We managed to finish our lunch within 45mins which means that we have an hour before we were suppose to gather back. Hara, Hyomin and the 3 cheerleaders that were seated at their table had decided to walk around the stadium to look at other ongoing matches. Taeyeon reminded them to be back by 2.45pm and to take care, especially not to tire themselves out.

The rest of us decided to just head back to the hall to get some rest and also to digest our lunch. While sitting at the bench, I was about to close my eyes when I felt Jessica tapping my thighs. Turning to face her, I saw her pointing to the two figures that were seated at a corner, slightly away from us.

"Don't you think they look cute together? Min and Suzy." Jessica whispered to me as I placed my head on her shoulders.

"They do but I'm too sleepy at the moment to think about it. I shouldn't have eaten rice for lunch earlier. It makes me feel sleepy." I said as I yawned.

"Rest your head on my lap then. It's more comfortable to lie down." She said as she gently grabbed my head and brought it to her lap while I adjusted my body. "You need to eat rice so that you'll have a lot of energy in your next game, Jaegi. For now, close your eyes and rest first since we still have an hour before the next match."

I nodded my head as I felt Jessica my hair softly. I was on the verge of entering my dreamland when I heard a manly voice, calling out Jessica's name. My eyes instantly opened as I sat up straight. The moment my body was straightened, Jessica's left arm went around my waist as she bowed slightly to Taecyeon who was standing at the side of the bench.

"Oh, I didn't notice you were here too." Taecyeon said to me with a genuine shock expression.

As I was lying down earlier, it was difficult to notice me from where Taecyeon was standing. I just smiled and bowed at him as I saw him looking hesitant about what to say next. It got awkward for the next 10 seconds as no one said anything so I decided to make the first move.

"So Taecyeon, how's your matches so far? Have you all completed all 3 of them?" I asked sincerely.

Taecyeon turned to face me and with an arrogant smirk, he replied. "We still got one more match to play but don't worry. We won't make the same mistake as last year. We'll make sure that we'll be the champion this year. Anyway, we've won both of our earlier matches. How about your team? Not having any problem to defend your title, are you?"

That smirk on his face that showed as if he was looking down on me should have pissed off anyone who saw it but I'm not someone who could loose my cool so easily as I just nodded my head and answered him calmly. "Well, it's still far to think about the finals but I can confidently say that my team will work hard to achieve the results that we want. We're taking one game at a time."

I saw Taecyeon snorting at my answer as he folded his arms and was about to say something when Jessica voiced out. "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be busy preparing for your next game?" Jessica glared at him as she folded her arms too. Well, I guess not everyone can remain as calm as me.

"I... I.. was actually thinking of asking you out for dinner. I mean we're still friends right?" He stammered a little when he saw Jessica's icy glare.

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

Taecyeon's POV

Ever since I saw the intimate interaction between Jessica and Hyun Jae earlier this moorning, I couldn't stop this feeling of remorse in me. Seeing how happy Jessica was, smiling beautifully at Hyun Jae, it made me remembered those times when I was still with her. Times when we were still close friends and were not bonded by the arrange marriage. Times when she would rely a lot on me. Times when I could still declare her as mine.

Yes, I knew Jessica had never felt anything towards me in a loving way. She only saw me as a friend that was there to protect her from the bullies. It was true that I was attracted to her. Even though she was cold on the exterior, but when you get to know her better, she's just the opposite of the character that she potrayed on the outside.

I admitted that I got close to her because I wanted to show my authority in our high school and also because I wanted to prove to my friends that I could get any girl that I wanted even when the girl showed no interest in me. Everyone knew how rich I was and almost every girl would try to get close to me. Except for Jessica. She wasn't really bothered about my existence which I found it weird yet intriguing. I saw how she would get bullied in school so I decided to step in and protect her from them. Ever since I got close to her, no one dared to disturb her.

I thought by doing so, Jessica would fall heed over heels with me but she didn't. She only saw me as a friend. When I got to know her even more, I was surprised that she actually came from a well-to-do family. I'm not sure if it's my luck but a year later, I received news from my dad that me and Jessica will be in an arranged marriage.

Initially, I was very happy to hear it and I thought that Jessica will feel the same way too. I mean, both of us have gotten closer since we've been hanging out together for the past one year and even in school, the students thought that we're a couple. But I was disappointed when Jessica didn't react the same way as I did. She honesty told me that she didn't agree to the arrangement and even asked for my help to break it. She said that she only saw me as a friend but I told her to take her time to try to accept me. I could see that she's been trying to accomodate to me a lot of times during that period of time but I know her feelings for me was still just as friends.

