever.

The other team took the ball again, Ki speedily stealing it and kicking it down the field to Jinyoung. I tried to block someone, but they obviously weren’t taking me seriously because of our differences. Hmph, ist jerk. Jinyoung tore through a mob of guys, shooting, making a goal. The crowd got louder. I couldn’t tell if they were cheers of happiness or anger, but it didn’t matter; we made a goal!

We got back in position; Changjo, our goalkeeper, sent me a signal. I’m on attack for this round. Eun Hyun almost looked upset that she had to be a defender. I don’t think this is the time to be upset about such a trivial thing… We started again, the other team leading with the ball. Eun Hyun ran in front, stealing the ball, but she kicked it out of bounds. It’s ok. We can do this. We tried the same play again. Eun Hyun succeeded and kicked it to me. If only these giant Italian players weren’t blocking…

I weaved around some, making sure they at least couldn’t get the ball. I managed to kick it to Alex, from the other schools half of the team. He passed to Robby, who then passed to Chris. Such a complex method…but I gotta admit they had great teamwork on their part. Chris passed it back to Toby, scoring a goal. Whoo! We’re leading by one now. I checked the clock; the first 45 minutes were almost up. We couldn’t make another goal before the half time break.

We left the field for the 15 minute break. Our supervisor gave us all drinks and towels. We were all sweating like crazy. I swear, it looked like Jinyoung and Ki had just gotten out of a shower or something. No one said anything for the first ten minutes; we just rested. We all stood up, having completely serious faces. “Let’s finish this.” Sandeul said. Wah, he’s so serious right now.

“Are you being so intense because Gongchan-ah is watching on TV?” I joked.

“W-What!?! Don’t think like that…” he said shyly. We all laughed, bringing a nice moment of joy before going back to the field.

We were going to start with play seven. If it went as planned, Chunji would pass to Sandeul then the ball would go to Chris, then to me.

Gongchan POV

“Is it back from the break yet!?” I was getting very anxious as we all were.

“There’s still 3 minutes. I hate those commentators in the background…” CNU commented.

“I know, they’re so annoying! But did you see that goal Jinyoung made before!?” CAP was getting into the game.

“Yeah, I know! And the shot that guy Toby made!? They’re pretty good!” Niel was excited too. L.Joe hurried back from the bathroom, sitting next to me.

“Is it back yet?” he asked. I shook my head.

“Only another minute!” I smiled. Baro laughed.

“Looks like someone is excited to watch Sandeul play~” he joked.

“I am. Is that so wrong?” CNU and Niel got a little awkward. I think they’re the only ones who feel weird about me liking Sandeul, but whatever. I wanted Sandeul to make a goal so badly. And Ji Yong too since she was the first to support me!

“Ah! It’s back!” Niel yelled out. All of our eyes were immediately glued to the TV screen. We were actually supposed to have class today, but we all skipped and I guess the principal understood why; like we would ever miss this!! This is our first year in the tournaments for the nationals!

And playing from the Korean-American team, Lee Chanhee, takes the ball way down the field. But wait! Oh! The Italian team’s, Andy Sherman steals it!

“Come on Chunji!!” We all yelled.

Ohhh! Player, Lee Junghwan has stolen the ball back!

“Yeah that’s right Sandeul!!” We all screamed in unison.

The Italians have stolen it back!

“Yah! Ricky where are you!?”

Oh! Player Kim Ji Yong seems to be having trouble with passing to her teammates. Can she—OH!! It’s a goal!

We all jumped and cheered, proud of our friends and school. Suddenly, a whistle was blown.

There seems to be a problem on the Italians team. It looks like player, Max Johns is injured. They’ve substituted him out for another, James Donaldson.

“Already subbing out!? That’s total bull! Nothing’s wrong with him!” We all watched intensely. Ricky had the ball. He passed to Eun Hyun, but it got intercepted. Ugh, so nerve-racking! Chris stole it back and kicked to Ki. Go go go! Don’t look around, just go man!

And the Italians steal again! Donaldson seems to be full of spirit and ready to run! And goal!!

“Aish! Why did they have to sub him in!?” Niel whined. The ball was back to Ji Yong. “Pass pass pass!” We all yelled as she kicked to Sandeul.

Lee Junghwan receives the pass and is tearing down the field! Can he make it?!

“Come on Sandeul!” I cheered.

Ooo, it was taken by Timothy Sampson! Can he—Goal!

“Tch.” We all scoffed in union. “We’re at a tie. There are still 10 more minutes; one more goal and they’ll move on to the next match in the tournament.” CNU said. We just needed one more.

There were 9 minutes left. Then 6 minutes. Then 4 minutes. “We just need one more!” CAP yelled. Only 2 minutes and Ricky was trapped with the ball, trying to keep a sight on Jinyoung, who was struggling just to stay open. You guys can do it!

Player Yoo Changhyun can’t see to get out of this trap. He’s only got less than two minutes!

