(Flashback 8yrs ago)

At the end of a futsal practice,

"Coach, my parents told me to withdraw from the team for the remainder of the tournament. They said that as long as Jae is in the team, they don't want me to be part of the team. They said that she's a bad influence." One of our teammate said out loud as she just looked at me in disgust.

She was the 3rd person that had requested to withdraw out of the team. As our coach dismissed us and brought the girl to the office, I held back my tears. Two pair of arms wrapped around my shoulders. Yuri was on my right while Taeyeon was on my left.

"Don't take in to heart, Jae. Coach will know what to do." Yuri said as she smiled sincerely at me.

"All those girls are just dumb. Do they think we can win the championship without Jae? She's our captain for a reason." Taeyeon said as she clenched her fist.

"Calm down, Taeng. Let's just go home." I said as I took my duffle bag.

Walking out to the school gate, we saw the familiar looking group of boys with a girl among them. I sighed as I felt Yuri and Taeyeon walking slightly ahead of me in a protective manner.

"Hey... here comes the gay and her bodyguards." One of the boys shouted at us.

"Yah!! Did you find yourself a new girlfriend or are you still in love with mine?" Uee's boyfriend said as he laughed out loud with the others joining them.

I saw Uee standing there while just looking down, avoiding any eye contact with us. I sighed and we just continued walking past them.

"Shameless gay. You should just transfer to an all girl school. Maybe you can find another gay like you there. Or just go for a change operation since you're so rich."

Another remark was thrown as I felt Taeyeon stiffened in front of me. Before Taeyeon could turned around to face them, I softly pushed her forward and asked her to continue walking.

Even after the summer break, they had continued to taunt us non-stop. I was getting immune to all of that as I just continued to ignore them. Even though I tried to pretend that I was fine, deep inside I was badly hurt. Once we reached home, Taeyeon started her naggings as we gathered at the music room.

"Until when do we have to face all this? What's so wrong about being gay? Are we disturbing their lives?" Taeyeon let out her frustation. "3 girls already requested to withdraw out of the team. We are now left with 6 members for the tournament."

"What if the other girls want to withdraw too? Does that mean we have to drop out from the tournament due to lack of team players? After working so hard to go through the preliminary round, will it all be a waste?" Yuri suddenly asked.

"This is all Uee's fault. She and all her lies. I seriously regret making friends with her." Taeyeon shouted as I quickly covered .

"Yah! Even though this room is soundproof, you still need to be careful. I don't want Omma or Appa to hear us." I said as I was about to sit down when a voice froze me on the spot.

"Hear about what, Jae?" I turned to the door and saw Omma standing there.

"Om... Omma.." I stuttered as I rubbed the back of my neck while Omma walked in towards us.

Patting me on my head, she smiled at me. "Are you keeping a secret from me, sweetie? You've promised not to keep any secrets from me, right?"

"Anni, Omma. There's no secret at all." I said as I smiled nervously.

"A girl is creating problem for us." Yuri suddenly blurted out as my eyes grew wide with surprise but before Yuri could continue, Taeyeon intercepted her.

"The girl confessed her feelings to Jae." Taeyeon said as Omma just smiled teasingly.

By now, all our parents had already knew about our uality since we confessed to them during the summer break. Even though Taeyeon's parents had not accepted it yet, Omma had been a pillar of strength for us.

"Ohhhh... So my baby girl has an admirer. Is she pretty?" Omma asked with a smirk.

"I don't share the same feelings as her. I'm not ready to be in love at the moment." I said honestly as Omma nodded.

We quickly changed to other topics  and chatted for a while before Aunt Kim told us to come down for dinner.

(5 days later)

"Hey Jae, we've only got 1 more week before the quarterfinals. Do you think coach will give us a harder drill for our training this friday?" Yuri asked as we walked towards the school gate.

"With Jae around, you don't have to worry. Don't forget that she's currently our top scorer during the preliminary rounds." Taeyeon replied with a smirk as she patted my back.

