“Welcome back. It has been a very exciting day so far with the American Jessica Jung beating out her Italian rival to make it to the finals against the world’s number 1, Korea’s Kim Taeyeon.”

“If you haven’t been watching our broadcast so far, the history between these two players is very interesting. Jung was training with the Korean National team nearly all the way up to the Olympics but right before qualifiers, she dropped out and joined team USA. So at one point, Kim and Jung were set to be teammates for the Korean National team.”

“Yes this was a very interesting move by Jung as Korea has a solid squad of male and female archers, so it was it was no surprise when Korea defended their gold medals in the team and mixed events.”

“Jung’s move to America was a strange move by Korea as well. Jung came into this tournament ranking above Kim during the ranking rounds and helped team USA to a bronze in the female team event. We expect a very exciting finals match as these former teammates compete for gold.”

~1 year ago~

“10!”

Taeyeon laughed, “What? No way that is better than a nine.” Walking over to the scope, Taeyeon checked the arrow, “See! You didn’t hit the line.”

Not believing her teammate, Jessica hip-bumped Taeyeon out of the way, “It is so touching the line! I kicked your Kim.”

“Oh you think so? When we are done, if your arrow didn’t land on that line, you owe me dinner and if it does, I will buy you dinner.”

Jessica smiled happily, “Deal.”

“Girls!” The male coach yelled out, “Less chatting and more arrows. No one leaves here without giving me 50, 10s.”

“Yes coach!” The girls yelled out in unison.

Jessica stuck out her tongue, “Try to catch up to me before I get 50.”

Taeyeon rolled her eyes, “I keep getting these stupid 9s today.”

“Complain all you want, you will always be number 2 next to me.”

Taeyeon huffed as she pulled her bow back, “Barely. You will getting silver this next Olympics behind my gold.” Releasing the arrow, Taeyeon gasped as she hit a 5.

Jessica burst out laughing, “What Gold? That looks like no medal to me.”

“Kim! Focus! 5 more 10s for you. If I see anything below an 8, you get 5 more! We are Korea! We do not score low. Be the pride of your country!”

Jessica rolled her eyes as she pulled back and released with a nearly perfect shot in the center, “Now that looks like Gold to me.”

Taeyeon bit her lip, “Cocky much.”

“I will see you back in the dorms Kim. 27 to your 15 and you have an extra 5 now. No way you are catching up to me.”

Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows as she pulled back her bow once again to release, “10! Omg.”

Jessica shrugged, “Been there done that.”

Rolling her eyes, Taeyeon chose to ignore her teammate to focus on the spot that got her the last 10. Even if her arm was to fall off, she was determined to catch up to Jessica and shut her up for once. Taeyeon and Jessica have known about each other for most of their lives. Jessica was always the golden child ruling the junior archery world, but Taeyeon only met Jessica during international meets because she lived in the USA. It wasn’t until 2 years ago that Jessica was introduced to the team. Taeyeon wondered if Jessica would give up her American citizenship for her Korean nationality to compete in the next Olympics. Whatever Korea was offering Jessica to join Korea instead of the country she grew up in must have been big, but this made Taeyeon very sour. Taeyeon was supposed to be the star of the Korean team for the upcoming Olympics and for her country to bring over Jessica meant she wasn’t good enough, they needed someone else.

Two years later, many things changed since then and Taeyeon and Jessica were inseparable. Taeyeon still never understood why Jessica’s family chose to move to Korea but Taeyeon has gotten much better since meeting Jessica. Jessica didn’t care that Taeyeon was her rival and was always challenging her and giving her tips to be better. In the end, Jessica was the best thing that ever happened to Taeyeon.

“Done. Coach!” Jessica raised her hand until the coach came over to her scope looking at the target closely.

“Very nice Jung. You may go.”

“Coach, I want my target to assess my mistakes better.”

Taeyeon knew the real reason Jessica wanted her target. She wanted to prove Taeyeon wrong and get a free dinner.

The coach nodded and blew his whistle signaling everyone to put their arrows down, “Jung will retrieve her target. As usual, she finished first.”

Jessica happily hung up her bow and went to get the target making sure to carefully looking at the spot Taeyeon thought she missed before smiling like an idiot.

Taeyeon could see the huge grin on Jessica’s face as she skipped back to her, “Lucky break.”

Jessica bowed to her coach first who patted her on the back before blowing his whistle signaling the rest of the girls to continue practice.

“You owe me dinner.”

