“Is everything set?” Jessica sat next to Taeyeon who was playing around with her badminton racquets.

“Yea I guess,” Taeyeon sighed.

Rubbing circles on her back, Jessica knew Taeyeon was going through a rough time. They had talked about it endlessly the past week on how things were to happen. Taeyeon already finished her last few matches and practices with her teammates. They had exams starting this week and then the weekend, the huge badminton tournament started. That was when Taeyeon had to leave. To not raise suspicions, Jiwoong would only show up just in time for his matches while Jessica pretended that Taeyeon still lived in the dorms.

“This plan seems very elaborate. I don’t know why I can’t just keep living here?”

“Jiwoong looks a lot like you but I knew the difference. It is only time before your teammates also notice. I don’t want them coming here and questioning you and such. It is better if you go back to your hometown...your new semester starts after the Junior Olympics qualification anyway.”

“I don’t think I can watch Jiwoong in that tournament.”

“I know. Taecyeon is going to that one and is going to report the results to me.”

“So you are both skipping out of classes that day?”

“Taeyeon...I am not sure I am going to stay in the school after you leave too.”

“I know...we talked about this before.”

Jessica sighed along with Taeyeon seeing that their future together was also uncertain but they both had goals and one another knew what they each wanted to accomplish. Maintaining a relationship and keeping these goals will create be a mess, but Taeyeon and Jessica already agreed to make it work somehow. Even if there was an ocean separating them from each other. There will always be a way.

Taeyeon closed and locked her suitcase, “Goodness this very depressing right before exams.”

“To be fair, exams are depressing in general.”

“Two days of straight exams is going to kill me.”

“Trust me babe, we are all going to want to take a good long break after exams.”

Jessica leaned back on their bed and motioned Taeyeon to join her so they can cuddle, “Taeyeon things will be ok.”

Wanting to feel the entirety of her body against Jessica, Taeyeon snuggled in tighter, “Things are only ok when I know you will be by my side in the end.”

“Is that even a question? I will always be right by you. It is because I love you that you will be the only person I need to have the rest of my life.”

Taeyeon smiled and readjusted herself to kiss Jessica, “Forever.”

Jessica and Taeyeon snuck into the bleachers near the top to get an aerial view of the tournament venue, “Jiwoong is here?”

“Yea. I saw him register.” Taeyeon said with a much more girly attire than she was used to sporting these days. Afraid that one of her teammates would spot her in the crowd, Taeyeon chose to dress like she did before entering the academy.

“You look sad.”

“I am...I trained pretty hard to be here with my team but here I am just watching. How will Jiwoong play in doubles? Minho has never trained with Jiwoong.”

“But I saw you teaching Jiwoong the hand-signals and such.”

“Doubles is more than just knowing your partner. It is about the flow and that you can read what your partner will do...these are things that practicing and living together makes us a great team.”

Jessica was out of encouraging words. It seems like Taeyeon would be tense the whole time she was here no matter what nonsense she said to calm the poor girl down.

“Will each team please go to your respected courts so the tournament can begin.”

It was starting. Taeyeon clenched her fists on the bleachers as she watched each team march in. Looking for her brother, she finally found him clad in a hat, to help conceal a portion of his face, rushing up to her former team. He was acting the opposite of herself. She would have joked with them and played around but he wasn’t trying to be obvious and was more distant with them.

“Singles starts first. Each player go to their assigned court.”

“Court 3 right?” Jessica whispered.

“Yea. I had a good ranking coming into the tournament so his first two opponents should be very easy.”

Taeyeon and Jessica were nearly holding their breath with each volley. Jiwoong was not good but great. Jessica couldn’t believe the first match was over in a matter of minutes because every move Jiwoong did was for the kill “He is an offensive player,” Taeyeon stated. Nothing else had to be said to understand that Jiwoong was definitely someone Taeyeon learned badminton from.

“Tae...has he always been this great?”

Sighing, Taeyeon looked down at their intertwined hands, “this is his old playing style but I think he is only playing this way for the weaker players.”

“Why would he play different with someone harder? He looks unbeatable right now.”

