love is war.

ch.1

—
Life would be much simpler if you didn't exist.

Minji catches herself thinking that single phrase more often than not, being the first thing that pops into her mind whenever she catches a glimpse of her out of the corner of her eye; walking through the university's halls to catch her 9 AM lecture, studying for an exam at the library, laughing animatedly with friends as she comes out of a local bar.

Hell, she's everywhere. An infuriating fact of Minji's life that really tests her self-restraint.

Even now, Minji sees her; leaning against the railing of the gym's upper track, laughing loudly in a chorus of conversation with the gaggle of friends that follow her wherever she goes. Almost on cue with Minji's lingering — albeit malicious — gaze on her back, Hanni looked down at her on the lower gym's court with nothing but a passive glance.

And god, even with just that glance through half-lidded eyes and a smirk that could have tricked someone into believing it was not with ill-intentions, Minjj could hear that girl's voice ringing in the back of her head like a broken record.

Miss again? Aww, that's too bad.

Come on, try again, I'm sure at least it'll be fun watching you fail.

Just the thought of her makes her grit her teeth; at that perfectly composed smile and carefully styled hair, pulling everyone's attention towards her as she passes by and remembered long after she's passed with the lingering smell of her sweetener perfume. Little miss perfect, with the gazes of everyone on her wherever she goes — no one would have ever thought she had the pride the size of a stallion with the competitive spirit to match.

Minji sighs and tries to shake the growing annoyance away, turning away to bring her concentration back to the task at hand. But the lingering feeling of eyes on her felt heavier than any sports team's emblem worn on the back of her jersey she played to represent. Eyes on her every move, every step, every trip-up and every miss-

She swears under her breath and hopes the girl is just as bothered by her attention as she is.

Pham Hanni — you really are nothing but trouble.

The screech of a whistle pulls Minji back into reality just in time for the drill to start — right, she's not here just to fume at some girl sending her hate mail through some particularly malicious eye-contact. The team's coach serves the ball and her feet are already moving when her libero digs it, sailing to the setter and she's already jumping; she spikes down the quickset with a snap of her outstretched hand, landing an inch from the net.

"Good timing this time," her setter says as she approaches where she landed, giving her a quick high-five. Marsh is printed across the front of her training jersey — Minji's roommate since the first time they met as freshmen.

"It was a good set," Minji replies, pointing both hands' fingers at her and clicking her tongue. "Good set from a good setter, my favourite setter!"

Danielle just laughed it off as the two of them moved back into position, getting ready for the next serve. Different to the last one, this set floats towards the other outside hitter as it gets spiked down with another thunderous clap.

At least today's practice had a bit more action than usual, offsetting the appearance of a certain someone who seemed like it was her job to make Minji's blood boil.

They're on their ninth run of the drill when minji lets her gaze wander towards the group of people starting to jog around the track above them. A frown instantly hits her face when she notices an unfortunately familiar dye job. danielle notices, following her friend's gaze to the track.