The bus was filled with loud cheerings for two things. One was because we managed to advance to the finals after beating XXX university with an aggregate score of 3-1. The 3rd goal was scored by Yuri with just a minute left of the match. Secondly, the girls were teasing me because of an incident that happened after the match ended.

(Flashback)

After teasing a flustered looking Jessica, I turned my focus back to the court. Watching the clock, I stood up and walked towards Ms Lee when there was only 4mins left. XXX team was on the attack but Sooyoung managed to catch the flying ball. Ms Lee noticed my presence and called for a time-out, after I nodded my head to her.

The girls came in quickly and after receiving new instructions, they went back into the court with a change of position between Hyoyeon and Yuri. The opponents didn't expect us to have a last minute change as Sooyoung kicked the ball to Hyoyeon who kept playing one-two passes with Min.

"Hyo!! Now!!" I shouted across the court as Hyoyeon nodded her head and started running forward.

The moment she crossed the center line, Hyoyeon passed the ball to Yuri who was already waiting for the ball. Yuri managed to dodge two XXX players as she surged forward with the ball. Looping the ball towards Yoona who chested down the ball, Yuri volleyed the return ball straight into the opponent's net.

"Goal!!!!"

The hall erupted with cheerings as I just smiled at the girls who were hugging each other on the court. Turning behind, I saw the rest of the girls jumping in joy as Jessica showed me a thumbs up and smiled widely.

"Good job, Jae. Your idea to swap Hyo and Yuri was great." Ms Lee patted my back as I bowed slightly at her. "You're really a good strategist. You should consider being a futsal coach in the future."

"Yuri is very good at volleying the ball since her right leg is strong which was why I suggested the swap. I only told her to try her luck and shot outside the semicircle." I explained myself.

The match resumed soon but only for a short while as the final whistle was blown. Once everyone was gathered around, we took turns to hug each other and patted each others back for a job well done. Ms Lee then told us to pack our things and get ready to leave the hall. That was when the 2nd incident happened.

I was packing up my things into my duffel bag when someone tapped me at my shoulder. Looking up, I saw a player from XXX university smiling shyly at me so I returned the smile as a friendly gesture.

"I.. I would like to apologise." She paused as I gave her a clueless expression. "I was the one who pushed you earlier, causing you to suffer the injury."

"Ahhh... No wonder you look familiar. It's okay. Just a mild sprain." I replied with a smile as I saw her turning red.

"I hope you'll get well soon enough for the finals tomorrow. I want to see you play." She said as she bite her lips and looked down.

"I hope so too. Good luck on your match tomorrow. You're going against Busan University for the 3rd/4th placing, right?" I asked as the girl looked up and nodded her head. "See you around then."

I stood up and was walking away to join the rest of the girls who were waiting for me at the side when the girl shouted.

"Can I have your autograph?"

I was taken aback with her request as I stopped walking and turned around. I could hear Taeyeon and Yuri whistling at me from the back as the girl approached me.

"Mianhae for shouting. I've actually been a fan of you since last year. I was in the reserve team then so I had more opportunity to watch you play." The girl explained herself as she showed a piece of paper to me. "Please."

I turned behind to look for Jessica and saw her looking at me with a  blank expression. "Give me a minute." I said as I jogged to where Jessica was. "Sicababy, she's asking me for..."

"Let me carry your bag then." Jessica intercepted my sentence as she held out her hand. "Be careful when you sign. Don't move your wrist too much."

I smiled at Jessica, nodded my head and handed my bag over to her before walking back to the girl. I held out my hand and the girl gave me the paper. "Your name?"

The girl looked a bit dazed for a while until I pointed to the paper. " Ohh.. Sorry, sorry. The name is Krystal. I'm a 2nd year student in XXX university."

I scribbled on the paper and handed it back to her but before I could walk away, she asked me another question.

"Will you still be competing next year?"