I guessed I got tired of waiting for her to accept me that I decided to find someone else behind her back. I knew I shouldn't have done that but there was no way I would break up the arranged marriage. My dad said that he would stop his financial support for me if I ever tried to end the relationship. Obviously, I won't want that to happen. That's when I met Gyuri at a party that I had attended.

She was beautiful, rich and confident. Almost similar to Jessica except that she flaunts her qualities well. What I mean is that she knew that she was rich, even richer than me so sometimes she likes to show her bossy attitude to me. She knew she was beautiful and she doesn't mind if other guys would oogle at her. Even when I told her that I'm not happy with it, she told me to accept the fact that other guys are appreciating her beauty. She's confident of what she wants and she'll make sure that she gets it. I used to think that Gyuri was better than Jessica but now, I'm not sure anymore.

That was why I felt remorse when I saw how good Jessica was towards Hyun Jae. I should have pushed on for the marriage. I believe that Jessica would learn to love me after our marriage. I don't really know much about Hyun Jae except hearing rumours that she's a good futsal player and she drives a ferrari. But I think Jessica is the one who bought her that car. Judging by the way Hyun Jae dress up, I don't think she can afford that car. Even that shorty who is Tiffany's girlfriend, I think Tiffany is the one who bought her that sports car. I knew Tiffany's dad is rich while Taeyeon's dad is only a driver. That Hyun Jae must have taken advantage of Jessica's wealth.

I saw them earlier at the cafetaria, having their lunch. I wanted to approach Jessica then but there were too many of them so I decided to just wait until I saw them going back to the hall. I knew that their next match is not until an hour later so I went to the gents for a while. When I came back to the hall, I saw Jessica sitting at the bench alone while the other girls were in different corners of the hall. I didn't expect that Hyun Jae was there too since I couldn't see her from where I was standing. I was really taken aback with her sudden appearance and when I saw Jessica wrapping her arms around Hyun Jae's waist, I felt a sharp pain in my heart.

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

"Dinner?" Jessica replied as she turned to face me before turning to face Taecyeon again. "You do know that we've got a competition going on right? I don't think we have time for dinner."

"Well, maybe not now. Maybe after the tournament." Taecyeon said as he continued to just look at Jessica as if I was invincible to him.

"What do you think, Jaegi? Will you be free for dinner after the tournament?" Jessica suddenly asked me, causing me to be a bit confused at the moment. I can see that Taecyeon was about to say something but I think Jessica noticed it too. "By the way, if you plan to have dinner with just me alone, I would have to reject it. I would only go if Jae is accompanying me."

I could see the scowl on Taecyeon face as I tried to control the laughter in by putting on a straight face and pretended to think. "I can't give a definite answer right now since my focus at the moment is on the tournamant. Maybe we can discuss about it again once everything is over. What do you think, Taecyeon?"

"Fine, whatever." Taecyeon rolled his eyes at me before turning to face Jessica. "I'll give you a call soon, Jessica. Once the tournament ends and my team becomes the champion." With an arrogant smirk, he walked away after giving Jessica a cheeky smile.

"Oh my god.. I can't stand his egoistic character. He wasn't that bad when we were still in high school.Or maybe I just didn't notice it." Jessica said as she sighed.

"I think he's still attracted to you." I said in a teasing tone as I laid down on Jessica's lap. "And I'm left with 15mins of rest."

"Rest now before your jealousy explodes." Jessica chuckled as I meronged at her and closed my eyes.

Even though it was only 15mins of rest, I felt refreshed the moment Jessica tapped me on my shoulder to wake me up. She pointed to where the rest of the girls were heading to which was in front of Ms Lee. I rubbed my whole face quickly and jogged towards them.

"Everyone, in 15mins time, we're going to play our last game for the day. I would like to compliment the team for working hard to win our first two matches. So far, without counting the current on-going matches, we're leading Group A with 6 points while Chungmuro University is in 2nd place with 3 points. Mokpo University and Ansan University are in 3rd and 4th placing respectively. While all of you were resting, I've been watching the match between Chungmuro University and Ansan Univeristy since their game started at 2.30pm. Currently their score is still at 0-0." Ms Lee said as she pointed towards the on-going match on our right side.

All of us turned to look and were lost in our own thoughts, watching the match until Ms Lee clapped her hands to grab our attention.

"For the next game, I would like to give our newcomers some experience by playing them in the starting line-up. So Sunny, Hyomin and Min. The 3 of you will need to start your warm-up now. Yoona and Taeyeon will join in too." The 5 girls then went off to do their warm-ups.