“Yah Ricky, just pass!!” Niel screamed as Ricky shot the ball to Jinyoung. “Yes!”

Player Jung Jinyoung took the ball and is running as fast as he can! Only 30 more seconds! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6—

“YEAH!!!” We all cheered, hugging each other. A whistle blew.

The Korean-American team has won and will be moving on in the tournament! It looks like they can’t hide their excitement haha.

“I can’t believe he actually made it!” L.Joe hugged me.

“I know!” That was just great! I’ll make sure to call them today! Ah. Something on the screen caught my eye. Ugh, so embarrassing; those two~

Ji Yong POV

“Wah! Jinyoung!” He ran up to me, hugging me so tight!

“Ji Yong!!” The rest of the team joined for a giant hug. S-So tight! I could barely breathe since I was at the center of this death hug. We all happily left the field, after shaking the other teams hands of course.

We changed and got back in the car to go to the hotel. Our supervisor was trying to hold back reporters with cameras while he got in. Apparently, he said not to talk to them until we got to the nationals.

We were all so happy, even the other schools guys were being close with our schools team. We were actually acting like one mega team now!

We got back to our rooms, but none of us wanted to sit still; we were just so happy and excited from our first win in the competition! I hope that we win the next one again, it will be scheduled for the day after tomorrow, since there is another team in a different match for the tournament tomorrow, and this means we’ll practice or go over our plays tomorrow.

Sandeul POV

I kept checking my phone. No. Why am I even checking!?! I lay down on my bed. Chunji already fell asleep and Jinyoung was out; probably with Ji Yong or something. I checked my phone again. No missed calls or texts…Hmph. Whatever!

Jinyoung walked in. “So did Gongchan call you yet?” he asked. I turned over, away from him.

“No.” He sat next to me.

“Don’t be upset~ I’m sure he’ll call. He probably just thinks that you would be busy celebrating or something.” I turned to him.

“And what about you? You and Ji Yong-ah are probably being all lovey-dovey again.”

“No…Ji Yong says she won’t distract me with affection until we win the nationals.”

“Pfft.” I held in my laughter. “And how are you holding up with that?” He sighed.

“I don’t need a kiss to be happy with her. Of course I would like one…but…whatever.”

“I don’t know how you can just live with that. She’s your girlfriend! You probably really wanted to kiss her after we won, right?” He scratched his head.

“After the nationals.” He smiled, but I could tell that he was unhappy with the situation. “But are you sure he didn’t call yet?” I checked again, nodding. Suddenly, my phone started blinking. “Guess I’ll let myself out~” Jinyoung cooed. I wanted to pick up the phone immediately, but waited a few rings.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Sandeul!! Congrats on your win and also your goal!” I could barely hear him over the guys.

“Ah. Thank you!” I smiled.

“Congratulate the others for me too! Well then I’ll hang up now.”

“Wait!” I almost screamed out.

“Yeah?” he asked. What did I want to say…?

“Umm…We can talk longer.” I could hear him chuckle on the other end.

“How have you been doing?” he asked.

“Good, and you?” I just wanted to keep the conversation going longer.

“I miss seeing you around school.” Gah! Why must you say stuff like that!? “But I feel great watching you score goals! I hope you guys win the next match, it’s the day after tomorrow right?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll be sure to skip school again haha.”

“Thanks…” I smiled a little. “Well, bye, then.”

“Ah wait.”

“Yeah?”

“I really like you Sandeul. Just remember that!” He hung up immediately after. My face warmed up. I-I just noticed…I really wanted to talk to Gongchan… Jinyoung came back in, a smile on his face.

“Someone’s getting blushy~”

“S-Shut up!” He laughed. I am not blushing! …It’s only because of his sudden statement!

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They won the first match in the tournament! Yay~ Looks like Sandeul and Gongchan are getting closer hehe. And Jinyoung is unhappy about Ji Yong and her solution to distracting him? I wonder how that'll play out~

I hope my little knowledge of soccer didn't show... I'm not the type who just uploads random stuff though, so I did actually research a little, so I hope it kind of showed? You soccer lovers are probably like- you got it all wrong! Don't you know anything about soccer!?! - Sorry? ^^'

If you have anything to say, feel free to do so~ and @kima_siksin *virtual slap recieved* Haha, I actually don't even have much homework today!! :D *complete bliss and joy*

Btw, haha just a funny thing I noticed about one of my other stories; remember how I took that updating break here becasue of...if you had seen the anoucncment then you guys know what...well, at that time I just decided to write on my microsoft word for that story and now that I look back at it, it's actually quite dark in some ways, dealing with themes of death and insanity......SO if you like darker themes or something like that you should check it out! :D (I haven't uploaded these as I like to call it "character insanity" chapters yet, but at the moment you can read the cute parts that lead into that ^^

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/239745/can-t-you-care-a-little-romance-youngmin-hyunseong-boyfriend-ocstory