I just continued walking quietly as I prepared myself for the normal taunting that was about to come. As expected, the group of boys were there along with Uee. One after another, nasty remarks were thrown at us as the 3 of us just walked on. But suddenly, we heard a voice that froze us on the spot.

"A group of older boys throwing nasty remarks to 3 helpless girls. Don't you think your actions are a disgrace too?"

I turned around and saw Omma standing nearby with her arms folded with our school principal beside her. Both of them had a deep frown on their faces. I gulped down my saliva and just stood there, unmoved.

"You boys are from AAA high school right? Do you know who you all are messing with?" My principal said while glaring at them. "You do know that bullying is a serious offence and your school views it as as serious matter which can result in getting you expelled from school, right?"

I saw the boys panicked as some of them ran off quickly, leaving Uee with her boyfriend. The principal then called Uee aside while Omma gestured the 3 of us to enter the Bentley car that was waiting on the opposite side of the road. Uncle Kim was standing beside the car. Just when I was about to cross the road, I heard someone shouted. Turning around I saw Omma kneeling to the ground while holding the back of her head. Uee and our principal had rushed to her side.

"Omma!!! What happened?" I asked as I looked to the principal and then to Uee. Yuri and Taeyeon then shouted for Uncle Kim as I tried to help Omma up.

"He threw a stone at her." I heard Uee replied as I realised that she was referring to her boyfriend. That was when I saw blood on Omma's head.

"Get away from her!!" I shouted at Uee who was trying to hold Omma's arm. Uee said that she was just trying to help. "I don't need your help. Stay away from me and my Omma."

"Park Hyun Jae. Calm down. I'm fine." Omma said. By then Uncle Kim had already arrived as we brought her to the car and left for the hospital, leaving Uee and the principal behind.

(At the hospital)

I have been waiting outside the ward with Uncle Kim beside me for the past 1hr. Appa had arrived 20mins after Omma was warded. He asked me to wait outside as he told Taeyeon and Yuri to follow him inside the room. 'Appa must be asking them to tell him what happened. I'm dead.' I thought to myself.

"Uncle Kim, how was Appa's mood when you went to fetch him?" I asked Uncle Kim. He had went to fetch Appa from work after sending us to the hospital. It's Uncle Kim's job to inform Appa if anything was to happen to me or Omma.

"Very foul mood. He kept asking me what happened and I was nagged at him since I told him that I was not aware of what happened." Uncle Kim sighed.

"Mianhae, Uncle Kim. Because of me, you were dragged into this matter." I said as I felt bad for the old man. Uncle Kim just smiled and patted my head, saying that it was okay.

At that moment, the door opened. Taeyeon looked at me with a solemn expression and I knew things were going to get worse soon. Gesturing me to come in, I walked inside with Taeyeon beside me. Omma was on the bed with a bandage head, smiling sweetly at me. Seeing her like that made my heart hurt as I bite my lips. I was about to walk towards her when I heard Appa's stern voice.

"Stand still and don't move."

I gulped down my saliva as I saw Appa walking out from the bathroom. He was wiping his face with a towel, a sign that he had drenched his face with water. Walking towards me, his next action shocked everyone as a surge of pain was felt on my left cheek. Appa had just slapped me hard.

"Jagiya!! What are you doing?" I heard Omma's frantic voice as she tried to sit up. She stopped moving when Appa lifted up his hand, giving a sign to ask Omma not to move.

I hold back my tears as I could feel the burning sensation coming from my left cheek. I was staring at the floor as I could hear sobbings from behind which I presumed was from Taeyeon and Yuri.

"How long more were you planning to keep the bullying a secret from us?" Appa asked me with trembled voice. "Do you know why your Omma happened to be at your school earlier? That's because your futsal coach called your Omma to inform that she might have to drop you from the team for the tournament."

I looked up at Appa with a shocked expression. Never had I imagined that I would be asked to drop out from the team. Tears fell down my cheeks as I couldn't control my tears. I heard Omma gasped as she covered . I knew Omma was crying too.

