✔ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐍𝐃: 𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑟

CHAPTER 19

"Are you okay?" I asked the team captain Soobin when we had finished training. I had noticed a few small hesitations in his play and wondered if he might have injured himself.

The big match was coming up in a few days.

Or maybe he was just nervous.

Soobin ran a hand through his blond hair and just smiled, as if it didn't matter how he felt. He threw his T-shirt into his gym bag and grabbed a fresh one from the locker. "It's okay, I've been unfocused lately. What about you?"

I didn't expect him to ask a counter-question.

We were in the soccer team's changing area. The smell of shower gel was in the air as some of us were still in the showers. You could hear the rushing of the water jet and the rattling sound of hangers as some stowed their gear in the lockers. Some players were still stretching and groaning as their muscles ached. Beomgyu sat on one of the wooden benches and massaged his elbows to recover from the exertions of training.

"Thank you," I replied, rubbing the palm of my hand over my chest. Admittedly, I was a little nervous before the first big game, because the coach had initially thought that I would sit on the bench due to the issue with Bongcha.

But today he changed his mind and announced that he wanted me to play as a libero.

In soccer, a libero was a defensive player without a direct opponent. He was normally positioned behind the other defenders and therefore had a kind of 'freedom' to read the game and react quickly.

He plays to protect.

"I'm a little nervous."

Soobin nodded, then drew in his breath sharply and let his eyes roam over the players who were in the room. I could only count five, though. "Sure, we're all nervous. Some are just better at hiding it than others."

"Number 9 - I mean Yeonjun doesn't seem that nervous about sneaking alcohol in here," I said quietly, because I wasn't even sure if that was a good idea. Because I'd seen Yeonjun go off with the other striker to get the alcohol earlier.

That was quite a while ago, so they had to be back soon.

I heard a soft snort behind me and glanced over my shoulder at Beomgyu, who stretched his arm and cracked his knuckles. "Yeonjun is probably the toughest guy I know. He only gets nervous when he's about to lose and he'd never show it."

When I had played against him, he had seemed angry at best. But I wouldn't have called the glint in his eyes nervous.

My gaze wandered briefly to the platinum blonde girl who was pushing the mop under one of the benches. "Excuse me, Felix, can you lift your legs for a moment?" she asked quietly, and the player lifted both legs to wrap his arms around them. "So someone like Yeonjun gets nervous too?" I wanted to know and turned to the goalkeeper. Admittedly, I had seen the two of them together several times and thought to myself that they probably had a good friendship. "Are you nervous?" I added another question to Beomgyu, probably just wanting confirmation of my own feeling.