"I'm not sure yet since next year will be my final year. Even if I'm not competing, keep doing your best. Krystal, hwaiting!!" I showed a clenched fist as I saw her blushing while nodding her head.

Waving her goodbye, I jogged towards the girls who were waiting for me at the hall entrance and that was when the teasings started.

(Present time)

Yuri - "Can I have your autograph, please?" 

Soo - "Sure, sure. Where do you want me to sign?"

Hyo - "Here, here. At my forehead."

Taeyeon - "I've been your fan for a very loooong time."

The 4 of them were parodying the incident earlier with exaggerated acting while the rest of the team were laughing at them. Even Jessica was giggling beside me.

"Yah!!! Stop it. That's enough." I said as they just laughed at me. "Sicababy, you're not suppose to join them too." I pouted and folded my arms.

"Would you prefer me to be jealous then?" Jessica asked as I shook my head instantly. "You're lucky the girls were making a joke out of it. I was honestly jealous when I heard the girl asking you for your autograph. She even blushed when you cheered her on but seeing how they're teasing you right now, it made me realise that it's something that I shouldn't take to heart."

I nodded my head furiously and grinned at Jessica. By then, the girls had stopped teasing me and everyone were resting in their own seats. It seemed that they were exhausted from all the cheerings as the bus travelled back to the campus in silence.

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

"But Taeng, we have a game tomorrow. It's the finals. If you go back now, you won't have enough rest." Sooyoung said as Taeyeon was pacing around the living room.

"Your Appa already said that she's fine. It's almost midnight now." Hyoyeon added on before she yawned.

Taeyeon had received a call from her dad an hour ago to inform her that her mum had fainted at home at around 8pm after dinner. Uncle Kim had brought her to the hospital to get it check and didn't have time to inform Taeyeon earlier because he was busy sorting things out at the hospital. The doctor inform that Aunt Kim had fainted because of low blood pressure due  to dehydration. After being in the observation room for 2hrs and given an iv drip of glucose, Aunt Kim was allowed to return home.

"Why did Appa called me so late? He should have called me when they were still in the hospital." Taeyeon started to show her temper by mumbling loudly to no one in particular. "I don't care. I'm going home to see her. Don't worry. I'll come back before we leave for the stadium."

"Taeng, by the time you reached home, it'll almost be 1am. Your parents would have been sleeping by then. You'll only end up disturbing them. We'll be leaving for the stadium by 8am tomorrow, which means we need to wake up by 6am. You will be tired driving to and fro." Yuri commented.

"Yul is right, Taeng. We'll visit them tomorrow after the match, okay." I said as I saw Taeyeon rolling her eyes at me.

"How do you all expect me to sleep if I'm feeling worried the whole night? My mum fainted, for God sake." There was an obvious increase in Taeyeon's tone of voice as she folded her arms and glared at everyone.

"We all understand how you feel, Taeng. All of us are close to Aunt Kim and care about her too. We just don't want you to tire yourself out especially with a big game tomorrow. Like I said, we'll all visit her tomorrow. I promise you that. But for now, just let her rest first." I said softly, trying to reason things out with an angry-looking Taeyeon.

"Game, game, game... Is that all you are bothered with? How can you understand how I'm feeling right now? You don't even have a mum to worry about." Taeyeon finally burst out but it was obvious that she regretted her choice of words when she covered automatically.

Taeyeon's POV:

'Oh . What did I just say to Jae? I didn't plan to blurt those hurtful words out. I was just feeling frustrated about the whole situation.

"Kim Taeyeon! That is so uncalled for!"

It wasn't Jae who was shouting at me but Yuri who had stood up with her left hand on her hip and her right hand pointing straight at me. Her eyes were filled with so much anger that I automatically looked down. No one said anything after that as the room was filled with awkward silence for about 5seconds until I heard Jae's voice.

"I leave the decision to you. Just remember, you're the team captain."

