title : continue competing
pairing : lee chan & zai jinli
genre : friendship; implied romance
short summary : zai jinli always knew that her best friend, lee chan, loved soccer. but one day, she's left confused when he finds something...better.

Lee Chan liked soccer. No, he loved soccer. It was practically his favorite sport, and her of all people knew it. Every day after school, he would dedicate three hours or more into just practicing to better his play. Jinli knew how much he would fantasize about becoming South Korea's most famous soccer legend at a young age. The youngest to ever play for the South Korean team; that's what he wanted to be. Jinli knew how much he treasured those memorabilia and other collector's items his friends and family would give to him on his birthday. Many of the items he owned, last game jerseys, autographed soccer balls, a player's training cleats – he displayed on the various walls and shelves of his bedroom. She knew the deep passion he had for the beloved sport way better than he did. She refused to forget that love.

But one day, Chan just stopped. He just stopped loving soccer. He stopped sticking his head in the clouds. He stopped daydreaming. He stopped striving. He just stopped. Jinli could remember that day clearly. It was the beginning of another school year at the middle school, but he had skipped try-outs altogether. That day, there was no more passion in his eyes; it was if it was never there in the first place. She knew that somewhere underneath that quiet personality, he still harbored a love for the sport. Jinli knew this, and refused to believe otherwise.

Jinli had no idea how or what happened. She had no idea what made him suddenly stop loving soccer the way he