Jessica and Taeyeon looked up to see Jiwoong’s third match starting, “these players thus far don’t know the biggest weakness to this playing style yet. Nichkhun would know what to do and would beat Jiwoong faster than you can imagine. I think that is why he went away to figure out how to adjust his playing style to overcome this weakness. Although...I have no idea how Jiwoong would improve. It is really hard to change your entire way of playing.”

Taeyeon and Jessica watched Jiwoong beat his last player before the semi-finals, “who is next?”

“It says...Nichkhun.”

Jessica ripped the schedule away from Taeyeon, “how did that happen? I thought they wouldn’t meet until the finals. Weren’t you the number 2 seed?”

Taeyeon looked down at her records, “I was number 3...it seems like Bangtan High was number 2 and already went into the finals. My brother has to beat Nichkhun and then Bangtan High to get a good spot for the Junior Olympic trials.”

Jessica looked down at the court where Jiwoong was setting up his equipment, “I wonder how Jiwoong is going to play.”

Taeyeon leaned forward to watch the match that was going to unfold, “let’s see if he really did improve.”

After a simple warmup, the two boys started the match. Nichkhun won the serve and was set up to start the volley. Looking Jiwoong in the eyes, he already knew that the boy in front of him was a different player than he remembered practicing with and beating before. He wondered if this was really Kim Jiwoong from Shinhwa National High School, but according to his ID, none of the judges questioned this boy’s identity.

“Players to start.”

Nichkhun held the birdie delicately on the rim with the racquet backhanded and with a drop, the rubber was hit starting the most anticipated match by many spectators. This was the only singles match between males of the same school so it will be interesting to see who was really the best player at Shinhwa.

Jiwoong saw that the serve was short and returned with flick just barely over the net. Nichkhun was surprised to see a daring return as he was already close to the net, but he reached to hit it precisely over Jiwoong’s head, however, Jiwoong smirked seeing the shot coming. Instead of Nichkhun having time to set for another shot, Jiwoong flipped his racquet to the side and flung the birdie down. It dropped. Dead right at Nichkhun’s feet. Looking down in disbelief, Nichkhun picked up the birdie wondering what happened.

Taeyeon also looked at her brother confused, “what was that?”

Jessica leaned back in her chair, “I don’t know much about badminton but anyone could see that birdie spin.”

Rubbing her chin, Taeyeon watched a few more points play out and Jiwoong up 5-0 in an instant, “what did that coach teach him? That spin is crazy. No matter what you do, you would have to hit it precisely to get it back over. One mistake and you hit the plastic causing the birdie to go dead.”

“It seems like your brother was taught how to kill the play.”

“Yea...” Taeyeon said under her breathe as Jiwoong won the first set flawlessly.

“He really is amazing. Maybe him going to America was really a great idea although it caused problems for you.”

Taeyeon racked her hands through her hair, “This is unbelievable. I-I couldn’t barely...I tried so hard to beat Nichkhun but here my brother isn’t even breaking a sweat. What if I am not even close to making the Olympics?”

Jessica reached down to squeeze the girl’s hands, “Don’t say that. Taeyeon you are a girl. You were only a few points away from beating the number one male high school player and were a number 3 seed in the top high school badminton tournament. Just because your brother transformed to another level, doesn’t mean that you are not good. It just means that you have something new to learn from your brother. The Olympics you qualify for is years away...take things step by step.”

Taeyeon looked back at her girlfriend with a sad smile, “I hope so...or else...coming to Shinwha was one big mistake.”

Jessica leaned over to give Taeyeon a quick kiss on the cheek, “Don’t ever say that. Shinhwa was never a mistake.”

“This is bull!” Nichkhun screamed out as he bent his racquet.

Jiwoong stood off to the side after defeating Nichkhun in straight sets.

“This isn’t even Kim Jiwoong! Are you all blind? I wouldn’t know my teammate and this is not him! Because Kim Jiwoong should be a she...”

Taeyeon’s eyes widened in surprise, “H-how did he know?”

Author's Note

One more chapter! Going to wrap this story up because I have prolonged the waiting for far too long. Thanks for all the comments and subs!