Our final match was about to start as I sat at the bench with Yuri beside me. Hara, Sooyoung and Hyoyeon were seated at the row behind us. Jessica came up to sit beside me with Tiffany sitting beside her while Seohyun sat beside Hyoyeon. The other cheerleaders took their seats at the 3rd row. My focus were on the game as I saw Ms Lee glancing at the other game between Chungmuro and Ansan. It seemed that the game had just ended for the first half.

"Ms Lee, how's the score?" I asked as Ms Lee replied that the score was still 0-0 just at the same time, that the whistle was blown for our game to start.

Our attention went back to the court as I saw Taeyeon passing the ball all the way back to Yoona who then passed the ball to Sunny, our goalkeeper for this match. Yoona was playing as the defender with Hyomin and Min as wingers while Taeyeon played the pivot as usual. I nudged my elbow at Yuri who was just staring at Yoona.

"Yah, stop drooling over your girlfriend." I teased as Yuri meronged at me.

I was about to say something further when I felt someone ruffling my hair. I turned around to see a grinning Sooyoung. "Yah!! Stop messing with my hair." Sooyoung chuckled and kept saying that Sunny looked cute in the pink goalkeeper outfit as she continued playing with my hair. I was about to grab her hand when I heard the sound of the whistle.

"What happened?" I asked to no one in particular as I turned to face the court.

"Taeyeon scored a goal on a counter attack." Jessica said as she turned to pinch me on my right cheek. "Stop playing around and focus on the game."

I was about to retort back by saying that it was Sooyoung's fault when I heard a loud cheering from the other side. Ms Lee informed us that Chungmuro team had scored a goal. I continued to focus back on our team as I saw the ball now was in Hyomin's posession. She was playing a one two pass with Min while Yoona stayed behind to defend. As our 2 wingers surged forward, Taeyeon ran up together with them and kept asking for the ball. Hyomin then tried to do a fake pass to Min but the opponent was able to read her movement as she stole the ball away from Hyomin.

Seeing that their teammate had the ball in her possession, the other 2 Mokpo players surged forward into our half. Min and Taeyeon who were already near the opponents goalpost had no choice but to run back to defend but it was too late. Yoona was not able to go against 3 players as Mokpo scored an equaliser. The referee blew her whistle just at the same time as another whistle sound was heard. I turned to my right and saw that Chungmuro team had scored another goal with only 10mins gone.

Ms Lee called for a time-out as the girls gathered around. Me and Yuri quickly passed the water bottles around.

"Girls, try to remain calm. Do not rush or panic. Move forward at the same time with the ball movement. Min, you went up to fast earlier when Hyomin lost the possession which was why it was difficult for you to track back. Control your pace. Hyomin, try to be more aware of your surroundings. Remember to keep your focus on the game."

The game restarted again as the girls tried to put all their focus on the match. 5mins later, Chungmuro team scored another goal as I bite my lips and folded my arms. I felt Jessica tapping me on my lap as I turned to face her.

"Why do you look tense?" She asked with an innocent expression.

"It seems that Chungmuro team is doing well at the moment. If they scored one more goal, they will be on the same goal difference with us but we'll still top the table if we get away with a draw." I said as my eyes never left the court, watching the opponents style of playing.

"So if we lose, Chungmuro will top the table and we'll be in second place?" Jessica asked as I nodded my head. "Don't worry too much. We'll score another goal." The moment Jessica said it, the whistle was blown as our team had conceded a penalty.

Taeyeon had lost the ball in the center of the court and had chased after the opponent to try to get the ball back but she lost her footing while running. Pulling the opponent down along with her, Taeyeon had unintentionally gave the opponent team a penalty.

Sunny was getting ready at the goalpost when I heard Sooyoung shouting a 'hwaiting' to her. Sunny looked up and nodded her head as the opponnet got ready to kick. When the whistle was blown, everyone was nervous as we watched Sunny flying the opposite direction of the ball but her leg managed to kick the ball out. We were about to celebrate her save but to our horror, the rebound ball fell to an opponent who smashed it into the empty goal.

2 more mins left in the game as we heard a loud cheer from the Chungmuro team. They had scored another goal, making the score at the moment to be at 4-0. I saw Ms Lee shaking her head as she kept looking at her watch. She turned around and faced us.

"Hyun Jae, Yuri, Hara and Hyoyeon. Warm-up and prepare for the next half."

The 4 of us nodded our heads and quickly went to a corner to start our warm-up. We were still doing it when the referee blew the whistle to indicate the end  of the first half. We saw the girls dragging themselves back to the bench as Ms Lee stood at one side to allow them to recuperate.

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

I was tightening my shoelaces when I felt someone sitting beside me.