I watched as Jae stood up and walked away to her room and I heard her locking the door after she entered. Turning my head to face the other 3 girls who were shaking their heads at me, I slumped down into the chair and covered my face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Yuri half-screamed at me and continued to scold me while I just allowed her to do so.

"Yul, calm down. It's already late at night. We don't want to disturb the other tenants especially our girlfriends." Sooyoung spoke up as she pulled Yuri down to sit beside her. "Anyway, we are just worried about your well-being, Taeng. All of us doesn't want you to tire yourself out. Uncle Kim already said that your mum is fine and just need a lot of rest."

"I think Jae worries about your Omma as much as you do, Taeng. She looks up to your Omma a lot especially after she lost her own mum. I can understand Jae's point of view. As the team captain, you will be expected to lead the team tomorrow. How do you expect to lead us well if you are too exhausted to do so?" Hyoyeon gave her comment as Taeyeon looked up.

"I didn't mean to say those words to her. I was just frustrated with the whole situation. I'm sorry." I could feel the tears filling up my eyes as I bite my lips.

"We're not the one you should apologise to, Taeng." Yuri said but her tone of voice was not as loud as earlier. "We know that you have a short temper. I think Jae knows that very well too. Let's just get some rest first and tomorrow, you better set things right first thing in the morning. Do you hear me, Kim Taeyeon?" Yuri pointed her finger at me again as I nodded my head vigorously.

I walked towards my room and lied down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. 'Jae, mianhae. I hope you know that I didn't mean those words I said.' I sighed as I heard a knock on my bedroom door. Dragging myself to open it, I was surprised to find nobody there except for a glass of warm milk and a small note attached to it.

'Warm milk will help you to sleep. Finish it up and rest well.'

I could recognise that handwriting very well as I smiled and finished up the drink. 'Thanks, Jae' I thought to myself as I climbed my bed and pulled my blanket over my body.

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

We were all gathered at the stadium as we listened to the closing speech for the tournament from the organiser. The 4 corners of the stadium were filled with supporters from the 4 teams that will be competing today. Busan University would be going against XXX University for the 3rd/4th placing. Their match would be starting at 10am followed by the finals between our university and YMC University at 2pm.

I had stayed quiet ever since I left my room this morning. I was the first one to leave the dorm while I waited for the rest at the dorm lobby. By the time Taeyeon got down, almost everyone were already there. I noticed that Taeyeon had wanted to talk to me but she was cut off when Ms Lee appeared and told us to proceed to the carpark where the bus was already waiting.

Even inside the bus, I didn't talked much to anyone. I saw the other girls giving Taeyeon the eye signals but she only shook her head and bite her lips. When Jessica leaned her head on my shoulders to take a nap, I decided to join her until we reached the futsal stadium. Luckily for me, Jessica was not the type to communicate much in the morning unlike Tiffany who seemed to be extra hyper today.

As usual, I sat beside Taeyeon but we have yet to speak to each other and I think Jessica and Tiffany noticed it when they both asked the same question at the same time.

"Did something happen between the both of you?" 

Both me and Taeyeon turned to look at our girlfriends before turning to face each other. I saw Taeyeon's eyes blinking rapidly and was about to say something when we heard Ms Lee's voice.

"Jae and Sunny. Follow me to the medic room. I need to get Jae's wrist check from the official doctor appointed for the tournament to get clearance for her injury. Hopefully she's cleared to participate in the finals. Before that, how's your wrist, Jae?" 

"I had continued to apply ice on it since yesterday so there's no more swelling. When sleeping, I elevated my wrist while compressing it with the wrist support to immobilize it. So far, it doesn't hurt as much as yesterday when I did light movements." I explained to Ms Lee who then gestured for me and Sunny to follow her.

The doctor checked on my wrist and after confirming that there was no more swelling, she removed my wrist support. She then started to tape my wrist area, ensuring that it was tight so that movements were restricted. Once everything was done, the 3 of us left the medic room.