Taeyeon swiped the target from Jessica, “I can’t believe it.”

Jessica took her target, “I am going to hang this in our room. It shows my steadfast glory.”

Taeyeon huffed, “your modesty amazes me. Now get out here so I can focus.”

Jessica playfully swiped Taeyeon’s hip, “Am I too distracting?”

Blushing, Taeyeon coughed, “You already know you are. Shoo Shoo.”

Jessica laughed as she rolled up her target before grabbing her gear to wait for Taeyeon back at the dorm. Finishing early was always Jessica’s favorite thing to do because that means she gets to nap.

Nearly an hour later, Taeyeon falls backwards onto the bed, waking up Jessica. Rolling over, Jessica snuggles into Taeyeon, “You took too long.”

Taeyeon sighed as she pet Jessica’s hair, “Sorry. My shooting was off today.”

Jessica nodded enjoying the warmth of Taeyeon’s body, “How were the other girls doing?”

“When I left, Bora was at 40.”

Jessica let out a soft groan, “So we have maybe 15 minutes.”

Taeyeon rolled to her side to give Jessica a gentle kiss on the lips, “Sorry.”

Jessica pecked Taeyeon’s lips several times, “We hardly get any private time together since we moved in the dorms.”

Taeyeon pulled Jessica into a tight hug, “I know, but we joined the team to go to the Olympics. We have the World Cup to win and then we are off to the Olympics, together.”

Jessica hugged Taeyeon tighter, “You need to lay off the 9s and get 10s to make it to the Olympics with me.”

Taeyeon chuckled, “Omg make it stop already.”

“It is good to have healthy competition.”

“You don’t need to be my competition anymore. We are teammates now.”

Jessica sighed as she looked up at Taeyeon to caress her face, “Exactly so you need to be the best you can be. If you win, I win.”

Taeyeon smiled as she pecked Jessica’s lips one more time, “What do I owe you for dinner?”

“Burgers, fries, shake…”

Taeyeon nodded, “Great so you get the free rice, seaweed and whatever random soup and meat we get for free in the cafeteria today.”

Jessica rolled her eyes, “Can I reserve this dinner you owe me for one of our off days?”

“Nope. Today or bust.”

“It feels like a bust either way.”

Taeyeon smiled as she got off Jessica’s bed before one of their teammates came in, “I am going to take a quick shower before dinner.”

Jessica got up to pull out some clothes too, “I will take one after you.”

Taeyeon took her towel and toiletries, “Okay I will be quick.”

When Taeyeon opened the door to leave, she nearly ran into her teammate, “Oh hey Bora.”

Bora smiled happily, “I need a shower too. Morning practice was brutal. 50? My arm is about to fall off!” Taeyeon snuck away from their chatty teammate who found Jessica opening her laptop, “Jessica aren’t you going to shower? Didn’t you finish like an hour ago?”

Jessica nodded, “I took a nap until Taeyeon woke me up. I will freshen up after Taeyeon.”

“There are like 4 shower stalls, we could go together.”

Jessica knew seeing a Taeyeon right now was probably a horrible idea, “I have some emails to answer before I forget.”

Bora grabbed her belongings for a shower, “I want to be the first for dinner today, I heard they are serving that spicy tofu soup.”

Jessica smiled as she scanned through her emails, “Taeyeon can’t eat spicy.” Meaning she gets Taeyeon’s soup today.

After the second practice of the day, Jessica and Taeyeon left to go on a walk together, one of the few times they could get a little extra alone time.

“So Worlds is coming…” Taeyeon hesitated for a second to ask the question that has been on the tip of her tongue for months, “You will umm have to choose a citizenship for the Olympics.”

Jessica kicked her feet, “Yep.”

“So are you going to become a Korean?”

Jessica laughed, “I have always been Korean.”

“You know what I mean.”

Jessica shrugged, “There would be a lot of benefits if I do.”

“You don’t sound like you are sure about this.”

Jessica stopped walking for a second, “With Worlds coming, I have been getting a lot of offers from the USA recently.”

Taeyeon put her hands in her pocket, “So that is why you are getting a ton of emails a day.”

Jessica shrugged, “I am not going to lie, they are pretty tempting but there is one problem.”

Taeyeon’s ears perked up, “What?”

Jessica bumped her shoulder into Taeyeon, “They don’t have you.”

Taeyeon blushed happily, “True. Korea is the only place to get the one and only Kim Taeyeon.”

