It was Busan Prep's first game of the year. Sehun, Kai and Luhan were all out on the field wearing their white uniforms. Their jerseys read: the Busan Saints.

The opposing team, the Busan West Wildcats, was on the other side of the field sporting their red jerseys.

Kyungsoo was ready in the stands. He always thought it was bizarre that they were called the ‘saints’ even though Busan Prep wasn’t a religious boarding school by any means, but there’s logic for you. He also noticed that whoever named the other team must enjoy alliteration.

Two girls sat next to him, they had met him in one of their shared classes. They had signs just as big as his and pompoms to match.

“You two need to stop showing me up! Seriously, Yunji, where did you get glitter on campus? And Hyojin, isn’t the angel outfit a bit much?” He teased and the girls just giggled along with him.

Kyungsoo was finally making friends, which was very promising. It made him feel less alienated from the entire student body, as he used to. Kai was helping immensely with that.

Down on the field, Sehun had his iPod in and he was listening to the playlist that ‘someone who cares’ had created for him. It really did pump him up; he was currently stretching to ‘I Am the Best’ by 2NE1.

Luhan warmed up next to Sehun, trying to keep his thoughts intact. The enthusiastic smile on the rookie’s face wasn’t helping. Luhan wanted to be smiling along with him, but he needed to concentrate.

Kai waved up at Kyungsoo, who quickly waved back excitedly. The goalie’s heart melted as Kyungsoo lifted up a sign that read:

Kai is the KEY

Kai gave him a weak thumbs up, blushing like mad. Kai’s stomach was swimming with nerves and now, pure admiration for the boy who supported him from the stands.

Sehun noticed the sign and pouted for a moment because Kyungsoo was supposed to be his #1 fan. But, on the bright side, Kyungsoo was making friends finally. Sehun even saw the boy talking to two other girls who were sitting next to him.

Sehun took one look at Luhan and knew something was wrong. He decided to reach out to the captain in a moment of uplifted team spirit.

Luhan was staring down at his cleats in a cloud of weary anticipation when Sehun tapped him on the shoulder.

“You doing okay, mate?” Sehun asked, his brows furrowed with worry.

Luhan was startled by Sehun’s question but he quickly collected himself.

“I’m fine. I just have a lot of responsibility riding on me this year, I need to start acting like a captain instead of acting like an unsure coward.” Luhan responded sternly.

Sehun was taken aback by Luhan’s serious tone; the captain was usually so light hearted but now, Sehun saw a totally different person in front of him. He hoped that it was simply the stress getting to Luhan and that this wasn’t going to be a permanent change. He wanted the confident and fun-loving Luhan back, not this …stranger.

“The last thing you are is a coward. And telling yourself you are one, won’t make you feel any better. I’ve been there. It’s a tough hole to climb out of.” Sehun advised, shaking his head in disappointment.

Sehun had thought so highly of Luhan but now seeing him crashing and burning it front of his eyes, it was slightly depressing. Maybe Luhan was right, he obviously needed to work some things out before he could perform his position successfully.

Luhan saw the absolute let down in Sehun’s eyes and it deeply upset him. The very guy that was distracting Luhan from the game was now wallowing, which was even more distracting! Luhan felt like he was drowning in a never-ending circle of .

“You’re right, I’m sorry. And… thanks, Sehunnie.” Luhan said, hoping to mend things.

Sehun smiled, glad that he could help his friend. He hated seeing Luhan in a bad state. It just didn’t suit him.

“Anytime.” Sehun responded. He stole one of Luhan’s signature moves and winked at the captain.

Luhan’s startled blush was thankfully masked by Kai’s hug attack. He draped his arms around his two teammates and pulled them close.

“First game, guys. We can do this.” Kai assured them. It was something they all needed to hear.

Unfortunately, the moment was broken up by Xiumin’s incessant tweeting of his whistle. The teammates were forced to give their undivided attention to their coach as he began to bark out a pep talk.

“It’s the first game of the year, boys. We need to make a good first impression, that’s just the bottom line. I need you to listen to each other and keep your eyes open. Remember: there is always a way to do it, and if you allow your instinct to take hold, you will be able to do it. Let’s go kick some !” Xiumin exclaimed, giving the team a supportive look.