"So I guess Jae will be playing today, right?" Sunny asked Ms Lee as we walked back to our corner of the stadium. 

"We'll see about that. The doctor had already taped her injury so it shouldn't be a problem if I decided to let her play anytime during the match." Ms Lee answered.

"My hand felt lighter after replacing it with the tape. The wrist suppot is comfortable but bulky." I said as we reached our bench.

I was about to sit down when Taeyeon told me to follow her to the cafetaria. She said that she wanted to grab some sandwiches and drinks for the team. Looking at the clock, I realised that the match between XXX university and Busan university would be starting in 15mins time.

"I want to follow too." Sooyoung said as Yuri and Hyoyeon also decided that they wanted to follow us.

After asking the rest of the girls if they had any specific orders, the 5 of us left for the cafetaria.

To get to the hall entrance, we had to pass by the XXX university bench. I saw Krystal warming up at the side and when she saw me, she smiled shyly and waved at me. I waved back at her and showed her a 'hwaiting ' pose by clenching my fist while she nodded her head as a response.

"Stop flirting around behind Sica's back." Sooyoung knocked the back of my head with her knuckles.

"I wasn't flirting around. I was just giving her some encouragement." I tried to defend my actions.

"Your reasoning is similar to Yuri trying to say that she's not dark. Get my point." Hyoyeon said as I rolled my eyes at her.

"And you blame me for being friendly with other girls when you yourself is doing the same thing." Yuri replied as it was her turn to roll her eyes at me.

"Am I really like that? Do I behave like Yuri now?" I said as Hyoyeon, Sooyoung and even Yuri nodded their heads. "What do you think, Taeng?"

She must have been taken aback with my question as she abruptly stopped, causing Yuri to bump into her.

"Yah!! Mwoya? Why did you stop suddenly?" Yuri started to mumble as she rubbed her chin that had hit Taeyeon's head. "Wait a minute. Don't tell me you still haven't apologise, Kim Taeyeon! I already told you to settle it first thing in the morning, right?" 

"I didn't have the chance, okay. It's not that I didn't want to. I woke up late today and by the time I got down to the lobby, all of us had to proceed to the bus. I didn't want to apologise in front of our girlfriends since they will start enquiring about what happened and Sica is going to kill me if she finds out I said those hurtful words to Jae." Taeyeon started rambling on as the rest of us just listen.

"What hurtful words?" 

All of us looked at each other before turning around to see Jessica and Tiffany standing behind us. Jessica was the one who had asked the question earlier as she gave us her icy glare.

"See. I told you there's something going on, Jessi. When the 5 of them suddenly wanted to go together to get food and drinks for us, I could sense something amiss." Tiffany folded her arms as she joined Jessica in glaring at us. "What's going on, Taetae?"

Before Taeyeon could answer her, Yuri suggested for us to proceed to the cafetaria first instead of standing in the centre of the corridor. When we reached the cafetaria, Yuri dragged Sooyoung and Hyoyeon with her to the counter to get the food and drinks while me, Jessica and TaeNy went to sit at a table.

I saw Taeyeon took a deep breathe the moment we sat down before she started narrating what happened last night. Even Tiffany didn't interfered in her story as Taeyeon ended it with a cracked voice.

"Mianhae, Jae. For what I said last night and also for taking time to apologise." 

I could sense that she really regretted her actions last night and placed my right arm on her shoulder. "Hey, midget. Do you think I would have given you a warm glass of milk if I was still angry at you? I've said it last night and I'll said it again, I understand how you feel. I know how short-tempered you are. We grew up together, Taeng. Even though your words upset me a little, it's the truth. Omma is no longer around. I've to accept that fact."

I guessed Taeyeon must have felt really bad that she broke down in silence. With her head down and the only movement was from her shaking shoulders, it looked like she was vibrating. "I'm really sorry, Jae. I didn't mean to say those words."