Jessica reached inside Taeyeon’s pocket to pull her hand out, “Even though you weren’t the only reason I came to Korea, you are most definitely the reason I am staying.”

“I thought you said you came to Korea because of me?”

“Did not! I said that you were very intriguing and I wanted to get to know you better, but that was not the reason I came!”

“Wow I feel hurt. I spent my whole childhood trying to win you over.” Taeyeon kicked an imaginary pebble hoping her pout was noticed.

“As if. Young Taeyeon was very shy and always hiding behind a bow that was bigger than her. It was me who approached you first. I saw your potential before anyone else did.”

“That was the only time I beat you.”

“And I saw it very well and vowed to never to lose to you again.” Jessica nodded happily as she hugged Taeyeon’s arm tighter, “I needed to understand my rival to know how to defeat her.”

“There was nothing to figure out, you are still my weakness.”

Jessica smiled triumphantly, “Good.”

Taeyeon stopped walking, “I am not your weakness?”

Jessica looked up, “You make me stronger. I feel confident by your side and not just because I know I can beat you, I know you are there to support me.”

“I feel more confident with you around too.” Taeyeon released Jessica’s vice grip on her arm to caress her face, “I love you.”

Jessica smiled back before leaning into a kiss, “Love you too.”

Taeyeon relaced their hands, “We should get back. I think it is close to curfew.”

Jessica as usual groaned but she knew the rules. No way is she going to do an extra 10 minutes of practice for every minute they are late.

The next day, as usual, Jessica and Taeyeon arrived at the practice field ready to do their usual routine and work on fundamentals for morning practice. Following behind were their teammates as they entered the field one by one taking their spots.

“I think your scope is slightly off Taeyeon. Maybe you hit it or something but try adjusting it a bit today.”

Taeyeon looked at her scope wondering if she did hit it and it moved slightly. Yesterday was a really off day.

“Jung! Kim!”

Jessica stood attention quickly as did Taeyeon when they heard their coach’s boisterous voice, “Put down your bows and follow me. Bora, lead the other girls to warm up at the short range.”

“Yes sir!” Bora shouted before rushing the girls over to one of the practice ranges.

Both Jessica and Taeyeon were nervous with the coach singling them out like this, but they were also optimistic it would related to Worlds.

The coach’s office wasn’t too far from the practice field. With anticipation and fear, the two girls stood in front of the coach who already made himself comfortable in the chair, “Sit.”

Doing as they were told, Jessica and Taeyeon sat.

Mulling over his thoughts for a second, the coach sat up straight, “It has come to my attention that you two have engaged in some unacceptable behavior last night.”

Taeyeon gulped remembering she and Jessica were out for their nightly walk.

“I will put it plainly, we do not accept relationships between teammates here…especially those um from the same gender. Stop this lude behavior at once or risk termination.”

Taeyeon’s heart stopped with the thought of getting kicked off the team. This was one of her lifelong goals, to make it to the Olympics. However, breaking up with Jessica seemed just as horrible. Jessica was the reason she got this far.

Jessica shook her head, “I refuse.”

The coach raised his brow, “What?”

“I said, I refuse to stop my lude behavior. Who are you to say who I can and can’t love? This isn’t the 18^th century where men can decide when and where we love.”

The coach crossed his arms, “Watch yourself Jung, just because you are the best one here, doesn’t mean we won’t terminate your contract. This is clearly a distraction and needs to stop.”

Jessica stood up suddenly, “Fine. Fire me then if you think you have any chance at gold without me or Taeyeon at the Olympics.”

The coach stood up equal to Jessica, “Watch your mouth Jung. I am still your coach and you will show some respect.”

Jessica threw her head back in laughter, “Respect? How about you respect your players and let them decide if what they are doing is a distraction or not.”

The coach suddenly slammed his hand on the table, “As of today you both are suspended from the team. I am going to meet with the other coaches to decide what to do with you two. Until then, pack your things.”

Jessica didn’t need to be told twice to leave the office so she walked out without any further words while Taeyeon took a quick bow to her coach to catch up with Jessica.

“Jessica! What the hell? Why would you provoke him like that?”

“Because he is wrong also what kind of empty threat is he trying to pull? Kicking out his two best archers right before a major world competition? Crazy talk if you ask me. Also, there is no way I am breaking up with you.”

Taeyeon played with her fingers nervously, “Jessica what if those weren’t empty threats. You know the Olympics is my…our dream.”

Jessica held Taeyeon’s hands, “I know. Don’t worry okay. Whatever happens, you will be in the Olympics I promise.”