"Taeyeon and Yuri told me everything. About this Uee girl. The one who had started all this mess. But do you think you're not at fault too? Are you so proud of being a gay that you had to tell her? Do you have to go around telling people that you're rich? Don't you think about the consequences of what might happened if she's got ill intentions towards you?" Appa nagged at me as I bite my lips hard to stop myself from crying.

"It's because of your arrogance that had caused your Omma to be in this state. It's because of your own selfish behaviour that everyone else is being dragged into this mess. I want you to go home now and reflect on your mistakes." Appa suddenly pointed towards the door. "Both of you can accompany her home." Appa looked at Yuri and Taeyeon who just nodded their heads.

"But Appa, I want to stay with Omma." I said as I looked at Omma with pleading eyes.

"I will stay with her. She's my responsibility. Now go." Appa shooed me away as I saw Omma smiling weakly and gesturing me to just listen to Appa.

(At home, in my room)

I had cried throughout my journey home. I skipped dinner and just stayed in my room ever since I reached home. It was already 10pm when I heard someone knocking my bedroom door. Soon after, Taeyeon's and Yuri's head popped out from behind the door.

"Can we come in?"

I looked at them and nodded my head. They sat at the corner of my bed as the 3 of us just stayed quiet for the next 10seconds.

"I'm sorry. For telling Uncle Park about everything." Taeyeon said as she looked down.

"I''m sorry too." Yuri added on.

"Gwenchana. I know that both of you doesn't have any choice especially if Appa is the one who is questioning." I said as I sighed and leaned against the headrest.

"Does it still hurt?" Taeyeon asked as she pointed to my left cheek.

"Not as bad as earlier. It'll go off soon. It's not the first time I was slapped anyway." I said as I chuckled a bit.

"But it's the first time that we saw Uncle Park lost his cool. I've never seen him so angry before." Yuri shuddered as she was reminded of what happend earlier.

"That's because Omma was hurt. Appa will lose his temper when something happened to Omma. He just love her too much and what Appa said was right. It's all my fault that this whole mess happened."

"But it's not your fault. It's Uee's fault. She's the one who created all these problems." Taeyeon fiercely replied.

I shook my head. "I gave her the opportunity to do so. I let her take advantage of me. I let her made a fool of me and I kept all these a secret from Omma." I felt my tears starting to fall when I was reminded of Omma with her bandaged head, lying on the hospital bed. "I had promised Omma to always be honest with her but I didn't and it had lead to all this. I didn't think of the consequences of my actions."

"By the way, is Coach really going to drop you out of the team? We won't be able to make it without you, Jae. I heard the other 7 teams are really good." Yuri said with a sad tone.

"You both have to worked harder then. Believe in yourself. I'm sure you can do it. I'll be on the bench supporting you." I said as I smiled at both of them. "Let's get some rest for now. It's getting late and we need to go to school tomorrow."

(The next day in school)

During the school assembly, I saw the principal standing at the podium and getting ready to give his morning speech.

"It has come to my attention that there has been reports of bullying happening around the school for the past few months. I would like to remind all students that bullying is not acceptable in my school. Students found in the act of doing so whether directly involved or just watching it happening, will be dealt with severely by the school's disciplinary committee."

I felt Taeyoen nudging my elbows. "Jae, my Appa said that the school principal came to the hospital after we left. Do you think Uncle Park had got something to do with the announcement?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I kept thinking of how Omma was doing. I couldn't concentrate at all in class for the whole day. I told Taeyeon and Yuri that I've made up my mind to visit Omma today, even if Appa doesn't allow me in.

Once school ended, I was getting ready to see the group of boys again, along with Uee but to my surprise, only Uee was standing by herself at the school gate. I looked at Taeyeon and Yuri who also had the same surprise looked. I decided to just ignore her and walked away but I heard her calling my name.

"Jae!! Taeng!! Wait a minute please." Uee had to run to catch up with us.

I stopped suddenly, causing Uee to bump into me. Yuri and Taeyeon also stopped along with me.

"What do you want, Uee? Can't you see that we're in a rush?" Taeyeon asked with a serious expression while Yuri just stood there quietly. 

"Are you all going to the hospital to visit Jae's mom?" Uee asked.