"Mianhae. Because of my clumsiness, we are trailing by a goal. Ms Lee told us that Chungmuro is currently at the top of the table since their goal difference is more than us but with the same points." Taeyeon said as she sighed.

I looked up and saw the dejected look on her face. "Hey, Taeng. As the captain, shouldn't you be giving us encouraging words? We still have 20mins of game play. Anything can happen." I said as I grinned at her. "Do you believe me if I say that we're going to win this match?"

I just ruffled her hair as Taeyeon looked at me with a blur expression. Walking towards the court, I stretched myself a bit and turned to the side as Yuri walked up to me and patted my back.

"So how many goals are you planning to score later?" She grinned at me.

"Not sure. Just make sure you defend well later and stop drooling at Yoona." I stucked out my tongue as we entered the court.

"Hyun Jae, hwaiting!!!" I heard Jessica's voice from the bench as I showed her the thumbs up and gave her a flying kiss. I saw Jessica blushing away as Yuri knocked me lightly on the head with her knuckles.

"And you, stop flirting with your girlfriend." Yuri said before she ran off to join Yoona as a defender.

We'll be playing with a 2-1-1 formation and would try to score a goal on the counter attack. Ms Lee anticipate that Mokpo team wwould be on defensive mode since they're were already leading the game and it seems that it was true when I saw Mokpo team playing with a 3-1-0 formation which means that they're not putting any player as a pivot.

"Hey Jae, they're taking the ultra-defensive formation. How are we going to get a goal in this way?" Hyoyeon asked as both of us stood in front of the ball, waiting for the refereee to commence the game.

"Let's try our best first and see how it goes. Hwaiting!!" I said as I did a fist bump with Hyoyeon while the whistle sound went off.

It was getting frustrating as I glanced at the clock. 5mins had past and we've not had a single shot towards the other team. With almost all their players lingering in Mokpo's half of the court, me and Hyoyeon were not able to get past them. I showed a signal to Ms Lee to call for a time-out which she gladly did so.

"Ms Lee, we need to change our formation. May I suggest a 1-2-1 with Hara taking Yoona place?" I asked as I saw that Yoona was almost exhausted. Yoona nodded her head as an agreement to my suggestion so Ms Lee took the next step.

Speed of the game changed with the inclusion of Hara. Both her and Hyoyeon were causing troubles down the wings which resulted for the Mokpo formation to be abit unstable since they had to defend out wide to prevent the crosses coming in from the sides. It was during one of our attacks that was I able to score the equaliser for our team.

A perfect looping ball from Hara was flown into my direction as I clenched my fist and threw myself toward the incoming ball. With a precise control of my head and a powerful push, the ball ended at the back of the opponent's net. We celebrated together but it seemed that the equaliser had made the Mokpo team frustrated. They started to play rough and kept tripping Hyoyeon and Hara as their players started to receive warnings and even yellow cards. But we surged on, trying to find the winning goal.

Once again, Hara and Hyoyeon teamed up well to maintain posession of the ball as they played one-two passes to each other. When the ball was passed to me, I ran forward as I faked my moves from the left to right while passing two Mokpo players. With the ball still at my feet, I noticed that Hara had once again ran down the right wing with her hands up, asking for the ball. Passing the ball to her with a swift move, I found an open space to wait for the return pass. Hara saw that opportunity and quickly kicked the ball towards me before a Mokpo player could slide into her. As the ball rolled towards me, I swinged my right foot and bend the ball to the left corner of the goalpost to score my 2nd goal. The whistle was blown but I was shocked when I turned around to see that Hara was on the ground while clutching her ankle.

It seemed that after the Mokpo player slide into her, Hara managed to dodge the tackle by jumping over the slide but she didn't prepare for her landing smoothly and had twisted her ankle. The referee blew the whistle as she allowed us to carry Hara to the sides as the Mokpo coach also called for a time-out.

"Hara, gwenchana?" Sunny asked as she removed her gloves to take a look at Hara's ankle. The frown on Sunny's face and the shaking of her head, showed that it was not a good sign.

"Soo, help me to press a peck of ice on Hara's ankle to stop the swelling." Ms Lee said as she stood up and take a look at all her players.

"Ms Lee, let me take Hara's place. Even though we're currently leading by a goal, that scoreline is too slim. We need to try to search for one more goal and at the same time try not to concede another goal." Yoona said as I heard the referee blewing her whistle to restart the game.

"Okay. We'll use the 2-1-1 formation and attack them on a counter attack. You girls should know what to do." Ms Lee said as me, Sunny, Hyoyeon, Yuri and Yoona stood up and walked to the court.