Taeyeon knew Jessica was trying to reassure her, but her stomach still felt uneasy.

Because Jessica and Taeyeon were suspended from the dorms, both Taeyeon and Jessica moved in with Jessica’s parents, “It is so nice having you two back! I thought your vacation wasn’t for another month.”

Jessica laughed nervously, “Well we were doing really great so we got a week vacation as a reward.”

Mrs. Jung clapped happily, “Wonderful! Although Taeyeon you really should go see your parents if you have a week off.”

Taeyeon rubbed the back of her neck nervously, “I wanted to stay close for a few days and then go back and visit if that isn’t too much to ask of you.”

“Never! We love having Jessica’s friends here.”

Jessica smiled as she started to unpack her things, but something seemed to be missing from her bag, “…Taeyeon do you have my finger tab?”

“No but I think I have an extra in my bag.”

Jessica shook her head, “No way. That is my lucky item. I wonder if it fell out of my bag at the practice field.”

“We can go look tomorrow for it.”

Jessica threw on her jacket, “Or I can get it now.”

Taeyeon stood up immediately, “It is going to be dark soon. Why not wait till tomorrow?”

Jessica pushed Taeyeon back down, “My parents live like 5 minutes from the practice field. I will get it and come back. Don’t worry.”

“I do worry since you know we should not be there right now.” Taeyeon whispered.

The argument was futile knowing how stubborn Jessica being stubborn is, “Wait here. No use in both of us getting in trouble if I am caught. Be back in a flash.”

Jessica smiled as she walked out the door and caught the nearest bus to the training grounds. The security didn’t know Jessica was suspended so they let her through like usual. Skippy happily because she evaded the guards, Jessica made her way over to the grounds. When she arrived, Jessica scoured the grounds to where her item may be. She cursed that the tab was the same color as the dirt, “It has to be here.”

After a little while, Jessica was about to give up but then she saw something reflective catch her eyes. The button on her tab caught the sun making it visible in the sand, “Got you!”

Happily, Jessica was about to trot back home but the light in her coach’s office was too tempting to pass up. Wanting to eavesdrop, Jessica snuck up to the side window which the coach usually kept open in the summer months.

“This is a very serious situation.” Jessica could hear the grumbling of several coaches in there.

“We can’t let them both go. Did you tell them to stop?”

“Jessica is stubborn. She said she won’t.”

“What about Taeyeon?”

“I never know what that girl is thinking. She is clearly controlled by Jessica.”

“Well one has to go.”

The room fell silent for a second.

“Jessica is our best player so Taeyeon.”

“I vote Taeyeon.”

“Taeyeon for me too.”

The coach nodded along to the decision, “Okay. Taeyeon will be let go then for breaking the rules. She was slipping during practice the other day anyways. It won’t be long until Bora catches up to her.”

Jessica grinded her teeth trying not yell back at the sleezy men deciding Taeyeon’s fate so easily. Screw them all. Jessica was going to create her own fate.

Picking herself up, Jessica made her way back to her parent’s house and carefully slipped into her father’s office before Taeyeon found out she was back, “Dad I need to talk to you.”

The usually firm man peered over his computer, “What is it?”

Jessica played with her fingers, “I have thought about it a lot and I think we should take the offer. It is very good.”

The man nodded along, “Earlier you said you would never…”

“I changed my mind.”

The man picked up the phone, “If this is your final decision, I will tell them.”

Jessica bowed to her father, “Thank you.”

The man waved his daughter out as Jessica shut the door softly behind her. For a second she stood there not moving and holding back the tears forming in her eyes. She knew this was for the best for both of them.

After a minute or two, Jessica collected herself enough to face Taeyeon who was laying down awake waiting for Jessica, “Did you find it?”

Smiling like an idiot, Jessica quickly went down to snuggle with her girlfriend, “Yep.”

Taeyeon held Jessica closely, “Good.”

“Although I want you to be here with me, you should take this time to visit your family.”

“Want to come with me?”

Jessica shook her head, “No. You haven’t been able to visit them for over a year, they should fully enjoy you back.”

Taeyeon kissed the crown of Jessica’s head, “Okay. I will miss you.”

Jessica turned and kissed Taeyeon fully on the lips, pouring in all of her emotions into it, “just remember I love you every day.”

Taeyeon smiled, “I know. Love you too.”

Inhaling deeply, Jessica closed her eyes hoping to embed this moment in her memory. She was doing the right thing.

To be continued...