"So what if we are?" Taeyeon answered again with the same sarcastic tone.

Yuri didn't participate much in the conversation because she and Uee doesn't really know each other that well even though Yuri had heard and seen enough about Uee.

"Can I follow you all to the hospital? I want to apologise to Jae's mom for what happened." Uee pleaded softly.

Before Taeyeon could reply her, I stopped Taeyeon by putting my hands on her shoulders. Turning to face Uee, I took a deep breathe before speaking up.

"Yu jin sshi, mianhae. But I don't think it's necessary for you to visit my Omma and apologise since it was not you who threw a stone at her. As far as I'm concern, you are of no existence in my life. So please don't ever appear in front of me anymore. Kamsahamnida." I bowed down slightly as if I was talking to a stranger formally.

Uee paused for a while, trying to hold back her tears."If that is what you want, I'll oblige. But before I go, I just want to say that I'm truly sorry for everything. I didn't expect things to turn out the way they did. Mianhae." Uee said with a cracked voice as tears fell down along her cheeks before she turned around and ran off.

I sighed as I watched her disappearing around the corner until I felt Yuri patting me on my back.

"Are you okay?" Yuri asked with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. She's actually a nice person but I don't understand how things could end up like this." I sighed again as we continued our journey to the hospital in silence.

(Outside of Omma's ward)

"What do you mean you're not sure? How can a doctor give such an answer?" 

I was about to turn the corner to get to Omma's room when I heard Appa's loud voice. I had to forced myself to stop walking as Taeyeon bumped into me with Yuri bumping into her. Before Taeyeon could retort, I quickly covered and at the same time, giving Yuri the sign to be quiet.

"Mr Park, I understand your frustration but the hospital more time to access the situation. We'll be doing some further examination on Mrs Park to monitor her situation. It could just be a temporary blindness due to the hit on the back of her head which has affected one of her optic nerves."

I covered my mouth in shocked. 'Temporary blindness?' I heard gasps from behind and it seems that both Yuri and Taeyeon also heard what the doctor said. We continued to eavesdrop the conversation where Appa informed the doctor to try his best to rectify the problem before he walked into the room. 

The 3 of us just stood behind the pillar in silence as none of us could find the words to say anything. I felt a sharp pain in my heart as I bite my lips hard to suppress my tears until it bled.

"Jae, stop biting your lips. It's already bleeding." Taeyeon quickly patted my cheeks in an attempt to stop me from biting.

"Appa is still inside. Do you think it's the right time to visit Omma?" Yuri asked with a frown on her face.

"Let's go and take a seat at that corner." I suggested as the 3 of us walked towards a row of seats, away from Omma's ward. Once again, silence filled the atmosphere until Taeyeon voiced out.

"Will your Omma be okay, Jae?" She looked at me with her puffy eyes.

I rubbed my face and sighed. Taking a deep breathe to clear my messed up mind at the moment, I leaned back and folded my arms. "Only one way to find out and that is to ask Appa about it."

"But your Appa will definitely scold you. He was already in a bad mood yesterday and with this latest news, I'm not sure that's a good idea, Jae." Yuri commented as she looked at me nervously.

"Both of you don't have to follow me in. I know you're afraid to face an angry Mr Park. But I need to know and I can't run away forever from them. They're my parents. Even if Appa is going to slap me more than once, I'll still accept it." I said as I stood up and walked towards the ward.

********************************

(Present Time)

"Oh my god. Temporary blindness? Did she recover from that?" Tiffany asked when I paused to take a sip of my drink.

I've been telling the whole story to everyone after persuassion from Jessica to tell her the truth. With Yuri's and Taeyeon's help, I managed to tell the rest of the girls what actually happened back then. I was struggling at certain parts of the story as I was reminded of the pain that I had to go through. The nasty remarks, the sarcastic laughters and the judgemental looks that I received was really a nightmare to me. The worst was what happened to Omma.

"Fany-ah, let Jae have her drink first. She's been talking for the past 1hr." Taeyeon smiled at Tiffany who apologised to me immediately.