The team cheered, their nerves being let out in ‘whoops’ and ‘yahs!’. Sehun, Kai and Luhan were particularly excited; they were all bouncing with nervous energy.

Apart from Luhan’s momentary lapse into seriousness, Sehun had his eye on the win. He wanted it so bad he could taste it. Or maybe that was the blood he tasted from biting his lip so hard…

Kai left the bench and headed for the goal, keeping his eyes on Kyungsoo in the stands. He could do this with Kyungsoo’s support; he wasn’t to let one soccer ball out of his sight.

Sehun sat down on the bench, waiting anxiously for his turn to play. He was second string but he didn’t care: he was going to make a difference in this game.

Just before the game began, Minji was walking through the stands and she spotted Kyungsoo. Although she didn’t know him very well, she decided to take a chance and went to sit next to him.

“Hi, Kyungsoo.” She said, cautiously.

Kyungsoo looked at her, surprised for a moment, his anxiety began to act up because she was a cheerleader and all. He breathed in slowly and then responded, “Hi, Minji. You ready to cheer with me?”

He handed her a pair of pompoms and she smiled graciously back at him.

“I was born ready.” She answered, waving the pompoms in the air enthusiastically.

Kyungsoo smiled to himself; he really was getting this whole ‘friendship’ thing finally.