"Taetae, don't cry. We'll go and visit Omma after our match, okay." Tiffany stood up and walked to Taeyeon's side before hugging her by the side. Taeyeon placed her head against Tiffany's chest area and hugged Tiffany's waist while being seated.

"Aigoo, this crybaby. But why do I feel like you're actually enjoying this? Having Tiffany's s pressed against your head." I chuckled when Taeyeon turned to face me and slowly broke into a dorky grin.

"Yah, Byuntae." Tiffany smacked Taeyeon's head lightly before walking back to sit beside Jessica while me and Taeyeon grinned dorkily at each other.

"Am I a scary person, Taeng?" She looked up to face Jessica who was looking at her with folded arms. 

"A little." Taeyeon said causing me to chuckle but I covered my mouth when Jessica glared at me before she took a deep breathe.

"I don't kill people, Taeng." Jessica said with a straight face as I bite my lips hard to stop myself from giggling at her choice of words and expression. "I'm just a little protective when it concerns Jae. I've made a promise to her mum to always take care and protect her."

I was about to feel touched with Jessica's words but it was shortlived when she turned to face me with her finger pointing straight at me. "And you, Park Hyun Jae. I saw what you did while walking out the hall, near the entrance. Waving and flirting at your so-called fan, am I right?" 

I gulped and was about to say something when the 3 girls came back with the orders.

"So is everything settled?" Yuri asked as Taeyeon nodded her head.

"We should get back to the hall now. I think the match had already started." Sooyoung said while she munched on a sandwich.

"Jae must be looking forward to support her fan from the benches." Hyoyeon said with a chuckle but no one was laughing along with her. "Yah!! Why is everyone so rigid?"

I wished I could strangle Hyoyeon with my bare hands right now especially after hearing Jessica saying the next sentence.

"Guess we should get going then. For Park Hyun Jae's sake."

Jessica stood up, dragging Tiffany along with her as Hyoyeon followed them happily from behind. I sighed as I felt Taeyeon patting my back.

"I have to agree. You are turning into Yuri." Taeyeon said as she walked beside me, behind the rest of the girls. "You saw how Yuri was during middle and high school right?"

I nodded my head before I paused. "Wait a minute. You're telling me, I'm like that? But I don't entertain the girls like Yuri does. She practically flirts with them."

"It's true that you don't flirt with them like Yuri does but you treat them too nice. You make them fall for you." Taeyeon said. "But Yuri was still single when she was flirting around. You don't really see her doing that ever since she got together with Yoona."

I sighed as I scratched the back of my head. "I... I... I was just..." I flew my hands up in the air, giving up in trying to defend myself.

"I know you are trying to be nice to everyone, Jae. After what happened between you and Uee, it was actually good to see you finally opening up to people around you and trying to make friends. But Sica doesn't know your past." 

I nodded my head as we entered the hall entrance. From a distance, I saw Jessica already observing me from her seat.

"But let me tell you something which might put you at ease." Taeyeon said as I turned to face her. "She loves you a lot and I think she's afraid to lose you. If you have to tell her about your painful past, do it. She's more than willing to listen."

By then, both of us had reached our seats and as I sat down, I carefully placed my hand on Jessica's lap, bracing myself for her rejection. But to my surprise, she didn't brush my hands away and just let it rest there even though she wasn't facing me. The match had already started but I kept looking at Jessica.

"Aren't you suppose to watch the match?" Jessica turned to face me for a short while before turning her focus back to the court.

"If I watched it, you might think that I'm watching her." I said with a solemn voice. 'Well, I honestly thought she would think that way.'

"Just because I told you to watch your behaviour doesn't mean I don't trust you, Jaegi." I grinned slightly as Jessica turned to face me. "Watch the game. I'll deal with you at the end of the day."

I couldn't stopped grinning as I felt Taeyeon nudged me by the side. I smiled at her and showed her a thumbs up. 'I guess Taeyeon was right afterall.'