"Luckily Omma's condition was temporary but I sure did received hell from Appa for the next 2months that Omma had to spend in the hospital." I said as I gave out a sad chuckle. "I was only allowed to visit Omma on weekends. Appa totally ignored me. He will leave the room everytime I came to visit Omma. Even though his behaviour hurts me a lot but I understood his pain. If it was not because of me, Omma won't be in that situation."

"Then how about the futsal tournament? Were you really drop from the team? I remembered Ms Lee saying that you were the top scorer in your 1st year of competition in middle school." Yoona asked.

"We barely made it through the quarterfinals and we lost in the semis. Even so, Jae remained as the top scorer of the tournament with 19 goals." Yuri answered as everyone had an amazed expression. "She scored 14 goals during the group matches and 5 more goals during the top 16 round."

"Too bad she didn't take part in the remaining games. I bet she could have set a new record for scoring the most number of goals in that tournament." Taeyeon added on.

"It doesn't matter anyway since we didn't win the championship." I sighed as I noticed Yuri's and Taeyeon's expression suddenly changed as I realised my mistake. "Sorry, Yul. Sorry, Taeng. I didn't mean it that way. You both must be thinking that I'm blaming you for it. I'm not, okay. Please don't take it the wrong way." I panicked as I clasped my hands together as a sign of apologising.

"No worries, Jae. We understand you don't mean it that way. It's just that I suddenly remembered that you were booed when you went to accept the top scorer award." Taeyeon replied as I sighed when I waas reminded of what happened.

"I still can't believe that that it was our own schoolmates who did that. Even the students from other schools were confused as to why they reacted that way. It's only when our school principal suddenly stood up to clap for Jae, did all the booing stopped." Yuri said.

"So after what happened to your Omma, everything went back to normal?" Hyoyeon asked as me, Yuri and Taeyeon shook our heads.

"But the taunting and the name-calling stopped though. You can never expect things to go back to normal when almost the whole school knew that you're gay." I chuckled a bit. "I was thankful that Taeng and Yul stood by me throughout our middle school. Appa did suggested for me to transfer out but Omma didn't allow it. She said that I should never run away from any problems. Being gay is not a crime. Just be true to yourself and others will see the good in you. That's what she said."

"After Uee transferred out, the whole thing seemed to fade away slowly. We didn't really mingle with other students but I guessed having these two clowns around is more than enough." Taeyeon said as I showed a fist at her with Yuri pretending to choke her.

"One good thing about it is that the story didn't spread to the new students that came in after us. I think our school principal helped us a lot in handling the situation. The 3 of us managed to graduate without further problems." Yuri commented.

"No wonder when I came in, I didn't hear anything about this before." Yoona said since she came in a year later. "I've only heard that the 3 of you were really good in futsal and I've been watching every futsal game since then." 

"Do you think all of these happened because you rejected Uee's love and it started all this mess?" Seohyun suddenly asked me, causing everyone to looked at her.

"I... I didn't think of that." I said as I slowly pondered about what Seohyun had said. 

"Just for the record, Jae. Uee did admitted to have true feelings towards you. That's the reason to why she's been keeping your number and never forgetting to send you the well-wishes for the past 5yrs especially on your birthday." Taeyeon said as I felt Jessica stiffened beside me. "She said that she broke off with the guy before she transferred out from our school and until now, she's still single. Maybe she's still hoping for..... Ouch!!!"

Before Taeyeon could finished her sentence, I had kicked her shin from under the table. 'This midget really doesn't know how to filter her words. Sometimes she's just too honest.' I thought to myself as I glared at her while giving her an eye signal at the same time. Taeyeon saw my signal and slowly glanced at Jessica who obviously wasn't happy.

"Ailee, is there still food left that we can order? All these stories are making me hungry again." Sooyoung suddenly said, causing all of us to laughed at her while Ailee stood up to check with the kitchen staff.

"I think you need to do something about Sica though. She seem troubled." Sunny who was sitting beside me, whispered to my ear as I nodded my head.

'I wonder what's on her mind right now.' I thought as I turned to look at Jessica.