Luhan took his position on the field as forward and waited for the referee to blow the whistle. Once he did, the mayhem began.

~~~

With only five minutes left in the game, the teams were tied 0 -0. Turns out the teams were pretty much equals when it came to both defensive and offensive skill. Xiumin had called a time out and was ready to blow a gasket.

“Do something for god’s sake! All you are doing is playing defensively! TAKE CHANCES! Do something daring!” He screamed, his face red with intensity.

Luhan had no idea what Minji saw in Xiumin. His temper was too much for Luhan to handle but at the same time, his passion was very prevalent.

The team was wilting under the pressure. Luhan looked around, desperate for someone to still have some hope left over. As he surveyed, his eyes finally fell upon Sehun, whose eyes had something still flickering on.

“Let Sehun play offense.” Luhan stated, looking directly at Xiumin.

Sehun’s head snapped over to Luhan, totally in shock. His heart pounded with an equal amount of excitement and terror. He played defense, not offense. Kai smiled supportively of the suggestion.

As captain, Luhan had no right to tell the coach what to do and normally, it would piss Xiumin right off, but right now he was desperate.

“If this screws us over, Luhan, it’s all on you.” Xiumin warned him.

Luhan didn’t even flinch. He had irrevocable faith in Sehun.

 “Sehun, you okay with this?” Xiumin asked, turning toward Sehun.

“Yes.” Sehun assured his coach (and himself).

The referee blew the whistle signaling the end of the one-minute allotment for the time out. Xiumin pushed Sehun onto the field. Luhan beckoned to him as Kai ran back to the net.

Kyungsoo and Minji were on their feet, cheering like mad, when they sat Sehun was going to have an offensive position for the rest of the game.

“I bet you Luhan had something to do with that.” Minji shared, between excited outbursts.

“You think? Luhan’s a pretty good guy. He must make you a pretty proud girlfriend.” Kyungsoo answered, nudging her playfully.

Minji was about to object to the ‘girlfriend’ part for a moment before she remembered that she and Luhan were assumedly still together. She simply nodded in response before they both turned their attention back to the game.

Sehun’s heart was racing as he stared at the football that the ref was holding. The concept was so simple: get the ball into the net. Except the complicated part came when you had to get it through a bunch of guys twice your width and strength.

Luhan winked at Sehun as the ref dropped the ball. For a second, Sehun was thrown off but then he whipped his head back toward the frenzy. He spotted the ball rolling under one of the Wildcat’s cleats and he sprinted after it.

The ball was going unnoticed as everyone else was involved with their checks. Sehun took hold of the ball and began to dribble it up the field toward the intense looking Wildcat goalie. He bobbed and weaved between his opponents, keeping an eye for an open person to pass to. He began to panic as he neared the net, backtracking a few feet in anticipation.

“No, Sehun! Go forward!” Xiumin wailed from the bench.

Sehun sent him a desperate look and Xiumin pointed to something. Sehun whipped his head around and saw Luhan near the goal post. He might as well have appeared out of nowhere because Sehun hadn’t seen him at all as he ran.

Sehun faked to the right and then kicked the ball toward Luhan. It was now in the Captain’s hands. Sehun’s breath hitched as the ball hit Luhan’s cleat.

The goalie reached out for Luhan as he punted the ball straight up into the air.  Sehun was extremely confused at what Luhan was even doing. Xiumin seemed to be having the same reaction.

When the ball came sailing back down, Sehun winced, expecting the goalie to grab it. Instead, Luhan kicked it, in what looked like some sort of martial arts move. The entire stadium was silent as the ball hit the back of the net.

Seconds later, the crowd erupted with cheers. Kyungsoo was openly crying because he was so proud of Sehun and he even pulled Minji into a tight hug. Kai ran across the field and grabbed Sehun and Luhan into a celebratory hug as well.

Sehun could only look at one thing: the scoreboard. The second that it changed from zero to one point was one of the proudest moments of his life. But the look on Luhan’s face afterward was the aspect that he would remember the most about it. Luhan looked as if he was in utter bliss and Sehun had a part in that.

The next five minutes of play meant nothing as the team protected Kai and the net as if their lives depended on it. After the final whistle, the stadium was one again crazy with celebration. Even Xiumin was doing a happy dance.

Kyungsoo ran out onto the field and jumped into Kai’s welcoming arms.

“You did it! You did it!” The boy squealed enthusiastically. Kai just laughed heartily and spun Kyungsoo around in circles.

Minji was soon to follow and collected Luhan and Sehun simultaneously into a hug.

“Boys, now that was impressive.” She shared, genuine pride in her eyes.

Sehun was taken aback by the embrace but he appreciated it immensely. He loved that there was no longer any animosity between them.  He was also surprised when she didn’t grab Luhan’s hand possessively, as she used to.

“There’s going to be an after party at my place. It’s right off campus. You have to be there, Sehun.” Minji gushed.

Luhan smirked as Sehun didn’t know how to respond. “He’ll be there, Min, just let him bask in his win for right now. And maybe a shower will help him too.” Luhan teased, pretending to disgusted by Sehun’s smell.

“I could ring out your fringe, captain.” Sehun snapped back, just as playfully.

“Ok, I’m going to go invite Xiumin, you guys go clean up and we’ll meet back at mine? Luhan knows how to get there.” Minji explained before rushing off toward the coach.

From the distant look in Sehun’s eyes, Luhan could tell his friend was quite overwhelmed. It was adorable, really.

“You played amazingly, Sehunnie. I bet you’ll even be moved up to first string for that stunt.” Luhan assured him, before wrapping his arm around the rookie.

“I can’t believe I did that.” Sehun muttered and Luhan just burst out laughing. The dazed look reminded Luhan of the night of the initiation when Sehun had basically invited him to bed.

“Well, you did it. Be proud. Let’s head to the showers!” Luhan suggested, guiding Sehun toward the locker room.

Kai came trotting up behind them, worming between the two. “What a game, eh?” He asked.

Sehun nodded and Luhan just smirked. “He’s a bit overwhelmed by the win. I think a party will be the perfect remedy!” Luhan exclaimed.

“Yah, Kyungsoo even agreed to come.” Kai shared excitedly as they entered into the locker room.

Once Luhan, Sehun and Kai had made it over to their lockers, Sehun sat down on the bench. Luhan and Kai chattered on and on about the game as Sehun opened the door to his locker.

Inside, he found a little sticky note that read:

Hope the playlist helped with the win. You did it.

-Someone who cares

A/N The plot thickens.....................................

Firstly I would like to just make a point about a little thing that caught my eye..................... 98 FREAKING SUBSCRIBERS! ITS OFFICIAL, I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sends cookies and hugs and kisses and lollipops and muffins*

I wasn't 100% happy with this chapter but oh well! I am on a schedule. :) :) :)As always, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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